Walkergate 2: Charlie Doe

Readers of Cog Dis already know that there is a second John Doe investigation going on.  They also know that this Son of Doe is looking into the dark money of groups like the Koch Brothers and the Bradley Foundation and their front groups such as Wisconsin Club for Growth and Americans for Prosperity.

The gentle reader also knows how these dark money groups would use their front groups to help hide the donors to such groups through complex money laundering schemes.  They would then use said money to help advance their agendas through the use of bogus studies and reports, the propagandizing of said studies and reports and through more direct actions in supporting bought and paid for candidates.

But in all the reporting so far, what has not been touched are the 800 pound squawking gorillas in the room - Journal Communications, Charlie Sykes and White Right Wisconsin.

White Wisconsin is the result of the unchecked collaboration and collusion between the dark money groups, the corporate media and WISGOP.  It is a website that is hosted by Journal Broadcast Group and sponsored by the Wisconsin Club for Growth and "powered" by Charlie Sykes.  It offers a free platform for politicians, political operatives and propagandists to spew their vitriol in an effort to sway low information voters into voting against their own best interest.

To add to it, Journal Broadcast Group also allows Sykes to use the airwaves of WTMJ-AM to continue to spew their propaganda, continue the lies and most significantly, give politicians like Scott Walker free air time to do their campaigning.

Let me re-emphasize this.

White Wisconsin is an aggregate website paid for by Wisconsin Club for Growth, a Koch Brothers front group.  The website is hosted by Journal Broadcast Group, which includes WTMJ-AM, the home of Charlie Sykes, who is the "power" behind the website.  The goal of the website is to promote the Teapublican agenda.  And the most ironic part is that the sheeple that actually believe their noise has to pay for it.  Presumably, the bulk of this money is going right back to the Koch group to continue their illegal collaborations with political campaigns.

But as will all things Doe, there's more.  There's always more.

Besides the unusual business relationship between what is supposed to be a neutral, respected news source and a political action group, it turns out that the players involved are no strangers to seamier side of things.

Sykes often gives free air time to Scott Walker and other Republicans.  So much so that their license was legally challenged with the FCC.  In fact, Sykes was such the go to guy for the Teapublicans that he was mention in the criminal charges against Darlene Wink stemming from the original Walkergate investigations.

As Lisa Kaiser of the Shepherd Express pointed out, Sykes is also very heavily involved with the Bradley Foundation-funded Wisconsin Policy Research Institute (WPRI).  WPRI is one of those right wing front groups that spews out bogus studies that just so happen to support the agenda of the Bradley Foundation and its other benefactors.  To further his ties to the Bradley Foundation, Sykes' current wife, his third one, is Janet Reardon, aka Liz Woodhouse, who is the Director of Communications at the Bradley Foundation.

It's understandable why Sykes is so nervous about the Son of Doe investigation.  Even if he is not implicated himself, it would still have a great impact on the level of financial comfort and lifestyle he is accustomed to.  IF he wasn't incarcerated, he'd might have to still go out and do manual work for the first time in his life.

Sykes' right hand man at White Wisconsin is Brian Fraley.  Fraley comes to White Wisconsin via the MacIver Institute, where he was the Director of Communication.  And yes, the MacIver Institute is also funded by the Bradley Foundation.  But as with Sykes, the ties go deeper for Fraley.

Before going to the MacIver Institute, Fraley worked directly for ALEC.  And just like Sykes, Fraley also got a mention in the original Walkergate proceedings.  However, instead of being named in Wink's complaint, Fraley got his dubious honor in the charges against Kelly Rindfleisch.  In this instance, we learn that Fraley was part of the original caucus scandal from a decade ago:

One would have thought that after getting tied up in the caucus scandals, Fraley would have wanted to avoid even the perception of impropriety.  One would apparently have been wrong.

The third person, Collin Roth, came to White Wisconsin by way of Media Trackers, which receives the bulk of its funding from American Majority, yet another right wing money laundering machine.  Roth's role is a glorified gopher and research assistant.  How good of a researcher he is is questionable, since he willingly signed on with people like Sykes and Fraley.

Due to the secret nature of John Doe investigations, we cannot know if Sykes, Fraley or White Wisconsin would be part of the investigation going on or if it is part of a different investigation.  Regardless of which investigation they are under, or if they aren't under investigation yet, it is worthwhile to remember that they are nothing more than the sockpuppets for the right wing front groups and anything they say or write should be taken for nothing more than propaganda.

Wiggy Wonders What To Do With Himself

By Jeff Simpson

Once again, it is time to check in with the Bizarro Blogger on the Right.  Jimmy Wigderson, the person the racist extremist Charlie Sykes willed White Wisconsin too, when he decided to leave his extremist hate filled ways behind and pretend that he had no hand in the rise of the white trash racism that has taken over our country. 

Wiggy, in the wake of the GOP finally(after being re-elected 9 times) figuring out that Iowa Rep. Steve King is a raving, lunatic racist. 

There is a line, one that far-right politicians know they must not cross.
Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, once described undocumented Mexican immigrants as drug mules and likened them to dogs. He supported the end of birthright citizenship and has repeatedly lamented the declining white birth rate. He praised the books and amplified the tweets of neo-Nazis. All along the way, King got the endorsement of Iowa voters in his district, who returned him to Congress every two years since 2003. He received occasional criticism from Republicans insistent that King’s ideas were not their own, while some Democrats said his public comments revealed a bigoted streak, an affinity for white nationalists and an eagerness to make America a less equal place.

