Vote, Dammit!

Here's a reminder of the struggles people, er, suffered to gain the right to vote, curtesy of Ani DiFranco. (Located via Ms. Frizzle.)

Milwaukeeans! Protest Sinclair!

The Sinclair Broadcast Group, which created controversy for itself some months back when it wouldn't let its ABC affiliates air the "Nightline" that had Ted Koppel reading the names of US Iraq War dead, is at it again. According to the LA Times,

The conservative-leaning Sinclair Broadcast Group, whose television outlets reach nearly a quarter of the nation's homes with TV, is ordering its stations to preempt regular programming just days before the Nov. 2 election to air a film that attacks Sen. John F. Kerry's activism against the Vietnam War, network and station executives familiar with the plan said Friday.

Sinclair's programming plan, communicated to executives in recent days and coming in the thick of a close and intense presidential race, is highly unusual even in a political season that has been marked by media controversies.

Sinclair has told its stations--many of them in political swing states such as Ohio and Florida--to air "Stolen Honor: Wounds That Never Heal," sources said. The film, funded by Pennsylvania veterans and produced by a veteran and former Washington Times reporter, features former POWs accusing Kerry--a decorated Navy veteran turned war protester--of worsening their ordeal by prolonging the war. Sinclair will preempt regular prime-time programming from the networks to show the film, which may be classified as news programming, according to TV executives familiar with the plan.

Sinclair owns both WB18 and UPN24 here in Milwaukee. You should write or call them to express your displeasure that such blatant politicking will be done under the guise of "news" so close to the election. I have checked the TiVo guide and I haven't seen "Stolen Honor" appearing yet, but the guide is only showing me up to October 22, while the story indicates it may air as late as October 24. So better not take chances. If I see it on the schedule for certain, I will update this.

I wouldn't be surprised if the film airs under the guise of WB18's "NewsCentral," which is part of Sinclair's ultra-conservative "news" division. This is not just a problem here in Milwaukee:

TV Barn's Mark Jeffries calls Sinclair the "Clear Channel of local news," a reference to the San Antonio, Texas, media giant that has grown from 40 to more than 1,200 stations today thanks to the 1996 Telecommunications Act, which relaxed radio ownership rules. But the parallels extend beyond their growth strategies. Jeffries describes Sinclair as having a "fiercely right-wing approach that makes Fox News Channel look like a model of objectivity," while Clear Channel is best known for sponsoring pro-war "Rallies for America" during the Iraq conflict. And like Clear Channel's CEO Lowry Mays--a major Republican donor and onetime business associate of George W. Bush -- the Sinclair family, board, and executives ply the GOP with big money. Since 1997, they have donated well over $200,000 to Republican candidates.

Sinclair's news department also takes a page out of Clear Channel's book of non localized programming. According to Sinclair's website, NewsCentral is a "revolutionary news model" that introduces "local news in programming in markets that otherwise could not support news." Begun in 2002, it's being tested in five not so-small markets: Minneapolis, Flint (MI), Oklahoma City (OK), Raleigh (NC), and Rochester (NY). (Hyman's segment, "The Point," however, is aired on all 62 of its stations.) In these five cities, the hour-long newscast combines local broadcasting with prepackaged news. To maintain the appearance of local news, the Baltimore on-air staff is coached on the intricacies of correct local pronunciations. Or the weatherman, safely removed from the thunderstorms in, say, Minneapolis, will often engage in scripted banter with the local anchor to maintain the pretense: "Should I bring an umbrella tomorrow, Don?" "You bet, Hal, it looks pretty ugly out there..."

Journalists have been pondering the specter of centralized news operations for some time, both because it affects the quality of news and because it could put them out of a job. "We should all be conscious of the dangers that are present when you have one newsroom producing the news," says John Nichols, associate editor at The Capital Times in Madison and co-author with Robert McChesney of the books "Our Media, Not Theirs," and "It's the Media, Stupid." "That's a real possibility. It's a very dangerous future, but Sinclair is already living in the dangerous future." [. . .] While the debate rages over whether such journalists can consistently produce high quality news, the real fear is that only one voice will frame and tell a news story. It's a chilling thought when that lone perspective is shaped by a Sinclair or Fox worldview.

"Thomas Jefferson and James Madison believed that, in order to sustain democracy, media needed to be cacophonous and diverse," Nichols says. "Today we don't have that. Our range of debate is getting incredibly narrow: The mainstream discourse runs from right-wing to far right-wing."

