Kane Trumps McIlheran

On October 26, Patrick McIlheran posted on his blog that Council President Willie Hines was ready to run for mayor, regardless of whether Barrett wins or not on Tuesday.

Only thing is, it's not true.

Eugene Kane does what McIlheran only wishes he could do, which is practice actual journalism. Kane actually spoke to Hines to see what's up. He learned this:

It was reassuring to learn Hines isn't planning to announce a new campaign just as most voters are suffering fatigue from the latest round of political warfare. But the fact Hines plans to run for mayor of Milwaukee - whether Barrett wins Tuesday or not - is probably the worst-kept secret in political circles in Milwaukee.

In true conservative fashion, McIlheran deleted his post, without as much as a mea culpa or an "Oopsie, I screwed up again."

Perhaps if the powers that be at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel weren't so busy trying to help run Scott Walker's campaign, they could get around to replacing McIlheran with a real journalist, or at least offer Kane a bonus to tutor the poor man on how to be what he claims to be.

Tip of the crown to James Rowen.

Quotable

Eugene Kane, via Twitter:

Some people don't realize there have been US supreme court justices who have never been judges. Maybe FOX News forgot to tell them that?

Now, That Is Some Real Sunday Insight

Charlie Sykes has his weekly TV propaganda show he calls "Sunday Insight" but should really just be called "Sunday Incite," since it is nothing more than Chuckles and some of his closest buddies, like James "I own my women" Harris and Preview Patrick McIlheran doing a political singalong.

For a while, Chuckles and Milwaukee Journal Sentinel columnist Eugene Kane had a little spat. It was little since Kane mostly ignored Sykes, who just mostly bloviates any way. But Kane knew how to get his licks in as well.

I think Sykes' problem is one more of jealousy of Kane's skill with the written word than anything else.

Kane again shows his mastery and real insight with his column from today's paper. It deals with the subject of incest, spawned by the recent revelations of actress McKenzie Phillips. The insight, and mastery of the written word is shown at the end of Kane's column:

I've covered organizations that deal with these issues and have talked with counselors who described sexual abuse by a trusted relative or friend as a powerful dynamic that shatters lives. Given that, I probably shouldn't have been so quick to dismiss Phillips' claims.

If she were a man claiming to have been abused decades ago by a priest, I suspect people as a whole would have been more empathetic.

My lesson learned is that tolerance means more than just accepting the fact we are all different people in terms of race, age and gender. It also means giving the proper respect to someone else's experiences.

My initial response to the Phillips' story by saying "TMI" prevented me from realizing it really wasn't too much information for people who have managed to weather the storm but still need support. I still fail to see how talking about it on Oprah helps Phillips heal, but I really don't have to.

Her words may help others deal with the same darkness, which I suppose is the entire point.

What Does Michelle Have Against Michelle?

Eugene Kane, of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, raises a good question:

Michelle Malkin was a featured speaker. She's pushing a new book that suggests President Obama is a corrupt politician bringing an atmosphere of corruption to politics in Washington D.C. She also seems to have an axe to grind against Michelle Obama, who she frequently singles out for criticism in her book and in her public comments.

It's pretty unusual for a political commentator to single out the First Lady of the United States for partisan attack, but it seems anything goes with this president. But it does beg the question:

What does Michelle have against Michelle?

I have two guesses.

One is envy of Michelle Obama's intellect, decorum, kindness and a good looking husband.

Michelle Malkin is just not a nice person, who would, let's say, spy on and belittle sick kids.

Laughable Item Of The Day, Indeed

Aaron Rodriguez* of the Hispanic Conservative figures that he is going to take a cheap shot at Eugene Kane, one of the few remaining employees at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Rodriguez' whole argument is trying to poke fun at Kane for saying Obama's economic policies are working. To do so, Rodriguez shows that he has all the economic savvy of a rock, and ignores the reality that his hero, George Bush and his failed policies are the one that got us into this mess.

But if he is going to criticize Obama on his economic policies, or Kane on his journalistic musings that even Senator John McCain, who lost the election to Obama, acknowledges that things are getting better, Rodriguez would be smart to do one thing first.

