Trump Death Cult moves from Sacrificial Seniors to infecting or killing our Kids!!!

With just under 2 weeks of school remaining (1 week for seniors) after Gov. Evers stay-at-home order, I can't imagine what could be accomplished packing all those kids back into those buildings during COVID-19 pandemic. Can you? My son is a senior so I know what I'm talking about.

Radio's conservative word salad COVDIAN Vicki McKenna posted an official Legislative letter to Gov. Evers:

Our actual GOP COVIDIAN Legislators argued that after the safe-at-home order expires, and "safe for people to start going back to work," why can't our kids cram themselves into their schools again? The answer is obvious to any adult, but not for these rabid corporate ghouls just trying to ram their point home. This has "smart-ass" written all over it:

I'm pretty sure a medically confirmed viral infection meets the science and data bar set by these geniuses.

While talk show fabricators and Republican COVID deniers insist on science and data from our Democratic Governor, well, I guess that's just BS too:

The plague that has laid this country low, destroyed our economy and brought us to a place that no external enemy could have brought: this plague of experts. Yes, I am talking about Doctors Birx and Fauci. 

I’m already seeing people pointing fingers at the president and complaining that he’s relied too much on these “experts.” Why can’t he hire the people who will be good and not beholden to the – largely left – political establishment? Which brings us to the real plague of experts. Sure, what happened in 2020 and taking our economy down to protect us from what will emerge in retrospect as a not particularly lethal illness is a problem. If we survive – we’ll survive, right – and there is still a Republic at the end of this, we'll need to talk about the plague of experts as a systemic problem.

...and you'll love this...

Just like a virus takes over a healthy cell, eviscerates it, and turns into a factory to create more viruses, so the plague of experts has taken over all our systems of science, education and even the arts, and turned them into factories to turn out more phony “experts.”

Are we perfectly clear about conservative politics yet?

TRUMP WANTS SCHOOL TO REOPEN: Oh, wait, it's just another great idea from our disinfectant-injecting cult leader Trump:

"Some of you might start to think about school openings," Trump said. "I think it's something they can seriously consider and maybe get going on it. The young children have done very well in this disaster that we've all gone through, so a lot of people are thinking about the school openings. There may be governors who are not ready to open their states but they're ready to open up their school system."

Trump's call came after 43 states, including Delaware, North Carolina and New York, recently ordered or recommended schools to be closed for the rest of the academic year, according to Education Week. Even America's five territories, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa and Puerto Rico, have indicated they will shut schools until the end of the academic year.

TV celeb Dr. Oz made it perfectly clear what students were really for:


Don't forget the "pro-life" Republicans who wanted to put your kids life in danger so they could "own" Evers. We have God to thank for booting Scott Walker as governor:

Small town citizen Vicki "McKenna" Porter takes her show to House Oversight Committee!

Thank you Ms. Vicki Porter? No, that's really right-wing talker Vicki McKenna.

Seriously, no one knew that?

It's hard to imagine how Wisconsin reporting missed this one (JS should be embarrassed). WISN's fake news BS'er Vicki McKenna appeared before the House Oversight Committee as an everyday resident "from Lake Mills Wisconsin," defending the practice of vaping (e-cigarettes). They did help her quit cigarettes.

I have to disclose "upfront;" I worked with Vicki as a co-hosted of her show in the very beginning, so I know how she converts real-world facts into a predetermined conservative fiction. That said, McKenna...I mean "Porter" did make some good points about vaping.

McKenna, hiding her identity in front of the House Oversight Committee (how did that happen?), too skillfully exaggerated fiction into fact, got confrontational and took the first opportunity to play the victim against Democratic arch-villain Rep. RashidaTlaib. Tlaib noticed Vicki winking at Rep. Glenn Grothman, and was concerned they both conspired against the committee. She was right, but Porter "McKenna" feigned outrage immediately.

Tlaib also seemed unaware of McKenna's background when she described her as a "converted conservative and a reformed Marxist," with no mention of her radio job.

