The Ghost of Walker Yet To Come

By Jeff Simpson

Scott Walker will let you know he wants to do to the country what he has done to Wisconsin.  

He even has the ad to prove it!

Scott Walker is so proud of his accomplishments that he is showcasing them here for all of the world to see.  In order to survive as a middle class family, you need two job(at least).  

At 1;19 Mr. Smith is working at the factory for $11/hr, hoping to get in 30+ hours so he will be able to keep his healthcare and his son with diabetes and his daughter with Asthma, the care and meds that they need:

Immediately after his shift is over Mr. Smith has to do the McDonalds drive thru value menu to grab a bite to eat and head to his second job.  He run a local store, which has been in the family for 4 generations but now employs a bare bones staff and forces him to work an extra 30+ hours a week to keep the doors open.  He occasionally wishes that WEDC would hand him $7,000,000 in taxpayer money to open his business, instead of the out of state company that wants to relocate here and is trying to put him out of business.   

At least he gets to work with his wife and they get to take turns watching their sons plays and their daughters basketball games.  Well the home ones anyway.   

I know you will say, what a great hard worker he is, working 70 hours a week.  He knows what its like to be a true American.  Agreed! What could possibly go wrong with working multiple jobs?    

We at Cogdis were not able to ge ta full interview with Mr. Smith, apparently once the owners broke the union, the break times went away also.   However, we were able to ask him, with as much as he works, how is he able to keep such a big smile on his face? 

The answer is simple.   He is one of the few that work at the factory. that still have all of their fingers!   

H/T Rebecca and Nicole for catching and capturing this!  

You Can't Stop Us Now

The following is a song done by the Eddie Japan band out of Boston, dedicated to #wiunion:



The Wisconsin State AFL-CIO blog has the details behind the video and song.

Many thanks to the good people of the Eddie Japan band for this tribute.

The Walker Way

By Jeff Simpson

In the Moraine Park School district, the school board was preparing to treat their teachers well.  Then a problem arose.  The teacher's union recertified!  

 After hearing concerns, the Board went ahead and adopted the 2014-15 budget, which included a 1.46 percent wage increase for union members. Non-union support staff and administrators will receive a 2 percent wage increase.

Divide and conquer is alive and well in WI.  If a majority of teachers decide they want one voice to speak for them, they must be punished!

“We believe there are legal, creative options available to make the faculty feel whole, to not be penalized for choosing to have representation at the bargaining table and beyond,” he told the Board. “We also believe that saying faculty would get a larger salary increase if they didn’t recertify could be considered a prohibited practice by the WERC (Wisconsin Employment Relations Commission). We’d rather not pursue that option, and would really like to settle this here.”
Division arose when members of the Board stated they would offer a 2 percent wage increase to all staff and then reduced it to 1.46 percent when the MPFT voted to recertify in April. MPTC employs around 152 faculty members.

In Wisconsin, the only way people are allowed to collaborate these days, is if it is to get Scott Walker and republicans elected!  

Walker Predicts Romney Will Win Fitzwalkerstan - He's Wrong As Usual

Scott Walker did an interview with "Fox and Friends," which was picked up by Politico. It is something to behold as it is one of Walker's best jobs of conflation and obfuscation one might have the bad luck of ever seeing.

First, there was this:

Wis. Gov. Scott Walker said on Friday that the Republican presidential ticket will benefit from the GOP groundwork laid out during his recall election.

Walker said on Fox News Channel’s “Fox and Friends” that the infrastructure is already in place to help Mitt Romney and Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) carry Wisconsin, a state that went overwhelmingly for President Barack Obama in 2008, but now looks to be in play.

“You take all the work that was done earlier this year, when we made four and half million voter contacts in a state of 5.7 million,” the Wisconsin governor said. “We had tens of thousands of volunteers help us in my election earlier this year. That excitement continues on

Excuse me, but WTF?!

First of all, there is no one better at getting boots on the ground than the unions, except for #wiunion.

How else can they explain that when Joanne Kloppenburg ran against David "Chokehold" Prosser, in two short months she went from given loser to within a few points of Prosser?

Or in the recall itself, which wasn't supposed to succeed at even getting enough signatures, got within spitting distance of a million?

Out of the 4.5 million contacts that Walker is claiming, about 3 million of them were robocalls. The unions were too damn busy pounding the pavement and making real person calls to worry about the numbers.

But Walker wasn't done with his lying:

He added that the debate highlighted Romney’s successes as “a job creator” and as governor of Massachusetts, where he “helped the economy grow” as he worked on both sides of the political aisle.

“I think that’s what people here in Wisconsin and across the country want in the next president,” Walker said, citing Romney’s record of, he said, both governing successes and of bipartisanship.

Walker probably thinks that Romney is a wonderful "job creator" because they are relatively the same. Romney, in his one term, drove his state from the mid 30's all the way down to 47th. That is similar to Walker taking Wisconsin from a state leading in the recovery to dead last in economic activity and job growth for months in a row.

Not exactly what I would call a glowing recommendation there.

And the last bit of bovine manure comes with this:

Ryan, a son of Wisconsin, also energized voters when he joined the presidential ticket, Walker said.

“[The excitement] certainly got accelerated when Paul Ryan was added to the ticket,” Walker said. “Not just because he’s from Wisconsin, but because in his district, which is evenly matched between Republicans and Democrats, there’s always been a high level of respect, even in the blue collar, working class union towns like Janesville and Kenosha, because of the hard work Paul Ryan has done and will do.”

Oh yeah, sure, Ryan did cause an uptick in Romney's numbers...for about three days.
Since then, almost every single poll has Obama in the lead from anywhere from three to eleven points. That includes the most recent poll that came out late on Saturday showing Obama taking Wisconsin.

Nate Silver, the guru of election prediction, gives Obama an 83% chance of winning Wisconsin. I like those odds.

Another sure sign that Obama will be taking Wisconsin is the fact that the right wing echo chamber has been in a mad scramble to explain away the polls or find some obscure right wing pundit willing to go on a suicide mission and call Romney the winner.

As if you needed any more inspiration to get yourself to the polls on Tuesday, as well as your family, friends and neighbors, I leave you with one word and a picture.

The word is Walkergate and the picture is this:

Nine Year Old Explains #wiunion

Swiped, with permission, from Facebook:

click on image to embiggen 

It gives me hope for the future. This nine year old is so much smarter than our governor or any right wing blogger, we will be OK.

That is, we will be OK if we can turn the tide now and restore sanity and personal rights to our state and our country.