It angers and saddens me that the local home of syndicated "The Simpsons" has become what it has. Let's get the phones and letters working, though, eh guys?

Winning the Peace: The Real Big Lie

Much is being made today about the exchange in last night's debate concerning Bush's insistence that he executed the war war exactly the way the generals advising him said to. Here's the relevant part of the transcript:

BUSH: I remember sitting in the White House looking at those generals, saying, "Do you have what you need in this war? Do you have what it takes?"

I remember going down to the basement of the White House the day we committed our troops as last resort, looking at Tommy Franks and the generals on the ground, asking them, "Do we have the right plan with the right troop level?"

And they looked me in the eye and said, "Yes, sir, Mr. President." Of course, I listen to our generals. [. . .]

KERRY: You rely on good military people to execute the military component of the strategy, but winning the peace is larger than just the military component.

Gen. Shinseki had the wisdom to say, "You're going to need several hundred thousand troops to win the peace." The military's job is to win the war. A president's job is to win the peace.

I feel that this is an appropriate time to reprint a few paragraphs from my last Iron Blog Battle:

--
There was an utter lack of post-war planning--and a complete ignorance of thoughtful recommendations--before combat began. General Eric Shinseki was fired for daring to suggest that we'd need "several thousand" troops to keep the peace in post-war Iraq. Army Secretary Thomas White got the boot for the same reason. We should probably have had more troops for the beginning--and even now--but the administration's insistence that it knew what it was doing with so few troops has made it hard for commanders to ask for what they need.

Most disturbing is Anthony Zinni's story:

Four years ago, those who devised an Iraq war game called "Desert Crossing" concluded that a large force would be needed to subdue the country. "We were concerned about the ability to get in there right away, to flood the towns and villages," says retired Marine Gen. Anthony Zinni, who was commander of U.S. forces in Iraq and the surrounding region when he supervised "Desert Crossing." "We knew the initial problem would be security."

The 1999 exercise recommended a force of 400,000 troops to invade and stabilize Iraq. But at the insistence of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, ground forces in the March invasion were held to less than half that: about 130,000 U.S. combat troops and some 30,000 British troops.

--
The Washington Post which notes in s story tomorrow that, "In that 2002 White House meeting, Gen. Tommy R. Franks, whom Bush mentioned, said there were enough troops, but Shinseki told the president there were not. Other senior members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff told Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld that they were concerned about troop levels."

That's right: For at least three years before the war, the people who know these things all said that securing the peace would require far more troops than Bush was politically willing to commit. And all the talk everyone--including Kerry--does about about Shinseki misses the point. It wasn't just him, it was commander after commander after commander, all of them willfully ignored by those who were convinced that we'd waltz into Iraq and be greeted with flowers.

That is a huge mistake.  It has cost thousands of lives and billions of dollars and the respect of the world.

That's the real Big Lie from last night. Period.

I was doing live DebateBlogging

Over at Open Source Politics.

By popular demand

I guess I'm not allowed to quit. Anyway . . .

Here's an education-related story for you. It's an axiom now that every time the Bush re-election effort starts losing steam, there's a terror alert soon to follow. This week, after Bush's dismal debate performance, Cheney's lies at his own debate, and the prospect of a dismal jobs report (which turns out to be true--listen to MaxSpeak), the terror alert was right on schedule. The target this time? The children.

Won't somebody please think of the children!

The alert was based on the school siege in Beslan a couple months back; terrorists, they say, could be planning the same thing here. And, though they say today's news is "not related" to that alert (an alert, again, "not based on specific intelligence"), the release of this new information just adds fuel to a fire.

Turns out that our guys in Iraq--that country which has not attacked us and which we know was growing less likely to attack us--found a CD-ROM "containing photographs, layouts and other material pertaining to American schools in six states." "Oh no," you might think, "the terrorists will infiltrate our schools and, Masterminds-style, commit horrendous acts of barbarity!"

Except for one thing: "A Department of Homeland Security official said the intelligence community determined there was no threat." So why the alert? Why the panic? Why the ruckus, if you will?

Security Moms, obviously. Bush needs to win women if he expects to have a chance of winning. More women vote than men, and they tend to vote Dem. In fact, data show that the again-safe lead Kerry has in New Jersey may be solely due to women.

