Sykes, C

<h2><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">---</font></h2><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">see bulwark</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">=</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">ref</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">https://morningshots.thebulwark.com/p/militias-with-badges</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">chls sykes</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">y<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: rgb(26, 26, 26);">es, it could get worse.</span></font></div><p style="line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; color: rgb(26, 26, 26); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>The Claremont Institute — the <a href="https://www.thebulwark.com/the-claremont-institutes-bogus-censorship-charge/" rel="" style="text-decoration-line: none;">home of John Eastman</a>, author of the blueprint for overthrowing the presidential election — has a new initiative for undermining the rule of law.</b></font></p><p style="line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; color: rgb(26, 26, 26); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">And if you are not alarmed, you ought to be.</font></p><p style="line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; color: rgb(26, 26, 26);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 204, 102);">The Trumpian institute <a href="https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/trump-running-2024-claremont-institute-hopes-so-n1281683" rel="" style="text-decoration-line: none;">is launching a program </a>to weaponize "patriotic law enforcement officers" to counter "the perversion of the justice system by which the revolutionary left seeks to advance its totalitarian agenda."</font></p><p style="line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; color: rgb(26, 26, 26);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 204, 102);">In announcing its new <a href="https://www.claremont.org/page/sheriffs-fellowship/" rel="" style="text-decoration-line: none;">"Sheriff’s Fellowship"</a> the institute tied together last year’s urban disorders, Covid-19 lockdowns, and “the electoral disaster of 2020,” and declared that “our nation's conservative movement needs a countervailing network of uncorrupted law enforcement officials.”</font></p><p style="line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; color: rgb(26, 26, 26); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Specifically, Claremont envisions a cadre of sheriffs “not beholden to bureaucratic masters, and whose geographic boundaries, jurisdictional latitude, and - most important - direct connection and responsibility to citizens, places them on the frontlines of the defense of civilization.”</font></p><p style="line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; color: rgb(26, 26, 26);"><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">Think of it as militias with badges, guns, and formal law enforcement powers. Or, if you like, secession-by-sheriff.</font></strong></p><p style="line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; color: rgb(26, 26, 26); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Indeed, Claremont is late to the game. The so-called Constitutional Sheriffs have been a thing for quite a while now.</font></p><p style="line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; color: rgb(26, 26, 26); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Although the <a href="https://www.adl.org/resources/backgrounders/oath-keepers" rel="" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Oath Keepers</a>, another anti-government extremist group that recruits from law enforcement, have garnered more media attention in recent years,” the <a href="https://www.adl.org/resources/reports/the-constitutional-sheriffs-and-peace-officers-association-cspoa-and-richard-mack" rel="" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Anti-Defamation League said in their report</a>, the Constitutional Sheriff movement “has arguably had more success infiltrating law enforcement, including at the executive level.”</font></p><blockquote style="border-left: 4px solid var(--background_pop); margin: 1em 0px; color: rgb(26, 26, 26); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0px 0px 1em 1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> <strong>The central tenet of [the Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association], borrowed from the anti-government extremist sovereign citizen movement, is that the county sheriff is the ultimate authority in the county, able to halt enforcement of any federal or state law or measure they deem unconstitutional.</strong> </font></p></blockquote><p style="line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; color: rgb(26, 26, 26); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">This is no longer simply a fringe movement confined to a few rural counties.</font></p><p style="line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; color: rgb(26, 26, 26); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Trump and members of his administration cultivated and encouraged the sheriffs’ movement, and openly embraced leading figures like Arizona’s Joe Arpaio. Former Attorney General Sessions famously praised what he called “the Anglo-Saxon heritage” of the office.</font></p><p style="line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; color: rgb(26, 26, 26); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Since our founding, the independently elected sheriff has been the people’s protector, who keeps law enforcement close to and accountable to people through the elected process,” <a href="https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/02/who-jeff-sessions-is-talking-about-when-he-praises-anglo-american-law-enforcement.html" rel="" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Sessions said.</a> “The office of sheriff is a critical part of the Anglo-American heritage of law enforcement. We must never erode this historic office.”</font></p><p style="line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; color: rgb(26, 26, 26); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Milwaukee’s Sheriff David Clarke — who was named Constitutional Sheriff of the year in 2013 — became a prominent Trump surrogate and was, reportedly in line for a position in Trump’s Department of Homeland security.</font></p><p style="line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; color: rgb(26, 26, 26); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">More recently, Clarke <a href="http://%20https//www.jsonline.com/story/news/investigations/daniel-bice/2021/01/13/david-clarke-urges-maga-rally-attendees-not-cooperate-cops/6644787002/" rel="" style="text-decoration-line: none;">urged January 6 participants to refuse </a>to cooperate with law enforcement authorities.</font></p><p style="line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; color: rgb(26, 26, 26); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"ALERT!!!," Clarke wrote. "If you attended the Trump rally in Washington DC last Wednesday and are contacted by the FBI or they come to your home, YOU DO NOT HAVE TO TALK TO THEM. DON'T LET THEM IN YOUR HOME EITHER. POLITELY TELL THEM TO LEAVE AND CLOSE THE DOOR."</font></p><p style="line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; color: rgb(26, 26, 26); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"If you did not go into the US Capital (sic) you do not have to explain why you exercised your Constitutional right to assemble," Clarke wrote. "TRUST NO GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL right now." [twt pix]</font></p><p style="line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; color: rgb(26, 26, 26); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>clarke has since fallen into well-deserved obscurity, but the hot new face of the movement is Mark Lamb, the sheriff of Pinal County, Arizona.</b></font></p><p style="line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; color: rgb(26, 26, 26); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2021/10/15/mark-lamb-arizona-constitutional-sheriff-elections-republicans-514781" rel="" style="text-decoration-line: none;">In a new Politico profile</a>, Lamb calls himself ‘America’s Sheriff,’ who “fashions himself as more of a vigilante resister, with a heavy dose of anti-government, sometimes militant rhetoric.”</font></p><p style="line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; color: rgb(26, 26, 26); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Sheriff Lamb is the very model of the modern Trumpian law enforcement official. <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2021/10/15/mark-lamb-arizona-constitutional-sheriff-elections-republicans-514781" rel="" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Politico reports:</a></font></p><blockquote style="border-left: 4px solid var(--background_pop); margin: 1em 0px; color: rgb(26, 26, 26); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0px 0px 1em 1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Lamb <a href="https://www.azmirror.com/2021/01/07/some-arizona-republicans-defended-excused-the-violent-pro-trump-mob/" rel="" style="text-decoration-line: none;">supported the “stop the steal” campaign</a> in Arizona and <a href="https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/politics/arizona/2021/01/07/these-arizona-republicans-say-trump-isnt-to-blame-for-capitol-riot/6580354002/" rel="" style="text-decoration-line: none;">has expressed sympathy for the Jan. 6 rioters</a>. He has called vaccine mandates “garbage” and <a href="https://twitter.com/ZachCrenshaw/status/1441467449921052686" rel="" style="text-decoration-line: none;">spoke at a recent anti-vaccine rally in Phoenix</a>, where he told supporters, “We’re going to find out what kind of patriots you are. We’re going to find out who is willing to die for freedom.” He also makes direct appeals to citizens, an effort that looks more dangerous after former President Donald Trump riled up supporters on Jan. 6. For example, Lamb, an ardent defender of the Second Amendment, has spoken in support of the formation of private militias — “well within the Constitution,” he told a group of supporters in March — and emphasized the power of sheriffs in Arizona, an open-carry state, to call local civilians into service to “suppress all affrays, insurrections and riots that comes to the attention of the sheriff.” Last year, as Black Lives Matter protests swept across the country, he <a href="https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona-breaking/2020/07/31/pinal-county-sheriff-mark-lamb-new-citizen-posse/5555959002/" rel="" style="text-decoration-line: none;">formed a local civilian “posse”</a> to assist his office with law enforcement, even though there were no such protests in Pinal County.</font></p></blockquote><p style="line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; color: rgb(26, 26, 26); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></p><p style="line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; color: rgb(26, 26, 26); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Now, fresh off its role in trying to overthrow the 2020 election, Claremont wants a piece of that action. Here is how a recent fund-raising letter for Claremont described the Trumpian think tank’s new program:</font></p><blockquote style="border-left: 4px solid var(--background_pop); margin: 1em 0px; color: rgb(26, 26, 26);"><p style="line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0px 0px 1em 1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">• The</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 0);"> current revolution against the American regime, involving as it does both crime and political malfeasance, requires a coordinated response from patriotic law enforcement officers.</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> Those whose "chain of dependency" is directly to the people of their region - officers not beholden to the centralized ( and often corrupt) bureaucracies of federal or state governments, nor the vicissitudes of easily pressured city officials.</span></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0px 0px 1em 1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">• Sheriffs are appropriate for this response. Since their beginnings as "shire-reeves" ("county watchmen") centuries ago in England, sheriffs have been intimately connected with, and answerable to, the people of their "shires" and therefore the first layer of protection, and last line of defense, for the people's rights.</font></p><p style="line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0px 0px 1em 1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">•</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 0);"> Our project will equip sheriffs with strategic knowledge and end their isolation. Their efforts will be supported, enhanced, and multiplied through a reliable like-minded network of fellow sheriffs and others with complementary areas of expertise and potency</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">.</span></font></p></blockquote><p style="line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; color: rgb(26, 26, 26); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">(Here is a screen shot of the letter.)</font></p><div class="captioned-image-container" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 16px; color: rgb(26, 26, 26); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><figure style="width: 728px; display: inline-block; margin: 0px auto;"><a class="image-link image2 " target="blank" href="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F47c3f7e0-af6b-4c7b-b728-525fb84784cb_579x631.png" rel="" style="color: rgb(26, 26, 26); text-decoration-line: none; display: block; padding: 0px; margin: 0px auto; width: auto; height: auto; border: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><img src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F47c3f7e0-af6b-4c7b-b728-525fb84784cb_579x631.png" data-attrs="{"src":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/47c3f7e0-af6b-4c7b-b728-525fb84784cb_579x631.png","height":null,"width":null,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":null,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":null,"href":null}" alt="" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto; width: 728px; height: auto;" /></font></a></figure></div><p style="line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; color: rgb(26, 26, 26); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /><p style="line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; color: rgb(26, 26, 26); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">If Claremont gets its way, there will be sheriffs like Joe Arpaio, David Clarke, and Mark Lamb all across the country.</font></p><p style="line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; color: rgb(26, 26, 26); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">You are not worried nearly enough about what that might mean.</font></p><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">=</font></div></div><div><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">---</font></p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Cabin, sans-serif; font-size: 17px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Conservative pundit recently expressed concern about Republicans in Arizona, Texas, and Florida as he detailed what he describes as the "race to the bottom" to "see who can be the most MAGA."</p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Cabin, sans-serif; font-size: 17px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">On Friday, October 15, Charlie Sykes, founder of the conservative website The Bulwark, appeared on MSNBC where he specifically criticized the "absolutely batshit crazy" Republicans in Texas. "I know that Republicans in Texas have been conservative for a long time but there was a time when conservative Republicans in Texas were not absolutely batshit crazy," Sykes said to MSNBC's Nicolle Wallace.