Bad News For Milwaukee News

Jay Bullock reminds us when this town had two papers. The decidedly more conservative Milwaukee Sentinel, and the more liberal Milwaukee Journal, with its fabulous Green Sheet.

Then in the mid-1990's, the two papers merged to become the decidedly conservative Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. They chose the wrong paper to emulate apparently.

Over the last few years they have suffered one dramatic cut back after another, the biggest blow to point was when they forced Stuart Carlson to leave.

Word is coming out at even more drastic cuts at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, now including the loss of Tim Cuprisin. Mike Mathias has even more here, as does Jason Haas.

I have often heard mention a growing belief that before long, MJS will follow many other papers and become only available on line. Even though I obviously have a computer, and would still have access, I would still miss the days of reading the paper over my morning bowl of Cheerios, or pointing out a story for my wife to clip for her scrapbook.

But with this new round of losses, and the fact that, if Mathias is correct, PaddyMac will still be around to torture us with his tortured logic, I will have to again ponder whether I want to finish this subscription, which lasts until next year, or take my money and run. After all, I am paying a lot of money for something that seems to becoming less and less worthwhile every day.

We at Whallah! would like to extend our sympathies to those hard working journalists that are being shown the door, whether they like it or not.

But I do have to point out that MJS had a golden opportunity to turn their fate around earlier this year and they blew it.

Oh, and Mr. Cuprisin, if you ever get bored, and want to keep your mad skillz intact, you always got a home here.

McBride's Ethics, Or Lack Thereof, Back Into Play

Bruce Murphy, editor of Milwaukee Magazine, came out earlier this week in a strong defense of Jessica McBride's journalistic integrity. Some on the right pounced on that, also coming to her defense.

Today, however, is a new day, and with that comes new developments. Such as Bruce Murphy stepping back from his defense of McBride:

I must regretfully agree with the vociferous objections of some readers. I think I was too defensive in reacting to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel story reporting the affair between McBride and Milwaukee Police Chief Ed Flynn. Worse, I am guilty of the same thing I accused JS reporter Daniel Bice of: I failed to do due diligence regarding the situation.

Specifically, I neglected to demand from McBride all of the e-mails between her and Flynn. I have now done that and was taken aback at what I received. The e-mails do confirm that, other than their one interview in December, McBride and Flynn never met face-to-face until May 1, at their now-infamous encounter at an Irish bar. (In fact, Flynn was using his office e-mail account until then, which suggests neither McBride nor Flynn thought they were doing anything wrong; these are all public records.)

But the e-mails also suggest the two got chatty and friendly – strictly through e-mail, granted, but it’s a lot of e-mail – as soon as McBride finished reporting her story on Jan. 5. I’m also not confident I’ve seen all the e-mail, as McBride couldn’t be sure she hadn’t erased some. That’s all rather disturbing.

But that ain't all, folks. Harris Kane, of Heartland Hollar, has been putting in some time considering a different aspect of this story:

The "official story" from the MJS hasn't been that she was precluded from covering Bucher "once they began dating," but rather that she was precluded from covering Bucher once they "learned" she was dating Bucher.

Here is what the MJS wrote last week, "When editors learned that she was dating Bucher, McBride was precluded by the company's ethics policy from covering stories involving the prosecutor, according to Journal Sentinel Editor Martin Kaiser."

There is a big difference between "once they began dating" and "when editors learned they were dating" unless you believe that McBride told her editors that she had begun dating the married and elected DA of Waukesha County at a time in 1995 when she wasn't covering him. Ya think?

Yet a third angle comes from Mike Mathias, who believes that the paper would be better off by getting an ombudsman.

I Wonder How Sykes Will Twist This

As we all know, Charlie Sykes has issues with reality, especially when it doesn't conform with his view of the world.

One of the most recent displays was the way he tried to spin Michael Mathias' writings in this hack job regarding the way that the U.S. Army was glorifying war in order to recruit kids.

Today, Michael has put up two posts that concern Iraq.

In the first one, Michael has a link and cites some text from Think Progress, including these paragraphs:

“If bin Laden takes over and becomes king of Saudi Arabia, he’d turn off the tap,” said Roger Diwan, a managing director of the Petroleum Finance Company, a consulting firm in Washington. “He said at one point that he wants oil to be $144 a barrel” — about six times what it sells for now.

Bin Laden didn’t have to become king of Saudi Arabia to achieve his goal; in fact, Bush’s policies delivered it for him. The Bush administration’s catastrophic decision to invade Iraq, sink the nation into debt to pay for that war, and consequently, weaken the dollar have all caused oil prices to soar astronomically.

So, how's that war going for us, Charlie?