Make sure his spell check is working. Here is the title of Rodriguez' post:


*Hysterically, Rodriguez, according to my Google reader, goes by the name of A-Rod.

Smackdown City

As we reported here last week, the Onion had an interview with Eugene Kane. In this interview, Mr. Kane had some hard hitting comments about the local right wing media.

Finally figuring it out a week later, Sykes gets petulant about the issue. He resorts to the elementary school retort, "Oh yeah. Well, so are you!" Please note, like playground bullies, the peanut gallery feels it necessary to chime in in the comment thread, defending their hero, and making fools out of them at the same time.

Kane fires back almost immediately (he must have been waiting for it):

Gee, Chuck, you don't think I'm good on TV? I guess that discounts my FOUR years hosting public TV's "Black Nouveau" and my numerous appearances on both local and national TV over the years. I even did a sit-down interview with Mike Gousha on his old Sunday night TV show. (Gousha has a new Sunday morning public affairs show that viewers should make sure to check out. It's really good.)

Basically, Charlie's "Insight" show is more like a vanity production designed around its host than a legitimate public affairs program. There's nothing wrong with him picking and choosing guests, but he should stop acting like that makes him some sort of media kingpin. (PS. Charlie, you know you would LOVE to have me on your show but I don't want to help your ratings.)

Speaking Of Eugene Kane

We recently had some fun with screencaps on a certain post by Sykes, in which he was doing his typical copy and paste routine, and linking to a site called "Stuff White People Like."

Eugene Kane now presents us with a counter blogsite, humorously named:

Stuff Educated Black People Like

How much do you want to be that Sykes doesn't read this blog?

Eugene Kane Speaks

In this week's edition of the Onion, one of the few things besides Whallah! that is worth reading, there is an interview with Eugene Kane. Unfortunately, the AV Club doesn't have it's local stuff on the Internet yet, but, in further service to our public, Whallah! provides you with the pertinent parts:

AVC: Conservative talkers dominate Milwaukee radio. Does this reflect where the city is at politically, or do right-wingers just have bigger mouths?

EK: On most things—the war in Iraq and President Bush’s incompetence—I’m more in tune with people than they are. That’s what’s interesting to me, that they still have a platform. I want them to have a platform; I wouldn’t want just one part of this political debate to have all the dominance in town. But right-wing radio, it has its slice of the market, but it’s never been as huge as a lot of people thought it was. There are politicians in this town who are just afraid to ever hear their names on Sykes or Belling, but these guys don’t have that much influence any more.

AVC: You and Charlie Sykes work for the same company. Have you ever run into each other at a Journal Communications mixer?

EK: No, thank God. We never invite Charlie Sykes to our Journal Communications mixers. Actually, I’m not even sure if they have mixers like that.

AVC: Have you ever met?

EK: I’ve actually been on his show a couple of times—I’m sure it’s been more than 10 years—and I think he got the sense right away that I’m not the kind of black guy that’s going to go on Charlie Sykes and just smile and agree with him all the time. So, I’ve never gone back to the show.

AVC: Talk-show host and journalist Jessica McBride was fired by WTMJ in 2007 after airing a bit where she portrayed you as a squawking chicken in a debate over the death of a 4-year-old Milwaukee girl. What was your reaction?

EK: She wasn’t fired for that. She got fired because it was a lousy show and they were looking for a way to get rid of her. But it did amuse me that she felt it was so important to tweak me with this bit that wasn’t really all that funny, and it ended up ruining her radio career. Karma, I would say that is.

The rest of the interview is a good read as well. So after you get done enjoying your daily dose of Whallah!, get your butt out and pick up a copy, available at many areas around Milwaukee.

Queen Of The Grudges

In the previous post, it was noted that McBride sometimes lets her hatred get the better of her. It has also been noted that McBride loves to hold onto a grudge.

Now, she has mastered the two in a single post. The object of her hatred is her all-time favorite target, Eugene Kane, who points out the racial stereotyping that often happens in certain news stories, such as the recent mall shooting in Omaha.

McBride, who, again, either didn't read it, or was so consumed with her hatred, wrote this:

Eugene Kane column today in Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

Mall shooter fit angry white male profile

Imagine a headline that read:

Shooter fit angry black male profile

Can't imagine it? Neither can I. It would be considered racist. It would NEVER make it in the newspaper. Heck, if I'd said that on my radio show, Jim Rowen and Illusory Tenant would have called for my firing. And WTMJ would probably have complied.