All of his previous actions withstanding, it took one simple question by King to pull the curtain back:

 Why was this one moment in the political life of King too much, too far, too outrageous? King’s comment — “White nationalist, white supremacist, Western civilization — how did that language become offensive?” he told The New York Times — was lacking in all plausible deniability and nuance, devoid of the high and low pitch tones calibrated for certain ears, experts say. It was an endorsement of white supremacy in the form of a rhetorical question. And it came at a time when King’s Republican Party is struggling with its political prospects.“King is not alone in his ideas, not his ideas on immigration, not his ideas about policy,” said Nell Irvin Painter, professor of history at Princeton University and author of “The History of White People.” “But, he is a fairly unusual character, today, in how obvious he is with his racism. The president operates on the side of euphemism, just this side of euphemism, whereas Steve King has used the actual language of white supremacy, the actual words with an endorsement.”

Now to the irony of the situation, apparently Wiggy had a "meeting" planning the "future" of White Wisconsin.   In layman's terms. the Bradley folks told them they cant be paying them to write such BS and get their ass kicked in elections like just happened.   Wingnut welfare only goes so far. 

The question that came out from these meetings was this:

  An easy question should be, what do we do about the racists in our midst? 

As you heard here first in September, no one is more of a racist than Mr. White Wisconsin himself - James Wigderson.  He who called all of the student athletes in the Milwaukee Public School System "little convicts" is asking what should be done with racists in their midst.   

As we have also pointed out, if you could sell the irony that Wisconsin Republicans put out on a daily basis we could actually afford to pay Foxconn what Walker promised them. 

In the meantime, a quick answer to Wiggy's burning question is simple. 

Get rid of the racist editor of Right Wisconsin and put it in the hands of someone who is logical, intelligent and open minded(good luck finding someone).   Then you can have some credibility when talking about the Steve King's of the world. 

In Honor Of His Retirement, Charlie Sykes' Top Five

After 23 years of blowing dog whistles, smearing liberals and bullying Republicans that don't toe the line, Charlie Sykes, the Milwaukee-based radio squawker, is finally hanging up his headphones and turning off his microphone. Monday was Sykes' last day on WTMJ-AM.

Ever since then, the right wingers have been gushing about Sykes, ranging from the maudlin to the nauseous. Even the lunatic fringe had to say something nice about him, even though many of them are still pissed because of his #NeverTrump theatrics. Things went so far as having Scott Walker declare Tuesday to have been Charlie Sykes Day in Wisconsin.

As much as Sykes would surely like not to remember these things, the following are the five things that Sykes would rather not have people focus on as that they encapsulate who Sykes really is.

5) Charlie Sykes meets John Doe

Sykes was neck deep in the illegal politicking that Walker used to propel himself into the governor's seat and then onto the national scene as a presidential wannabe. The emails released from the investigation show Sykes receiving numerous emails from Walker's staff - both his campaign staff and his government staff - feeding him the talking points that they wanted Sykes to run with.

Things go the point where Sykes was about to be subpoenaed to testify about his level involvement in the corruption that has taken over the state.

4) Sykes in bed with dark money groups

For now, let's ignore the fact that Sykes' third wife (more on that later) is the director of communications for the extreme right wing Bradley Foundation and he has had a long and incestuous relationship with them. After all, this is not even his most egregious example of being in bed with the dark money groups.

More outrageous is the menage a trois between Sykes, the Wisconsin Club for Growth and his former employer, Journal Broadcasting to give birth to White Wisconsin, er, Right Wisconsin, their deformed and depraved love child:

But in all the reporting so far, what has not been touched are the 800 pound squawking gorillas in the room - Journal Communications, Charlie Sykes and White Right Wisconsin.

White Wisconsin is the result of the unchecked collaboration and collusion between the dark money groups, the corporate media and WISGOP. It is a website that is hosted by Journal Broadcast Group and sponsored by the Wisconsin Club for Growth and "powered" by Charlie Sykes. It offers a free platform for politicians, political operatives and propagandists to spew their vitriol in an effort to sway low information voters into voting against their own best interest.

To add to it, Journal Broadcast Group also allows Sykes to use the airwaves of WTMJ-AM to continue to spew their propaganda, continue the lies and most significantly, give politicians like Scott Walker free air time to do their campaigning.

Let me re-emphasize this.

White Wisconsin is an aggregate website paid for by Wisconsin Club for Growth, a Koch Brothers front group. The website is hosted by Journal Broadcast Group, which includes WTMJ-AM, the home of Charlie Sykes, who is the "power" behind the website. The goal of the website is to promote the Teapublican agenda. And the most ironic part is that the sheeple that actually believe their noise has to pay for it. Presumably, the bulk of this money is going right back to the Koch group to continue their illegal collaborations with political campaigns.

3) Liz Woodhouse

About ten years ago, Sykes introduced a new guest to his show, a woman named "Liz Woodhouse." Sykes said that she wasn't a political operative or anything like that. He described as just a very intelligent and insightful woman who has important things to say.

Later, it was revealed that Liz Woodhouse was a pseudonym for Janet Riorden, who he described as a local chanteuse. He said that he didn't want to reveal her real name out of fear that it would affect her professional life, which in hindsight is highly ironic.

It turns out that Riorden is really the director of communications for the Bradley Foundation. But Sykes and Riorden have an even closer relationship than that. Sykes cheated on his second wife, Justice Diane Sykes, with Riorden. This all came to light when he and Riorden got busted shooting off fireworks in a park after closing time.

After Riorden broke up his happy family, she and Sykes got married.

2) Sykes vs Miranda's rights

More than ten years ago, Sykes penned a column that ran in the Spanish Journal in which he claimed that Robert Miranda had been "one of the organizers of what became a violent shout-down, during which coins, hard candy and ice cubes were thrown at [conservative radio host Mark Belling] during a Pro-America rally at [the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee]."

Sykes' source for this claim was an email he got from "a listener." Sykes claims that when he found out the allegations were utterly false, he scrubbed the post. However, Miranda sued Sykes and his former employer for libel. Just before the hearing was about to start, Journal Broadcasting settled out of court, agreeing to pay a $5,000 scholarship to a student in Milwaukee's South Division High School who wanted to study who wanted to study journalism.

