No, Not the Muzzle

I think that there are really good local conservative bloggers. There are those who are not so good. And then, there are those whose content borders on the hysterical. One of these is Mary at Freedom Eden.

Her latest "masterpiece" is a look at Bill Cunningham, a Cinncinati-based radio show host, who has been running afoul of Media Matters, a self-professed media watchdog. Ms Freedom Eden claims that Media Matters is targeting Cunningham because of his continued use of the Barack Obama's middle name. Which, she writes, is ridiculous because Obama will need to use it when he is sworn in as President. And, she pants, this is just the beginning. She believes that Cunningham is the first of a “long list of conservative talkers to be deemed a 'purveyor of hate speech' by the Left. The effort is underway to silence conservative talk radio, to squelch free speech, to muzzle dissent.”

Look out hot dogs, apple pie and Chevrolet. Those darned leftists.

But really, dissent? She calls what Cunningham spews dissent? Mary must have missed the following examples of sewerage dished up from the septic tank that is Cunningham's mind.

From the October 28 broadcast of Clear Channel's The Big Show with Bill Cunningham:

“Imagine being 10 years old, being raised -- imagine being 10 years old in Jakarta, Indonesia, being raised as a Muslim, and your mother, Ann Dunham, hates you so much that she sends you to Honolulu to live with her mom and dad, so she can stay in Jakarta, Indonesia, and being raised -- being married to Barry Soetoro. And imagine at the age of 1 or 2 seeing your father for the last time. See, his father was a typical black father who, right after the birth, left the baby. That's what black fathers do. They simply leave.”

Wow. Barack's mother hated him and black fathers don't stick around after birth. I don't know about you, but that seems a bit of a sretch. Oh, and where's the dissent?

Or, how about this turd from the October 30 broadcast of The Big Show with Bill Cunningham:

“... because Obama wants to gas the Jews, like the PLO wants to gas the Jews, like the Nazis gassed the Jews.”

Cunningham was having a conversation with a fictional character, Randy Furman, when he uttered that classic piece of – what did Mary call it -- oh yeah, dissent. And on his November 3 broadcast of Clear Channel's The Big Show with Bill Cunningham:

"He goes out to his left-wing buddies in San Francisco and smears God, smears guns, smears everything great about this country. Then he comes to these rallies like bromides, like Adolf Hitler in 1933, and the faithful are shouting, 'Yes we can, yes we can.'”

What was that thing called Godwin's Law.

Anyway, my definition of what contitutes dissent differs markedly from Mary's, because I'm fairly certain my definition actually includes some differences of opinion. All I read of Cunningham was ginned up hate. Yes, hate. That's my opinion, my dissent.

But you know, what even more remarkable is nowhere in the pieces written at Media Matters covering this horse manure does anyone suggest that Cunningham should be muzzled. Why not? Well, here is how Media Matters itself describes its mission.

Media Matters for America is a Web-based, not-for-profit, 501(c)(3) progressive research and information center dedicated to comprehensively monitoring, analyzing, and correcting conservative misinformation in the U.S. Media.

Monitoring, analying and correcting conservative misinformation. Hmmm. I don't see any references to muzzling.

Launched in May 2004, Media Matters for America put in place, for the first time, the means to systematically monitor a cross section of print, broadcast, cable, radio, and Internet media outlets for conservative misinformation — news or commentary that is not accurate, reliable, or credible and that forwards the conservative agenda — every day, in real time.

Using the website http://www.mediamatters.org/ as the principal vehicle for disseminating research and information, Media Matters posts rapid-response items as well as longer research and analytic reports documenting conservative misinformation throughout the media. Additionally, Media Matters works daily to notify activists, journalists, pundits, and the general public about instances of misinformation, providing them with the resources to rebut false claims and to take direct action against offending media institutions.
Meida Matters posts rapid-response items documenting conservative misinformation. And, provides resources to rebut false claims and take direct action against offending institutions.

