Saturday, July 28, 2012

Jeff Wagner: Your Hypocrisy Is Showing

Jeff Wagner is the early afternoon squawker on 620 WTMJ-AM. He is commonly referred to as Charlie Sykes Light because, even though he's as equally wrong-minded, he doesn't have spittle spraying from his mouth, usually.

Today, Wagner gave Sykes a run for his money in the hypocrisy department.

It started out when Wagner was whining about the imminent trade of Milwaukee Brewers ace pitcher Zack Greinke.

Wagner was getting his undies in a bundle because Greinke said that he loved playing in Milwaukee, but still might leave for a larger paycheck with another team. He felt that if the difference in paychecks was only $10 million, Greinke should stick to his words and take the lower pay to stay in Milwaukee.

The rant then went on against professional athletes in general and how the bastards participate in the free market and try to get the most money that they can.

The real kicker came from a banker driving through Shawano, who called in and said that if a player signs a contract, that's it. He shouldn't try to leave the team for more money and or ask for his contract to be renegotiated. He said likewise that if the team comes across hard times, they shouldn't ask to open the contract and try to cut the player's salary. Mr. Banker said that both sides just needed to "man up" and honor the contract they signed.

Wagner cheered this on.

Excuse me, but what?

This was some of the most egregious hypocrisy that I've ever heard! And after dealing with Scott Walker level hypocrisy for ten years, that says a lot.

These are the same people that went on for hours a day, day after day, week after week, to praise Scott Walker and gush all over Act 10.

Act 10 was nothing more than Walker refusing to "man up" and honor the contracts between the government and the unions. It was also nothing more than Walker admitting that he has no leadership skills whatsoever and that the only way he could get what he wanted was to break the contracts and act like the despot that he is.

For Wagner or any of his listeners - all four of them - to carp on a professional athlete for trying to earn as much money than can, but then praising Walker for doing just taking the money away from hard working people to give to his rich friends/cronies/campaign donors is beyond hypocritical.

But to top this off, these are the same jokers that will squeal like stuck pigs if their taxes go up a dime, and fight tooth and nail to protect the rich CEOs and bankers who make that much millions or even tens of millions, whether they ran their business well or drove it into the ground. But let a union member try to get a raise or even find a better job with more pay, and they scream about it until they are hoarse.

The saddest part is that these right wing zombies most likely can't even recognize their hypocrisy and double standards.

Crossposted at Whallah!

9 comments:

  1. Nice catch.

    Guess Jeff wants to give this back:

    "MILWAUKEE (AP) — Journal Communications Inc. said Thursday its profits rose 24 percent in the last quarter, as the media company's broadcasting segment benefited from heavy spending on political advertising

    The Milwaukee-based publisher of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Wisconsin's largest newspaper, reported net earnings of $7.6 million, or 13 cents per share. That's up from earnings of $6.1 million, or 10 cents per share, in the second quarter of last year....."

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  2. If you listen to Fox radio sports, there is a huge anti-player's union undertone.

    One station had an ongoing theme one day, advocating for everyone becoming a scab and crossing the picket line.

    Why? Because they state that the players should be grateful for the opportunity for work.

    They didn't stop at the players unions.

    They are attacking the referees, umpires, ...., you name it!

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    1. After getting to know both public and private unionized workers , I see nothing honest in any of Scott Walkers "cost cutting" measures.

      I will not respect any sports player, private worker, nor public worker, who doesn't stand with their colleagues in their respective professional associations.

      For the sports players, these players unions are their trade groups.

      This is not Rome.

      Sports players should not be treated like animals for your entertainment in the wealthy elite of society's arenas.

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  3. Professional sports is one area in which the myth of the "job creators" is revealed for the ridiculous fantasy that it is. The players create the product, in fact a functional team wouldn't even exist without talented players. Do fans pay good money to watch the owner of the team sit in his luxury box or to watch the manager fill out his lineup card and scratch his balls? They come to watch the players, who have created the demand that is fulfilled by all those hired to maintain the field and the stadium, sell food and drink and provide security. The workers, in this case the skilled baseball labor, create the jobs.

    The owner merely provides the capital. If he can't come up with the money some other fat cat with a desire for the ego boost that owning a team provides would cough up the cash. The owner is in fact the most easily replaced person on the team.

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  4. It is also the case that Greinke is doing *nothing* to 'dishonor' his contract. That contract runs through the end of the 2012 season, at which time he will become a free agent, For now, and through last Tuesday, he has done his best to keep his team from slip-sliding away in the standings. The Brewers are doing what is in their best interests by first trying to re-sign Greinke and then trading him when they couldn't do that. Greinke is doing what he feels to be in his own best interest by keeping open his option to test the 'free market' at the end of the season. And it is all happening within the structure of the partnership between the players, the teams and the MLB 'corporation', as represented in the Collective Bargaining Agreement. Wagner and - particularly - the banker don't know what the heck they're talking about.

    (BTW: it is entirely possible that when Greinke signs with a new team this winter, that team could be Milwaukee. Not likely, but entirely possible.)

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  5. You really see the elitism and double-standard that works when talk show hosts whine about players getting whatever they can get. When a business rooks taxpayers out of TIF money and gets infrastructure built for them (I'm looking at you, Kohl's), that's just "rewarding the job creators." But when a player (who we choose to pay our money to see perform) demands more cash, well, that's just being "ungrateful" and greedy.

    And unlike Walker with Act 10 or Kohl's or numerous corporations who have threatened to close up shop and opt out of previously agreed-to deals unless they got a better one, Greinke never held out or dogged it on the field because he was a pending free agent. In fact, he seemed to raise his game this year in an attempt to earn more money this off-season, which last I checked, is a supposed virtue in every other field for the Sykes/Bellings/Wagners.

    I really get annoyed when talk show hosts think athletes are somehow less entitled to money because they "play a game." Sorry guys, but I bet Zack Greinke's a helluva lot better at his job than a lot of better-paid CEOs ever were at theirs. Just look at Mitt Romney (aka American Borat) if you want more proof that you don't need brains and special abilities to make big money in business.

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  6. Perfect! Great find!

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  7. One has to wonder if they'll squeal like pigs when the Man puppets of Walker don't get their tax subsidized BUCKS playground.

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    1. There's a team I never hear mention of, the Bucks! They are like almost right next door, too.

      Isn't this where the 'Cons whined about a new scoreboard?

      Maybe if the Bucks moved over to La Crosse or Green Bay or Madison, they would get some love.

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