Ways to Ensure a Blue Wave

By Jeff Simpson

Capper pointed out that the Spring Elections of 2018 turned into a major win for for the liberals, progressives and center left Wisconsinites and sent Scott Walker into a Twitter trepidation.

However in politics, nothing is for sure, and the 8 months or so remaining before the November vote is an eternity. 

So let's take a look at the weather forecast for the possible #bluewave coming. 

Urban Milwaukee gave their take here on what happened, but I think you need to dig deeper into the ground to really see.

1.  The Supreme Court race, finally a Democratically backed candidate beat a GOP backed candidate.  While that is great news for all in WI, there is more here than a #bluewave.  Many people I talked to, liked Ms. Dallet, but were far from inspired by her.  Her attacking Tim Burns for being a Democrat, then switched that up with attacking her opponent Screnock for being a Republican and not being afraid to admit she is a Democrat showed that opportunism is alive and well. 

Turnout was high, but it was not necessarily because of this Supreme Court Race(we will cover why later).   Ms. Dallet's opponent, Mike Screnock,  was probably less qualified to be on the Supreme Court than anyone in WI not named Mike Gableman. 

Screnock was not only unqualified, but appeared uninterested also.   He knew that the GOP, who put him up, would do all of the work and he would deliver them favorable rulings.

They ran into a roadblock though when a majority of WI voters decided they had enough of a stacked court and decided to send the Baraboo Clown back to Circus World. 

The next day, we found out that the voters of Wisconsin made the right choice when Right Wisconsin called the voters stupid. 

UM said that Dallet "laid out a template and how to win".  Running basically a single statewide race on the ballot, against a true dunce, who had about as much ambition to work hard as Patience, perform mediocre in a debate and ride the wave. 

I am glad that Dallet won the race over Screnock, but she was basically an uninspiring candidate whose "blue print" would not translate to a statewide Gubernatorial election.

2.  Scott Walker's twitter tirade, was not a moment of weakness, but a leopard showing his spots.   These past 8 years in WI, have brought us mass shootings, horrible car crashes, fires, staple business closings, massive protests, police officers murdered, long term debt, sexual predator Republican majority leaders, lost his house, etc... and the one time he panics online is when he sees for the first time he might lose his job.

The only thing that you can take from a career politician, with more ambition than intelligence, is his power.   Like a Pro Football Player who retires, then come July misses the camaraderie, Scott Walker will miss being paid  by the taxpayers of WI, $150k/yr + full benefits, to travel the country and keep raising his national profile.   He can not be President if he loses his Governor seat and just gets a high paying lobbyist gig. 

3.  It is still too early to call Tammy's race one or the other, but all signs are pointing to Yes.    On the one hand, like Dallet, Tammy will be running against a horrendous candidate who will have a hard time stringing two sentences together and has a third grade understanding of actual Government and what it takes to represent the people of WI.

On the other hand, Ms. Baldwin is an incumbent and things are not looking well for incumbents

Typically, when one party takes control of all three branches, the next midterm election, does not bode well for the party in charge.   The pendulum is always swinging.  However, things in politics are no longer "typical" and as bad as some Presidents have been, none have been as soulless, anti-intellectual, egotistical sub humans as the Donald. 

That all being said, the Democrats are in the drivers seat of the coming blue wave.   It is not however, a sure thing, even if the momentum is favoring the blue team.   

Let's take a look at three steps to be taken to help ensure that November is a successful month in electoral Wisconsin.

1.  The best and only way to capitalize on the blue wave, is to allow everyone a chance to vote out their Republican rep.   The Dems MUST run a candidate in every. single. district.

2.  There has to be a consistent message.  There will be important and popular races, up and down the ballot.  In order for them not to get lost in the shuffle, especially down ballot races, the people have to know what they are voting FOR. 

People do not have time to spend scouring the internet to find their positions or information about them.  They have to know who they are voting for and what they stand for. 

3.  As pointed out earlier, there is no longer such a thing as "typical" in electoral politics anymore.    The person with the most money will not necessarily win.  The candidate who hits the most doors will not necessarily win either. 

I have seen more money spent, and way more doors and work done  by candidates who finished last and candidates who did not work hard at all win their elections. 

Incumbency used to be a blessing but now in many instances, it can be a curse.

How do we counter the Politics For Dummies book being flipped on its head?   That is simple do a little bit of everything but do not do the conventional thing only. 

