Reclaiming Our Airwaves: Squawk Radio =/= Bona Fide News

Just over a year ago, I told the gentle reader that the Media Action Center had gathered enough evidence to show that squawk radio channels WTMJ-AM 620 and WISN-AM 1130  had violated the Zapple Doctrine, a federal law that requires radio stations to give both sides of a political race equal time for at least the last 60 days prior to an election.

In November, based on the station's violations of the law and refusal to correct their illegal behavior, the Media Action Center filed a legal challenge to the renewal of the license for WTMJ-AM.

After a lot of dinking around by the FCC, including claims of having not received the challenge and/or not being able to find it, things started to proceed.

WTMJ's attorneys responded that they did not violate the law, claiming that the likes of Charlie Sykes and Jeff Wagner are bona fide news sources, like Walker Cronkite and Douglas Edwards.  As "bona fide" news sources, the lawyers contended that they were immune to the Zapple Doctrine, so that they could cover fundraisers and late breaking events.

Sue Wilson, Director of the Media Action Center, responded to the lawyers' claims in a press release:

Media Action Center filed a petition late in 2012 with the FCC to deny the license because, during the Scott Walker recall campaign, WTMJ's Jeff Wagner and Charlie Sykes shows were proven to have given as much as a half a million dollars in free airtime to supporters of Republican Governor Scott Walker. The station specifically denied comparable time to supporters of his Democratic opponent, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett.

The FCC's quasi-equal opportunities rule (Zapple Doctrine) states that broadcasters must give supporters of both major party candidates comparable airtime. Only "bonafide news" programs are exempt so they can cover candidates' events in real time.

"Bonafide news programs are specifically not allowed to politic for candidates," says Media Action Center Director Sue Wilson. "Now is our one chance to make a stand for journalism. The FCC has a duty to the public to draw a clear line between news and opinion.

"If the FCC does not draw a clear line, radio talkers from Charlie Sykes to Rush Limbaugh will be equated with newsmen like Walter Cronkite, and listeners will lose any hope of ferreting out fact from fiction," Wilson added.

I would point out that anyone that thinks Charlie Sykes is a bona fide news source is themselves a bona fide crackpot.

Sykes is nothing more than a megatroll. Sykes has been caught libeling innocent people and then whining about being forced to act like an adult.  Sykes' libel was so egregious that he had almost lost his job.  WTMJ wanted to fire him, but ironically, Sykes went crying to the union which saved his worthless but and allowed him to keep his job.

Even more damning is Sykes' own admission to how bona fide his reporting is (emphasis mine):

When we asked Sykes for support for his claim -- a standard first stop in the items we do -- he quickly backed off.

"The only politically connect(ed) hack I know is going is Jim Doyle (and maybe some of the regents)," Sykes wrote in an e-mail that he also posted on his SykesWrites blog. "My ‘evidence’? Absolutely none."

Sykes went on to label his remark "an off-hand wisecrack" -- "You know, humor, hyperbole, joke."

So he makes up stories out of his arse, and then calls his libelous statements as humor and as a joke.  Yet somehow we are to believe that he is a bona fide news source.

The Media Action Center, working with MoveOn.Org has launched a petition drive for public support.  Their drive is called  "Tell the FCC: Talk Radio is NOT Bonafide News!"

Please sign their petition and get your friends and family to sign on so that we can start reclaiming our airwaves.

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.

Sykes Writes, No One Cares

Ah, yes, Charlie Sykes, renowned author and Pulitzer Prize nominee.

Just look at how popular he is at a book event in Madison, courtesy of Scot Ross:

Y'know, maybe that is a typo.  It looks more like Sykes is a Putz Prize Nominee.

Also, any bets that one of those two people is his producer and the other one is someone he paid to be there?

H/T Jeff Simpson

Charlie Sykes: Torn Between Two Liars, Looking Like A Fool

Yesterday, I wrote a fairly comprehensive expose on the biggest lies told by Brian Sikma and his propagandist group, Media Trackers.

I pointed out that Sikma outdid himself when he came out with the false story of a Republican volunteer who claimed to be savagely beaten. Sikma even went so far as to repeat his libelous lies on the Charlie Sykes show. Despite it being an obvious hoax, Sikma swore up and down that he verified all the facts and stood by his report.

