Not That Being Wrong Has Stopped Him

Illusory Tenant expresses concern that PaddyMac might be running out of topics, since he is always kept being proven wrong.

And of course, it is the Brew City Brawler that is putting PaddyMac in his place.

Forget Climategate...

...let's watch PaddyMac and the echo chamber squirm at Waterboardgate.

They Is It And It Am Them

We noted a few days ago that Jessica McBride is now doing some work* for the Republican front group WPRI.

Unfortunately, she is still working without an editor or proofreader. This is exemplified in the title of her latest post for them:

Does the State Know What Kind of Criminals They Are Sending Back Into Our Neighborhoods?

Singular, plural. Aw, what's the difference, right?

*Divorce attorneys don't come cheap. Don't believe me? Just ask Charlie Sykes.

Charlie Sykes: Economic Bubbleboy

Sykes and company just loves to put the blame for inner city poverty on the people that live there, claiming it's all their fault. Well, theirs and the uberliberal Madison folks.

Jakes's Economic TA Funhouse breaks down the numbers about poverty around the state and in doing so, breaks down Sykes' false allegations and race-baiting arguments:

Fortunately, lots of people like me that grew up in the burbs got older, went to college, learned from others, perhaps worked with and taught others less fortunate than us, and realized that we were pretty fortunate to have had the supportive and relatively affluent upbringing we had. Who I feel bad for (well, sorta) are the people who spend their whole lives thinking Wauzaukington County is the normal, and that others are the ones who don't get it. No wonder these people hold such absurd political views, because they've never stepped outside of their comfortable little bubble where everything's taken care of for them. It's up to us to puncture that bubble, because we've seen how suburban "ownership society" works in the real world, and it's a disaster.

So Madtown, hold your head up high, and keep telling Sykes-World about reality's liberal bias. Because it's likely that a Madisonian like you lives your life more in line with the average Wisconsinite than the suburb boys that get all the air time representing "the Silent Majority".

I can't wait until Jake starts working PaddyMac over too.

And now, the news

Cross posted at Pundit Nation.

No Discernable Change

James T. was a sexist then.

James T. is still a sexist now.

What A Tangled Web They Weave

Ed Garvey has a column in The Cap Times which highlights an unholy alliance between UW and WPRI:

In Wisconsin, St. Norbert’s College polling is used by public radio and public TV. And now we also have the Wisconsin Policy Research Institute/University of Wisconsin-Madison poll -- a “partnership” between right-wing WPRI and our great state university’s political science department. Whoa, Nelly! The institute apparently needed credibility to persuade people to pay attention to the Bradley Foundation poll, so it is easy to figure out its goal in creating this “partnership”: instant credibility. (No one has ever accused WPRI of neutrality on issues of importance to the Bradley Foundation.) In essence the institute rents the good name of the UW.

Garvey details how they did an open records requests and found that, basically, all of the WPRI - UW polls are tainted and only go to push the neoconservative agenda of the Bradley Foundation.

As Garvey and others points out, it throws doubt on anything that this group produces. Garvey et alia have also raised questions about the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel publishing WPRI's reports like they are gospel truth. That is easily explained, since I've already shown the incestuous relationships with the Bradley Foundation's Michael Grebe, Journal Communication's Steve Smith and wannabe governor Scott "It's my turn, dammit" Walker.

And to deepen the ties to Charlie Sykes, who already has been shown to be in the midst of this mess, is the fact that old Chuckles is a member of WPRI's brigade of propagandists.

In summary, WPRI is a front for the Bradley Foundation. The Bradley Foundation and WPRI, lacking credibility on their own, are using UW as their beard. And as for Sykes and Walker, they each of an arm of the Bradley Foundation so far up their posteriors, their resembles to Mortimer Snerd is more than coincidental.

In other words, you can't believe a word from the lot of them.

ADDENDUM: As Xoff points out in the comments, OWN was the first one to break the story of their skullduggery.

