Blogging Blue

It’s no secret Jessica Buch…McBride isn’t a fan of comments on her blogs that dare to dissent from the opinion she’s espousing. In fact, I’ve always found it a little odd that someone who purports to be a “journalist” would be so opposed to free speech in all its forms, instead choosing to censor comments on her blogs that dare to point out the fundamental flaws in her often weak opinions on the issues of the day. I’ve often thought journalists would be some of the strongest proponents of free speech, given they make their livings from the expression of free speech.

As pointed out by capper over at whallah!, McBride has taken her censorship to a new level, this time going so far as to delete comments I made in response to a post full of inaccuracies and flawed legal analysis over at her new election blog. Apparently McBride has a thin skin, because that’s the only reason I can see for why she’d choose to delete perfectly innocent comments that simply pointed out the flaws in her arguments. This kind of behavior is a perfect example of just how intolerant some folks on the right are when it comes to any opinion that differs from their own narrow views of the world.

Ultimately, I’m most disappointed not because McBride has a thin skin, but because she’s a journalist, and as such she should never discourage or prevent free speech. Shame on her for turning her blogs into speech-free zones where the only opinions that matter are her own, but then again, if I were wrong as much as she is, I suppose I’d want to limit dissent too.

I’ve made no secret of the fact that I intensely dislike State Supreme Court candidate Michael Gableman, and while my dislike is in part due to my ideological differences with Gableman, much of my dislike towards the man has to do with the stunning scope of his hypocritical and unethical behavior, both during the campaign and prior to him receiving his appointment as a Burnett County Circuit Court judge.

Gableman, who promised to run a clean campaign, has unveiled his newest attack ad against incumbent Louis Butler, and already the ad is drawing intense criticism for its not so subtle racist undertones, as well as its gross distortion of facts surrounding a case Louis Butler handled as a criminal defense attorney. At issue is the ad’s assertion that Louis Butler helped free a convicted sex offender on appeal, only to have that same defendant re-offend once he was freed. However, the truth of the situation is that while Butler did help the defendant in question win an appeal, the defendant’s conviction was upheld by the Wisconsin Supreme Court, resulting in the individual in question serving out the remainder of his sentence before being released from prison. It was only after he was released from prison that the individual reoffended.

Governor Jim Doyle said the ad from Gableman’s campaign was the lowest he’s ever seen a judicial candidate go, and the Wisconsin Judicial Campaign Integrity Committee also issued a statement calling the ad highly offensive and deliberately misleading before calling for the ad to be taken off the air:

“We believe Judge Gableman is deliberately misrepresenting the facts regarding this case and Justice Butler’s role in it, and it appears Judge Gableman is doing so either knowingly or with reckless disregard for the truth or falsity of his campaign statement,”

As I watched the ad - which I’ve included a little bit later in this entry - I couldn’t help but wonder about a fact that seems to escape Michael Gableman and his supporters: Wisconsin State Supreme Court Justices don’t lock criminals up, so being “tough on crime” isn’t as big a deal as it would be if Gableman were running for Circuit Court judge back in Burnett County. Then again, with Gableman’s record when it comes to being “tough on crime,” I can’t blame him for looking for a different job. As Sam Sarver from Brazen Maverick said,

That way, he (Gableman) wouldn’t have to deal with all the nuance and subtlety of the State Supreme Court, for which he obviously lacks sufficient patience.

I’d argue Gableman also lacks sufficient skill and intelligence to sit on the Wisconsin State Supreme Court, but Sam’s got a point.

For those interested, here’s the ad in question:

H/T to Sam over at Brazen Maverick and the ever-amazing illusory tenant.

So according to conservative folks, the U.S. economy is doing just fine, never mind all the hullabaloo about the mortgage crisis and the falling value of the dollar. Now I’m loathe to contradict someone who bases their economic outlook on some how full a mall parking lot is, but I’m going to have to disagree that our nation’s economy is on solid ground, especially on the heels of this report that our economy may not be in such great shape after all. Among the highlights of the article:

Investors received more bad economic news when the Fed released data Monday that showed the nation’s industrial output dropped by 0.5 percent in February. Analysts had expected an increase of 0.1 percent.

