Sykes' Insight = Anti-Gay Humor

As if five days a week of Charlie Sykes wasn't enough torture, WTMJ-TV has also given him a half hour long program on Sunday mornings. It's sort of a teahadist version of a televangelism show.

On Sunday, December 2, he had a panel which included Christian Schneider, the pathological liar, and Brian Fraley, one time employee of ALEC and more recently of the MacGuyver Institute and now "editor" of Sykes' propaganda page, Right Wisconsin.*

In this day's show, they had a segment called Unsolicited Advice.

During this segment, at the 13:56 mark, Fraley looks at Schneider and says:

Christian Schneider, that is the worst beard since Katie Holmes. Get a razor."

And the whole group broke up laughing.

Anti-gay humor apparently is what passes for keen intellectual insight among this group.

If Fraley, Sykes and WTMJ doesn't issue an apology for this on Monday, which no one in their right mind should expect, it shows you the value of anything else they might ever have to say about anything.

Cross posted at Cog Dis.

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.

Did Talk Radio and Fox News Play A Role In Arizona Nightmare?

A gunman, Jared Loughner, approached, and at point blank range, shot U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords in the head. Giffords, survived the immediate wounding, but is still in critical condition after having had surgery.

Unfortunately, the gunman proceed to shoot eighteen other people, killing six. Among the dead was U.S. District Judge John Roll and a nine year old girl.

Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik held a press conference and had this to say:

Mr. Dupnik called the shooting a "very sad day for Tucson" and a "horrendous, horrendous, senseless, unbelievable crime." And then he blamed the crime on the rhetoric -- presumably political rhetoric -- in the country.

"When you look at unbalanced people, how they respond to the vitriol that comes out of certain mouths about tearing down the government," he said. "The anger, the hatred, the bigotry that goes on this country is getting to be outrageous and unfortunately Arizona has become sort of the capital. We have become the Mecca for prejudice and bigotry."

Mr. Dupnik said it is time for the country to "do a little soul searching."

He added: "The vitriolic rhetoric that we hear day in and day out from people in the radio business and some people in the TV business ... This has not become the nice United States that most of us grew up in."

I'm sure that Charlie Sykes, Mark Belling, Patrick McIlheran and their supporters will deny this up and down until they are blue in the face (blue faces and red necks don't go as well together as you might expect).

But since Sykes has already been sued for libeling a Hispanic man and Belling has been suspended for using the term "wetback," they cannot deny that they love too stir up their audiences primal fear and hatred.

It's rather telling that right loves to act very much the tough guy, with their rantings about gods, gays and guns, but when it comes to owning up to the consequences of their behaviors, they mewl a different tune. So much for their argument for personal responsibility.

When Is A Terrorist Not A Terrorist?

According to PaddyMac, it apparently is when the terrorist is a white, anti-government nut who flies a plane into a building housing government workers.

In other words, in Paddy's world, terrorists come color-coded.

White guy flies plane into building = a disturbed individual.

Non-white guy does anything = terrorist.

People Just Like Them

Sykes, McIlheran and the rest of the Posse Comatose tell us that the so called teabaggers and the anti-health care thugs are just like them. After seeing this, I must say, I see their point:




The woman in the video reminds of any and all of them.

Source: Think Progress

Tip of the crown: Recess Supervisor

There Is No Comparison

During the past week, two anti-Semitic events occurred. One was when an aged, white supremacist went to the National Holocaust Museum and shot a guard to death. The other was Reverend Jeremiah Wright made an idiot's comment, blaming his lack of contact with President Obama on "them Jews."

James T. Harris and Patrick McIlheran show their true colors when they try to make the two events comparable. Both of these fools show that they are the ultimate hypocrites. They preach about the value of human life, but then have the gall to take an old man shooting a security guard to death and say it is no worse than an old preacher shooting off his mouth.

Are they that frickin' desperate that they have to belittle a man's life just to defend their own built in hatred and bigotry? Simply unbelievable.

Others have noticed McIlheran's irresponsible comments as well.

Illy-T on the subject:

Nazism isn't a right-wing ideology. People only believe it is because the lefty New York Times told them so. Also because its full name is National Socialism. Therefore, James von Brunn is a liberal.

