'Help! I'm being forced to watch television!'

Michael Mathias, in a post about right wing response to the Sen. Larry Craig "situation":

Demonstrating her usual even-handed and thoughtful tone, Jessica McBride offered that Craig was "scum." (And since her blog is about “media matters,” she asked, "Why am I turning on cable news every night to wall-to-wall Larry Craig coverage?" to which the only real response is, “Um, I don’t know, but if this is a problem all you have to do is turn off the television and go back to plotting the overthrow of J.B Van Hollen.”)

'Bucher bends the truth'

A Capital Times editorial on Mr. McBride leaves nothing to add:

Bucher bends the truth

Fresh from his defeat in the Republican primary for state attorney general last year, former Waukesha County District Attorney Paul Bucher says he is contemplating running for the state Supreme Court next April.

Bucher's bitter concession statement after losing last year's primary to J.B. Van Hollen was one of the more remarkable political swan songs in a career that has not been lacking in bizarre behavior.

Bucher says he is thinking about running because he believes incumbent Justice Louis Butler is "an activist."

That's an amusing statement coming from Bucher, who has made no secret of his ideological and personal passions and who has never hesitated to allow them to guide his legal determinations.

Yet the man who mounted a comically inept prosecution of troubled Green Bay Packer Mark Chmura says with a straight face, "There's only one item that's worth focusing on in this race, and that is judicial philosophy. (Butler's) an activist, and he's proud of it."

Bucher is, as usual, bending the truth to the breaking point.

Butler, who has gotten high marks for working across political and ideological lines on the court, is not generally seen as a judicial activist. And he certainly has not gone around declaring that he is proud of putting ideology ahead of the law.

If Butler was the sort of "activist" Bucher describes, it is unlikely that he would have gained the strong endorsement this week of the association representing city of Milwaukee police officers as "a strong leader (who) understands the needs of our citizens and the needs of our law enforcement officers."

The group says, "Wisconsin is safer with Justice Louis Butler on our Supreme Court."

The police union's sentiments have been echoed by an astounding array of community and legal groups that have honored and endorsed Justice Butler as an outstanding jurist. It raises the question: What is Paul Bucher thinking?

Then again, no one has ever accused Bucher of thinking very hard about anything but his own political advancement.

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?

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The answer is: We're still waiting.

Huebschian logic

Jessica McBride, last Friday, derided Gov. Jim Doyle for warning that property taxes will go up if a state budget isn't agreed upon soon by state legislators. Sayeth McBride, in a post titled "Doylian logic:"

Is he kidding me? How can he say this stuff with a straight face?

We'll be anxiously awaiting her attack on the Republican Speaker of the Assembly, after this statement on Wednesday, just five days later:

"Property taxes will go up soon, if we don't act soon," said Assembly Speaker Mike Huebsch (R-West Salem). "We know there are deadlines that are looming."

Would that be Huebschian logic?

McBride: New voice of the left

The crusade continues, as Jessica McBride tries to convince us that there is an illegal immigrant crime wave sweeping the nation (or at least Sheboygan). McBride:

Another illegal immigrant arrested for molesting Sheboygan child

And I'm not talking about the vigilante case.

Story here from the Sheboygan Press.

And the response from the left? Not a problem...No big deal... not worth talking about... Tell that to the mother of the kid.

We at Whallah! don't claim to speak for the left. Apparently the left's spokeswoman is Jessica McBride. People in her house are used to talking out of both sides of their mouths, so she probably doesn't see a contradiction.

For the record, we don't condone child molestation (Ridiculous to say that, but otherwise she'll probably claim we do.) But there is no reason to comment on every arrest -- unless you have another agenda.

The Sheboygan Press apparently is on the McBride program: Every time an illegal immigrant is charged with a crime, let's do a story and a wrapup that includes every other illegal immigrant who's been charged with anything.

What, exactly, is the point?

She writes about one Sheboygan case, but not about the hundreds of arrests every day in Wisconsin of non-immigrants charged with crimes as bad or worse. [UPDATE: Here's one involving a home-grown Waukesha County youth.]

