Walker who, for some reason has been giving column inches in the Rev. Moon's Washington Times, is out with his second column. The first was incomprehensible and things have not gotten much better However what you can gleem from Walker's second column is that he has never had much self awareness.
One thing that our friends on the right are great at, is playing the part of the poor innocent victim. Yes, there are claims of censorship, but Facebook is a private company and not bound to the first amendment. When the Republicans can not control something/someone it makes them crazy.
History shows us that dictators often seek to deny the people access to information to thwart revolutions. And in Venezuela, the government has historically had a heavy hand on the media.
Radio and television are censored by an organization sympathetic to the government, and most newspapers are owned by supporters of Mr. Maduro and his predecessor, Hugo Chavez.
Now, they are turning their efforts to blocking digital to stop dissent. We saw similar attempts in 2011, during the April Spring uprisings. Eight years ago, the government in Egypt shut down all access to the Internet. Now, it is happening again in our hemisphere.
However, nothing showed a heavy hand of the Government and total censorship of free speech as when Scott Walker as Governor, ordered the arrest of anyone who dared sing in the Rotunda of the Capitol.
While there are many many many other stories of censorship and desperation in controlling information from the Walker administration, there is one image that sums up the lack of transparency and Unconstitutional actions that defined Scott Walker.
When this picture defines your tenure, you should probably take a good, hard, long look in the mirror before you offer an opinion on censorship anywhere else in the world!
By now, you have probably heard that the children of Baraboo High school are public enemy #1, because of a picture they took at least Spring's prom.
Yes it appears, that most of the boys from the class of 2019 were giving the Nazi salute. The photographer swears that he was telling the boys to say good bye to their parents, the camera, Scott Walker, their anonymity, or whatever the story is he is telling at the time.
"As soon as I heard the photographer say, 'Raise your hand,' I knew what was going to happen," senior Jordan Blue told CBS News correspondent Adriana Diaz. Blue, who is in the photo, refused to participate.
"Did he say anything to make it clear that it was raise your hand in this way as in this Nazi symbol?" Diaz asked.
"He did not say raise your hand in a Nazi symbol way. And I'm pretty sure my classmates just interpreted as raise your hand, let's do this as a joke," Blue said, adding that he thinks the others knew what the symbol represented.
Then there is far right hate radio that made fun of the whole topic:
Whew! It had been almost four days since the left had a good hand-wringing, virtue-signaling moral panic. Thank you, Baraboo High School kids, for bringing meaning to the lives of thousands of online social justice warriors!
Did the photographer say raise your hand in a Nazi salute....I personally do not think so.
Did the Photographer ask the kids to put their hand in the air and most of them used the Nazi salute for fun....I believe so.
However, before we run to Baraboo with our Pitchforks in hand, maybe we should stop and look in the mirror first and realize all these kids are doing is modeling our behavior.
Next time you look at that picture of the Baraboo Boys with the Nazi salute, take a second look and you will see that it is just a reflection of our current society.
From the Journal Times on the Race to replace Paul Ryan(emphasis mine):
“Republicans stand ready to support and elect another bold conservative reformer who will continue to carry-on Paul Ryan’s legacy of getting things done for hard-working Wisconsin families,” said Alec Zimmerman, spokesman for the Republican Party of Wisconsin. “Our candidates stand in stark contrast to the out-of-touch Democrats running on an extreme agenda.” Speaking of their candidate:
Yes Alec your candidates do stand in stark contrast to the Democrats running.
PS: I know a select few have publicly denounced Nehlen(mostly for criticizing Paul Ryan) but things in private are much different.
With the retirement announcement of Lyin' Paul Ryan, who would rather slink away than face defeat by Randy "IronStache" Bryce, the Wisconsin GOP was thrown in disarray. All of a sudden, their front runner was Paul Nehlen, a white supremacist who was too far out for most of the alt-right, including Steve Bannon.
They had to scramble to get someone in there that won't embarrass them as has happened so often in other states.
Thus they came out with Bryan Steil. Steil is a well-connected Republican from a long line of well-connected Republicans. To make it better for them, he's an unquestioning establishment Republican that will mindlessly promote the same agenda that Ryan was pushing.