Oh, I see, it's the take direct action part that Mary doesn't like. But, how does that equate to muzzling? Well frankly, it doesn't.

You see, the issue now is that the conservative media no longer can get away with saying the frothingly inaccurate crap they've gotten away with and they don't like it. Having been able to frame discussions with inaccuracy, downright lies and race-baiting for years, the conservative media and their apologists see anyone highlighting their hate speech as attempts at muzzling. In the same way they call any attempt to reenact the Fairness Doctrine (btw: I'm against) as censorship when in fact no speech is being censored, the intent is merely to bring balance. But that's another post.

Some conservatives simply don't feel good about themselves unless they can spew hate recklessly or alternately play the victim game, which Mary buys into well.

Have a Peaceful Thanksgiving

Be thankful. I will be -- with family.

Blessings and safe travels to everyone in the SE blogosphere world. And as a gift, click the link for a preview of Wisdom, Andrew Zuckerman's new book. My Mom sent me the link. Thanks, Mom.

Another Victim of Hate Radio

Because that's what some conservatives are best at (the victim part). This was posted at Plaisted Writes:

Mike, you bitter devisive hate mongering liberal coward. The hate you and you cowardly liberals have shown Bush (personally) and all things conservative. This country is still solidly center-right. The only thing the nigger has done is assured that Republicans will regain control quicker. When Obamaramma takes current 6.5% unemployment numbers and turns them into 35%, by raising taxes and creating huge government welfatre programs, this country will lynch the nigger faster thana CC Sabathia fastball.

Another tragedy fostered by the divisiveness of hate radio.

I can't help but note that dad29, a local conservative blogger likes to refer to the President-Elect as Obamamamamama. He must be related to the person above. Or, he's a victim, too.

From Where He Sits Over There

I met Elliot about two years ago at one of the first blogger functions. It was held at Marquette University and had as panelists Charlie Sykes, Jessica McBride, Ed Garvey and some flack named Brain Fraley. Mike Mathias and I joined up with James Wigderson at the local Starbucks, exchanged pleasantries and talked behind Elliot's back for at least an hour.

No, we really didn't.

I met Elliot's alter ego later during one of the breaks. Interesting guy. I mentioned I had read his on-line first chapter of "The Abortionist" and thought it dark. I wrote my own -- needless to say an anti "The Abortionist" tale. Elliot thought it pretty good. Or, he was just being nice.

Seriously, Elliot is one of the friendlier bloggers in SE Wisconsin. He's a partisan guy but with sense of humor. And he's not so quick to tell you to go buy a mirror store like a certain blogger I won't name who owns an unlimited supply of whiteout.

So here you are, Elliot. I won't do this for everyone, but then hey, you're not just anyone to me.

*Breaks out into song.*

Open Season Enabled by Hate Radio

According to the New Yory Times, six Long Island teenagers have been charged with hate crimes in the death of a Hispanic man, Marcelo Lucero.

Mr. Lucero’s killing has brought to the fore a fierce debate about race relations in Patchogue, a comfortable village of 11,700 where Mr. Lucero lived and worked for most of the 16 years he had been in the United States.

Latinos make up a quarter of the population, according to the 2000 census, a figure that is growing, fanning what some residents describe as a deepening resentment toward illegal immigrants in general, and day laborers in particular.

And no doubt fanned by hate radio in all its guises and forms. As documented by Media Matters, hate radio has gone out of its way to enflame hatred toward not just Hispanics, but minorities in general.

G. Gordon Libby

On the June 5 broadcast of his radio show, G. Gordon Liddy asserted: "[T]he problem that I have is with people who come over here and instead of wanting to become Americans, you know, fly the American flag, learn English, and so forth, they want to fly the Mexican flag, they want to speak Spanish, you know, and other varieties of illegal alien." Liddy later added: "They want to reconquer America, they say."

