They All Had Experience

I've heard many pundits state that Ron Johnson's barrage of attacks on Russ Feingold as being a career politician is taking a secondary toll on Scott Walker, who is also a career politician.

Walker's supporters have been working overtime in trying to damage control. A prime example would be Patrick McIlheran's piece from Sunday's Crossroads sections in which he declares Walker the only one who has a chance to beat Tom Barrett in November. He throws everything except the kitchen sink, hoping something will stick.

He backs this up with a blogpost on Monday. Showing his desperation, he cites Aaron Rodriguez (who has blogged for Walker's campaign site), Brian Fraley (paid Republican operative and former Walker campaign staffer) and Badger "we got guns" Blogger.

The general meme they are trying to push is that being a career politician isn't always a bad thing. It just means that he has experience.

But given the deplorable state of the county, with buildings collapsing, hurting and killing people; the systematic failure at the mental health complex; the massive pension loan debt as well as the unpaid repair bills Walker has stuck tax payers with; and the state having to take over programs to protect tax payers from a class action law suit stemming from Walker's ineptitude, it becomes obvious that Walker might have the experience, but not the track record of being successful.

To show the gentle reader what I mean, consider the following:

• Captain Edward Smith had experience, and still drove the Titanic into an iceberg.
• General George Armstrong Custer had experience, until Little Big Horn.
• Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus had experience, but didn't know what to do when someone dropped a match.
• George H. W. Bush had experience, and yet he ran us into one of the worst economic recession ever recorded.
• King Louis XVI had experience, and was also a good conservative, until he lost his head.

As you can see, experience doesn't mean much if you don't learn and grow from that experience. Considering the shape of the county, Walker hasn't learned a single thing.

Sykes: Sexual Assaults No Big Deal

This morning, on the day before the primaries, Charlie Sykes was naturally talking about the elections and trying to convince his dwindling audience why they should vote for Scott Walker, Ron Johnson, etc.

Two things really struck me while listening.

One, things must be looking a lot tighter than Walker would like, if he is not losing outright. Why do I say that? Because Sykes was already making excuses for a Walker loss on Tuesday. He kept listing two reasons why Walker could lose:

1. A high turn out of "uninformed, casual voters" who only know what they see in the commercials
2. Democrats and/or union members crossing over to vote in the Republican races.

Considering the number of people that have Neumann signs, or are being active for him, not just here in the Milwaukee area, but all over the state, that is rather elitist and condescending of Sykes. If I were a conservative voter, that would be more likely to push me into Neumann's camp.

As for the crossing over, I don't see it happening. For a cross over to have any real significance, it would require the bulk to occur in Milwaukee and Dane Counties. It's not going to happen in Milwaukee, because there are too many people that are eager to start taking the County back, and give the boot to Jeff Plale, Peggy Krusick and David Clarke. It's my understanding that there is at least one heated Democratic race in Dane County too, which would eliminate a section of those possible cross overs.

Like I said, they must be feeling pretty damn scared right now.

The other thing that Sykes said nearly forced me to pull over in disbelief.

When he opened the phone lines for callers to say who they were going to vote for, the very first voter proudly stated he was voting for Neumann. When Sykes asked why, the caller stated that Walker proved himself to be a bad leader as shown by the O'Donnell Park tragedy and the ongoing horrors at the mental health complex.

Sykes blew off the caller saying that those were simply lefty/union talking points.

Is Sykes really saying that the death of a teenage boy and the sexual assaults of cognitively disabled women as being mere talking points? I thought Sykes was a misogynistic reprobate before, but even I wasn't ready as to how low he would stoop.

Since this is the talking point of Team Walker and the Republican Party, keep that in mind when you go vote. The death of a boy or the raping of women is no big deal, as long as they get to forward their ideological agenda.

We Should Be Carpetbombing Them Instead

Patrick McIlheran found an unusual survey done by Rasmussen, but was even more perplexed by the results (emphasis mine):

Rasmussen asks Americans which other countries we ought to be ready to defend by arms. A majority says there are five.

