Showing posts with label Republican Party. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Republican Party. Show all posts
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Hail Mary full of gaffes
Whew, talk about dodging a bullet.
It's hard to tell how much of this is the GOP trying to find a single scapegoat for their massive failure in this election, and how much of it is the honest-to-goodness truth (or a bit of both). But it's also hard to figure why Fox News, of all places, would report these stories at all. They were, after all, some of the biggest Palin cheerleaders on cable news. If we want to get really cynical, I suppose you could chalk it up to spite, or maybe they're just being played by McCain staffers in order to further that whole scapegoat thing.
Whatever the case, I still think it's pretty damn clear that almost no vetting was done for the Palin VP pick, and that she was a pretty big weight around the campaign's neck. That said, Palin was not the sole reason for the failures of the Republican party on Nov. 4 - rather, it was a complex and many layered cake that had been baked over the last 8 years of GOP dominance in Washington (it probably goes back even further, honestly). They let cronyism and hard line ideology take control, and the results are being crushingly played out on the American people's pocketbooks and lives.
Still, the not knowing that Africa was a continent thing is, if baffling, pretty damn funny. Oh Alaska, I don't envy you right now.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
You stay classy, Republican Party
A friend of mine--a dyed-in-the-wool liberal--has somehow managed to land himself on the Republican Party of Wisconsin's mailing list, and as such, has been receiving some rather lovely pieces of political propaganda.
The most recent one is, simply put, pretty despicable, and I'm having a hard time figuring out why exactly the GOP seems to think that the "Obama makes love to Bill Ayers' TERRORIST body on a nightly basis" narrative is 1) beneficial to McCain's campaign, and 2) at all true.
Opinion polls and facts aside, however, they march on with this nonsense and send out garbage like this:
(click to embiggen)
Oh yeah, the Republican Party: one classy operation.
UPDATE TO ADD: madison.com is running an AP article that talks about this mailer and the other shady activities the GOP/McCain campaign have been up to lately. This is the choice quote: "...there is no evidence [Obama and Ayers] are close friends."
There's also a quote from Wisconsin Republican Party spokeswoman Kirsten Kukowski defending the mailer:
As for Kukowski's claim that Obama is still an "unknown figure," I call bullshit. We've got several auto/biographies, a pretty damn thorough vetting of him through his state and national Senate campaigns and his years long run for the presidency, and more. This assertion that we still "don't know the real Barack Obama" is as ludicrous as asserting that dinosaurs and man roamed the Earth together.
The most recent one is, simply put, pretty despicable, and I'm having a hard time figuring out why exactly the GOP seems to think that the "Obama makes love to Bill Ayers' TERRORIST body on a nightly basis" narrative is 1) beneficial to McCain's campaign, and 2) at all true.
Opinion polls and facts aside, however, they march on with this nonsense and send out garbage like this:
(click to embiggen)
Oh yeah, the Republican Party: one classy operation.
UPDATE TO ADD: madison.com is running an AP article that talks about this mailer and the other shady activities the GOP/McCain campaign have been up to lately. This is the choice quote: "...there is no evidence [Obama and Ayers] are close friends."
There's also a quote from Wisconsin Republican Party spokeswoman Kirsten Kukowski defending the mailer:
No, you're not directly calling Obama a terrorist, but by trying again and again to (falsely) make him out to be a close personal friend of Ayers, and putting things like "Terrorist. Radical. Friend of Obama." on your mailers, you're coming damn near close. And your followers are clearly getting the message."We're not calling Barack Obama a terrorist," she said. "We never have and never will. He is not."
The mailer was just a small part of the party's overall message, she said.
"I guess our goal is to put the information out there and let people make up their own minds," Kukowski said. She said despite nearly two years of campaigning, Obama remains an "unknown figure."
As for Kukowski's claim that Obama is still an "unknown figure," I call bullshit. We've got several auto/biographies, a pretty damn thorough vetting of him through his state and national Senate campaigns and his years long run for the presidency, and more. This assertion that we still "don't know the real Barack Obama" is as ludicrous as asserting that dinosaurs and man roamed the Earth together.
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
I think I figured it out...
...all this screeching from the right-wing about ACORN and alleged widespread voter fraud (for which there is little to no evidence)?
They're getting ready to lose.
They're getting ready to lose.
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
No notes on a scandal
If the media likes a good scandal, then it loves a good sex scandal. More so, it would seem, when that scandal involves prominent politicians. Think back to the veritable media frenzy over President Bill Clinton’s dalliances with an intern, or Sen. Larry Craig’s wide stance in a Minnesota bathroom, Sen. David Vitter’s diaper fetish, or, more recently, Sen. John Edward’s extramarital affair. Why then would Wisconsin media completely drop the ball on a rather well-documented sex scandal involving the chairman of the Brown County Republican party and a minor?