*  Old School Tactics:

I still believe that doors, volunteers, yard signs, calls, are all important but have to be targeted and just one of the ingredients.  I personally would take the VAN and turn it on its head.   I think to only target "strong dems" or "prior voters" you are doing yourself, your campaign and your community a disservice.

The "Strong Dems" are going to be with you.  They are going to know there is an election and are probably the ones doing the doors. 

Understand that in today's world, more and more people are paying attention.  More and more people are voting and more and more people are getting disgusted by the day by The Donald.   Time to capitalize on that and realize everyone can/should be a voter. 

*  Turnout: 

Everyone likes to say after each election that they win - when our voters turn out we win.  The problem with that is it assumes that America/Wisconsin is divided between two equal parts - Democrats (blue team)  and Republicans (red team) and whoever can get the most people of their team to show up on election day is the team that wins.

The flaw in that is, we know that there are people, who have voted Obama/Walker/Trump/Tammy etc... While it seems a bit quadpolar to do so there really is a reason and it is not that hard to figure out. 

There are millions of people in our nation that the American Dream just really is not working for.   Both sides when they are in power speak of how amazing they are doing while in office, and yet people of all stripes and colors live their daily life where they are walking a tightrope.  Knowing they are one small disaster away from losing everything.   Maybe a family member is sick and they are going broke trying to cover the medical bills, or the local plant has closed and they can not find a new job that does not include a $30/k paycut, or they have limited savings and the check engine light is on in their car that they need to drive the 35 miles one way to the job they did find, or they are a single parent who works two jobs and already has to leave her children alone for hours a day, etc...

Obama promised hope and then things did not really change, The Donald promised them their days of struggle were over and had no interest in helping them with their struggles.

That is why there is a huge group of people in the middle who continue to vote out the incumbents hoping that maybe, just maybe, they will get to experience the American Dream that their parents and grandparents did.

*   Stand WITH the kids:

If anyone has not seen the insurgence of young people then they have not been paying attention.   The latest school shooting woke up a sleeping giant of youth and they are not going back underground.    They have watched and waited while the "adults" have failed them over and over and realize that they are going to inherit the mess we are creating.

Now is the time, to gain a huge new group of  "Democrats" for a generation but it has to be done carefully.
    - Stand alongside or slightly behind the youth when they speak, they will see through arrogance and condescension.
    - Invite them to the table and actually listen to them. 
    - Stop pretending that this is a generation of kids who eat Tide Pods.  While some idiots have eaten Tide Pods from their generation, it is hardly a prevailing trend.   We have Alex Jones and Rush Limbaugh, we have no room to talk. 
    -  Our youth are also watching how the kids from Parkland are being treated.  Its sick and disgusting and hardly a way to get the youth to join your cause(for instance). 

Ted Nugent Deep Fried David Hogg – It’s Brutal And True - https://t.co/jeI5HXPDW8
Ted Nugent is a GREAT American!! I support him 100%

— stufish2017 (@stufish2017) April 4, 2018

    - The youth are now understanding how they can make a difference and are registering in droves, let's give them something to vote for.  

*  Liberal Anger:

The big new talking point from the right wing echo chamber is that the left is full of anger and hatred and that is what is carrying them through these elections. 

Scott Walker‏Verified account @ScottWalker 2h2 hours ago2 hours agoMoreOutside special interests are trying to capitalize on the anger and motivation of the Far Left to advance their out-of-touch agenda. We, on the other hand, have a positive success story to tell -- Wisconsin is Working! Let’s keep moving #WIForward

or this from Dan O'Donnell:

Chances are, it wouldn't have mattered.  Liberalism won the day because liberalism in Wisconsin is motivated.  It's angry, it's vengeful, and it's ready to get its revenge and take out its anger on anyone who has even a tangential tie to the Republican Party.  Hate in politics is a powerful motivator, and Democrats in 2018 are more motivated by hate than they have been in decades.

The problem is because Dan O'Donnell and Scott Walker are so full of hate that they assume everyone else is also.    Hate is not a sustainable emotion, unfortunately these two(and their peers) have made a career out of "divide and conquer": 

Now the curtain has been pulled back:

We see that the Great and Powerful OZ (Scott Walker) is nothing but a shell of a man from Iowa, whose only superpower is deception and blind ambition.   

One of the best and most important books to come out the last few years was written by Kathy Cramer called 

The Politics of Resentment: Rural Consciousness in Wisconsin and the Rise of Scott Walker.     A book literally written, about how Scott Walker has mastered the art of resentment and division to maintain his hold on power.   

