Putting Protests Into Perspective

On Wednesday, I heard Jeff Wagner, afternoon squawker on WTMJ 620, having a hissy fit about a group of people that gather inside the Capitol every weekday at noon for an hour of singing songs about solidarity, unions and general support for the working men and women of the state. ( @SolidaritySings for the Twitterati.) This was dutifully parroted by the right wing echo chamber.

They were just so upset because people dare to exercise their first amendment rights and show solidarity! If they are intimidated by such a small thing as this, they must truly be in a panic and know they are quite in the wrong in their ceaseless assault on Wisconsin and the good men, women and children who are its citizens.

But the right's selective and hyperbolic outrage doesn't end there.

On Thursday, both Charlie Sykes and Wagner were mewling about the return of #walkerville. The common mewl was do demonize and de-humanize the protesters who will be coming out for the return of the sleep ins, or in this case, the sleep outs.

What these faux complaints really are is just an effort to minimize the damage that will be done to their side when the people continuously see tens of thousands of people standing together in solidarity against the forces that are trying to remove their freedoms and everything that true Wisconsinites hold dear.

Unfortunately, Tuesday evening, a handful of young hot heads gave the right wing squawkers and their unquestioning followers something they can use to beat the rest of the protesters with. The behavior of these is most unfortunate and not acceptable by any stretch of the imagination. They have not accomplished anything but to give themselves and the other pro-democracy people a big black eye.

But in the grand scheme of things, really how bad were their behaviors? They were yelling and causing a disruption during a late night hearing of the Joint Finance Committee. Yes, it was uncalled for. Yes, it was in poor taste and not holding with the decorum of a governmental body in action. Yes, it went against everything that the other protesters rightfully pride themselves on, which was having peaceful protests and events.

The supposed horror of people doing a sing-a-long or having a jamboree or even yelling "Shame!" in a crowded committee room pales even further when one considers the way the right wing nut jobs express their displeasure. There is really no way that anyone of either side can condone in way, shape or form the act of throwing a Molotov cocktail at a private citizen's home, just because she protested a local store that advocated (with tongue firmly in cheek, one would hope) shooting people because of their nationality.

I can personally say that if given a choice, I'd rather have some young person yelling at me than to have someone jeopardize my home and my very life.

And if you look at what made these young goofs so upset that they were willing to throw away common courtesy and decorum, their "outrageous" behavior seems rather constrained.

The last time someone tried to take away our rights, make us pay higher and higher taxes to benefit a handful of already obscenely rich people and treat us like serfs, we had a little thing called the American Revolution.

All in all, I would daresay that a sing-a-long, even if it was off key, is a mild event compared to what our founding forefathers would have done. Instead of complaining, the Republicans should be grateful that they aren't getting what they deserve.

Cross Posted at Cog Dis.

Just What Did Happen To The Republicans? (NSFW)

Holy Cow! McIlheran Was Right After All!

When health care reform was the topic du jour around the nation, all of the usual suspects, but most noticeably Patrick McIlheran, warned the country that there would be death panels.

We on the left scoffed at this notion.

But damn if he and Sarah Palin weren't correct. Of course, the part they didn't tell us is that said death panels would be headed up by Republicans.

Do They Really Want Sykes To Be Their Spokesman?

Charlie Sykes has been constantly harping on DPW Chairman Mike Tate and his press releases calling the recent Teabaggerfest for what it was, a corporate sponsored anti-government rally. Tate also pointed out in another release that Walker is trying to pander to the lunatic fringe of the right wing by speaking at the event.

Sykes has been so upset by this that besides the many times a day harping on the radio, he has put up not one, not two, but three posts so far squawking about the truth-telling.

The question is really do Scott Walker and the Republican Party really want the thrice-married, adulterous, sexist and racist Sykes as their public mouthpiece?

Oh, wait, they probably do. He is perfect for them.

You Don't Mess Around With Slim

Some people learn the hard way. Kevin Stevenson got the boot from his job as spokesman for the Republican Party of Marathon County. His crime? Not genuflecting enough and daring to question the authority and infallibility of the head of the GOP, Rush Limbaugh:

Kevin Stevenson said he believes his March guest column in the Wausau Daily Herald criticizing Limbaugh turned local party members against him.

"They felt I was too moderate in what I was speaking and printing," he said.