Cross posted at Cog Dis.

My God, if Charlie Sykes thinks you're out of touch...

"Of course it’s going to be a problem. You know, and the more you try to explain it, the more you’re essentially explaining that you live in a completely different fiscal environment than most of the working people of Wisconsin.”
--Right Wing Squawker Charlie Sykes to GOP Senate hopeful Terrence Wall

Would it kill Sykes to credit Zach Wisniewski at Blogging Blue, who has been beating the Terrence Wall tax dodger drum for at least a couple of months? Probably. And then Steve Wexler would lose the only reason he still has a job. But I digress. The point is that Terrence Wall has apparently never met a tax he wouldn't attempt to avoid. I don' t care whose party's office you're running for, the public just doesn't like that. I mean even Jim Sensenbrenner pays taxes, and he's not even technically a human being.

Read the rest at Pundit Nation.

Who's The Richest Person In Southeastern Wisconsin?

Charlie Sykes is totally devoid of insight. If he wasn't, he wouldn't be pulling such stupid stunts.

A faithful reader pointed out that on Friday, Sykes spent some time criticizing one of his favorite targets, MPS, and their selection of a new superintendent.

The new superintendent, Gregory Thorton, has a "checkered past," according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

One of the points that Sykes kept hammering at was what Thorton said about his wife:

The Hartford Courant editorial also said that Thornton confirmed a report to the district that he had falsely identified his wife to local residents as a Hartford hospital administrator.

Is this something that Sykes thinks is a good talking point?

If so, we have two words for Sykes: Liz Woodhouse*.

So what does this have to do with the richest person in southeastern Wisconsin? Well, obviously the richest person is whoever landed the job of replacing all the broken windows in Sykes' house that he keeps throwing stones through.

*Interesting discovery: The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has apparently deleted all of Tim Cuprisin's pieces on Sykes and Liz Woodhouse (aka Janet Riordan). I wonder why that would be?

Sykes (R-WTMJ) for Senate?

A mutual admiration society? Mark Belling touts Charlie Sykes for US Senate.

It would be very entertaining to see Charlie get into the arena, as they say, and get a taste of what politics is like at ground level.

But he demurs, doesn't plan to run "at this point in time." (Maybe he has to wait until Tommy the T makes up his mind, which should be around the July deadline for nomination papers.)

Sykes said he having too much fun as a talk show host to give it up.

He's right about that. Pontificating from the studio is certainly a lot more fun that working your butt off day and night for the next nine or ten months, trying to persuade independents -- not just that wingnut base he has captivated -- to vote for him. Everything you've ever said and done, in your public or private life, is open to scrutiny (some fun, huh?) Your finances, too. And in a campaign, the other guy gets to have a microphone, too; you can't just hang up on him or talk over him.

Or can you?

Why should Sykes have to give up his job to run? His show is little more than a free platform for Republican candidates much of the time anyway. The Supreme Court has set the corporations free. There is no Fairness Doctrine or equal time requirement.

So what's to stop WTMJ radio from giving three and a half hours a day, on the "biggest stick in the state," to a Republican candidate -- and paying him on top of it?

It would be more outrageous than what WMCS radio is doing, using Sheriff David Clarke, who's already run for mayor and sheriff and will no dooubt run for mayor, county executive, and/or sheriff in the future, a spot as a regular guest host on its afternoon drive talk show. They probably don't pay him. But the principle's pretty much the same,even though Clarke isn't officially running for anything at the moment.

And if Sykes won (!) the station could have naming rights. He could be Sen. Charlie Sykes (R-WTMJ).

Maybe I shouldn't joke about it. Sykes and TMJ might like the idea. Lately, crazier things are happening on a daily basis.

No Honor Among Squawkers

Wow, talk about harsh.