Liberal anger is much better defined as Wisconsin awakening. 

* The Democratic Party:  

It is time for the party, locally, nationally, to realize that they are not special because they have Stars upon Thars!  You choose to be pay dues and be part of the party, congrats! 

There are some privileges involved, you meet good people, help work on changing government etc...   However you have to understand you joined a group that you liked, not an exclusive club that makes you part of the illuminati. 

For instance, in our recent Supreme Court election, Judge Rebecca Dallot, the so called liberal candidate received 107,760 votes in Dane County(compared to 25276 for her GOP opponent).  The Dane Democratic party numbers around 1000 members.   A quick bit of math, and we see that 106,000 or so people in Dane County see themselves as liberal without actually joining the party!  Try not to treat them as if you are doing them a favor by telling them who, how and when to vote for.   Open your doors for more people to come in and do not think paying $25 dues, makes you a super patriot.    

Also for any candidate, if you see an alphabet group, (ADCC, DCCC etc...) run as far and as fast as you can.     They bring no help, they bring no substance.  They are filled with ego, and people who like to congratulate themselves and tell everyone how smart they are.   They do not come in peace.   

*  The Issues: 

It is time to actually address the issues.  We know that there are so many people in WI living in poverty or just barely above and no one addresses their needs. Time to change that.

Wisconsin is the worst place to raise black children in the country.  When is the last time we have had a politician seriously address that.  It is not something to be proud of.  It is time to change that ranking. 

Small town Wisconsin and small town America are both dwindling.   Factories have closed, their way of life is much less sustainable, their bridges and schools are crumbling and there is deep resentment towards the bigger cities.   That can be changed with a solid infrastructure plan, mass transit making it easier and affordable to reach the bigger cities and affordable high speed internet available to every person in WI.   Yet every one of those fixes has been thoroughly ignored by the GOP in control the last 8 years, time to change that. 

Factory farms have taken over the rural areas of WI, while family farms have been forgotten.   I understand that things have evolved over time, but while things do evolve we can not let them get out of hand.  CAFO's are destroying our land and waterways and now are running unimpeded.   When a loved one dies from cryptosporidium, it is not ok and we need to change that. 

We have a massive teacher exodus on our hands in WI that is seriously affecting our future and our children's education.   We need to get back to investing in public education again.   

Just a few issues that we can run on and win with along with some other tips on how to make sure there actually is a  #bluewave in November!   

What are your thoughts?

Rush Limbaugh - The Anti Cupid

By Jeff Simpson 

Rush Limbaugh, the voice of the Republican Party. has a problem with women.   He called a college woman who had the gall to say she wanted access to birth control. a slut.   It does not stop there,  Now El Rushbo is in full crazy, defending The Donald, who was bragging about sexually assaulting anyone he feels.  

The hard core righty, and voice of the GOP. is heard on almost 600 radio stations.   Now we see why he is so popular amongst Republican(emphasis mine)s:

Addressing what he referred to as the “Donald Trump sex-talk scandal,” Limbaugh lamented America’s lack of moral standards, marked (it would seem) by the left’s willingness to let other people have whatever kind of sex they please, provided everyone involved wants it.
“You know what the magic word, the only thing that matters in American sexual mores today is?” Limbaugh asked no on in particular on his talk radio show Wednesday. “One thing.”
“You can do anything, the left will promote and understand and tolerate anything, as long as there is one element,” he continued. “Do you know what it is? Consent.”
This is stunning to Limbaugh.
“If there is consent on both or all three or all four, however many are involved in the sex act, it’s perfectly fine,” Limbaugh continued. “Whatever it is. But if the left ever senses and smells that there’s no consent in part of the equation then here come the rape police.”
“But consent is the magic key to the left,” he added.

 And the law of course, but that is a minor detail.    

I guess when you get arrested coming home from the Dominican Republic loaded with viagra,  and have been married four times, apparently there are deeper issues than his racism and sexism.

And people are surprised that Donald Trump burst on the scene?  

The Coming Civil War

By Jeff Simpson

When your only way to win elections is to divide and conquer,

Then you have to be prepared for the consequences of the problems you create.

 When your Governor's main character trait is to be vindictive towards anyone who disagrees with you, there will eventually be a boiling point.  

When hate radio blabs about how "liberals" are the enemy of America to an easily swayed and under informed audience, it becomes a call to action to some.

When you have Republican candidates for President, labeling clay pigeons, the name of the Democratic candidate for President, people take notice.  