Jim Quinn

On October 10, KSFO's Lee Rodgers repeated a variation of the claim that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) reported that it gave "5 million illegal aliens" subprime loans which have not been paid back. The same day, Quinn & Rose's Jim Quinn also claimed that "[f]ive million of these bad mortgages went to illegal aliens" without citing a source for the figure. But neither noted that HUD has reportedly stated that this statistic is false.

Michael Savage

We need to get our troops out of Iraq and put them on the streets of America to protect us from the scourge of illegal immigrants who are running rampant across America, killing our police for sport, raping, murdering like a scythe across America while the liberal psychos are telling us they come here to work." Savage added: "[Y]ou turn on the cable news, they're covering again a missing child. Not a missing country but a missing child. ... We hear about the rape of a woman, but not about the rape of the Statue of Liberty. The Statue of Liberty is crying, she's been raped and disheveled -- raped and disheveled by illegal aliens."

And regarding Muslims, Savage, said this:

"Why would a nation that is as evolved as America, and as liberal as America is socially, want to bring in throwbacks who are living in the 15th century?" He also asked: "What is the societal benefit of bringing in throwbacks, some of whom are no doubt terrorists, and some of whom are gonna produce children who will become terrorists?"

I have heard people repeat verbatim crap like this espoused by others hate squawkers as though it's truth from on high. It's this sort of language that sets people off and enables barbaric behavior like what occurred in New York.

Is there Something in the Water

The these two stories had me shaking my head today in wonder. The first involved the young child who was tortured and died before the age of two. At the funeral, a fight broke out -- at one point the brawl apparently came close to toppling the child's coffin.

Several people began to taunt Thomas [the chil'd father] because of his relationship to the foster parents. He clutched the funeral program in his fists, his eyes closed.

Glover [the child's mother] was assisted to the casket. Just as she reached it, the brawl began.

Who threw the first blow was unclear. Thomas was punched on the left side of his face. He was removed from the chapel and taken to a couch, the left side of his face severely swollen, a bloody gash beneath his left eye. Family surrounded the couch to protect him.

In the chapel, chairs were thrown aside and flower displays were knocked over. Several people grabbed the boy's casket to keep it from being flung down. Glover screamed.

As people cried out for calm, the fight spread to the funeral home lobby and into the street. The lectern with the visitor's book was knocked over. Someone reported seeing a gun, and stunned onlookers fled the building.

The other story, same day, had to do with a mother who apparently felt that giving her son a gun to go out and finish an altercation that had occurred earlier was the correct thing to do.

[Milwaukee Police Chief] Flynn said he did not know what sparked Tuesday night's altercation.

"Listen, we're dealing with immature young men who do dumb things," he said. "The only problem for us now is they do dumb things with semiautomatic handguns."

And a mother who is not terribly grown up either.

Hate Radio

Weep for the Children

I was in tears by the time I finished reading this article. The short life of this infant was a horror show gone bad. Everyday I care for my 22-month old daughter. I feed her. I cherish every sound and every movement she makes. I'm full of wonder as I see her grow and learn. I see unconditional love in my daughter's eyes and I am blessed.

And I mourn for this other child who probably still would have loved her aunt if given the chance. Such is the bond and the beauty of children. Such sadness.

A 24-year-old Milwaukee woman was charged today with killing her infant nephew and abusing her two-year-old niece while the children were in her foster care since June.

Officials at the Bureau of Milwaukee Child Welfare have vowed to review the case, which one homicide investigator likened to torture and called one of the worst infant abuse deaths he has seen.

"You have broken bones that aren't being medically tended to. You have burn marks that aren't being medically tended to," said Milwaukee police Lt. Alfonso Morales. "And I'm not talking for a day or two. I'm talking for weeks or months."

Crystal P. Keith is charged with first-degree reckless homicide and physical abuse of a child causing great bodily harm and is being held on $200,000 bail at the Milwaukee County Jail. Keith is married to the brother of the children's biological father. Her husband has not been charged in the case.