Stevenson, who characterizes himself as a "John McCain-type of Republican," said the conflict was a microcosm of a national debate about what political message to put forward. A debate at a local Republican meeting on Thursday "got hostile and it got personal," he said.

When Stevenson criticized Limbaugh for saying he wanted President Barack Obama to fail, other local Republicans wrote to the newspaper, arguing that conservatives ought to want Obama's policies to fail.

"This is just part of what you're seeing nationwide," he said. "(Party members) know that I don't agree with Rush Limbaugh. Rush Limbaugh is hurting us more than helping us."

It only gets funnier:

Party Chairman Joe Wachtel said he disagreed with the decision to remove Stevenson as spokesman, but that he also disagreed with a moderate position."I don't think the Republican Party and the conservative movement is going to be served by being Democrat-lite," Wachtel said.

Apparently, they don't like ancient Greek or Roman artists either.

Gableman just needs an editor

It's been some time since I had the dubious pleasure of reading any Jessica McBride "analysis," but was not terribly surprised to learn that not much has changed.

In her Waukesha Freeman column, we learn that the only problem with the slimy commercial Michael Gableman ran against Louis Butler in the Supreme Coirt race is that it was "poorly worded."

The commercial in question was more than poorly worded. It was purposely designed to make voters think that Butler had gotten a rapist freed on a technicality, and that the released rapist had then committed another rape.

That is not what happened. Butler indeed found a provision in the law -- a loophole if you will -- that convinced a judge the rapist should get a new trial. But that was overturned on appeal, and the criminal served his full sentence.

Years later, when he was released, he did indeed commit another crime. But it had nothing to do with Louis Butler.

Here's McBride's version:

Read the ad again: "Butler found a loophole. Mitchell went on to molest another child."

Could the ad have been worded more precisely? Yes. Does it imply that Mitchell molested another child BECAUSE Butler found a loophole? Arguably. But it doesn’t say that...

Nope, no foul play there. Just some bad wording.

McBride again:

You’d think state Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman was the first candidate in state history to run a poorly worded campaign ad.

She's right about one thing. There's a lot of that going around.

Just the other day I got a poorly worded, poorly designed piece of mail from the Republican Party of Wisconsin that would leave the average person with the impression that Barack Obama worked with terrorists to bomb the US Capitol and kill some Americans.

Poorly worded, indeed. Surely McCain and the GOP didn't mean to imply that.

But I guess I will have to yield to McBride on this subject, since she clearly knows, firsthand, about how poorly worded commentary can get you into trouble. She wrote the book.

Stay Classy, Republicans

For all their denial that race is a factor in the upcoming presidential elections, the Republicans must think that people are as ignorant as they are.

First there was the T-shirts that tried to portray Obama as Curious George.

Then they were selling racist buttons.

Now, those classy Repugnicans are selling boxes of "waffle mix" with racist pictures on the front and back of the box. It even includes the already disproved allegations that Obama is a Muslim. Only a moron or someone blinded by their own racism still believes that. Real classy, these Republicans.

Tip of the crown to James Rowen.

I Always Thought That Elephants Had Long Memories

But that apparently isn't true if the elephant is a Republican. All across the right side of the cheddarsphere, squawking bloggers and blogging squawkers are chuckling themselves silly with the pictures and videos of Hillary Clinton Supporters that were upset with the way the DNC handled the Michigan and Florida primaries.

I still remember how these same squawking bloggers and blogging squawkers were all up in arms as John McCain was nearing clinching the Republican nomination. They were stating that there was no way they would be able to vote for McCain. They would rather switch to one of the Democrats, or just sit it out. Who can forget the goofy Ann Coulter attacking McCain on the Hannity and Colmes show, and threatened to campaign for Hillary Clinton:



It had gotten so bad that even Sykes had to start putting up posts and wasting air time to try to get the conservative faithful back to the mother ship party and get willing to vote for McCain in November, even if they had to "hold their noses" while doing it.

Wow, what commitment on their side!

Those Republicans not only have lousy memories, their insight is more than a bit myopic as well.

The Reality-Challenged Fischer

Kevin Fischer is all smug about his show, Interchange. He alludes to Joel McNally scoffing at his assertions that Scott McClellan is a liberal. His evidence is this link, which McClellan states he is "intrigued" by Senator Obama, and "may vote for him". Ooh, that makes him a liberal for sure, right?

Wrong.

Some real Repbulicans know a little better than Fischer:

Laugh Out Loud Time

From Rob Rogers:

To Be A Republican

From the email, slightly modified for spelling errors, etc.

