Red State Wisconsin's National Leaders; Reince Priebus, Paul Ryan, Scott Walker,

Wisconsin all of a sudden is what Republicans stand for. We are grooming the next generation of red state leaders. Ours is the national message. It's the Republican Economy now. Rachel Maddow and Paul Krugman break it all down.

Father James Martin on Ryan Budget: "You really can't say it's Catholic." Ezra Klein Breaks it down to a matchbook cover.

You know, I've got to admit, everything that's being said about how outrageous Paul Ryan's budget plan is, is not getting through to conservative voters. I'll bet most of the information in the video below has never been explained to Republican radio listeners. My gut feel is that they believe so strongly in the truth of their ideology, that if it fails, it's means they haven't gone far enough. That's just crazy...and true.

Father James Martin points out what Paul Ryan missing, and Ezra Klein sums up beautifully the Ryan plan. Great stuff, and something Democrats should memorize and repeat to death.

Bain Capital victim Senata Technologies in Illinois moving to China.

Sensata Technologies in Freeport Illinois are protesting layoffs due to outsourcing. Employees wanted to send a message to Mitt Romney in nearby Janesville that their company, once owned by Bain Capital, shouldn't be moving jobs to China. Fat chance anyone will be listening to that sad story, you know, the kind Wisconsin senate candidate Eric Hovde says he hates reading about in the papers, or see on TV. WREX:

The Obama Outhouse Presidential Library?

Another missed opportunity for the Democratic Party? Sure. I lost count years ago.

Rachel Maddow points out another outrageous Republican moment, the Obama "outhouse presidential library" set up outside the GOP convention in Montana. Will the Democrats beat this radical insult of our president to death in the media? Not a chance. Frank Rich makes that point, and laments how pathetic the Democrats were when they back away from the fairly mild Obama attack ads on Bain Capital, forcing Obama to defend himself from his own party. Holy crap. Obama's ads weren't nearly as nasty as the Newtster's.

Tea Party Republicans are showing they are bona fide Racists.

Michael Medved tries but fails to deflect accusations that racism is rampant in the tea party and with many Republicans.  LOOP21's Keli Goff and Huffington Post's Trymaine Lee of course aren't buying it, as more and more examples surface in the media. Like KFNX's Barbara Espinoza's comment, "I call him a monkey." Or the Obama outhouse that was set up outside the GOP convention in Montana celebrating their new leader Mitt Romney.

Solving the Bookmarks/Quick Links Problem for your Homepage. .

Many would be "home pages" are not as customizable as they should be. For years I've used Excite.com, which is still up and running. But as a backup, but now my go-to homepage at iGoogle, I had to find a way to add a list of bookmarks. Many bookmark gadgets had lousy reviews. But one site tucked away deep in the pages of my search, was Shenlian.de.

If you're looking for a great bookmark service, this is the best ever. Reliable and easy to customize, you can't go wrong with it. I have it installed on my iGoogle home page, but they have versions for other services and browsers. It can be found at Shenlian-here's a screenshot of what it looks like.

Walker's Online Bachelors Degree needs a lot of work.

Adults may soon be able to study online and get their bachelors degree, and hopefully, a good job.

I don't disagree with the program put forth by the governor and university officials, what I do disagree with is the incredibly sketching planning of such a major announcement. Check it out:

WKOW: Imagine a bachelor's degree program that's online, lets you work at your own pace and gives you college credits for your work experience. That's the goal of a new initiative being launched by the University of Wisconsin System and Governor Scott Walker. Walker said the program will target adults, many of whom can't find the time to obtain a traditional degree. It would allow those students to take classes online and at their own pace, with no specific start or end date. 

The tricky part will be figuring out a way to test the knowledge a person has already gained the workplace.

UW System officials must still design those competency tests and figure out how to administer them, the cost of the program and how to pay for it is a big unknown at this point.

UW System officials also don't know when the program will start or how many degrees will be offered. 

But could it save money?

"The overhead costs are much less than other places, it could actually, potentially offset more of the other costs at more of the traditional undergraduate settings," said Gov. Walker.

There is some question about how a degree in a field like health care could be completed online. Using that example, UW officials said they would have to work out agreements with private clinics or hospitals so students could still do the field work necessary to complete the degree.

You'll Pay More Out of Pocket under Ryan's Plan. That's freedom?

No matter how Paul Ryan likes to package it, the Catholic Bishops and Nunns are completely against his plan. It's not a matter of debate, perspective or belief, it's a noticeably bad economic plan pummeled by non partisan critics and watch dogs. Simply put, you'll be paying more out of pocket then you ever did before.