Watch how McKenna and old friend Rep. Glenn Grothman work the Committee: Porter (McKenna) very selectively stuck to the outdated report from the United Kingdom's Royal College of Physicians back in 2016 (at 1:23 in the video) that determined e-cigarettes weren't harmful. Tricky. Of course that's well before any actual long term and thorough research was enacted, and certainly well before profiteers found ways to contaminate the product with their own untested ingredients.



Again, this is Vicki McKenna, the veteran conservative talk show host, disguised as your average small town concerned citizen. She and Grothman both made outrageous statements.

Grothman said THC cannabis cartridges in the medical marijuana program may have been a mistake because they opened the door for contamination and abuse. Huh?

The fact is, vaping just started harming users after years of being on the market, so it has to be something else. It's not THC capsules, because they have been a successful part of the medical cannabis program. Vicki is right to say that it has to be something that was added to vaping cartridges. And yes, more government long term testing of the effects, and then possible control of the product is a no brainer.

Schimel botches smear campaign against Scott Walker "opponents" in John Doe investigation!!!

First things first: My first general impression of AG Brad Schimel, before he was elected, was right on the mark:

Schimel Incompetence: Schimel's latest partisan attack against Walker's supposed enemies is a disaster, especially his attempted smear of a Journal Sentinel reporters wife. Let's start at the dubious beginning.

Schimel's already Botched "get even" Investigation: As a shot across the bow to anyone else even thinking about questioning the Walker Authority, Schimel is asking a judge to move ahead with "contempt proceedings" against investigators in the Scott Walker John Doe probe. A still unknown source leaked documents to The Guardian. ("Contempt" simply means "being disobedient to a court that defies their authority.")

In a 91-page report the Republican attorney general sharply criticized the probe's leaders ... "The systemic and pervasive mishandling of John Doe evidence likely resulted in circumstances allowing the Guardian leak in the first place." Special prosecutor Francis Schmitz and the team he led ... handled seized material after courts told them they could not review it further or had to get rid of it.

Republicans Off the Hook - have Citizen rights Above the Law: I'm still waiting for a reporter to please ask Schimel why the courts orders don't apply to the Republican operatives:

Despite secrecy orders ... Schimel investigated the leaks to the Guardian but not ones that were critical of the probe and appeared to be leaked by its targets. Schimel said ... Eric O'Keefe, the head of Wisconsin Club for Growth and a target of Chisholm's probe, had leaked information because "he has a right as a citizen to say whatever he wants. It would smack frankly of authoritarian countries” if someone were barred from saying his or her home had been raided, Schimel said.

DOH!!! Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Demands Schimel Correction: Just how bad is Schimel's "investigation?" You can't make this stuff up:

State Attorney General Brad Schimel said Thursday he will correct a court report in which he falsely implied a reporter’s wife had provided information to the Journal Sentinel while working for the state Supreme Court ... reporter Daniel Bice's wife, Sonya, did not work for the Supreme Court in the year stated in Schimel's report or even in the building he referred to.

So Schimel Lied to Judge: Yup, he lied, according to Journal Sentinel Editor George Stanley:

The reasons Schimel gave for deleting the inaccurate information were as false as the footnote itself. "The Journal Sentinel did not identify sources, nor did the Justice Department ever have any 'other evidence' to support its false footnote," said Stanley.

The Journal Sentinel sets the Record Straight: Calling into question Schimel's entire smear investigation, here's how wrong Schimel got it in his simple bogus footnote:

Schimel’s report included a footnote that stated: “Although DOJ did not announce its visit to the Supreme Court, and was otherwise inconspicuous, the visit was reported by the Journal Sentinel Reporter Daniel Bice, whose wife works in the same office space. DOJ has undertaken no action to determine why a member of the court staff would have reported this visit.”

Sonya Bice had not worked for the Supreme Court for more than a year by the time of the visit from investigators. She never worked in the office space at 110 E. Main St.

In addition, while Sonya Bice worked as a lawyer in the state Capitol for Supreme Court Justice Patrick Crooks, from 2008 until his death in 2015, she did not handle any matters related to the John Doe investigation.
Similarly, Daniel Bice did not report on any matters before the Supreme Court during the years his wife worked for Crooks.

