Friday, October 26, 2012

The Heart of the Matter

There is starting to be a trend happening in Wisconsin.   Recently 2 people associated with the republican party have been attacked.  The first was Senator Kedzie's son in Whitewater(probably just stupid college hormones but we will see)  The second was a homosexual volunteer on the Chad Lee campaign(leave this kid alone, he obviously has other issues).  

While I condemn any and all acts of violence during the election season, as do all dems, our friends on the right seem to be downright giddy about it!  

I am going to leave those attacks right there, we will see what the ACTUAL investigations lead too, and then bring the facts and findings back here for discussion!   What I want to discuss is the attacks on the truth and actual history that the righties have done since Senator Kedzie  told us he was so upset about his son getting attacked, his first act was to send a press release to Mark Belling.

The leading person attacking the truth has been Jimmy WIgderson!   Wiggy, not one who has ever been known for interesting reading OR using facts, is at it again!  While the rest of the state is in a wait and see mode to see where the facts lead in these cases, Sherlock Wigderson has already done the investigation, held a trial and declared all democrats guilty.  

"Somebody remind me again about the peaceful left."  
What exactly does the left have to do with anything?   As we always say here, just wait there is more.  Perpetual Victim and Bullshit artist Wiggy whines about the tough times the republicans have had in our state and blames all violence everywhere on the left!   I wonder if Wiggy is related to Paul Ryan

Let's take a look at what the right wing paid propagandists are saying(we have to do it here, because we are banned there):

In Fond Du Lac, a Republican candidate for state Senate, Rick Gudex, says that his yard signs were thrown down on the ground, the vandals turned his American flag upside-down, and they broke some landscaping stones in his yard. Gudex says this was not the first attack on his home. His son’s truck was egged in the driveway. 

Poor Rick Gudex maybe he can call up Dan Kapanke who was also attacked often for support


It shouldn’t surprise anyone when we hear about incidents like this. After all, for the last two years in Madison Republican legislators and staffers have been living in a state of siege in the Capitol. We’re finally getting a measure of law and order under the new Capitol police chief.

Nothing says "law and order" like arresting people with an 8 1/2 X 11 piece of paper saying "I heart blood donors".   It is sad that someone who pretends to be a political pundit has never read the Constitution!  


You can point to the leadership. Gudex doesn’t believe the incumbent, Democratic state Sen. Jessica King, has anything to do with the vandalism at his home, and we all hope he’s right. 


BUT we are not quite sure, there is a possibility that Senator King could be out staling Gudex and stealing his signs.  Since there is some doubt maybe we should have re-elected Randy Hopper after all!  


But it probably doesn’t help the calls for civility when the spokesman for the Democratic Party in Wisconsin, Graeme Zielinski, is on Twitter accusing Republicans of not being Christians because they disagree with him. Holy McCarthyism, Graeme.


Unfortunately there is only one Reince Priebus!  Of course no one on the right could ever offend Wiggy on twitter, if they did he would definitely call them on it! As for the Christian thing, maybe Graeme was onto something

Nor does it help when Vice President Joe Biden, at a nationally televised debate with Wisconsin’s own Congressman Paul Ryan, thinks being rude, obnoxious, and even inappropriately giggly somehow makes him a “winner.” Turns out he was a “winner” like Charlie Sheen, but that didn’t stop so many of the talking heads of the political left from cheering on the juvenile delinquent behavior. 

Maybe if Paul Ryan had at least made an attempt to tell the truth once, Biden would not have been so amused!  

I remember when President Barack Obama was running in 2008, he promised a new tone in Washington. After the attempted killing of Congressman Gabby Giffords, Obama again called upon the American public to try to restore civility to politics. 

Now we are supposed to believe that Joe Biden laughing Paul Ryan off the stage will be the cause of the next shooting.  The right are doing the best they can to remain civil but it is so hard when the dems are so crazy.  

Other than that, Obama himself has done so much to poison the political discourse in this country, and his party has followed his lead.

Not so much! 


That’s not to say that Republicans are perfectly innocent in this melodrama (although I’m waiting for the first angry mob of taxpayers to climb through the Capitol windows). 


Yes republicans could do more to help restore civility, but for the life of me, I can not think of an instance where they could have improved their behavior!   The problem is here Wiggy is flat out lying again.   First of all, there was a court order to open the Capitol to the public which the walker administration blatantly ignored.    Secondly, I guess Wiggy thinks that the teachers, firefighters, police officers, county workers, state workers, stay at home parents, grandparents, clergy, union workers, professionals, etc.... who protested at the Capitol are not taxpayers?  

But at some point the anger really needs to stop. We should be able to disagree without angry threats and acts of vandalism being used to intimidate people. 

As with any problem, we can not end it unless we acknowledge it.   The people who have been paying attention understand where the problem is coming from.  Republican Thugs  are responsible for a vast majority of the violent incidences in scott walker's Wisconsin(from Jeffrey Radle, to Linda Lorino, to Phil Dziki, to Scott Fitzgerald the instances are too numerous to recount).   While our friends on the right refuse to ever acknowledge any of these incidents, they seem to even enjoy when an incident affects someone on the right!  

A perfect example happened recently where Wisconsin Democratic chairman Mike Tate called upon the Wisconsin RNC chair(whoever that is), to issue a joint press release condemning all attacks on anyone based on politics.   The unknown RNC chair originally agreed to it then flip flopped and declined.   Wonder why? 