The Nuns on a Bus tour stopped today in Janesville, and actually got the press it deserved. According to one brainwashed Republican voter,

"I'm embarrassed, that my fellow religious sisters are doing this. I totally support Paul Ryan, he may not be 100 percent, but I think he's the best we have on the foreground, that we have now, and he's making cuts in our budget that has to be."  

Funny thing though, all of this was cause by the bad behavior of banks and Wall Street, not retirees and public workers. And yet...oh well, I'll let the Nuns do the talking. WKOW:



Here's Ed Schultz with Sister Simone Campbell telling it like it is about Ryan. Devastating stuff. I loved her comments.

Michigan Republican Prudes Repulsed by Talk of Vagina's.

Looks like the men in the Michigan House found an excuse to shut a woman legislator up for a day, by mischaracterizing her statements, suggesting that she "compared the legislation to rape, violating House decorum. She denies the allegation." Looks like she hit them a little to close to home. Like all Republicans, they know what other people are thinking, and will not tolerate it. This is what I would call "big government." Huffington Post:

A state lawmaker who says she was barred from speaking in the Michigan House because Republicans objected to her saying "vagina" during debate over anti-abortion legislation performed "The Vagina Monologues" on the Statehouse steps – with a hand from the author. 

Here's a great interview with one of the censored Michigan Representatives, Barb Byrum. Watch and learn Democrats, she knows how to fight.

Nothing Racist about Republican View of Obama? "I call him a monkey."

Post racial president? Welcome to the tea party nation...here's KFNX's Barbara Espinoza to to explain:

Library Gun Bans create "Criminal Safe Zones," West Bend Alderman says.

The concealed carry law comes with one big unintended consequences. It's now part of a political litmus test for public service. Especially in West Bend:

jsonline: The gun ban at West Bend's public library has been shelved. Last November, the Library Board voted to keep the building a gun-free zone. Tuesday, a newly constituted board reversed course - minus a member who wasn't con­firmed for reappointment because of that earlier vote and two others who resigned. They're strictly banned from schools. Members of the West Bend Library Board decided on the ban ... because they compared the child-friendly library with schools.

But making sense on public policy is no longer important. The following is NOT the way to fight decisions that endanger the general public:

Members Dave Krochalk and Judy Schaar then resigned, both citing a conservative agenda that started with overturning the gun ban.

It’s funny/sad how taking a firm, almost militant stand defending the gun ban is so off the table now:

Ald. Tony Turner, who's just taken his seat as the council's representative to the Library Board, led the charge in April against confirming three members who'd voted to keep the library a gun-free zone. He was quoted in the local newspaper as saying that night that he'd never vote for someone who'd made the library gun-free, a 'criminal safe zone.' When I talked to him Friday, he questioned the judgment of anyone who'd rule against constitutionally protected freedoms' the right to bear arms, obviously, a big one for him.

That's hogwash, of course, since the concealed carry law permits employers and public bodies to restrict where weapons can be carried by posting a notice on the front door. There was nothing unconstitutional about the former Library Board's decision.

Mayor Kraig Sadownikow, who had recommended reappointment of the former members and now is looking for two more, said he has no litmus test ... But he said that in weighing qualifications of potential appointees, defense of the Second Amendment is equally important as defending the First.

Summing up just how I feel about this slide into openly armed civilian public, like some third world nation:

Former library director Michael Tyree put it, 'For me, the criteria of being a library board member is that you're interested in the First Amendment, first and foremost. Open and free access to materials - rather than the Second Amendment.” Besides, 'The crime rate for our city doesn't substantiate the need to carry a gun.' 

I can hear the drone of the tea party pocket constitutionalists now, "but it's constitutional."  

Vickin McKenna lies about me and liberalism.

It looks like my old partner in talk radio, Vicki McKenna, kinda mentioned me the other day. Not by name of course. She made up something about me describing myself as a "progressive," and not a liberal, which is an absolute BS. I have never allowed Republicans to dictate, or frame the word liberal as a negative. But that little truth never stopped Vicki from making stuff up.

I'll be on Sly in the Morning tomorrow at 9:35 am, the guy who discovered this little audio gem, and dissect the lunacy. Here are the only two pictures from that nightmarish but invaluable year on Upfront, in this audio slideshow. 



Here's my response with Sly.

Scott Walker declares, Republicans want a leader! What, not a president?

Democrats are second class citizens now, or hasn’t anyone noticed? We’re not good enough to run a country, so someone has to “take it back.” Republicans talk about our Republic, but really, run the country like a democracy, where a simple majority rules. This frightening empowered party, is no longer hiding its authoritarian intentions, and people love it.  WKOW:

So Scott Walker’s declaration that we need to be led by anyone is an insult that should chill any freedom loving American to the bone.