Scott Walker and the Chamber of Horrors, er, Commerce

As I was working on catching up on the things I missed while I was away, I saw a story from JSOnline reporting that on Wednesday, our wayfaring governor is going to Washington D.C. to "attend U.S. Chamber of Commerce events."

Normally, I would have just brushed it off as just more of Walker's "rising-star-before-smashing-into-a-Walkergate-nova" antics.  But this caught me dead in my tracks.

Lewis F. Powell

The reference of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce was most timely.  During my travels, I was given a tip from a most sagacious soul.  Said tip had to do with a letter written 41 years ago by Lewis F. Powell, just two months before he was nominated to the Supreme Court of the United States by President Richard M. Nixon.

Powell's letter, which came to be known as the Powell Memo or the Powell Manifesto, was written to and at the request of his friend, Eugene Sydnor, Jr., then Director of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.  It has come to be a strong influence in the strategy adapted by the likes of the Koch Brothers, Sam Adams Alliance and the Bradley Foundation.  It is also the basic playbook for ALEC.

The first part of the letter was a cursory overview of the plaints that businesses are echoing to this day: That taxes are too high and that there are too many regulations.  He goes on to complain of "attacks" by the usual bogeymen of the right wing corporate nuts - communists, socialists, statists and leftists. And, as one might expect, Powell portrays the CEOs as the poor, downtrodden class that is too meek for their own good.

But as one reads on, it gets downright scary as you see Powell describing what is happening today, forty years after he wrote his letter.

He speaks of infiltrating the school systems with right-minded people, both as speakers, as teachers and as activists.  This brings to mind the story from one year ago about the undue influence the Koch Brothers had in personnel decisions at Florida State University.  Walker's own "merit system" is nothing more than a way for him to force out the malcontents and to keep and reward the ones that pass their fealty tests.

Powell even advocates for censoring what is in the textbooks and what is being taught in the classrooms.  Does "intelligent design" and "abstinence only" ring a bell?

What sent chills down my spine is when Powell writes about the ways to control the public, which he says is most vital for the immediate term.

He describes controlling what's on television, including educational programs and newscasts, much like he wanted control over the textbooks.  He advocated for similar control of the radio.  Suddenly, Fox News and talk radio takes on a much more ominous look.

Powell also describes the need to put out their own publications, whether it be "scholarly publications," books, pamphlets and advertisements.  What he is describing is their need for pseudo-scholarly propaganda machines such as WPRI, MacIver Institute and the Franklin Center.  And yes, I would add corporate media like the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the Wisconsin State Journal and the Wall Street Journal to this list.

Powell goes on with more strategies, such as using the courts (see Rick Esenberg and his legal group which just happens to be funded by the Bradley Foundation but "without expectations"). even more lobbying (which apparently became buying politicians like Walker) and generally flooding the system with more graft, er, I mean, money.

So what do we do now?

We have the corporate takeover of not only Wisconsin, but the entire nation, which has been meticulously and methodically taking place for literally decades.  They control most of the media and information sources, thereby controlling the population.  There is no better example than the unsuccessful recall of Walker.  It all looks like we are about to become an oligarchy and there's no way to stop it.

Well, we are not helpless and the situation is not hopeless.  Indeed, we have already started giving ourselves the means to stop and even reverse this trend.

First of all, Powell gives us a glimpse of the where they have overreached his original intent (emphasis mine):

We in America already have moved very far indeed toward some aspects of state socialism, as the needs and complexities of a vast urban society require types of regulation and control that were quite unnecessary in earlier times. In some areas, such regulation and control already have seriously impaired the freedom of both business and labor, and indeed of the public generally. But most of the essential freedoms remain: private ownership, private profit, labor unions, collective bargaining, consumer choice, and a market economy in which competition largely determines price, quality and variety of the goods and services provided the consumer.

The current version of the robber barons of old have stepped over the line when they started attacking Labor and collective bargaining.  Their greed has gotten the better of them and we can use that in a form of political judo.

Secondly, we have one of the largest grassroots movements in the nation in the form of #wiunion.  #wiunion is, as most already know, the loosely formed group that consists of people from the right, the left and the independent who feel that things have gone too far already.  We are public and private sector workers as well as the unemployed and underemployed.  We are the people of Wisconsin and we are fighting for our homeland, in every sense of the phrase.

Thirdly, we have ways to getting the information out there, whether it be through blogs, social media or even just social gatherings.  However, this is not enough at this time.  I would like to see a group of people come together to form a counterweight to the corporate media.  With the number of teachers and other workers who have been laid off and/or retired, not to mention citizen journalism, there are more than enough people who could be benefited by and beneficial for an alternative news source.  The funding to support the reporters, editors, artists, etc. could come from the same groups that supported the recall movement: the unions, the advocacy groups and groups like United Wisconsin.

Fourthly, as I pointed out right after the recall, we need to get some fresh faces into the political system.  We can't keep hanging our hopes on corporate Democrats who aren't much better than the Republicans.  The first example of this which comes to mind is Lori Compas.  Yes, she lost the recall election.  But the fact that there was even a recall election exceeded all expectations from the Republicans or the Democrats. Compas did that with the grassroots movement that I just mentioned above.

And lastly, we have the weapon that the would be corporate overlords gave us on a silver platter - Scott Walker and his crew.  Walkergate is upon them, with two convictions already and four more of Walker's aides facing serious charges.  It is only a matter of when, not if, Walker himself is indicted.  The level of corruption in Walker's administration is so complete that even though they are downplaying it, the corporate media that supports him has had to admit to the seriousness of it.

When Walker is indicted and goes to trial and the information comes spilling out, there will be a backlash at the extent the corporate overlords have gone in trying to make their final push at a hostile takeover.  This backlash, I have reason to believe, will spill all over the nation.

Then, maybe, just maybe, we can start restoring balance to our state and to our country.

Recall Recap: The Good, The Bad, The WTF?

My colleague Jeff already shared his views of the recall results, as have many other bloggers. Now it's my turn.

Instead of trying to a full length drawn out analysis, here are just some free floating thoughts:

This was one ugly campaign with dirty tricks and craziness galore.

There is some concerns about the integrity of the election itself.

