What would Mother say?

Jessica McBride "always get(s) really annoyed" about a lot of things, including:

when liberal women presume to speak for all "women" or "mothers" (for example, assuming that abortion is a "woman's right").

She had Sally Field in mind this time, but JMcB is always either getting really annoyed or choking on her coffee about something.

But while we're on the subject of who speaks for America's mothers, here is the commander in chief's take on it, via DailyKos:

George Bush held a pep-rally at the White House today and made what was perhaps the most idiotic remark in a long line of idiocies from his misbegotten presidency:

Gold Star Mothers, got you, okay, thank you -- Blue Star Mothers, Gold Star Mothers, all the mothers, yes. (Applause.) Every day is Mother's Day as far as your concerned, isn't it?

Yes, George, every day is a holiday when you have a child who is either fighting in a war or was killed in it.

We'd say that's far from his most idiotic remark, but it probably made ms. McBride "really annoyed," we expect.

McBride's presidential prediction

She predicts the general election debates will be between Rudy and Hillary, and the candidates will wear protective face masks.

McBride actually running WTMJ Radio

Focusing on the big issues, like the station's "Standing up for what's right" slogan,the delusional McBride reveals her continuing influence at the radio station that canned her:

Do they still use that slogan? When I was there, the new program director, Tom Parker, said he didn't like it. Now, I've noticed they use "Depend on it" - which doesn't have the same ideological hint to it - on their home page. I can't find "Standing up for what's right" on the site at all, unless it's buried somewhere that I'm overlooking. It's also not on Charlie's page. Do they ever use it on the air anymore? I'm going to have to start listening to see. I know when I was there, they started changing some of our "opens" (like mine), which used to have it.

(Watch: Within a week of this post, the old slogan will be on the web page, just like a few days after I mentioned they were downplaying James Harris on their site, he suddenly appeared on the home page. Coincidence? Hmmm.)

She's calling the shots there. Who knew?

How soon they forget

Brew City Brawler observes that Jessica McBride's "Never forget" video on Sept. 11 was forgotten by Sept. 13 and replaced with Fred Thompson hitting on Roseanne Barr.

Easy come, easy go.

Living up to low expectations

Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen is the guy responsible for my new friendship with Jessica McBride (who says that "the enemy of an enemy is a friend"). We both tried to defeat JBVH last year, and aren't happy he's there. Small world, huh?

But I digress.

JBVH gets a rave editorial review this week from the Wisconsin State Journal, which says he's the best thing to come along since pockets on shirts.

And what's he done to deserve it? Why, nothing less than to schedule some seminars around the state about open meetings and public records -- the same thing Jim Doyle did in his three terms as AG, and which was continued by Peg Lautenschlager when she held the office.

The State Journal's expectations of JBVH must be pretty low if that's all it takes to merit a laudatory editorial. My expectations were very low, and he's lived up to them.

One Wisconsin Now's Cory Liebmann points out that JBVH hasn't exactly set the world on fire with his public records decisions.

Show Off

McBride again shows us her masterful skill of the written word, her fine analytical reasoning, and her skill at in depth reporting. Don't believe me? Then take a gander at this:

WARNING: Reading the following while sober may cause intense headaches and upset stomachs.

Er, maybe not. He's just your garden variety accused drug dealer.Someone has egg on his face, and it's not the reporters in this story.Or is something else going on?Note: The AP story leaves out the suspect's name. WEAU TV has it: Hassan Mohammed Abdiaziz.
Update! I just realized. The AP didn't leave out the suspect's name because this version of the same AP story had it. So it appears that WTMJ left out the suspect's name. Often, news organizations will omit a suspect's name until they are charged. I think that is often a fair thing to do. But that's not the case here because WTMJ does run the suspect's mug shot - also without his name. Channel 4 ran the name. So did Minnesota TV. I can't find the story on JSonline. So, why did WTMJ delete his name?
Hassan Mohammed Abdiaziz. Hmmmm.

You were warned. Whallah takes no responsibility for your migraine.

Will Miracles Never Cease?

In her post about whether or not State Senator Lena Taylor is going to run for against Milwaukee County Scott Walker (who still hasn't formally announced that he would run again), McBride doesn't get one thing right...she actually gets two.

McBride says that she would bet that there will be a conservative candidate in the race for the State Supreme Court. There already is one. The question would be can the conservatives put up a viable candidate. This is doubtful, as that they have already stooped low enough to ask Mr. McBride.

The other point that McBride hits on the head is when she says:

But we'll be treated to months of histrionic, nonsensical quotes.

And here at Whallah, we know that she will be a wealthy source of them.

Iraq Moratorium begins on Sept. 21

Don't just sit there -- do something.

UPDATE: Guess who doesn't like the idea? Now we know it's a good one.

MILWAUKEE ACTION: The Milwaukee Coalition for a Just Peace will hold a vigil on Friday, Sept. 21, at 5 p.m., at Wisconsin Ave. and Water St. in downtown Milwaukee.

If Osama says it, it must be true

Ben Brothers of Badger Blues on McBride's equating Bin Laden's positions with the Democrats:

Only someone who’s not very bright would be inclined to take bin Laden’s pronouncements at face value. They’re transparently ridiculous propaganda. Can’t you imagine these same people 65 years ago, listening intently to radio broadcasts from Tokyo Rose, cheering gleefully if Franklin Roosevelt was praised as a Communist, as if that settled the matter (”Stalin has pretty much adopted the Democratic Party’s rhetoric and platform”)? They would rightly be dismissed as lunatics.