When you call out the National Guard to oversee what our military is doing because you tell everyone that you can not trust the President, then people stop having faith in the office of the President.

When the elected Republicans make up stories(with no retractions) about "liberals" attacking good, honest, all american "conservatives", people get angry.

When the Vice-Presidential nominee, puts targets on liberals, her less intelligent followers will take aim.  

When a Republican Senator and his unhinged staffer try to get a professor fired because his extensive research came to a different conclusion than their lack of research did, then expect a certain faction of staff to leave on the first train.  

When the air waves are filled with these kind of examples of crazy talk on right wing hate radio, then expect people to hate their political counterpart , enemy.

1. Disturbing "Jokes" About Killing Liberals
Ann Coulter: "My only regret with Tim McVeigh is that he did not go to the New York Times building"
2. Implied Threats:
3. Overt Threats of Violence against Liberals:
Eric Erickson (Redstate.com): "At what point do [people] get off the couch, march down to their state legislator's house, pull him outside and beat him to a bloody pulp for being an idiot?"
Michael Savage: "I say round liberals up and hang em' high. When I hear someone's in the civil rights business, I oil up my AR-25."
4. Specific Incitements to Violence against Law Enforcement Officers
G . Gorden Liddy (broadcasting advice on how to kill law enforcement officers): "...head-shots, they are wearing body armor, head shots... or shoot for the groin."

Rush Limbaugh: "I tell people don't kill all the liberals. Leave enough so we can have two on every campus--living fossils--so we we'll never forget what these people stood for."

Bill O'Reilly: "Americans who work against our military once the [Iraq] war is underway will be considered Enemies of the State by me. Just fair warning to you, Barbara Streisand, and others who see the world as you do. I don't want to demonize anyone, but anyone who hurts this country in a time like this, well, let's just say you will be spotlighted."

Glen Beck: "Hang on, let me just tell you what I'm thinking. I'm thinking about killing Michael Moore, and I'm wondering if I could kill him myself, or if I would need to hire somebody to do it. No, I think I could."

Dick Morris: "Those crazies in Montana who say 'we're going to kill ATF agents because the UN's going to take over.' Well, they're beginning to have a case."

Now the chickens are coming home to roost,  

We have a long history of crazy right wing terrorists killing innocent people in America
On July 27, 2008 Former U.S. Army private, Jim David Atkinsson, who hated Democrats, liberals, African Americans and homosexuals, using a Remington Model 48 12-gauge shotgun, murdered two people and injured seven others inside the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church in Knoxville, TN.
The day after Obama’s inauguration, white supremacist Keith Luke went on a killing spree in Brockton, Massachusetts. His goal was to kill as many Jews, blacks and Hispanics as possible. When questioned by investigators, the deranged gunman who had stockpiled hundreds of rounds of ammunition, proclaimed that he was fighting the extinction of the white race.
A little over a month later, Dannie Baker, a former Republican campaign volunteer shot five Chilean immigrants in Florida. Those who knew him said he was obsessed with the fear that illegal immigrants were taking over the country.
In April of 2009, Richard Popalowski, a white supremacist in Pittsburgh, shot and killed three police officers following a domestic disturbance call. He apparently thought that Obama was part of a government conspiracy to seize all guns, and he feared the government would take his guns away.
Later the same month, a Fort Walton Beach Florida man who thought the Obama administration was conspiring against him, shot and murdered two sheriff’s deputies.
On May 31, 2009 Dr. George Tiller was murdered in his own church by a right-wing “pro- life” gun man who decided to express his belief in the sanctity of human life by executing a medical doctor.
Eleven days later a right-wing white supremacist and Holocaust denier walked into the National Holocaust Museum and killed an African-American security guard. Two weeks later, three Neo-Nazis were arrested for bombing a diversity office in Scottsdale, Arizona.
On April 20, 2010 a member of the Sovereign Citizen movement was arrested after a failed attempt to take over a Tennessee county courthouse.
Exactly one month later, in West Memphis Arkansas, Sovereign citizens Jerry and Joe Kane murdered two police officers before they themselves were shot and killed in the ensuing shoot out with police.
On July 18, 2010 Byron Williams, an angry unemployed man, was arrested by police after they discovered a car full of weapons and ammunition that he had planned to use to kill progressives. He was on his way to the non-profit Tides Foundation Center, a favorite target of vitriol from Glenn Beck’s radio show.
On Jan. 8, 2011 22-year old Jared Lee Loughner killed six people, including a judge and a nine-year old child, and wounded 13 others, including U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ), using a 9mm Glock 19 pistol during a public meeting in a supermarket parking lot near Tuscon, AZ.
On Aug. 5, 2012 Wade Michael Page, a 40-year old white supremacist and U.S. Army veteran murdered six people and wounded four others inside a Sikh Temple in Oak Creek, WI with a Springfield XD(M) semi-automatic pistol.