</p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Cabin, sans-serif; font-size: 17px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">He went on to compare the differences he sees between Texas Republicans of the past and present. He also highlighted common behaviors he's seeing in Republicans across three states: Texas, Florida, and Arizona.</p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Cabin, sans-serif; font-size: 17px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Sykes' remarks <a href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/conservative-pundit-charlie-sykes-maga-competition_n_616a785be4b00cb3cbd32b6c" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="color: rgb(11, 13, 101); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">came amid a discussion about Texas law requiring teachers to develop that offers "opposing perspectives on historical events,"</a> HuffPost reports. In fact, a school administrator was recently criticized for insisting educators "should 'make sure that if you have a book on the Holocaust, that you have one' with alternative viewpoints."</p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Cabin, sans-serif; font-size: 17px;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 204, 102);">"Texas Republicans used to be respectable," Sykes continued. "And now we are almost in this competition … between Florida, Arizona, and Texas to see who can be the most MAGA, who can play the most hair-on-fire culture war games, because that seems to be this race to the bottom that we're talking about here."</span></p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Cabin, sans-serif; font-size: 17px;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 204, 102);">Sykes, however, insisted that it is "easy to beat up on the administrator" but "the focus ought to be on the law and the fact that the teachers are terrified. They don't know what's going to happen."</span></p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Cabin, sans-serif; font-size: 17px;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 204, 102);"><b>"What is the other side of the Holocaust?" Sykes later asked. "Are you going to assign fourth-graders 'Mein Kampf'?</b> Are you going to make them listen to Seb Gorka's radio show? I just don't know what she actually had in mind. But again, this is exactly what you get when you have politicians playing culture war and then trying to ram that into badly thought out draconian legislation."</span></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></p></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2020/07/burn-it-all-down-conservative-calls-for-purge-of-every-single-trump-enabler-in-the-senate/">https://www.alternet.org/2020/07/burn-it-all-down-conservative-calls-for-purge-of-every-single-trump-enabler-in-the-senate/</a></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Cabin, sans-serif; font-size: 17px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Far-right Fox News pundit Tucker Carlson had a major hissyfit on Thursday night, June 24 in response to Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mark Milley's comments during a hearing on Capitol Hill. Gen. Milley told Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida that the history of racism is something that <em>should</em> be studied, inspiring Carlson to say that Milley is "not just a pig — he's stupid." And the following night, when Never Trump conservative <a href="https://www.mediaite.com/tv/charlie-sykes-slams-tucker-carlson-over-gen-milley-comments-pampered-man-child-trust-fund-baby/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" style="color: rgb(11, 13, 101); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">Charlie Sykes</a> appeared on MSNBC's "The 11<span style="font-size: 12.75px; line-height: 0; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline; top: -0.5em;">th</span> Hour," he slammed Carlson's anti-Milley diatribe without hesitation.</p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Cabin, sans-serif; font-size: 17px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Sykes told "11<span style="font-size: 12.75px; line-height: 0; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline; top: -0.5em;">th</span> Hour" host Brian Williams and fellow guest Bill Kristol (another Never Trump conservative), "Think about this: You have this pampered man-child trust fund baby calling a decorated veteran a pig and stupid. And you would think that people would step back and say, 'OK, I'm sorry. You can disagree with the man, but we are a party and a movement that has always prided ourselves on respect for the military, respect for what he's accomplished.' Those stripes on his sleeve are not, you know, Venmo accounts. Those stripes on the sleeve are, you know, places that he has served his country.'"</p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Cabin, sans-serif; font-size: 17px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Carlson definitely comes from a background of privilege. His full name is Tucker Swanson McNear Carlson, and his stepmother is an <a href="https://www.cjr.org/the_profile/tucker-carlson.php" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" style="color: rgb(11, 13, 101); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">heiress to Swanson Foods</a>. Carlson's father is a former U.S. ambassador.</p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Cabin, sans-serif; font-size: 17px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Sykes not only lambasted Carlson for his attack on Milley — he also pointed the finger at Republicans who are afraid to call him out. Carlson gets some of Fox News' highest ratings, and he is incredibly popular in Trumpworld. Former President Donald Trump watches Carlson's show religiously.</p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Cabin, sans-serif; font-size: 17px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Sykes told Williams and Kristol, "The ongoing silence from other Republicans, the ongoing silence from other folks at Fox News — I guess part of it is… it's the stupidity of it. It's the crudity of it. It's the lack of patriotism."</p><div class="around-the-web" style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Cabin, sans-serif; font-size: 17px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="from-your-siteheadline" style="color: rgb(31, 31, 31); font-size: 0px; font-weight: 700; text-transform: uppercase;">FROM YOUR SITE ARTICLES</div><ul class="around-the-weblist" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; display: inline-block; width: 589.446px; list-style: none;"><li class="from-your-siteitem"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2020/07/fox-news-tucker-carlson-horrifies-viewers-with-a-message-disturbingly-similar-to-a-white-supremacist-slogan/" class="from-your-sitelink" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: rgb(28, 28, 28); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s; font-weight: lighter; line-height: normal; display: inline-block; margin-top: 10px; font-size: 14px; font-family: " open="Open" sans="Sans" sans-serif="sans-serif">Fox News' Tucker Carlson horrifies viewers with a message ... ›</a></li><li class="from-your-siteitem"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2021/06/tucker-carlson-2653543558/" class="from-your-sitelink" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: rgb(28, 28, 28); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s; font-weight: lighter; line-height: normal; display: inline-block; margin-top: 10px; font-size: 14px; font-family: " open="Open" sans="Sans" sans-serif="sans-serif">Tucker Carlson slammed after calling top US general 'stupid' and 'a ... ›</a></li><li class="from-your-siteitem"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2021/06/brianna-keilar/" class="from-your-sitelink" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: rgb(28, 28, 28); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s; font-weight: lighter; line-height: normal; display: inline-block; margin-top: 10px; font-size: 14px; font-family: " open="Open" sans="Sans" sans-serif="sans-serif">'He is white rage' CNN's Brianna Keilar trolls Tucker Carlson's ... ›</a></li></ul></div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2020/11/russian-media-are-promoting-trumps-bogus-voter-fraud-claims/">https://www.alternet.org/2020/11/russian-media-are-promoting-trumps-bogus-voter-fraud-claims/</a></font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">alexh</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Many European leaders, from </span><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2020/11/watch-boris-johnsons-response-when-a-labour-mp-asks-about-best-friend-trumps-embarrassing-refusal-to-accept-election-results/" target="self" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> to </span><a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/11/10/world/meanwhile-in-america-november-10-intl/index.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">German Chancellor Angela Merkel</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> and </span><a href="https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/525741-macron-on-biden-victory-chance-to-make-our-planet-great-again" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">French President Emmanuel Macron</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">, were quick to congratulate President-elect Joe Biden on his victory over President Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election — and it isn't hard to see that Johnson, Merkel and Macron all believe that U.S. voters made the right choice. But one leader who has yet to congratulate Biden is Russian President Vladimir Putin. And writer Cathy Young, in an article for the </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">conservative website The Bulwark, stresses that <a href="https://thebulwark.com/trumps-men-in-moscow/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">Russian media pundits</a> have been tirelessly promoting the bogus conspiracy theory that the election was stolen from Trump because of widespread voter fraud.</span></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>In Russia, Young notes, media pundits have been describing the 2020 election as evidence of the failure of U.S. democracy.</b></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"So far, Putin is the only major national leader to have held back on congratulating Joe Biden on his victory," Young explains. "Meanwhile, the Russian state-run or state-friendly media have alternated mostly between open gloating over an American election in chaos and equally open sympathy for Trump."</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">According to Young, "On November 4, discussions of America's election drama on Russian airwaves eclipsed a patriotic holiday at home, Russian Unity Day, and the pro-Trump cheerleading grew more heavy-handed. That evening's edition of the political talk show 'Big Game' on TV-1, Russia's main federal channel, was almost entirely dominated by pro-Trump voices."</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Young observes that "Big Game" host Andranik Migranyan, a staunch Putin supporter, told Russian viewers, "The majority of American voters want law and order, and today, alas, only Trump symbolizes the idea of law and order."</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> </span></b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Migranyan, according to Young, joined Trump in saying that Democratic governors and mayors in the U.S. are allowing rioters and looters to run amok — and Migranyan also made the offensive and racist comment that Democrats "get down on their knees and kiss the feet of Blacks."</span></font></p><div class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="84b1210f1929f3f5af3472fa75992814" id="2329b"><div class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" style="display: flex; max-width: 550px; width: 550px; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-partner="rebelmouse" data-twitter-tweet-id="1327677493915086853" data-twitter-extracted-i160555558849268186="true" style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; margin: 1em 40px 1em -5px; border-left: 4px solid rgb(11, 13, 101); line-height: 32px; padding: 10px 20px 10px 24px; width: 602.543px;"><div style="background-color: rgb(245, 245, 245); margin: 1em 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Must read by @CathyYoung63 ---> Trump’s Men in Moscow https://t.co/OvhcN4CjVG via @BulwarkOnline</font></div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style=""><span style="background-color: rgb(245, 245, 245);">— </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">Charlie Sykes</span><span style="background-color: rgb(245, 245, 245);"> (@Charlie Sykes)</span><a href="https://twitter.com/SykesCharlie/statuses/1327677493915086853" style="background-color: rgb(245, 245, 245); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">1605377956.0</a></font></blockquote></div><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Another Russian program that has been promoting Trump's baseless claims of widespread voter fraud, according to Young, is "Evening With Vladimir Solovyov," which airs on Russia's Rossiya-1. Host Solovyov echoed the talking points of Trump supporters in the U.S., claiming that Republican observers were kept away from vote-counting facilities.</span>
</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Solovyov scoffed, "Some precincts simply barred observers…. It's just brilliant. This is what they call an electoral system."</b></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">One of Solovyov's guests, pundit Sergei Stankevich, told him, "Most likely, the Democrats will be able to torture the arithmetic until they get a win — that is, Biden will be declared president of the United States. But he will be a president without legitimacy, because a thick cloud of doubt will hang over his presidency for many Americans. Millions of his votes came from mail-in ballots, and no one will ever know how many of those votes were from real people."</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Young observes, "The only anti-Trump voices in Putin's Russia came from the dissidents. Opposition activist Alexei Navalny, currently in Germany recovering from a poisoning widely blamed on Kremlin agents, congratulated Biden and (Vice President-elect) Kamala Harris on their victory in a 'free and fair election.'"</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Young wraps up her article by noting how quick pro-Putin pundits in Russia believed pro-Trump conspiracy theories that were invented in the United States.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 204, 102);">"For less discerning people in Russia and elsewhere," Young writes, "the claims of widespread fraud in the 2020 election will surely undermine not only America's moral authority, but that of her democratic institutions. And that's on the people who have spread or condoned these toxic fictions."</font></p><div class="around-the-web" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="from-your-siteheadline" style="text-transform: uppercase;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">FROM YOUR SITE ARTICLES</font></div><ul class="around-the-weblist" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; display: inline-block; width: 589.446px; list-style: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" /><li class="from-your-siteitem"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2020/08/the-bombshell-report-on-trump-and-russia-is-flying-under-the-radar-here-are-5-reasons-it-shouldnt/" class="from-your-sitelink" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s; line-height: normal; display: inline-block; margin-top: 10px;">The bombshell report on Trump and Russia is flying under the radar ... ›</a></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></li><li class="from-your-siteitem"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2020/10/giuliani-and-russia/" class="from-your-sitelink" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s; line-height: normal; display: inline-block; margin-top: 10px;">Russia used Trump's personal lawyer to feed misinformation to the ... ›</a></li><li class="from-your-siteitem"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2020/09/facebook-confirms-that-russia-is-at-it-again/" class="from-your-sitelink" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s; line-height: normal; display: inline-block; margin-top: 10px;">Facebook confirms that Russia is at it again - Alternet.org ›</a></li><li class="from-your-siteitem"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2020/11/how-to-rig-an-election/" class="from-your-sitelink" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s; line-height: normal; display: inline-block; margin-top: 10px;">Here's how elections are actually stolen in Russia - Alternet.org ›</a></li></ul></div></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div></div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: currentcolor none medium; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer; letter-spacing: 0px;">=</span></font></div><div><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2020/08/conservative-journalist-warns-trump-supporters-desire-for-actual-bloodshed-may-be-spreading"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">https://www.alternet.org/2020/08/conservative-journalist-warns-trump-supporters-desire-for-actual-bloodshed-may-be-spreading</font></a></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">no twt lnx pix</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Alex Henderson August 31, 2020</font></div><div>
