There is a Sucker Born Every Minute

By Jeff Simpson

"There's a sucker born every minute" is a phrase most likely spoken by David Hannum, in criticism of both P. T. Barnum, an American showman of the mid 1800s, and his customers. The phrase is often credited to Barnum himself. It means "Many people are gullible, and we can expect this to continue."

Or maybe a better quote would be

 A Fool and his money are soon parted.  

 Thrice married Charlie Sykes has for some reason, been given access to the states biggest radio waves to have a show every morning full of BS.   If that is not enough, he has also been granted access to the television airwaves every Sunday for a completely unwatchable "news" show.

But wait there is more:

If you are not getting enough of hearing how amazing Scott Walker is, and if you are too lazy to actually look for blogs on your own on the internet, you can subscribe to Charlie Sykes White Wisconsin website for the low price of $9.99/month.

 Where at anytime you can read the regurgitated babblings of James Wigderson, Kevin Binversie amd various reprints of mediatrackkkers ramblings.    An added bonus if you hurry and subscribe today, is you can read about Rebecca Kleefisch's thoughts on the EPA and the Obama Administration.  Riveting reading.

But wait there is more.

You can also buy tickets for Insight 2015 where Charlie Sykes will charge you to sit in an audience and listen to him gush with YOUR elected officials.   You of course will not really be allowed access to your elected officials(Scott Walker and David Clarke are scheduled to attend) just listen to Charlie throw them softball questions and hammer on Democrats.  

(edit note:  For those scoring at home, we are paying Scott Walker's security detail, and the only way we can actually access our elected Governor is by buying a ticket to Charlie Sykes event to see him from a distance.  Shouldn't it be illegal to have to pay to see elected officials?)  

I have to hand it to Charlie, he knows how to rile up the masses and part people from their money.  Well at least the true kool aid drinkers anyway.

I wonder if he is related to Pastor Creflo Dollar?

The Tea Party Flag and Agnostic "Journalism"

By Bert

Why all this willful ignorance from reporters about the Tea Party flag?

All of a sudden a certain well-known banner is being called, instead, the “Gadsden Flag” or the “don’t tread on me Flag”, which are names for it too, I guess. However, the fact is I see this yellow rectangle of cloth -- carrying an image of a coiled snake and the old Revolutionary War slogan -- suspended off my neighbor’s front porch. I don’t think it is there because my neighbor is a Ben Franklin buff. I think he is a proud supporter of the Tea Party movement, which itself is a widely known political force on the right that reporters, other pundits, and politicians talk about all the time.

And yet the Tea Party and its accoutrements seem forgotten since Sunday when a sociopathic couple who made no secret of their anti-government views proceeded to murder two policemen at a Las Vegas pizza parlor and then draped one victim with that Tea Party flag. Jeff Simpson mentioned all this in an earlier post. 

Journalists such as Jodi Becker at WTMJ-AM chose in describing the news to call it the “don’t tread on me flag”.  Ken Herrera at WISN-AM omitted mention of the flag entirely, noting instead the perpetrators' white supremacist views. (The couple also left a swastika in some form with the victims; one report said their intent was to imply the police are like Nazis).

In Becker’s defense, her waffly wording probably comes from an NBC report the station links to that also chose for some reason to call it the "don't tread on me flag". The New York Times at least added, in mentioning this detail, that the flag has been adopted as a symbol of the Tea Party. 

WTMJ’s failure to also explain this – I was taught that reporters are supposed to explain – is surprising because a former "talent" on the station -- the phony right-wing pundit James T. Harris -- is apparently a Tea Party supporter. At his new gig at another Journal Communications-owned station in Tucson, Harris spoke at a rally in Sept. 2012 where the flag was clearly visible.

In other news stories, Allah knows we have seen perpetrators very quickly associated with causes. Journalists, of course, have seen fit to include the religion of a perpetator of violent acts if that religion is Islam. Ever since Ted Kaczynski's capture,  right-wing pundits have played up the connections, if any, of bad people with leftist causes. Pundits around here, for example, whose motive is to promote the Republican Party, always try to associate any bad act with “the left” or with bumpers that carry a certain sticker.  

These two murderers in Nevada are not officially sponsored by or conspiring within any Tea Party group, by all accounts. And, even though right-wing pundits imply something different all the time, it goes without saying that the fact you do something bad and support a cause does not mean all other supporters of that cause are guilty of the same bad act.