According to the complaint, Keith told police who responded to her home in the 3000 block of S. 12th St. on Monday that she repeatedly slapped Christopher L. Thomas in the face for not eating. She said she choked him, hung him upside down and pressed his head on the floor. At some point, the infant's eyes rolled back into his head and he began to vomit. He stopped breathing. She then stuck the handle of a hair brush down Christopher's throat, she said, in order to revive him.

The boy died the next day at Children's Hospital of Wisconsin. He suffered blunt force trauma to his head, had a broken right arm, bruises on his thighs, throat and neck, multiple scalp injuries and a lacerated tongue. Keith described to police a number of beatings she had given the child since he began crawling.

I took CPR. I don't recall that hand brush handles were part of any technique for reviving a victim.

"With the police department, medical examiner and other authorities, we are investigating this tragic incident," said Denise Revels Robinson, director of the Bureau of Milwaukee Child Welfare.

"When we learn all of the facts surrounding this situation, we will take all necessary and appropriate action," Robinson said.

I'm sure that's comforting to this little boy.

Porky Has a Friend

Ho ho ho. He's the gift that keeps on giving. That would be the newly elected clown prince of blogging, Fred Dooley of the hilariously named Real Deadbeat Debate Wisconsin blog.

Questioned as to his morals (again) because of his unwavering support for Peter DiGaudio, the threatmeister of SE Wisconsin, Dooley finds himslf, once again in a familiar role – defending his actions.

The funny thing is, no one asked him to offer a defense. But then, Fred's skin is so thin you could see his heart if he had one. For this, Fred is once again the recipient of the award named for him. Thanks Fred – don't stop being you, as though you could.

Indefensible

This is why Rick Esenberg, brilliant though he may be as a lawyer and writer, saddens me because he has become such an apologist for the indefensible – be it WMC, George Bush, Sarah Palin, the Iraq War or right-wing talk radio – namely Charlie Sykes and his caddy, Jeff Wagner. This paragraph written by Esenberg is a good example of his fall from grace.

I understand that Belling's schtick is outrage, but Sykes and Wagner are hardly breathing fire. We have embarrassments like G. Gordon Liddy and Michael Savage. The left has Randi Rhodes and Keith Olbermann.

Keith Olbermann?

I can understand that Esenberg doesn't like Olbermann. He doesn't back down from the fight. And he doesn't apologize. He also calls it as he sees it, regardless from the left or right. And, whereas most of the media personalities are too afraid to take on the GOP machine, Olbermann relishes the fight. I'll agree that his “Worst Person” series is not always the most mature, but it's hardly fire-breathing. Comparing him to Liddy and Savage? That's just nonsense.

The Brew City Brawler has already covered Sykes and his inane shenanigans. And Wagner is not worth the time. But neither is in Olbermann's league as far as providing serious commentary from the heart. This video by Olberman (below) says volumes about the man. He claims not to have had a vested interest in whether Proposition 8 passed or not. Yet, he defends those who want only what others already have, the right to marry.

I have a vested interest because I have a brother who is gay. He is the kindest person I know. His partner passed away about six months ago and while I don't ever remember hearing any talk about taking that next step in their relationship, I wonder if they would have if it had been legally available.



I've never heard Sykes or Wagner come close to this in eloquence. They're both second-tier squawkers who if they had hearts might actually have a heart. Esenberg defends their dreck, their lies. That's indefensible.

h/t Emily Mills at The Lost Albatross

Thoughts on Veteran's Day

I sent off an email to family members asking if they could make it Saturday for Abby's 8th birthday and was reminded that today was November 11th, Veteran's Day. It was cause for memories.

I remember staying with Nana at her home in Appleton shortly after Grandpa's death at the age of 82. It was September 1978 or so. Nana and I were foraging through some items when I found an old uniform. I asked Nana if this was Grandpa's. She said it was his WWI uniform and beckoned to me to try it on. It was a little tight, but it fit! I was 22 at the time and pretty skinny. It was cool to know that my Grandpa and I were about the same size back in our youth. (The picture on the left is of Grandpa in his uniform around 1930.)