</div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Conservative journalist Charlie Sykes, one of President Donald Trump’s persistent critics on the right, has been expressing fears that violence and civil unrest will escalate during this year’s presidential election — and recent violence at demonstrations in Portland, Oregon and Kenosha, Wisconsin have not calmed those fears. Sykes, in an article published on the conservative website The Bulwark on Monday, writes that he hasn’t grown any less apprehensive and argues that Trump is only adding fuel to the flames.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“It’s 2020, and nothing seems likely to get mellow anytime soon,” Sykes warns. “Welcome to the Daily Countdown. We have 63 days to go until the election — and then, 78 days after that until Inauguration Day.”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Sykes notes that some of Biden’s conservative supporters, including Washington Post columnist George Will and CNN pundit/Bulwark contributor Amanda Carpenter, have urged him to condemn violence at protests as forcefully as possible — and Sykes doesn’t disagree with them. But Sykes also writes that another journalist, Matthew Dowd, had a valid point when, last week, he tweeted, “Why does the media pressure Biden to speak out against violent protests but doesn’t pressure Trump to speak out against police misconduct?”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Dowd, Sykes writes, “could have gone further. Why is there no pressure on Trump to condemn vigilantism? As he cheers on the caravans that descended on Portland over the weekend and his supporters rally behind the 17-year-old boy who killed two people in Kenosha, where is the concern on the right that ‘this is how Trump loses?’”</font></div><div>
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</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Sykes adds that another Biden-supporting conservative, Sarah Longwell, recently wrote, “People still expect Biden to do the right thing, which he has. No one expects that of Trump, but we should.”</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Agreeing with Longwell, Sykes writes, “Where are the Republican voices urging Trump to categorically and unambiguously denounce all of the violence? Where is the media speculation that Trump’s visit to Kenosha could be his Nixon Goes to China Moment, where he condemns all the violence, declares that Black Lives Matter, then calls on the caravans, militias, and gun-toting vigilantes to stand down?”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Trump, according to Sykes, “continues to play the arsonist” during a period of tension and unrest and does so with the help of other Republicans — for example, Rep. Ken Buck, who chairs the Colorado Republican Party and was recently seen at a fundraiser wearing a t-shirt that said, “Kill ‘em all, let God sort ‘em out.”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“The right increasingly seems to relish the prospect of violence,” Sykes laments. “Hugh Hewitt’s colleague Kurt Schlichter has long trafficked in violent fantasies of a racial civil war, but the ardor for actual bloodshed seems to be spreading.”</font></div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: currentcolor none medium; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer; letter-spacing: 0px;"></span></font></div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>apostates?</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">disillusioned conservatives, Jennifer Rubin, Peter Wehner, <b>David Frum</b>, Anna Navarro and <b>Charlie Sykes</b> among them. Michael Gerson, once a speechwriter for George W Bush, says: “The conservative mind, in some very visible cases, has become diseased. The movement has been seized by a kind of discrediting madness, in which conspiracy delusions figure prominently.”</font></span></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div><div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2020/02/conservative-writer-details-how-evidence-cant-penetrate-the-delusional-trumpian-bubble/"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">https://www.alternet.org/2020/02/conservative-writer-details-how-evidence-cant-penetrate-the-delusional-trumpian-bubble/</font></a></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">no lnx</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Conservative writer details how evidence can’t penetrate the delusional ‘Trumpian bubble’</b></font></div><div>
</div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Written by Alex Henderson February 12, 2020</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Although President Donald Trump has never had really high approval ratings, those who support him are not generally lukewarm toward the president; they are intensely devoted. Conservative Never Trump journalist Charlie Sykes examines the intense devotion of Trump’s MAGA base in a February 11 article for The Bulwark, citing two e-mails he read as examples of how difficult it is to sway anyone who lives in the “Trumpian bubble.”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">New revelations of Trump “fleecing of taxpayers by charging the Secret Service exorbitant rates,” Sykes laments, won’t matter to MAGA voters “just like the evidence about Trump’s meddling in Ukraine didn’t matter, or last week’s dual meltdowns at the Prayer Breakfast and in the East Room didn’t matter. You think the new budget and deficit numbers will move the needle? Or the fallout from the trade war? Or the 15,000-plus false statements he’s made since taking office? The probability of any of this mattering to Trump’s base ranges from ‘impossible’ to ‘no effing way.’”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Trump, Sykes explains, benefits from an “alternative-reality bubble that has effectively isolated many of his supporters from inconvenient information.” And Sykes goes on to explain why “two e-mails I received this week highlight the challenges of breaking through the Trumpian bubble.”</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The first e-mail, according to Sykes, came from a Bulwark reader in New Berlin, Wisconsin. The reader asserted that when talking to Trump devotees in his area, it was evident how much they cut themselves off from any anti-Trump information.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The reader told Sykes that during a recent conversation with them, “It was difficult to challenge their points or even have any informed discussions with them, because whatever I mentioned, they had no knowledge of it occurring. Very much short on facts. Had all of the repeated Trumpisms — witch hunt, hoax, etc. — down pat. But if you try to drill down a little deeper, you couldn’t hit home.”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">After Sykes included that e-mail in his newsletter, he notes, another Bulwark reader — a woman in Seattle — saw it and reported having very similar experiences with Trump voters. She wrote,<b> “Facebook has created an impermeable barrier so that people are NOT seeing anything that is different from what their tribe wants to believe. The worst part about it is that people think they are getting the news instantly — they have the illusion that they are instantly aware of what is going on, but the reality is a highly deceptive, manipulated, and curated dribble of propaganda.”</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">That reader specifically discussed someone Sykes describes as “Roger” (not the person’s real name). “Roger,” the reader lamented, “thinks Trump has saved the taxpayers money.”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Sykes concludes his article on a depressing note, writing, “And now, we all live in Roger’s world.”</font></div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div></div><div><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"> =</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">2 tucson panels</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">MARCH 11, 2018</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Panel Discussion on the Republican Party Three authors talked about the Republican Party. Their books they discussed are titled, How the Right Lost Its Mind, The Politics of Resentment: Rural Consciousness in Wisconsin and the Rise of Scott Walker, and Citizen Newt: The Making of a Reagan Conservative.</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">craig s said corps have too much power?!</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" /></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><a href="https://www.c-span.org/video/?441346-23/panel-discussion-republican-party">https://www.c-span.org/video/?441346-23/panel-discussion-republican-party</a></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></p><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></font></font></p></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">shd we let him off the hook for boosting walker?</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">A Long-Shot Fight</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">By the time Mr. Walker ran for governor in 2010, he was clashing regularly with unions, calling for cost savings through shorter hours, layoffs, privatization, even an imagined disassembling of the very government he ran.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Never did we ever have a civil moment with that man,” said David Eisner, a local official for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, a big public workers union.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The approach played well in the state’s interwoven universe of conservative talk radio, where Mr. Walker became a favorite guest of hosts like Charlie Sykes of WTMJ in Milwaukee. Mr. Sykes, whose wife is director of community programs at the Bradley Foundation, has a daily radio show and a television program and edits Wisconsin Interest, a magazine from the Wisconsin Policy Research Institute.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">During the governor’s race, Mr. Walker sometimes spoke of “haves and have-nots,” referring to public-sector workers and those in private business. He did not announce specific plans to cut bargaining rights, and some, like Mr. Grebe, said they had never heard him explicitly address ending collective bargaining. Yet the two men had similar views about unions, Mr. Grebe said, and Mr. Walker was determined to get union members to pay more for their pension and health care benefits.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">If Mr. Walker had not been on the Kochs’ radar before, he was now. The political action committee for their energy conglomerate, Koch Industries, donated $43,000 to Mr. Walker’s 2010 bid, while Americans for Prosperity focused on organizing for legislative races.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The result was that for the first time in about a decade, Wisconsin found itself with a Republican governor and a Republican-led Assembly and Senate.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Photo</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Clockwise from top left, Michael W. Grebe, who gave Mr. Walker crucial validation in his first elections; Mr. Walker; and Charles and David Koch, who have donated to Mr. Walker’s campaigns. Credit Top left, Mike De Sisti/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel; Bottom left, Phelan M. Ebenhack/Associated Press; Bottom center, Bo Rader/The Wichita Eagle, via Associated Press</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Three weeks later, the MacIver Institute posted an opinion column that made the first public case for repealing collective bargaining to take back control of pay and benefits for public employees. MacIver’s leaders said they had not coordinated the idea with Mr. Walker or the Bradley Foundation — it just seemed obvious that everyone was moving toward a “big and bold” solution, as Mr. Walker kept putting it.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Still, MacIver’s leaders were not sure it would go anywhere.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“I didn’t think there would be the votes” in the Legislature, said Brett Healy, president of MacIver. “I think it’s safe to say Capitol insiders would have initially bet the house that Governor Walker would’ve had no shot at passing collective bargaining reform.”</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">But Mr. Walker announced a drive to do just that in February 2011, six weeks into his governorship, proposing a bill that became known as Act 10. He portrayed it as a simple antidote to a looming fiscal hole for the state, saying, “I’m just trying to balance my budget.”</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Within days, the State Capitol in Madison was crammed with enraged union members and supporters. When the issue reached the Senate, the Democratic minority secretly fled the state, a gambit aimed at denying Republicans the quorum needed to call a vote on any bill involving the appropriation of funds.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">As the chaos mounted, at least a few Republicans quietly urged Mr. Walker to tone down his proposal. “There were prominent people who said, ‘You need to get out of this,’ ” Mr. Sykes, the WTMJ host, recalled.</font></span></font></font></div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">prosser did not choke her, put up hands in self defense ([and her throat fell into his hands?]</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">npr series post trump election?