Sadly, instead of apologizing, Sykes tried to play the victim card, claiming it was all an eeeeeeeevvvvvvvvvviiiiiiiiil liberal scheme to stifle conservative voices.

Ironically, Sykes also doesn't like to admit that he almost lost his job. The only reason he was allowed to stay on the air was because of the Sykes' union. I still don't understand why Sykes has spent so much time to help in the Republicans' efforts to bust the unions despite one saving his worthless hide.

1) "My evidence...absolutely none."

Like most right wing squawking heads, Sykes is more than willing and able to twist, screw, distort and spin any story to fit their agenda. If that can't be done, he'll gladly conflate it and/or confabulate it. And if that still doesn't work, he'll be more than happy to just make shit up.

In 2010, Sykes accused then Governor Jim Doyle of corruption, claiming that Doyle was using a trip to watch the Badgers play in the Rose Bowl for his political friends and campaign donors. PoliticFact decided to check out the claim and found Sykes' pants to be on fire.

Sykes' response to the reporter who had asked what he based his allegations on was absolutely breathtaking in its arrogance and revealed Sykes' true character:

And Sykes, like his counterpart Mark Belling did awhile back, cheerfully admits he made it up, as though that is perfectly OK:

"My ‘evidence’? Absolutely none."

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

Many on the left are celebrating that Sykes is now off the air. I am not.

Sykes was able to leave on his own terms instead of being forced out or shamed into it. Furthermore, he's not done polluting the airwaves with his crap. He has a paid gig as a returning guest at MSNBC.

Lastly, there has been rumors that Sykes is planning on running for public office, including possibly a federal seat. The potential of this alone is cause enough not to celebrate, not quite yet anyway.

Racial Unrest In Milwaukee Follows Police Shooting

Photo: Calvin Mattheis, AP 

On Saturday afternoon, a Milwaukee police officer shot and killed a young black man. Another young black man was arrested without being harmed.

As of the time of this writing, it is not clear why the officers stopped the two men. Initial reports said that they were suspects in a carjacking. Later, it was because of "suspicious activity." Even the police spokesman didn't know why they were stopped.

It was also reported that the dead young black man was armed with a semi-automatic handgun that held 23 rounds. Again, there is some confusion on whether the man had even pointed his gun or shot at the officer. All the police are saying is he didn't drop his weapon.

Saturday night, there was a protest at the scene of the shooting that turned violent. A couple of cars were set on fire as were some businesses:

After an hours-long confrontation with officers, police reported at 10:15 p.m. that a gas station at N. Sherman Blvd. and W. Burleigh St. was set on fire. Police said firefighters could not for a time get close to the blaze because of gunshots.

Later, fires were started at businesses — including a BMO Harris Bank branch, a beauty supply company and O'Reilly Auto Parts stores — near N. 35th and W. Burleigh streets, a grim and emphatic Mayor Tom Barrett said. He spoke at a midnight news conference at the District 3 police station at N. 49th St. and W. Lisbon Ave.

Mayor Tom Barrett blames social media for people congregating.

The right wing pundits and bloggers just threw up their traditional race bating and bemoaning of the loss of property while dismissing the value of human life.

Today, after the unrest was calm and community and religious leaders started bringing in volunteers to clean up the area, Faux Newz favorite, Sheriff David "Uncle Ruckus:" Clarke ignored that it is out of his jurisdiction and called for the National Guard to come in.

The most mature and intelligent response came from another young black man, newly elected Alderman Khalif Rhainey:

Rainey, who represents the area where the man was shot by the officer and the disturbance occurred, was particularly pointed. He said Sherman Park had become “a powder keg” this summer, and ended his remarks by implying that downtown could be the site of disturbances if the issues facing African-Americans here not addressed.

“This entire community has sat back and witnessed how Milwaukee, Wis., has become the worst place to live for African-Americans in the entire country,” Rainey said. “Now this is a warning cry. Where do we go from here? Where do we go as a community from here?

“Do we continue – continue with the inequities, the injustice, the unemployment, the under-education, that creates these byproducts that we see this evening? … The black people of Milwaukee are tired. They’re tired of living under this oppression. This is their existence. This is their life. This is the life of their children.

“Now what has happened tonight may have not been right; I’m not justifying that. But no one can deny the fact that there’s problems, racial problems, here in Milwaukee, Wis., that have to be closely, not examined, but rectified. Rectify this immediately. Because if you don’t, this vision of downtown, all of that, you’re one day away. You’re one day away.”

Sadly, Rainey is absolutely correct. Wisconsin has been found to be the worst state in the nation for Black People:

Based on our index, Wisconsin is the worst state for black Americans. Typical black Wisconsin households made roughly half the white median household income, a wider income gap than in the majority of states. Wisconsin’s black residents were also far less likely than white residents to have health insurance, with a gap of more than 30 percentage points. Black Americans in Wisconsin are at a much greater risk of death than their white peers as well, which could be due in part to poor health coverage. There were 980 deaths per 100,000 people among Wisconsin’s black population — one of the highest rates nationwide. This figure represents 288 more deaths than the comparable rate for white residents, nearly the largest gap reviewed. Black Wisconsin residents were also nearly 10 times more likely than white residents to go to prison, nearly the largest gap. Black children in Wisconsin had worse educational outcomes than both their white classmates and their black peers in other states. Milwaukee led the nation of most racially-segregated U.S. cities, which may actually make the problem in Wisconsin more a problem for Milwaukee, where the vast majority of the state’s black population lives.

Wisconsin does have the highest rate of incarceration for blacks and Milwaukee has been found to be the most segregated city.

Even today, knowing that the race problems are real and immediate, our elected leaders only keep adding fuel to the fire. Mayor Tom Barrett is more worried about investing in downtown Milwaukee, especially his precious streetcar, than in the black communities where help is really needed. Milwaukee County Emperor Chris Abele, the plutocrat that he is, has given more than $100 million to the billionaire owners of the Milwaukee Bucks to build an arena and their own plaza.