I spent a lot of time at my grandparents as a child. My Dad was working hard to feed a growing family (it would become five eventually). We (usually Kelly and I) would often stay with Nana and Grandpa for a week or so at a time during the summer.

I didn't mind. I loved visiting. I enjoyed puttering in the backyard with Nana, picking raspberries, blueberries, apples, pears, dodging the bees, etc. The gathered fruits would later become the filling for pies; the aroma of these just-baked pies filling the house and wafting out the backdoor to the yard where I could be found building miniature cities with hand-smoothed expressways in the gravel driveway.

I remember evenings sitting on the floor in front of Grandpa's lap. He'd peel apples. It was a wondrous experience for the grandkids, watching Grandpa maintain one - long - continuous - peel. Then he'd present slices to each of us kids from the flat side of the paring blade.

I especially liked going with Grandpa to the driving range to practice hitting golfballs. He was an excellent golfer. He had seven hole-in-ones (I've had one, using an old iron of his) and he shot a 79 at Reid Municipal Park in Appleton at the age of 79. Pretty remarkable.

I'd also go out with Grandpa on the course. I was his caddy until my teen years. I had a blast with Grandpa's old buddies and on occasion was even allowed to hit a golfball.

Even when I was finally allowed to golf, Grandpa insisted I never keep score. Nonetheless, in my adult years it's been a goal of mine to break 80. I've hit 80 six times, but have never made it past. I once needed only to bogey the last hole do break 80. It's been a source of frustration. Grandpa must have known something.

Grandpa's service for our nation consisted of being drafted in September 1918. He trained in Alabama and was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant in December 1918. He never made it to Europe to actually fight in the war-to-end-all-wars and was discharged in in early 1919.

His only child, my Dad, enlisted in the Marines in January 1945 at the age of 17. He trained in the Carolinas and then transferred to California. In October 1945 he sailed from Washington; visiting Japan and the Philippines. He was discharged in 1947.

He later decided to joined the priesthood. Fortunately he changed his mind before his final vows; I'm thankful for obvious reasons.

Over the years I've tried in my own way to fill my Dad's shoes, though I've insisted I wasn't. We've clashed as Son and Dad often do. I'm sad to say that our relationship has not always been the best.

Recently, I sent an email to him asking he stop sending me any more of those thoroughly debunked anti-Obama emails that were cruising the Internet. After explaining how this latest email was false, I asked whether he had any sense and would he please stop or I would have to block his emails. I wish I had not done that.

Earlier this summer while tossing a ball around with my Son, I noticed how difficult it was to throw with any sort of pace. The distance I could throw a ball had also diminished. But I kept at it even though I knew I would be sore the next day. I thought of my Dad then. He used to set up as catcher and let me throw fastball after fastball. They were not very fast. I tried out for Little League and the first pitch I threw was hit over the centerfield fence. But Dad kept catching and encouraging.

So I keep catching and running after my Son's errant throws. I help him with his homework and I try not to take it personally when he argues with me or gets sullen, as teenagers are wont to do regardless of the generation.

I've been a fortunate person. I had the chance to know my Grandpa and had a Dad who worked and stuck around to care for his family. There are too many children missing that. Because of their efforts, I've turned out fairly all right. I have three kids now. In addition to my teenage boy, I have two beautiful daughters, a wonderful wife, a home -- a great family.

I wonder if my Dad has an old uniform lying around? Despite our differences, I bet we were about the same size once, too, in our youth.

Proudly Banned

Linked over to Real Debate Wisconsin from Brew City Brawler to see what Fred had drooled on the sick day issue. Saw this immediately:

Banned by webmaster. Your comments will not be added.