Unfortunately for Steil, despite his carefully laid plans, he has not had a stellar start. Just like Ryan, he keeps getting caught up in his own lies while doing the Trump Two-Step.
In fact, he's so much like Ryan, he even looks strikingly familiar to Ryan, leading people to quip that no one has ever seen Ryan and Steil in the same room at the same time:
But the similarities doesn't end there. Steil is a natural born liar as well.
Steil prefers to call himself a former legislative aide to Ryan, but in reality, he was Ryan's personal driver.
Steil had been bragging about raising $250,000 in just the first few days after announcing but in reality, he's been courting the big time Republican donors for a while. One check from the Bradley Foundation, the Koch Brothers or any of the other ultrawealthy could easily explain that amount of money.
Perhaps his biggest blunder has been his boast of having "worked in manufacturing" for the past nine years:
Bryan Steil has spent the last nine years working in manufacturing in southeastern Wisconsin and has seen firsthand how Washington limits economic growth.
In reality, Steil has been a corporate attorney and not actually a manufacturer:
Asked to respond to that comment, Steil pointed to his manufacturing experience. Gousha pointed out that he’s a corporate attorney, and not a “manufacturer per se.”
“But my employer is a manufacturing company,” Steil said. “So every day I come into the office and it’s focused on how do you bring in raw material, manufacture it and get it out of the door.”
His focus is on business development, he said, where he asks the questions, “How do you grow the company and how do you grow jobs for those companies?”
That's when reality raises its ugly head again.
One of the companies that Steil worked so hard with to create jobs was Regal Beloit Corporation, who moved good paying jobs out of the Midwest and into Mexico.
But there's more. There's always more.
Steil still has to answer for being a regent for the University of Wisconsin which has seen a massive decline in their budget and subsequently the quality of the school system and his support for Trump's agenda, among other things.
Perhaps Bryce should make the same offer to Steil that he did to Ryan - send Steil to work the iron and learn what it's really like for a blue collar worker while Bryce goes to Washington to do the really hard work of fixing all the damage done by Ryan.
Meanwhile, don't forget to give something, anything, to help Bryce keep up his momentum in fighting the big special interest money that Steil is already raking in.
The tension took on a bitter tone in text messages between the two last week that were released Friday under the state's open records law. The raw private exchange between the governor and Assembly speaker — in which both men blamed the other for infighting over the state budget — underscores how the top Republicans have been at odds in recent actions.
Blind ambition can do strange things to people. Both career politicians have started to believe their own hype. The fight stems from both wanting more. Vos and Walker, based on their winning previous elections (massive amount of dark money and unethically gerrymandered lines not withstanding) the two evil twins had an agenda.
Scott Walker was certain to be President now and Robin Vos would be getting ready to unseat Rebecca Kleefisch as Governor of Wisconsin. With Reince playing a major role in GOP politics and Paul Ryan Speaker of the House, the Four Horsemen would ride again.
A huge wrench was thrown into those plans though when Scott Walker, after running for President for four straight years was soundly and thoroughly rejected by the base of the Republican party for an overweight, bad haired, TV reality "star".
That left Walker without a path forward and since he has done nothing but suck off the public teat, he has no intentions of going anywhere. While Scott holds the Governor's office, Robin can not run for it. It is not looked upon very well if someone within a party challenges an incumbent(See Nehlen, Paul) without express consent of the party leaders(See Marklein , Howard).
At the moment Walker can not be President and Vos can not be Governor. That means there is conflict between the two and it boiled over in a series of text messages. You would think that since they both are paid full time wages to work, they could just have sat down together in the Capitol and ironed it out. That would of course mean that they would have to actually be working and in the Capitol. Which we know is a rarity.
Now that we have the background out of the way, there was a text that was given some attention but not in context and not enough.
Robin Vos asked Scott Walker :
"do you think it's responsible not to make any interest or debt service payments (on) transportation over the next couple of years?"
Anyone who knows and has followed Scott Walkers career, knows that he is absolutely ok with it. When your plan is to move on quickly, then he can blame his predecessor on all problems. The problem is while Walker might have assumed it to be a Democrat, Robin Vos is certain he is that predecessor. That is the ONLY reason Robin Vos would ask that question.