• There is the questionable electric voting machines that Walker's been bringing in, mostly in the northernmost counties which had gone against him in 2010 and suddenly flipped.  These machines have proven to be easily tampered with and utterly unreliable.
• What's up with that story about Channel 12 asking people who were still standing in line to vote how they felt about Walker being named the winner?  That is illegal electioneering and the reporter and the station should be held criminally responsible.  And why hasn't any of the mainstream media even touched this story?
• And on Tuesday morning, WTMJ 620-AM radio station was telling people on their news program that the residency law was 90 days instead of 28.  I've heard that the GAB is looking into that bit of skulduggery too.
• There also was the robocalls trying to trick people who had signed the recall into believing they did not have to vote.
• There were the teahadist thugs who came all the way from Texas to harass voters and impede the system anyway they could.  Considering that they couldn't handle replicating the recall petition without botching the job, why should we have any confidence in anything they do?
• Our side wasn't much better, as in that idiotic Walker love child nonsense.  Everyone knows that Walker has no heart to love anyone or anything with.  I shudder to think how many man hours were lost  as people chased after this distraction.

*****

I must respectfully disagree with my friend and mentor, Jay Bullock.  The recall was not a bad idea.  Poorly executed, yes - bad idea, no.  Democracy is never a bad thing.

*****

Thanks for nothing, Citizens United.  I know this sounds like sour grapes, but this election wasn't won as much as it was bought.  Citizens United has opened the door to the kind of corruption and greed that we are currently seeing, not only here in Fitzwalkerstan, but all across the United States.  And in this, I include not only the graft bestowed on Walker by the Kochs, the Bradley Foundation and WMC, but also the corporate media, like the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, who refused to honestly and objectively publish the news, if they bothered to touch base on it at all.

But even this has its upside. It has exposed ALEC for what it is and corporations are dumping it fast as they can as they experience the blow back from it.  And thanks to the tireless work of Sue Wilson, the corporate media's violation of federal law, especially from squawk radio, is being exposed.

*****

The finger pointing has started in earnest.  Some are calling for the resignations of DPW's Mike Tate and Graeme Zielinski.  Some are blaming the unions for not doing enough, while others are blaming the unions for pushing too hard.  Some are whining about President Barack Obama not stepping in.  More are whining about DNC's lack of support.

My take is that this was lost in the primary.  We were winning until then.  But then all of a sudden the Democrats started saying that this wasn't about Act 10 or collective bargaining, but still claiming to be friends to the unions.

The fact is this was about Act 10 and collective bargaining, but not just these two things.  It was also about education, womens rights, human rights, civil rights, veterans rights, voters right, transparency in government and integrity in government.  All of these things have been greatly limited if not banished altogether.

Things really started falling apart when the left broke into camps that were opposed to each other instead of working together. What was once a loosely cohesive group of people suddenly became an exercise in herding cats.

I could understand why people might be initially upset with the unions for coming out with an endorsement for Kathleen Falk so early, but they refused to listen why, and only fed into the whisper campaign against the unions and against Falk.  Kathleen Vinehout and Doug LaFollette, wonderful people that they are, only made things worse by running campaigns that further divided the people, even though they really didn't stand a chance.

But they stifled the Act 10 part of it in order to make Tom Barrett look "more electable."  Don't get me wrong, I like Barrett well enough, but he was not the right person for this race at this time.  He had handcuffed himself and his campaign by running for mayor and postponing his entry into the gubernatorial primary.  He made things worse by not standing with the unions, saying he didn't want to restore all their rights, only just some of them.  

And Barrett's campaign faltered when it made its platform solely about Walkergate and not how he was going to fix it.  With so many people suffering recall fatigue, he failed to overcome that by giving them something more than "I'm no rock star."  When the people were looking for the rock star of rock stars, his message was the exact wrong one to get people motivated.

As far as Obama and the DNC, I'm glad that Obama stayed out of it. It would have only served as another tool for the right to motivate their voters even more.  And I never counted on the DNC, since they have a long history of poor decision making.  

*****

There are silver linings to all of this though.

People are waking up and becoming aware of what's really going on.

Not only that, but we have a very solid base to work with as we continue our fight to restore sanity and dignity to our state.  We have come together as a people who are aware that all is not well and won't be well as long as the corporate puppets are in office.

We also have found and continue to improve on using tools like social media to keep ourselves informed of the truth and are using that to share what we've learned with each other.  This has already shown itself to be a valuable tool to the ground game we will need to reclaim the state.

And we have found what the left and the Democrats are so sorely in need of in rising rock stars that will lead the way.  I'm referring to people like Assembly candidate Laura Hauser-Menting, Senator Chris Larson, Dane County Supervisor Jenni Dye, former Milwaukee County Supervisor Eyon Biddle and the incomparable, impeccable Lori Compas, to name but a few.

And most importantly, we have found rock stars inside of all of ourselves through #wiunion.

And lastly, there is one more rock star which will be the biggest one for the year to come: John Doe.

Astroturf in Action!

This weekend the koch brother's front group Americans for Poverty held their rally in Racine over the weekend. As we have pointed out here, The well funded Kochster's have brouht in busloads of out of state agitator's, (and they pay these out of state dead ender's well)!!

They also brought in a group of D-list celebrities to speak for them and "fire" up the crowd. These "celebrities" come in and attempt to tell the people of WI, how great Scott Walker's "reforms" are while they live as far away from WI as they can. This years out of state celebrities were Dana Loesch and Tony Katz( I would link to them, but even Google has never heard of them).

Then they brought in a couple of speakers reportedly from Wisconsin. The great thing about these speakers at the "tea party" rally s that they have spent their whole career engaging in everything the "tea party" has said they were formed to fight. Yet the "tea party" faithful cheered them on Saturday? Are the two Wisconsinites charlatans or is the "tea party" just a branch of the republican party(my vote is a little of both). The first speaker was double dipper Van Wanggaard who likes to collect two state pensions while working to end others. Then the hero of the day was the champion of Medicare Part D, Wall St. bailout, and the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars(off the books) Paul "hey big government spender" Ryan (R - Wall St.) I wonder how many $350 bottle of wine were promised to Ryan to lure him back to WI?

 I also wanted to give special attention to the ultimate out of state agitator and vermin Tim Phillips. Tim Phillips is the koch brothers stooge and you will have to look far and wide to find a human being more disgusting than he is. Here is a great rundown of Phillips.

So lets take a better look at the crowd. Why did they have to have this rally in Racine? easy access for the busloads of Illinois people coming up from Chicago! Then Fox news ran a story showing us the exact differences. While the Barrett campaign and those on the left, have actual grass roots and Wisconsin people power and boots on the ground, armed with a clipboard and pen.

What does the Walker campaign have(besides paid out of state agitators) As Fox News itself reports "Americans for Prosperity Poverty has supplied their workers with "cell phones, dialing software, a bus that has been traveling the state, Ipads, and tablets with campaigning software, and their own media machine. Astroturf in Action.

Do we want a few out of state agitators and billionaires deciding Wisconsin's future or do wewant the people of WI to be able to govern themselves?

We know what the Founding Fathers wanted, what will the people of WI chose?