Charlie Sykes, full time squawker and bloody poor editor of WPRI invites Jessica McBride to do a piece at their site. Then he links to it on his WTMJ site with this:

Kind of nervy for Sykes, of all people, to allude to McBride's affair. And just who is he calling loose?

Why Sykes Won't Win A Pulitzer - Reason # 79651

Whoever heard of an editor that needs an editor?

Oh, Please, Please, Please!!!

Mary of Freedom Eden takes time from her usual TV talk and to give us this interesting premise:

Belling noted that the Republicans need to find a truly viable candidate to challenge Feingold. He said that he can't run because he just signed a contract. Sure. However, he did toss out the idea that WTMJ's Charlie Sykes should run.

Belling said Sykes has great name recognition. He has intellectual weight, thanks to the books he's written. Belling wasn't being flip about Sykes running. He was being completely serious. I think.

It's not going to happen, but I'd vote for Sykes.

That would be like shooting fish in a barrel, but it would also be a heckuva lotta fun.

Harris Admits Robertson A Typical Conservative

From his blog:

Robertson's remarks regarding Haiti earthquake reveal bad manners, embellished history and poor theology.

PaddyMac Admits Walker Doesn't Know What He's Doing?

Simply amazing. Even though Paddy more or less admits that even though Walker has been in office for eight years, has a staff of twenty cronies and corporation counsel at his beck and call, he still cannot figure out his job, much less perform it with an iota of competence, Paddy still plays the apologist.

Meanwhile, Walker had sought furloughs in the county budget, exempting the public safety staff. The county board objected. It amended the budget, lowering the number of furlough days, and its amendment omitted any exemption for law enforcement. Walker vetoed that, raising the number of furlough days.

Got that? Because the county board’s amendment didn’t mention the exemption, the exemption’s gone. That isn’t, Walker points out, how vetoes and amendments work in Madison, where he’d been a state legislator. There, if the amendment doesn’t change things, things aren’t changed. The county, it seems, is different, which is why the county’s legal counsel eventually said that, yes, deputies will have to have furloughs.

Walker, with over a million dollars in his war chest, an army of tweeters and blogs under anonymous names, and a newspaper, and he still can't manage not to look bad. Of course, when his supporters include Paddy and Chuckles, it is harder to look good.

Ebert Gives Limbaugh A Thumb To The Eye

Roger Ebert, noted film critic, gives a thumbs down to Rush Limbaugh:

You should be horse-whipped for the insult you have paid to the highest office of our nation.

Having followed President Obama's suggestion and donated money to the Red Cross for relief in Haiti, I was offended to hear you suggest the President might be a thief capable of stealing money intended for the earthquake victims.

[...]

You have a sizable listening audience. You apparently know how to please them. Anybody given a $400 million contract must know what he is doing.

That's what offends me. You know exactly what you're doing.

H/T Keith Schmitz

Shut Up He Explained

By Keith R. Schmitz

The above of course is part of the catch phrase comedy that Charlie Sykes employs on his program and blog which passes for wit, if wit was to pour out of widget factory. He has of course ripped this off from a real wit, Ring Lardner.

There seems to be a bit of common ground that liberals and conservatives could be occupying regarding the health care reform negotiations. That being the Barack Obama campaign promise to hold negotiations of major legislation on C-Span. Right now that isn't going to happen.

Sykes and almost everyone on the right including the corporate puppets at Americans for Prosperity are clamoring for an open process. Now. Operational word here.

Liberals are upset because this what the Obama administration is back peddling and providing worry of possible giveaways to come. Real adults aren't happy about it but they recognize that politicians do not deliver on every campaign promise when the cold hard light of governing hits them in the face. We of course hope for better but we know our hearts get broken every so often.

We would like to presume our conservatives friends believe the same thing, but they don't. While they want the Obama administration to be as transparent as Saran Wrap, their hero Dick Cheney was opaque as Reynold's Aluminum foil when it came to the totally secret energy deals, presidential papers, the White House visitors log and endless matters dealing with our government. In fact often we were damned lucky to find out anything, unlucky when we did.