"We need someone to standup and lead and turn this country around," Gov. Walker told the crowd of about 200 at the Monterrey Mills textile factory. Gov. Walker said his embrace of the former Massachusetts Governor came after a recent meeting with him and some area small business owners.

Get that? Romney met with small business owners. You never read a whole lot about meetings with everyday people like, you know, the ones that create demand for those businesses. Walker and Romney are listening to the “people” who own businesses.

"I think he said all the right things and he's really listening to people.  I think that's something that gives him an advantage over the President," said Gov. Walker.

What Walker is describing is another iteration of fascism.

Fascism is a radical authoritarian nationalist political ideology. The fascist party and state is led by a supreme leader who exercises a dictatorship over the party, the government and other state institutions. Fascism claims to represent a synthesis of cohesive ideas previously divided between traditional political ideologies. To achieve its goals, the fascist state purges forces, ideas, people, and systems deemed to be the cause of decadence and degeneration. Fascism condemns liberal democracy for basing government legitimacy on quantity rather than quality, and for causing quarreling partisan politics. Fascists claim that their ideology is a trans-class movement, advocating resolution to domestic class conflict within a nation to secure national solidarity.

Zombie Apocalypse on the way....

Call me burned out, but I am so tired of hearing the same old claptrap from the Democratic establishment, that my head is about to explode. And I don't want that to happen, because as a proud liberal zombie, and I need my brain seek out and eat other brains. As you're aware, brains are harder to find these days, especially in Wisconsin. I'm jealous too, because it appears that conservatives can live just fine without brains.

Which leads me to this nice piece from the Huffington Post, declaring....  

...I Welcome the Coming Zombie Apocalypse

I am a zombie, or, as we prefer to be called by you brains on legs, Shuffling-Undead-American. Why so upset, television newsreaders? Most of you don't have a brain in your head, and are therefore perfectly safe from me and my fellow zombies. Are you so intolerant of other lifestyles -- well, deathstyles -- that you cannot let us die and let die?

Also, after the zombie apocalypse, you won't have to think so much about what to order in a restaurant, which is good ... Too much choice hurts your brain. And makes it less tender ... I don't mean this in any kind of metaphorical or allegorical sense, nor as a comment on the ways in the which the rich are feeding off the poor and middle class and sucking the United Ss of A dry. No, that would be my upcoming post on vampires. 

But the zombie movement is only expanding to actual government policy:

The B.C. government has put together some advice on fending off the brain eaters . The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the U.S. has a similar site that they set up, for a similar reason.

"If you are generally well equipped to deal with a zombie apocalypse you will be prepared for a hurricane, pandemic, earthquake, or terrorist attack," said CDC director Dr. Ali Khan on the site .

However, the CDC said they do not know of anything that would cause dead people to come back to life

Entitlements Must Go, says former Wisconsin Physician and Legislator: “Women Entitled to Babies, the Elderly Entitled to Unlimited Medical Care…Entitlement Culture finally lost Allure.” Really?

Just mentioning the word “entitlements” is like sticking a knife in the heart of a conservative, and likewise, the heart of America. The word is so vilified, that conservatives are now trying to come up with other things they could pass off as “entitlements.”

You have to read this amazing point of view by Tom Patterson, a retired physician and former state senator, to get a clear idea of why we’re rapidly taking our society. East Valley Tribune: 

Wisconsin recall may be the turning point, 'where entitlement culture finally lost its allure.'

Usually in politics, concentrated special interests, like public unions, prevail. This election was the exception. We may someday look back at Wisconsin as the turning point, the time when the entitlement culture finally lost its allure.

Since the 1930s, Americans have evolved the belief that the modern welfare state could provide almost everything for everyone. Women were entitled to have babies without consequences. The poor and the elderly were entitled to unlimited medical care. Banks and ball teams were entitled to socialize their losses but keep their gains. Government employees were entitled to above-market compensation and job security.

Read how Patterson weaves into his Dickensian screed a defense of the middle class, the very target of his hatred:

You name it. Housing, food, college loans, business subsidies – all came from the bottomless riches of government. But the string has played out. As in Europe, our national economy is cracking under the strain and the middle class – really, anybody not on the taking side of government handouts – can’t handle much more.

Walker Approval Ratings Better, nowhere near Democratic Governors

Take a look at the current approval ratings of the new crop of governors. You'll notice the Democratic leaders have really high approval ratings. Unfortunately, Scott Walker is buffaloing the public like he did as Milwaukee County Executive. He's good, in a really bad sort of way. WaPo:

Rep. Paul Ryan repeats Scott Walker's advise to Mitt Romney...how original is that?

