Blogging Blue » The Cheddarsphere

The Once and Future Shill

Phil Scarr — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 18:19:17 +0000

Shill: A shill, plant or stooge is a person who helps a person or organization without disclosing that he or she has a close relationship with that person or organization. Shill typically refers to someone who purposely gives onlookers the impression that he or she is an enthusiastic independent customer of a seller (or marketer of ideas) that he or she is secretly working for. The person or group that hires the shill is using crowd psychology, to encourage other onlookers or audience members to purchase the goods or services (or accept the ideas being marketed). Shills are often employed by confidence artists.

Rick Esenberg is, and always will be, a partisan hack. A mouthpiece trotted out before the press by the state GOP to render his “opinions” on a variety of topics that affect the lives of the people of Wisconsin. The trouble is, Professor Rick is a lawyer, and his opinions are different from yours or mine. I don’t mean that he holds different opinions, I mean that his opinions are part of his job as an attorney. When he is asked to “render an opinion,” he is bound by the canons of ethics for lawyers in Wisconsin. Lawyers are paid and expected to render opinions based on the facts and not on the party line. In his zeal to play the slavish lapdog to his Republican masters, he sometimes forgets this. He and Michael Gableman share this trait. But Professor Rick has never been bothered by ethical conflicts in the past, so why should he start now?

He can be guaranteed to toe the party line each and every time. The GOPs pet law professor.

So it’s always satisfying when he gets his ass handed to him in public by Peter Earle. Watch from a hearing on redistricting from July, 2011.

What makes this video so disturbing (and it is disturbing) is that, at the time, Peter Earle wondered publicly what information Professor Rick might have had access to that the rest of the hearing participants did not. How was Professor Rick able to render a legal opinion on data in such a short period of time?

Well silly me for thinking the GOP would ever play by the rules of governance. As it turns out, Voices de la Frontera, Earle’s client at the time, have now filed a complaint with the state that the GOP violated the open records law in their redistricting process.

Documents released yesterday showed that virtually all G-O-P lawmakers signed confidentiality agreements which promised not to discuss the maps while they were being written. And they were told that those who speak out could be called as witnesses in court. The documents also said that 33-of-the-58 Republican Assembly members would pick up additional voters under the new districts. The documents were released after three federal judges in the redistricting suit said G-O-P legislators filed frivolous legal requests, so they could hide their actions in creating the new maps. Those maps will be used for the first time in this fall’s elections unless the courts overturn them.

The complaint states, in part:

On June 20, 2011, Adam Foltz drafted a document captioned “General Talking Points” which he described during his sworn testimony on February 1, 2012, as talking points to guide the discussion at each of the individual meetings he had with each member of the Assembly who had previously signed a secrecy agreement. The talking points memo stated that the redistricting bill was a “placeholder map” and that “if the Senate comes back in the majority, we may come back and adjust.” Mr. Foltz testified at his deposition that the preceding sentence was referring to the then pending recall elections that were scheduled for August 9, 2011. The talking points memo also stated that “Public comments on this map may be different than what you hear in this room. Ignore the public comments.” The talking points memo then explicitly stated that the previously signed secrecy agreement applied to the individual meeting between Mr. Foltz and each individual Republican representative…. (emphasis in original)

The complaint asserts that this entire process is a violation of the Open Meetings law, a law these clowns have tripped over in the past.

So the real question I have is what did Professor Rick know and when did he know it? He certainly seemed to have some special knowledge back in July to which no one else was privy. He rendered an opinion of the fairness of the redistricting. We’re left with only two conclusions:

1. Professor Rick is incompetent and rendered a legal opinion on a limited understanding of the facts in evidence
2. Professor Rick is corrupt and rendered a legal opinion on preferential access to facts not in evidence

Which is it, Professor Rick? Take your pick…

Oh Dear! I’ve Upset the Queen!

Phil Scarr — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 03:44:37 +0000

I don’t believe I’ve ever encountered a blogger who asked me to stop commenting on his posts because I was upsetting his… “fans.” Really?

Fans?

Blogger fans?

Are there really such sycophantic creatures as “blogger fans?“

Well, I suppose if your blog has T-Shirts, it may as well have fans… Here’s a Dr. Tim t-shirt.