Now, Security Moms may not actually exist:

"[I]f any security moms do exist, they seem to be picking Kerry over Bush. Nearly every poll shows that women are more likely than men to think that Kerry will do a better job of handling Iraq, the war on terror and foreign relations than will Bush. If anything, polls show that the gender gap is larger on security issues than domestic ones, suggesting that Kerry actually does better among women on these issues than does Bush.

Bush has to believe that these Securty Moms do exist, though; he even has Margaret Carlson and Frank Luntz pimping the idea for him. If they don't exist, they can't vote for him and he loses. But maybe, just maybe, if he can convince the moms of this country in the next few days that those scary dark-skinned people have blueprints to your child's school, he can pull out the squeaker.

Oh, but here's the funny part. This CD they've found with school plans? Belongs to a guy planning schools: "[I]t could not be established that this person had any ties to terrorism. He did have a connection to civic groups doing planning for schools in Iraq."

Where I Been At?

This isn't fun for me anymore. I'm sorry. Maybe it's burnout. Maybe it's work. Maybe it's the northern lights. I don't know. At any rate, I'm thinking of just shuttering this place until post-election.

Any objections?

The winning line

"I've had one position, one consistent position, that Saddam Hussein was a threat. There was a right way to disarm him and a wrong way. And the president chose the wrong way."

(I still think the vote was wrong, though. I stand by what I said way back when: You cannot give a lighter to an arsonist and expect him not to start a fire!)

But props to Big John for the good soundbite.

How to lie with headlines

When your headline says
Poll finds support for Bush handling of war

But your story says
Of 508 state residents polled Sept. 15-21, 43% said Bush was doing an excellent or good job dealing with Iraq, while 56% said his work was fair or poor. In June, 39% said Bush was doing an excellent or good job; 60% chose fair or poor. Since last October, those figures have not changed much.

I am being prodded by some correspondents to do more of a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel-watch kind of thing because too often the news and editorial bias is just this bad. I'm just going to throw this out to all of my Milwaukee (or Wisconsin) readers and fellow bloggers: Would any of you be interested in helping out with a group-style MJS-watch blog?

How Ballsy is That?

With the TiVo, I barely get to see any commercials anymore. So I haven't seen any of the season's campaign ads. To an extent, I'm pleased. However, tonight, I happened to note that John Kerry is running ads during "Seventh Heaven." (Please allow me the one guilty pleasure.)

I have to wonder how, exactly, John Kerry expects to win by trying for the pre-teen Christian girl set, though. I suppose he has his reasons.

Oh, and go sing "Happy Birthday" to Stacie.

Just Something Else to Keep Me Busy

Hey, all. It's me again, your friendly neighborhood Iron Blogger Democrat. After a few weeks of relative inaction, the Iron Blog is back in business, and I'm taking on an old rival in Battle: Victory Iraq?

It's actually very appropriate given the news of this week. I've condensed my opponent's Opening Statement into one sentence, just so you can get a feel for what the Battle is like so far:

I want to [. . .] be held against [. . .] Saddam Hussein [. . .], thus paving the way for [. . .] a cheering crowd to[. . .] dollop [. . .] the lips of critics [with . . .] protest slogans [. . .] and [. . .] crystal meth.

But seriously, we're halfway through. Here are the links, in order, or just click through and scroll down a while, then read up.

• Call to Battle
• His Opening Statement
• My Opening Statement
• His First Rebuttal
• My First Rebuttal

The next couple of days see one more round of rebuttals and a round of closing statements. Check it out; I'm a little biased, but I think I may be winning.

I have my iBook back

But not the stuff that used to be on it.

Yes, folks, that's right. My iBook went in for a screen issue, caused by a faulty logic board, which they fixed just fine. But, after they replaced the logic board, they decided, just for kicks, I guess, to wipe my hard drive and re-install the system software.

I still love Apple and Macs; in fact, even after this most recent episode, I can still say that I have never, ever had any loss of data due to mechanical failure in fifteen years of Mac use. It's just the idiots at the Apple repair Depot who wiped my drive who are pissing me off.

So, anyway, I have also lost all my email. If you have ever had cause to email before about anything, or think I should just have your email address handy in case I need it, email me so I can have your address again.