Even radio propagandist Vicki McKenna got this one right: While it was pretty obvious Schimel was an idiot, even McKenna couldn't keep her typical low information Republican from voting for him. Be amused...:

Trump vs Right Wing Radio

Conservative talk radio is suffering from stage four political cancer. And only a few hard core right wing patients are willing to die from it. Many listeners just can't stand the pain anymore...

President of iHeartMedia Pittman is begging a San Antonio judge to give him a restraining order. But the radio stations’ owner doesn’t have a stalker or a crazed ex-wife. No, he wants a restraining order to keep his creditors from putting the hate-radio company in default and bankruptcy.

It seems his 850 radio stations, spread out across the country, are in danger of going under, because Pittman owes $20 billion to his creditors. It is impossible to feel sorry for the “hate radio” generator of mass racism, xenophobia, homophobia, and misogyny. Pittman is responsible for spreading incredibly ignorant ideas across the country, ideas that have caused untold damage between family members and other groups of people ... corporate owner of hate salesmen like Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Michael Savage, and Glenn Beck

So it wasn't a big surprise when the unlikable Donald Trump made the rounds and took a few lumps from right wing hosts who are used to getting away with murder on Milwaukee radio stations. You’d think station owners would care just a little about the quality of their product, and demand their hosts back up their endless steam of on air fictional bloviating…guess not. 

The biggest purveyor of mindless rambling bullshit is WISN/WIBA-AM's Vicki McKenna, my cohost for the one year I was inside the right wing bubble. Rude and detached from reality as ever, McKenna didn't impress Trump:  

“Obviously you’re not going to vote for me, ” Trump told WISN talker Vicki McKenna. After 25 minutes of sparring, he signed off with a sarcastic, “Best of luck to you, Vicki,” and hung up on her, according to McKenna.

The reason for Trump's abrupt exit? McKenna, like Charlie Sykes, are drunk on the Scott Walker supply side Kool-Aid. To them, failure is success, divide and conquer is healthy:

“You’re in Wisconsin, where it’s a different state, sir, than you might be used to.m This is a state that pulled together Republican coalitions. Scott Walker didn’t win or get the incredible reforms that we were actually able to pass through in a blue-state-turned-purple-state like Wisconsin by dividing Republicans.”

WTMJ's Charlie Sykes continues to crank out great fiction, imagining "civility,""decency," and sticky to flip floppy "principles." Check out this god awful projection:

“Here in Wisconsin, we value things like civility, decency and actual conservative principles,” the talk show host declared before ripping Trump for his campaign behavior, comparing him to “a 12-year-old bully on the playground,” and suggesting his claim to be a conservative was a “giant fraud.”

Trump at least has a handle on the states declining business and job creation, which are fighting words for in-the-tank "stand with Walker" radio brownshirts:

McKenna fiercely defended the health of the state’s manufacturing sector and derided Trump’s view that trade is killing jobs. “Wisconsin is actually fourth in the Midwest in terms of manufacturing growth. We’re not losing manufacturing in Wisconsin!”

Trump told McKenna, “I don’t think fourth in the Midwest is very good, because the Midwest is not doing particularly well.”

After all the interviews Trump has given, he seemed surprised by Wisconsin's biased talk losers:

Trump sounded perplexed by the talk radio buzz saw he ran into Monday. “I’m a little surprised that talk show hosts would be supporting somebody. You’d think there’d be a certain impartiality,”

Yea, you'd think.

To hear McKenna and Sykes talk up unity in Walker's Wisconsin, treating the 2011 protests & recall like something the Democrats started, you'd have to declared them mentally incompetent:

“Look, if you’re going to be the presidential candidate, you have to find a way to unify a whole bunch of people right now who are at each others’ throats,” McKenna told Trump. “And we feel it viscerally here because we went through the (protest) occupation in 2011 and a recall election in 2012. That’s the landscape you’re facing here when you’ve got Republicans acting like ‘recallers’ to other Republicans.”

That whole picking your presidential candidate thing...yea, just like a recall?

Suddenly, Republicans don't like those greatly expanded Bush "free speech zones" when it effects them.

The idea that Republicans have principles is laughable. This newer, more radicalized party's one goal now, is to win their politically motivated game. Nothing else. Forget public policy. Principles, what principles?