This Is What Solidarity Looks Like!

I've been a delegate from my Local to the Milwaukee Area Labor Council for almost a year now.  But the events of this evenings meeting will stay burned in my memory for the rest of my life.

It started out with pride as I was finally able to be formally credentialed as a delegate.  My pride further grew as I stood in front of the Council and took my oath with other newly credentialed delegates.

The meeting then proceeded as most meetings due as we listened to the reports and took votes on various issues at hand.

But then the meeting became magical again as former County Supervisor Eyon Biddle, newly elected Supervisor David Bowen and about a dozen other people came in with flowers to thank MALC Treasurer/Secretary Sheila Cochrin for her commitment to making our city, our county and our state a better place.  This surprise, along with two standing ovations, got to the strong woman as she was overwhelmed with the show of support, respect and love.

After that happy interlude, the meeting carried on as normal again.

But then one of the most amazing things happened.  My dear friend and president of my Local, got up and told the Council and told them the tale of how I became "He who must be punished."  She said that despite the attacks on me and my family and the considerable stress it put on us, both emotionally and financially, as I was hit with furloughs and thousands of dollars of legal and other bills, I kept fighting as hard as I could.  She further told the group that we've hit some really rough times and were having serious problems and asked if they would  pass a hat for me.

Volunteers started passing someone's baseball cap around.  Even the Council President came down and started collecting.  As the hat was being passed and people were reaching into their wallets and pockets without hesitation, my eyes started welling up on me.

When the winners of a raffle were coming up to collect their prizes, the entire room erupted with chants of "Donate! Donate!"  If I wasn't so damn surprised, I probably would have started crying.

At the end of the day, they had raised hundreds of dollars with pledges of further help to come.

I humbly and gratefully took their kindness.  Now it was I who was feeling overwhelmed with this amazing show of support, respect and love.  But even now, my heart leaps to know that I have such amazing Brothers and Sisters and that I am one of this awesome family.

Even now, I am humbled and damn proud at the same time.

But most of all, I am deeply appreciative, as I was the first and second and third time, of having my eyes opened to know that this is what solidarity looks like.

My Evening At The Forum

Last Friday, shortly after my appearance on The Sara Schulz Show, I received  a phone call.  Apparently, there was going to be a forum debating the merits of the Scott Walker recall.  The person who was to be pro-recall part of the panel was called away for business and would not be able to participate.

The event was scheduled for Tuesday evening and was going to be held at the beautiful facility of St. John's on the Lake.  The host and moderator of the panel was Tony Busalacchi.  Tony was featured in this Milwaukee Journal Sentinel article from a couple of years ago, and yes, his collection o art is gorgeous.

The anti-recall pundit was Rick Bass (pronounced boss), who had a very impressive bio, including being a member of Homeland Security and being a ranking officer in the Republican Party of Milwaukee County.  (That's the same group that had members like Darlene Wink and Tim Russell also as ranking officers.)

The other member of the panel was Professor Edward Fallone of Marquette University, a most learned man with whose work I was familiar and for whom I had a great deal of respect.  Professor Fallone would be a neutral participant there to explain the legal and historical background for recalls in Wisconsin.

Would I be willing to stand in as the pro-recall part of this panel of distinguished men?  I almost burst out in open laughter at the thought.  Who was I to be on stage debating the future of Wisconsin with these distinguished gentlemen?  But after a few minutes of cajoling and flattery ("Who else knows all the issues as well as you?" is like kryptonite to a blogger), I squelched the voice of reason and suppressed the drive of self-preservation and agreed to take part.

Later on, Tony called me and explained the format to me.  He would introduce the panel and then Professor Fallone would speak for a few minutes to explain the history and legal issues surrounding recalls.  After that, the panelists would be able to ask each of the other panelists one question.  After that, the panel would answer questions from the audience.

Seemed easy enough.

But then I spent the weekend obsessing about what questions I should ask.  I contacted some trusted friends to use as sounding boards and to get their input.  (Thanks for your patience, guys!)  I neatly wrote out the questions that I had in my notebook.  I reviewed the things that I had written and what others had written regarding the recall to prepare.

Tuesday morning finally came. I was as ready as I'd ever be.

I got dressed in the same ensemble that I wore last year when I participated in a panel discussing the role of social media and the protests.  I wanted to remember the support I received from my #wiunion brothers and sisters that day and use those memories to help carry me through this day.

After work, I went straight to St. John's.  I got there a little early, so I figured I'd take the time to review my notes in preparation.  But there was one slight hitch to that plan.

I forgot my notebook at home.

Feeling the panic rise, I did what came naturally.  I cried.  OK, not really.  What I did do was get on Twitter and tweeted about my nervousness.  The response was immediate and overwhelming.  Despite the fact that they couldn't be there in body, my #wiunion family was with me in spirit.

I took that strength and went in.

I met Tony and my co-panelists.  Tony then went over the format again.  He said that after Professor Fallone  gave his introduction, Mr. Bass and I would each have five minutes to speak towards our cause and then we would go to the questions.

Mentally, I started screaming.  A speech?!  A bleeping SPEECH?!?!  No one told me about a speech!  First I forgot my notes and now I had to ad lib a speech?!  Well, wasn't that great?

I then remembered having written a post about the five reasons to recall Walker.  I tried to remember all of the reasons and try to figure a way to put in a shortened version.

The crowd came in.  There was about 50 people there, almost all of them residents of St. John's.  They were a charming group of kind senior citizens with a reputation of being very active in their community and having a consistently high turn out in the polls.  But Tony had advised us that, like the rest of the state, this was a community divided, with very strong feelings on both sides of the issue.

My nervousness was starting to climb again.

As it turned out, Professor Fallone was a life saver without meaning to be.

In his introduction to recalls, he gave a brief history on how the recall process was introduced into the state constitution.  He said that at the time this law was being written and made part of our heritage, the people were outraged.  He told the group that the people felt that the businesses were having too much influence on the government.  The people felt that the politicians were being controlled by these businesses and that they were no longer paying heed to the citizenry.

Gee, now who does that sound like?

I won't bore the reader with a blow by blow account of the discussion, but I do want to give you some of the highlights.

My question to Professor Fallone dealt with all of the money that Walker was collecting, purportedly for the use of defending himself against the recall (but got the taxpayers to pay for).  As I had surmised, Walker gets to keep collecting unlimited amounts until a recall date has been set, which explains why he is pulling all these stalling tactics.  (On a side note, I called it - the teahadists are going to sue to prolong the process.  I guess legal defense attorneys don't come cheap.)