</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">917</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">There have been many postmortems about the Alabama Senate primary runoff last Tuesday, mostly focusing on what its result tells us about Donald Trump and whether it affects Mitch McConnell's future. These are good questions, since the candidate endorsed by Trump and McConnell lost to a deranged theocrat considered to be so extreme that even the National Rifle Association dropped nearly a million dollars' worth of ads to try to defeat him. How can it be that a man who was opposed by just about everyone in the Republican Party won the Republican nomination in the most Republican state in the country?</font></font></font></p><p data-reactid="94" style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">One way of looking at this result is to simply note that President Trump didn't back the Trumper candidate. In a rare moment of party comity, Trump agreed to help out Mitch McConnell and endorse the establishment's chosen candidate, appointed incumbent Sen. Luther Strange, against the wishes of Trump's revolutionary wingman Steve Bannon. Trump was either convinced by his advisers and the party poobahs that wild man Roy Moore couldn't win and he needed to back the winner or that Moore was nuts and Trump needed to pull Strange over the goal line with his massive popularity. Whatever the reasoning, Trump seemed to understand that he'd backed a dud when he mused out loud at his big rally for Strange last Friday night, "Maybe I've made a mistake."</font></font></font></p><p data-reactid="96" style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">One can easily understand why so many Republicans from all factions of the party wanted to keep Judge Roy Moore out of the United States Senate. He is a notorious political figure from the most extreme corner of the religious right, who was twice removed from the Alabama Supreme Court for <a data-reactid="98" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=//www.al.com/news/birmingham/index.ssf/2017/04/suspended_alabama_supreme_cour.html&source=gmail&ust=1506770742029000&usg=AFQjCNENkfo2hrh7Ki0b5ST66Z95aYZs6Q" href="https://www.al.com/news/birmingham/index.ssf/2017/04/suspended_alabama_supreme_cour.html" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">refusing to enforce the rule of law</a>. First it was for refusing to remove a 10 Commandments monument from the courthouse and then it was for ordering the state to refuse marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Moore is <a data-reactid="100" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=//www.cnn.com/2017/08/22/politics/kfile-roy-moore-birther-comments/index.html&source=gmail&ust=1506770742029000&usg=AFQjCNEdIATsgAxmP0eraBWXbnqX6rpTXQ" href="https://www.cnn.com/2017/08/22/politics/kfile-roy-moore-birther-comments/index.html" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">a vocal birther</a> who believes that <a data-reactid="102" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/9/26/16365774/judge-roy-moore-us-constitution&source=gmail&ust=1506770742029000&usg=AFQjCNHIGxrWvDvRRVcNTIpVlAugtYx8eA" href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/9/26/16365774/judge-roy-moore-us-constitution" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">sharia law</a> is being enacted in states around the nation and <a data-reactid="104" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=//www.wnd.com/2006/12/39271/&source=gmail&ust=1506770742029000&usg=AFQjCNEGMpBZ59eizCeNZqex-yeuopLeCQ" href="https://www.wnd.com/2006/12/39271/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">claimed</a> that Rep. Keith Ellison of Minnesota should not be allowed to serve in Congress because he is a Muslim. Not only did he <a data-reactid="106" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=//www.al.com/news/birmingham/index.ssf/2017/04/suspended_alabama_supreme_cour.html&source=gmail&ust=1506770742029000&usg=AFQjCNENkfo2hrh7Ki0b5ST66Z95aYZs6Q" href="https://www.al.com/news/birmingham/index.ssf/2017/04/suspended_alabama_supreme_cour.html" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">refuse to honor</a> the Supreme Court's order legalizing gay marriage, he thinks homosexual conduct should be outlawed. He has <a data-reactid="110" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=//www.cnn.com/2017/09/14/politics/kfile-roy-moore-9-11/index.html&source=gmail&ust=1506770742029000&usg=AFQjCNFAyczBnIcoxW7UXZd4K6ysBKGvYA" href="https://www.cnn.com/2017/09/14/politics/kfile-roy-moore-9-11/index.html" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">said that the 9/11 attacks</a> and the <a data-reactid="112" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=//www.nydailynews.com/news/national/roy-moore-blamed-sandy-hook-people-forgetting-law-god-article-1.3528710&source=gmail&ust=1506770742029000&usg=AFQjCNH44AiYhePahHCOY_BogtVanwY_vw" href="https://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/roy-moore-blamed-sandy-hook-people-forgetting-law-god-article-1.3528710" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Newtown</a> mass shooting occurred because God was upset that we "legitimize sodomy” and “legitimize abortion.”</font></font></font></p><p data-reactid="115" style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In other words, Moore is exactly the kind of fringe candidate that caused the Republicans to fail to win the Senate back in 2010 and 2012 after running kooks like Todd <a data-reactid="117" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=//www.nytimes.com/2012/08/21/us/politics/rep-todd-akin-legitimate-rape-statement-and-reaction.html?mcubz%3D0&source=gmail&ust=1506770742029000&usg=AFQjCNFoJs5oTPB1mNamskf_Nl_cVzegBA" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/21/us/politics/rep-todd-akin-legitimate-rape-statement-and-reaction.html?mcubz=0" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">"legitimate rape"</a> Akin and Sharron <a data-reactid="119" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=//www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/06/16/sharron-angle-floated-2nd_n_614003.html&source=gmail&ust=1506770742029000&usg=AFQjCNE1ZGETf8pZcwpznjgJOeXHxaIlnA" href="https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/06/16/sharron-angle-floated-2nd_n_614003.html" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">"Second Amendment remedies"</a> Angle. As <a data-reactid="121" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/27/us/politics/republican-senate-alabama-mcconnell.html&source=gmail&ust=1506770742029000&usg=AFQjCNGcyFHQkEdg4tm-L3xyCNBP_29PbQ" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/27/us/politics/republican-senate-alabama-mcconnell.html" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">a leaked GOP memo</a> about the Alabama race that was circulated among donors pointed out, the party leadership thought it had purged the self-destructive Tea Party impulse by running more mainstream candidates in 2014 and 2016 and winning the majority. Apparently you can't put that genie back in the bottle.</font></font></font></p><p data-reactid="124" style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Charlie Sykes, a Trump critic and former right-wing radio host, pointed out in<a data-reactid="126" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=//time.com/4961230/charlie-sykes-roy-moore-gop-republicans/&source=gmail&ust=1506770742029000&usg=AFQjCNFP5FwrPHg9YCKkvuSVPJOHaOflug" href="https://time.com/4961230/charlie-sykes-roy-moore-gop-republicans/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;"> Time magazine</a> this week that the right has been dealing with a strong strain of "crackpottery" for many decades. and it's true. </b>The modern conservative movement was hatched in the McCarthy era, after all, and the Republican party has been dealing with one group of flakes after another ever since, from the gold bugs to the theocrats to the gun nuts and sovereign citizens and more. It's in the GOP DNA. Until recently, party leaders were able to skillfully exploit the prejudices and paranoia of those factions of their base, while keeping a lid on the worst excesses most of the time and maintaining a somewhat respectable reputation.</font></font></font></p><p data-reactid="129" style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style=""><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">But talk radio changed everything and, along with Fox News and the newer online media platforms, has radicalized the grassroots. Starting in the '90s,  the Republican Party began to lose control of its own supposed constituency.</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> Sykes quotes a fellow apostate in explaining his own epiphany:</span></font></font></font></p><blockquote data-reactid="131" style=""><p data-reactid="132" style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Representative Thomas Massie, a Republican from Kentucky, tried to diagnose the mindset of the Tea Party voters when he told the Washington Examiner, "I thought they were voting for libertarian Republicans." Massie continued, "But after some soul-searching, I realized when they voted for Rand and Ron [Paul] and me in these primaries, they weren't voting for libertarian ideas. They were voting for the craziest son of a bitch in the race. And Donald Trump won best in class."</font></font></font></p></blockquote><p data-reactid="134" style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Roy Moore, like fellow birther Sheriff Joe Arpaio, is likely to become a close pal of the president if he wins the election. He's Trump's kind of guy, a card-carrying kook. Trump isn't likely to make the same mistake again and will be backing the extremists from now on. He may not know much about politics, but he knows his base.</font></font></font></p><p data-reactid="136" style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The political press generally saw this campaign as a test of Steve Bannon's political clout versus the president's, and Bannon's "win" as a high-profile Moore booster has them swooning. According to the New York Times,  <a data-reactid="138" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/09/28/us/politics/steve-bannon-robert-rebekah-mercer-alliance.html?action%3Dclick%26module%3DU.S.%2520Politics%26pgtype%3DHomepage&source=gmail&ust=1506770742029000&usg=AFQjCNFskGS6wyxnOjuPauGFBd-Me_wq8A" href="https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/09/28/us/politics/steve-bannon-robert-rebekah-mercer-alliance.html?action=click&module=U.S.%20Politics&pgtype=Homepage" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Bannon and his billionaire benefactors Robert and Rebekah Mercer</a> are planning to run primaries against incumbent Republicans in order to "drain the swamp" and "blow up the establishment." If this feels like déjà vu all over again, that's understandable. Just a few years ago, the billionaire Koch brothers decided to do the same thing and financed the Tea Party movement. The philosophical goals are different -- the Kochs are pro-business libertarians and the Mercers are eccentrics who want to usurp the establishment -- but the process is the same.</font></font></font></p><p data-reactid="141" style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The result for the Republican Party is likely to be what Sykes describes as "an endless feedback loop as it tries with diminishing success to placate its most bombastic voices. The most obvious consequence is their inability (so far) to legislate."  Longer term, the party seems to be headed for the long-awaited crack-up.</font></font></font></p><p data-reactid="143" style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The GOP stuck together to vote for Donald Trump despite the misgivings of many more mainstream Republican voters. They are party loyalists and simply couldn't imagine themselves voting for a Democrat, especially not the hated Hillary Clinton. Those voters aren't the ones who will get fed up and leave. It's far more likely that if the party finally splits it will be the people who want to vote for "the craziest son of a bitch in the race" who will go their own way. That's not how Steve Bannon originally envisioned blowing up the establishment, but it could achieve his goal anyway.</font></font></font></p><div class="bio-new body_news-politics" style="width: 630px; line-height: 22px; height: auto; border-top: 3px solid rgb(223, 223, 218); clear: both; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="author-bio" style=""><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="">Heather Digby Parton,</font></font></font></p></div></div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">stop trump, for cruz?</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.prwatch.org/news/2016/04/13083/dark-money-is-contested-convention-paul-ryan"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">http://www.prwatch.org/news/2016/04/13083/dark-money-is-contested-convention-paul-ryan</font></a></font></font></div><div><p style="margin: 1.5em 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In the run-up to Wisconsin's April 5 primary, the state's GOP machine worked in lockstep to throw their support behind Ted Cruz in a last ditch effort to block Trump.</font></font></font></p><p style="margin: 1.5em 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">First, Scott Walker suggested that with an open GOP convention, "it's very likely [the nominee] would be someone who's not currently running."</font></font></font></p><p style="margin: 1.5em 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Then right-wing radio hosts lead by WTMJ's Charlie Sykes <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOif2C3jPr8" target="blank" style="text-decoration: none;">savaged Trump on the air</a>. In Sykes' <a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2016/03/wisconsin-paul-ryan-ted-cruz-221337" target="blank" style="text-decoration: none;">view</a>, it is Ryan who represents Wisconsin's "sort of inclusive, aspirational style of conservatism" that could win support.</font></font></font></p><p style="margin: 1.5em 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Then Walker made a last minute, tepid endorsement of Cruz on Sykes' show, saying Cruz was "the best positioned by far" to beat Trump.</font></font></font></p><p style="margin: 1.5em 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Then national Club for Growth spent <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T95DqjUwEKo&feature=youtu.be" target="blank" style="text-decoration: none;">a whopping $1 million on TV ads</a> instructing the GOP faithful to skip John Kasich and support Ted Cruz as the only way to stop Trump.</font></font></font></p><p style="margin: 1.5em 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Watching all this U.S. Rep. Scott Krug, a bemused Kasich supporter, explained: "I think this is a three-corner bank shot." Krug told the right-wing outlet Breitbart, "I don't think there's that much of a lovefest for Ted Cruz, but they're just using him to keep Trump below 1,237 delegates so they can broker the convention for Paul Ryan."</font></font></font></p><p style="margin: 1.5em 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In the end, Trump won the majority of Wisconsin counties, 44 out of 72, but lost the key counties where the right-wing radio hosts had the best opportunity to pound home the Club for Growth message.</font></font></font></p><h2 style="line-height: 2em; margin-top: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Beware "Wisconsin Nice"</font></font></font></h2><p style="margin: 1.5em 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">If the anti-Trump wing of the GOP coalesces around Ryan, it won't be because the Ayn Rand fan represents a moderate, "inclusive" conservatism when it comes to policy. Ryan just puts a smiling face on the same extremist policies the Kochs and their allies have been pushing all along.</font></font></font></p></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></font></font></div><h3 class="post-title entry-title" itemprop="name"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.mediaactioncenter.net/2013/05/charlie-sykes-and-rush-limbaugh-same-as.html">Charlie Sykes (and Rush Limbaugh) the same as Walter Cronkite? Just Say No!</a>