But this couple has not helped the Tea Party’s PR image, of course, which I think has legitimately been associated with racists and violent people. The damage it does to the group is motivating presidential wannabes and Tea Party supporters Ted Cruz and Rand Paul to spike any and all photos that show them among wavers of the flag.  

I also have to think that the legion of right-wing pundits who support the Tea Party such as Harris will be running for cover, or at least keeping quiet. However, there is still the question of why supposed journalists make the choice to serve the PR interests of  the Tea Party movement instead of doing their job of informing and explaining.

Reclaiming Our Airwaves: Squawk Radio =/= Bona Fide News

Just over a year ago, I told the gentle reader that the Media Action Center had gathered enough evidence to show that squawk radio channels WTMJ-AM 620 and WISN-AM 1130  had violated the Zapple Doctrine, a federal law that requires radio stations to give both sides of a political race equal time for at least the last 60 days prior to an election.

In November, based on the station's violations of the law and refusal to correct their illegal behavior, the Media Action Center filed a legal challenge to the renewal of the license for WTMJ-AM.

After a lot of dinking around by the FCC, including claims of having not received the challenge and/or not being able to find it, things started to proceed.

WTMJ's attorneys responded that they did not violate the law, claiming that the likes of Charlie Sykes and Jeff Wagner are bona fide news sources, like Walker Cronkite and Douglas Edwards.  As "bona fide" news sources, the lawyers contended that they were immune to the Zapple Doctrine, so that they could cover fundraisers and late breaking events.

Sue Wilson, Director of the Media Action Center, responded to the lawyers' claims in a press release:

Media Action Center filed a petition late in 2012 with the FCC to deny the license because, during the Scott Walker recall campaign, WTMJ's Jeff Wagner and Charlie Sykes shows were proven to have given as much as a half a million dollars in free airtime to supporters of Republican Governor Scott Walker. The station specifically denied comparable time to supporters of his Democratic opponent, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett.

The FCC's quasi-equal opportunities rule (Zapple Doctrine) states that broadcasters must give supporters of both major party candidates comparable airtime. Only "bonafide news" programs are exempt so they can cover candidates' events in real time.

"Bonafide news programs are specifically not allowed to politic for candidates," says Media Action Center Director Sue Wilson. "Now is our one chance to make a stand for journalism. The FCC has a duty to the public to draw a clear line between news and opinion.

"If the FCC does not draw a clear line, radio talkers from Charlie Sykes to Rush Limbaugh will be equated with newsmen like Walter Cronkite, and listeners will lose any hope of ferreting out fact from fiction," Wilson added.

I would point out that anyone that thinks Charlie Sykes is a bona fide news source is themselves a bona fide crackpot.

Sykes is nothing more than a megatroll. Sykes has been caught libeling innocent people and then whining about being forced to act like an adult.  Sykes' libel was so egregious that he had almost lost his job.  WTMJ wanted to fire him, but ironically, Sykes went crying to the union which saved his worthless but and allowed him to keep his job.

Even more damning is Sykes' own admission to how bona fide his reporting is (emphasis mine):

When we asked Sykes for support for his claim -- a standard first stop in the items we do -- he quickly backed off.

"The only politically connect(ed) hack I know is going is Jim Doyle (and maybe some of the regents)," Sykes wrote in an e-mail that he also posted on his SykesWrites blog. "My ‘evidence’? Absolutely none."

Sykes went on to label his remark "an off-hand wisecrack" -- "You know, humor, hyperbole, joke."

So he makes up stories out of his arse, and then calls his libelous statements as humor and as a joke.  Yet somehow we are to believe that he is a bona fide news source.

The Media Action Center, working with MoveOn.Org has launched a petition drive for public support.  Their drive is called  "Tell the FCC: Talk Radio is NOT Bonafide News!"

Please sign their petition and get your friends and family to sign on so that we can start reclaiming our airwaves.

Charlie Sykes' Racism!

By Jeff Simpson

Capper did an excellent job recently of pointing out what a true racist Charlie Sykes is! 

t should not come as a surprise to anyone that Charlie Sykes is a racist.  His show and his blog is full of examples of his race baiting.

Heck, he's so bigoted that he will only let the "right" conservative black writers

publish articles on his latest endeavor, "White Wisconsin."

But even as inured as we are to Sykes' race baiting and bigotry, he went to new lows last Thursday.

 

On his show, he played the audio for part of this song, which is called "It's Free Swipe Yo EBT."  I must warn the gentle reader that this is most definitely Not Safe  For Work.

The video is full of exaggerated racial stereotyping of black women that one would expect from racists

When called on the carpet for his latest bout of blatant racism, Sykes let everyone know that is who he is and he will be as racist as he wants to be!