As Rainey said, unless there is real change, there won't be any change. He wasn't even alive in 1967 and even I was just a baby still, but the community hasn't - or shouldn't have - forgotten the riots of 1967.

White Wisconsin Fails Again

 

By Jeff Simpson

This year, after being exposed on a national basis to be the fraud that he is, the right's Golden Boy, paul ryan(R-Wall St.) has two challengers.  

Besides Rob Zerban, Amar Kaleka also announced his intentions to challenge Pink Slip Paulie. 

Democrat Amar Kaleka, whose father was killed in last year’s suburban Milwaukee Sikh temple massacre, announced on Monday that he will try to unseat GOP Rep. Paul Ryan in 2014.

Kaleka, a documentary film maker, told the Associated Press that he would formally launch his campaign against Ryan, House Budget Committee chairman and 2012 GOP vice presidential nominee, in November.

“There’s a fever in the nation, and specifically in this district, for our leaders to stop playing politics and do their jobs,” he said. “All I want to do is bring democracy — a government of, for and by the people — back to America.”

Kaleka’s father, Satwant Singh Kaleka, was one of five people killed when a white supremacist opened fire at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin in August 2012.

Kaleka, is everything that Charlie Sykes and his loyal followers fear(minority, non-Christian, Democrat, who works in Hollywood), so the attacks started immediately.   

This from Collin Roth:  

Amardeep Kaleka, the much-heralded Democratic challenger to Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI-01), is an alien conspiracy theorist and 9/11 truther

This from Jimmy Wigderson(@jwigderson): 

Paul Ryan Democratic Challenger an Alien Conspiracy Theorist, 9/11 Truther http://t.co/fKHNJ1qRSR Now let's go ask @Wisdems what they think.
— james wigderson (@jwigderson) October 31, 2013

When one of the RWNJ jumps on the protect paul bandwagon they all do.    As Kevin Binvesie weighs in, with wet dreams of how to smear Kaleka already:

(Wow, the “he’s a wack-job” direct mail nearly writes itself.  How does a pic­ture of this guy look next to the Hale Bop Comet Cult leader?)

Kaleka's actual views on Alien life?

 Kaleka founded Neverending Light, the studio that produced Sirius. He couldn't be reached for comment in time for publication, but he told the Capital Times, "I don't think that any knowledgeable human would say that extraterrestrials don't exist.

Let's "politifact" that statement, by asking the coolest man on the planet:

Yes.....White Wisconsin fails again.  

I  look forward to their next breaking investigation, tieing Robert Iger to the strange happenings on Witch Mountain!  

PS:  If my friends at White Wisconsin want to look into a politician with a crazy theory - check out this archaic roadmap!  

Charlie Sykes' White Wisconsin

Image courtesy of
One Wisconsin Now

As I just wrote yesterday, Charlie Sykes and Wisconsin Club for Growth have joined forces to see how many fools they can part from their money. It is officially behind a paywall now, but if you know the code, and if you're a glutton for punishment, you can still check it out for a week for free.*

In an email from Sykes, he had this big spiel touting the site:

This is the grand opening of RightWisconsin, our new digital community. Our team has created a new distribution channel for conservative ideas and a new forum for you. Unlike my radio show, we don't sign off. Unlike my TV show, Sunday Insight, we don't have a time slot.

The conversation continues, on demand, when you want. We're here 24/7, helping rise above the mainstream media filter and providing a one-stop shop for conservatives who care about Wisconsin--which as you know, continues to be the center of the Political Universe.

Our Perspectives page is home to exclusive columns from prominent conservatives as well as new voices which you need to hear.

Daily Takes is our mega blog, which will update throughout the day with new items from our cadre of contributors.

And, I think you're going to love The Feed. It's our look at the conservative social media stream, packaged just for you. Scroll through it. Just like RightWisconsin's potential, that feature is endless.

We continue to bring you the Key Reads each day. We serve up the best takes from around the web and we'll ask you a different polling question each day.

This is your site. This is your community. Welcome.

Check us out, kick the tires and let us know what you think.

Let's roll...

-Charlie Sykes

Yada, yada, yada. Like I said, they're just aggregating free stuff and hoping people will be stupid enough to pay them for it.

And to show how uncreative these squawkers are, "Daily Takes" is the name of Brian Fraley's old blog. Fraley, who is the master aggregator for this ventrue, couldn't even come up with something original.

But there is already problems in paradise.

After all the time and money that they spent promoting "Right Wisconsin," they've really should have been promoting the real name of the blog, "White Wisconsin."

At least half a dozen local, black, conservative authors, including Wonder Woma - who had stood up to Glenn Grothman's attack on Kwanzaa - offered to submit contributions to the web site. Each and everyone was turned down.

When confronted on the monochromatic nature of his site, Sykes said that they would have "one of the country's most provocative black conservatives. Stay turned."

Undoubtedly, that "provocative black conservative" is none other than James T. Harris, who is best known for making an ass out of himself during the Obama - McCain race four years ago.

While Sykes is no stranger to race baiting, he is also very conscious of the fact that some of his main contributors includes Brian Sikma and the other racists at Media Trackkkers. If Sykes features more than a token black, regardless of how conservative they are, he might lose his Teapublican credentials.

After all, in the world of Sykes and company, it's not just enough to be a conservative, you have to be the white right kind of conservative.

But if Sykes keeps on this way, he might be getting himself in for more than he bargained.  This could get fun.

*If you're really interested, the pass word is "founder."

Walkergate 2: The Sons Of Doe Ride Again

After the Walkergate investigations ended with the conviction of six of Scott Walkers aides and supporters, may people thought that that was it.