Which brings me to those old George W. Bush "free speech zones" they loved so much. And it makes sense too, because conservatives have hated the right to protest for years. It's an ongoing battle to finally "win" the 60's anti-war/civil rights protests.

Many universities created on-campus free speech zones during the 1960s and 1970s, during which protests on-campus (especially against the Vietnam War) were common. 

It was during Bush's presidency that their scope was greatly expanded. The Bush administration has been criticized by columnist James Bovard of The American Conservative for requiring protesters to stay within a designated area, while allowing supporters access to more areas.

The American Civil Liberties Union has asked a federal court in Washington D.C. to prevent the Secret Service from keeping anti-Bush protesters distant from presidential appearances while allowing supporters to display their messages up close, where they are likely to be seen by the news media. 

Now that "free speech zones" appear to be blowing back on libertarian/conservative protesters, the right wing outrage has begun...like this from radio bullshit artist Vicki McKenna, in her "you've got to be kidding me" Facebook moment:

Right wing propagandist, The Blaze, abandoning principles?

Vicki McKenna to punish large Bernie Sanders crowd: We should move State Capitol.

93.7's Sly, where you can hear the whole podcast at Slys Office, must have driven off the road when he heard this ridiculous threat on the radio.

Conservative banshee Vicki McKenna had a message for Madison liberals; We will disconnect Madison, the state Capitol and "center of Wisconsin government," as a way to punish the 10,000 liberal voters who turned out to see their presidential candidate Bernie Sanders. How dare they!

As surreal as that might seem, and a blatant violation of the 1st Amendment to boot, getting back at liberals by moving the seat of government is actual talk show fodder. She might say it was just a tongue and cheek comment, but who would get an idea like that in the first place?

Don't forget, Republicans are now going to allow "outside" bids for state office building locations, which could send government off to every corner of the state. They say it gives the boonies a chance to have a say in government and get some of those elitist public jobs too.

More than anything, McKenna demonstrates just how conservatives think; punish and discourage dissenters, belittle protesters, marginalize Democrats, all the while claiming to support the Constitution and our God given freedoms. Happy 4th folks, here's the audio:

Sadly, there’s no Republican media filter…?

Circular Bubble World Thinking: Want to know why facts and linked news stories don't seem to impress, change minds, or ever pierce that impenetrable right wing bubble? The answer is contained in the short Vicki McKenna Facebook conversation pictured here. It brings to mind this interesting quote:

"All propaganda must be presented in a popular form and must fix its intellectual level so as not to be above the heads of the least intellectual of those to whom it is directed."

And that brings us to Vicki McKenna's radio ministry of propaganda, where all media news stories are said to pass through a liberal filter. Another example of projection as well:

Republican Ghouls eat up McKenna's Grotesque Offerings...

After some deliberation, I decided to show you what talk radio's Vicki McKenna is posting on her Facebook site. Guess it helps to feed pictures like this into the frightened crowd of gun toting cowards. Just like my former conservative friend sending me an unwelcome picture of a beheaded ISIS prisoner, I'm getting the uneasy feeling right wingers get off on this stuff.

Have a Happy Homophobic Christmas: I wish I were kidding....

Conservatives are so openly homophobic that the scene below is a bragging point to the cackling conservative talker, Vicki McKenna:

Back in 2012, I wrote this:

Did you know that businesses have constitutional rights that gay Americans don't? It's true:

NY Times: "We heard about the protests against Chick-Fil-A, so we came over to support the rights of small business owners and the rights of business owners to say what they believe," said Keith Chillquist. "There's this thing called the Constitution, and Democrats try and take it and do whatever they want with it but we think that's wrong." 

Malkin slips up: "Big Government Control Freaks are always troubled by dissent." The inadvertent truth comes out.

Well, didn't this quickly become very awkward...

...yea, those "big government control freaks" are "troubled by dissent"....

..."troubled by dissent?"...

And we all know how what happened after Selma...passage of the Voting Rights Act. Can't let anything like that happen again.

Raw Milk blamed for outbreak that sidelined football team and sickened 38 people. Conservative Talk geniuses stumped.