My question to Mr. Bass was to explain why it was OK for Walker to come into the Milwaukee County Executive position on a single-issue recall and to call for Doyle's ouster in 2006 for supposed corruption by his administration but it was wrong to recall Walker under the same offenses.  He dodged answering that one.

Mr. Boss' question for me was whether there would be the protests or the recall if the unions had not been harmed.  My answer was an unequivocal yes.  I pointed out that many of the protesters and recallers were non-union, private sector workers.  I added that it was people from all walks of life that were at the Capitol for months on end and it was this same wide sampling of Wisconsinites that braved this winter to collect the nearly two million signatures to trigger this round of recalls.  I added that as far as I was aware, there were no public sector unions that consisted of senior citizens, or of children, or of housewives, parents and/or grandparents.

I think that the most moving and inspiring part of the night is that each and every question was directed to Mr. Bass and challenged him on the current state of affairs.  That told me that everyone was seeing through the standard talking points offered by Mr. Bass and by WISGOP as a whole.

Mr. Bass took an interesting approach by stating that he's not there to defend Scott Walker and that Scott Walker could defend himself.  The other thing that I noted was that during the question and answer time with the audience, he often deflected the question to me to answer first.  It was as if he was more comfortable reacting and attacking my points rather than to try to defend or even endorse Scott Walker's actions.

I would say that I scored one of the biggest points of the evening when I, in response to a question about the mining bill, pointed out that it was the mining company that had written the bill and tied that into what Professor Fallone had taught us about the origin of the recall procedure in Wisconsin.  Another big point, judging from the reaction of the audience, was when I pointed out Walker's ever-present hypocrisy and made a comment to the effect of, "In Scott Walker's world, every day is Opposite Day."

After the event, Tony invited us all up to his apartment for a nightcap and a riveting conversation.

I would like to thank Tony and the others at St. John's on the Lake for a lovely evening and a warm reception.  I also thank them for the bottomless coffee cup.  I think I will by making more use of that than I'd care to admit.

I would also like to thank Professor Fallone and Mr. Bass for a lively discussion and making the nice a success.

I would most like to thank my brothers and sisters of #wiunion, who gave me support and cheered me on, and gave me their strength to successfully meet this challenge.  If I were to name each one, it would double the length of this article.  But at the risk of alienating all of the others, there is one person I'd like to thank for the strength lent to me and the inspiration to be as good as I could be: Thank you, Diane.

Who To Root For In The Superbowl?

With it being Superbowl Sunday, many in Packer Nation are at a loss, not knowing what to do with themselves since the Packers won't be in it.

Some are not watching it altogether.  Those that are watching it don't know who to root for in the game.

Well, let's take a look at who's playing.

Repping the AFC are the New England Patriots.  Normally, when one thinks of patriots, they think of American heroes that fought to gain and then to keep our freedom, our liberty and our sovereignty.   Sadly, the term "patriot" has been bastardized by the teahadists, who have misapplied the term to themselves.  Now patriots leaves a bad taste in most people's mouths.  Ergo, patriots = teahadists = hating America = bad.

On the other side, repping the NFC are the New York Giants.  The word giant has become a common word in Wisconsin during the past year, mostly used in the reference of "Scott Walker has awoken the sleeping giant."  Thus giant has come to be associated with the good people of Wisconsin, commonly referred to on Twitter as #wiunion, who want to take their state back from the big-money special interest corporations that want to turn the state into a third or fourth world area, just in order to increase their profit margins.  Ergo, giants = #wiunion = loving Wisconsin, freedom and justice = good.

In conclusion, GO GIANTS!

ADDENDUM: Called it!

Pewter Gryphon Receives Well-Earned Accolades

A quilt that honors all of
Diane's interests and
accomplishments.

Two weeks ago, the Democratic Party of Wisconsin put out a video celebrating the grassroots groundswell which has become the move to recall Scott Walker.  At the time of the showing, I noted that one of #wiunion's own heroes, Diane Echelberger, aka The Pewter Gryphon, had a cameo appearance in the video.  I went on to explain what a special woman Diane is and how she has given and continues to give Wisconsin her all.  Only thing is, I unintentionally gave her short shrift in exactly how amazing she is.

Graeme Zielinski, Communications Director for DPW, saw what I had written about Diane and felt that she deserved some sort of recognition.  Or as he later quoted to me:

"I'm a man of faith. And, with apologies to my non-religious friends, I believe that the Holy Spirit is alive among us. Clearly, she has been given breath by the Holy Spirit to do what she did over her remarkable life. This is a humble woman whose example we should exalt and which should humble those that exalt themselves."

And exalt her they did.

Steve and Ryan at DPW worked with Senator Jon Erpenbach and two of Diane's closest friends, Mariah Clark and Sarah Zepnick, in order to quickly arrange an opportunity to give Diane the credit she is due.

From left: Senator Jon Erpenbach, Sarah Zepnick,
Diane (Pewter Gryphon) and Mariah Clark.

On Thursday, Senator Erpenbach spent the better part of an hour with Diane, Mariah and Sarah.  During the visit, he presented her with a plaque of recognition from the Committee to Recall Scott Walker.  Even more impressive, at least to me, was an official Citation by the Senate* recognizing Diane for her "more than 30 years fighting for and upholding the values, interests and traditions of the State of Wisconsin and its residents."**

All of the people I've spoken with expressed how moved they were by the event and how wonderful Diane is.


I'll let Steve Potter tell you the story of how wonderful and truly remarkable Diane is.

I want to take this time to publicly thank Graeme, Steve, and Ryan for their hard work in organizing this so quickly and making it a beautiful event.

I also want to thank Mariah and Sarah for all the support and friendship they have given to Diane, as well as to me.

I also commend Senator Erpenbach for taking the time during the hectic holiday season to present this honor to Diane and doing it with such poise and dignity and compassion.

But most of all, I'd like to congratulate and thank Diane for all she has done for this state.  She truly is an inspiration for us all.

*Diane's Citation:
Diane's Citation

**It may be inappropriate, but I can't help but snicker at something that Mariah pointed out to me.  Diane's citation was signed by Republican Senator Mike Ellis, President of the Senate.  I wonder how Scott Walker feels about him endorsing a Citation honoring one of the most active volunteers in the recall efforts.

"Whose House? Our House!" by Tom Kastle

The following is a video featuring the music of my good friend, Tom Kastle, a seafaring troubadour:



I understand that Tom has also written a couple other songs stemming from the protests and other events of Fitzwalkerstan, including one about the corporate media.

I certainly hope he puts them to video soon, so I can post those too!

This Machine Kills Fascists

I am very much honored and very much humbled right now.