(McIlheran also appears oblivious to the fact that for right-wing kooks like von Brunn, "neocon" is synonymous with "Zionist.")

And Dan Cody (in a really must read post):

But that doesn’t stop McIlheran from picking up where they left off… with ellipses!

He manages to turn this story away from what it really is, a white supremacist anti-government nutjob who murdered an innocent man, and into a pro NRA diatribe that makes the same old tired jabs at liberals (New York Times!) that we all expect from Patrick. And as we’ve also come to expect from Pat, his incoherent rambling fails to land any of them.

There’s a place for constructive, intelligent conservative opinions in every paper, MJS included. McIlherans columns are none of those things however. They are simply a logically disjointed and poorly paraphrased version of what he saw on the Glen Beck show last night.

Wisconsin’s largest newspaper can, and should, do better.

Does McIlheran Have Memory Loss Or Is It Just Hypocrisy?

Poor old PaddyMac. He must have received a nasty bump on the head during his absence, and now is suffering memory loss. Either that, or it's just the same old hypocrisy from the right wing squawkers.

PaddyMac points out to a post from The Crusader, which is critical of some of the abhorrent comments left by the left regarding the passing of Tony Snow. And they are correct, to a degree. While I had no use for Snow while he was alive, I did not feel the need to disrespect him in his passing. And I also find some of the vulgar comments that they have highlighted as being rather distasteful and completely inappropriate.

However, when they seem to feel that the left has a corner on the market of distasteful hatred, Paddy seems to come up a wee bit short in the honesty department.

Perhaps he forgot about his good buddy Sykes had his COEXIST scandal, in which Charlie thought it was "brilliance" and "genius" to insult two out of three of the world's major religions. This bigoted behavior is something that Paddy himself had participated in as well.

Or perhaps Paddy has forgotten that he actually came to the defense of Peter, who had the peaceful, appropriate language of making threats towards another blogger, in the most base language available and who had compared Islam to Nazism. In fact, Paddy called Peter's bigoted, insulting and vulgar writings as "refreshingly caustic and pungent" and did not seem the least put off by these types of writings.

Memory loss or hypocrisy. Either way, I still can't figure out why this guy calls himself a professional.

How Are You Spending This Independence Day?

Most people will be gathering with friends and family for cookouts, picnics or just going down to the lakefront for Summerfest.

But not Sykes. Sykes is celebrating the birth of this country by mocking them furriners.

Yup, nothing says God Bless America or celebrating the creation of the "great melting pot" like making fun of those different than you.

A Poll

As I am trying to do some research, I foolishly have the radio on. James T. Harris is trying to do a fear and smear routine against Senator Barack Obama.

He is calling for people to sound off on whether he should continue to refer to the Senator at "the Chocolate Jesus." (It always struck me as highly hypocritical that a man that professes to be such a good Christian and puts all the blame on "not having God in your life," would not take the Bible seriously.)

Of course, his audience is not the most representative sampling of the people that one could hope for. So here is your opportunity to go ahead and let James know if you feel it's OK to do this or not. Just keep the comments appropriate folks, that's all I ask.

The Beat Keeps On

John Hagee has apologized to the Catholics for his anti-Catholic remarks. There is no word if this was due to a crusade or not. Either way, there are some on the right who feel that this takes the wind out of the pro-Obama camp, and that they will have to find a new talking point.

Not really.

Hagee's anti-Catholic remarks was just the tip of the iceberg for him. He has a whole slew of hits, including:

"Your daughter can get an abortion in public school without telling you but she
can't get an aspirin without your approval."

He also feels that Harry Potter is a precursor to witchcraft. Last time I checked, the Mathiases and friends haven't turned anyone into a toad, but if they can, I have a few suggestions for them.
And if Hagee is too boring for you, there is always another McCain supporter, the televangelist Rod Parsley, who brings in his own bit of foolishness to the McCain campaign:




H/T to BM

Redundant Repetition

McBride's now posted for the past three days.

Her post on Friday was slamming State Senator Spencer Coggs, an African American.

Her post yesterday was slamming Eugene Kane, also an African American.