When two people, wearing the "don't tread on me", tea party colors and cowardly ambush two police officers - take ownership.  

When a man in Texas was at the end of his rope, he could not get a job and was losing custody of his son, he knew it wasn't his fault, it was the fault of the liberals.   The liberals gave him no choice but to shoot people.   They are the enemy after all.

Even long past his prime, Charlie Daniels has changed his tune.   He went from this call for unity:

To this open letter drivel:

Mr. President, it seems to me that you have little faith in American ingenuity, American capability, American exceptionalism and even American patriotism.

You seem to think that America needs a monolithic, big brother type government to oversee and regulate every aspect of American life, that citizens are not competent to control their own affairs and make their own decisions without some oppressive bureaucracy to call the shots.

Mr. President, the answer is not government, conversely, the problem is government. A government that has doubled the national debt, increased unemployment, lowered take home pay, increased food stamp participation and disability claims and introduced socialized medicine.

UGg.   As the rhetoric gets worse(wait until we get closer to the 2016 election), and as poverty climbs and people get more desperate, look for more and more political splits and confrontations.   There will be more violence and more deaths, and it all could have been avoided.  

Unfortunately, holding the power of the purse trumps everything to the people in charge and we are all paying a steep price.

If we do not change things soon, we are heading towards another civil war.


Think about that!

In The Public's Interest!

By Jeff Simpson - Cross Posted at Purple Wisconsin. 

There are 426 School Districts in the State of Wisconsin, that currently serve over 800,000 public school students.   In each of these 426 school districts, there is a democratically elected school board that represents the community in running the School District(approximately 3000 elected School Board members in WI).
 In 1921, the Wisconsin Association of School Boards(WASB) was formed.  WASB seeks to advance education through supporting the tradition of local school board control of the state’s public schools. The Wisconsin Association of School Boards is a member-driven organization that supports,
promotes and advances the interests of public education in Wisconsin.   WASB offers various services, from advice, to training, to advocacy and information.   One thing WASB also does is send out questions to candidates running for elected office that focus on education. 
This year was no different....well it was a little different(amphasis mine):
As it has done for a number of years, the Wisconsin Association of School Boards (WASB) has conducted a question-and-answer with the gubernatorial candidates, in this case Walker, the incumbent, and the challenger Mary Burke.
According to the WASB website, “In keeping with our past practice, we posed a series of questions to the candidates on a range of education issues. Governor Walker’s response to the survey request stated ‘our campaign will not be completing any interest group surveys or interviews.’”
WASB did publish Mary Burke's responses and they can be found here!
Scott Walker has time to be interviewed by Hugh Hewitt, The right wing American Spectator Magazine, The right wing talk tank Hoover Institute, the despicable Rush Limbaugh, CNN, New York Times, and GQ, where this was revealed:
Back when Scott Walker was a young politician on the make, he was known in media circles as a guy only too happy to supply quotes. Today the governor rarely does interviews. (At the outset, his staff would only promise me two or three of what they called "pullouts"—a chance to ever-so-briefly grab him after an event and on the way to his car—though ultimately I was granted two sit—downs of about twenty minutes each.) Instead, Walker's preferred vehicle for conveying his opinions is supplied by Sykes and other (right wing)talk-radio hosts, since their deference to him is almost vassal-like. As Walker's former chief of staff, Keith Gilkes, told me, "It's a medium where the governor can go on the air and deliver a message unfiltered."
We also found out in the #walkerdocs drop, that Scott Walker enjoys telling our local right wing talk radio jocks what they should be talking about:
In 2008, after the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel editorialized in favor of light rail, Walker turned to his talk radio allies to make clear his opposition to government-funded rail transit.
He frequently dropped conservative talkers Sykes, Belling, Weber, Jeff Wagner and Vicki McKenna emails with talking points about major issues before the county, and often distributed treats.
“County Executive Scott Walker plans on making his rounds next week to deliver his own special holiday treat — Frosted Pecans (I have already heard just about every nut joke, but you can try) to thank his radio friends for getting the word out throughout the year on the Executive’s Ride, the Budget, and other county-related issues,” spokeswoman Fran McLaughlin wrote in a December 2007 email.