</font></font></font></h3><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">

</font></font><div class="post-header"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">

</font></font></div>

</font><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">

<b><u><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">FOR

IMMEDIATE RELEASE</font></u></b></div>

Friday,

May 24, 2013</font></div>

Contact

Sue Wilson  <a href="mailto:sue@mediaactioncenter.net" moz-do-not-send="true">sue@mediaactioncenter.net</a>   </font></div>

<b><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Media watchdog charges that Wisconsin radio station legal claim to

FCC that talk radio is 'bonafide news' could lead listener

confusion</font></b></div>

</font></div>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>MILWAUKEE

– </b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Talk radio is not news – neither Charlie Sykes nor Rush Limbaugh is Walter Cronkite – argues a media watchdog after a talk radio station argued

recently to the Federal Communications Commission that its local political talk

radio shows are the same as "bonafide news."</span></font></div>

Attorneys

for Journal Communications' WTMJ-AM radio made that legal argument to the FCC

in answer to a petition to deny the station's broadcast license for violations

of the FCC's quasi-equal opportunity rule, or "Zapple Doctrine," said

Sue Wilson of Media Action Center.</font></div>

Media

Action Center filed a petition late in 2012 with the FCC to deny the license

because, during the Scott Walker recall campaign, WTMJ's <i>Jeff Wagner</i> and

<b><i>Charlie Sykes </i>shows were proven to have given as much as a half a

million dollars in free airtime to supporters of Republican Governor Scott

Walker</b>. <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The station specifically denied comparable time to supporters of his

Democratic opponent, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett.  </span></font></div>