For those of you who don't follow me on Twitter, might not be aware that I've been having serious computer problems for the past several weeks.  My computer is one that I had gotten from my dad some five or so years ago, and he had it for at least four years before that.  When he bought it, it was state of the art at that time.

But after all these years, the machine was getting old and not working as well.  It was pretty slow and unreliable.  But by far, the worst part was that it wasn't the electrical aspect, but the actual physical components  which were failing.  Most notably, the power button was stuck, effectively keeping me from turning the thing off for fear it wouldn't start again.

This put me in a real dilemma.  Because of a number of factors, including losing nearly $5,000 due to Scott Walker's illegal furloughs, the legal costs of defending myself against the slanderous actions of Walker's henchman, and now Act 10, I was simply strapped for cash and could not afford to get a new computer.

I was distraught because I was afraid that my computer would eventually just give out and then my voice would be effectively silenced, at least until spring when and if I got a big enough tax refund to buy a new one.  My despair deepened when I learned that a couple of prominent lefty bloggers were hanging up their keyboards.

Then my friends of #wiunion stepped in to help.

People started to donate money to help me buy a new computer.  And not just other bloggers or public employees either.  These were people from all walks of life, from not only all corners of the state, but even from around the country, donated to the cause.  Those that were in similar straits as I found myself, did what they could by spreading the word, encouraging and asking for others to help me help #wiunion in the battle to take back our state.

Last week, I hit the amount I thought that would get me a decent machine.  That was fortunate timing, since the one I was looking at also went on sale.

I picked it up last night and spent most of the night and most of today getting it set up.

I am most grateful to the kind souls who helped me, whether it was sparing what few dollars they had, or spreading the word of my plight, or offering me a few kind words of support and encouragement.

I am also most mindful that this isn't my computer.  Nor shall it every be.  It took a lot of people to help make this happen.  This is their computer as much as mine.  The machine that I'm typing away again, in much greater splendor that I thought I'd ever know, is the People's Computer.  It is of the people, by the people, for the people.

And with that in mind, it is now my task to use it to the best of my ability in the People's efforts to take this state and this country back from those who intend it harm through their callousness and their greed.

Each person that helped said the same thing.   They told me that they appreciated my work and the information that I help get out.  They said that they wanted me to continue to help with the fight and thus did not want my voice silenced.

They gave me this great gift with a purposeful intent, and so they gave me something very important to do that very thing.

They gave me this machine.

And this machine kills fascists.

Let's do this!

Is Walker Going After UW Again?

I have had some disturbing information forwarded to me this evening, which I believe will require close monitoring from the people of #wiunion and the media.

The following is part of an email which was forwarded to me dealing with possible massive cuts in funding to the UW system (emphasis theirs):

We have just learned that Governor Walker will send his lapse message to the Joint Finance Committee this Friday, December 23, 2011. If the Joint Finance Committee (JFC) doesn’t act by January 3, the UW System will face a $65 million budget cut on top of the $250 million cut that we received in the budget. This will be the biggest cut in UW history.

Now is the time to act. President Reilly has asked all UW System employees to call or email your legislator and ask them in your own words to help the UW System in any way they can. We can’t stop the whole lapse, but even a small reduction would help.

A second email indicated that the JFC would not be meeting over the holidays and that the "UW System" does not believe anything official would happen over the holiday season.

I wouldn't be so sure. As Milwaukee County Executive, it was not uncommon for Scott Walker to declare a "fiscal emergency" even when there wasn't one, in order to unilaterally pull whatever shenanigans he had in mind. He was further enabled to do so by a very slanted media in Milwaukee who would repeat his nonsense unquestioningly and ignore the unions and the liberal members of the board who were crying foul.

As governor, he might not even have to take the step of declaring any sort of emergency, since he has a rubber stamp legislature controlled by the Republicans, who are as corrupt as he is. He could just order something to be done and his cronies in the legislature would turn a blind eye to it. Furthermore, while he cannot hide all of his chicanery from all of the state's media, it is my personal opinion that even the most diligent reporters don't fully appreciate the level of skulduggery and chicanery of which Walker is capable.

The following is a set of lists, which were in the emails, of the impact that that the UW ssytem could feel if this action is allowed to happen:

12 ways the lapse could hurt everyone served by UW-Extension
1. Program staff who support education for small business and entrepreneurs may be laid off, which will reduce the ability to develop needed programs and make it harder for small businesses to create jobs.
2. Small business development centers may not be able to hire the counselors they need to help small business and entrepreneurs grow jobs.
3. Small business development centers may have to reduce their programs for small business and classes for entrepreneurs.
4. Continuing education outreach efforts may be curtailed, which will mean fewer degrees awarded in Wisconsin and fewer opportunities for nontraditional and minority students to get an education. This has been a key strategy to improving Wisconsin’s economic competitiveness.
5. The development of online and technology based instruction will be delayed. These programs prepare students for high demand jobs in the emerging economy.
6. UW-Extension county office staff positions will be left vacant, which reduces service to agriculture, families and local governments.
7. There may be more use of short term UW-Extension staff in multiple-county coverage, which will reduce their availability to serve local needs.
8. Cuts funding for researchers and faculty at UW campuses, which will delay research needed by Wisconsin agriculture and business to stay competitive.
9. Delays needed equipment and software maintenance at Wisconsin Public Television and Wisconsin Public Radio, which may result in reduced reliability.
10. The provision of statewide video conferencing services will be slowed, which may result in higher costs for travel and staff time.
11. Web development positions will be left vacant, which will delay online programming development that is important to younger audiences.
12. Wisconsin Public Television will delay the launch of the successor program to In Wisconsin which was recently discontinued. Other programming will also be deferred.

12 ways the lapse could hurt everyone served by UW Colleges
1. Class sections may be cut, which could make it more difficult for students to complete their course requirements. Students would face a longer time in school, higher costs and higher risk of dropping out.
2. Reduced tutoring services would damage student learning and retention.
3. Cutting library acquisitions of periodicals and online databases would cause long-term harm to the ability of teachers to teach and students to learn.
4. Technology infrastructure upgrades to the telephone system and network servers would be delayed, resulting in a backlog of work and higher costs in the future.
5. Technology upgrades in student computer labs and the library would be postponed, reducing student access to technology-based learning and possible higher costs to catch up in the future.
6. Hiring of academic support positions could be delayed. This would damage recruitment and retention efforts, and would inevitably affect enrollment.
7. Professional development funding for faculty could be cut, which would make it more difficult to retain faculty because we cannot reinvest in their professional and technical knowledge.
8. Needed laboratory modernization would be cut or delayed. Delaying replacement of laboratory technology and equipment hurts student learning opportunities and stifles innovation.
9. Development of high-demand new courses, such as GIS (geographical information system), would be delayed. GIS is a high-demand area and the course is needed to serve students and employers.
10. Campus newspapers could be eliminated, closing off an important area of learning, instruction, and employment for students.
11. Needed student services and custodian positions would remain unfilled, thus reducing services to students.
12. New course development would be delayed. Course development helps keep up with innovation, meets evolving student needs, and responds to local demands.