There is too much crime in Wisconsin, in Milwaukee, in Sheboygan, and even in Waukesha County. But trying to pin the blame on illegal immigrants does nothing to solve the problem.

Why are we not surprised?

She Doesn't Teach Psychology Either

McBride has already proven herself many times in the fields of journalism and in logic. Now she proves that she unable to understand basic psychology (or at least the ability to use Google). In a minimal effort of a post (five words), she manages to show how little she understands of the world and how it works.

She links to an article in the La Crosse Tribune, which covers a story about a jail in Minnesota, where they only feed the prisoners turkey bologna sandwiches. McBride thinks that's "Not a bad idea".

However, if she used some common knowledge, she would realize that was a bad idea. A few seconds with Google, and one can find this article, in which a prisoner can point out what McBride cannot fathom (and does it in a much more articulate way):

Food dissatisfaction is among the principal complaints voiced after prison riots. Hungry people focus on their hunger as nature's survival mechanism kicks in. Hunger always creates an explosive situation and is never a wise way to save money.

The Rest Of The Story

McBride, ever desperate to make a point, is trying to argue that the reason for racial disparity in the corrections system is not due to racism, but due to the quality of the people of a minority race. She quotes part of a story from The Wausau Daily Herald in which a minority leader says that it is not just about race, but the people of that race, which alone is contradictory.

But the observant reader who goes to read the actual story she is citing, and read the whole article would see this:

People of all ethnic backgrounds have perceptions and expectations about other ethnic groups, and not all of them are accurate, Lee said.

"I have talked to people of different ethnicities in this city. African-Americans often say they don't want to drive around town at night because they will probably be stopped," he said. "Latino people say they have been singled out and asked questions about their immigration status simply because they are Latino."

Whether perception matches reality isn't the issue, Lee said, because people act and behave based on their perceptions.

Maybe McBride got tired and didn't read all of the article, but basically, Mr. Lee, another minority leader, is pointing out that there is a high amount of racism going on, even in Wausau.

One would think that a person who prides themselves on teaching journalism would recognize the importance of covering the whole story.

Dead horse rides again

Apologies for beating a dead horse, but McBride has just tried to resuscitate this one. She says:

Craig resigns

Good.

Ted Kennedy, you're next.

Hmm, remind me. What exactly did Ted Kennedy plead guilty to? What was he convicted of?

As Blueblogger has already pointed out, just two days ago she seemed to grasp the distinction, when she wrote:

Enough with the "he's innocent until proven guilty" stuff and "if he did it" stuff that I've been hearing on some conservative shows. Regardless of what he says now, Larry Craig PLEADED GUILTY in a court of law and was convicted. That should mean something. He's not innocent until proven guilty. He's guilty...

Bill Clinton was accused of raping a woman. Ted Kennedy was accused of leaving a woman to die. They enjoy respect from the Democratic party and the media. Larry Craig was accused of nudging the foot of an undercover cop, and the Democrats want to put him in a stockade in the public square.

Actually, Craig wasn't just accused. He pleaded guilty -- as McBride seemed to know just a paragraph or two earlier.

This from a college journalism instructor who's married to a longtime prosecutor -- a prosecutor who is thinking about running for the state Supreme Court?

Perhaps said prosecutor should do a little remedial instruction with his spouse on the criminal justice system and how it works.

Jessica McBride: Crack Journalist!

I love what some people consider to be a "journalist" nowadays.

Take Jessica McBride for example. Young Jessica is a teacher of young journalists - a molder of minds if you will. The future of journalism is in her hands, a thought that absolutely frightens me to no end.

I happened to surf on over to Young Miss Jessica's blog, and an entry of hers on the scandal involving Senator Larry Craig (R - Bathroom Stalls) caught my eye. What caught my eye was not the groundbreaking content (there's not much of that to be found in her blog), but rather the fact that Young Miss Jessica directly contradicts herself in the same blog entry. In said entry, YMJ states:

Enough with the "he's innocent until proven guilty" stuff and "if he did it" stuff that I've been hearing on some conservative shows. Regardless of what he says now, Larry Craig PLEADED GUILTY in a court of law and was convicted. That should mean something. He's not innocent until proven guilty. He's guilty.