In the second post, Michael connects us to a much more somber and tragic story:

PINEHURST, N.C. A former Army medic made famous by a photograph that showed him carrying an injured Iraqi boy during the first week of the war has died of an apparent overdose, police said.

Joseph Patrick Dwyer died last week at a hospital in Pinehurst, according to the Boles Funeral Home. He was 31.

[...]

His mother said the military could have done more to help with post-traumatic stress. "He just couldn't get over the war," Maureen Dwyer said. "He just couldn't do it. Just wasn't Joseph. Joseph never came home."

His wife, Matina, said: "He was just never the same when he came back, because of all the things he saw. ... He tried to seek treatment, but it didn’t work."

Hey, Charlie, tell us again how glorious this f-ing war is again.

Ah, but knowing Sykes, he will probably just ignore this sad story. He can't let reality get in the way of spreading his propaganda.

Whallah! Roundup

First, let me apologize for my absence, put I have been busy with a few projects. I have two done, including, for now, my work on the northern castle. I have no idea where everyone else is.
With a dozen contributors, one would think there would be an occasional posting, but...

Anyway, here is a collection of Whallah! worthy posts from around the cheddarsphere:

Jay Bullock points out that Charlie and is cronies are less than factual in their smear jobs.

The mighty Brawler points out that Belling is part of the lunatic fringe, by thinking that mass transit is a concern of only a fringe group of people. Brawler continues with his streak by pointing out that Sykes latest rampage is a more than a bit heavy in the racism department. And following with the Sykes theme, he questions what city Sykes refers to when he says only Milwaukee is suffering in this crappy economy.

Paul Soglin tries to do a psychoanalysis on both Sykes and Belling. That is a feat that not even a trained mental health professional would want to do.

Dan Cody takes on Jay Weber's misrepresentation of what happened with the FEMA voucher applications. He also explains that he learned, from squawk radio, that not even kids should be allowed to be healthy, if they can't afford their own insurance.

And Mike Mathias is waiting for an apology. I think Sykes or McIlheran should be one of the first in line to do so.

National James T. Harris Appreciation Day

I apparently missed this over the weekend, but given the success of the National Patrick McIlheran Appreciation Day, it is only logical that this would be followed up with a National James T. Harris Appreciation Day.

The tributes start rolling in with this piece by Mike Plaisted:

Substance-wise, Harris seldom strays from the mundane wing-nut orthodox talking-points left behind by others. When he adds his wacked-out personal touch, he often uses his (he thinks) protected status as a black man to spin racist tripe about Barack Obama. He calls Obama "the Chocolate Jesus", something no one else could get away with. Like other African-American conservatives anointed by his white benefactors, he has the right-wing blame-the-victim thing down-pat, blaming his less fortunate (i.e.: less accomodating, less corporate-sponsored) brothers and sisters in the city for the legacy of slavery, the long history of someone else’s racism, their systemic poverty and uncomfortable underclass behavior.

The Pundit Nation comes out with the point that one of Harris' favorite topics is "white guilt," and adds that feeling guilt is not always a bad thing. Illy-T follows this up with pointing out that a group of "white apologists" that Harris was complaining about, weren't really all that white, with a number of blacks in the group.

Mike Mathias and Illy-T again team up for a one-two punch about one of Harris' "illogical and vapid" posts on whether or not Jesus would have been an American soldier.

How does Harris' handle all this? Well, in the usual, typical mature fashion of any member of the local right wing media. He starts calling people names.

O'Reilly Meltdown: An Act In Three Parts

Zachary of Blogging Blue brings us the original meltdown of Bill O'Reilly (WARNING: Adult Language):




This is followed by David Casper, who shows us the behind the scenes view:



And for your listening pleasure, Mike Mathias gives us "Bill O'Reilly: The Meltdown, the Musical":

McIlheran: In Defense Of Incompetence

McIlheran put up a silly post today. OK, they're all usually pretty silly, but this one was sillier than most.

He tries to defend Bush's foolish policies in regards to economics, the insanity of the Iraq War, and his failure in domestic issues. He starts out with pointing out that other countries, like England, Germany, France and Italy are also in an economic meltdown. He then writes:

Rather, what it suggests is some worldwide shocks -- the American credit problems, the oil prices set off by soaring demand globally -- unsettled economies that had various weaknesses, such as overpriced real estate in Britain and parts of America.

One can and ought to fault Bush, then, for his failures -- signing us up to pay for still more absurd Medicare entitlements, for instance, or his failure to expand oil production domestically -- but one ought to keep it in perspective, as well. The economy is torpid, but is actually growing, even if at a pathetic rate. It even beat the meager expectations for the first quarter, and while 0.6% is no boom, it isn't a recession, not yet, at any rate. This may be hard to believe when we're told daily that the nation is sliding into the Great Depression II: Final Apocalypse.