Brian Sikma

That is, he stood by his story until it became unraveled and he had to admit that it wasn't true. But even then, he lied again, trying to put all the blame on the fake victim and ignoring his own boasting of how he verified his supposed facts.

Because of his scurrilous attacks on an innocent man, he has put himself in line for a possible libel lawsuit that could cost him and Media Trackers a lot of money. Even James Wigderson had to admit that Sikma could be in a world of hurt because of his reckless behavior.

Charlie Sykes did not hesitate to throw Sikma under the bus in order to try to salvage his own reputation:

Then came Media Trackers which claimed it had hard evidence, in the form of a lengthy transcript of graphic and obscene threats against Woods, which they attributed to Pocan's gay partner. If true -- and if MT could verify the information -- the story was a potential game changer. But...

On yesterday's show, I expressed skepticism about the story and asked Brian Sikma how he knew this was not a hoax -- specifically noting the pattern we've seen elsewhere -- and how he had "verified" the now-discredited text messages. Sikma cited multiple sources who had "verified" the texts.

But despite his "sources," obviously the text messages had not been verified, because they were fake.

The group issued this statement last night:

Media Trackers regrets that we were repeatedly lied to and misled. We regret that our readers were subject to the dishonest claims of a dishonest individual. Despite the best efforts to verify the accuracy and integrity of certain claims, a cover-up sometimes works. Those who create and maintain such fabrications deserve to be ruthlessly exposed for they hold the power to destroy the credibility of innocent people.

**

Unfortunately, that's not really good enough.

The ultimate responsibility for the lies and deception rests with Kyle Wood; but it was unacceptably sloppy to run with the unsubstantiated story.

But if Sykes thinks that he's out of the woods by dogging out Sikma, he's sorely mistaken.

Let me explain.

My colleague, Jeff Simpson, already pointed out that Christian Schneider*, aka Atomic Pantload, had also done his own bit of trouble with this story.

Christian Schneider

When it came out that the story was a lie, Schneider first put a single line way at the bottom of the post updating people that the story had been recanted. No apologies, no explanations about his role in it, just that one line.

Then suddenly, the story went poof into cyberspace. In it's place, Schneider came out with a new post, utterly changing his story:

Earlier today, I wrote a lengthy post about this Daily Caller story that detailed an alleged attack of a gay GOP campaign staffer in Dane County.

From what I now understand, there are some questions about some details that appeared in the original story, which I quoted at length. As a result, I decided to hold off on running the post until I can verify some of the facts that have been reported.

-Management

Whoa! So Schneider is part of MJS management now?

Note how he indicates the story on the same day he wrote it? I wonder how he explains Jeff using that post this morning, days after Schneider wrote the original post.

Schneider then did a follow up post again repeating his alleged skepticism:

When I first heard the story, I wanted to write about it, but I questioned some of the details in the original Daily Caller story. So I took down my original blog post and began making attempts to talk to Wood himself to get more details.

On Saturday afternoon, Wood and I talked for around a half hour. He was very pleasant. He sounded calm and credible, adding details to already published reports of the incident. I was always aware that there was still a question as to whether the incident actually happened, which is why I titled the post in the form of a question. But to me, his story at least seemed plausible. I wanted to give him the chance to tell it it public.

As it turns out, my original skepticism was well-founded. It is still unclear as to how much of Wood's story took place, if any at all. He clung to his story until today at 3:52, when I received an e-mail from him verifying a detail in my blog post about him. At that point, he said he would no longer be speaking to the media. Presumably, he recanted his story to the police shortly thereafter.

Huh? Now he's saying that he spoke to Wood on Saturday, after he posted his original story? And now he's claiming to be a reporter? I don't know which is the bigger fallacy, the story or that claim.

Schneider obviously thinks he's safe to say what he wants since no one can know what he originally wrote, as that he had deleted it.

Oh,Schneider is such a silly man. Even before I could get online, a thoughtful friend and already sent me the link to his original post, via Google Cache. I ask you, gentle reader, does this really look like the post of a person filled with skepticism and doubt, or of a man who hadn't already interviewed the alleged victim?