To be a Republican you need to believe:

1. Jesus loves you, and shares your hatred of homosexuals and Hillary Clinton

2. Saddam was a good guy when Reagan armed him, a bad guy when Bush's Daddy made war on him , a good guy when Cheney did business with him, and a bad guy when Bush needed a "we can't find Bin Laden" diversion.

3. Trade with Cuba is wrong because the country is Communist, but trade with China and Vietnam is vital to a spirit of international harmony.

4. The United States should get out of the United Nations, and our highest national priority is enforcing U.N. resolutions against Iraq.

5. A woman can't be trusted with decisions about her own body, but multinational drug corporations can make decisions affecting all mankind without regulation.

6. The best way to improve military morale is to praise the troops in speeches, while slashing veterans' benefits and combat pay.

7. If condoms are kept out of schools, adolescents won't have sex.

8. A good way to fight terrorism is to belittle our longtime allies, then demand their cooperation and money.

9. Providing health care to all Iraqis is sound policy, but providing health care to all Americans is socialism. HMO's and insurance companies have the best interests of the public at heart.

10. Global warming and tobacco's link to cancer are junk science, but creationism should be taught in schools.

11. A president lying about an extramarital affair is an impeachable offense, but a president lying to enlist support for a war in which thousands die is solid defense policy.

12. Government should limit itself to the powers named in the Constitution, which include banning gay marriages and censoring the Internet.

13. The public has a right to know about Hillary's cattle trades, but George Bush's driving record is none of our business.

14. Being a drug addict is a moral failing and a crime, unless you're a conservative radio host. Then it's an illness and you need our prayers for your recovery. (Capper here-This should include adultery.)

15. Supporting "Executive Privilege" for every Republican ever born, who will be born or who might be born (in perpetuity.)

16. What Bill Clinton did in the 1960's is of vital national interest, but what Bush did in the '80's is irrelevant.

17. Support hunters who shoot their friends and blame them for wearing orange vests similar to those worn by the quail.

Friends don't let friends vote Republican.

Cross-posted at folkbum's.

Who's The Terrorists' Best Friend?

If one were to listen to the right wing squawk brigade and their echo chamber, one would think that every liberal, Democrat and member of the hate left was in active collaboration with Al Qaeda.

So you will understand if they are a little sheepish about these grandiose, sweeping, and irresponsible allegations and generalizations for a few days. This will be because of this story found on JSOnline:

A former congressman and delegate to the United Nations was indicted Wednesday on charges of working for an alleged terrorist fundraising ring that sent more than $130,000 to an al-Qaida supporter who has threatened U.S. and international troops in Afghanistan.

Mark Deli Siljander, a Michigan Republican when he was in the House, was charged with money laundering, conspiracy and obstructing justice for allegedly lying about being hired to lobby senators on behalf of an Islamic charity that authorities said was secretly sending funds to terrorists.

The 42-count indictment, unsealed in U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Mo., accuses the Islamic American Relief Agency of paying Siljander $50,000 for the lobbying - money that turned out to be stolen from the U.S. Agency for International Development.

So, if you see a Republican, and just to be safe, any conservative, please call Homeland Security immediately, and tell them you just found an ally to the terrorists. And a likely thief to boot.

And keep an eye on those Libertarians, too. ;)

Either Way Works For Us

McIlheran really shouldn't try to argue points by himself. He only paints himself into a corner. This makes it even easier to point out the errors in his ways than it is to do so with McBride. And that's pretty damn easy.

His latest flub comes from trying to say that the Democratic tidal wave that occurred in 2006 was meaningless because the Republicans have been able to obstruct any forward movement offered by the Democrats. You know, real bad things. Like getting out of Iraq. Balancing the budget. Getting health care to needy kids.

He goes on to say it is because the Democrats were "reading the wrong message" when they gained all those seats. He ends his post with this:

They "got the wrong message from the election," our own Rep. Paul Ryan tells Blake. The 2006 result wasn't one of a "repudiation of conservative values," said Ryan. It was a call for "clean and transparent government." Had Dems stuck to centrist positions, they'd have run the place, says Ryan. They didn't.

Gee, I thought the Democrats won because they were sick of the Iraq War and the incompetence of Bush and the Republicans. But if he feels better by insisting it was because the wave was due tot he Republicans being corrupt and sneaky, well, then that is fine by us.