Well, no, no matter how many people tell pollsters they feel things are just awful. Things aren't great, but they're not likely to get any better with a dose of the statism and surrender the Democrat contenders are offering, and they're neither as awful as you'll be constantly told nor is their awfulness the exclusive anguish of America or the result of its domestic politics.

What McIlheran doesn't mention is that the world's economics are interdependent. America is not an isolated entity. It has economic interactions with just about every other country in the world. Not only does the country have mulitnational interactions, but so do most major companies, including the banking industries, investment firms, and the stock market. What happens in other countries can affect us. The opposite is as true as well. What happens in America can affect the global economy. Even more so than most countries, considering that the US Dollar, was and for the moment, still is, the common unit of commerce.

So when Bush's idiotic policies, like spending more and more, while giving the rich more and more tax breaks, end up having the inevitable effects on our economy, it will have a ripple effect on every other country's economy as well. Actually, in this case, make it a domino effect.

Mike Mathias has more on how awful most people think Bush and his policies are. Even as McIlheran and his ilk keep trying to deny reality.

Lesson One: Don't Go Up Against The Pundit Nation

Harris, in an obvious moment of delerium, tries to paint Carter as the worst ex-president ever.

That's just more of the usual blather that comes from the right. The interesting part is when Harris gets schooled by a bunch of commenters, led by our own Mike Mathias, of Pundit Nation.

Read it for yourself.

Fischer Makes The Big Time, Again!

I received my copy of Milwaukee Magazine in the mail today. I opened it up, to see what they were talking about and say in their "Insiderpressroom" part, they're talking about our good bud, Kevin Fischer, for the second time.

Here is the part on Fischer, with my interjections (because I'm the King, and I can do that sort of stuff):

Multiplicity

Kevin Fischer is everywhere as a media pundit. He’s also apartisan
legislative aide, Can you say conflict?

by Erik Gunn

Kevin Fischer is a busy guy. He does a blog on FranlklinNOWcom. He’s a guest host on WISN-AM 1130, filling in for Mark Belling and Jay Weber. He’s one of the regular pundits for Milwaukee Public Television’s InterChange program.

And he’s a full-time Republican legislative aide.

I'd question that full-time business. You'll see what I mean later.

That latter gig has drawn scrutiny toFischer’s peripatetic media career. Our March Pressroom noted he was one of the bickering bloggers on Journal Communications’ MyCommunityNOW Websites. Since then, his critics have turned up the heat on his role as an aide to state Sen. Mary Lazich (R-New Berlin).

Brookfield blogger Cindy Kilkenny made an open-records request for Fischer’s time sheets from the state to see whether he was blogging or commenting while on the taxpayers’ clock. Kilkenny says that while Fischer’s blog entries appear to have been posted on his off hours, she believes he has gone back into some of his comments to other blogs and changed the times of entries.

Yeah, and who first broke that story of name-calling? Uh? Maybe moi?

It appears that Ms. Kilkenny is not done checking things out. She is now inquiring about exactly how much vacation time legislative aides get.

Fischer denies any wrongdoing.‘Whenever I blog, it’s on my own personal time - usually on nights and weekends,” he says. Mindful of the 2001 caucus scandal that rocked the Capitol over the use of legislative aides for political campaign work, he adds, “I am very meticulous about when I’m on state time and when I’m not.”

Fischer blames the “nonstory”on a small group of people who don’t like his politics. “They were trying to not only silence me but get me in trouble with my livelihood. And I don’t take too kindly to that.” But while he singles out “lefty bloggers,” Kilkenny calls herself a conservative, and says she was motivated by Fischer’s penchant for bombastic insult. “People like Kevin Fischer give Republicans a really bad name,” she says.

Um, Ms. Kilkenny is nothing if not conservative. (One of the good ones, too. When she's not supporting Scott Walker, that is.) But she is wrong here. He gives all bloggers a bad name.

Lefty bloggers? Kevin, the name is Whallah! Remember it.

Lazich insists she demands professionalism of her staff: “I don’t tolerate nastiness and name-calling.” But Fischer says he’s never been counseled about the content of his blog.

Oh? And why hasn't he been reprimanded yet for the nazi comment, eh?

Fischer also denies preparing for his media appearances on state time (though there’s no way to prove or disprove this by checking his time sheets). He notes that he discloses his job as a legislative aide on all his broadcast appearances, and - after some pushback from critics - FranklinNOW. com has begun identifying him as such in his accompanying biography.

Yet, by the very nature of his work as a political operative, anything he writes or says is arguably in the interest of his boss. That’s the assertion of Michael Mathias, among the liberal bloggers who have also raised questions about Fischer’s many roles. Fischer’s job working for Lazich includes communications - for instance, helping with Lazich’s, blog, which also runs on FranklinNOW.