Nuns on a Bus will send a clear message to Paul Ryan, that he's not a trained theologian...he's not a nun and he's not a bishop. He's got his ridiculous opinion on religion, and "reasonable people can disagree?" I don't think so Paul, and calling yourself a "lay Catholic," doesn't cut it.

Janesville is the place to be on Monday. WKOW's Tony Galli reports:

The Leap!!!? This is the coolest computer advancement yet...ever.

You've seen Iron Man's Tony Stark control his computer graphics with his hands, right? Well that nifty little trick is coming to a screen near you, maybe even your desk, laptop...It's called the Leap, and it only costs $70.

Using a Leap is easy.  A swipe in the air leads to a swipe of the page.  So that nice LED display remains clean and untouched. Setup is just as intuitive.  Plug the LEAP into a USB port.  Load the Leap Motion software. Do a quick wave to calibrate. That’s it.

In minutes, you’ll be able to interact with your desktop using natural hand and finger movements. Able to distinguish thumbs from fingers, and even handheld items like pencils.  This allows users to interact like never before, using only natural movements. And we went a step further. You will be able to create custom gestures that fit how you want to use your computer. 

Ron Johnson on his defeated amendment to defund the Affordable Care Act: It was poorly constructed.

Has dumb Ron Johnson read any part of the Affordable Care Act? There's a strong indication, he hasn't. Case in point:

Democrats on the Senate Appropriations Committee on Thursday beat back attempts by Republicans to use the 2013 Labor, Health and Human Services bill to defund President Obama’s healthcare reform.

Sen. Ron Johnson offered an amendment that would block healthcare reform’s Prevention and Public Health Fund from spending any money.  He argued that the funds are being used for lobbying and as a “slush fund.” That too was defeated.

Sen. Tom Harkin argued that attempts to defund the prevention fund were actually impossible through the appropriations process since the funding was already mandated by the Affordable Care Act.

Johnson admitted the amendment was poorly constructed. 

Beautiful. Any other "married into/or legacy business" millionaires want to run for senate?

Recall Blacklist Used Again, this time for Voter Fraud?

Vicki McKenna is an idiot.

She’s the wacky Bizarro World conservative talk host now broadcasting in three areas of the state, without programming oversight or accountability. WIBA’s program director Tim Scott has all but given up on the content quality of McKenna's show. McKenna's anything goes attitude has been met with rave reviews though, from her rabidly paranoid listeners, so why tell the truth. 

The manufactured world of radical conservatism: Check out this recent irresponsible McKenna Facebook post:

BREAKING: racine voter fraud: poll workers signed recall petition for sen. wanggaard#wiright.

To be clear, voter fraud was committed because a few poll workers signed a recall petition. This nonsensical thinking is what passes for content now. Sounding scary and distrustful of liberals works, so why not. 

The radically fringe think tank wannabe, MacIverInstitute, hatched this lunacy and later in the same article, said there was nothing illegal (or ethically wrong) with poll workers who signed the recall petitions. Doh!

Just so you can see for yourself their pretzel logic, I've peppered in their own quote admitting their outrage is complete bullshit, highlighted, throughout a sample of their carefully researched post:

A check of databases conducted by the MacIver News Service reveals that as many as 78 of the 189 people who worked as official poll workers in the City of Racine last Tuesday may have earlier signed recall petitions that ultimately forced the elections to be conducted.

Partisans are not disqualified from being poll workers.
…we ran their names against the iverifytherecall.com database of recall petition signers. Earlier this week, Media Trackers reported that a chief election inspector at one location, accused of ignoring GOP complaints over a voter's eligibility, had signed both the Gov. Walker and Sen. Wanggaard recall petitions.

Partisans are not disqualified from being poll workers.

Remember, neither Media Trackers or the MacIver Institute have offered tangible proof, just allegations, accusations and observations. I love the fact that they've resorted to dumpster diving too, nothing desperate about that:

Earlier, MNS reported that the Racine County Sheriff's department is investigating allegations that election related documents were found in a dumpster behind the Chavez center.

Oh no, not another recount? The following voter fraud fear mongering would be funny if it wasn't taken seriously by their low information voters:

On Friday, Wanggaard announced he was requesting a recount. "This is not about maintaining power or denying Democrats power," Wanggaard said in a statement. "But I also recognize that in the absence of a voter ID law and so many people suspicious of the election result, bitterness and division will only grow if the results are not recounted."

Wow. Here's what he and the Republican Party were saying when another recount took place, in a much closer race (.488 percent, well within recount limits), between Justice David Prosser and JoAnne Kloppenburg for the state supreme court. Surprised?

You really can't make this stuff up.