Canada I get, and Britain. “Israel has U.S. support even if it makes the first move,” the pollsters report, with 51% saying we ought to help out if the Israelis do the world a favor regarding Iran’s nukes. World War II is so over, at least as far as a willingness to defend Germany.

And -- this surprised me a bit -- a majority say we ought to defend Mexico if it’s attacked.

What I want to know is why he found it surprising more people would prefer to be in protective of a neighbor, a business partner and just fellow human, even if they have different color.

"But this ticket was issued. I have a copy of this ticket"

A week ago, Charlie Sykes was squawking about Chris Larson getting a ticket for disorderly conduct for what turned out to be nothing, since the charges were dropped.

He kept saying how he "had a copy of this ticket," like it really meant anything.

Not nearly as much as the other ticket he has in his possession.

Well, seeing as how Charlie has picked up the hobby of collecting tickets, here is another one for him. According to WisPolitics.com, the story behind the ticket goes like this:

According to the South Milwaukee Police report, Elizabeth Plale reported that following an argument at their home, her husband tried to stop her from leaving their residence. She told police he grabbed her suitcase and threw it onto the lawn and "kicked her in the lower back area."

Plale denied that he kicked her, but told police he pushed her out the door. He told police that during the argument "a side of him came out that he had never known before."

Plale was cited for a municipal charge of disorderly conduct. Court records show that Elizabeth Plale filed for divorce Nov. 26, 2001. The divorce was finalized Sept. 22, 2003.

Plale admitted that he paid the fine associated with the ticket.

I don't know about you, but in my book, domestic violence is a bit more significant than an dropped ticket for beeping a horn.

It's Hard To Be A Conservative Part 58,3247

You have to condemn Mark Neumann for being a self-funded candidate, but embrace Ron Johnson for being a self-funded candidate.

Sarah Palin Discusses Charlie Sykes

Lifted from Illy-T:

"I don't read some of it because ... impotent, limp and gutless reporters take anonymous sources and cite them as being factual references," Sarah Palin told Fox News celebrity Sean Hannity.

Charlie loves his anonymous sources.

How The WPRI Report Killed The Minimum Mark Up Law

What? Oh, never mind.

H/T Illy-T

What Is It With James T. Harris, Temper Tantrums And Hypocrisy?

James T. Harris, showing no signs of insight or self-awareness, posted this tweet the other day:


That's what I love about this job. These fools set themselves up so easy for us that these posts almost write themselves.

Perhaps Harris forgot about the recent little tantrum he threw when his host, Earl Ingram, refused to allow Harris to use Ingram's show for a self-promotion photo op.

But even if he forgot that, how could anyone forget the time that Harris publicly embarrassed himself on a national stage when he was called out by a black conservative commenter? Here's Harris in his full fledged tantruming glory, starting about the 2:30 mark, but really picks up about the 2:50 mark:



It's amazing that the divas like Harris just have no clue on how they appear to the rational world.

Kleefisch Campaign Goes Into Silly Mode

Rebecca Kleefisch is still trying to make that run for Lt. Governor. She came out with her first ad, but for her sake, I hope she didn't buy any air time for it.

Besides not really saying anything but the usual, expected empty rhetorical platitudes, she has this visual which I captured from her ad:


There are some really amateurish mistakes in this one screen shot.

One, no one outside of Southeastern Wisconsin knows who Charlie Sykes or Mark Belling are and are unlikely to care what they think of Kleefisch. Secondly, the majority of the people in Southeast Wisconsin do know who these two are, and still don't care, or even find it as a reason to go the other way. If she is hoping that these two reprobates will get her elected, she is in for a harsh disappointment.

Also, I don't know where they filmed this, but it is kind of a put off having such a bright background. It takes the attention off of her. On second thought, maybe that is what she is trying to achieve.

But this ad isn't the only faux pas that Team Kleefisch has made.

It's not usually a good idea to infer that your opponents are pagan heathens. And it's a turn off to both the right and left wings to say that you're going to use the Bible instead of the Constitution in making official decisions.

Michael Horne also raises a very interesting question: Where the heck is her husband, state Representative Joel Kleefisch? Does he not support her campaign or is she trying to hide the fact that she is part of the Republican establishment?