4/30/2012: Once June 5 hits and Gov. Scott Walker is securely re-elected, “our economy is going to take off like a rocket,” state Rep. Robin Vos, R-Rochester, said Monday during a meeting with The Journal Times Editorial Board.
By Jeff Simpson
After having a few days to digest the August 9th Primary, its time to take a look at the results.
1. I had called for Democrats/Independents/Republicans to Team up with Paul Nehlen to defeat Paul Ryan in the primary. If every single Democrat that voted has crossed over for Nehlen, we would have only needed 22000 more people to turn out at the polls.
A little perspective, Paul Nehlen put a big push on to get out the vote, hitting (by his count) thousands and thousands of doors, had big name Republicans (Coulter, Malkin, Palin) campaigning for him and plenty of free press coverage. Add to that Ryan Solen and Tom Breu who were battling for the Democratic nomination. Both of those candidates brought something different to the race and were both working hard to be the person representing the 1st Congressional district on the November Ballot.
The combined efforts of these three candidates, barely turned out half of what Paul Ryan turned out to keep him in power, I am certain Paul Ryan, who has taxpayer funded security and walls around his Janesville home, was not out pounding the pavement, knocking on doors at anytime.
I get that he has the bully pulpit, and they gerrymandered his district to be more right wing friendly, but it amazes me how the press and the Democratic Party keep treating him with kid gloves.
I hope Ryan Solen can mount a strong challenge but with Paul Ryan raking in millions upon millions from Wall St. and the Democratic party seemingly scared to speak up and criticize Mr. Ryan it is an uphill battle.
Like everything that has happened over the last 6 years, we can no longer rely on the Democratic Party to be the opposition, if we are going to take our state back we need to supersede the party and do it ourselves. If you care about our country and not the political class, and understand the damage that Paul Ryan has done to his district, please help Ryan Solen out!
2. Public Education lost big! Mandela Barnes, one of the better Assemblymen in Madison, made a major decision to challenge Senator Lena Taylor. Due to some strange rules of incumbent protection by the WisDems, he had to start out not only fighting MS. Taylor for the position he had to also fight the Wisconsin Democratic Party.
In the end, Mandela Barnes lost his bid to unseat Lena Taylor and we lost a champion of public schools while giving more power to someone who wants to privatize.
When Scott Jensen wins a seat in the Democratic Primary, we need to take note. When Scott Jensen wins three Democratic Primaries, there is cause for panic.
3. The Democratic base was all over the board. Unfortunately, all Democratic incumbents remained in their seats but that is as far as they were able to go. In the race to replace Robb Kahl, Jimmy Anderson was hammered on by members of the Democratic Party in the assembly and many of them endorsed his opponents, yet Jimmy Anderson prevailed.
The same in the Leon Young race, many Democratic electeds, endorsed Edgar Lin but young was able to retain his seat.
Andy Jorgensen would probably been able to continue winning his Assembly district but got beaten handily in his bid for a different title. Now the State of Wisconsin has lost two very good Assembly reps in one fell swoop.
My opinion as to why that is, is because people are sick of politics. People in the middle and lower classes have the same problems as they have had but things are getting even harder on them. In Wisconsin, poverty is rising, income inequality is also rising, it is statistically the worst state in the union for people of color, and it is almost weekly that we see the headlines of yet another Wisconsin staple manufacturer is closing its doors and moving.
With as many elections as we have had the last few years, if anything has changed, conditions are getting worse.
There is no politician(except Bernie Sanders) who has told the people that they understand their plight and that we need a quick fix.
With politicians that are tone deaf, a depressed labor market and declining services for people in need, people are starting to check themselves out of politics. It has become a turnout problem because the people are not seeing the difference in the parties, nor are they hearing anyone talk about their actual daily concerns and fears.
When you are working two jobs, yet living paycheck to paycheck, worried about how you can afford gas, a place to live, health care and food, Trump does not scare you!
When you can not get off work to tend to your sick child or attend their school events because the pay you lose could cost you your apartment, Trump does not scare you.
When you were recently homeless, but now am sharing a one bedroom apartment with three families, just to be able to have a roof over your head, Trump does not scare you.