But in October, news broke that there was another John Doe, or to be more accurate, five more John Doe probes, being conducted.  Precious little was known about these newly discovered investigations.  What we did know was that the investigations involved possible illegal collaboration between the Koch Brothers - Bradley Foundation-supported front groups such as the Wisconsin Club for Growth and Americans for Prosperity and the political campaigns of at least one of the recalled Republicans.  

Trying to get a grasp of what was going on was greatly hindered by the fact that the possibilities were so vast and the network of these front groups and the politicians were so immense, it was hard to keep it all straight.  Another issue was that the credibility of the sources of information was dubious at best.  Unlike Walkergate, these investigations started to leak like a sieve.  Sadly, the leaks were all right wing operatives, some who were claiming to be the subjects of the investigations.  To complicate things further, they were leaking to the right wing front groups and propagandists, adding to the doubt.

Fortunately for us, Lisa Kaiser of the Shepherd Express was digging into it already.  Kaiser was the first to point to some of the central people/groups that were part of the investigation.  She pointed out that Eric O'Keefe, who has claimed to be one of the subjects of the investigation, was the head of Wisconsin Club for Growth and has ties to the Sam Adams Alliance, which in turn funds the Franklin Center and by extension, Wisconsin Reporter.

Kaiser also pointed out the enmeshment of R.J. Johnson, who was a consultant to Scott Walker's campaign as well as involved with Wisconsin Club for Growth.  Johnson was one of the people regularly copied into the emails that were flying between Walker's campaign and his county staff.

Kaiser went on to take a closer look at the front groups and their levels of enmeshment with each other. She was also able to confirm that the Koch Brothers were indeed funneling dark money into Wisconsin to influence the  recall elections.

The right wingers threw everything they could at the Does to at least impede, if not completely stop, the investigations. They ran a damage control barrage on squawk radio and through their various propagandists.  They also hired some very expensive attorneys to challenge the dot on every "i" and the cross on every "t."

A little less than a month ago, retired Appeals Court Judge Gregory Peterson ruled against the Does.  In his ruling, Peterson found that the prosecutors did not provide sufficient cause to believe that a crime was committed. As a result, he squashed the subpoenas that had been issued to, y'know, help investigate if a crime was committed.

The right wing was ecstatic.  Charlie Sykes and his White Wisconsin went on for days and days, claiming that this was some sort of victory for Freedom of Speech.  We heard how this was all some sort of political witch hunt aimed at Republicans.  They even went so far as to try to have White Wisconsin and former ALEC operative Brian Fraley act the martyr because - insert dramatic music here - a reporter asked him a question!

I found all of their antics to be particularly irritating, but especially their painting of themselves as martyrs.  These are the same schmucks that would go after the likes of Professor William Cronon for daring to expose the workings of ALEC.  They also went after me for daring to report the truth about Scott Walker.  Yet when they break the law, they think they should somehow be exempt?

Even though their antics were annoying, I held my tongue, knowing that that when it comes to these types of things, there's more.  There's always more.

On Thursday, the "more" came out.

Among the legal flailings of the right wing martyrs was that it was illegal to have a special prosecutor to run a John Doe investigation and that it was illegal for said special prosecutor and John Doe judge to run investigations in several counties at once.

Three appellate court judges ruled against most of these motions, finding that there were actually five different investigations going on even though they shared some commonality.  They also found that the special prosecutor took away the concerns of politics being the motivation for the investigation ans well as helped streamline the operations for everyone involved.

But the court also ordered that some of the court documents should be unsealed.  These documents include:

• The motion to stay the investigation,
• A memo to support their petition to stay the investigation,
• The response of the John Doe judges to the petition, and 
• The response from the special prosecutor to the petition.

Unfortunately, the unsealed documents don't reveal any more specifics about who is being investigated or what they might have supposedly done except for ""suggested criminal campaign finance violations may have been committed by residents of Columbia, Dane, Dodge and Iowa counties."

But some of the unsealed documents do reveal that Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm asked Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen a second time to get involved in the investigation.  Van Hollen again denied this request, claiming that his office could not act with impartiality regarding the case.  And this was long before his office got tapped to represent the judges that they right wingers were suing in their efforts to impede justice.

Keep in mind that Van Hollen often was involved with various political campaigns.  It should make one wonder if what he knew of the Son of Doe investigations led to his decision to not seek reelection.  The question would be because he was part of the shenanigans or because he wants the job of someone who was involved with the shenanigans.

There are a couple of other tidbits that are worth keeping in mind.

One is that Van Hollen tried to dump the investigations onto the Government Accountability Board even though they do not have the authority to conduct criminal investigations, much less prosecute anyone.  With all the attacks on the GAB by the Republicans and their efforts to make it a more political entity, I wonder how much these investigations played into their motivation for doing so.  I think it's not unreasonable to question if they were trying to rig the system.  It would, after all, fit perfectly into their modus operandi.

The other thing to keep in mind is that two of the DA's requesting the John Doe proceedings and the use of a special prosecutor are Republicans.  This is in no way a political witch hunt or an attack on anyone's Freedom of Speech as the Republicans and their propagandists are trying to portray it to be.  

Rather, this is a legitimate investigation into possible crimes against our democracy. 

White Wisconsin - Now Even Whiter!

By Jeff Simpson

In Charlottsville, VA, there was a huge rally of white supremacists, Nazis, and random Republicans who showed up with tiki torches to fight mosquitoes and the taking down of a statue of the Confederate traitor General Robert E Lee.

In Lexington, KY, the mayor said that after the tragedy in VA, all Confederate statues would be coming down.

In North Carolina, protesters pulled down a statue of a Confederate Soldier.

Seeing a pattern here?

Finally, Americans are waking up to the fact that the Civil War was not nostalgic, but a huge black eye on our History.  The Civil War was a few states were AntiAmerican traitors who attacked America from within.   in the four years of the Civil War, 620,000 Americans were killed.  All so some rich white people would be allowed to keep slaves and get free labor.  