From Mike Tate:

Earlier today I called my counter part at the RPW to ask if he would do a joint statement with me decrying the violence and other criminal acts that have occurred to people displaying Obama and Romney signs. Clearly we both deplore these terrible acts and everyone has the right to display support for their candidate of choice without fear. He initially agreed, then called back to say they didn't want to do a joint statement. I told him I felt it was a real missed opportunity for us to demonstrate some civility. Sadly they chose a different path and I find it symbolic of how the leaders in the Republican Party behave today.

Now that we have seen how there is violence on both sides, but heavily weighted towards the right,   and that when violence is perpetrated towards someone on the right, the right wing blargosphere just cant blame the left enough!   You can see the smile on their face when the story hits the wire

However, let us get to the heart of the matter.  While we have always been divided politically since the birth of the nation we have a split here in Wisconsin that goes beyond that.   The one thing about it, and how to fix it is to acknowledge it and find out where it started.   Here we acknowledge the problem, and now here is where it all started:






The Cure:

If you are thinking of stealing a sign and/or abusing someone of the opposite party, STOP!  Channel that anger/energy and write a LTE to your favorite candidate,    If you have stolen a sign put it back.  

However, most importantly, VOTE on NOVEMBER 6th!!!  


9 comments:

  1. The extreme partisan atmosphere, the anger over superficial differences, the resort to vigilantism and self-help are all symptoms of the same underlying problem:

    The presidential election is fundamentally meaningless. No matter which major party candidate is elected, there will be no meaningful reform or change to our political system or country.

    The choice between the Oligarchical Parties, Democratic versus Republican, is much like a decision about whether you would like to have a Coke or perhaps instead a Pepsi, as the Titanic begins to sink.

    A lot of money has been spent to convince us that there is a fundamental difference between the Dems and Repubs.

    And so we are left to bicker and fight over trivial points.

    The postings on this blog are a clear demonstration of the sickening, pathetic futility of the 2012 presidential race.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. i disagree. There is a huge difference between the parties. In terms of commitee chairmanships, who fills civil service jobs, and all the way to the Supreme Court!

      Delete
  2. Back when people gathering recall signatures were threatened with death, spat upon, had their petitions destroyed, were threatened with a baseball bat wrapped in barbed wire, were nearly run over by motorists and more, I kept a list of various miscreants in order to find out how the justice system dealt with them later.

    Of the ten Republican Brown Shirts I tracked, not an all inclusive list by any means, only one person was even issued a ticket and that was for disorderly conduct. The justice system let all the rest of this abusive and threatening behavior slide. Republican DA's at work?

    So the proto-fascist hate talkers in Wisconsin can spare us the lectures on civility.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It would be great to see that information handed to some journalists, etc. to see if any of them have enough moxie to publicize it more.

      Thanx for putting in the effort to keep track of these bastards, by the way.

      Delete
  3. Scott Walker's Batman

    http://youtu.be/9cSr7puKGns

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  4. That Kedzie story bothers me.

    Not because somebody took a beating, this happens for various reasons all over the world every second when you really think about it.

    What bothers me is the story HAD to have accompanying pictures.

    How many other stories of hospital images are there along with the story?

    The Republicans will use any tactic to politicize their party, this is much like the Thompson attack on Baldwins 9/11 tribute.

    In context, it makes things seem different.

    No, the Republicans love that that kid took a beating. They love it so much they took pictures to prove it all.

    Besides, I thought all Republicans had guns to defend themselves? The Kedzie kid should consider that next time, or maybe just calling the police with descriptions of the vandals?

    Or, heck, take a picture of the vandals and give it to police?

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  5. My comment is circa Saturday morning, Sterling Drive, Fond du Lac. Two of our yard signs were stolen last night, the timing is interesting.
    We have had signs for Paul Czisney, Jessica King, Tammy Baldwin, Obama-Biden and Joe Kallas in our front yard right up on the border to our neighbors' property. The neighbor is a Tea Partier (named Lorrigan), big in the local Elk's Club, who got elected to the City Council earlier this year--following her endorsement by the local Chamber of Commerce.
    Council members are voted in at an at-large basis, so we don't have aldermen responsible for a certain section of town.
    When we put the 5 signs right up on the edge of their property, the neighbors responded by putting their Gudex sign directly across from our Jessica King sign.
    Yesterday my father and I attended the Joe Biden appearance at UW Oshkosh, which featured Jessica King giving a great introductory talk for Vice President Biden.
    Many television stations (from Milwaukee and Green Bay) covered the event, and Biden and Jessica King were greeted with tremendous enthusiasm from the attendees.
    This morning, our Jessica King sign is gone, along with Joe Kallas. The neighbor's Gudex sign is still there.
    What's up with THAT, Republicans? Starting to resort to underhanded measures for your candidates?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. P.S. to 10:31--
      The missing Joe Kallas sign is interesting, as his opponent is longstanding Elk's Club honcho Congressman Tom Petri.
      Having played in groups that provided music for many Elk's Club events in the past, these people raise their kids to be conservative. So much so, that the young men who associate with the club through the sponsored membership of their parents are made to wear ties and office-type attire whenever they go to the Club for their free food and booze.
      These young men wearing ties have really snotty attitudes toward people that actually work for a living--perhaps they're the mules sent out to snatch specific yard signs.

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