 The

FCC's quasi-equal opportunities rule (Zapple Doctrine)</b> states that broadcasters

must give supporters of both major party candidates comparable

airtime.  <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> Only "bonafide news" programs are exempt so they

can cover candidates' events in real time.  </span></font></div>

 "Bonafide

news programs are specifically not allowed to politic for candidates,"

says Media Action Center Director Sue Wilson.  "Now is our one chance

to make a stand for journalism. The FCC has a duty to the public to draw a clear

line between news and opinion. </font></div>

"If

the FCC does not draw a clear line, radio talkers from Charlie Sykes to Rush Limbaugh will be equated with newsmen like Walter

Cronkite, and listeners will lose any hope of ferreting out fact from

fiction," Wilson added.</font></div>

Media

Action Center has launched a petition for public support, "Tell the

FCC:  Talk Radio is NOT Bonafide News!"  Find it at  <a href="http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/tell-the-fcc-talk-radio" moz-do-not-send="true">http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/tell-the-fcc-talk-radio</a>

.</font></div><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">==</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">http://www.prwatch.org/print/12051</font></p><h1 class="print-title"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Charlie Sykes Defends Sampling of Atrocious Video, A Fave of Neo-Nazis</font></h1>

    <div class="print-content">

    
    
        <div class="meta">
      <font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="submitted">by <a href="http://www.prwatch.org/users/35270/mary-bottari" title="View user profile.">Mary Bottari</a> <span class="print-footnote">[1]</span> — April 9, 2013 - 11:52am</span>
    </font></div>

<div class="tags-2"><span class="only-vocabulary-2"><li class="vocabulary-2"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Topics: <span class="term-721"><a href="http://www.prwatch.org/topics/economy">Economy</a> <span class="print-footnote">[2]</span></span></font></li></span></div> </div>

    <div class="content clearfix"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><br /></font></div><div class="content clearfix"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a class="da2a_button" href="http://www.addtoany.com/share_save?linkurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.prwatch.org%2Fnews%2F2013%2F04%2F12051%2Fcharlie-sykes-defends-sampling-atrocious-video-fave-neo-nazis&linkname=Charlie%20Sykes%20Defends%20Sampling%20of%20Atrocious%20Video%2C%20A%20Fave%20of%20Neo-Nazis" id="da2a_1">Share this</a> <span class="print-footnote">[3]</span>

</font><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Journal

Communication's right-wing talker Charlie Sykes (WTMJ Radio 620),

delights in stirring controversy. But last week he went too far. In a

segment discussing whether food stamp recipients should be allowed to

buy unhealthy food, Sykes played a clip of an incredibly offensive video

that is a favorite of neo-Nazi websites.</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Dwelling on a popular Sykes topic the "growing gigantic culture of dependent people" or "moocher culture," Sykes slips in a <a href="http://www.620wtmj.com/podcasts/talk/charliesykes/201481111.html" target="_blank">long clip (at 29.20)</a> <span class="print-footnote">[4]</span>

where the voice of an African American woman can be heard listing all

the fast food joints -- even liquor stores -- where one can allegedly

use an electronic benefits (EBT) card. Sykes did not explain the clip or

where it originated. <b>The full song portrays women as having kids in

order to receive food stamps to fund a party lifestyle</b>. (For the record,

you can't buy booze with food stamps.)</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The clip is part of a video <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NzspsovNvII" target="_blank">"It's Free, Swipe Yo EBT"</a> <span class="print-footnote">[5]</span>

made by a young woman named LaToya "Chapter" Hicks, but the production

credits go to Christopher Jackson. He is reportedly the same <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Christopher

Jackson who wrote an incredibly offensive piece about teaching black

children, another fave of the "we heart Hitler" crowd. The Jackson essay

is featured on the white nationalist site <a href="http://whitereference.blogspot.com/2009/07/blackboard-jungle-2009-christopher.html" target="blank">WhiteReference.org</a> <span class="print-footnote">[6]</span> and Chapter's video on the Nazi site <a href="http://www.stormfront.org/forum/t835733/" target="blank">Stormfront.org</a></span> <span class="print-footnote">[7]</span>.</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The Wisconsin Democratic Party promptly put out a release denouncing

the clip as racist and offensive. The party contacted reporters at the <em>Milwaukee Journal Sentinel</em>

and also wrote to the broadcast side of the Journal Communications firm

(which owns the paper and the radio station) asking VP Steve Wexler to

look into it. While the newspaper recently put the inopportune Tweets by

the Democratic Party spokesman on the front page of its paper prompting

disciplinary action, it could not be bothered to write a word about the

controversy over the weekend. Sykes defended the use of the video in a

blog post <a href="http://www.rightwisconsin.com/perspectives/201856521.html?lc=Smart" target="_blank">Sunday night on "Right Wisconsin."</a> <span class="print-footnote">[8]</span></font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">"Pshaw," says Sykes -- she's black, it's art, just because neo-Nazis

love it doesn't mean it's a problem.</span> In fact, Sykes so loves the video

"about welfare programs run amok" that he says he uses it all the time

and has previously posted it as an "anthem" for his nation of moochers

theme. The <em>Journal Sentinel</em> covered the issue briefly <a href="http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/news/201988301.html" target="_blank">online</a> <span class="print-footnote">[9]</span> Monday, but only because Sykes wrote about it.</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Sykes might think that he and Stormfront have a uniquely discerning

eye for art, but by any measure the video is highly offensive. It

shouldn't be used by any news source and Journal Communications should

make it clear to Mr. Moocher that he shouldn't be using it either.</font>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Journal Communications has given Sykes a lot of rope lately. He is the center of their new experiment called <a href="http://www.rightwisconsin.com/" target="blank">"Right Wisconsin"</a> <span class="print-footnote">[10]</span> a subscriber-based, paid content news site for right-wingers which Sykes touted in January as a means of <a href="http://www.620wtmj.com/blogs/charliesykes/187731381.html" target="blank">helping to get more Republicans elected</a></b> <span class="print-footnote">[11]</span>. One of the sponsors and "partners" is the phony issue-ad group <a href="http://wicfg.wordpress.com/2013/01/24/wisconsin-club-for-growth-right-wisconsin/" target="_blank">Wisconsin Club for Growth</a> <span class="print-footnote">[12]</span>,

which has spent millions in the state defending Governor Scott Walker

and GOP candidates. The site features long-time GOP operatives like

Brian Fraley, now at the MacIver Institute, and "reporting" by Media

Trackers, a Breitbart-style attack dog operation. Both the MacIver

Institute and Media Trackers are funded by the Bradley Foundation.</font></span></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" /></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">eg </span>
</font></p><h1 class="leadStoryHeadline"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.rightwisconsin.com/dailytakes/210560891.html">How Scott Walker Saved MP S</a>chools</font></h1><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">from trending</font></p><div class="articlePreview" style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">

     Why does this group get UW resources, stamp of approval?
                         </font></div><div class="articlePreview" style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><br /></font></div>
                      <div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Are

Republicans on the Legislature’s Joint Finance Committee getting even

with Bill Lueders? Is it possible they would be right in doing so?</font></div>

<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Early Wednesday morning, the powerful committee inserted this amendment into the budget:</font></div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">

</font><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> </font></div>

<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Prohibit the Board of Regents from permitting the Center for

Investigative Journalism to occupy any facilities owned or leased by the

Board of Regents. In addition, prohibit UW employees from doing any

work related to the Center for Investigative Journalism as part of their

duties as a UW employee.</font></div>

<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Given the Republican hegemony in the Capitol, it’s a good bet Scott Walker will sign it into law.</font></div>

<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">This is no Nixon’s enemies list. <strong><a href="http://www.wisconsinwatch.org/">The Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism</a></strong>

is a liberal incubus that has burrowed into the heart of academia,

thereby lulling a credulous daily news media into disseminating its

left-leaning "investigations." </font></div>

<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Bill Lueders’ account for the Center two years ago of the state

supreme court fracas has set the narrative for the Left ever since:

That, unprovoked, Justice Prosser attacked and attempted to choke a

female justice. A subsequent <strong><a href="http://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/host.madison.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/4/c3/4c314d8a-cff8-11e0-b72d-001cc4c03286/4e57bc07d217d.pdf.pdf">sheriff’s investigation</a></strong>

found that it was Justice Ann Walsh<b> Bradley</b>, the alleged victim, who

stormed at Prosser, who was standing in an outer office, yelling and

with fists raised.<b> Prosser, backed against a law book credenza, held out

his hands in defense.</b></font></div>

<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">A special prosecutor pointedly named Bradley first when she announced that she would not bring charges against either justice.</font></div>

<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Jack Craver of <em><strong><a href="http://host.madison.com/ct/news/local/writers/jack_craver/what-do-republicans-have-against-the-center-for-investigative-journalism/article_99b3b026-ce01-11e2-982e-0019bb2963f4.html">The Capital Times</a></strong></em>

attributes the amendment to a payback from Rep. John Nygren,

R-Marinette, the Assembly chair of JFC. Even if he’s paranoid, doesn’t

mean he’s wrong.</font></div>

<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In the Fall of 2011, the Wisconsin Center for Investigative

Journalism threw open records requests at State Rep. John Nygren in an

effort to paint a nefarious tinge on his bill limiting windfall

automobile injury awards. It was Nygren’s way to help the average

motorist hold down insurance costs.</font></div>

<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">At the time, I asked Kate Gordon, then working with the

Investigative Journalism Center, why it was not digging into what

prompted Gov. Jim Doyle and the Democrats from slipping into the budget

the jury award increases in the first place, which were supported by

that reliable Democratic poodle, the trial lawyers. That would seem to

be germane, no?</font></div>

<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">On Fri, Sep 2, 2011 at 1:00 PM, David Blaska wrote:</font></div>