Today, she touts her students, who won some prizes or something. She also congratulates them on doing some "cutting-edge journalism" on illegal immigrants.

Any bets that tomorrow will be about "Islamofacist terrorists?"

But rest assured, gentle reader. McBride has not lost her mastery of the English language. From today's gem (emphasis mine):

Some of my investigative reporting students at Frontpage Milwaukee have done a fine piece of investigative work revealing that 188 previously deported felons reoffended and ended up in the Milwaukee jail in the last few years. Some have...already reoffended. Again.

Isn't it nice to have her back again?

UPDATE: We have a second post for the day. Unfortunately, I was wrong. She went after another African American and a woman.

Hating the Hate Left

Yesterday, Other Side put up this post, expressing his views on how he feels the right side manufactures their viewpoints.

Sykes, exercising his right to selective outrage, replicates this post on his site. Before he pastes in Other Side's post, he leads this off with:

This is from a local left hate blog that prides itself, ironically, enough on 'exposing" insensitivities by conservatives in the media... I've reproduced the post in it's entirety....(except for editing the vulgarity.)

And, yes, they really do hate you.

I am curious how he comes to that conclusion. Perhaps he feels that anyone that would hold to his viewpoint, even though it often shifts in the win (like on McCain), is his enemy. The whole Bushlike "You're either with us, or you're against us" type of micrencephaly.

Too bad for Sykes, he waters down his own message. First, he never really explains what he is upset about. Secondly, he confuses the reader with his Left Hate phrase. I thought we were the Hate Left. Again, maybe he just can't make up his mind.

But to really weaken his message, he thinks we forgot about how he thought deriding and ridiculing the concept of peace was "brilliant" and "pure genius." Or how he acted the martyr when he was politely asked to take that truly offensive piece of garbage down, by such nefarious individuals like rabbis, priests and ministers.

But of course, Sykes should have been aware that if he was going to be acting indignant about Other Side's post, it probably would have been smart not to have just posted a racial joke just a few posts ahead of his hypocritical sanctimonious chicanery.

But the real thing that Sykes seems to forget, the key answer to his vile attempt to make something out of nothing, are the words of someone he knows and loves like no other: himself.

You’re offended? So what? No, really. So what?

Recurring Themes

Michael Savage is not a local right wing media squawker, but he is carried on WTMJ, home of the bellicose Charlie Sykes. There is also a recurring theme with TMJ airing people who excel in offensive, bigoted, hate speech. Whallah! is not the only one to notice this. From the Shepherd Express:

Syndicated right-wing radio host Michael Savage—whose program is aired late at night on WTMJ radio—is suing those who complain about his lunatic rants about Muslims. (Here's one example: "I don't wanna hear one more word about Islam. Take your religion and shove it up your behind. I'm sick of you.") While the free speech advocate is "complaining about others quoting him" in his lawsuit, as The New York Times points out, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) is asking for advertisers to pull their spots from Savage's show. But we've got to ask: Does WTMJ really want to create profits that are built on hatred? And does Milwaukee need bigots like Savage on our public airwaves?

Indeed, some good questions. Too bad they will never be answered.

More Coexisting, Sykes Style

Since reality and Charlie Sykes don't often agree, Charlie is forced to rely on cartoons to make whatever point he is trying to make.

Our own Kay takes a poor view of Charlie's taste in religious bigotry:

He put up one of the most offensive cartoons depicting Islamists [as in all Muslims that think government should have it's laws based on a religious book. Hmm, sound familiar?] as crazy, blood thirsty monsters wanting to behead all westerners. I wonder if he was really referring to Bush's good friends the Saudis? Ah, I'm thinking not really.

You can read the rest of Kay's rather direct post here. WARNING: This post may cause offense to conservatives that are also afraid of reality.

Choose Your Outrage

A multiple choice question: Which aspect of Charlie Sykes do you find the most outrageous?

A) His hubris
B) His avarice
C) His bigotry
D) His hypocrisy
E) That his hair doesn't move.

The answer is: Any of them.