Our government. Not Dick's government.

The only difference is liberals were for sunlight then, we are for sunlight now. As for the rad right, not so much then.

Kind of makes you wonder what they really believe in, or is it to use the title to this summer's Larry David/Woody Allen movie --- Whatever Works.

Why Does Kevin Fischer Lie?

Once again, Fischer, being the insignificant fool that he is, tries to come after yours truly.

As is his want, he lies to make himself look more than he is:

Now Liebenthal is moaning and groaning on his blog because he has to start using his 12 furlough days and wants us to believe that it’s actually costing taxpayers to park his big fat can at home on the counch for awhile. The selfish moron doesn’t understand or care that people who pay his salary are getting terminated.

As a state employee, I must take 16 furlough days imposed by Governor Doyle before the end of this year. I stated on television and on my blog that I welcome this unpaid vacation because others have it much worse, taking pay cuts or pink slips.

Kevin, Kevin, Kevin.

Your sixteen days are spread over two years. my twelve in one. Furthermore, the state's furlough days were negotiated, and you fall in line, enjoying the benefits of not having a choice.

Furthermore, the county furloughs are on top of pay cuts and lay offs.

So why does Kevin lie? Well, if he told the truth, all three of his readers would realize that Doyle is a much better leader than Walker. And Barrett would be even better than Doyle and Walker put together.

What old Kevin forgot, was that I am a productive member of society. The only think Kevin produces is nauseating fumes.

The White House Goes Whallah!

Behold, the power of Whallah!:

The White House is firing back at Rush Limbaugh after the conservative talk radio host urged people not to donate to relief efforts in Haiti.

Spokesman Robert Gibbs says there are always people who say "really stupid things" during a crisis. He says it's sad that Limbaugh would use the power of his pulpit to convince people not to assist those in need.

Limbaugh said on his radio show Wednesday that he wouldn't trust that money donated to Haiti through the White House Web site would actually go to the relief efforts. He said Americans don't need to contribute to earthquake relief because they already donate to Haiti through their income taxes.

H/T Steve Jagler

Sykes finds a new Eliza

Charlie Higgins Sykes, having suffered a minor setback with the launch of his last protege, Jessica Doolittle McBride, has found another younger woman on whom to bestow his favors.

Enter Rebecca Doolitttle Kleefisch, the latest right wing blogger to win regular links and favorable comment from Sykes. Now this, from WisPolitics:

Former TV reporter Rebecca Kleefisch has filed papers to run for lt. gov as a Republican, and GOP sources say her official announcement is scheduled for Tuesday.

Kleefisch, who's married to state Rep. Joel Kleefisch, has been a regular feature on conservative talk show host Charlie Sykes' blog with her "Kleefisch Reports." She's a former anchor at WISN-TV in Milwaukee.

Perhaps McBride, having gained a lot of experience as an advisor to a statewide campaign for attorney general, can offer some guidance -- at least about what not to do.

Conservative Talking Heads Vie For Biggest Butthead Award

We have all heard of the horrific cataclysmic tragedy in Haiti.

But to use this to score cheap, vulgar political points goes way beyond the pale. Shockingly, but not unsurprisingly, we find two conservative squawking heads that are apparently in competition for the most vile person in 2010.

First, there is old Pat Robertson, who has never been known for making good arguments or being a likable person, who said:

Robertson: “Something happened a long time ago in Haiti, and people might not want to talk about. [Haitians] were under the heel of the French...and they got together and swore a pact to the Devil. They said, ‘we will serve you if you’ll get us free from the French.’ True story. And the Devil said, ‘OK it’s a deal.’ Ever since, they have been cursed by one thing after another.”