Then of course if he filled out questionnaires to let people in Wisconsin know where he stands, it might cut into his time running around the country campaigning for others!  

 

It is hard to be "open for business", when you consider public education a special interest and have no time for it in your busy schedule of campaigning.  

 

As Derek Bok says "If you think education is expensive, try ignorance." 
 

Quote of the Day - Republican Spokesperson

By Jeff Simpson

The four times married Rush Limbaugh, republican spokes model and staunch Scott Walker supporter has this advice for young men:

"How many of you guys, in your own experience with women, have learned that no means yes if you know how to spot it?" Limbaugh asked his male listeners. "I'm probably -- let me tell you something, in this modern [world], that is simply, that's not tolerated. People aren't even going to try to understand that one."

"It used to be a cliché, it used to be part of the advice young boys were given," he added.

I wonder if Scott Walker/Rebecca Kleefisch approve of that message?  

I am not saying there is a war on women, but with Limbaugh as part of the party power core, I sure would not want to be a woman at the republican convention.  

The Company He Keeps

By Jeff Simpson 

You can tell a man’s character is known by the kind of company he keeps.

In a recent fundraising email, Scott Walker sent out:

Millions of Americans tune in to hear Rush Limbaugh every week. When he talks, conservatives listen and liberals shudder. He has single handedly revolutionized conservative talk radio and recently he gave us an extraordinary compliment that I want to share with you.
He asked why our political rivals and their friends in the liberal media didn't defeat me in the recall race in 2012 and he said it was because "the reality is he is a hugely successful governor. He has fixed a lot of things that were broken in that state."
In a nutshell, Rush is advancing the argument that the reason the Big Government Labor Bosses and the Obama Machine were unable to beat me is because of our results.

Nothing like touting a compliment from the imbecilic hate monger himself.  In case you have not heard him for a while, today Rush said:

“If there is Ebola in the world, it might as well be here so Obama can strut his stuff.”

But wait, there's more:

"f you feed them, if you feed the children, three square meals a day during the school year, how can you expect them to feed themselves in the summer? Wanton little waifs and serfs dependent on the State. Pure and simple." -Rush Limbaugh, December, 2011 

"[Obama] wouldn't have been voted president if he weren't black. Somebody asked me over the weekend why does somebody earn a lot of money have a lot of money, because she's black. It was Oprah. No, it can't be. Yes, it is. There’s a lot of guilt out there, show we're not racists, we'll make this person wealthy and big and famous and so forth.... If Obama weren't black he'd be a tour guide in Honolulu or he'd be teaching Saul Alinsky constitutional law or lecturing on it in Chicago." --Rush Limbaugh, July 6, 2010

 "Holocaust 90 million Indians? Only four million left? They all have casinos, what's to complain about?" --Rush Limbaugh in 2009

 

Yes that is the guy who Scott Walker is proud to call friend and supporter!

By the way what does Scott Walker have to say about that?

Asked how voters might judge governors who bid for the presidency, the Wisconsinite replied, “Governors should be defined not just by what they do and say, but who they surround themselves with, making sure to have the smartest person for a particular task or to head a specific agency. They should be judged on that basis and who they take advice from.”

D'oh!

 

Reince Priebus' Rebranded GOP: The George Zimmerman Edition

As the gentle reader already knows, on Saturday night, George Zimmerman got away with murder when he was given a pass on his killing of Trayvon Martin.

It took them a day, but by Monday morning, Reince Preibus' rebranding of the GOP really shown through.

Ann Coulter did a bit of race-baiting on the case:

Instead of turning every story about a black person killed by a white person into an occasion to announce, "The simple fact is, America is a racist society," liberals might, one time, ask the question: Why do you suppose there would be a generalized fear of young black males? What might that be based on?

Throw us a bone. It's because a disproportionate number of criminals are young black males. It just happens that when Lee Van Houten and George Zimmerman were mugged by two of them, they survived the encounter.

Not to be outdone, Rush Limbaugh actually pushed it to the point of trying to justify using the "N-word":



And locally, we have our own master race baiter, Charlie Sykes living up to the name of his failing and flailing propaganda machine, White Wisconsin.

