Belling: Anti-Semitic, Paranoid, Or Both?

Last week, Mark Belling went on the tirade de jour, which involved the question of whether to allow the Marriott Hotel to be built at the cost of some historic buildings.

During said tirade, Belling came out with a conspiracy theory that involved "a cabal" who are determined to prevent anything new to come to Milwaukee.

For good measure, he pointed out what he thought was a pertinent fact:

“The fact that the majority of them are Jewish may be neither here nor there.”

Michael Horne, reporting for Milwaukee News Buzz, had this to lead off his report on the matter:

The topic at hand was the proposed Marriott Hotel and Belling’s belief that there is a conspiracy among the Jews to keep it from being developed as planned. According to Belling, the group that controls things uses a network of “patsies” to do its bidding. These pliant Gentiles include Ald. Bob Bauman and architect David Uihlein.

Their overlords are “The Marcus family, Franklyn Gimbel, who runs the convention center board dominating the west side of the river.” They are “part of this cabal of people that just don’t want anything new to happen in Milwaukee,” Belling charged, “a handful of people who control things.”

It is difficult to determine whether Belling felt that he had to point out some sort of Jewish cabal masterminding all of the events in Milwaukee was just his natural bigotry bubbling through, the rantings of a paranoid half-wit, or a little bit of both. But whatever cause you wish to attribute to his rants, it does not have a place in civilized conversation, much less being broadcast over public airwaves.

But perhaps the slandered Franklyn Gimbel put it in the best and most succinct way:

Attorney Frank Gimbel, who has been head of the Milwaukee Convention Center District Board since he was appointed in 1994 by Governor Tommy Thompson, tells NewsBuzz, “Belling’s comments, as usual, are Bullsh-t.”

It should also be noted that James Rowen was on top of this story from the beginning, complete with updates.

Krazy Kapanke's Continuing Capers

The other day, Michael Horne reported that the DPW was suing State Senator Dan Kapakne for failing to fully comply with a open records request for his emails and other documents regarding using state time, staff and equipment for a campaign event.

Mr. Horne then followed up on the story and found that Kapanke was lying through his teeth regarding getting the go ahead to use the campaign money for these events. Turned out he didn't ask about using campaign money, but corporate funding instead, and even then was told that he couldn't.

Kapanke, apparently thinking he could head an implosion off by taking action, went himself to the GAB, and only ended up throwing one of his staffers under the campaign bus.

I wonder if Kapanke thinks that he is now off the hook. If he does, he is about to be subjected to a very rude awakening.

Next Wednesday is the court date regarding the Dems accusations that Kapanke either concealed and/or destroyed the documents they requested. The evidence is pretty clear that the requested documents exist or at least existed, since the Dems already had gotten some of them in their possession.

The reason Kapanke is not following the law and cooperating is due to the fact that the requested documents will show that his using state staff, time and equipment for campaign events is not just a one time deal, as one might be led to believe from the vague news accounts. Rather, it was an ongoing thing, such that would make Scott Jensen proud.

I wonder how much Maalox Kapanke is using these days.

Cross posted all over the place.

Will Belling Apologize To The Family?

Last week, we told you of the hard work from Michael Horne, shooting down Belling's crazed conspiracy ideas about the death of a Mequon doctor.

He continues to show that he is worth the praise I gave him by cracking the story that the Milwaukee County Medical Examiner's office has reviewed the autopsy of Dr. Bradley Mays, and found that the findings previously reported are consisted with their own findings, and that Dr. Mays did not die from any sort of nefarious plot.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel also reports the same findings a day later than Mr. Horne in their Sunday issue.

Judging from the third comment in Michael Horne's post, which came from a friend of the widow and the late doctor, it seems that Belling's source, this brother, Truman, is the one that might have some sort of nefarious scheme to make gain from his brother's premature demise.

Belling Puts His Foot Into Mouth - Again

A couple, three weeks ago, there was a small flurry of stories about the death of Dr. Bradley W. Mays. Dr. Mays, who lived in Mequon, died suddenly. The police and the medical examiner did their investigations, and found that the good doctor died due to a heart condition.

Some members of the family apparently were having a hard time dealing with the sudden death of their loved one, and either could not or would not accept the medical examiner's finding.

Mark Belling, in his usual manner, went of on the air, in the paper, and on the Internet, joining in the conspiracy theory, making some wild accusations, including this:

The story gets even more suspicious. Mainland, the Kenosha medical examiner, recently quit her job to take a position in Tampa, Fla. Mays’ body was cremated shortly after the dubious autopsy was concluded. Mays’ widow, Carrie, member of a prominent local family, is fighting efforts by her husband’s family to reopen the case. Numerous sources tell me their marriage was shaky the last few months.