Beaten for being a gay Republican? An interview with Kyle Wood

By Christian Schneider
Oct. 28, 2012

At 7:00 last Wednesday morning, Kyle Wood was just one of thousands of campaign staffers strewn throughout the country, making phone calls and knocking on doors for candidates on the ballot in November. But an hour later, Wood was lying on the floor of his apartment, covered in blood, having been the victim of a beating he believes was politically motivated.

Wood, 29, who is volunteering for Republican Chad Lee in a Madison-area congressional race, believes the attack was punishment for “betraying” his fellow gays. “My feeling, based on the statements that were made [during the attack], it probably had something to do with the fact that I support a Republican candidate running against an openly gay man,” Wood told me. “And as a gay man, I’m supposed to support that gay man. And I don’t. “ (Lee is running against openly gay Democratic State Assemblyman Mark Pocan.)"

The whole story seems to be rather self-assured and the work of a two-bit hack that was trying to score some cheap political points, even if it meant smearing and libeling an innocent man.

It makes me wonder if Schneider and MJS are also going to be liable to a libel lawsuit.

But this is where Sykes has got himself a problem.

Schneider is a "Senior Fellow" at the Wisconsin Policy Research Institute, yet another right wing propaganda group funded by the Bradley Foundation, as well as a member of ALEC.

Sykes is Schneider's editor there.

Charlie Sykes

If Sykes wants to be consistent, he's going to have to point out that Schneider told a lie as egregious, if not worse, than the one Sikma told. Then he's going to have to decide whether he can use Schneider's work anymore.

And if Sykes doesn't want to hold Schneider to the same level of accountability, he's going to have to explain why not. Would it be because Schneider is a higher caliber hack and liar?

I have no clue what Sykes will do.

In fact, I'm a little surprised that Sykes even called Sikma out on his garbage. Sykes doesn't have an issue with telling lies himself. Every time that PolitiFact has checked his statements, he has been caught with his pants on fire. And when he is confronted with his lies, Sykes readily admits it:

"My ‘evidence’? Absolutely none."

Sykes went on to label his remark "an off-hand wisecrack" -- "You know, humor, hyperbole, joke."

Which brings us to the same question I asked yesterday:

My question is, given how often so many of them have been proven to be dishonest - whether on their own volition or by feeding off of stories from people like Sikma - how can anyone believe what any one of the right wing propagandists, bloggers and squawkers?

*Not to be confused with the other Christian Schneider, though how the mistake could be made is pretty obvious.

Cross posted at Cog Dis.

Sykes Laments Hurricane Sandy

For the past 75 minutes, radio squawker Charlie Sykes has been lamenting the Frankenstorm, Hurricane Sandy.

But he as not been decrying the danger it poses for the millions and millions of people living in its path.

He's complaining but the storm will dominate the news instead of focusing on his trumped up conspiracy theories regarding Libya.

Nice to see that the GOP and their mouthpiece have their priorities in line.

John Stewart vs Charlie Sykes

Charlie Sykes has been pushing his latest book, "A Nation of Moochers"*  a lot lately. Apparently sales of a condescending, boorish and elitist squawker's book aren't going well in an economy where no one has money.

John Stewart makes a great observation regarding this:

The sad part is Sykes wouldn't understand Stewart's point.

*When I first saw the title, I thought Sykes was writing about his relationship to the collective backside of WISGOP.

Happy Anniversary, You Crazy Kids!

While most Americans will be remember the auspicious anniversary of the attack on the Twin Towers in New York City, today is another anniversary without quite the solemness of the more common remembrance.

You see, it was on this date, five years before the terrorist attack, that Charlie Sykes, who was married to Justice Diane Sykes at the time, was caught shooting off fireworks with Janet Riorden, aka Liz Woodhouse, aka Mrs. Sykes III.

And yet Mr. Family Man would try to tell us how to lead a good righteous life...