Indomitable

Tuesday evening, after work, I went to a local hospital to visit a friend, Steven P. Senski (known as @spsenski on teh Twitter), a member of #wiunion and one of the wittiest of the Twitterati, who had a very serious medical event happen. It was one of those type of things that is almost always fatal and my friend is very fortunate to be alive, even though the doctors don't know the full extent of the damage or how much he'll be able to recover. However, my Steven refused to be dismayed and expressed confidence that with some hard work and good therapy, he would fully recover in time.

As I entered his room, it was obvious that I was not the only life he has touched as he had several red heart balloons and one of the rare Wisconsin palm trees in his room already.

We had an excellent visit filled with laughter and deep discussion of the events of Wisconsin's political climate, especially the recall.

After I left, it struck me how truly amazing my friend was. Not only did he survive what could have easily been a fatal medical event, but he was doing better than one could expect. On top of that, while he was completely honest with the challenges he is facing, he also expressed a strong level of optimism that he would get better.

I later tweeted that I was glad that I visited him and that like #wiunion, his spirit was indomitable.

Reflecting on that, I realized how true that was. Not just for him, but for all of #wiunion.

I already told you about Diane who, even though terminally ill, was still giving it her all to help bring the state back onto the path back to recovery.

There is BattiestGrrl who, even though having problems finding a job in Walker's dismal economy, has thrown herself fully into the recall process and became a representative of #wiunion to the world.

But the indomitable spirit of #wiunion as a whole has been present, and obviously so, for the ten months.

When Walker and his allies in the legislature started their wholesale assault on the good people of Wisconsin, #wiunion gathered by the tens of thousands to call foul on their misdeeds.

When they tried to prevent the people from entering the People's House, they still came in. And then refused to leave, sleeping there night after night, laying claim to what was theirs and letting the usurpers know that they wouldn't be able to take it without a fight.

When Walker and his cronies were finally able to force them out of the Capitol at night, they slept outside, on the ground, even though it was still the lingering end of winter and very cold.

During the summer recalls, even while the Republicans were trying to throw every dirty trick in the book, from running fake candidates to trying to change the rules, the people stay focused and got two of them out of office.

Even now, during the recall of Walker himself, he and his supporters, in their desperation, have resorted to physical violence, trying to disenfranchise petition signers and all other sorts of skulduggery, the people have done as they always have. They have maintained control of themselves, stayed on the high road and are getting the job done.

The most recent, and perhaps the best example of this indomitable spirit is the Solidarity Singers.

Walker tried to take away their First Amendment rights of free speech and to peacefully assemble. Why? Because the singers had the audacity to gather every day at lunch time and - brace yourself - sing!

Oh the nerve! Those thugs!

Anyway, on the first day that Walker's infringement of the people's rights were to occur, not only did the singers show up, they came in even larger numbers, without one of his stinking permits, in open defiance of Walker's latest attempt at tyranny.

And they sang beautifully.

And they sang beautifully, because like all of #wiunion, they are indomitable.

I Recall - With Special Appearance by @PewterGryphon

The DPW just released a new video commemorating the recall of Scott Walker and the progress that has been made so far.  The footage was shot on Saturday, November 19, just days after the recall started:



It's a moving video alright.

But for the people of #wiunion, it is especially meaningful.

Around the 40 second mark, there is a shot of a woman in a wheelchair. The woman's name is Diane, but on Twitter, she is @pewtergryphon.

Sadly, Diane is terminally ill. But that has not kept her from helping fight the good fight. Whether it's getting to the rally, with the help of her friends, to sign a petition and join her voice to the hundreds of thousands of other Wisconsinites that know what Walker is doing is wrong, or sitting in her hospice room retweeting posts and helping get the information out, she is still in the thick of things. (By the way Diane, thanks for the retweets today!)

When I realized that I was seeing Diane in the video, I immediately tweeted it, making sure that I pointed out that she was in it. Literally within seconds, it was favorited and/or retweeted a dozen times. But that is just the way we roll. We pick each other up when we're down and celebrate with each other when the news is good.

And that is why Walker, even with all of his out-of-state big money, will still be removed from office. He's not fighting special interests, he's fighting for them. He's fighting against the good people of Wisconsin, people like Diane and her friends. And trust me, we stick together like only family can.

Every day, our resolve grows even stronger while Walker and his allies grow even more desperate.

We will do this!

We'll do it for Diane.

We'll do it for ourselves.

We'll do it for all of Wisconsin.

There are still over three weeks to go. You can help Diane put Wisconsin back to rights by volunteering by clicking here.

Stick With Me, Kid, And I'll Make You A Star

Seven months ago, a relatively new friend to me, a tweeter going by the handle @BattiestGrrl, approached me, saying she wanted to show me a "manifesto" she had written in regard to the protests against the power grabs and over reach by Scott Walker and then State Senator Randy Hopper.

She told me that her name is really Joanne Staudacher and we became friends on Facebook as well.  I read her  manifesto, liked it, and decided to, with her permission, to post it.  It was a raving success and was often retweeted and spread like wildfire on Facebook.  

I was glad to have been able to get her message out for others to enjoy, but didn't think much about it afterwards as all of the vileness of Fitzwalkerstan came raining down upon our heads.

Now fast forward to this past weekend, when I got to go to Madison to spend time with many of my dearest friends.  We were fortunate enough to have Joanne be able to join us for a little while.  While we were talking, Joanne told me that she wanted to thank me again for posting her manifesto, but cryptically added that she couldn't tell me why just then.  

I thought it odd, but I figured she'd let me know in due time.  She still hasn't told me, but I think I figured it out without her doing so.

Today, TIME magazine announced their Person of the Year.  In this case, their "person" was a composite of the millions of people around the world who took to the streets to demand that a sense of balance be returned and a flat out rejection of the corporate greed and the plutocracy that was happening.  They covered the protests in Greece, in Egypt, in Europe, in New York and yes, even here in Wisconsin.

And who was representing #wiunion, but none other than Joanne with her manifesto on her protest sign.

Just how cool is that?!  And to think, in some small way, I helped this rising star.

Now, if I could just work that magic for myself...