Apparently, Captain Fireworks is still bothered that some people would be disgusted by having such a racist with that big of a forum.  He spent the last few days trying to figure out how he could use something the democrats did to justify his disgusting behavior(after all taking personal responsibility is OUT of the question). 

The "great" mind(term used loosely) of Sykes was only able to come up with this!  

Seriously.  

I am not sure if he is telling us that we need to sensor all art that he disagrees with or that because President Obama is friends with Jay-Z, that gives Sykes free reign to do and say whatever disgusting vile thing he feels like!  

No wonder WTMJ 620 AM is a sinking ship!   

At least Sykes can always fall back on his speaking gigs and book writing to make a living!

O Wait!

 



No wonder Jerry Bader likes to spout racism and bash gays, he is desperate to get someone to listen to him!

There Are Consequences!

By Jeff Simpson 

Some people like to think that politics is just that and there are no real life consequences.   Many people are duped into thinking that both sides are equally bad so I might as well try and save my pocketbook by voting in the "conservatives".  Well we showed you yesterday that the former is a myth and it doesn't take much to realize that he latter is also a myth! 

The right wing is out claiming victims again.  The right wing hate cabal of talk radio sqwaukers from the national guys like Beck, Limbaugh and a bunch of C - list screamers, to the local haters Sykes, Belling ,McKenna.   All of the gaggle of goons, preaching their hate and fear, are finally getting their listeners to pay attention.   

As the New York Times noted, there is a big(well relatively big)"prepper" movement sweeping the US. 

Whats a "prepper":

NYC Preppers Network is an Emergency Preparedness group for city dwellers that are concerned with preparing for disasters.  Some of us don’t live in a home, have garages, wells, basements or attics to store our survival gear in. Most of us live in apartments. City occupants face a different set of challenges.  Space, Food Storage, Water, Security, Sanitation, Evacuation Routes & many other issues are of a great concern for city dwellers.  NYC Preppers Network will work to solve these issues by teaching, sharing, & learning. The group is also the NYC affiliate of American Preppers Network (APN) on the national level.

Yes they are prepared for "anything", but what is their motivation to devote their life to this anyway?

That's easy enough - the Barackalypse! 

 At the Self Reliance Expo, the prospect of a second Obama term is seen as both a catastrophe and an opportunity. "There's a lot of people I talk to who say, 'Depending on what happens in the election, I'm going to buy some body armor,'" says Derek Williams, president of the Salt Lake City-based company Amendment II. Its Centurian children's tactical vest costs $499. "If the economy falls apart, people don't have food. People who are looking for food, they're gonna have their guns with them. People want body armor so they can protect themselves."

Ever wonder where they get such ideas?  

Tony Tangalos, the Phoenix-based host of The Prepper Patch,, believes Obama is expediting the arrival of the Islamic Antichrist. He's planning on establishing "Christian Transition Villages" in western Arizona "for people who believe that we may be close to experiencing some dramatic man-made or naturally occurring changes in our world."

Paranoid "Preppers" have to be proud though, one of their  own recently made the news! 

The mother of Adam Lanza, the gunman who killed 20 children and six adults in one of America’s worst ever school massacres, was a “survivalist” preparing for economic and social collapse, it has emerged.

According to reports, Nancy Lanza was a so-called 'prepper', a part of the survivalist movement which urges individuals to prepare for the breakdown of society by training with weapons and hoarding food and other supplies.
“She prepared for the worst,” her sister-in-law Marsha Lanza told the Chicago Sun-Times.
“Last time we visited her in person, we talked about prepping – are you ready for what could happen down the line, when the economy collapses?”

 No wonder Owen liked her.  However we will never know the how much of an effect her paranoid delusional   thinking had on her son.   

Case study # 2 takes us to Alabama....Where Jimmy Lee Dykes recently shot a school bus driver and took a 5 year old hostage.  The thing is he didn't just take the 5 year old boy hostage, he really took him hostage:

 The bunker in which Dykes holed up was four feet underground. He equipped it with electricity and was said to possibly have weeks of supplies stored. Negotiators communicated to him through a ventilation pipe. Because of the risk of tornadoes in this part of Alabama, bunkers are a relative fixture on the landscape.

  Today after a 5 day standoff, the FBI raided the bunker and killed Dykes and saved the child.  Thank Goodness for that, but what would motivate a Vietnam Veteran from the Navy to do such a horrible thing?