Ha ha. The coward. As I wrote previously, my posting one comment every three months at that racist site won't be missed by me.

One thing, though. Fred often paints himself as the victim and that everyone is bashing him for absolutely no reason. Because, you know, he's a reasonable guy. Yet, the very first sentence in his latest opus says this:

Those of us in Racine would like to thank the voters in Milwaukee County for being stupid enough to raise their sales taxes by 1%.

Italics mine. Fred likes to refer to people as idiots, stupid, ridiculous, etc. every chance he gets. Apparently he believes this to be a part of real "debate." In reality, it's a sign of insecurity.

We will continue to expose Fred's inanity on a regular basis.

Is This a Threat?

In the comments section at Boots and Sabers, Peter DiGaudio of Texas Hold 'em Fame, is more than a little upset by the outcome of the elction.

You can go to hell as far as I am concerned. He is not my president. And you can take this country and shove it where the sun don’t shine. Screw you. You are not my fellow countryman as far as I am concerned. I want nothing to do with your damn country.

I don’t hope for his success. In fact, I seriously hope this country gets attacked by terrorists over and over again and every possible bad thing that can happen does happen ... to people like you.

If I had the money, I’d put a bounty on his melon. Seriously.

I guess, sadly, we've come to expect this sort of lunatic behavior from Peter. And, this is the third comment I've seen from a conservative threatening the life of President-Elect Barack Obama. Seriously, should we contact the Secret Service.

And while I don't advocate deletion of comments, I would have expected Owen Robinson to at least have said something about Peter's outburst. Owen's wife did!

UPDATE: Owen added a comment replying to Peter's outburst, after I had written this post. I apologize, Owen. You did the right thing.

I hope that your statements are the product of emotion on a tough night and that you will retract them. Regardless, they are completely inappropriate. I agree that America chose the wrong guy, but he is our duly elected president (almost) and the office and our nation deserve respect. We can vigorously oppose his policies while not wishing the man or the office ill will.

We Won!

The reign of terror is over. Now let's get to work.

Cowardly Behavior

In response to a few bloggers who thought Fred Dooley's recent deletion of an egregiously inaccurate post was unethical, Fred wrote this at his site, Real Debate Wisconsin.

Late Sunday evening I posted a piece highlighting an Obama flyer telling people how to vote.

Among the items listed there was a line telling if you could not prove who you are to bring along a neighbor to vouch for you.

I thought that illegal and researched and posted as much.

The next morning it was brought to my attention that idiotic standard was indeed legal so I did the right thing and deleted the post immediately. Funny thing though, whenever I do the right thing the left always complains about the way I do it. That's what the left does, complains about the right.

The left in their unyielding idiocy has been screaming for a retraction. Sometimes I don't have time to write a flowery piece and only have time to press the delete button, this was one of those times. Until someone starts paying me to blog, that will be the way things are around here.

Fact is in Wisconsin there are no standards to be able to vote.

I apologize for that post in error on Sunday evening.

However, I'm still waiting for all the lefties in the area to put up posts regarding the clearing of Sarah Palin in Trooper-Gate. One sided outrage is such an ugly thing.

I wrote a reply in the comment section there addressing this latest failure of Fred's to understand what it was he had done wrong.

However, I'm still waiting for all the lefties in the area to put up posts regarding the clearing of Sarah Palin in Trooper-Gate.

Why? That was a legitimate news story. And, she was cleared using appropriate channels. Government officials should always be held to a higher standard. Besides, I personally wrote nothing about Troopergate. I see no reason to write anything now.

Your faux pas, on the other hand, was done out of willful ignorance. You thought you saw a gotcha moment and jumped without looking.

Additionally, by deleting your post rather that leaving it and including your mea culpa as a responsible blogger would have done, you have now left Red State hanging because their original link to your post now leads no where. Questions, questions.

Fred has now informed me via e-mail that this post has been deleted and I have lost posting privileges. Considering I post a comment there approximately once every three months, I'm fairly certain I'll be able to overcome my disappointment. But it is truly a sad commentary on this person.