Not to be outdone, and feeling the need for some attention himself, another cataclysmic natural disaster, Rush Limbaugh, stops popping his pills for a minute to say this:

On his radio program Wednesday morning, Rusty said that President Barack Obama and company would use Haiti to get closer to the “light-skinned and dark-skinned black [communities] in this country” while adding that the U.S. has “already donated to Haiti. It’s called the U.S. income tax.”

Listen to excerpts here and here.

If you were wondering who would be so cynical as to suggest that a president would use a monumental tragedy to gain support amongst a group of voters who already overwhelmingly support him--to the tune of 89 percent who view him favorably, natch--well, now you have your answer.

I've noticed that most of the right wingers, to their credit, condemn Robertson for his ignorant statement. Not one has had the spine to mention Limbaugh's vulgarity.

Charlie Sykes Analyzes Scott Walker's "State of the County" Address

The New TBS

The big news that has conservatives having all sorts of embarrassing body functions is that Sarah Palin has agreed to do some shows on Faux News.

The jokes sort of write themselves, so I won't waste my time on them, but feel free to come up with your own.

But there are a couple, three things worth mentioning.

One is that the Chief found an interesting article showing Palin's true motives:

Pollsters will tell you that Palin could still be a big factor in 2012 if she chooses to run. They will talk about how she is the biggest thing going now in Republican politics, about the passion she continues to exude on both sides. But that does not mean she will win. If Palin were serious about running for president and winning, she would be thinking about how to expand her support beyond the Republican party core that is fed by Fox News.

She is not thinking of these things, and with time it will dawn on the public consciousness that she is not a serious contender for the White House.

Kathy Carpenter's question is unintentionally even more funny than anything I could come up with:

Can you imagine Sarah interviewing liberals?

Kathy's question raises another one: Any bets on how long it would be before Palin storms off her own set after getting burned by a guest?

In related news, it is rumored that Roger Ailes of Faux News is considering a lawsuit against Ted Turner for the rights to the call letters "TBS." It is reported that Ailes wants the call letters to rename Faux News to "TBS: The Tea Bagger Station."

And in another bit of related news, witnesses report that Charlie Sykes has been seen shopping for smaller eyeglass frames, has been trying on different shades of lipstick, practicing walking in heels, and has his hair sculptor trying to use the right amount and kind of hair products to make his hair more Palinesque.

Transit Reality Trumps PaddyMac Fantasy

We already know that Patrick McIlheran has a deep dislike for mass transit, especially buses and railways.

We also already know that Patrick McIlheran has a deep love for roads and highways, regardless the cost.

These two strong emotions cause McIlheran to spin, skew, manipulate and even fabricate information in an effort to prove his point and to maintain his warped sense of the world intact.

Unfortunately for McIlheran, reality trumps his fantasy. Case in point, Stevens Point, who is expanding and growing by leaps and bounds, thanks to their advance mass transit system, which also is growing by leaps and bounds.

Meanwhile, here in Milwaukee County, led by another one of McIlheran's passions, Scott Walker, we have seen our transit system dying a slow death of a thousand cuts and higher fees and taxes imposed on bus riders, while our economy remains stagnant.

Why anyone but his pals Charlie Sykes and Dad29 pay any attention to him is beyond my ken.

Sykes Wins His Pulitzer?

But considering how much Charlie just copies and pastes, shouldn't it be called Sykes Swipes?

Revisionist History, PaddyMac Style

Paddy just posted another one of his hypocritical posts. This time it deals with complaining that people pointing out that his precious subdivisions are really a waste of space and energy. Paddy takes umbrage that anyone would dare suggest that they are bad things and that they have no right to tell him what to do. Somehow this must be different from when he is doing what he normally does, telling other people what they should and shouldn't do.

But that sort of ignorance and hypocrisy is normal for Paddy. What I want to point out is one sentence:

He, too, mentions that oil might run out. (Yes, as did cheap hay, which is why we drive cars, not horse carriages).

Now, I guess I'm suffering because I had a public education, but I definitely don't recall that cars became so popular because of the cost of hay. I always thought it had something to do with making machines with more power and more speed than could be provided by the steam engine.