Good question.
Donald Fleischman, said chairman, was charged back in 2007 with two counts of child enticement, two counts of contributing to the delinquency of a child and a single charge of exposing himself to a child. His court date is set for the third day of the upcoming Republican National Convention, September 3. The incidents upon which the charges are based allegedly took place in November of 2006. That leaves a full year between when the police initially intervened and when charges were filed.
Records of the various police visits and the reasons for them were public, but no media outlet picked up on them or the subsequent charges, in open court, until local bloggers began pushing the issue with the help of morning radio host Lee Rayburn.
Let’s take a look at the time-line of events, as provided by the court (view full criminal complaint here):
The Green Bay Press Gazette appears to be one of the only print outlets to have finally picked up the story (archives require paid membership to read articles), though it was a couple weeks after the charges were initially filed.
The initial trial resulted in all charges being dropped, after Fleischman and his attorney requested that the victim appear in court, which he did not (he’d apparently moved to another part of the state and was attending school at the time). The young man, who had been a minor at the time the alleged offenses took place, was then 18 and so Fleischman’s move made his name public.
The charges were re-filed by the Deputy DA, however, in February of this year. Fleischman has since entered a plea of not guilty, a warrant for the appearance in court of the victim has been issued, and a jury trial date of Sept. 3 has been set.
In the midst of all this, the Brown County Republican Party claimed ignorance of the proceedings. “We just learned about this this morning, and to our knowledge he has resigned his position. We don't know any other details," RPW spokeswoman Kirsten Kukowski is reported to have said on Friday, October 12, 2007.
It appears as though the party was as in the dark about events as was the media.
Then, on November 29, the Associated Press reported that the state Republican Party had de-certified the county chapter “following its collapse over the resignations of 2 of its leaders and a lack of volunteers. The county's chairman Donald Fleischman resigned in September after he was accused of child enticement.”
Small notes have since appeared in the Green Bay Press Gazette about the case’s proceedings, but it’s noteworthy that nothing was reported prior to the blogger-raised alarm. Also worth noting is that it took a year from when the alleged activities took place before charges were filed. Why was this? For the media, police and court records were public from the get-go. Why did no one pick up on this, a major scandal involving a prominent, local public official? And why did it take so long for charges to be filed at all?
No one is currently making any answers forthcoming, but the whole episode speaks to the larger issues of both legal and journalistic responsibility. Bloggers and radio DJs shouldn’t have to do the jobs of our professional news sources, but I’m sure glad they keep at it anyway. Certainly the economic situation of many media outlets, especially more local ones, is partly to blame as staffing levels are cut and experienced reporters let go. But there seems to have been a steady decline in the overall breadth and depth of news reporting on the more national level as well, with outlets that enjoy far greater revenue and market penetration dropping the ball just as much. With the rise of 24-hour news channels, you’d think we’d be getting coverage of a wider range of topics. Instead, we see the same three stories recycled again and again, and too often they’re on trivial subjects.
Sex scandals shouldn’t be our national news priority, as they tend to be more personal matters than public. But once they involve legitimately illegal factors such as minors, lies, and non-consensual situations, they absolutely deserve public scrutiny and appropriate punishment. Usually, the media’s all over this sort of thing, but in this instance we have to ask: what gives?
(cross-posted from dane101.com)
Good question.
Donald Fleischman, said chairman, was charged back in 2007 with two counts of child enticement, two counts of contributing to the delinquency of a child and a single charge of exposing himself to a child. His court date is set for the third day of the upcoming Republican National Convention, September 3. The incidents upon which the charges are based allegedly took place in November of 2006. That leaves a full year between when the police initially intervened and when charges were filed.
Records of the various police visits and the reasons for them were public, but no media outlet picked up on them or the subsequent charges, in open court, until local bloggers began pushing the issue with the help of morning radio host Lee Rayburn.
Let’s take a look at the time-line of events, as provided by the court (view full criminal complaint here):
- Nov 3, 2006 – ACO (minor 1) moves to Ethan House, a home for troubled boys.
- Nov 5, 2006 – ACO and second teen, visit Fleischman’s home at 1121 Goodell St.
- Nov 17, 2006 – Second teen re-visits Fleishman, who offers haven if the boys run away.
- Nov 18, 2006 – ACO goes AWOL from youth home.
- Nov 19, 2006 – Green Bay Police find sixteen-year-old ACO, wearing only a tee shirt and underwear briefs, hiding in the walk-in closet in the upstairs of Fleischman’s home at 1121 Goodell St.