Sykes' Field Of Dishonor

Young Meg wrote at Cog Dis about her experience at this past weekends Field of Honor, an event to honor the World War II vets. Unfortunately, one man ruined the event:

So, when Charlie Sykes, who, to his credit, helped raise a lot of money for the program, came up to speak, I didn't really think much of it. I clapped, out of respect and gratitude for his help. Mr. Sykes started his speech out by reading a letter that was very kind, and very thoughtful. I liked it, and when he explained that the person who wrote it wasn't able to attend the night's events, I thought it was because it was someone currently serving. Instead, it turned out it was written by Paul Ryan. Normally, this wouldn't have offended me, as he is a member of congress from our state. However, this was different. Mitt Romney had just announced Ryan as his VP nominee earlier that day, and Sykes thought this was an appropriate time to start his campaigning for him. He just couldn't wait.

Needless to say, I was offended and incredibly angry that Charlie Sykes decided that this was the time to campaign for his hero. Scott Walker also spoke at the opening event, and he didn't say anything political. He kept his words short and sweet. How come Sykes couldn't have done the same? Doesn't he have any respect for that fact that not everyone believes in his backwards conservative ideology? And what does Paul Ryan know (or care) about veteran's issues? He wants to take away Medicare, first of all. That effects all the veterans sitting in those seats! He's the guy whose budget plan would strip billions away from veteran's services. Housing, education, jobs, medical care and the VA - money gone. The poverty rate among our returning veterans, and especially veterans of the Vietnam War (you know, that war Mitt Romney, Paul Ryan's running mate, fought like hell to avoid serving in?) is incredibly high. You know how Republicans say that all those who use welfare are just lazy, disgusting people? Yeah, not even. It's a large percentage of veterans who utilize those services. VETERANS! Republicans use 'em for their wars, then dump 'em when they get home. Slapping a "I support the troops" bumper sticker on your SUV isn't enough. Support the funding of veterans programs and vote for politicians who will make sure they are taken care of when they come home.

Sadly, this isn't uncommon. Republicans seem to have an affinity of using veterans as political pawns.

Dumbing Down Our Airwaves

by Bert
I'd like to bring up for a moment another part, besides those four overworked words "you didn't build that", that was also there in the speech President Obama delivered in Roanoke on July 13: 

And what this reminded me of was that, at the heart of this country, its central idea is the idea that in this country, if you’re willing to work hard, if you’re willing to take responsibility, you can make it if you try. 

Compare that with how Charlie Sykes described on his WTMJ radio show on Friday what Obama said: 

That [conservative] vision encourages and celebrates – listen to this -- character, independence, energy, hard work as the foundations of a free society and a thriving economy. Those were exactly the qualities that Barack Obama in that Virgina speech was mocking.

There are other places besides my excerpt from Obama's speech where the president  praises hard work and what it will earn a person in America. Of course, there is no where in his talk at all where you find hard work, energy, character, puppies, mom, etc. mocked by the president.

Sykes obviously knows this. But the approach of his program is often less than honest, and I guess he can't trust the listeners to turn against Obama based only on what Obama actually says and means. Instead, Sykes would rather insult the intelligence of his audience.

On second thought, scratch "insult". Maybe the better word here is "mock". 

The Cap Times Tells A Joke

The impeccable Emily Mills brought to my attention that the Cap Times issued a mild reprimand to Charlie Sykes and the way he is still trying to besmirch the ongoing Walkergate investigation. Sykes has been after the investigation in earnest since he was outed as falsely claiming there were leaks coming from the Milwaukee District Attorney's Office when he damn well knew that the "leaks" were the defendants and their attorneys, since he's been the recipient of some of these leaks. In said reprimand, they slipped in a little joke (emphasis mine):

What we hope is that Sykes, whom we have respected as a serious and important commentator (even if we do not always agree with him) will be a bit more respectful of Chisholm and his investigators.

What an odd line to throw in there.

First, there is the fact that Sykes often has Brian Fraley on as a guest to his radio and TV shows, and uses the effluence spewed from the propagandist group MacIver Institute as "proof" of whatever point he is trying to make. Yet the Cap Times doesn't think that the MacIverites are necessarily serious or important commentators.

And Sykes is the same squawker who thinks making inferences that the Milwaukee County Executive, Chris Abele, is a pedophile is hilarious.