When your child has special needs and your only reprieve is when they are at school, and you have to worry about the schools having the funding to help your child, while also trying to figure out what is the best thing to give up so you can buy the meds that your child desperately needs, Trump does not scare you.
When your spouse has a heart attack, can no longer work and the deductible that your health insurance charges has left you broke, Trump does not scare you!
There is still time to turn the ship around but there does not seem to be much interest in doing so. This primary election sent a message to the Democratic Party, the question is will they listen, or will the good people of Wisconsin just be a bone to be chewed when the gales of November arrive?
That brought to a total of one, that was kicked out of the Trump event(the crime being participating in our democratic process). Let's take a look at a couple of people who made it in with no problems!
Courtesy Jessie Opoien:
#thot #thathooverthere
Hillary Clinton is Satan and Trump is here for the cure.
If only Hillary's husband had violently murdered her. This guy follows Trump all over the US, and has zero problems getting into his events.
There is starting to be real panic by his owners that the people of Wisconsin are ready to give Paul Ryan the pink slip that he so richly deserves and has helped thousands of his constituents also get.
Paul Nehlen is running for Congress in Wisconsin’s 1st District attempting to oust House Speaker Paul Ryan in the August primary. Central to Nehlen’s campaign platform is his opposition to current or proposed trade deals that, he argues, send U.S. jobs oversees for the benefit of crony capitalists and the coffers of political campaigns they support. But a review of Nehlen’s work history finds that the firebrand opponent of existing free trade deals actually managed a Chinese factory that exported its product to U.S. markets – products that were once made by American workers.
This just in....Paul Nehlen once had a job....story at 11!
But wait there is more:
Some guy who used to work at mediatrackkkers was upset that we wrote a story about the primary!
House Speaker Paul Ryan raised nearly $15.6 million in the second quarter of 2016 through his joint fundraising committee dubbed “Team Ryan.” The operation has now raised $37.9 million since Ryan became speaker Oct. 29, according to the campaign. The joint fundraising committee includes Ryan for Congress, the National Republican Congressional Committee and Ryan’s leadership PAC, Prosperity Action PAC Inc. Ryan’s campaign said he: *has transferred $25 million to the NRCC since becoming speaker, including $5.4 million in June. That transfer is the second largest by a GOP speaker, trailing only the $6.3 million he sent the NRCC in March. *sent 83 checks to members of Congress during the second quarter totaling $425,000. He’s now given out more than $735,000 since becoming speaker through 147 donations to members.
Paul ryan is setting records on fundraising, and has 10 million dollars in the bank already. Someone really, really wants him to be back in office. Even at tens of millions of dollars, he is a good investment for his owners on Wall St.
That is also why Democrats must cross over.
If Ryan wins the primary what do you think will happen to whoever wins the Democratic Primary? They will be buried in money with ads telling us how badly Paul Ryan wants to creat jobs and this time he really will...honest!
Ryan earlier this summer unveiled his multi-plank policy agenda "A Better Way." He spent the entire week before the convention talking about it on TV appearance and to reporters on the Hill, and he'll continue to advocate for it in the coming weeks. Ryan has hosted over 71 delegation-driven events across the country in 43 cities and 18 states, all while juggling being home with his family in Wisconsin on the weekends. His team says they're just getting started.
Notice the one thing that seems to be missing from his schedule?
If you guessed "HIS JOB" then you guessed correctly and you get a fabulous no-prize(unless you vote for Paul Nehlen, then everyone wins).
Rep. Renee L. Ellmers (R-N.C.) lost her bid for reelection Tuesday, becoming the first GOP congressional incumbent to lose a seat in 2016.Ellmers, who was elected in 2010 amid the tea party takeover of the House, lost in a special primary election to Rep. George Holding (R-N.C.) in North Carolina’s 2nd Congressional District, which includes suburban and rural Raleigh. Holding won with over 53 percent of the vote with 96 percent of precincts reporting, according to the Associated Press. Ellmers was barely clinging to second place ahead of Greg Brannon, edging him by little more than 200 votes.