- Nov 22 and 29, 2006 – ACO tests positive for THC, both times. After the second test, ACO visits Fleischman.
- Nov 30, 2006 – ACO runs away to Fleischman’s 1121 Goodell address, which is literally across the street. Fleischman takes ACO to an Appleton motel, where some of the alleged misconduct occurs.
- Nov 31, 2006 –Fleischman takes ACO to a family cabin in Goodman for the weekend.
- Dec 8, 2006 – Green Bay Police officers Reetz & Allen remove the teens from Fleischman’s home.
- Dec 11, 2006 – ACO gives deposition, stating his recollection of the events and allegations against Fleischman
- Sept 7, 2007 – Nine months later, one misdemeanor and four felony charges are filed against Fleischman. These include child enticement, giving drugs to children, and sexual activities with children.
- Sept 28, 2007 – Defense attorney Jeffrey Jazgar enters as counsel. Defense agrees to motions with stipulation that Fleischman move from proximity to the youth home within 90 days.
Oct 10, 2007 – 9:59pm, Case is posted on local forum by goofticket. At 9:59 pm, I verified that the information all checks out according to online court and election records. Yes, another Republican officer is being charged with man on boy action. It’s taken as amazing there is no coverage.The WisconsinPolitics.com report can be viewed here.
Oct 11, 2007 – At 7:20 am, I call in the open line to Lee Rayburn’s show on 92.1 The Mic, our local Air America affiliate. Deliver an on-air rapid-fire bit about the local Republican man-on boy scandal that nobody knows about. At 7:50, Rayburn is referring to it as “alleged scandal” because he can’t find anything online that fast to verify it. Rayburn is doing a promo at the local music palce [sic] that evening. I delivered the hardcopy of court and election watchdog documents. While I’m doing that, forum poster Hawkeye, is emailing the Green Bay Press Gazette, asking why they haven’t covered the story. Forum poster goofticket, has called the Brown Co. Republican Party, who says yes, that Fleischman is the chair of the local party.
Oct 12, 2007 – 7:50 am, Lee Rayburn does several minutes on the story, citing the evidence and hammering the lack of coverage. The Green Bay Press Gazette, gets busy calling the Republican County office during the day, which now says Donald Fleischman has resigned and the know nothinnggg, notthhiinnnggg…
Oct 13, 2007 – The Green bay Press gazette prints the story. Their online post is listed as 9:23 am. The site WisconsinPolitics.com posts a detailed report at 9:36 am. Scribeboy posts it on DailyKos at 10:05 am. The Mic92.1, teases it over the air as a hook for Lee Rayburn’s show, at about 10:20 am.
The Green Bay Press Gazette appears to be one of the only print outlets to have finally picked up the story (archives require paid membership to read articles), though it was a couple weeks after the charges were initially filed.
The initial trial resulted in all charges being dropped, after Fleischman and his attorney requested that the victim appear in court, which he did not (he’d apparently moved to another part of the state and was attending school at the time). The young man, who had been a minor at the time the alleged offenses took place, was then 18 and so Fleischman’s move made his name public.
The charges were re-filed by the Deputy DA, however, in February of this year. Fleischman has since entered a plea of not guilty, a warrant for the appearance in court of the victim has been issued, and a jury trial date of Sept. 3 has been set.
In the midst of all this, the Brown County Republican Party claimed ignorance of the proceedings. “We just learned about this this morning, and to our knowledge he has resigned his position. We don't know any other details," RPW spokeswoman Kirsten Kukowski is reported to have said on Friday, October 12, 2007.
It appears as though the party was as in the dark about events as was the media.
Then, on November 29, the Associated Press reported that the state Republican Party had de-certified the county chapter “following its collapse over the resignations of 2 of its leaders and a lack of volunteers. The county's chairman Donald Fleischman resigned in September after he was accused of child enticement.”
Small notes have since appeared in the Green Bay Press Gazette about the case’s proceedings, but it’s noteworthy that nothing was reported prior to the blogger-raised alarm. Also worth noting is that it took a year from when the alleged activities took place before charges were filed. Why was this? For the media, police and court records were public from the get-go. Why did no one pick up on this, a major scandal involving a prominent, local public official? And why did it take so long for charges to be filed at all?