The unasked question

Jessica McBride thinks this should be the dominant media theme on Iraq:

Brit Hume tonight to General David Petraeus:

Would you say that we wouldn't be in the situation we are in today in terms of sectarian violence in Iraq generally had not Al-Qaida been present and active there?

Petraeus: That's correct. That is correct.

Hume: Has this in an ultimate sense turned out to be more than anything else, a war with Al-Qaida?

Petraeus: Well, it is Al-Qaida and associated uh movements I think or affiliates if you will because again the insurgents, until they started flipping more and more certainly throughout the Euphrates river valley and now other areas, certainly were associated with Al-Qaida, at the very least turning a blind eye to them, and at the most in many cases aiding and abetting them.

The unasked question:

General, would Al-Qaida even be in Iraq if US troops had not invaded and occupied the country?

UPDATE: Russ Feingold asks some tough questions about US priorities in fighting terrorism, and gets no answers. Video link here.

McBride chokes, Soglin chokes up

Paul Soglin's entry in the Bulwer-Lytton fiction contest.

Darn! No Paul Bucher to kick around

WisPolitics:

Bucher opts against Supreme Court bid

Former Waukesha County DA Paul Bucher has decided not to run for the state Supreme Court, citing personal, professional and financial reasons.

Bucher ran unsuccessfully for the GOP nomination in last fall’s attorney general race. He told WisPolitics this morning he did not want to take time away from his family and his position at the Gatzke & Ruppelt law firm in New Berlin to meet the demands of a statewide campaign.

He also said the expected expense of taking on Justice Louis Butler and the difficulty of raising “millions of dollars” for the race were factors as well.

Not to mention the prospect of getting his ass kicked twice in a 19-month period.

Paul Bucher. Still never a judge. Not one day, ever.

Praise the Lord.

Variation on a theme

McBride's not the only one whose spelling is challenged when it comes to "Voila!"

Says The Critical Badger:

Open up the rolodex and call up Mike Verveer, or some UW professor, and viola! A story.

We prefer Jessica's spelling, so will leave the name of the blog as is.

Whose side are they on?

One more reason to be thankful that Glenn Frankovis did not make the cut as a finalist for Milwaukee police chief:

A Sunday Journal Sentinel story told of a Milwaukee cop who "was accused in a three-year span at least 10 times of beating suspects, planting drugs or both," yet has been promoted to sergeant.

Frankovis, a former Milwaukee police captain who had major attitude problems and run-ins with the current chief before retiring (and suing the city) had this reaction to the JS article, in a post entitled "Whose side are they on":

... What I do know is that these so-called investigative reporters, liberal judges and defense attorneys never seem to be able to find the real victims of crime who are being held hostage in their own neighborhoods by the very thugs these guardians of the public give so much credibility to. As a result, they choose to malign law enforcement officers who are trying to make neighborhoods safe from the likes of those who would shoot guns indiscriminately and kill innocent people merely because they want to settle a score or maintain their drug territory...

... A young, energetic Police Officer (now Sergeant) takes his job seriously and does what I have heard demanded of the Police Department numerous times at various neighbohood (sic) meetings (attended by black, white and Asian people and their aldermen in most cases) and he ends up on the FRONT PAGE of the Journal Sentinel with an article which questions his credibility but seemingly gives all credibility to the thugs.

Apparently, Frankovis -- who was the "energetic" officer's supervisor at the time of some of the incidents -- thinks the public is demanding that police officers beat suspects, and this young, energetic cop is just doing what they want.

That, of course, flies in the face of what the public is demanding from its police officers in the wake of the Frank Jude case and others that have come to light.

The citizens of Milwaukee want a crackdown on crime. But they also want accountability from the police officers who are supposed to protect them.

Small wonder that Frankovis was a bad fit. He's old school in the worst possible way, as in Harold Breier School.

Who else, do you suppose, came to the defense of the "young, energetic" officer and criticized the newspaper for its coverage?

If you said ex-police reporter, ex-prosecutor's wife Jessica McBride, you win the jackpot.

UPDATE: Illusory Tenant on Frankovis v. Frankovis.

And this from Pundit Nation's Michael Mathias.

Osama bin Laden, Republican?

Have you read the transcript of Osama's latest video?

We're guessing no, because you have a life.

Not to worry. Jessica McBride has read it for you, and reached the inescapable conclusion that Osama is a Democrat. Or maybe it's that Democrats are terrorists. Something like that.

Or perhaps it was a typo, and she meant to write that Obama is a Democrat.

We've just scanned the transcript, but a couple of things jumped out at us:

"There are no taxes in Islam."

And Osama hates Hollywood.

Mr. Bin Laden sounds like a Republican.

As we learned in "Farenheit 911," he and his family have certainly been chummy with the GOP and the Bushes.

We don't recall them hanging out with Dave Obey.

UPDATE: Mike Plaisted says McBride has resorted to bomb-throwing to try to attract some attention because she still misses the high profile she had as a radio host before her career went into eclipse -- and points out that what she wrote has little or nothing to do with what Bin Laden actually said.

AND ANOTHER:Jay Bullock says that calling Osama a Dem is like calling an earthquake a terrorist.