I stand by a comment I made. If Fred had simply admitted his error on the original post; if he had admitted he jumped before looking when he accused the Obama/Biden campaign of lying about election rules, no one would probably have cared.

Instead, Fred's reaction makes him appear even sillier and cowardly in the eyes of his peers.

George McGovern

Back in 1972, when I was a sophomore in highschool, I first became acquainted with presidential campaigns and candidates by helping to run the student-led campaign for the anti-war Republican congressman, Pete McCloskey. McCloskey's run for the Republican nomination was doomed to failure. He was facing the still incredibly popular President Richard Nixon who had managed to push Watergate questions temporarily into the background.

But it was fun and it piqued an interest in politics I didn't know I had. Soon, with McCloskey in the background I became aware of the Democratic candidate for president, George McGovern. McGovern's campaign was making a huge effort to get the youth vote out and I was swept along in the enthusiasm generated by his quixotic campaign. Unfortunately, the Tom Eagleton affair blew up his bid and that enthusiasm faded and failed to turn out the vote.

Four years later it was Gerald Ford vs. Jimmy Carter for president. I was now old enough to vote, but neither choice did much for me. So, my first vote for the presidency wound up being a write-in as I voted for George McGovern.

Fourteen years later (I spent the intervening years travelling the US, Europe and working) ... I'm working part-time at the Kenwood Inn at the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee. I had just gotten to work and I peeked out into the dining room. I was stunned to see George McGovern enter, escorted by a couple of professors I recognized.

Anyway, I was excited. George McGovern! I had always wanted to meet him and here was my chance. I walked over, excused myself and asked the Senator if I could shake his hand. He smiled and as we shook hands I told him that I was honored to finally meet him and that, additionally, I had voted for him in 1976.

The professors sitting at the table exchanged smirky looks. McGovern, though, was all courtesy and he gently told me that I must have meant 1972 because that was the year he ran for president. I smiled and said no. I explained I hadn't been old enough to vote in 1972 so had waited until the next election to write his name in.

With that he smiled again, thanked me and squeezed my hand a bit extra. I'll never forget our meeting.

It's a shame that McGovern never got the chance to lead our nation. We as a people would have been better off -- by far.

I Voted, Too

Well, just got back from voting. It's none of your business who I voted for (like it's a mystery), but I can say my 22-month old daughter voted for Barack Obama and she has the "I Voted" sticker to prove it.

I'm waiting for the cries of voter fraud.

Pete McCloskey

This has been a most exciting pre-election season. I really can't remember a better one, though personally, I favor the 1972 campaign. Here's why.

That year I was a sophomore in highschool at West Bend West (Go Spartans!). As part of one of those civic duty lessons that social studies departments are so fond of, we students were given the opportunity to organize our own campaigns for president, with the actual players in the primaries as our clients.

Being a bit of a rebel I decided to head the Pete McCloskey for President campaign. Heaven forbid I would do anything for Richard Nixon -- mostly because my dad was voting for him, but also because I had yet to make that clean break from my dad and move to the Democratic side of the ledger. Eventually I would and George McGovern is today still a hero of mine (another story on that).

I don't remember much about McCloskey except that he was against the Vietnam War, and didn't stand a chance of winning. But he wasn't Nixon.

(As an aside, looking him up in Wiki, I now recall that he was a co-author of the Endangered Species Act.)

We had to give a speech before the student body (I was nominated to do this). I must have been quite the sight -- 120 pounds soaking wet with mismatched clothes (I still have this issue today, my wife dresses me for important occasions) and one-armed glasses resting perilously on my geeky nose.

There were three of us in the McCloskey campaign. He wound up garnering 13 votes. Though he lost by a huge margin (Washington County being Nixon country then and very conservative today), I considered it a victory of sorts that we'd been able to convince ten others.

