Wisconsin Blind Eye

 

In 2007, state leaders inexplicably thought it was a good idea to privatize public transparency and thus created WisconsinEye.

In December, WisconsinEye announced that it was ending live coverage and closing its archive of previous sessions of the state legislature because it was a victim of Trumpnomics:

“Due to extreme competition and a complete collapse in private funding — marked by donor fatigue, competing nonprofit campaigns, record-breaking political fundraising and economic uncertainty — WisconsinEye’s website is unavailable,” a message on the WisEye website states. “Without consistent annual funding…. citizens, legislators, legislative staff, the governor’s administration, agency leadership and staff, trade associations, attorneys and the courts, local government officials, journalists and all print, cable, television and radio news outlets, businesses, nonprofit organizations — all lose the only reliable and proven source of unfiltered State Capitol news and state government proceedings.”

Now, WisconsinEye has resorted to using GoFundMe to raise $250,000 in order to secure state funding to resume providing services.  As of the time of this writing, they were just under $6,000.  

While WisconsinEye is trying to get back above water financially, the Republicans in the state legislature are busy trying to take advantage of the situation by ramming through malevolent bills while no one is watching.

And to make sure no one is watching, the Republicans have "rediscovered" that their rules don't allow citizens or even fellow legislators to record their misdeeds.

What needs to be done is that the state needs to bring this service back in-house. The City of Milwaukee, Milwaukee County, and many other local governments provide this service for their constituents, and there's no reason for the state not to do so.  It would bring them into compliance with transparency rules and also maintain a public record.

But the Republicans don't want that because transparency leads to accountability, and accountability leads to them winning fewer elections.

Wisconsin GOP Plays The Racist Card Early

 WISGOP launched an attack on Democratic gubernatorial candidates Mandela Barnes and Francesca Hong on social media yesterday.  The only problem was that it wasn't Barnes:

Hey, what do you expect?  Republicans think that all Black people look alike.

It shouldn't be surprising, however. They have a long history of racism and being wrong about almost everything.

ADDENDUM: It should be noted that the image the Republicans used was Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, who is also running for governor.  However, Crowley is more closely aligned with the Republicans than his own chosen party.

How Does Wisconsin Investigate An Officer Involved Shooting?

In the wake of the murder of Renee Good by an ICE agent in Minneapolis, after initially welcoming the help of local law enforcement (probably the local feds idea), it is now being reported that state and local officials are blocked from the investigation and are being refused access to evidence (probably from the national hench people).

So essentially the perpetrator's bosses are investing their own...not likely to be very accurate or transparent given the preliminary before the facts pronouncements coming out of Washington.

But let's keep in mind how officer involved shootings are investigated in Wisconsin. First the officer is taken off the street and given an administrative job until the investigation is completed. And if the officer is from the Milwaukee Police Dept for instance, MPD doesn't handle the investigation. A neighboring law enforcement agency takes over...maybe the Waukesha County Sheriff's Dept or Racine Police Dept? And if something happens in another city or county, MPD may handle the case.   

But never never ever does a police department investigate their own officer when they are involved with a shooting. So why are the Feds locking out the locals in Minnesota? Well, we wouldn't want them to get any whitewash splashed on them now, would we? And given the clear and flagrant ignoring of the facts including the videos we have all seen, sadly, we know where this is going to go. 

Trump: My own morality. My own mind. It’s the only thing that can stop me...

This doesn't trouble a single Republican in the House or the Senate? 

"President Donald Trump reportedly told The New York Times that his "own morality" serves as the thing that could potentially limit his global powers -- adding that he doesn't "need international law."

As part of a wide-ranging interview with The New York Times published Thursday, Trump was asked Wednesday whether there were any limits to his global powers.

"Yeah, there is one thing. My own morality. My own mind. It’s the only thing that can stop me,” Trump reportedly said to The New York Times."

Trump has already proven that he thinks nothing can stop him in the United States...and now Venezuela. And nobody from his party sees any red flags here? He could simply lead us into a world conflagration and that's just fine because it met the incredibly low bar of Trump morality? Really?

I had a small hope the Marco Rubio might be something of a tempering presence in the West Wing...but he's turned out to be the biggest enabler there. wtf?

So taking this president's lead (remember when using 'this president' was a slur?), if my morality is loosey goosey, there are no crimes to commit? Because only MY mind can stop me!

Just Think, after a few years on the RFK JR diet plan and

you could look just like this:

and you might have to give up your singing career...

Trump Vows To Protect Peaceful Protesters in Iran, But When His Thugs Kill Americans in Minneapolis?

 Just a few days ago as protests about the economy heated up in Iran, Donald Trump vowed to come to the aid of peaceful Iranian protesters.

But today one of his ICE henchmen murdered an American citizen in Minneapolis, who was apparently in the wrong place at the wrong time, and Trump is silent and his administration LIES through their teeth.

The entire chain of command needs to be held responsible and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

There ain't no Rule of Law in the US. 

And apparently he missed the point that Iranians are protesting over AFFORDABILITY 

January 6th, 2021: NEVER FORGET!