Get it? He doesn’t speak “drum” like those dirty hippies at the Capitol. Isn’t he awesome? Inclusion through exclusion! All his… fans… can nod and say they don’t speak drum either. Lisa and I actually heard him utter this very phrase at the AFP rally to the guffaws of all the rubes in attendance.

Here’s what Dr. Tim Nerenz, my favorite Glibertarian hack posted after I had the gall to question his facts and the facts of his…(snicker) fans.

I don’t mean to be rude, but you are quite obviously a fish out of water here. This isn’t a chat room, it us my personal blog and my fans don’t come here to argue. There are many other places for that on the ‘net, and now that you have introduced yourself to my readers, they will have no problem finding you if they choose to engage. I wish you well. Tim.

It’s probably good that his…(snicker) fans… don’t come to his blog to argue because they really suck at it. And, for the record, he’s not much better.

But the real irony? The best part of the whole exchange with Nerenz and his acolytes? The part that really got me laughing? He’s got this “cool” new graphic he’s pimping on t-shirts and shit from Zazzle. Check it out!

Bring It! With ‘gator accessory! I’ll take that challenge…

Dr. Tim, I brought it and you told me to take it back! You, sir, are a fraud!

I just love tasty bits of irony!

Hyper-partisan Media Trackers’ epic fail

Zach W — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 03:57:20 +0000

Over at the “non-partisan” rag that is Media Trackers, Collin Roth wrote a piece a few days ago attacking Scot Ross, the former Executive Director of One Wisconsin Now, as being “hyper-partisan.” Roth goes on to allege Ross was the “subject of similar crimes” to those alleged to have been committed by three close aides to then-Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker.

Here’s what Roth wrote (emphasis mine):

Ross was involved in the legislative Caucus Scandal racking up nearly $4,000 in legal fees. It must be awkward for Kathleen Falk to criticize Governor Walker’s current John Doe investigation when the man writing her statements has been the subject of similar crimes.

I think it must be awkward for Collin Roth not to understand the difference between being alleged to have committed crimes (as Darlene Wink, Kelly Rindfleisch, and Tim Russell are) and having been tangentially involved in an investigation into wrongdoing (as Scot Ross was).

If Collin Roth was really interested in being “non-partisan,” he’d write about a real story – such as the apparent culture of corruption in Scott Walker’s County Executive office – instead of writing a hackish hit piece on Scot Ross.

Then again, it’s pretty clear the Collin Roth and the rest of the folks at Media Trackers aren’t interested in being “non-partisan.”

Voter Intimidation Never Changes

Phil Scarr — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 02:04:50 +0000

It used to be a simple matter of putting a gun to “darkie’s” head and he’d do exactly what you wanted.

But we’re much more sophisticated than that now…

Reactionary douchebags never change. No strategy too vicious, no idea too contemptible, no freedom inviolable as long as they get their way.

Welcome to Wississippi!

Why I Love The Republican Party!

Jeff Simpson — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 12:25:20 +0000

Because you just can not make these stories up!

1. As many of you know, BloggingBlue went dark yesterday to protest SOPA. Well it turns out that one of the authors of this insane bill, Rep. Lamar Smith (R- Texas), was caught violating his own bill.

Isn’t it funny when a Republican calls for a law against something only for them to get caught doing what the new law punishes? The latest Republican to commit this kind of hypocrisy is Rep. Lamar Smith of Texas, who happens to be the author of the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA).

Jamie Lee Curtis Taete of Vice.com did some digging to find out if Lamar Smith has been honest when it comes to copyrights. It turns out, he may be guilty of violating one. According to Taete, Smith violated a copyright by using a photograph on his website without crediting the photographer.

2. A Rick Santorum staffer says "It is against God's Will for Women to be president":

Rival presidential candidate Rick Santorum’s Iowa coalitions director, Jamie Johnson, sent out an email saying that children’s lives would be harmed if the nation had a female president. [...]

“The question then comes, ‘Is it God’s highest desire, that is, his biblically expressed will, … to have a woman rule the institutions of the family, the church, and the state?’ ” Johnson’s email said.

3. In Virginia, Republican Bob Marshall had this to say:

“The number of children who are born subsequent to a first abortion with handicaps has increased dramatically. Why? Because when you abort the first born of any, nature takes its vengeance on the subsequent children,” said Marshall, a Republican.

“In the Old Testament, the first born of every being, animal and man, was dedicated to the Lord. There’s a special punishment Christians would suggest.”