<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Did the Center make a similar request of Gov. Jim Doyle or the

relative legislative leaders in 2009 who slipped into the budget the

[allowable jury award] increases? </font></div>

<p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">This type of news site is not unusual; what is unusual is that it is

sponsored by a mainstream media outfit like Journal Communications which

is supposed to be keeping an eye on its staff and is not supposed to be

helping one political party advantage another.</font>

<em><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">See Dan Bice's comment below for more of the backstory.</font></em></p>

    </div>

      </div>

</div>

    <div class="print-footer"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Center for Media and Democracy&nbsp;•

520 University Avenue, Suite 260 •

Madison, Wisconsin 53703

Phone: 608-260-9713 •

Fax: 608-260-9714

</font></div>

    <hr class="print-hr" />
    <div class="print-source_url"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong>Source URL:</strong> <a href="http://www.prwatch.org/news/2013/04/12051/charlie-sykes-defends-sampling-atrocious-video-fave-neo-nazis">http://www.prwatch.org/news/2013/04/12051/charlie-sykes-defends-sampling-atrocious-video-fave-neo-nazis</a></font></div>
    <font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong>Links:</strong><br />[1] http://www.prwatch.org/users/35270/mary-bottari<br />

[2] http://www.prwatch.org/topics/economy

[3]

http://www.addtoany.com/share_save?linkurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.prwatch.org%2Fnews%2F2013%2F04%2F12051%2Fcharlie-sykes-defends-sampling-atrocious-video-fave-neo-nazis&linkname=Charlie%20Sykes%20Defends%20Sampling%20of%20Atrocious%20Video%2C%20A%20Fave%20of%20Neo-Nazis

[4] http://www.620wtmj.com/podcasts/talk/charliesykes/201481111.html

[5] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NzspsovNvII

[6] http://whitereference.blogspot.com/2009/07/blackboard-jungle-2009-christopher.html

[7] http://www.stormfront.org/forum/t835733/

[8] http://www.rightwisconsin.com/perspectives/201856521.html?lc=Smart

[9] http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/news/201988301.html

[10] http://www.rightwisconsin.com/

[11] http://www.620wtmj.com/blogs/charliesykes/187731381.html

[12] http://wicfg.wordpress.com/2013/01/24/wisconsin-club-for-growth-right-wisconsin/</font><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">==
</font></p><h2><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Gutter Politics</font></h2>

<p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Media Trackers has shown itself to engage in gutter politics of a kind that used to be <b>rare in Wisconsin </b>politics

before the Koch brothers and Eric O'Keefe moved in. Media Trackers has

thrown Wood under the bus stating, "Wood owes the public, Rep. Mark

Pocan and his spouse Philip Frank, and law enforcement officials an

apology," but has failed to apologize for its role in the hateful smear.<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">

Similarly, Charlie Sykes has criticized Wood and Media Trackers, but

fails to <a href="http://www.620wtmj.com/blogs/charliesykes/176415571.html" target="_blank">take responsibility</a> for <b>amplifying

the claims on one of the largest radio stations in the state. Sykes has

long been a megaphone for Media Trackers spin and disinformation</b></span> and is working with them on promoting a new hashtag -- #wiright -- to peddle information in the last week of the campaign.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">http://www.prwatch.org/news/2012/06/11616/who-leaking-who-charlie-sykes-named-john-doe-documents</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Charlie Sykes is a radio talk show host on 620-AM (WTMJ) in Milwaukee </b>

and runs the <b>RightWisconsin website</b>, a political site for conservatives.

The station, like the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, is owned by Journal

Communications Inc.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Journal_Communications</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">pants on fire:  <a href="http://www.politifact.com/personalities/charlie-sykes/">http://www.politifact.com/personalities/charlie-sykes/</a>
</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></p><h4> <span class="mw-headline" id="Ryan_Dodges_Fox_News_Questions_on_the_Cost_of_the_Romney_Tax_Plan"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Ryan Dodges Fox News Questions on the Cost of the Romney Tax Plan</font></span></h4>

<p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">On Sunday, September 30, 2012 Paul Ryan was interviewed on Fox News

Sunday with Chris Wallace. Wallace repeatedly asked Ryan about the

specifics and the cost of the Romney's tax plan. Wallace asked:

"independents say that if you cut those tax rates it will cost $5

trillion is that true?" Ryan responds with: "not in the least true."

"How much would it cost?" Wallace inquires again. Ryan does not provide a

number, but continues to state that it would be "revenue neutral".</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Wallace is citing <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/UploadedPDF/1001628-Base-Broadening-Tax-Reform.pdf">a study by the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center</a>

which says that the Romney/Ryan tax cut plan would cost almost $5

trillion over 10 years. Romney and Ryan's claim that the plan would be

revenue neutral has been addressed by the study. "[They] found that

Romney would have no choice but to eliminate popular middle-income

deductions if he wanted to cut rates and maintain revenue neutrality.

The authors of the report specifically rejected that lowering tax rates

would encourage economic growth, citing estimates from the Congressional

Budget Office."<sup id="cite_ref-numbers_15-0" class="reference"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Paul_Ryan#cite_note-numbers-15">[16]</a></sup>

The authors of the study state: "Our major conclusion is that any

revenue-neutral individual income tax change that incorporates the

features Governor Romney has proposed would provide large tax cuts to

high-income households, and increase the tax burdens on middle- and/or

lower-income taxpayers."<sup id="cite_ref-TPC_16-0" class="reference"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Paul_Ryan#cite_note-TPC-16">[17]</a></sup>

The popular middle-class tax deductions that would have to be

eliminated include: "the mortgage interest deduction, the exclusion for

employer-provided health insurance, the deduction for charitable

contributions, and benefits for low- and middle-income families and

children like the EITC and child tax credit."<sup id="cite_ref-TPC_16-1" class="reference"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Paul_Ryan#cite_note-TPC-16">[17]</a></sup></font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">In an interview with A conservative talk radio host in Wisconsin,

WTDY's Charlie Sykes, Ryan explained his refusal to get into the

specifics of the Romney tax plan with Fox. "I didn't want to get into

all of the math on this because everyone would start changing the

channel."<sup id="cite_ref-numbers_15-1" class="reference"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Paul_Ryan#cite_note-numbers-15">[16]</a></sup> Sykes did not press him further.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">===</font></p><div id="mw-content-text" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr" lang="en"><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>Jonathan Newcomb</b> was appointed to the Board of <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/United_Business_Media" title="United Business Media">United Business Media</a> in 2001. "He is a board member of Journal Communications (NYSE) and the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=BNA&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="BNA (page does not exist)">BNA</a> Corporation, and is currently a senior advisor at the New York based investment firm <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Coady_Diemar&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Coady Diemar (page does not exist)">Coady Diemar</a>. He was chairman and CEO of <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Simon_%26_Schuster" title="Simon & Schuster">Simon & Schuster</a>,

one of the world’s largest book publishers and providers of educational

and training materials, from 1994 until 2002, having been president and

chief operating officer from 1991. From 2002 to 2004 he was a principal

with <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Leeds_Equity_Partners&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Leeds Equity Partners (page does not exist)">Leeds Equity Partners</a>, a New York based private equity firm, and between 2006 and 2007 he was President and Chief Executive Officer of <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Cambium_Learning&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Cambium Learning (page does not exist)">Cambium Learning</a>, an educational services provider. Previous employment included <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/McGraw_Hill" title="McGraw Hill" class="mw-redirect">McGraw Hill</a> (where he was responsible for Standard & Poor’s and Data Resources) and <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Dun_%26_Bradstreet" title="Dun & Bradstreet">Dun & Bradstreet</a>. He is chairman of UBM’s Audit Committee." <sup id="cite_ref-0" class="reference"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Jonathan_Newcomb#cite_note-0">[1]</a></sup></font></p>

<h2> <span class="mw-headline" id="Resources_and_articles"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Resources and articles</font></span></h2>

<h3> <span class="mw-headline" id="Related_Sourcewatch_articles"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Related Sourcewatch articles</font></span></h3>

<h3> <span class="mw-headline" id="References"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">References</font></span></h3>

<ol class="references"><li id="cite_note-0"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Jonathan_Newcomb#cite_ref-0">↑</a> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.unitedbusinessmedia.com/ubm/aboutus/people/board/">Directors</a>, United Business Media, accessed April 21, 2009.</span></font></li></ol>

</div>

        
    
    
            
    <div id="catlinks" class="catlinks"><div id="mw-normal-catlinks" class="mw-normal-catlinks"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Special:Categories" title="Special:Categories">Category</a>: </font><ul><li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Category:United_States" title="Category:United States"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">United States</font></a></li></ul></div></div><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">==</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">leaks in walker investigation http://www.prwatch.org/news/2012/06/11616/who-leaking-who-charlie-sykes-named-john-doe-documents</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><br /></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">===</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">wiki</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Journal Communications, Inc.</b> (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Stock_Exchange" title="New York Stock Exchange">NYSE</a>:&nbsp;<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.nyse.com/about/listed/lcddata.html?ticker=jrn">JRN</a>) is a publicly traded media company based in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milwaukee,_Wisconsin" title="Milwaukee, Wisconsin" class="mw-redirect">Milwaukee, Wisconsin</a>. It publishes the <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milwaukee_Journal_Sentinel" title="Milwaukee Journal Sentinel">Milwaukee Journal Sentinel</a></i>, a daily newspaper, and it also owns television stations, radio stations and weekly newspapers, among other businesses.</font></p>

<h2><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Contents</font></h2>

</div>

<ul><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-1"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Journal_Communications#History"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="tocnumber">1</span> <span class="toctext">History</span></font></a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-2"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Journal_Communications#Journal_Sentinel"><span class="tocnumber">2</span> <span class="toctext">Journal Sentinel</span></a>