For nearly a year, conservative talk radio whiners had a tantrum over an attempt to stop the sale of raw milk in the state. It was big government going after the little guy, a farmer with the best intentions and a free market sensibility. Raw milk is safe damn it.

Oops, guess a few of those “stand with Walker” voters in northwestern Wisconsin who believed that lunacy are singing a different tune today. Journal Times:

The ongoing debate over legalizing the sale of raw milk, in this state and other states, got an instructive example on the potential dangers of that path this fall in northwestern Wisconsin. A DHS investigation has confirmed that raw milk was to blame for an outbreak of stomach illnesses that sickened 38 people at a potluck dinner for the Durand High School football team, including about 22 members of the team. With so many football players falling ill, the Durand team had to cancel two football games … some of the players lost so much weight “they looked like skeletons.”

Where are our genius talk show hosts now? Remember, you don’t need much of an education to become one of the media elite on the AM dial.

Advocates of raw milk contend it is delicious and provides health benefits, including protection against asthma and lactose intolerance. They argue, as well that it is a freedom of choice issue and the government should butt out. But the dairy industry and pediatricians have lined up in opposition, and the Durand outbreak will give them a “we told you so” moment.

Back to the unsuspecting public:

Some parents are furious because they were unaware raw milk was being served at the event. Some families reportedly face thousands of dollars in medical bills.

Enemies of the free market; doctors and the government: Heck, what do they know?

Last December, the American Academy of Pediatrics advocated a nationwide ban on the sale of raw milk because of the danger of bacterial illnesses — particularly for pregnant women, infants and children. Legislation to allow raw milk sales in Wisconsin was vetoed in 2010 by Gov. Jim Doyle, but the issue has been revived in the Legislature. We expect it will be on the agenda again. 

That's because Republicans never learn anything from reality, or the pain and suffering of actual people. Free market raw milk is a guaranteed freedom that needs to be protected. Here's a WKOW story from a few months back dealing with the same farmers talk radio hosts were convinced had a legal right to sell their raw milk. Guess not:

ISIS Beheading Success at Frightening Conservatives gives home grown Killers Ideas .

It's no coincidence that following the ISIS beheadings and the call for all out war by frightened conservatives like the easily manipulated Sen. Lindsey Graham, criminals got a crazy idea.

The paranoid right wing press is filled with this stuff for the most exploitative reasons:

The unintended consequence of their full out panic attack has resulted in a copycat beheading and threats by homegrown killers looking of headlines. Yet Republican talk show hosts who are part of this fear mongering campaign to discredit Obama are surprised the idea is catching on:

This is on right wingers. Nice going guys.

Real Walker Brownshirts form armed "Wisconsin Poll Watcher Militia," targeting Recall Petition Signers.

We kind of thought this would happen.

Scott Walker's recall blacklist has now morphed into a citizen police state of brownshirt "stand with Walker" thugs. Walker's liberal use of the black list, targeting individuals for punishment, set an example for his loyal followers.

And they're armed and quite seriously dangerous. We need to bring photo IDs AND guns to the polls in November or we can't vote? So many new rules!  Even Rush Limbaugh chimed in to promote their new "Poll Watcher Militia." And oh yea, the word salad talk queen herself, Vicki McKenna, jumped on the bandwagon as well. Radio station owners are okay with this?



I always kind of knew this was a possibility, because after all, Republicans have not only vilified Democrats but have said over and over they don't believe liberals have a place in government or in our legal system. That leaves us with a one party system, and we've seen through history what that leads to. Cap Times' Steve Elbow:

A self-described militia group claims to be checking names on the 2012 Scott Walker recall petition and plans to confront those found to have outstanding warrants or tax defaults at the polls on Nov. 4.

"We prefer our people be armed," reads a Facebook post by Wisconsin Poll Watcher Militia, screen captured on a blog at Politicususa.com. "Some will be heading to some of Milwaukee, Racine, and Beloit's worst areas. We will be armed with a list of people to look for at each location."

To compile the list of names, the group is using the website Put Wisconsin First, which has divided petition signers into categories. For instance, the "Tax Delinquents for Recall" category lists 571 petition signers who are in tax arrears. One category lists 444 sex offenders and another lists Democratic political donors. Another page on the site allows users to search petition signers by offense, everything from homicide to speeding.