Another outrageous thing that comes out of Sykes his is hatred of equality for all people. Anne Quimby Mathias points out the ridiculousness of Sykes' screed

Sorry, Charlie

Remember COEXIST?

As we all know, when Sykes got called out for posting the insulting and obscene version of the COEXIST bumper sticker, he was called on it by the Interfaith Alliance. Sykes, the tough guy hiding behind the skirts and deep pockets of TMJ, responded with this:

Your statement that suggests the parody is “comparing Jews to Nazis…” is beyond absurd, bordering on obscene. Or to use your own words, “unfortunate and ignorant.” There is, of course, no such comparison real or implied in McMahon’s parody. I am from a Jewish family: the parody is not an attack on Judaism… it is a critique of those who refuse to resist evil. If you don’t get that, shame on you.

You write: “Replacing the Star of David with the swastika is distasteful. I would expect that you are aware that switching these symbols is nothing new and is a tactic used by demonstrators around the world. It is always offensive.”

No, it is only offensive when it is specifically done to equate Judaism or Zionism with Nazism. Here it was done to replace the letter “X.” Context does matter if you are indeed interested in the truth.

It would have taken you only a matter of minutes to find out that over the years I have consistently spoken out against anti-Semitism and have been a strong supporter of Israel. I’m not sure if there is anyone on this media market who has been more outspoken on either issue.

And remember how Jon Schweitzer, general manager said that he was OK with this bit of bigotry.

Well, in the words of the commercial, "Sorry Charlie". You're still wrong.

The Shepherd Express covers the story and gets the opinion of someone who might have a little better insight into the issue than Charlie

Paula Simon, executive director of the Milwaukee Jewish Council for Community Relations and Milwaukee Jewish Federation, said that changing the Star of David to a swastika crossed the line. In fact, she said, similar changes are regularly made in anti-Semitic propaganda, and the substitution provokes something deeper than mere discussion. She said that while she supports a free exchange of ideas, WTMJ "has some responsibility to set some standards. There are some limits."

The Shepherd continues with these thoughts:

Sykes is still flogging his blog uproar, perhaps delighted in feeling at least somewhat relevant, even if it is at the expense of two of the world's major religions. But we have to ask: At the same time President Bush is bringing together leaders from the Mideast for a peace conference—including those from Saudi Arabia, home to the majority of 9/11 attackers, as well as Syria, Palestine and Israel—must Sykes inflame bigotry for ratings as the enlightened world passes him by?

A Bad Day for McIlheran

The local right wing media sure like to strut their pseudo-machismo, with all sorts of blustery opining to show that they're real tough guys.

But unlike the local right wing media, our own Brew City Brawler has earned his moniker. He works out much harder than Charlie and Patrick together. You see, where those two consider supporting evidence to be a link to another conservative blogger's site, Brawler is a well read man that actually purveys the news sources and actually reads books that he hasn't written himself.

Yes, the mighty Brawler is a fine specimen of intellectual fitness, and he knows how to use it.
In a post he did today, Brawler gives McIlheran a one-two punch that I don't think the intellectual lightweight will quickly recover from.

The Brawler points out how the Vatican and Iran are working on establishing a common ground to work from. In other words, the Holy See, home of the Catholic Church to which McIlheran belongs, and the heathen Islamists are actually learning to coexist. Brawler delivers a sharp left jab with this:

Indeed, while home to a relatively small Christian minority, Iran is seen at the Vatican as a key player in the broader context of inter-faith relations. Religious experts say that Catholicism and Shi'a Islam have a surprisingly similar structure and approach to their different faiths. "What you have in Iran is a strong academic tradition, with both philosophical and mystical aspects — in many ways like Catholicism," says Father Daniel Madigan, a Jesuit scholar of islam, and a member of the Vatican's commission for religious relations with Islam who helped arrange for Khatami's visit. There is also a clerical hierarchy in Shi'ism that is absent in other forms of Islam. Madigan notes that Iranians have long studied other cultures and religions. "They know their Western stuff," he said. "Right now, they're isolated because of sanctions, but they really do want to interact with the world." And Rome is one place the interaction has already begun.