One of the toughest questions for Ryan came from Meg Whitman, the chief executive of Hewlett-Packard and a longtime friend of Romney's who helped bankroll a Republican anti-Trump super PAC this spring. Whitman asked Ryan how he could endorse someone with, in her judgment, such poor character and whose campaign has been based on personal attacks and division. According to two people present, Whitman said Trump is the latest in a long line of historic demagogues, explicitly comparing him to Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini.
Ryan easily explained that away by letting them know he has no character or values, and stands for nothing:
Ryan explained the difficult political situation he was in, as the leader of House Republicans. While spending a couple of weeks last month deliberating about an endorsement, many of his members increased pressure on him to back Trump. Many of them represent districts where Republican voters are strongly supportive of Trump, Ryan explained.
Realizing that Ryan stood for nothing, greatly appealed to this crowd:
One attendee stood up to plead with Ryan, "Will you please run for president in 2020?" The room erupted in applause.
Everyone knows the old saying "Two wrongs don't make a right."
Now we can add a corollary, "Two rights make two wrongs."
Paul Nehlen, who is running against Paul Ryan in the August primary, is very prolific with his press releases, sending one out almost every day. In Tuesday's edition, Nehlen is accusing Ryan supporters of acting like Trump supporters, or, if you will, typical Republicans:
“When your opponent’s supporters feel the need to vandalize your campaign property, you know you’ve gotten under their skin,” said Paul Nehlen today in response to significant vandalism sustained by his campaign’s Dump Ryan dump truck during a Memorial Day parade in Rochester, WI. Nehlen is the insurgent candidate running to unseat Ryan in Wisconsin’s 1st Congressional District.
Painted bright yellow, the GMC dump truck is a part of the Nehlen campaign’s effort to let people know about the many ways Paul Ryan has failed his constituents. It has proven a popular gimmick with the public.
“The truck has really become a mascot for this campaign. People honk when they see the truck going down the road. They like to have their picture taken with it. They even post sightings of it on Facebook and Twitter when they spot it driving down the road. It’s a great conversation starter,” said Nehlen. “We’ve even had those squeeze-type stress relievers made up in the shape of the dump truck. There’s been huge demand for them among our campaign supporters.”
On Monday, while parked in a lot at the U.S. Post Office along the Memorial Day parade route in Rochester in Racine County, one of the truck’s tires was intentionally deflated, some lettering was torn from one side of the vehicle, and duct tape was used to cover large portions of the truck’s message: “To get the dirt on Ryan, go to DumpPaulRyan.com. Trash was also thrown in the bed of the truck.
Campaign staff have filed a case report with the Racine County Sheriff’s Department. The incident has been assigned a case number: 16-3464.
“It’s unfortunate that the truck was damaged,” Nehlen added. “But this campaign is undeterred. In fact, we know now more than ever that we have the Ryan camp worried. We’re pressing on.”
If what Nehlen says is true, these actions should be condemned. It brings politics to the lows being set on a national level with the bloviating Donald Trump and his supporters.
That said, Nehlen's next press release should be an apology to the families and the memories of the fallen soldiers. The parade was to commemorate and honor the brave men and women who gave their very lives for this country. It is inappropriate to use that occasion to do political campaigning. It is disgraceful and utterly tasteless.
Perhaps it's time for a second corollary..."Two wrong righties make for a good leftie."
What it means is that unless a person actually approves of the boorish and immature behavior by these Republicans, it's time to look at the progressive candidate, who in this case, is Tom Breu.
I never thought I would be on the same side as Sarah Palin, but politics makes for strange bedfellows and the stakes have never been higher. With a worthy, well funded Republican challenger, followed by the November election, the Trump Phenomenon, the Dennis Hastert Hush money, the loss of thousands of manufacturing jobs in his district, his high profile role as Speaker of the House and his perpetual declining popularity, this is the year to send Paul Ryan to the place he has helped to send so many of his neighbors, the unemployment line. I still think it is important to continue calling out Mr. Ryan's failure be it with your friends and family, via Letters to the Editor or calling radio talk shows, etc... However there is one more thing that could be the most important thing you do all summer. In the August 9th Statewide Primary, Vote for Paul Nehlen.