4. The four times married Rush Limbaugh defends the three time married Newt Gingrich and says Newt is the victim!

LIMBAUGH: I got a great note from a friend of mine. “So Newt wanted an open marriage. BFD. At least he asked his wife for permission instead of cheating on her. That’s a mark of character, in my book. Newt’s a victim. We all are. Ours is the horniest generation.” [...] That’s from a good friend of mine, “Newt’s slogan ought to, ‘Hell, yes, I wanted it.’”

(ED Note: Newt was already cheating with Calista when he wanted the open marriage.)

5. Finally, closer to home: Wiggy is amazed that they are prosecuting Brian Pierick since he asked if the underage boy he was trolling for was 18. He is also amazed that Bruce Murphy(amongst a myriad of others) disagrees with him:

Conservative blogger James Wigderson takes issue with the complaint of child enticement, saying it “appears that Pierick had no way of knowing the boy was 17, not 18 or 19 as the boy claimed.” I read it differently, as the boy’s text messages make it clear he was worried about his mother and had to sneak out of his house, among other clues. It’s clear, by the way, that Pierick shared all the details of the back and forth texts with Russell.(Murphy’s words)

It’s also clear that Pierick discovered that the boy did live with his parents and was still in high school. However, Pierick did ask the boy repeatedly if he was over 18, making it clear to the boy that they were not interested in someone younger than 18. The district attorney’s office practically conceded that point when the complaint stated that ignorance of the boy’s actual age was not an excuse.(Wiggys desperate attempt at an excuse)

Wiggy does not stop there he lives by the old saying “when in a hole keep digging” So he does:

I’m certainly not condoning the behavior but I still find it hard to believe that the district attorney is prosecuting this case

Dr. Phil always says, “BUT” means, let me tell you what I really mean. So let me tell you what Wiggy really means. Wiggy is actually “condoning the behavior” , hell they did ask if he was 18 and he said almost 19. Thats good enough if, like Newt’s example above, your horny. Besides these guys are very close to Governor Walker so they can do no wrong! By the way have you heard someone threw a beer on Robin Vos’ head?

How much water are you carrying for the local party when you start defending that? is there a big bonus in it for him? Does that ever wash off?

1-17-12: Uniquely Wisconsin

Lisa Mux — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 04:13:38 +0000

It has been twenty-four hours since I left Madison to return home to Waukesha and I’m still glowing. From the recall petition drops to the Solidarity Sing-Along to the party at the Monona Terrace, 1-17-12 will be a day I’ll never forget. Many citizens who traveled across the state to converge in Madison echoed the same sentiments. It was a day of restoration of faith in our fellow citizens, the start of returning Wisconsin to its pre-Walker glory, and an event filled with much-needed community healing.

Robert, a gentleman I met on Tuesday, told me that he “loves Wisconsin” and has always been proud of his state, but ever since Scott Walker took office he’s been embarrassed to admit he lives here. “Around the country, Wisconsin’s really looked upon as the state that turned its back on its people,” Robert said. “(Walker) does not care about the economically challenged people, the middle class people, the small business owners…the corporate people, those are Scott Walker’s cronies.” That realization had left Robert feeling “down in the dumps.”

But Robert’s outlook improved significantly on Tuesday when he learned that over a million signatures had been collected, more than enough to trigger a Walker/Kleefisch recall. Robert said “there are more of us then there are of them,” and that he is “very proud to say I’m from Wisconsin again.”

Indeed, Scott Walker’s radical political agenda had divided Wisconsinites, causing many of us to feel down in the dumps, as he purposefully drove a wedge between private sector and public sector workers to advance his own political agenda. Wisconsin been a tense state in which to live over the past year.

But Walker’s antics and the recall process itself also sparked a completely new phenomenon that ignited quickly and burned brightly: the advent of the #wiunion community.

For those unfamiliar with twitter, “#wiunion” is a “hashtag” that is often used to easily locate information about topics related to the Wisconsin uprising over the past year. The hashtag has also served as a tool to unite like-minded individuals, each with his/her own unique twitter “name.”

One year ago today, I had no idea who “@bluecheddar1” was, but on Tuesday, we embraced in the Capitol rotunda like long-lost relatives, after participating in the lunch-hour Solidarity Sing-Along (another new, uniquely Wisconsin phenomenon.)

