October 29, 2010
Where is Fairfax, Virginia?
The over-sized postcards, 8 x 11, arrive at our house almost every day from Fairfax or Oshkosh. Very professional, almost pretty. Some are addressed to "The Garvey Family," some to "Elizabeth Garvey," and some to "current resident." (I wonder if our Westy, Tuffy, would have received a bone if he were still alive.)
The message is always about the same: Barrett is a bum; Feingold is a wild spender of our Social Security money because "he has lost touch and abandoned Wisconsin seniors." And we can trust Ron "the plastic guy" because he "is not a career politician."
The line I like best-assures us that Ron Johnson "will always stand with Wisconsin seniors, NOT the Washington crowd."
Everything about this postcard campaign is a lie. Not a little white one, but a big dark mortal-go-to-hell-sin lie. My fifth grade nun would have had him in the corner in no time! Feingold has not "raided $2.2 trillion from Social Security"; he has not "spent 2 trillion on big government programs and pork"; and he has not "stuck seniors with a $243 billion tax hike."
If Johnson believes the stuff printed on the postcards he is too dumb to be in the Senate. If he knows that the message is false he is a liar and should withdraw from the race or apologize to the people of Wisconsin for lying to them about Russ. (I'll bet he has never been in Fairfax.)
The final message from Fairfax, wherever that is, shouts: "Feingold last seen in U.S. Senate voting against seniors' retirement accounts and health care." Whoa Nelly. Plastic Man has no soul.
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: The JS never covers the thousands of progressives at Fighting Bob Fest, but get 15-20 Teabaggers in Racine to holler about smaller government and lower taxes, one packing heat, and JS would have you think that the Teabag movement is sweeping Racine. Complete with pictures, JS reporter (?) Bill Glauer suggests a sophisticated crowd "drawn by the rhetoric for lower taxes espoused by Grover Norquist." Yah, sure, Ole. If one in that crowd could identify Grover Norquist I would be astounded.
Thank you, Journal Communications. You bring us right-wing talk radio every day, all day, and the once proud Journal-Sentinel every morning. Why not just hire Grover Norquist?
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Ed, you keep staking out ground in the GOP sandbox. Of course the stuff coming from the politicos is junk. It always is.
Why the Dems, and Feingold, can't tell the real story on guys like Johnson is just amazing! Here is how it is going to work.
Ron Johnson will be a freshman senator from a fly over state. He will not know his way around Washington and the lobbyist politician for hire game. That means he will be under the thumb of Mitch McConnel. No mystery. The guy who says government doesn't provide jobs but he can will be spending his time taking instructions from the leader who wants to see Obama fail and lose in 2012.
If Johnson wants to provide jobs, and believes that the private sector is how to do that then let him stay home, expand his business with the usual state deferements, incentives, etc. etc. that our corporatist Governor Doyle has been more than glad to hand out like Halloween candy. The idea that going to Washington to provide stuff that he believes the government cannot, or should not provide is a joke. Especially for a first term back bencher. And that is what he will be. A cipher.
-Konstance Kaffeeschlucker | Sturgeon Bay, WI. | October 29, 2010
Ed--
Do you realized how extensive the Feingold-Johnson "debate-like" (sorta) debates were "blacked-out" by network television and even from (not by) WPR & WPT?
Those of us who live in the countryside with roof-top antenna's (and can't afford cable) could not watch either the second or third debates at all. I finally found a download of the second "debate" on WPR. But as to the third debate I can only tell you what I received when I fired off angry letters to both WPR & WPT about the third debate.
"Thank you for contacting Wisconsin Public Television. We original had a debate between Sen. Feingold and Mr. Johnson scheduled for 10/22. At the time our Airwaves went to print we still thought it would be happening. Unfortunately after the guide went to print one of the participants decided he preferred to attend a debate being sponsored by ABC and Milwaukee Public Television. In order to have the debate the other participant decided to attend the ABC debate also. We asked to be able to air the debate, even on a delayed basis and were not given the rights to do so. We also asked to be able to put the debate on the www.wisconsinvote.org website for people to listen to or watch there. But this too was denied. This was a great disappointment to us, but hopefully people were able to watch the debate on the ABC affiliates around the state."
"Thank you for your email to Wisconsin Public Radio regarding the 10/22/2010 Senate Debate. Wisconsin Public Radio and Wisconsin Public Television attempted to obtain the rights to air and archive the 10/22/2010 Senate Debate. Unfortunately we were denied broadcast and archive rights by the debate sponsors. Please know WPR and WPT made every attempt to make the debate available."
In that kind of environment it makes you wonder what the hell kind of agreements were made by which candidates to agree to such a format.
So no news is bad news when it comes to debates. In the last election Feingold was easy to trump Newman in a single debate where Newman didn't have a chance against anyone reasonable and articulate.
So that kind of sums up the strategy of the Tea-Potters. Bombard us with outright lies and deny the access of citizens to the real information needed to make any democracy work.
-John Davey | Kendall, WI | October 29, 2010
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