Then again, if you read Kane's entire column, he almost seems to be arguing for individual responsibility and racial profiling. I think. What exactly IS his point in this column?

So, not only is she bashing Kane, and (willfully?) misreading his column, but she goes after James Rowen (who she apparently still blames for her being canned from the radio station), she brings up IT (who had nothing to to do with either her firing or Kane's article), and confuses the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (a newspaper) for WTMJ (a radio station).

And then she wonders why people question her professionalism, or why she is allowed to teach journalism. Go figure.

SIDENOTE TO DAD29: Anger is a common symptom of clinical depresssion. (For those who are confused, read the comments section in McBride's post, in which Dad29 tries to deny the commonality between depression and anger.)

Respect My Authoritah!

On July 13th, McBride went on a tirade about being disrespected by her archenemy, Eugene Kane, in an article in the August 2007 edition of Milwaukee Magazine. Now, we find McBride is channelling her inner Cartman with a letter to the Magazine, which reads:

I was surprised Milwaukee Magazine did not call me for comment after quoting Milwaukee Journal Sentinel columnist Eugene Kane calling me a "female robot" under the intellectual control of a more powerful man [The Mil, August]. I am a faculty member at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee with a master's degree, 11 years of journalism experience, and numerous state and national journalism awards. I think for myself.

I never joked about a drive-by shooting on my radio show, as the item falsely stated. I poked fun at Mr. Kane for refusing to come on my show to debate. The audio clearly reveals I consider the drive-by shooting to mean the city is in a crisis state and was questioning why Mr. Kane downplayed the crisis. I had previously done a radio segment and blog commentary expressing outrage over the death of Jasmine Owens, which the media has not reported.

Whallah does believe McBride when she claims that she thinks for herself, as it is hard to imagine anyone else wanting to take credit for some of the things she says and writes.

McBriditis Must Be Contagious

Eugene Kane, longtime favorite target of McBride, posts about an editorial cartoon in a Cleveland newspaper that drew the ire of the community for its insensitivity towards the tragic shooting death of a 12 year-old girl.

Mr. Kane says it best with this:

When will some folks learn it's not right to make fun of the death of a precious black child just to make a political point?

.

The answer is: We're still waiting.

Wake us when it's over

The McBride-Kane feud, now longer than the Hatfields and McCoys, continues.

Today's question: Is she a female robot or not?

Yawn.

Charlie Sykes, as usual, rises to her defense.

As usual, Sykes and McBride claim rampant sexism.

Speaking of sexism, Dad29 is moved to comment:

Kane's blind, too. Rarely does one see a really cute and lissome "robot."

"Really cute and lissoms?" Dad apparently is old school and believes flattery will get you everywhere. Could he lay it on any thicker?

"No sexists here but us conservatives."

Eugene Kane: 'Don't weep for Jessica'

Eugene Kane, who was on vacation when his "debate" with Jessica McBride took place, says:

Don't feel sorry for Jessica. She will survive nicely. She's a privileged woman in this community with political connections along with the proven ability to get jobs for which she is supremely unqualified. As for WTMJ-AM, I think the management is being disingenuous by suggesting McBride was let go because of this silly comedy skit that involved me and mentioned Jasmine Owens.

She was fired for doing a lousy radio show.

Finding the humor in 4-year-old's murder

Is there something funny about juxtaposing a question about a 4-year-old girl's murder with audio of a chicken squawking?

Jessica McBride thinks so.

Jim Rowen doesn't.

Rowen's right. The segment is not simply juvenile, but in extremely bad taste.

UPDATE: The offensive post -- titled "Listen to My Debate With Eugene Kane" -- has been removed from McBride's blog. The thing is, it wasn't just a blog item. It was a segment that was actually aired on her talk radio show earlier this week. Taking it off the website does not erase it from memory, or eliminate the need for a public apology.

email her at mcbride@620wtmj.com

and WTMJ General Manager Jon Schweitzer at jschweitzer@journalbroadcastgroup.com and demand an apology.