“Blue” is just one example of a twitter friend, or “tweep” I met as a result of Walker’s attack on middle-class Wisconsin families. At the same Solidarity sing-along, I recognized another #wiunion buddy, “@battiestgirl”, from her Time magazine photo. Within the space of ten minutes, several more “tweeps” gathered around, as we hugged and squealed slightly.

Not all new connections were formed via twitter and Facebook, however. Numerous face-to-face groups and organizations were created as people struggled to come to terms with the new reality in Wisconsin. Some of these groups travelled together on busses from Milwaukee to Madison to witness the unloading of a U-Haul filled with 3,000 pounds of recall petitions at the office of the Government Accountability Board. Many had missed the Fitzgerald petition drop, as it took place earlier that morning, but the Walker-Kleefisch drop was extremely well-attended.

Following the powerful visual of the volunteers carrying the recall petitions to the GAB office, everyone rushed over to the warmth of the Monona Terrace to await the celebration, complete with speakers and free beer.

Upon entering Monona Terrace, we were greeted with, “Congratulations, folks, the party’s that way.” As I stepped aside to remove my cumbersome winter gear, I listened as the greeters repeated a similar welcome to throngs of others, eliciting delighted responses, laughter and “thank yous.” We were directed toward the lower level, where I heard “oohs” and “ahs” as guests snapped photos of the party room down below through giant fishbowl windows. It was just after 4:30pm, and the place was filling up rapidly.

It felt like coming home.

I couldn’t take two steps without running into someone I had volunteered with, someone I knew from Twitter or Facebook, or people from my own area, Waukesha County. Also in attendance were such Democratic greats as Mark Pocan, Peter Barca, Chris Larson, Mahlon Mitchell, and many more. We listened to music and to several speakers, including Mike Tate and Phil Neuenfeldt, head of the Wisconsin AFL-CIO.

John Nichols rounded out the line-up, and, unsurprisingly, really nailed his speech. He told us that citizens who don’t want to be ruled by corporate interests have “weapons” in our arsenal in the fight “to keep our democracy,” and one of the biggest weapons is “Recall Power.”

But Nichols really summed up 1-17-12 and all of our struggles and subsequent connections of the entire last year in one sentence. Said Nichols, “Above all, this is a Wisconsin moment.”

An honest challenge to Cindy K

folkbum — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 03:10:29 +0000

Over the last few years, I have pretty much given up on following the conservative bloggers in the state, because 1) they don’t care for me and 2) I don’t care for them so 3) screw that.

But I still follow some of the more reasonable ones on twitter, since it’s not a bad idea to know what the other side is saying.

So I’ve been watching as Cindy Kilkenny rides her new hobby horse:

I was reading an article on the line up of potential Dem candidates and that there will most likely be a primary for that side of the ballot.

What if I ran?

I mean, one doesn’t have to declare a party loyalty to register to vote here, nor is one required to be a dues-paying member of any party organization.

Sure, it could just be a joke, but in comments to that post she starts laying out a platform that differs from Scott Walker’s. Not by a lot, you know, but she talks specifically about Act 10, and how she would have pushed changes that “feel less like union busting” and kept local control.

So here’s my challenge to Cindy–and I’m serious here though I have tussled with her in the past: Run as a Republican. Seriously, Cindy, you and Tim Cullen would be pretty hard to tell apart in the Democratic primary. So instead of mounting a challenge to Democrats from the right (or center, if you prefer), challenge Walker from the left (or, you know, center).

If you’re serious about “governing more from the middle” and think that Wisconsinites of all stripes would prefer that to either Walker’s hard right turn or the several flavors of center-left offered by the likely Dem candidates, then run. But run as who you are, a moderate Republican, and not as some half-winking spoiler.

Let’s be honest, Cindy, you were one of Walker’s most vocal Republican critics during primary 2010. I doubt there’s much good will left to worry about saving by running on the Democratic ballot.

So do it. Set up your committee to run as a Republican in the gubernatorial recall, and I’ll be your first $50 donor.

Fred Dooley could use a fact checker

Zach W — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 12:02:35 +0000

Last week, Fred Dooley, a proud member of the “hate right” here in Wisconsin and the proprietor of the Real “Debate” Wisconsin blog (inappropriately named, given Dooley’s intense dislike of any opinion that differs from his own) posted an entry attacking DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman-Schultz after she called out the TEA party in the wake of the one year anniversary of the Tuscon shooting.