The Deafening Silence

Watch this video, via Steve Hanson, of recent events at the State Capitol:



Those people weren't creating a disturbance. They weren't disrupting proceedings. They were sitting there peacefully. The fact that this is going on in Wisconsin, that this is going on anywhere in America, is simply intolerable and outrageous.

And for the conservatives and the Republicans who see this and have nothing to say, then I say to you that you have not one damn thing to say about the protesters at all, whether they be #wiunion or #occupy. Your deafening silence in this assault on the Constitution and on the principals of this country says more about you than any words could ever express.

While I cannot and do not condone some of the reported behaviors of some of the #occupy protesters, I would still rather stand with them than anyone who sees this and either condones it or accepts it in their silence.

And while your silence says everything I'd care to know about you, pictures are still worth a thousand words, silent or otherwise:

The People of Wisconsin vs. Corporate Media Broadcasters

This evening, I attended the Milwaukee stop of the Broadcast Blues Tour with Sue "Blues" Wilson.

And like the saying goes, you learn something new every day.  Although today it was several somethings

One thing I learned was that when it comes to political ads on the TV or radio, there is a mandatory carriage rule.  That means that if a politician has an ad to run during an election cycle, the TV or radio station has to carry it, even if the ad is chock full of lies.

For example, next year, after Scott Walker is recalled, he could run an ad saying how the state has a $3 billion dollar deficit, even though that has been found to be a ridiculous lie.  Likewise, his Democratic opponent could run an ad saying Walker wants to eat your children, which would be another ridiculous lie.  Walker doesn't eat children, he sells them as corporate serfs.

I also learned that even though the Fairness Doctrine is dead, there are still other factors, like the Zapple Doctrine, which still requires equal time be given to the different sides of an issue:

What remains unknown about yesterday's announcement from the Chairman is just how far this repeal goes. While certain corollaries of the Doctrine - including the political editorializing and personal attack rules - have been specifically mentioned in press reports as being repealed, the one vestige of the doctrine that potentially has some vitality - the Zapple Doctrine compelling a station to provide time to the supporters of one candidate if the station provides time to the supporters of another candidate in a political race, has never specifically been abolished, and is not mentioned in the Chairman's statement. Zapple, also known as "quasi-equal opportunities", has been argued in in various recent controversies, including in connection with the Swift Boat attacks on John Kerry, when Kerry supporters claimed that they should get equal time to respond should certain television stations air the anti-Kerry Swift Boat "documentary." We have written about Zapple many times (see, for instance, here, in connection with the Citizens United decision). What would be beneficial to broadcasters would be a determination as to whether Zapple has any remaining vitality, as some have felt that this doctrine is justified independent of the Fairness Doctrine. Perhaps that clarification will come when the full text of the FCC action is released.

Likewise, from the same article, I learned that TV and radio stations are required to uphold the standard of whatever they air has to be in the public interest:

While this action has been greeted by some as confirmation that we will not see the Fairness Doctrine revived by the Commission, that jubilation seems a little unwarranted. If there was a future FCC that decided that they wanted to impose some degree of Fairness obligations on broadcasters, they still would have ways of doing so. After all, broadcasters are subject to an overall obligation to operate in the public interest, a standard that has, over the years, changed as Commissions change their interpretation of what it means. As we've written before, some would like to put more teeth into the standard, which could include some Fairness-like requirements. Section 315 of the Communications Act, dealing with equal opportunities for political candidates, itself has language that implies that there is some sort of Fairness obligation of broadcasters, at least in connection with their news coverage:

Nothing in the foregoing sentence shall be construed as relieving broadcasters, in connection with the presentation of newscasts, news interviews, news documentaries, and on-the-spot coverage of news events, from the obligation imposed upon them under this chapter to operate in the public interest and to afford reasonable opportunity for the discussion of conflicting views on issues of public importance.

Thus, just because the Fairness Doctrine has been repealed, one cannot conclude that the FCC will never meddle in the speech of broadcasters. These debates over what is permiited and what should be restricted on the air have gone on as long as there have been broadcasters, and they will not end with yesterday's announcement.

In other words, it means that it is inherent on the TV and radio stations to provide equal time to opposing sides on an issues, whether it is political or not.

I also learned tonight that while media stations are required to run a politician's ad, no matter what, they are not under the same constraints for third-party ads. In fact, it is inherent on the station to determine if the ad is true or not and not run ads that are false, because that would be against thepublic interest. This was recently demonstrated when KOI-TV refused to air an ad for Stephen Colburt ad for Rick Parry, the parody of Rick Perry. They felt the ad was not in the public's interest for whatever reason. At the end of the article is the money quote:

... In fact, third party ads put more responsibility on stations to review the content of these ads as they are theoretically liable for the content of third party ads (see our articles here and here). So WOI was perfectly within its rights to reject an ad by the Colbert Super PAC – no doubt a disappointment to the Colbert fans in Iowa who wanted a first look at the commercial, but legally an appropriate action nevertheless.

If the station runs an ad that is false, they could get sued for simply airing the ad.

And now comes the fun part.

Anyone who has been paying attention during the summer of the recalls noticed that there were two major obstacles to reclaiming the state for the People of Wisconsin:

1. The unfair and biased nature of the corporate media in the state, most notably stations like WTMJ-620 here in Southeastern Wisconsin.
2. The falsehoods and misrepresentations in ads run by the Koch Brothers-sponsored front groups, like the misnamed Wisconsin Club for Growth.

The Wisconsin Club for Growth bought tons of air time all across the state, including her in the Milwaukee area, running ads to defend the Republicans facing recall.

However, the ads that they ran were demonstratively false:

• When they said that the unions had not previously had to make sacrifices, that was found to be "mostly false" by PolitiFact.
• When they said that Sand Pasch, the challenger to Alberta Darling, had done nothing to stop fraud in the child care system, that too was found to be "mostly false."
• When CfG said that the Democrats had voted for all sorts of pork in 2009, including a $5 million scoreboard for the Milwaukee Bucks, this earned them a full "False" rating from PolitiFact.

I bet it wouldn't take long to find other ads and other lies as well.

Yet the radio and TV stations aired these ads anyway.  By doing so, they have opened themselves up for the People of Wisconsin to sue them for violating their solemn duty to uphold the public interest.

Let that sink in for a minute.

We can use the Kochs' own false ads to sue their friends, the corporate media stations which unquestioningly aired them.  And we can use the reporting of the corporate media's own newspapers to support the People's arguments regarding the falseness of the ads..

That is what I would call some really sweet poetic justice.

And I could not think of a better way to start reclaiming our airwaves.