Saturday, October 12, 2013

MJS Follows Cog Dis' Lead On Walkergate Documents

On September 26, 2013, I wrote the following regarding the release of the Walkergate documents, including the emails that have been under wraps since the investigation started:
Recently there has been a few people raising the hue and cry for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel to push for the release of the Walkergate documents which had been sealed during the John Doe investigation and subsequent trials.

There are two major problems with that course of action.

First, who in their right mind would trust the corporate media to be the holders of this information? There is no reason to believe that they would make all of the transcripts, emails and other documents available to the public. They would pick and choose which ones to release, with their own spin, in order to protect Scott Walker and other key politicos.

Secondly, there ought to be no reason to rely on the corporate media to get the documents released. These documents are property of Milwaukee County and as such, it would be the onus of Milwaukee County Emperor to demand the release of the documents. The fact that he hasn't done so in all of these months should raise eyebrows. Was it because he was simply too busy hanging with his plutocratic pals at the Greater Milwaukee Committee to do his job or maybe was he helping provide cover to Walker as a political favor to get Act 14 - the power grab bill - passed?
Abele's loyalists had a hissy fit about this, angry that I dared bring up Abele's name and that he had nothing to do with the Walkergate investigation.

Clearly that's a false statement. As I explained before, these are the public's property and as County Emperor, it's Abele's onus to get that property back.

Finally, two and a half weeks later, the editorial board found the proverbial acorn and actually got one right.

From their Sunday editorial:
All of them, including emails sent on a secret system set up by aides to then-County Executive Scott Walker, belong to the people of Milwaukee County. And anyone with an interest in this case should join the newspaper in this important fight for transparency and the public's right to know.

That includes Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele, Chisholm — and, of course, Walker, now the governor, whose administration as county executive was subject to the John Doe investigation. Such a proceeding is similar to a federal grand jury investigation, and often is conducted in secret.

[...]

The investigation is long over. The records should be returned to Milwaukee County. The public has a right to know what's in them.

They are the public's records.
Gee, what took them so long?

Can you believe that they are really trying to charge nearly $200 a year for their paper? No wonder they are consistently losing circulation.

Gentle Reader, do us both a favor.

Stop subscribing to that rag and split the savings with us, who gets you the news in a much more timely - and accurate - fashion.

Donations are always gratefully accepted.

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