[...]

Carrie Mays is the daughter of Frank T. Crivello, a prominent former Milwaukee County judge. The Crivellos, many of whom I know personally, are a great family that know a lot of people. Several are close with Milwaukee County Assistant District Attorney Mark Williams. His wife happens to be Ozaukee County District Attorney Sandy Williams. Did their desire to support Carrie Mays lead to a less than thorough investigation? Or worse, did their friendship lead them to cover up a potential homicide?

The case is so polluted by either incompetence or misconduct that it is imperative than an outside agency reopen it and conduct a proper investigation. The cremation of Brad Mays complicates things but certainly should not stop a real investigation. The state Department of Justice needs to take the case from Mequon police and Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen needs to take prosecution of it away from Sandy Williams.

Crack reporter, and friend of Whallah!, Michael Horne of MilwaukeeWorld, looked into the story and found several flaws with Belling's accusations and assumptions. One flaw is Belling's assumption on who the widow is related to. Another is that the investigation was not done thoroughly.

Belling's wild claims have already caused pain to the family of the deceased. From Mr. Horne's post:

One of the Mays children had already been the subject of hurtful comments from other children at school, outraging the mother who is trying to get on with her life and to prepare her daughters for their futures without their father. These are the true "Blood Relatives" of Bradley Mays.

And just like when Belling made the comment using a derogatory racial slur, he has gotten himself and his employer in trouble. Again, from Mr. Horne's post on this story:

The continuing harassment led Carrie Mays to contact Attorney Steve Kravit this week. Kravit today filed a demand for retraction with GM Today for the Belling articles, which he said were false and libelous, and put Carrie Mays in a false light. You can read the document here, including an enlightening and damning letter from a doctor to Belling as we await the response from the publisher.

It amazes me that not only is the radio station and the newspaper lack so much integrity that they keep this fool on board, but that there are people that really do listen to this guy, and believes what he says to boot.

Best Whallah! Quote Of The Day

This comes from Michael Horne, at Milwaukee World, who is talking about an upcoming debate between Scott Walker and Tom Barrett:

Yes, it should be some debate. Regrettably, for Walker it is on a subject where the facts are all stacked in favor of rail, and against the failed and socially destructive policies of Scott Walker and the talk radio cabal.

Remember, people in automobiles listen to talk radio. Folks on mass transit don't. It's an empirical fact, and that's why the A.M. talk radio tunnel of love echo chamber squakfest brigade opposes rail.As I always ask my friends who live in cities with light rail, "What do the talk radio people have to say about rail transit?" The answer -- nothing. They have moved on to other inflammatory topics.

McIlheran's Quick Hit Shot Down

This is an email I received, duplicated exactly:

Dear Columnist McIlheran --

Regarding your comments about Ms. Donna Shalala in your "Quick Hit."Perhaps a "discernible reason" that President Bush proposes to award the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Donna Shalala was due to her service as the co-chairman (with Bob Dole) of the President's Commission on Care for America's Wounded Warriors. There is no disgrace in that sort of bipartisan public service. Bob Dole already has his Presidential Medal of Freedom -- it was awarded to him by President Clinton. Your "quick hit" more closely resembles a drive-by shooting.

Michael Horne
Editor / Publisher
www.milwaukeeworld.com

http://www.pccww.gov/Commissioners.html

I don't know if the comment link to your Three View blog post is operating . I sent in a comment that did not appear. Perhaps I unknowingly violated the guidelines for comment. I will study them anew. Or perhaps my comment did not appear for some other reason. Horne

We Are Not Alone

Whallah! often ponders why McBride is allowed to teach at UWM. Just as often, Whallah! ponders what she teaches at UWM. We are not the only ones.

Michael Horne, at Milwaukee World, did a lot of work and found out some of the names of staff members of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that have chosed to take a buy out from the paper. He then shares that list of names with us.

Our McBride posts on the list, and links to Mr. Horne's site, but gives acknowledgement, in the form of a hat tip, to James Widgerson. She later tries to explain it away as that she saw it first on Widgerson's blogsite. As is her wont, she not only fails to apologize, take responsibility for her error, and fix it, but chooses to get defensive and snarky about it. The best part, though, is in the comments thread, in which Mr. Horne confronts McBride on her faux pas:

Why the hell are you hat-tipping "Wiggy" when I'm the one who wrote the damned thing? How disingenuous. I'm ready for a hat-tip "Horney(sic)."I did the research, and that should count for something. Are your standards of attribution the norm for what is taught in journalism schools nowadays? Horne

Mr. Horne, we share your concern.