And I love this…

A Wisconsin Poll Watcher Militia response on Facebook reads: "We can assure you that
we will be targeting all democrats, not just black ones. If you think we meant blacks only it is because you are a racist who thinks the only people with warrants are black. We know better because we have a nice list of people who are wanted democrat activist types. Most are actually white. We will target everyone."

Walker's unapologetic use of the recall blacklist opened the door for the party reactionaries to take it to the next step. Of course, it'll be interesting to see how Walker deals with this right wing authoritarian behavior, and the kind of press he might not like.

This is an attempt to frighten people so they could suppress the vote, plain and simple. There is a legal remedy:

According to the Justice Department, “The administration of elections is chiefly a function of state government. However, federal authorities may become involved where there are possible violations of federal law. In cases where intimidation, coercion, or threats are made or attempts to intimidate, threaten or coerce are made to any person for voting or attempting to vote, the Department of Justice can consider whether there is federal jurisdiction to bring civil claims or criminal charges under federal law. Depending on the nature of the allegations, they may fall into the jurisdiction of different parts of the Department. If you have information about allegations of intimidation, please contact us.” You can contact the Justice Department here, and request that the election be monitored.

Dissent will not be tolerated say our "Stand with Walker" right wing authoritarians.

Stand with Walker supporters had to bus in protesters!

The wacky right and their envious spokesperson Vicki "I am AFP" McKenna failed to convince very many people to turn out at the Capitol, especially knowing their Americans for Prosperity buses could only transport a limited number of seniors at a time.

That wasn't true of the hard working Wisconsinites who turned out to support all labor, including the vilified teachers in our classrooms.

The tea party "counter protests" were so small and embarrassing that there is no photographic evidence available anywhere.

When it comes to Act 10, this is how Wisconsin Republicans saw the mass turnout of protesters standing up for workers. Guess we don't want to see American redressing their government again anytime soon? McKenna actually wrote this on her Facebook page...

You'll love this comment...

"This is one of the reasons why education should be entirely privatized. Wisconsinite turned against Wisconsinite with such rancor because teachers' salaries & benefits became a public matter."

Hey WIBA 1310, time to take out the McKenna Trash Talk.

Reporter Dylan Brogan chanced upon a classic moment where conservative talker (V)icki McKenna defended law enforcement in Ferguson, MO. She's normally not a big fan of local law enforcement when you drunk and disorderly though...

...so Brogan called her and reminded her of her embarrassing past at a U2 concert 18 years ago, where she took a swing at an officer. I assume she wanted to land a punch. And really, resisting arrest takes a little physical force as well...well, check out the edited report by clicking on it. 

Classy and professional as ever, McKenna (Pyzynski) ranted and raged for a few minutes, threatening Sly and the "troll" caller. This plays well for Clear Channel advertisers, a blathering, incoherent, juvenile name calling talk host with a microphone?

I've included as many names and threats as I could from her podcast. Take it from me, her former partner and 26 year radio guy, she's about as uninformed and immature as anyone I've heard behind a mic, and I've seen some real losers. 

Here's what Clear Channel is proudly syndicating around the state:

Jenny, a caller, said she was entertained by her cheap trash talk. Blunt, straight forward, hilarious? Really?

The New Standard in Journalism?

Maybe I didn't notice this before at (V) icki's Facebook site, but my god how the right wing keeps lowering our standards...

Radio's Word Salad Simpleton Vicki McKenna serves up student data fears over Common Core.

The great right wing geniuses would like you to think they're the undaunted protectors of our freedoms, liberties and personal data. For example; Common Core student data.

From the babbling mindlessness of conservative radio talker Vicki McKenna, we're led to believe Common Core student data will be used at some later date to destroy the lives of conservative grownups everywhere. And that liberals and backers of Common Core don't give a damn about it.

Thank god we have tea party leader and mouthpiece Mckenna watching over us. In what I would call a breathless word salad of fear mongering, McKenna throws ridiculously old talking points about "teachers unions supporting leftists..." (remember Act 10 Vicki?) and juvenile comments like "are you creeped out yet? You should be." Here's one of my favorites:

"There is nothing the government needs to know about you that it would ever use to make your life better. Ever! When has the government ever used information gathered about individuals citizens to make their life better?"

