Sykes The Sophomoric

Bert over at folkbum's takes Charlie Sykes' lack of decorum to task:

Like the stink in your bachelor buddy’s car, the ugliness issued from the hard, black heart of right-wing WTMJ-AM radio is something you can get used to after a while.

In my case, when the station played Elton John’s “The Bitch is Back” while discussing first lady Michelle Obama about a month ago, I thought that was undeserved but not at all surprising. Also, I’m used to show host Charlie Sykes and his sophomoric, classless taunting of the outgoing Democrats. Rep. David Obey gets called “a horse’s ass”, Gov. Jim Doyle is a “lying sack of sh&#” whom Charlie audibly “flips off”, and Sen. Russ Feingold’s new campaign slogan should be “want fries with that?” Get it? Get it? Whatever.

Maybe It Will Be On Sunday Incite

My friend Bert, posting over at folkbum's, with a really good question:

I thought this oil spill thing was one of the prominent stories this week. But, like when Tom Barrett's altercation was national news, I'm not seeing anything about this current event on the blog by Charlie Sykes. What gives?

McIlheran: It's Easy To Write With Blinders On

Simple question: Who are you going to believe, McIlheran (conservatives would never use swastikas!) or your lying eyes?

The answer to this simple question, and much more, can be found at folkbum's.

Whallah! Catch Up

Instead of writing a ton of posts and missing something, I will just give you a round of recent and not so recent posts (with lots and lots of links).

First up, we have Illy-T showing that PaddyMac is once again distorting the facts, this time on wiretapping.

Bert, over at folkbum's*, points out how Charlie and his ilk are again blaming the victims.

James Rowen points out that Paddy doesn't know much about public transit either.

The Chief points out that Fischer is an elitist.

That is all, for now.

*Why does that site sound familiar?

What Is The Color Of The Sky On His Planet?

On Friday, Charlie was crowing on his show on how Palin won the VP debate. He even put up a blog post on it, citing a handful of people with no pride that stood up for her. He continued his spewing of misinformation on Sunday's Incite.

Too bad for him that the majority of the nation is smarter than that, and declared Biden to be the clear winner.

In related matters, the mighty folkbum has a treatise correcting Rick Esenberg, another inhabitant of that alternate universe.

Falling For The Old eRumor Trick

Randy Hollenbeck, the same CudahyNOW blogger that brought us such classic posts like the racist anti-Obama one (until he had to take it down, or it was taken down for him), brings us another sure to be classic.

In this new one, Randy schools us on how rotten those lying Democrats and tree-hugging liberals are. All because Big Oil can't take over even more of Alaska for exploitation, namely ANWR.

Well, let me tell ya, folks. Randy ain't much of an original thinker. A quick Google and Whallah! the first page shows three different sites on the first page alone with the exact same words and pictures on it.

I know that old adage about an infinite number of monkeys with an infinite number of typewriters, but I have a hard time believing that that many right wingers came up with the same idea.

So how did it happen. The viral email. I should know. I've been burned by it before. In Randy's case, truthorfiction.com shows that it is what they call an eRumor:

The part of the eRumor about Al Gore, Democrats, and gas prices is a political comment. We could not find an occasion when Al Gore advocated $5-per-gallon gasoline, but many environmentalists are in favor of steps that would reduce the use of fossil fuels. It's possible this is a reference to a speech he gave in the U.S. Senate on April 11, 1991 in which he voiced support of a National Academy of Sciences study. He said it, "rings the alarm bells again and tells us of the urgent need to take action now to combat global warming." Among the recommendations of the study was "restructuring energy prices to more accurately reflect environmental costs."

For another look at the bogus claims from the right's screed about the need to drill more and more, I would refer the gentle reader to my good friend, the mighty folkbum.

Whallah! Around The World

Let's take a look at how others are doing their own Whallah!'s, shall we?

First up, Bert at folkbum's rambles and rants takes on the great Rush "Into" Limbo. Although the pill-popper isn't part of the local right wing media, they are all interchangeable anyway, and Bert's write up is a compelling analysis.

Greg at Blogging Blue, who forgets that he is supposed to be helping out here, while I am busy with an ever-growing number of other projects, has a suggestion for the next objet de selective outrage. According to one of his commenters, Sykes already did a piece on it, but Zach's last comment is worth the read:

I try not to listen to conservative talk radio, because I have to listen to bullshit all day at my job; I don’t want to listen to it on the radio too.

Illy-T, an all around wordsmith if ever there was one, takes on the blackguard McIlheran on the word "thug."

And we end our tour of the Whallahsphere with a stop by James Rowen's place, where he shows us the weaknesses which is inherent to the local hate-talk radio, including this nice summary:

This Milwaukee AM righty radio crew comes across as a bunch of bitter complainers, usually with a predictable, over-lapping group of targets:

Big Guvmint, big cities, Democrats, the Journal Sentinel, and an assortment of liberals, environmentalists and other Friends of the Earth.

Station managers are making money with these interchangeable, talking parts, but the righty talk radio monotone on WTMJ and WISN, Milwaukee's two leading AM stations, has driven away a substantial percentage of the general public that doesn't define itself as ideologically right-wing.