If Paddy was correct, technology would have stopped with the steam engine, since there is a plethora of things in this world that could have been burned to produce the steam. Then again, I sometimes wonder if Paddy isn't stuck in the past anyway, with the flat earthers.

Impeccable Timing

Yesterday, PaddyMac argued that preventative social work doesn't work to reduce crime, but that we need to have more prisons to lock up all of those bad characters, like the poor and the minorities. You know, the ones that would be more likely to want to improve their situation by having a party in control that is not interested in serving just the richest 10% of the country.

Paddy based his argument on someone else's findings that crime went down during poor economic times and went up in the good times. Or something like that.

Unfortunately, Paddy's own employer, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, tripped him up on the very same day he made this ludicrous argument. Predictably, it was found that domestic violence, including murders, has been jumping during these rough economic straits:

Domestic violence homicides in Wisconsin are on target to hit a 10-year high in 2009 with an average of more than one person dying every week, the Wisconsin Coalition Against Domestic Violence said Wednesday.

In 2008 there were 36 domestic violence homicides in the state, but preliminary figures show there were at least 46 domestic violence incidents in the state that resulted in 60 deaths in 2009, said Patti Seger, executive director of the state coalition. While national and local law enforcement reports show decreases in violent crime and homicides in 2009 - Milwaukee hit a 20-year low - domestic violence figures soared, she said.

"We have to see domestic violence as an epidemic," Seger said.

She and other advocates stressed that domestic violence differs from other violent crimes that law enforcement deals with, and that the economic stress that families have faced in the last year or so has played a role.

Why does the paper keep Paddy on the payroll when they let go of so many better and more erudite and intellectually honest people?

Squawkers Soon To Pull Support For Walker

Sykes put up another one of the video reports by frustrated former TV reporter Rebecca Kleefisch*. This one has to do with their bellyaching about the state budget being out of whack, and why it is important to have someone in the governor's chair that can balance a budget.

I am eagerly looking forward to the post in which they denounce Scott Walker as a gubernatorial candidate, since he has been unable to produce a budget that hasn't imploded by midyear at the latest. In fact, the 2010 budget was crafted with a hole that is worth tens of millions of dollars, and was out of balance at midnight New Year's morning.

*Does anyone else think that Sykes is grooming Kleefisch to be the next Jessica McBride?

Whose ring is being kissed here?

Newly installed Archbishop Jerome Listecki is set to appear on the Charlie Sykes show this morning.

Why? Well, someone at the Archdiocese must have said "Oh, snap! We've got a problem."

Who says the church isn't "market-driven"? Follow the money, folks. Follow the money.

Cross posted at Pundit Nation.

Adding Insult To Injury To The Point Of Vulgarity

In an unbelievable show of complete cluelessness, the Milwaukee Diocese and its newly installed Archbishop not only had former Archbishop Weakland and his enabler Archbishop Dolan at the ceremony installing Archbishop Jerome Listecki, but are about to unveil a bronze carving of Weakland as part of the protector of children.

PaddyMac wrote about this event. Appropriately, he condemns having Weakland anywhere near the new Archbishop. Unfortunately, it is not because he condemns what Weakland did, but more in the nature of wishing the whole matter swept under the rug.

Then Paddy takes it one more step over the line with this:

Anyhow, SNAP is hitting new Archbishop Jerome Listecki with this two days after his installation. They complained earlier about him, but to be honest, SNAP blunts its points by complaining about practically anyone in a miter. Listecki by all indications is on board with the diocese’s current approach of calling the cops and taking no chances.

Excuse me? Just where the hell does Paddy get off telling the victims of sexual assault that they should stop trying to hold the Diocese responsible for allowing the outrages that were committed upon them when they were children. Does he lack that much insight? Perhaps he should read the Milwaukee Magazine article of two men who were sexually assaulted by a mother superior. He should be able to find the article an easy read, since it was written by Jessica McBride, of all people.