When? How about gathered information to improve education, food safety, traffic signs, product safety, drug safety, health, invaluable census data used for policy and business needs centered around demographics, income, marketing, housing needs, zoning...etc. Is she an idiot? Yes.

Having been a radio veteran for 26 years and liberal talk host (Vicki and I were a team for one year), I truly believe she's just making this stuff up to fill the hour. A bottomless word salad of unrelated terms meant to dazzle the low information listener. Here's a tip, stop talking Vicki, and take a call. Breath:



Securing student data Important: But the coverage I've seen in my EdWeek email updates, nothing could be more important than privacy. From local districts, superintendents and school boards, student data is a concern they've already dealt with in their contracts and policies...locked away, or so says my own local superintendent. But beyond local governments, Common Core backer Bill Gates is at the forefront of keeping that data secure. I'm not a big fan of billionaire involvement, but Gates knows his stuff when it comes to security issues, which is an ongoing and never ending process:

As some of its competitors have been battered over their policies for protecting student data, Microsoft Corp. has sought to make sure that the issue—and what it regards as its strong record on privacy—remain firmly in the public eye. During the past year, Microsoft has supported academic research on privacy and guides for school officials on the subject. Its executives have also kept a steady presence at public forums urging school districts and policymakers, as well as parents and families, to pay attention to the issue. "Students are not products," Cameron Evans, Microsoft's chief technology officer for U.S. education, said

But as the company moves aggressively to position itself as a protector of student-data privacy, some say it also runs the risk of a backlash if it doesn't back up its talk with the kind of vigilance the technology giant promises to deliver.While it makes sense for Microsoft to market its privacy brand, "having a business reason for doing that doesn't mean they don't believe what they do," said John M. Simpson, the privacy-project director for Consumer Watchdog, a Santa Monica, Calif.-based organization.

Mark Schneiderman, the senior director of education policy for the Software & Information Industry Association, a Washington-based trade association, said in a statement that K-12 companies are competing on many fronts, and promising strong "data security and related tools" is just one of them. "[T]here is a lack of understanding among parents, the media, and policymakers about what is, and is not happening in the sector," Mr. Schneiderman told Education Week. Mr. Mutkoski, the Microsoft public-sector-services official, said in an interview.

Major organizations, he added, typically expect data-privacy guarantees to be "baked into our contracts," and, he argued, school districts should expect the same.

Vicki McKenna Compares conservative victimhood to threats of racial lynchings.

Just so we all understand the point radio cancer stick Vicki McKenna was making on her recent Facebook post, here's a little background:

WKOW: Harry and Hester Hale have lived in Stoughton for six years. Harry opened an envelope, with no return address written on it, to find a picture depicting the lynching of two African Americans. His 18-year old son's face had been superimposed onto one of the bodies. "This is something we've honestly never dealt with," Harry said. 

The horror this family must be feeling, after receiving this overt racist letter, goes without saying...except in conservative world. Seeing an opportunity where no one with an ounce of common decency would normally think look, McKenna posted this tasteless comment:

Wow. The poor oppressed conservative majority, as seen in the map below, who dominate radio, television and print media everywhere, can't catch a break. How will they ever find the courage and leadership to speak out in public without an Americans for Prosperity bus tour?

Koch influence in Kenosha School Board Race, Sly Protest of Americans for Prosperity and more Vicki McKenna BS.

Our outside electioneers, the Koch brothers Americans for Prosperity group, are now controlling campaigns all over the state. Think what they'll do for Scott Walker.  UPDATED HERE.

Is it just a coincidence that just after voter suppression rules were put in place, out-of-state campaign cash is suddenly flooding in, controlling our issues and candidates for public office?

Conservatives love this stuff, because winning is the bottom line. Like Padme said Star Wars 3, "So this is how liberty dies… with thunderous applause," or a Walker win.

Kock's in Kenosha School Board Race? It's hard to believe, but true:

Kenosha News: About 60 demonstrators voiced their opinion in front of the Kenosha Unified School District Educational Support Center ... The picketers carried signs critical of the Americans for Prosperity group … Guest speaker John “Sly” Sylvester of Madison talk radio WEKZ-FM 93.7 spoke to the marchers on a megaphone in an effort to “fire up the troops.”