However, unsurprisingly, RightWisconsin, now run by Jamie Wigderson, looks at the Confederate Statues coming down as an opportunity to rid our history of Progressives.

It’s time for the statue of Robert La Follette at the National Statuary Hall Collection in the U.S. Capitol to come down. While we’re at it, let’s remove the bust of La Follette from the Capitol in Madison as well. There will be protests. But let’s face it, the Progressive Era is over. Thank God.
Wisconsin is now a red state, won fairly by former Governor Tommy Thompson (three times), Governor Scott Walker (three times) and President Donald Trump*. We re-elected a conservative senator in a presidential year, Ron Johnson, when every pundit said it couldn’t be done. The majority of our representation to Congress is conservative. Conservatives control the state Assembly and the state Senate with record numbers, and conservatives even control the state Supreme Court 5-2.

* I guess the self proclaimed "never Trumper" is now "all Trump all the time".

Most people see that it is time we stop fantasizing the Confederacy and realize it is a racist, black mark  and tragic time in America and stop honoring the traitors of the South.

Not Right Wisconsin, they feel since some "snowflakes" want some statues removed, that now would be a good time to rid ourselves of Wisconsin's Progressive past.

Since this is a borderline racist column, full of dog whistles, it is only fitting that they recommend that Judge William Rehnquisr and Tommy Thompson be the statues that we replace Fighting Bob with.

Rehnquist's legacy is one of suppressing African American and Latino voters, so of course he would be a favorite of Jimmy Wigdersons.

Wiggy also mentioned Tommy Thompson as a second statue for WISGOP to put up.  Since he was one of the most vociferous voices for the individual mandate in Obamacare, I could live with that.

However, since it is Jimmy Wigderson we are discussing, let me nominate two people for statues who better embody the true spirit of the WISGOP:

1. Has to be Joe Mccarthy.  No one embodies WISGOP values of paranoia, hatred, BS and outright lies than McCarthy.

2.  I would recommend, someone Wiggy has mentioned as the perfect rep = Wild Bill Kramer!

 

Yes we did not think it possible, but "White Wisconsin ---- Now even Whiter!!!"

The Patriotism of White Wisconsin

Every day, Milwaukee area radio squawker Charlie Sykes declares the White Wisconsin winner and loser of the day.  I'm pretty sure the gentle reader can accurately surmise what kind of people the Mouth of the Louts might deem to be a winner or loser.

Image courtesy of One Wisconsin Now

On Wednesday, the 12th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, Sykes declared the winner of the day to be "the American resolve."  He invoked all of the jingoistic phrases that the conservatives love to spout on this date, regardless of how hypocritical they sound.  For example, he praised the brave first responders who risked and sacrificed their lives that day, even though he refers to them as union thugs the other 364 days of the year.

What is really odd about this super-patriotism is that just the other day, his White Wisconsin winner of the day communist Russian President Vladimir Putin.  He didn't chose Putin for offering a viable way to avoid military strikes against Syria.  Rather, his reason for picking Putin was because Sykes claimed that Putin "embarrassed" President Barack Obama on a national stage.

Think about that for a minute.

One day, he's crowing about how our president was tweaked by the communist Russian president, the next he is praising how the country had pulled together to stand as one against the terrorists.  It's amazing that his head doesn't explode from the cognitive dissonance he must experience on a daily basis.

And as one might presume, not once did Sykes even acknowledge that it was President Obama who was finally able to find Osama bin Ladin, the mastermind behind the terrorist attacks twelve years ago, and bring him to the ultimate justice.

Is it any wonder why WTMJ-AM (commonly referred to by their true call letters WGOP) isn't even in the top three stations?  If it wasn't for the fact that WTMJ carries the Packers, the Badgers, the Brewers and the Bucks games, they probably wouldn't be in the top ten.

Because You Cannot Have Too Many Right Wing Propaganda Groups

Move over, MacIver!

Make tracks, Media Trackers!

See ya, Charlie Sykes! Take your White Wisconsin and just start walking!

There is a new powerhouse among the right wing propagandists!

This group is call "Wisconsin Election Watch."

Upon visiting the site, one can immediately tell it is anything but an objective or honest news service, with such stories as "Those big bad unions want to take their rights back."

It even gets better when you look at the staff of this group.

The "brains" behind this group is Kyle Maichle.  Maichle's bio from the group reads:

Kyle Maichle is the Editor and Project Manager of Wisconsin Election Watch. Kyle brings considerable political, research, and writing experience. After serving as an intern and College Programs Coordinator for AFP-Wisconsin, he first started his professional career with the Lucy Burns Institute in 2008 working as a Content Editor for Judgepedia and Ballotpedia. In the same year, Kyle was transferred to the Chicago-based Sam Adams Alliance working as the full-time writer for Judgepedia. While with Sam Adams, he wrote content centered towards federal judges and covered the 2009 Wisconsin State Supreme Court election. In July 2009, Kyle was transferred back to the Lucy Burns Institute becoming their Technical Researcher and Writer for Ballotpedia. During his second tenure with the Lucy Burns Institute, he assisted Ballotpedia’s reporting team in producing content regarding local and statewide elections along with writing on state legislatures and issues not covered by traditional media. In 2011, Kyle became a full-time consultant for various campaigns and organizations for over two years.

A native of Appleton, Kyle is a 2005 graduate of Madison Area Technical College with a Associate’s Degree in Liberal Studies along with a 2008 graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s School of Human Ecology in Consumer Science. Outside of work, Kyle is an avid runner along with being a fan of the Packers, Badgers, Brewers, and the the Stanley Cup Champion Chicago Blackhawks.