And who could possibly seriously take Sykes who openly admits to making stuff up without a stitch of evidence.

Calling Sykes a serious and important commentator is almost as big as a joke as Sykes is.

Cross posted at Cog Dis.

Watch Sykes' Head Implode Along With His Ego

Not only was Charlie Sykes not named Best Morning Show in Wisconsin by the Wisconsin Broadcasters Association, but that honor went to the one guy that Sykes hates even more than he hates me, John "Sly" Sylvester.

Just another disappointment since he first realized that he's not going to win a Pulitzer Prize either.

Oh, I can't wait to listen to him whine about this as he tries to hide Walker's poop dumping problem.

Where's Charlie Sykes' Page Now?

Earlier in the year, Charlie Sykes, squawking head at WTMJ-AM, showed that he, at long last, has shown that he has no sense of decency when he sent out a most vulgar tweet inferring that Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele was some sort of pedophile.

In his vulgarity, Sykes tweeted that he was paging another squawking head at the radio station, John Mecure, who's claim for fame is sensationalizing stories and pretending he's busting child pornography sexual predators.

But it appears that Sykes' little paging system is busted.

It has been recently reported that Phil Wentzel, a top aide - even once as high as spokesman - for Sheriff David Clarke, has been arrested for creating child pornography.  The arrest stems from nearly a year's investigation into Wentzel.

Even worse, even though Clarke put Wentzel on leave, it's with pay.

Now that there is an high ranking county staff person who is a sexual predator, Sykes is silent.  So is Mecure for that matter.

Is Sykes' silence on this serious issue because he is buddy buddy with the ultraconservative nut job of a sheriff?

Or is it that Sykes thinks sexual abuse of minors is something that should only be joked about, especially using a liberal as a foil?

PolitiFarce Gets Recalled

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, part of the largest corporate media blocs in the state, is, oh so proud of their PolitiFact, even though it misses more than it hits.

But I don't know what good it does anyone, since it is so skewed so often.

Take for instance, the issue of how many recall signatures were turned in.

The recallers claimed that it was more than one million signatures.  The GAB said that the actual number was 931,042.  That would mean that the recallers were off by a 7%.  For this, PolitiFarce gave them a "false" rating.

And that's it.  They didn't check out any other single claim that was flying around out there regarding the recalls.

For if they had, they might have found that the MacIver (Anything but a) News Service and the teahadists that were hosting the "Verify the Recall' McCarthyism revival were lying through their teeth when they claimed that a third of the signatures were invalid.  In reality, it was about one thirtieth.

If they had look further, they might have heard Charlie Sykes echoing these ridiculous claims.  They could have given him yet another "Pants on Fire" rating to go with his collection. (And it's not lost on me that Sykes has never been found to be telling the truth.)

If they looked even minimally, they would have found Sykes' pal, Jeff Wagner, who predicted the final number would be around 600,000 and sometimes predicted that the recall would fail outright.  Wagner was off by almost 50%, but he doesn't even warrant a mention.

They could have looked at Vicki McKenna and the Koch-sponsored Wisconsin Reporter who claimed that someone forged her name on a recall petition.  Yet according to their own Verify the Recall database, neither her professional name or her real name appear.  That would put them at 100% off.  But PolitiFarce won't even give them a smoldering ember much less a pants on fire.

The excuse that it was too hard to look around doesn't hold water either.  They could have just looked at their own bloody paper and found that they were off by five times the actual number of invalid signatures.  Maybe they could torch their own pants?

But since PolitiFarce chose not to look at the other side of the guessing game, I'll give them a rating:  Corporate Media:

Cross posted at Cog Dis.

Charlie Sykes The Misogynist

Charlie Sykes, the mouthpiece for WISGOP, just ended a tirade against his favorite Republican presidential candidate, Rick Santorum.  Santorum earned the wrath of Sykes because he said that as president, he would ban pornography.

Sykes stated that he thought the move was wrong, yelling things like:

"Keep your hands off my Internet! Keep your hands off my movies! Keep your hands off the books I read!"

This is the same Sykes that didn't have a problem with the GOP-controlled state legislature invading women uteri and telling them that they don't have a right to decide what happens to their own bodies.