So let’s recap the current state of our nation’s economy:

• Price of crude oil over $100 a barrel? CHECK!
• National industrial output falls instead of increasing? CHECK!
• National mortgage crisis, forcing several large finance companies to the brink of bankruptcy if not for intervention by the Fed? CHECK!
• Value of the U.S. dollar at an all-time low against the Euro? CHECK!

But hey, at least there’s a bright spot in all this economic doom and gloom! Good old Dubbya insists we’re not in a recession, instead preferring to use the term, “challenging times.” It’s good to know this isn’t the beginning of a recession, but rather just some “challenging times” that we’ll get past without nary an ill effect on lower and middle class folks, because after all, those are the folks that usually feel the effects of a recession the most.

Heckuva job, Bushie…heckuva job!

Sometimes as I sit and think about the upcoming election for Milwaukee County Executive, I can’t help but wonder how how much more of a hypocrite Scott Walker could be, considering his status as one of Milwaukee County’s foremost practitioners of the dark art of hypocrisy.

After all, who can forgot these humdingers:

• Taking credit for Milwaukee County’s seven million dollar budget surplus, despite the fact that the surplus came about as the result of a budget Walker himself vetoed.
• Or how about the fact that Walker touts his concern for public safety - despite the fact that during his tenure in office the House of Corrections has been plagued by chronic understaffing, not one, but two high-profile escapes, the second of which ended with a citizen being murdered. And lest we forget Scott Walker’s plan to “keep Milwaukee safe” by closing CCC and placing the individuals confined there on GPS.
• And then there’s Walker’s hypocritical attacks against Lena Taylor for raising campaign funds from outside Milwaukee County, when Walker’s own campaign has been hitting up out of county donors for campaign contributions.

As I sit here thinking about Scott Walker’s repeated hypocrisy, I’m left to wonder if his hypocrisy knows any limits.

For those of you who’ve been living under a rock lately - kinda like I have - Geraldine Ferraro’s come under fire for what many are categorizing as racist comments directed at Barack Obama. Ferraro, a former Democratic vice presidential candidate, told the Torrance, California Daily Breeze:

If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position. And if he was a woman (of any color) he would not be in this position. He happens to be very lucky to be who he is. And the country is caught up in the concept.

Now obviously the Obama campaign was quick to denounce Ferraro’s comments and call for her resignation as one of the Clinton campaign’s top fundraisers, but curiously enough, Hillary Clinton doesn’t seem to think Ferraro should resign.

In an interview with the Associated Press, Clinton said, “I do not agree with that,” in reference to Ferraro’s comments, and Clinton later added, “It’s regrettable that any of our supporters — on both sides, because we both have this experience — say things that kind of veer off into the personal.” What curious is I don’t see Hillary calling for Geraldine Ferraro to resign her position within the Clinton campaign.

In other news, the top American commander in Iraq has resigned in advance of his retirement. What’s newsworthy about the resignation? The timing, given the fact that Admiral William Fallon was the subject of an article published last week in Esquire magazine that portrayed him as opposed to President Bush’s Iran policy. The article also described Fallon as a lone voice against taking military action to stop the Iranian nuclear program. It’s good to know the folks who oppose military action against Iran are being pushed out of the administration, a fact that’s disturbing given John McCain’s own publicly stated desire to bomb Iran:

And finally, Milwaukee Alderman Bob Donovan gives new meaning to the nickname “Fighting Bob,” as he took a punch from a drunk man after he tried to stop the man from urinating in front of a business in Donovan’s district. Thankfully Alderman Donovan’s okay, and he says he’ll be pressing charges against the man.

EDIT: Looks like Geraldine Ferraro “took one for the team” and resigned, saving Hillary Clinton from having to can her ass.