Oh, and we had balloons and gave out candy bars. No other campaign used props.

Who's Unethical

Fred Dooley, owner and operator of the amusement blog, Real Debate Wisconsin, has a problem with unethical behavior. And well he should. Unethical behavior is something that should be stamped out. Especially when it's a blogger doing it because the actions of one do affect the actions of the others.

More on this later in this post -- read on.

Red State, a nationally-known conservative blog reported this little tidbit this morning at 8:36 am.

The Democrats are passing out a flyer in Wisconsin that tells people just how easy to vote in Wisconsin.

One of the bullet points is this:

No proof of residence? You can still register to vote if you bring an eligible voter from your municipality who shows proof of residence and affirms that you live at your address.

There is just one problem. That's not the law in Wisconsin. Having a character witness cannot get you registered to vote.

But who cares. Law, scmaw as far the Democrats are concerned.

The problem with this is, as pointed out by one of Red State's commenters, it's inaccurate. Just to provide proof (you know, for the sake of truthiness) of what the flyer from the Obama/Biden campaign said, below is a scan.























Now, let's go to page 27 of the Election Day Manual for Wisconsin Election Officials. It states:

Corroborating Witness
If an Election Day registrant or a voter with an “ID required” notation is unable to provide proof of residence, they may have another qualified elector of the municipality corroborate his or her residence by signing the Voter Registration Application (EB-131) as a witness. The corroborator must be a qualified elector of the municipality and provide proof of residence. The corroborator is not required to be a registered voter.

There's more, but the gist of the flyer is absolutely accurate. Turns out those Democrats are actually quite ethical.

Hmmm. Kind of makes you wonder where Red State got this wrong information? Why, the link to the source is right there in the body of the text. The link encompasses the words “...are passing out a flyer in Wisconsin.” And where does the link lead to -- nowhere anymore because the offensive post has been deleted. But before that deletion occurred, the link quite clearly jumped to here:

http://realdebatewisconsin.blogspot.com/2008/11/Obama-camp-encouraging-vote-fraud-in.html

Say it ain't so Joe the Plumber. Fred Dooley at Real Debate Wisconsin is playing fast and easy with ethics? Yep. Fortunately, due to the timely actions of a local person, we have the text of the original Dooley post.

The attached document is encouraging activity in violation of Wisconsin's already loose election law.

I quote, "No proof of residence? You can still register to vote if you bring an eligible voter from your municipality who shows proof of residence and affirms that you live at your address."

Sorry folks, they made that up. Here is a link to the State of Wisconsin Elections Board rules, nowhere does showing up to register with someone to vouch for you come into play.

This flyer was paid or by the Democratic Party of Wisconsin so they are obviously complicit in encouraging people to break election law.

Why do Democrats keep trying to cheat?

Why won't any of the major media call them on it?

Can you imagine the outroar if Republicans were passing fraudulent information about Wisconsin election law? Hell, they are after AG Van Hollen for daring to ask the "accountability" board to follow the freaking law.

The unethical Democratic party is at it again, and they'll continue to get away with it until enough people raise hell about this problem.

All gone.

Nowhere to be found.

Vanished into thin air.

Pffft.

Of course, it's not the first time either. Next time Fred has anything to say about anything, don't you believe him. I'll bet Red State will think twice.

I think Fred deserves a big old F-bomb for this prank. Thanks Fred, for making us all look bad.














Update: Zach has a nice take on this, though he stole borrowed my bomb picture.

It's a Matter of Context

Charlie Sykes lies so often about everything that it's got to be difficult for him to keep track. Just this morning (I turned WTMJ on to listen to Wayne Laravie's recap of the game -- not on) Charlie said he would be covering two things in depth that Barack Obama said the previous day. "... and I'm not taking these out of context," he breathlessly exclaimed.

Charlie admits that he does take things out of context. Really. Lying Charlie Sykes admits he's a liar.

It's going to be a good day.