For more of Mike's comprehensive labors, look here.

“Can you really separate his work on behalf of her office or Republicans in the state senate that cleanly?” Mathias asks.“His job is to make sure his boss gets lots of great publicity and that she is well-positioned to win re-election. To what extent is [the JS] participating in that? I think that’s really troubling.” Indeed, the same question could be asked ofMilwaukee Public Television and WISN.

Fischer really has no counterpart among Democrats - a government-paid insider who doubles as a news commentator. NOW's online editor, Mark Maley, says the Web site has an open-door policy: “Any Democrats/liberals who would like to present opposing views are welcome to start a NOWblog.” But would that solve the problem or compound it?

Sheesh, MM names Fischer, Mathias and Kilkenny. But no mention of ol' capper who started this whole ball a-rolling. I mean, where's the love here, guys? (Oh, I know that it probably has to do with my anonymity, but still...They could've at least mentioned Whallah!)

But it is good to see this guy get exposed to the light of day and shown for what he really is.

Schizoid Thinking From the MJS Editorial Staff

So I come back from touring the damage that has inflicted on my holdings in the northern regions of my kingdom, and am greatly pleased by the progress that is finally occurring, and in about 10 minutes lose my sense of bonhomie towards my fellow man when I read this piece of gutter tripe.

Now, I have to say first, that I was not surprised that the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel came out to endorse Scott Walker. The paper is not nearly as liberal as Sykes, McIlheran, McBride or the rest would have us believe.

But when one reads the editorial, it is hard to fathom how they came to recommend Walker. They point out, correctly, that Walker has ruined the parks, but transit on the road to its demise, made a mockery of the court system, and has jeopardized our safety by his bumbling regarding the House of Correction and the mental health system. They even point out that Walker is promising only more of the same mismanagement that has brought Milwaukee County to its knees. Yet they go on to recommend him. It simply boggles the mind.

At first I wondered if Sykes was a guest writer, but I quickly realized that it couldn't have been him. There was no self-aggrandizement and it was way too long for him to write without copying and pasting something.

I was also able to quickly determine that it wasn't McIlheran, as that it didn't include a lot of superfluous words, nor did it cite any factual errors by McBride or Esenberg.

I am apparently not the only one that found their endorsement perplexing. Mike Mathias points out that even Walker is apparently feeling desperate enough to attack Taylor on any conceivable tangent, whether or not it has to do with the position, he too feels that their endorsement is due to not wanting to jeopardize alienating their suburban base of readers.

James Rowen says it correctly and dead on, in plain English:

So failure is an option after all.

Too strong for some of you?

Look no farther than the ongoing breakdowns at the jail and House of Correction, in the parks, the pension system, and the transit system.

All failures, and getting worse.

Walker is not a visionary, or a leader, or a problem solver.

He's an unimaginative one-note (tax freeze) tactical politico, a willing tool of talk radio, a place-holder waiting his turn to run for F. James Sensenbrenner's Congressional seat.

He got elected in 2002, despite an undistinguished career as an anonymous GOP Assemblyman from Wauwatosa, because the Ament administration corrupted itself out of office.

But Walker has not been the breath of fresh air he promised he'd be, and basic county services, like the parks and the transit system, are worse than they were when Walker took over.

And continuing pension system malfeasance is simply unacceptable.

Little wonder that county government is living on credit, and teeters towards financial bankruptcy.

Lena Taylor is an attorney and State Senator. Her credentials are more substantial than Walker's.

She would have been a breath of fresh air, and a fresh start for the county and local politics.

The paper got this one wrong.

The thing that makes their endorsement of Walker even more baffling is the fact that they got it right on the Supreme Court race.

At least Stuart Carlson gets it:

Is It Time For An Intervention?

I am starting to worry about some of my friends. Both Mike Mathias and Jay Bullock will be on WUWM (89.7). They apparently will be taking part in the Lake Effect program with Jane Hampden. They will be talking about blogging.

Let's start with Mike. He is a blogger, and will now be part of talk radio. And he is posting that he will be a blogger on the radio. This reminds me of someone.

Jay is of even greater concern. He is also a blogger. He wil also be doing talk radio. And he is posting about being on the radio. But what is really frightening is that he appeared, as a pundit, with Owen Robinson, on TMJ4, during the 2006 elections.

That is really reminding me of someone we all know, but don't love!

I am concerned that these two fine gentlemen are coming down with Sykes Derangement Disorder, in which they think they are like Charlie. The next thing you know, they'll be buying hairspray by the case. Well, OK, maybe not Jay. :)

I do believe that I will have to set up an intervention for these two. Now where is that Tim Rock when I need him?