Sad to say, Paddy's tactlessness is pale in comparison to the idiotic and inexcusable comments made by Charlie Sykes on his show Wednesday morning. Sykes basically came out and said that these survivors of sexual assault should just shut up and go away. And this fool had the nerve to call me insensitive?

Steve Wexler should have a long talk with Sykes, before he gets the station sued again. Better yet, Wexler should try to find someone who isn't so intellectually and morally corrupt to do the show. We already gave a suggestion on who would be infinitely much better for them and for their listeners.

His Train Has Been Derailed

PaddyMac scoffs at the engineering feat of a train that can travel 245 miles per hour. Giving up on his concrete ribbons of highways trying to match that accomplishment, Paddy now goes for the airplanes, which do travel much faster.

James Rowen points out that planes are fine, as long as you have an airport nearby to land at and take off from.

But there is another key point that the erudite Rowen missed. Paddy made this assertion in his post (emphasis mine):

Oh, wait: We get around in America on an even faster form of transportation. It goes about 600 mph. It beats trains on most trips, and it carries Americans 600 billion passenger miles a year, far more than the most optimistic projections for high-speed trains here. And it pretty much is funded out of passenger fees rather than general taxes.

One problem for old Paddy. How many of those pesky airports does he know of that are privately built or maintained. Even Milwaukee County took stimulus dollars to improve Mitchell Field.

But Paddy's never let a thing like the truth bother him before, why start now?

Limbaugh Praises Unionized Hospital, Socialized Health Care

Heh:

We're thrilled to hear that Limbaugh appreciates Hawaii's exemplary health care system.

Here's why:

1. Hawaii is a shining example of progressive health care reform. In fact, Hawaii is so forward-thinking that the Senate bill excludes Hawaii from some of its provisions, because Hawaii's requirements on employers go farther than the federal legislation.

• Since 1974, Hawaii has required all employers to provide quality health care benefits to any employee who works 20 hours a week or more. Because of Hawaii's increased coverage, reports the New York Times, "hospital and insurance executives in Hawaii say they have been able to innovate efficiencies. For instance, the state's top three medical providers are adopting electronic medical records -- years ahead of most mainland counterparts."
• One reporter noted "the medical system in Hawaii is as close to socialized medicine as there is in the United States, and, much of the Democrats reform bill is based in the Hawaii system."

2. Limbaugh stayed at Queen's Medical Center, where nursing staff are represented by the Hawaii Nurses' Association (read: a labor union). The nurses at Queen's are protected by their contract, which adheres to the ANA's safe-staffing principles guaranteeing appropriate staffing levels for any patient care unit.

In fact, Hawaii has one of the greatest percentages of organized workers of any state and also had the highest percentage of organized RNs. All private-sector acute care hospital RNs are organized, with just two known exceptions. We're guessing this might have something to do with why Limbaugh found the Hawaii hospital staff's work so "confidence-inspiring."

When Limbaugh was released from Queen's Medical Center, he cheerily noted, "The treatment I received here was the best that the world has to offer."

Charge Of The Lightweight Brigade

Last week, I posted about the ongoing neglect of the Eschweiler Buildings on the county grounds. I had learned that a tree had fallen on one of the buildings, and true to the reports I had received, after three weeks, there was not one bit of work done to even patch the damage done, including a branch sticking out of the roof of the building.

In my closing thoughts in that post, I wrote:

It is not surprising that Scott Walker would let these building fall into ruin, whether to have them razed for new development or other purposes. He is not from this area and does not share our pride of our history or understand the significance of these grounds. Furthermore, he is as shallow as only a life long politician can be, and only sees the grounds as something to be used to advance his own personal agenda, his political career.