Dolt29

Dolt29 put up a post today about coathanger abortions. I'm sure he felt it was a strong argument against coat hangers or something, else he wouldn't post it. What he did do, whatever his intent may be, is prove himself to be capable of great insensitivity, and a general misunderstanding of women, and of mental health issues.

It's not the first time his insensitivity has shown through. He made the assertion that women in the military were being raped because they were women in the military. This the same miscreant that also seemed OK with a Christian cult in Texas to groom young girls to be sexually abused by much older men. Seems to be like a rationalization for misogyny, using the Church. But I digress.

He cites some site named "CosmoLiturgy" which makes the presumptuous claim that coathanger abortions are a myth, and the symbology of it was used by those dang liberals to justify abortion. I won't get into the whole abortion issue in this post, but it needs to be pointed out that the fabled folkbum proved that the assertion that coathanger abortions are a reality, whether or not the right wants to admit it.

What is equally as bad, if not worse, is the way he miscontstrues a serious psychiatric illness. He quotes the cited source:

Those who develop a Borderline Personality Disorder are predominately angry women (with histories of sexual abuse) who are consciously or subconsciously driven to deliver a hurtful revenge onto others. They typically have poor self images and are consequently highly sensitive to rejection and constantly haunted by the fear of being abandoned. As a result, they are willing to take drastic measures to avoid loneliness and solitude, which can often include self mutilation, suicide threats and attempts.

He then adds his own little quip:

It's a grown-up version of the 2-year-old's temper tantrum (albeit for
those who were abused, it is differently-caused.)

First of all, Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is a serious illness, with its own set of diagnostic criteria set forth by the DSM-IV. It can be caused not only by being sexually abused, but also by genetics and natural chemical imbalances in the brain. It also has many symptoms besides self-mutilation. These can include:

• Impulsive and risky behavior, such as risky driving, unsafe sex, gambling sprees or taking illicit drugs
• Strong emotions that wax and wane frequently
• Intense but short episodes of anxiety or depression
• Inappropriate anger, sometimes escalating into physical confrontations
• Difficulty controlling emotions or impulses
• Suicidal behavior
• Fear of being alone

As you can see, nothing to be trifled with, and definitely more than a "temper tantrum". Most of the people with BPD that I've worked with did the cutting not only for attention, but to remind themselves that they are real, else they become too disconnected from the real world. Another reason was that they found the physical pain easier to deal with than the emotional suffering they are experiencing.

On a sidenote: I can find no indication that "Caenis Syndrome" is even a formally recognized psychiatric diagnosis.

As I said earlier, I am not going into the whole abortion issue. He thinks it's wrong, and I can respect that. I don't personally necessarily disagree with that view, but that's for another time, another place.

What I do resent, and will not allow to pass, is when someone feels the need to minimize people with mental illnesses, of any sort, to justify their inexplicable need to oppress women, children, or anyone else. No matter their ulterior motives may be.

Dad, I don't know what your issues are, or if it's just some part of the Catholic indoctrination, or what, but you really ought to knock the crap off, before someone calls you "Dipshit29".

Oops, too late.

The Growing Influence of Whallah!

You know you gotta be doing something right when you become a part of the everyday lexicon on both sides of the aisle.

From our own kr, who left a comment at folkbum's (emphasis mine):

Well, this is a by-product of this Democratic contest dragging on. If it were down to one Democrat and McCain, Wallah! The concern trolling, which is the usual cynicalness of these guys, would evaporate.

And from the conservative side, a posting from Cindy Kilkenny (again, emphasis mine):

On this blustery day with the “s” word in our extended forecast, it’s time to look for diversions. Try out this Japanese site that ages photographs online. Follow your instinct to upload a photo from your computer. Wait patiently, and whallah! (I know it’s a bit of an inside joke.) Before you know it you’ve a photo that looks like it came from Grandpa’s barn.

Today, the blogsophere. Tomorrow, the world!

Poetic Justice

Jay Bolluck, host of the site folkbum's rambles and rants, and frequent critic of McBride, is now a member of the JSOnline blogging team. For the two or three people who didn't know, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel also owns WTMJ-AM, McBride's former employer, and terminated her earlier this year.

This will probably make her spitting mad. Whallah is looking forward to the show.

And congratulations to Jay...we think.

(Re)Public Speaking

McBride again displays her own unique brand of schizophrenic logic in this post about the fairness doctrine. Jay Bullock at folkbum's performs the analysis here. You know it's gotta be good when it starts out with the statement, "...a perfect example of what for most people would be mind-splittingly painful cognitive dissonance".

Missing the mainstream

Ms. McBride would have us believe that she and her cohort of right-wing bloggers represent some "mainstream" majority views on issues of the day, while the loony lefties are baying at the moon.

Jay "folkbum" Bullock takes issue with her latest declaration on immigration, and finds that it is McBride & Co. who are out of the mainstream and off in some tributary.

Whallah! Wear it in style

Blogger Tim Rock is offering Whallah! T-shirts, just in time for the second WisPolitics bloggers event. Details here.

Folkbum says the shirt includes the artwork in the right hand column of this blog, stolen from Rock's "Other Side of My Mouth" blog.

Here's a collection of Rock's posts on our favorite conservative ditz.