The way that he was bounced around in such a short time, it's pretty obvious that Maichle doesn't play well with others and no one wanted him except the Kochs, who appreciate cheap labor.  I'm just a little surprised he didn't list his man-love videos for Scott Walker or being named AFP's Blogger of the Year.

To further demonstrate that this group is not to be taken with any degree of seriousness is Maichle's LinkedIn profile showing that even while he is the editor and project manager of this front group, he is still running his own political consultation and strategy group.  They even cite Maichle's strategy group for photos and such.

Adding to the ridiculousness of it all is when one looks at their top reporter, Kevin "Comics Book Guy" Binversie.  His bio for the site also shows that he seems to have a hard time keeping a job for long:

Kevin Binversie is a Freelance Writer for Wisconsin Election Watch. A native of Calumet County, Binversie has been heavily involved in Wisconsin’s political scene. Before joining Wisconsin Election Watch, he was a resident commentator for Wisconsin Reporter. Also, Binversie has worked in research and field capacities for US Senate and gubernatorial campaigns. In addition, he has also held positions with the Heritage Foundation and the US Department of Housing and Urban Development. Kevin is a 2002 graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire.

Some of Binversie's greatest hits, when he wasn't working hard to become the Koch Brother's cabana boy, was joking about death wishes for elected officials, issuing homophobic slurs and admitting he is prone to peer pressure by twenty-somethings.  And yes, he is available, ladies!

But these guys are serious.  They even have their own Facebook page.

It should be noted that there is apparently one thing they are not willing to report on - who's funding their propagandizing.  I wonder who could it be - the Kochs?  The Bradley Foundation?  Sam Adams Alliance? All three?

I would end with a request that the gentle reader keep their eyes open.  If you see anything cited in the media that is based on this group, call them out on it.  And then let us know so we can call them out on it too.

Dallet Will NOT Be On My Ballot

By Jeff Simpson

This Tuesday is Spring Primary election day. 

In most places, the only race on the ballot will be for the Wisconsin Supreme Court.  There are three names on the Ballot and two will advance. 

The first name is Michael Screnock.  The twice arrested Screnock is running on a platform of being completely impartial, yet has been endorsed by the NRA(the day before the latest school massacre), Scott Walker and (far) Right Wisconsin.   So we know he has no intention of actually being impartial.   

The next name on the Ballot is Rebecca Dallet, who is running on the same platform of impartiality.   She also has as much impartiality credit as Screnock.   Dallet has endorsed and been endorsed(and funded) by Chief Justice Pat Roggensack who is about as hyper partisan as there is sitting on a Court in America. 

Dallet had her crew out attacking, but strangely, the only attacks she has levied have been against her opponent Tim Burns(more info on Mr. Burns shortly).   She has had very little to say about Screnock, apparently not wanting to upset the far right wing of Wisconsin, (IE Roggensack) in case she ends up on the court or against Mr. Burns.   

She has had her crew attack even some not so strong supporters of Tim Burns.    Here are a few examples:

Nation Consulting and high priced consultant Sachin Chheda(who she has paid thousands to):

Sachin K Chheda: Andy O----- yeah, asshole. She gave money in 2014 because she knew that in 2018 Dallet would run against Mike Screnock, who was then Scott Walker’s lawyer, and spend the entire campaign criticizing the Roggensack court. Jesus you people are something else.

Apparently, calling people assholes is a new Consulting strategy that helps bring people together. 

Jessica LoveJoy, employee of a California Consulting firm and Dallet's Campaign Manager responding to my question of why she attacks Tim Burns and not Mike Screnock:

Jessica Lovejoy Jeff Simpson we have absolutely called out Screnock. Are you on our email list? Do you follow the campaign on twitter? 

Re: Burns — it’s funny how a white straight man can spend nine months spewing lies to everyone about a his opponent — a woman candidate — by running negative ads on Facebook, calling her names, manipulating the press, and y’all so easily turn a blind eye... But the minute we put out a FACT proven by Politifact that he’s been misleading voters about his record and legal background you attack our campaign. Interesting how that works.

Apparently straight white males are now unable to have an opinion in politics(although they do vote).   I do agree that straight white males have caused some serious damage to our country (see Ryan, Paul) but so have straight white females and I do not discount all straight white females just because Pat Roggensack and Rebecca Bradley are horrible people. 

I can not bring myself to vote for someone with such poor judgement. 

The third candidate is Tim Burns.

Attorney Tim Burns is a graduate of the University of Missouri-Columbia Law School and is licensed in Wisconsin, Illinois, and Missouri. He is currently a partner at Perkins Coie law firm in Madison, where he specializes in insurance law. Burns also serves on the national board of the American Constitution Society and is former chair of the American Bar Association's committee on Fair and Impartial Courts. To learn more about Tim Burns, visit burnsforwisconsin.com.

I strongly endorse Tim Burns!  

As a progressive, and not a lawyer, I do not want to know what the courts will rule before they even hear the case.  We have that in Wisconsin right now, thanks to the far right extremist that rule the Supreme Court now. 

The Wisgop knows that anything they pass, no matter how many lower courts would rule against them, has an ace in the hole waiting for them at the Wisconsin Supreme Court.   

Tim Burns has let it be known that he has progressive values and will carry them to the court.   To me, that does not mean he will rule for team blue everytime.   Anyone who reads CogDis regularly knows that being a progressive means that you are not on team blue 100% of the time since they are and continually stray from progressive values. 

Tim Burns saying he is a progressive with progressive values, means that he will bring no preconceived notions to the court but that he will look at the law through a lens of compassion, and empathy and neutrality. 

That is something that is sorely missing and we as Wisconsinites, progressives, liberals and independents can add to the Supreme Court in Wisconsin and it starts on Tuesday. 

Please Vote for Tim Burns for Wisconsin Supreme Court!  

 

The New Wisconsin Culture

By Jeff Simpson

Dave Zweifel had a great piece in the CapTimes detailing the Wisconsin race to the bottom and how we are perceived nationwide.   