Apparently, this was enough to set Team Walker into damage control status. Unfortunately for Team Walker, their first line of defense was the on-staff paid Walker apologist at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Patrick McIlheran, who has been known for being a bit more than reckless with his facts, regardless of the subject matter.

Old Patrick (who also comes from another state, and doesn't share, or even understand this great state's progressive history) tries to tell us that the ongoing neglect of the Eschweiler Buildings, a registered historic landmark, is no big deal, and that it has been going on for long before Walker's regime was installed. Mind you, he offers no links to support his claims, but expects us just to take him at his word for this to be true.

And I am sure he is accurate. But only to a small extent. The Eschweiler Buildings were in use well into Walker's time as County Executive, including being the home of The Institute for Entrepeneurship (pdf, page 43), who still has a small sign outside of one of the buildings:


Unfortunately, for Team Walker, McIlheran isn't quite the heavyweight that they apparently were hoping for, and he comes up with a string of laughable tangents in trying to defend his favorite perpetual candidate.

First up is the tried and true blaming of Ament and the pension scandal. These are the same people that are demanding that Obama take ownership of the national economy and the recession that started a year before he won the election. But somehow they can't find Walker to be responsible after eight years of his tenure? Do they find him that incompetent?

Patrick then tries the economic angle of claiming the county is strapped for cash, and doesn't need the buildings anyway. Funny, but I would think that if the County was that strapped for cash, they would want to use the buildings they already own, instead of leasing expensive buildings, like the Reuss Federal Building, or selling buildings they own, only to turn around and rent them from the buyers. And speaking of the county grounds, does he really think that selling the land at a third of its value, with no guarantees as to what would go there, is really smart?

McIlheran's next stumbling effort comes in pointing out the one can scrape by successfully on a minimum, citing the parks "gold medal" award. Too bad for old Paddy that his own paper threw him under that bus with a report on an audit showing that the parks are in a state of continued decline, with hundreds of millions of dollars of neglected maintenance that is a threat to the infrastructure of the county.

Paddy then resorts to outright lies, trying to resurrect the failed idea of moving the mental health complex:

If you want to talk about salvaging buildings, Walker spent the last two years trying to get the county to move its mental health hospital out of its outmoded home to a renovation of a now empty hospital on the north side.

The plan made eminent sense, costing far less than the competing idea of building a new mental hospital at the county grounds, but unions objected because it interfered with their featherbedding, and a majority of the county board sided with the unions for pretty much no reason but an anti-Walker reflex.

Now, fixing up St. Michael's Hospital isn't historic preservation, but it certainly would have been a careful stewardship of county resources when it came to buildings. It's a far better indicator than the state of the Eschweiler buildings.

Again, it was shown that Walker was fudging the numbers, and that the move was the most expensive of all the options, even of building a whole new facility. Not only that, but why would it make any sense to move from a not so old, but neglected, building, into an even older building that wasn't designed for psychiatric care? Most people recognize that it is wiser to own than it is to rent, but then, no one has ever accused Paddy of being wise.

Now, I have a confession to make. I did see this article last night, but I held off writing anything in hopes of a certain event occurring. And I was not disappointed.

True to his stunted emotional state, Charlie Sykes couldn't resist but to jump on that broken wagon. Although Chuckles couldn't offer any contribution to McIlheran's lackluster defense, he did get a few personal attacks in, worthy of any schoolyard bully. He must be feeling frustrated with the winter weather of late, since it is too cold for him to go the park and play with his firecracker.

Local Right Wing Columnist Bashes Right Wing Candidate

PaddyMac, who has long carried water for Scott Walker, perpetual candidate for governor, must have gotten tired of all of Walker's flip flops.

In a blog post from earlier today, Paddy points out how terrible it is to use tax dollars instead of just paying for them for no gain. He compares using stimulus money as that of getting hooked on drugs and being used by the dealer.

Well, if he feels that strongly about it, I can't wait for his post about the evil Scott Walker, who has stimulus needle tracks on both arms.