He was a loner who allegedly lost contact with an adult daughter years ago, according to people who lived near him. The sounds of conservative talk radio filled his home and fed his anti-government attitudes, locals said.

The codewords and dog whistles worked into the speeches and radio shows worked perfectly, get the base riled up then when you cross the line, wash your hands! 

Until we can break this vicious cycle, these problems are going to get worse!   

Here in Wisconsin, what are we doing to fix this problem.

Actually exacerbating the problem....and badly! 

By the way in case you are wondering where these crazies are getting their< obamaisgoingtotakeyourgunsandeverythingyouownandputyouinjailforworkinghard info?  

 

 It is time to start holding these people accountable for their hate speech and paranoia preaching!    

What is Wrong With These People?

This from former republican congressman, MSNBC talk show host and past strong supporter of the NRA Joe Scarborough:






"This extremism is so frightening" Joe Scarborough. Hmmmm, it appears that he was talking directly about Charlie Sykes!

While Chuck will not give us his view, I will give mine. This absolutely crossed the line. Why does President Obama have to send his kids to a school with armed guards? because of hate mongers like Charlie sykes who stir up the masses to hate everyone who is a democrat and if your a minority it just gets increased.
The Presidents poor daughters have a target on them and they did not ask for that. It is sad that people like the "leaders" of the NRA and people who use our airwaves for hate like Sykes are making that target even clearer. They should be ashamed of themselves and so should the powers that be at 620 WTMJ!
Don't believe me? Wait an hour and read the comments!

Call To Action: Tell The FCC To Do Their Job!

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about how the broadcast licenses of WTMJ-AM and WISN-AM, two Milwaukee-based radio stations, were being legally challenged by the Media Action Center due to their violations of the Zapple Doctrine. The Zapple Doctrine is a federal law that states that radio and TV stations must give equal time to both parties.

Follow this link to see the complaint.

Low and behold, the FCC, when asked by Lisa Kaiser of the Shepherd Express, said that they had lost the complaint:

But a curious thing happened while I was reporting the story.

I contacted the FCC for comment.

Turns out that they couldn’t confirm that they had received the challenge. I was shuffled through an alphabet soup of bureaus and departments at the commission and still could not get a confirmation. Someone else had it. They couldn’t find it. I’d have to file a Freedom of Information Act request to get it. They’d get right back to me—maybe. After Thanksgiving. Before my deadline. No, really, before my deadline.

You know what it’s like. (For what it’s worth, if you want a job without a whole lot of work duties, apply for one at the FCC. They don’t seem to do much besides hand off emails and phone calls to someone else. Well, the ones they don’t ignore, at any rate.)

So I contacted Sue Wilson, the head of the Media Action Center, to figure out what was happening with the legal challenges. She duly forwarded me a postal confirmation receipt showing that she had, indeed, mailed them and that, indeed, someone at the FCC had received them. She said that the FCC routinely “misplaces” communications from the public. It’s sort of a black hole of complaints, she said. (Watch her documentary Broadcast Blues for more on this matter.)

So my article was published yesterday in print and on the Shepherd’s website.

And lo and behold, I get a press release from the Media Action Center today stating that the FCC “misplaced” MAC's challenges to the license renewals of WTMJ and WISN. And the only reason that the FCC became aware of the complaints is because reporters contacted the commission.

Hilarious! (And predictable.)

Pretty bad, eh? But guess what. Yup, that's right. There's more. There's always more.

It turns out that Mark Berlin, Chief of the FCC's Political Bureau, has been contacting supporters of Media Action Center and falsely telling them that the complaint was never sent. Keep in mind that it was already confirmed by an independent source that they had indeed signed for the letter the complaint came in.

Sue Wilson, head of the Media Action Center, sent him a missive that, well, told him to go to hell in such a way as to make him look forward to the trip.

But Sue's letter won't do, not by itself.

This is where you, gentle reader, comes in. It'll require about two minutes of your time, but it will be well worth it.

We need you to copy this letter and paste it into an email. Then fill it out and email it to these people:

Mark Berlin at CampaignLaw@FCC.gov , and copy all the FCC Commissioners: Julius.Genachowski@fcc.gov ; Robert.McDowell@fcc.gov ; Mignon.Clyburn@fcc.gov ; Jessica.Rosenworcel@fcc.gov ; Ajit.Pai@fcc.gov

Also send a blind copy to Sue at Complain@TellFCC.com so that these can be tracked to prevent further lies being told by the corporate media stooges.

Unless you're happy with the Orwellian Newspeak which these radio stations are subjecting us to, please act on this simple request now.

Cross posted at Whallah!