</font><ul><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-3"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Journal_Communications#Traditional_publishing"><span class="tocnumber">2.1</span> <span class="toctext">Traditional publishing</span></a>

</font><ul><li class="toclevel-3 tocsection-4"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Journal_Communications#Printing_agreements_for_Journal.27s_Milwaukee_press_facilities"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="tocnumber">2.1.1</span> <span class="toctext">Printing agreements for Journal's Milwaukee press facilities</span></font></a></li></ul>

</li><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-5"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Journal_Communications#Online_content"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="tocnumber">2.2</span> <span class="toctext">Online content</span></font></a></li></ul>

</li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-6"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Journal_Communications#Journal_Broadcast_Group"><span class="tocnumber">3</span> <span class="toctext">Journal Broadcast Group</span></a>

</font><ul><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-7"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Journal_Communications#Television_stations"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="tocnumber">3.1</span> <span class="toctext">Television stations</span></font></a></li><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-8"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Journal_Communications#Radio_stations"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="tocnumber">3.2</span> <span class="toctext">Radio stations</span></font></a></li></ul>

</li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-9"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Journal_Communications#Journal_Community_Publishing_Group"><span class="tocnumber">4</span> <span class="toctext">Journal Community Publishing Group</span></a>

</font><ul><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-10"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Journal_Communications#Weekly_newspapers"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="tocnumber">4.1</span> <span class="toctext">Weekly newspapers</span></font></a></li></ul>

</li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-11"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Journal_Communications#Other_holdings"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="tocnumber">5</span> <span class="toctext">Other holdings</span></font></a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-12"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Journal_Communications#Board_of_Directors.5B3.5D"><font face="Times New Roman" color="#000000" size="4"><span class="tocnumber">6</span> <span class="toctext">Board of Directors<sup><span>[</span>3<span>]</span></sup></span></font></a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-13"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Journal_Communications#References"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="tocnumber">7</span> <span class="toctext">References</span></font></a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-14"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Journal_Communications#External_links"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="tocnumber">8</span> <span class="toctext">External links</span></font></a></li></ul>

</td></tr></tbody></table>

<h2><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="mw-headline" id="History">History</span> </font></h2>

</font><div class="thumbcaption">

Journal Communications building</font></div>

</div>

<p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milwaukee_Journal" title="Milwaukee Journal" class="mw-redirect">Milwaukee Journal</a></i>

was started in 1882, in competition with four other English-language,

four German- and two Polish-language dailies. It launched <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WTMJ-AM" title="WTMJ-AM" class="mw-redirect">WTMJ-AM</a> (620) in 1927, and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WTMJ-TV" title="WTMJ-TV">WTMJ-TV</a> (Channel 4) in 1947. <b>The Journal Company</b>, until then primarily owned by local interests, introduced an <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Employee-owned_corporation" title="Employee-owned corporation" class="mw-redirect">employee stock trust plan</a>

in 1937, and as a result most Journal stock was eventually held by its

employees (under certain restrictions). A small bloc of Journal stock

was given to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvard" title="Harvard" class="mw-redirect">Harvard</a> to fund the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nieman_Fellowship" title="Nieman Fellowship">Nieman Fellowship</a> program for promising journalists, and another bloc was still held by the original owning families until the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Initial_Public_Offering" title="Initial Public Offering" class="mw-redirect">IPO</a>.</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milwaukee_Sentinel" title="Milwaukee Sentinel" class="mw-redirect">Milwaukee Sentinel</a></i>, begun in 1837 as a weekly published by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solomon_Juneau" title="Solomon Juneau">Solomon Juneau</a>, passed through the hands of several owners before being sold to the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hearst_Corporation" title="Hearst Corporation">Hearst Corporation</a>

in 1924. Hearst operated the Sentinel until 1962, when, following a

long and costly strike, it abruptly announced the closing of the paper.

Although Hearst claimed that the paper had lost money for years, The

Journal Company, concerned about the loss of an important voice (and

facing questions about its own dominance of the Milwaukee media market),

agreed to buy the Sentinel name, subscription lists, and any "good

will" associated with the name. In 1995 the Journal and Sentinel were

consolidated. The new <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milwaukee_Journal_Sentinel" title="Milwaukee Journal Sentinel"><i>Journal Sentinel</i></a> then became a seven-day morning paper.</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">In 1964 Journal Communications bought a part interest in Perry

Printing, a commercial printer specializing in printing magazines,

catalogs and free-standing inserts for publications;<sup id="cite_ref-1" class="reference"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Journal_Communications#cite_note-1"><span>[</span>1<span>]</span></a></sup>

in 1974 it purchased the remaining shares of the company; and in 1995

sold the operation (which by then had about 1000 employees and sales of

$123 million) to the Milhous Group of California <a rel="nofollow" class="external autonumber" href="http://www.google.com/search?q=cache:TVhUEqFMFl8J:findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4207/is_19950127/ai_n10182933+%22Perry+Printing%22&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=4&client=firefox-a">[1]</a>.</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In 1968 the Midwestern Relay cable transmission division of the

Journal Company was developed out of broadcast-related expertise; in

1991, Midwestern Relay acquired Norlight, a fiber-optic private carrier,

and adopted the Norlight name. On February 26, 2007 Journal

Communications sold the regional telecommunications provider to

privately held Q-Comm Corp of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delaware" title="Delaware">Delaware</a>.

Upon closing the transaction, Q-Comm terminated Jim Ditter, who had

been president of Norlight since 1995, and chief financial officer Mike

Garvey.</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">What is now known as the Journal Community Publishing Group began in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waupaca,_Wisconsin" title="Waupaca, Wisconsin">Waupaca, Wisconsin</a>

in 1972 as a publishing and printing company called Add Inc. A majority

interest was purchased by Journal Communications in 1981, and the

remainder in 1986. In June 2007, Journal Communications sold off its JCP

interests in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louisiana" title="Louisiana">Louisiana</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ohio" title="Ohio">Ohio</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Connecticut" title="Connecticut">Connecticut</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vermont" title="Vermont">Vermont</a>. The sales brought in a combined $30 million.</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The company sold 11 community newspapers, five shoppers and two printing plants in Connecticut and Vermont to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hersam_Acorn_Newspapers" title="Hersam Acorn Newspapers">Hersam Acorn Newspapers</a>.

In Ohio, Journal sold eight shoppers, numerous specialty print products

and the Advantage Press commercial printing business to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gannett_Company" title="Gannett Company">Gannett Company</a>. It also sold its Louisiana-based publishing business to a Target Media Partners affiliate.</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In 1999 Journal Communications acquired the Great Empire radio group (13 radio stations in 4 states).</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The corporation had its <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Initial_public_offering" title="Initial public offering">initial public offering</a> of Class A shares in 2003.</font></p>

<h2><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="mw-headline" id="Journal_Sentinel">Journal Sentinel</span> </font></h2>

<p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">(Headquarters: Milwaukee)</font></p>

<h3><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="mw-headline" id="Traditional_publishing">Traditional publishing</span> </font></h3>

<ul><li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milwaukee_Journal_Sentinel" title="Milwaukee Journal Sentinel">Milwaukee Journal Sentinel</a></i> (daily newspaper)</font></li></ul>

<h4><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="mw-headline" id="Printing_agreements_for_Journal.27s_Milwaukee_press_facilities">Printing agreements for Journal's Milwaukee press facilities</span> </font></h4>

<ul><li><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USA_Today" title="USA Today">USA Today</a></i> copies distributed in eastern Wisconsin and north suburban Chicago <sup id="cite_ref-2" class="reference"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Journal_Communications#cite_note-2"><span>[</span>2<span>]</span></a></sup></font></li><li><i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Chicago_Reader" title="The Chicago Reader" class="mw-redirect"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The Chicago Reader</font></a></i></li><li><i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shepherd_Express" title="Shepherd Express"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Shepherd Express</font></a></i></li><li><i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sheboygan_Press" title="The Sheboygan Press"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The Sheboygan Press</font></a></i></li></ul>

<h3><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="mw-headline" id="Online_content">Online content</span> </font></h3>

<p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Journal Interactive</b> <a rel="nofollow" class="external autonumber" href="http://www.journalinteractive.com">[2]</a></font></p>

<ul><li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.jsonline.com"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">JSOnline</font></a></li><li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.onwisconsin.com"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">OnWisconsin.com</font></a></li><li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.mkeonline.com"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">MKEOnline.com</font></a></li><li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.mycommunitynow.com">MyCommunityNOW.com Network</a> (individual news sites for each Milwaukee suburb)</font></li></ul><ul><li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Steven J. Smith - Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer, Journal Communications</font></li><li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">David Drury - President & Chief Executive Officer, Poblocki Sign Company, LLC</font></li><li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">David Meissner - Former Chairman, Public Policy Forum, Inc.</font></li><li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Jonathan Newcomb - Senior Advisor, Coady Diemar Partners</font></li><li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Roger Peirce - Retired Vice Chairman & CEO, Super Steel Products Corporation</font></li><li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellen_Siminoff" title="Ellen Siminoff">Ellen Siminoff</a> - CEO, Shmoop, and Chairman, Efficient Frontier</font></li><li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Mary Ellen Stanek - Managing Director & Chief Investment Officer, Baird Advisors, Robert W. Baird & Co. Inc</font></li><li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Owen Sullivan - CEO, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Right_Management&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Right Management (page does not exist)">Right Management</a></font></li><li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Jeanette Tully - President and CEO, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Radiovisa_Corporation&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Radiovisa Corporation (page does not exist)">Radiovisa Corporation</a></font></li></ul>