Ryan Disliked by Republicans; Trump Could Hurt Down Ballot
PPP's new national poll finds that Republican voters have soured on Paul Ryan nationally. Overall only 30% of voters approve of the job Ryan is doing as Speaker of the House, to 48% who disapprove. What's most noteworthy though is that Ryan is under water even among Republicans, with 40% of them approving of the job he's doing to 44% who are unhappy. In November we found that 69% of Republicans supported Ryan becoming Speaker to only 14% were against it, but that honeymoon has worn off very quickly. The idea of Ryan being a white knight who could have unified the GOP and saved it from Trump is a beltway fantasy out of line with how actual Republican voters across the country feel about him at this point.
Ryan is at least still a lot better off than Mitch McConnell who has just an 11% approval rating nationally to 66% of voters who disapprove of him. What's remarkable in McConnell's numbers is how little deviation there is in them across party lines. He's at 14/64 with Republicans, 10/69 with Democrats, and just 6/66 with independents.
There's been a lot of discussion about the impact that Donald Trump's nomination might have on down ballot races. We find Democrats leading the generic Congressional ballot 46/41 right now. Trump's ascendancy is unlikely to cause Republicans to abandon their own party- we find 86% of Democrats planning to vote Democratic and 86% of Republicans planning to vote Republican. But Democrats do have an edge with independent voters at 38/32. We also asked specifically how voters would respond to a Senate candidate in their state supporting Trump. It's a 19 point net negative, with 45% of voters saying they'd be less likely to vote for a Senate hopeful who supported Trump to only 26% who say that would make them more likely to vote for someone. Among independents it's a 23 point net negative.
By NO means do I believe that this will be an easy task. It will not. However this is the year where there are definite kinks in the armor of the Golden Boy. We may never ever get this chance again. If Ryan makes it through to the general election in November, expect him to flood the market with ads saying how he is committed to bring jobs back to America.
Ryan likes to run ads every two years that would make Russ Feingold proud. forgetting the fact that in 17 years he has done the exact opposite, but 8 million dollars allows you to push a lie that enough people believe to send him back to Congress.
Let us take advantage of this opportunity that is presented to us. We must keep the pressure up on Paul Ryan from the left, right and center and then on August 9th vote for Paul Nehlen!
Lyin' Paul Ryan did an interview with CNN and compared himself to his predecessor, John Boehner:
Paul Ryan wants everyone to know he's no John Boehner.
"I think I do it better," the House speaker told CNN during an interview this week, adding that his leadership style is different than his predecessor, whose resignation last year shocked Washington. "Not to knock John, but I spend more time with all of our members on a continual basis."
Ryan, the GOP's vice presidential nominee in 2012, has won over conservatives by trying to showcase a more inclusive leadership style than Boehner. But he's still beset by the same internal divisions that led to Boehner's ouster -- as his party struggles to push through a number of bills on pressing matters, ranging from the Puerto Rico debt crisis to the budget.
Well, yeah, he might be talking to all of these people but he is hardly winning them over.
Ryan's honeymoon as the speaker lasted for only about a month before he got Boehnered by his fellow Republicans started making demands of Ryan in order to get an emergency budget bill passed.
To further exemplify how much of a failure Ryan is at being the great unifier that he promised to be, he failed to get enough votes to pass a budget by April 15, as required by law. Ryan's problem was again the extremists that felt that he didn't do enough to harm poor people, the elderly and the disabled.
In fact, the Teapublicans are so incensed with Ryan that he is going to be primaried this year:
Wisconsin businessman Paul Nehlen announced Tuesday that he is the tea party-allied candidate who is challenging House Speaker Paul D. Ryan in the Republican primary, saying he’s “had it” with the speaker betraying conservatives.
[...]
“Paul Ryan’s embrace of big government spending, his continued support of illegal immigration and imported workers, and his championing of the job-killing trade deal known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership betrays me, this district, and this nation,” he said.
“He’s failed to put America’s security and American jobs first. I’ve had it. We’ve all had it,” said Mr. Nehlen, a successful executive, entrepreneur and inventor who previously donated to Mr. Ryan’s campaigns.
Now one has just got to wonder how in the world is Ryan supposed to find the time to draft his list of demands to agree to become the Republican presidential nominee when he is to busy trying to herd cats.
A more honest comparison between Ryan and Boehner would give Ryan the edge in only the fact that Ryan doesn't have orange skin...yet.
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