Here’s what Fred wrote:

The individual responsible for that tragedy was a Democrat and a crazy person. The TEA party had nothing to do with that incident. Using that tragedy for an dishonest political smear is abhorrent behavior.

Not surprisingly Dooley failed to cite any evidence to back up his claim that Jared Lee Loughner was a Democrat, and according to Chris Cillizza of the Washington Post’s “The Fix” blog, Loughner was NOT a registered Democrat:

Loughner registered to vote on Sept. 29, 2006, identifying himself as an independent. Records show he voted in the 2006 and 2008 elections but is current listed as “inactive” on the state’s voter roles — meaning that he did not vote in November.

The very epitome of irony? Fred Dooley attacking someone for a “dishonest political smear” while he himself engages in a “dishonest political smear” by asserting the Tuscon shooter was a member of the Democratic Party.

Badger Blue, Times Two: “Contempt, thy name is Fitzgerald”

Zach W — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 18:33:48 +0000

I couldn’t agree more….

It boils down to this: Scott Fitzgerald represents the very worst of an American political system bought and paid for by special interests and representing the needs of a tiny, select few. He just needs to go. It’s that simple.

Once you’ve finished reading the rest of Brian’s post, be sure to check out the rest of Badger Blue, Times Two, because it’s a great new addition to the Cheddarsphere!

Refactoring Time

Phil Scarr — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 19:50:29 +0000

[Cross-posted at The Masses]

I started blogging a few years ago, but I was never really dedicated to it. I’d post a bit here and a bit there, but I didn’t have the interest or the drive to keep it going. It wasn’t until Scott Walker attacked the working men and women (my lovely wife in particular) that I truly found my muse.

I created The Masses, in honor of John Reed who was a first-hand witness to the 1917 Russian Revolution. Reed wrote about the classless society that briefly arose from the uprising of the proletariat only to be undermined and ultimately corrupted and crushed by Stalin and his thugs. I admire Reed for his optimism and his dedication to the cause of working people.

I created The Masses because I felt (more than saw) a kind of revolution coming. I could feel it in my soul that America was nearing an economic and social breaking point. Marching with 100,000 people around the Capitol in Madison said to me “Things need to change!”

Indeed, at that time, capitalism itself seemed on the brink of collapse. I had no illusions that we’d get a “worker’s paradise.” No, capitalism would survive despite the best efforts of the financial capitalists to kill it, but I thought we might at least shift the dialog. Fair Markets instead of just Free Markets.

I started reading economics blogs, I took a macroeconomics class at UW Waukesha (as one conservative detractor calls it, the Junior College) and spent time exchanging e-mails and comments with economists around the world in an effort to better my understanding our collective circumstance.

I followed (and still follow) the events unfolding in the European macroeconomy. Greece was a long obsession of mine as we watched the failure of expansionary austerity wreak havoc on the Greek economy and the Greeks themselves. They took to the streetsThe fate of nations hangs in the balance. Indeed, the unwinding of the Euro could be the most fascinating and catastrophic economic event we’re likely to witness in our lifetimes. Excitement abounds!

For the longest time, I focused on a few topics that I deemed critical to our state and our nation. I spent a lot of time reading and learning about economics because I believe that a sound footing in macroeconomics and a systems-oriented understanding of our modern global economy is the only way we’re going to survive.

With my background in anthropology and statistics, I chose to blend my formal training in social science, my semi-formal and informal learning in economics and my interest in data-driven policy to offer a forum for others to discuss these complex policy circumstances. But somehow that hasn’t been happening lately. It’s been all about politics and who did what to whom. Pot shots and smack downs.

It would seem, then, that I have lost my way.

Upon reflection, I just got wrapped up in the politics of recall. It was exciting! It was fun! It hinted at revolution! Poking conservatives in the eye got to be a fun hobby. Pointing out the error of their ways became the main point of my posts. But eventually the fun wore off.

Don’t misunderstand me, Scott Walker has got to go. His economic failures are enough to remove him. His fiscal policies have exacerbated Wisconsin’s economic downturn making us one of the worst economic performers in the nation.

It’s time to go back to what I know and what (I’ve been told) I do best. More economics, more healthcare, more policy, less politics.

I reserve the right to post a snarky article or two from time-to-time, but I’m going to stick with the policies of economics and society and leave the politics to those who have more patience for the excruciating minutiae of political discourse in 21st century America.