In the aftermath of an attack on our nation and it's governing institutions by those who live here...the restoration of the chief instigator to the White House by this same miscreant class...the vindication of those rioters through pardons by a sitting president...intractable division...the United States of America has suffered much in the past five years.

Here is documentation of what happened then and how it happened and who is clearly responsible.

A visual archive of Jan. 6, 2021, through the lenses of those who were there. 

 

Putin : Ukraine :: Trump : Venezuela

 that's it.

If The Trump Speech On The Capture Of Maduro Doesn't Prove He's In Full Dementia

What's it gonna take? Rambling, spitting, mispronouncing, illogical, and he can't even read his own text. Sniffle. WTAF? It was dark at night? Who would have guessed. How do Rubio and all stand there and not smirk and laugh behind their hand? And where the flock is Congress? and ah...not to mention topics totally off subject.

Has Anyone Told Trump That Mar a Lago is Spanish?

 that's it, just a simple question this evening.

Open Letter to JSONLINE: You Need To Review Your Pay Wall Policy

 First, for those of you who don't know, JSOnline is the website for the print newspaper, The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. And yes they rely on a combination of subscription and advertising to pay the bills. So at JSOnline many of the front page articles are behind a pay wall and marked for subscribers only. 

I promised this post sometime ago but let it slip a bit, but today's version of JSOnline brought it to the fore. Now I don't totally agree with their stance but I understand it. I wrote about politics on a free site for 14 years and am here in a similar capacity. The first site did try advertising revenue for a while but the revenue was negligible. But I would suppose the MJS has sufficient advertising to support themselves if they wanted without the pay wall forcing additional subscribers. I am sure they would beg to differ.

 

But that's only the side story for now. My ISSUE is with what the put behind the pay wall. Exclusive personal interest stuff. Fine. Big breaking sports stuff. Fine. Best new restaurants. Fine.

But today they published an article of particular importance to the community as a whole:

In a crowded field for governor, here are the candidates' one big idea by Molly Beck.

Every resident and every voter and every business in the State of Wisconsin has an interest in who is elected our next governor. This type of reporting belongs front page (well it is) and NOT behind a pay wall. Everyone should be able to access the candidates responses (and those who did not respond) so they can make informed decisions in 2026.

Come on MJS and JSOnline.  Be the community representative that public media is supposed to be and report on current political events and make that reporting available to everyone. EVERYONE!

Full disclosure: I am a subscriber of the print MJS with daily and Sunday delivery to my home. 

 

Why is the COAST GUARD the group harassing Venezuelan oil tankers?

Whether or not the Trump cabal is legally intercepting and seizing Venezuelan oil tankers, I gotta wonder why is the Coast Guard doing the work? Their job is precisely in their title! I can't imagine that if the tankers are as nefarious as Trump alleges, that they would be coming anywhere near our coasts.

So given the nature of the work and the location and the fact that Trump has built up our naval presence in the Caribbean. why isn't the US Navy doing this?

The Changing Of The Name Of The The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts Presents An Interesting Question.

 A typical overreach by the current denizen of the White House has added the name of Donald J Trump to the Kennedy center. And the sign on the building was updated with 24 hours of the vote. Now, the legality of the change is up for question since Congress originally passed actual laws naming it shortly after Kennedy's assassination. So a simple board vote technically isn't an actual name change. 

But there is a whole background issue here that is being overlooked. The previous name was in fact The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts. Notice the M word in there? M as in Memorial. Don't you have to be dead to have a Memorial named after you? 

 

RFK Jr Continues To Claim That Aluminum In Vaccines Causes Health Issues

And maybe he's right given how many of his troop have varying stages of dementia apparently caused by their tin foil hats...which of course aren't actually made out of tin foil...but ALUMINUM!

Ebben Gets An Endorsement That's Out Of This World

 

Jessi Ebben, a MAGA moron who is running for Tom Tiffany's congressional seat, is very proud to tell everyone and anyone who will listen to her that she's been endorsed by Rep Anna Paula Lunatic 

In a statement, Rep. Luna said “Jessi Ebben is a devoted wife, mother, and a true America First fighter, and I am proud to endorse her for Congress in Wisconsin’s 7th Congressional District. Jessi is a Trump Conservative with deep Badger State roots, and she will help me advance President Trump’s agenda in Congress by securing our southern border, lowering costs for Wisconsin families, and standing firmly with law enforcement. Jessi Ebben has my full endorsement.”

Very impressive indeed. How many people can say that they've been endorsed by a so far into the MAGA cult that she nominated President Pedo for the Nobel Peace Prize, as well as be added to Mount Rushmore? And let's not forget that Lunatic is also a Russian asset! Maybe, if elected, Ebben could fly to Moscow with Ron Johnson and get a discount on airfare!

But the real seller that shows that Lunatic knows that Ebben is the real deal is that Lunatic knows all about UFOs and believes in interdimensional beings. Because one would have to be spaced out to think Ebben would be a good choice for dog catcher, much less US Representative.