I talked to Sly about the latest rantings from WISN's Vicki McKenna's. McKenna and Kristi Lacroix of AAE Wisconsin tore into Sly for "the bullying tactics used by the Kenosha teachers union at their recent rally." McKenna and Lacroix whined about Madison based Sly injecting himself into Kenosha's election, and yelling at Lacroix's 13 year old daughter. Not only did Sly deny that, he mentioned how Madison based McKenna was there the previous week. Oops.

How dare Sly protest the Koch brothers influence. Remember, citizen participation via unions, via radio hosts, via independent citizen voices is frowned upon by Republicans. Below, McKenna repeated the fabricated story about Sly "screaming" at Lacroix's daughter, which wasn't true. Does she ever confirm anything?



Dark Money and the Koch Brother Invasion: The Kenosha News wrote the following:

Americans for Prosperity … funded by billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch … is getting involved with the Kenosha Unified School Board race.

David Fladeboe, state director of AFP, said the organization has a field team working on the race, doing phone banks and canvassing in the district … the group decided to become involved in the race due to the board’s approval of new union contracts … the group is interested in remaining active in Kenosha County beyond School Board politics, saying “We’ll be active in that corner of the state all year.”

Jay Heck, executive director of Common Cause, a Wisconsin campaign spending watchdog group, said Americans for Prosperity (are involved) in northern Wisconsin where the group has gone after opponents of a proposed iron ore mine … he had not heard of the group being involved in school board races in the state. He called the development “very, very alarming.”

“Obviously the teachers unions have always weighed in, but for the Americans for Prosperity to do it, boy, I have not heard of that in school board races,” Heck said. “It’s a new trend. It’s now in virtually every competitive congressional and legislative race, but now it’s county supervisors and city council members. And now school board members down in Kenosha,” Heck said. “It’s the nationalization of state and local politics in Wisconsin.”

Isn't that the tea party complaint about Common Core, which isn't true by the way. And while McKenna screams about liberal “dark money,” she never mentioned the Koch brothers on her program.

Groups like Americans for Prosperity spend on issue ads … they do not have to report who donates money to their organization. 

Cognitive Dissidence's Jeff Simpson posted this Robert Greenwald video showing what did happen under Koch brothers rule on the Raleigh, N. Carolina school board. I never heard about this outrageous horrific story, which is truly jaw dropping. This is what's really behind school privatization:

  

Leadership, Paul Ryan and Vicki McKenna style.....

Republicans are big on having "leaders," despite pushing "individualism, freedom and liberty," a direct contradiction to their one party style of authoritarian rule .

I heard radio's snake oil pitch person Vicki McKenna come up with a dramatic example of projection today. Basically, it goes something like this; pushy know-it-all progressive leadership is bad, conservative authoritarian father-knows-what's-best leadership is good.

Progressive Leadership: In the first clip, McKenna poses this false premise to make her case for what really sounds like her own parties goal:

"...believe what they say. Don't present them with the facts. Don't confront them with the failures. The failures will be redefined as successes. The facts will be ignored. Your concerns are irrelevant, trust us, we know what's best. That's the way progressives think."

Good conservative leadership: But McKenna sounds like she's describing Paul Ryan, who says he morally knows what's best for us, despite overwhelming public support for something else:

"It sounds simple...but if I believe this is counter productive for the very people we're trying to hurt...to help...and will hurt them by doing this, but it's politically popular, what does that say about you as a moral person...leaders have to take positions that may not be popular sometimes if they think they're doing the right thing."

Republicans continue to tell all of us what we're not ready for, because they say they know, from legalizing marijuana to a female president:

Darn, that rules out Hillary.

With not even a mention of allowing medical marijuana, Scott Walker has decided for us that we're just not ready yet. jsonline:

"I've never experienced this, but I can't imagine people socially smoking the way people have a beer or two at a wedding reception. There's a huge difference out there. So in the end, I understand why people make that argument (for legalization), but in our state, I don't think we're ready for that."