On Monday, he named George Zimmerman as winner of the day. He's kept up the race baiting all week long, making such outlandish claims such as if the feds pursue any kind of civil action against Zimmerman, it would be because of racism. Then there was this little doozy that he tweeted on Tuesday:

I almost feel bad for Sykes though.  You see, he can't be as racist as he wants to be, because he once pushed it too far and almost lost his job for it.  But seeing as how his radio show keeps sinking in the ratings, he can't sell a book to save his soul and his new one-stop propaganda shop isn't what they were hoping it would be, I felt the need to through old Chuckles a bone.  So, with the help of my friends at One Wisconsin Now, we came up with a new logo for him to show off to all of his conservative buddies:

Enjoy it, Charlie! You sure earned it!

Crazy EVERYWHERE

i know that the Alex Jones Video has been getting alot of play lately.  To be honest, I have not even watched it and have no interest in doing so.  The guy is nuts so why waste my time.

The question I have is why does everyone make a big deal about him being so crazy?  Yet others just as crazy or unintelligent get to squeek by unnoticed and still pushing the crazy train.

While the examples are too many to count let's take a look at a few:

Fox News Greg Gutfeld:



Rush Limbaugh:




Our Own Senator Ron Johnson:



Michelle Bachmann:



Republican Super Hero Allan West:






Then of course there are local loons like Christian Schneider and Jim Wigderson who bring the crazy on a daily basis. So my question is who cares about Alex Jones, when there is just as much crazy everywhere else in the news and no one seems to pay attention to their BS!

The Republican Party Loves You *

* Some exceptions may apply(see below)!

If you are part of the LGBT community:

After his recent visit to the state of Utah, Nanette Billings, the wife of Washington County, Utah’s Republican Party chairman, sent  openly gay Republican presidential candidate Fred Karger, a nasty email days later, he received the following email via his campaign website [sic throughout]:

“you are an idiot.  You met with my husband Willie Billings today about you being on the Utah ballot.  He brought your frisby, and tshirt home and it is now out in the trash.  I never want to hear from such a radical idiot again.  you think you are conseritave?  conseritave means you beleive in the values of founding fathers and God.  Do you know you cant procreate right?  Well thank goodness for that.  Nanette Billings”

A Gay family member of a republican elected official:

Rep. Marsha Looper's (R-El Paso) campaign manager Lana Fore-Warkocz was so pleased with her boss's voting against Colorado's civil unions bill last month that she sent out an e-mail praising Looper for her vote even though she has a gay son -- unfortunately outing Looper's son in the process, according to The Denver Post.

"God is truly to be praised for Marsha Looper because she also has a homosexual son," Fore-Warkcoz e-mail to El Paso's voters read, the Advocate reports. "Praise God!" Fore-Warkcoz goes on to write in the e-mail, celebrating Looper for amending Senate Bill 2 to "protect" religious organizations "from harm."

 A member of the Catholic church:

American nuns are taking their opposition of the proposed Paul Ryan budget to the American people and embarking on a bus tour through some of America’s most politically important states.

In interviews after unveiling his budget, Ryan said that he applied his view of Catholic social teaching in his budget proposal, a statement that Sister Simone Campbell, the executive director of NETWORK, said co-opted sacred Catholic teachings.

“I think he was so direct in draping himself in the mantle of Catholic social teaching,” Campbell said. “He took the words but he took none of the meaning in the forming of the budget.”


Campbell continued: “It is one thing to have political differences, but to try to hide a budget that will devastate people and claim that it is supported by your faith. It is unacceptable. He is wrong and he needs to be told so.”

A member of the Latino or Asian communities (the republicans do not know the difference):

RNClatinos.com, the Republican National Committee’s new website aimed at Latino voter outreach, uses a stock photograph of Asian children as its banner picture. 

The stock photo found on Shutterstock is listed with tags including “asia, asian, cheeks, children, cool… interracial, japanese… thailand, together, trendy.” But the words ‘hispanic’ or ‘latino’ are nowhere on the page.

The GOP has been making a concerted effort to reach out to Latino voters this election season — but, by any account, this particular effort was less than successful.

 Police Officers and Fire Fighters:







Or anyone who likes to use facts when they speak! 

This IS What Hypocrisy Looks Like.....

My old friend Julaine Appling was profiled in the Capital Times today.  The UNMARRIED and childless Julaine Appling is ahead of the anti-gay group Wisconsin Family Action,and also has "lived" with a female colleague for "many years".  There is obviously nothing wrong with that, unless of course you ask the Wisconsin Family Action hate group.  