No one is currently making any answers forthcoming, but the whole episode speaks to the larger issues of both legal and journalistic responsibility. Bloggers and radio DJs shouldn’t have to do the jobs of our professional news sources, but I’m sure glad they keep at it anyway. Certainly the economic situation of many media outlets, especially more local ones, is partly to blame as staffing levels are cut and experienced reporters let go. But there seems to have been a steady decline in the overall breadth and depth of news reporting on the more national level as well, with outlets that enjoy far greater revenue and market penetration dropping the ball just as much. With the rise of 24-hour news channels, you’d think we’d be getting coverage of a wider range of topics. Instead, we see the same three stories recycled again and again, and too often they’re on trivial subjects.
Sex scandals shouldn’t be our national news priority, as they tend to be more personal matters than public. But once they involve legitimately illegal factors such as minors, lies, and non-consensual situations, they absolutely deserve public scrutiny and appropriate punishment. Usually, the media’s all over this sort of thing, but in this instance we have to ask: what gives?
(cross-posted from dane101.com)
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Pushing hemp in Ripon
I'm going to come right out and say it: I think the United States should decriminalize marijuana. Yep, it's true, and I don't even smoke the stuff (anymore). Research and smarter folks than I have all shown that its medicinal and therapeutic effects all greatly outweigh its dangers (which are either less than or on par with the perfectly legal cigarette). And frankly, most of the "facts" that the current laws are based on are of the "Reefer Madness" era of weedaphobia and not on modern science.
Anyway, it turns out Madison isn't the only bastion of pro-hemp activists in the state. Apparently we're not totally alone, and are surrounded by a few scattered patches of reality.
The Wisconsin Hemp Order, a group originally founded in 1917 to promote the hemp growing industry in the state at the time, will be re-convening this Thursday in Ripon, Wisconsin, on the group's 90th anniversary.
In addition to this being an interesting and fun event, I've also learned something new today. I had no idea that the Old White Schoolhouse in Ripon could lay claim to the earliest formation of the Republican Party. It's especially fascinating to note that the party was originally formed as a radical reaction against the Nebraska Act, which formed new territories wherein the practice of slavery would be allowed if the residents so chose (and led to the episode known as Bleeding Kansas, a sort of pre-Civil War conflict of rather stunning proportions). The people who created the Republican Party thought that the expansion of slavery into any new lands was completely unacceptable and made this belief one of their central platforms in the first series of elections they ran in.
Abraham Lincoln was, of course, the first Republican president. What's ironic is that this party that stood as a progressive and rather radical force has since degenerated into the status-quo loving, regressive and exclusionary group that it mostly is today.
Still, I'd be curious to see this little schoolhouse with its slice of the political history pie. And I'm glad to hear that it's being used for the type of progressive cause that the original Republicans might have gotten behind.
Anyway, it turns out Madison isn't the only bastion of pro-hemp activists in the state. Apparently we're not totally alone, and are surrounded by a few scattered patches of reality.
The Wisconsin Hemp Order, a group originally founded in 1917 to promote the hemp growing industry in the state at the time, will be re-convening this Thursday in Ripon, Wisconsin, on the group's 90th anniversary.
The Wisconsin Hemp Order
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Time: 7:00pm - 10:00pm
Location: Old White Schoolhouse
Street: Blackburn St. (US 23)
City/Town: Ripon, WIContact Info
Phone: 608.442.8830
Email: bmasel@tds.netDescription
The Wisconsin Hemp Order was originally formed Oct. 18, 1917 in Ripon, WI to promote the industry in the State. We'll be gathering on the 90th Anniversary, in Ripon's Old White Schoolhouse, birthplace of the Republican Party, to mark the Anniversary and re-form the Organization.
Keynoting will be Dr. David West, plant geneticist, and the most recent holder of a Hemp license from the DEA.
Dr. Dave's Hemp Archive click here
(The focus of this event is on fiber, oilseed, etc. uses, not medical or recreational uses of cannabis.)
In addition to this being an interesting and fun event, I've also learned something new today. I had no idea that the Old White Schoolhouse in Ripon could lay claim to the earliest formation of the Republican Party. It's especially fascinating to note that the party was originally formed as a radical reaction against the Nebraska Act, which formed new territories wherein the practice of slavery would be allowed if the residents so chose (and led to the episode known as Bleeding Kansas, a sort of pre-Civil War conflict of rather stunning proportions). The people who created the Republican Party thought that the expansion of slavery into any new lands was completely unacceptable and made this belief one of their central platforms in the first series of elections they ran in.
Abraham Lincoln was, of course, the first Republican president. What's ironic is that this party that stood as a progressive and rather radical force has since degenerated into the status-quo loving, regressive and exclusionary group that it mostly is today.
Still, I'd be curious to see this little schoolhouse with its slice of the political history pie. And I'm glad to hear that it's being used for the type of progressive cause that the original Republicans might have gotten behind.
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