I really can't tell which is more outrageous, his hypocrisy or his misogyny.

Sykes' Hypocrisy Regarding Breitbart's Death

Last week, one of the most acerbic of the right wing's heroes, Andrew Breitbart died.

Breitbart was not a nice person.  Some of his claims to infamy included selectively editing videotape in order to defame Shirley Sherrod, saying "F%*$ you!" to union leaders, and telling Wisconsinites to got to hell because they wanted freedom and equality.

Sadly predictable, when Breitbart died, some people let loose a stream at vitriol as one last shot at the memory of this caustic person.

Even more sadly predictable, the hypocritical Charlie Sykes has tried to make hay out of this.

Actually, for Sykes to try to make something out of this is doubly hypocritical.

First of all, should anyone really expect Breitbart to be granted respect when he wouldn't show any respect when the late Senator Ten Kennedy passed away?

Secondly, Sykes should be keeping his mouth shut about anyone's comments when he has yet to even apologize for inferring that Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele is a pedophile.

Charlie Sykes, WTMJ Double Down On Libelous Tweet

About ten days ago, we reported about how Charlie Sykes went beyond the pale and made the inference that Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele was a pedophile.

This was brought to the attention of Abele's office and to the Democratic Party.

The Democratic Party took this offense seriously and sent a letter to Steve Wexler, Executive Vice President of the Journal Broadcast Group. In the letter, their outrage at this libel was expressed as well as giving that Sykes receive some sort of punishment, such as suspension or termination, for his vulgarity.

Wexler responded back in an unfortunate, but entirely predictable, manner:

Thank you for sharing your concern with me about a "tweet" by Charlie Sykes that you felt was inappropriate.

I've reviewed your letter and don't agree with your conclusion.

By the way, I am well aware of John Mercure's background, since he has worked for our stations for years, both on TV and as host of our afternoon radio news program.

Best regards,

Steve Wexler
Executive Vice President
Journal Broadcast Group
720 E. Capitol Dr.
Milwaukee, WI
53212

Direct Line: (414) 967-5205
Direct Fax: (414) 967-5596

swexler@jrn.com
Twitter: @wextmj

Sykes addressed this on his radio show. Or more appropriately, danced all around this issue. But even when asked directly what he meant by that tweet, Sykes refused to answer the question.

We cant' expect Sykes, or WTMJ's management, to do the proper thing on their own. They don't have the integrity or the honor to do so.

Perhaps it's time to take the same action that has Rush Limbaugh and Clear Channel sweating like the pigs they are. The only way to get their attention and get them to do the right thing is to go after the only thing they care about, their money.

I think it also may be time to drop a line to Sue Wilson and the Media Action Center.

Sykes Goes Beyond The Pale With Pedophilia Tweet

Last week, Charlie Sykes again took things beyond the pale with one of the most irresponsible tweets anyone has ever tweeted:

For those that aren't aware of the significance of this, John Mercure is the late afternoon squawker on WTMJ radio.  Before he became a squawker, he was a "reporter" for TMJ's TV station and was known for sensationalizing stories and specializing in child sexual predators.*  He was also well know for taking things too far himself.

The question is: What is Sykes' intent with this post?

If he was serious, he might have opened himself and Journal Communications up to a large slander lawsuit.  Even though Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele is a public figure, and thus open to getting slammed more than a private citizen, the law does put limitations on what a person can say about them.  Accusations and inferences of being a child sexual predator goes a long way over the line.

If Sykes was "just kidding," it shows what a sick little man he is that he considers pedophilia to be something joked about.

Now, I am no fan of Abele's, and I have often offered up criticism of his Walkeresque approach to leading the county and his attempts to turn Milwaukee County into a plutocracy for himself and his rich friends, but this inference by Sykes goes beyond the pale.

Sykes needs to offer a public apology and his employer better look at if they need to take further actions to protect themselves from this liability.

*Even though Mercure styled himself as a crime-fighting reporter worried about kids' safety, he won't even talk about Brian Pierick, the Walker crony who has been charged with child enticement.