In lieu of President Obama's recent announcement of support for gay marriage, the anti gay rhetoric has been ramped up, so the CT thought they would give Ms. Appling a forum to do so.  She did not disappoint!

I would submit that (Obama’s announcement) was the culmination of decades of the media and education sending a message that “marriage is whatever I want it to be, marriage is about my personal happiness, it’s about me!”

It’s not about me. It’s about children. Now, there are couples who choose not to have children and that’s their right, but the bulk of them do have children. What we know (is) the way we prepare the next generation to become the workforce, the taxpayers, the geniuses, the entrepreneurs … is for them to be brought up by a married mom and dad.

Then she talked about where her views come from:

CT: A poll recently showed that the vast majority of people — even those born during the 1940s — have had pre-marital sex.
Appling: No polls and no societal drift will ever make right wrong and wrong right. I come at life from a core set of beliefs. My worldview is fixed firmly in one source, and that is Scripture. That is my external, objective, forever-settled truth.

Unfortunately, they did not ask her what Scripture she is referring too.   But wait there's more.

CT: What do you say to somebody who says he or she wants to follow Christian guidelines but is attracted to members of the same sex?
Appling: I can understand that. You have to make a decision and you may need help to make this decision. People have left gay lifestyles by the droves successfully. I believe they need to talk to people, maybe they need to speak to both sides but they at least need to speak to the side that says you can go in another direction.
Same-sex attraction is real. The question is do you have to act on it? I would submit you don’t have to act on it.

I wonder how exactly people have left the "gay lifestyle" in "droves", any documented cases?   Finally the kicker.  The one where she shows exactly who she is and why her opinion means nothing.

CT: And what if Walker wins and the GOP keeps its majorities? What’s the next step for your movement?
Appling: We’ll pick up where we left off to make sure that we get language to protect religious freedom. We’ll be working on divorce modification as it relates to couples with minor children. Things like changing the waiting period (required before a divorce is finalized).

I am sure she will have no problem working with multiply divorced Robin Vos to make sure divorce is harder to get.  She can always enlist the help of  Luther Olsen, Steve nASS, Scott Suder, Scott Krug, or Dan Knodl.  

She can also count on the help of two of her most important allies.    Her wonder twin, the unmarried childless Glenn Grothman, and also Rep. Don Pridemore who also thinks that women should stop complaining about their husbands and remember the time:

 By now, most people have heard of the Wisconsin GOP’s efforts to label single parenthood as a form of child abuse. There’s no basis in the claim, of course, and is simply another way to shame women (who comprise the majority of single parents) for not existing within a narrow and rigid social structure. A new wrinkle has surfaced as the bills’ co-sponsor, Representative Don Pridemore (R-Heartless Scumbag) has gone on the record as opposing divorce even in the event of a abusive spouse.
So if you are a woman regularly being beaten by your husband, you are a bad mother if you seek a divorce.
“If they can refind those reasons and get back to why they got married in the first place it might help,” said Representative Don Pridemore.

Mickey Mouse Club

First of all, you’ve got to ask yourself. What self-respecting serious politician would want to end up on the airwaves with the Drugster Limbaugh as Walker did?

Nevertheless, Scottie took time begging for money from Wall Street chiselers to peddle the legends that the Flaming Nazi Gas Bag’s audience loves to lap up. On yesterday’s program with the Jowly Red Giant, out once again went the nonsense about fake signatures ending up on the recall petitions.

Once these thoughts are implanted in the concrete heads of Limbaugh’s followers, they of course are never extracted. But you, dear readers, are smarter than that.

Think about it. There were thousands of volunteers chasing down signatures, through the holidays, through rugged weather and dodging Packer games. To that end, many hundreds of volunteers spent thousands of hours meticulously combing through these signatures, because we all knew that this thing had to have legitimacy and besides, the GOP would have their crack any ways at knocking off suspicious signatures, as is their right. So why would we waste our time putting on the sheets fakes or duplicates?

Think about it. How would people on the right know that Mickey Mouse, Adolph Hitler or whomever appeared on the recall petitions? They wouldn’t have seen the other petitions.

So the logical conclusion is that one of them put the fake names on the sheets, and no doubt later bragged about it to his doofus buddies down at the tavern. Or more realistically, it never happened at all and Walker with the help of his buddies on FOX and elsewhere where legends are born continue to lie about it.

Accusing us of cheating? Why, that’s just projection, because cheating is what the right wing does all the time when it comes to disrespecting our electoral process.