But that's what happens when the voters decide to turn state government completely over to a governor and a lapdog Legislature intent on dismantling decades of laws and programs that were long hailed as models for the rest of the nation.

States that are making it harder for citizens to vote? Wisconsin, once a model for getting high turnouts at election time, now ranks right up there with the worst. States that have made the biggest cutbacks in education aid for local school districts? Take a bow, Wisconsin. States that have the worst record in job creation over the past two years? Wisconsin is in 32nd place. States that have done the most to weaken environmental regulations? Again, Wisconsin can proclaim it's doing well in that race.

The ideologues have control and they're doing everything possible to take advantage of it, no matter the long-term damage it does to the state.

Then after browsing some blogs this morning, I came across this piece on DailyKos about the Wisconsin  3rd CD Democratic Convention.   I do not have time to attend these things but like to see what happens from the perspective of people not involved in the party.  One thing REALLY stood out to me(emphasis mine). 

Amy Sue Vruwink (70th AD, incumbent). My wife shadowed Amy Sue in 2012 as part of her Emerge Wisconsin training, so we know her. Rep. Vruwink got the shaft in the redistricting, the mother of all gerrymanders. Not only that, but we heard about how republican staffers go up to her tell her “You know, you’d make it so much easier on yourself if you just quit. You’re our top target.” Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Dis) asks Dems “how Amy Sue’s doing, knowing that she’s screwed”. Amy Sue is diminutive, so these guys think they can bully her. What Amy Sue lacks in height she makes up for in spirit.
I’m not one to normally use these words in print, but Robin Vos is a fucking asshole. Please contribute to Amy Sue Vruwink to help her win re-election.

What kind of state, fosters the culture where staffers feel they can openly bully and try and intimidate elected representatives of the opposite party?  Who would employ someone who did that?  That would be like the manager of the Wisconsin Badgers, going up to John Calipari and talking smack before the game.    How quickly before Bo Ryan would have that person on the first flight home never to step foot near his program again?   Now it is common practice in the republican controlled legislature!

Also, along the same vein, when you are the leader of the majority party, should you not have some kind of level of maturity that goes beyond a third grader?  When your politics are personal gain, pettiness and revenge, maybe you are in the wrong profession.   I do not get how sane people on the republican side can continue to condone such actions.    DO you think things will get better or worse by condoning these actions?  

For those who are unaware, this is Amy Sue Vruwink:


As a democratically elected representative does she deserve to come to work and perpetually get bullied and attacked by people from the other political party?   Is the politics of personal attacks the way to move our state forward?  Did they really redistrict our state with the intention to "screw" specific representatives?  

I guess when the leader of your party governs with this philosophy, this is what we should expect.

While it might play well in the land of hate radio and white Wisconsin it does not speak very well for our future!  

Right Wisconsin's Dog Whistle

By Jeff Simpson 

Right Wisconsin, the website powered by the "turned over a new leaf" Charlie Sykes, and also a landing spot for various other unemployable deplorables from the right, has forgotten to turn over a new leaf so they are still the white supremacist powered racist website they have always been,  

I have pointed out that Sykes, (Mr. I am not sure if I contributed to the divisive nature of politics these days or not), still has a section of his website where he points out the liberal "loser of the day".  
To have a liberal loser of the day section, it also means he has a "winner of the day" section usually reserved for people like Scott Walker and Paul Ryan.

However yesterday, they reserved the "winner of the day" for Colin Kaepernick for being listed on Time Magazines top 100 most influential people.

Congratulations to Colin Kaepernick, the one-time quarterback in the National Football League who made himself look foolish with his refusal to stand for the national anthem, inspiring so many other non-thinking copycats at all levels of the sport. Kaepernick was named one of Time Magazine's 100 most influential people. We haven't seen a clown this influential since Caruso played Pagliacci.
Kaepernick is so influential, he's influenced himself right into the unemployment line. Teams are afraid to even look at him because he's not worth the controversy, even though Kaepernick promises he's done protesting whatever it was that he was protesting.
We remember a bygone era when Time was even more influential than Kaepernick. This was not the way to regain that influence.

With the outright racism seeping through this post, you can really tell Wiggy has joined the website.   Let's take a look at some of the more blatant signs:

*   who made himself look foolish with his refusal to stand for the national anthem

Actually his protest was silent until a reporter noticed it and asked him about it.  That is when his protest caused unlimited faux outrage from our friends on the right.   The reason Colin was silently protesting:

"I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color," Kaepernick told NFL Media in an exclusive interview after the game. "To me, this is bigger than football and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way. There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder."

I guess if the folks at White Wisconsin think that black people in America are not oppressed, who are we to argue with them?  

*    inspiring so many other non-thinking copycats at all levels of the sport,

Colin Kaepernick did inspire such silent protests all over the country because there is massive racism and oppression all over the country.  With Wisconsin being the absolute worst state for African Americans, it is not the least bit surprising that the go to right wing blog in Wisconsin would not only not see it, but would ridicule those who live it!  

The blog that spent months attacking DA Chisholm for investigating illegal campaigning by the Governor, is calling others "non-thinking".  

*  Kaepernick is so influential, he's influenced himself right into the unemployment line. Teams are afraid to even look at him because he's not worth the controversy,

The reason Kaepernick has not signed yet is because he still considers himself a starting QB and the league considers him a backup.   No one has offered the money he thinks he is worth yet.   
When a political website rarely gets politics correct, I do not expect them to get sports correct.   Colin Kaepernick has done more to help his fellow Americans than anything anyone who is associated with Right Wisconsin has done combined!  

Just understand that when you go to Right Wisconsin you are not going to get a story steeped in facts or research but you will get a story that crosses the line of racism, misogyny, sexism and bigotry(you can really see James Wigdersons influence).  

But then, to be fair, that is what their audience wants!