You Know It's Bad When Your Base Turns On You

Even Jerry Bader, squawker from the Fox Valley, is getting disgusted with Scott Walker's hypocrisy and lack of character:

Then...The Walker campaign sent out a direct mailer on Saturday (I received it at home) which seemed downright desperate; it attempts to idenitfy Neumann with...wait for it...Nancy Pelosi!!! In fact, it seems as desperate as any of the attacks Neumann launched at Walker early on. It certainly doesn't give the appearance of a candidate with a comfortable lead. In fact, it doesn't give the appearance of a candidate with ANY kind of lead. Neumann is holding a Sunday afternoon news conference to address the mail piece.

As I said above, I have no idea how much this race has tightened, but whatever the gap is it's not enough for Scott Walker's comfort. And I'm every bit as dissappointed with this from Walker as I was from Neumann early on. Unlike other conservative talk show hosts in the state, I didn't have a horse in this race early on. In fact, I welcomed the Neumann entry into the race. It was the nasty campaign tactics that prompted me to urge him to drop out. Neumann's latter stage strategy has apparently made him competitive with Walker. I'm not going to be hypocritcal and give Walker a pass. Trying to suggest that Mark Neumann is a free-spending liberal whose picture should be next to Nancy Pelosi's is as preposterous as anything Neumann alleged early on.

Scott Walker's campaign was as indignant as indignant gets at Neumann's early tactics. It's sadly dissappointing to see that when the internal polling apparently gets uncomfortable for him he stoops to the same tactics. And what's particularly unnerving is that apparently the Walker campaign kept this powder dry for just such a deployment if they felt it was needed. Playing the "Pelosi" card???? Just how TIGHT is this race???

You know Walker is in trouble when even the paid help isn't helping any more. I just wonder if Charlie Sykes or Patrick McIlheran will have the courage to call Walker out on his poor behavior.

H/T Fairly Conservative and Team Neumann

Assurant Insurance: Victim of HCR or Themselves?

A while ago, Assurant Health announced that they would be cutting 130 jobs as it "prepares for changes under federal health care reform."

Michelle Malkin jumped all over that and labeled HCR as one of "Obama's job-killing" actions.

Of course, the local squawkers and echo chamber, incapable of independent thought, never bothered to fact check it and they also did their best Chicken Little imitations.

Milwaukee News Buzz points to an article in The New Republic which points out what the real problem is for Assurant and companies like them:

The health law forces insurers to cover basic benefits. It restricts their ability to mistreat consumers. And it limits the money they can spend on administrative overhead or broker commissions. Once fully implemented, reform will also prevent these carriers from avoiding people with pre-existing conditions. Make no mistake: These are all good things. They mean insurance is becoming more accessible, more comprehensive and more efficient.

They then cite an example of this:

Alas, that may also be bad news for Assurant. If the company's name sounds familiar, that's because it was in the news early this year when a Colorado jury slapped it with a $37 million judgment for wrongly refusing to pay the bills of a woman in a car accident. (The company claimed the woman had hidden evidence of a pre-existing condition. The jury, obviously, disagreed.) And when the layoffs were announced, an article from the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel noted that reform would "undercut one of Assurant's strengths -- determining which customers are the best risks." I have no idea whether Assurant can find other ways to survive as a business. But, if it can't, then we're better off relying on competitors that can.

Also, Assurant has had other problems, like when they were targeting minorities with HIV, because they wanted to "contain costs." Their amoral actions ended up costing the company $10 million dollars on just one case.

Perhaps it's time for Malkin to go back on patrol with the Fashion Police. I hear things are getting sloppy again at Dunkin Donuts.

Shocker! Glenn Beck Lied!

At a "religious" rally yet!

After being called on a white lie he told during his Restoring Honor rally, Glenn Beck admitted Thursday that he stretched the truth because he “thought it would be a little easier.”

Beck had claimed that he held George Washington’s handwritten first Inaugural Address in his hands at the National Archives, but a spokeswoman at the institution said he did no such thing. Keith Olbermann, Ed Schultz and others called him out for the fabrication.