In the very same post, the Brawler delivers the right in a knock-out punch with this:

In 2003, then serving as a senior Vatican Cardinal, the current Pope was firmly behind John Paul II's opposition to the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. Indeed, many in Rome cite parallels between the current push from American hardliners to confront Iran and the walkup to the war in Iraq. "The Holy See hasn't forgotten what happened in Iraq," says one Vatican insider. "Seeing how that situation has developed, there is great, great prudence on the part of the Holy See. The judgment shown on Iraq weighs on the Iran situation."

The sound you hear is McIlheran hitting the mat for the 10 count.

But all is not lost for McIlheran. If he would recover from the beating at the hands of Brawler, and decides he's not so macho after all, and wants to give up journalism, Mike Mathias has a suggestion for a new career for him-waterboard guinea pig.

Merry COEXISTmas

The ever astute Brew City Brawler has noticed a certain pattern among the conservative bloggers such as Sykes, McIlheran and their sycophants regarding the COEXIST issue. Namely, he has noticed that there is a certain amount of disdain and contempt for the philosophy of peace and those that would promote it, including words like smug (the most repeated), snarky and condescending, to name just a few.

But now that the Yuletide season is upon us, it occurred to me that I had heard a message of peace before. Ah yes, it was in the Bible. Let us go with Luke 2:13-14, shall we:

13And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,

14Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

I wonder what they also would think of Isaiah 9:6:

6For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

Now, do you suppose Charlie, Jessica and Patrick, those great defenders of Christianity, would consider an angel to be snarky, or that God is a smug, little twerp? No wonder they're always so angry, they can't even figure out what they believe in.

Plaisted Writes

Plaisted Writes about l'Affaire de Sykes. Here is an excerpt:

Sykes’ response to the Council was remarkable for its smug sense of pretended outrage and disrespect for the Interfaith Council’s usually uncontroversial membership of reverends, rabbis and priests. Playing the "I come from a Jewish family" card, Sykes waxes indignant about the letter’s accurate description of the parody and the Council’s more-than-legitimate complaint that putting a swastika in the place of a Star of David as particularly offensive. He repeatedly calls the Council members "ignorant", accuses them of "bullying" and even summons up a self-righteous "shame on you". As such recklessly offensive wing-nuts always do when they get caught, Sykes wants to pose for holy pictures on the subject of anti-Semitism. "I have consistently spoken out against anti-Semitism and have been a strong supporter of Israel," and blah blah blah. Well, when it’s convenient for him anyway. He also slings more than a little straw-man mud, calling the Council to task because they supposedly failed to protest "this particular tactic when it has been used by the left," without mentioning that such a thing has never happened.

But Sykes’ primary point in his written response and during the long woe-is-me blabbering on his radio show on Wednesday appears to be that his posting of offensive nonsense on his vanity blog is a "flagrant act of free speech" and he gets to do it and you can’t stop him and na-na-na-boo-boo. "It is free speech that provokes more free speech," he says from his imaginary moral mountaintop. Except when someone disagrees with him, of course. Sykes and his ilk are more than willing to use whatever bully tactics they can to shut down speech at a festival in San Francisco that dares to be held near a Catholic church or to demand that professors who get out of line be fired.

Aw, poor Charlie – for all of his sanctimonious posturing about what anyone else might say, he is so put out by anyone who would dare hold him (or his employer) responsible for his own stupid statements. He declares the Council’s request as an attempt at censorship, conveniently forgetting that only governments censor. There is nothing wrong with concerned citizens who are understandably offended by the in-your-face dancing wing-nuts to ask their employers to get a grip and to avoid unnecessary offense.

You can read the rest here.

Here's A Reminder

Now that we have stuffed ourselves with turkey, and survived another holiday weekend, it's back to work and school. But in between trying to catch up on the stuff that piled up over the long weekend, please make sure to take time and let TMJ know your feelings about l'affaire de Sykes, and that religious bigotry is not controversial, but an inappropriate action from a media outlet.

Here is the contact information:

Jon Schweitzer
Vice President/General Manager
Phone: 414-967-5521
E-mail: jschweitzer@journalbroadcastgroup.com

Just remember to be polite, otherwise Mr. Schweitzer might think your applying for a job as a talk show host.