PolitiFact's Two-For-One And Why Is Sykes Still On The Air?

PolitiFact, the hit and miss "fact checking" product in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel gives Scott Walker a "Pants On Fire" rating for falsely blaming Governor Jim Doyle for one of Tommy Thompson's taxpayer's cash giveaway:

Facing a near-certain recall election, Walker that day used his Twitter account to highlight the story as a failure of the previous administration, that of Democrat Jim Doyle. (Other tweets included the fact he stopped for ham and rolls after church.)

His tweet: "Headline ‘State spends millions for 202 jobs’, missed rest of sentence:, ‘under program approved by Gov Doyle.’"

In other words, the poor performing program was created under Doyle. And that’s where the blame should fall, Walker says.

Did Doyle approve the plan?

The legislation creating the program was introduced in 1997 and passed and signed into law the following year -- not by Democrat Doyle, but by then-Gov. Tommy Thompson, a fellow Republican now running for a U.S. Senate vacancy.

Doyle didn’t take office until 2003, five years after the CAPCO bill was signed.

Indeed, the proposal had bipartisan support. It was authored by Democratic state Sen. Gwen Moore, now a congresswoman from Milwaukee. Among the 89 members of the state Assembly who voted in favor of the bill March 25, 1998: Walker himself.

But the go on to write how Charlie Sykes, Milwaukee radio squawker, took this from Walker and ran with it, even though he knew it to be false:

Walker’s tweet gained a broader audience the following day. WTMJ radio talk show host Charlie Sykes picked up on the topic and in a three minute segment linked Doyle to the CAPCO program five times. He called it "a Jim Doyle idea," and said the program was "one of Jim Doyle’s signature venture capital bills."

In an email, Sykes acknowledged that the program was created under Thompson. And he pointed out that Walker had tweeted on the subject the day before.

Sykes whined about it on the radio and sniveled about it on his blog, but not once did he even come close to apologizing for misleading his listeners or bothering to correct his lie. If anything, he doubles down on his dishonesty by mewling that Doyle wasn't mentioned enough in the original article, even though he just acknowledged it had nothing to do with Doyle.

Why Sykes is still on the air despite openly lying about things, and admitting he is lying, is simply beyond me. But it goes to show why a person can't believe anything that comes from corporate media shills like Sykes.

Something Else Sykes Won't Be Talking About

Last week, Charlie Sykes was so excited you could hear the spittle hitting the microphone as he squawked about Mike Tate, head of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin going to Chicago to talk to someone about something or other.  He was going on and on about dirty Chicago politics and the such.

I highly doubt that he's gonna be squawking about that now that Walker has hired two attorneys as he gets ready to meet with John Doe investigators.  One of Walker's attorneys is from Chicago and the other's father made his name representing mob boss Frank Balistrieri.

Sykes probably also won't talk about how he's named in one of the criminal complaints stemming from Walkergate.

He'll probably just do what he's done every day for the past two weeks: Whine about DA John Chisolm and about yours truly.

The Right's Questionable Tactics

The right wing media has been beside themselves for the last couple of weeks.  What got their dander up is Ian Murphy had been traveling the state a few weeks ago to help encourage and reinvigorate recall volunteers in the last few weeks of the signature gathering phase.

Media Trackkkers did a story about Murphy.  Christian Schneider, paid propagandist, did a story.  (By the way, would some tell Schneider that Scott Walker did indeed meet with the Koch brothers?)  Sykes not only posted Schneider's article, but has been ranting about this and little else to his remaining 4.3 listeners.

Their collective faux outrage stems from the fact that Murphy wrote a piece years ago railing against the worst parts of war, things like what happened in Abu Graib.

But that is not what they are upset about.

What they are upset about is that Murphy is the guy who imitated David Koch last year in a phone call to Walker and showed Walker's true corrupt nature.

I don't know.  I could be quite wrong about this, but I wouldn't thing it's generally a good idea to keep drawing attention to the guy who naturally reminds everyone about that phone call and thus Walker's corruption.

But that stategy could explain why Walker's popularity numbers are so low and falling lower by the day. Maybe instead of criticizing these people, we should be thanking them for making our jobs that much easier.