Video can be found at the link.

Another Day - Sykes Gets Caught In Another Lie

Today, Sykes spent a considerable amount of time defending state Senator Jeff Plale by attacking his Democratic primary opponent Chris Larson.

Sykes brought up an old ticket that Larson had received when he was a young man. Jason Haas points out the hypocrisy of Plale and his allies like Sykes in attacking Larson on this, especially when Plale hires convicted felons without blinking an eye. Of course, as Zach points out, Plale tends make a habit of hanging around with shady characters.

Anyway, back to Sykes. Sykes brings up an incident from 2004 when a city contractor tows Larson's car away. Larson hopped in his car and was beeping the horn to get the tow truck driver's attention.

Sykes continues:

"When the car gets to the tow yard, Chris Larson is, yeah, blowing the horn, refuses to get out. The towing company calls the cops. The cops cite him for disorderly conduct. As far as I can tell, the case was resolved, uh, when it was dismissed with prejudice which essentially means a little plea bargain type thing, where you go take the class - anger management - I don't know what, you do something, and [mumbling] you know, you don't pay.

"But this ticket was issued. I have a copy of this ticket."

Naturally, I contacted Supervisor Larson and asked him about it. Larson replied:

"Basically, I thought the guy was stealing my car and I was the one who called the police. The ticket was given because I didn't have an ID on me and therefore couldn't verify who I was. The ticket was dropped pretty quickly after it was issued. Also, I was never arrested in my life."

This raises a number a couple, three questions:

1. What is the significance of Plale/Jensen running to Sykes? Is Plale really a D.I.N.O.S.A.U.R., like David Clarke?
2. When is Sykes ever going to be held responsible by WTMJ for all of the lies he tells? After all, xoff won't wait forever.
3. I believe Sykes when he says he has a copy of Larson's ticket. But does he still have copy of his own ticket?
   

Charlie Sykes' Really Bad Week

Poor old Chuckie. He must be feeling the strain this week.

First, it is revealed that he is only #4 in the morning show ratings race. He'd be #5, but there is no stations that play polka at that time. WTMJ spends a lot of money on him. I don't think that they would be happy paying that much for that little.

Then it turns out that Sykes has been trying to procure the sex offenders vote or something.

Today, Sykes blogged an email he received from "a listener." Said email, which he repeated on his show, claimed that Nancy Pelosi, who was here to speak with the veterans, held a super secret fund raiser for Tom Barrett.

The fund raiser was so super secret that neither Barrett or Pelosi even knew about it. Sykes' masters, WISGOP, took Sykes' lie and ran with it, causing themselves no end of embarrassment as they had to withdraw their accusations, blaming it on an "unreliable source."

Hell, anyone could have told them that Sykes was an unreliable resource. This wasn't the first time, nor the second, nor even the third time that Sykes got caught up in a lie, often trying to put the blame for his own dishonesty onto others.

But as I've said before, if a man can lie to his own family, what makes you think he won't lie to you?

Maybe it's time to brush off the old campaign and once again push to have xoff on TMJ!

What's Sykes Standing Up For Again?

Just wondering what Sykes is standing up for, because it sure as hell ain't Milwaukee.

He joins his BFFs at Badger Blogger* in ridiculing the unions, who are going to hold a rally on September 10th to demand some accountability from Scott Walker.

Remember, it was Walker's illegal budget and poor management skills that led to things like a young man losing his life when part of a county owned and maintained building fell on him.

It was also Walker's ineptitude and disregard for the county's most vulnerable citizens that allowed dozens of sexual assaults at the mental health complex. To make matters worse, Walker had a chance to fix it years ago, by adding more staff and creating a secure ward, when he was warned of these problems.

Now that Walker has ordered more of the same problems to happen, Sykes et alia don't want this brought to the public's attentions. After all, what's is some sexually assaulted women or some collapsed buildings when you can pretend to save a couple of bucks on taxes? I'm sure they would call that a reasonable trade-off.

*You would think Sykes would have learned by now about listening to unreliable sources.