Then she follows up the whole, "HE'S GUILTY" point with this doozy (I added my own emphasis):

Bill Clinton was accused of raping a woman. Ted Kennedy was accused of leaving a woman to die. They enjoy respect from the Democratic party and the media. Larry Craig was accused of nudging the foot of an undercover cop, and the Democrats want to put him in a stockade in the public square.

Now maybe I dwell in a different reality than YMJ, but in my reality you can't follow up a statement like, "HE'S NOT INNOCENT, HE'S BEEN PROVEN GUILTY!" with, "He was accused of..." without directly contradicting yourself. I can only hope YMJ isn't teaching that trick to her students, because it's bad form to directly contradict yourself when reporting the news.

Do As I Say, Not As I Do

McBride, not satisfied to leave well enough alone, felt the need to post a second piece on Larry Craig (R-Airport Bathroom Stalls). She misleads the reader by making one think she's going to get another one right (a rare occurrence) when she criticized some fellow conservatives that came to defend Craig. But she drops the ball when she tries to portray a criminal conviction to allegations. She has to go back decades to bring up Ted Kennedy's scandal-now that's reaching.

But among her "couple of comments" (note to McBride: A couple means two, not nine), she pulls the classic McBride maneuver of "Do As I Say, Not As I Do" with

The Idaho Statesman needs to realize that Craig's arrest shouldn't mean they print every single unverified rumor they've ever heard in the newspaper

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If McBride held herself to these same standards, she would have nothing to blog about, much less anything to use to distort the minds of the youth she lectures to.

What part of 'no amnesty' doesn't she understand?

I stand accused of putting words into Jessica McBride's mouth, and not for the first time.

Love the way she responds with personal attacks, don't you?

Here's the thing:

She says immigrants who haven't committed crimes are not her "priority." She says:

Illegal immigrants should be kicked out of the country the first time they offend. Focus on the criminals first.

Who, you might ask, would we focus on second?

She's been on a campaign to frighten people into thinking there's a big crime wave caused by illegal immigrants. (Lack of evidence notwithtanding.)

The way to prevent that alleged crime wave, of course, is to deport illegal immigrants BEFORE they commit crimes. She is part of the "What part of illegal don't you understand?" crowd.

And, as Jay Bullock pointed out awhile back, McBride is clearly in the "no amnesty" camp.

If there's no "amnesty," what's her alternative? Logic would tell you it is deportation.

But logic does not seem to enter the picture.

I rest my case.

Now Everyone Wants A List

First it was McBride's former BFF with droll commentary. Then came the enlightenment of the 50+ Things. Now, while McBride shows her in-depth journalistic skill by covering quiche and blue lines, commenter Dennis replies to her previous tirade with a list of his own:

Jessica, they are following the first five Liberal rules:

Liberal Rule #1 - When in doubt, tell a lie.
Liberal Rule #2 - When caught lying, go into hysterics
Liberal Rule #3 - Arguments are lost only to bigots
.Liberal Rule #4 - When faced with facts, ignore them
.Liberal Rule #5 - Anyone who disagrees is a Fascist.

Liberalism: The Politics of Arrogance.

In the interest of fairness, Whallah will now present the five Republican Rules:

Rule #1-Even when sure of the facts, tell a lie.
Rule #2-When caught lying, lie some more.
Rule #3-Arguments are only lost to liberals.
Rule #4-When faced with facts, put comment moderation on your blogsite.
Rule#5-Anyone who disagrees is trying to silence me (other options: They are juvenile, sexist, slime merchants, etc.)

Republican: The Embodiment of Undeserved Arrogance

Hypocrisy, Thy Name Is McBride

McBride again takes on her favorite role of martyr as she lashes out at Whallah contributor Xoff, who wrote about her failure to produce any statistical data to substantiate her argument. She starts out with:

I don't read liberal abuse-hate blogs. Why bother? It's juvenile, sexist stuff that belongs on a junior high school playground. (although I do sometimes marvel at how obsessed they are when readers send stuff my way. They spend so much time and energy...)

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She may not read liberal abuse-hate blogs, but she does write and read conservative abuse-hate blogs. She also should be aware that it is pretty quick and easy to point out the fallacies in most of her posts. But even as she complains that Whallah is juvenile, she continues with:

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Bill Christofferson, the slime merchant and Democratic political strategist who was behind all those nasty Mark Green ads, is apparently now turning his trash machine my way...

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Whallah, McBride's version of maturity.

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She focuses on one line of Xoff's argument, denying that she wants all illegal immigrants to be deported, but ignores the context of his post, trying to distort the point he was trying to convey. Just like she accuses liberals of doing to her, as she continues with her tirade:

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The liberals know it. But they simply don't care. They distort everything they can to achieve their political goals, like when they falsely said I was mocking a little girl's death when they knew I was mocking Eugene Kane for not having the guts to debate and had actually made the point that the little girl's death was a crisis. You have to wonder why the partisan left in this state has made it such a priority to try to silence me. I am in good company. It simply fortifies me.

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Ah, yes, the Eugene Kane incident...It is good to she is over that and has moved on with her life.

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But the best part is when she claims that the left is trying to silence her. Why would the left want to silence her? She is, single-handedly, the best thing that could happen to bolster the arguments of the left, with the possible exception of George Bush himself.

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Addendum: After two of McBride's acolytes offer solace and comfort for the poor, unfairly persecuted McBride, she adds a comment of her own: When you can't win the argument....

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Seeing as that she apparently couldn't finish the thought, we will help her. When you can't win the argument...Whallah, you claim to be a martyr and stop letting the winners post comments on your blog.

No statistics? Well, tell a scary story

Vintage McBride. Priceless.

She complains that those awful liberals complain about people like her, who inflame anti-immigrant sentiment by trying to find an illegal immigrant behind every crime.

It's not fair that liberals complain about that, she says.

Her "evidence" is an article describing the backlash against illegal immigration: The crux of her objection to the article is this sentence:

The [Newark triple murder] case revitalized an argument made during the congressional debate that the flow of illegal immigrants, though predominated by job-seekers lured by the prospect of higher wages and better conditions, includes a menacing criminal element.

It's not just an "argument," McBride says. It's a fact that illegals are committing lots of crimes and terrorizing American citizens.

Why, McBride asks, doesn't the writer offer some statistics:

Why not just look up the known numbers, Mr. Montgomery? (of course, in many states, like ours, no one really knows how many illegal immigrant criminals there are). Or why not just mention Newark again? Or the man who allegedly shot the cop in Kenosha?

Classic. The thrust of the whole article is the backlash since the Newark killings. There is hardly a need to mention it again.

No statistics for Wisconsin? Well, just throw out one horrible example where an illegal immigrant is charged with a murder, she says. That's exactly how she operates.

To some degree, that's what the article is all about. McBride is already on record calling for the deportation of all 12 million illegal aliens now in the country. McBride and hubby/demagogue Paul Bucher would like to frighten people into believing there is a crime wave caused by illegal immigrants.

All they are missing is the proof.

AFTERTHOUGHT: Did I forget to mention she teaches college journalism?

Wait, She Can't Do That, Can She?

McBride again shows her journalistic integrity with a post deriding Hillary Clinton, a presidential candidate, for answering a question about terrorism as she promotes her candidacy. McBride goes starts with:

Her first thoughts about another terrorist attack occurring involve how it could help her politically.

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She then goes on to state that the Democrats are at a disadvantage, in her opinion, in the event of a future terrorist attack, because the Republicans are the deciders and the do-gooders, while the Democrats are just a bunch of obstructionists.

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Several issues could be brought up about this posting of McBride's. One could be trivial and point out that McBride's link leads to the Blogger sign in page, as opposed to a real news story like this.

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Or one could discuss how McBride thinks that infringements of rights, isolationism, violations of the Geneva convention and human rights, and an illegal war which caused a recruiting boom and training camp for terrorists is actually a good thing. This could be followed up with McBride's disdain for diplomacy and statesmanship.

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But the true McBrideian part of the post is that she lambastes Clinton for answering a question about terrorism, but puts on her cheerleader uniform and picks up her pom poms for Mr. 9/11, Newt, and her real life version of Jack Bauer (who not only capitalized on terrorism politically, but also monetarily).