The war keeps getting closer

A graduate of the high school where I teach was killed in Fallujah this week. I was here when he was here--he graduated in 2001--but I did not know him. Word is, though, that he was a Good Kid, and we don't have enough of those to spare here in Milwaukee. Now we have one less.

Thank Damn you, President Bush, for this war.

I need a third

I had a nice long post of election analysis going and the browser here on my back-up computer crashed. "Quit unexpectedly," as they say. In fact, I was most of the way through a draft of this very entry and it happened again. The Apple folks tell me my laptop is on its way home; it won't be too soon! And I will try to get that piece reconstructed sometime tomorrow.

Anyway, with Tim Carpenter's loss yesterday, I need a third for the folkbum 3. (I won't add Gwen Moore, not because I don't like her, but because against Gerald Boyle she'll probably hit 70% even without your hard-earned money.)

I wish ActBlue would let me add state races, as Dave Cullen and Jennifer Morales need your help. (Neither has a website I can find yet.) But, since we're only talking federal, who do you suggest? I'd like it to be midwestern, if not in Wisconsin (and I don't think any other federal Wisconsin races will be close enough to bother). I'm toying with Cegalis (sp?) and Bean in Illinois, for example, or Fingerhut in Ohio (at least in part for sentimental reasons). This site is not and never will be a democracy, but I'd appreciate your input!

Me vs. Reality

Results here.

20th Senate District
Me: "Mary Panzer is going to walk away with it. I predict she gets at least 60% of the vote, if not more."
Reality: Grothman 79%, Panzer 21% (with 93% reporting)
WRONG!
(No word yet on Elysse.)

5th Congressional District
Me: "I'm predicting Kennedy by at least 10% over challenger Gary Kohlenberg."
Reality: Kennedy 72%, Kohlenberg 28%
CORRECT!

4th Congressional District, Democrat
Me: "I will predict no more than a mere 12 or 15-point spread between the three, but I can't say who'll come out on top."
Reality: Moore 65%, Flynn 25%, Carpenter 10%
WRONG!

4th Congressional District, Republican
Me: "Corey Hoze will beat Gerald Boyle easy in the Republican primary."
Reality: Boyle 53%, Hoze 47%
WRONG!

Republican Senate Primary
Me: " My prediction: Michels 35%, Darrow 33%, Welch 24%, and Lorge 8%."
Reality: Michels 43% Darrow 30% Welch 23% Lorge 4%
CORRECT!

Two for five isn't great, but I beat Owen on the Senate prediction, and that makes my day.

I voted

There was a bit of a problem at my polling place: A couple of people ahead of me the machine stopped sucking in ballots (we use the connect-the-arrows paper ballots read by a machine like a Scantron®). So we just slipped our ballots into the slot at the bottom to be handcounted. Can a Diebold do that?

Anyway, results will be here when they start coming in. (As of 8:30, nothing so far. It's a little gratifying to see that no one has voted for the Republicans in the Senate primary. He he!)

Tomorrow is Primary Day

I'm sneaking some time on the old computer here to get my predictions and punditry down in pixels before election day rolls aound. There are, by all accounts, only three interesting races in Wisconsin's primaries this year, and I shall weigh in on all three, and a couple of other special ones.

One interesting primary is the Republican battle to be the guy who loses to America's Favorite Senator™, Russ Feingold. There are technically four candidates, but the least objectionable of the bunch, Robert "my brother thinks he's Elvis" Lorge, has basically no money and no support from the lunatic fringe of Republican primary voters. That leaves Russ "used car dealer" Darrow, Tim "I'm a veteran!" Michels, and Bob "statewide loser since 1994!" Welch. In my travels around the state last month, and in driving around Milwaukee and suburbs more recently, I can say that it will come down to Darrow or Michels. I suppose Welch could sneak in if Darrow and Michels split the bulk of the ballots, but Welch just doesn't seem to have any (visible) support. My prediction: Michels 35%, Darrow 33%, Welch 24%, and Lorge 8%.

The Mary "I'm conservative!" Panzer versus Glenn "you're not conservative enough" Grothman battle in the 20th Senate district has also been a good fight. Trouble is, Mary Panzer is going to walk away with it. I predict she gets at least 60% of the vote, if not more. I also want to send some love to Elysse Chay, who is a Dem hoping for enough write-in signatures to get her on the November ballot. If, for some reason, Grothman pulls it off, Elysse will be able to stake out some of the old Panzer terriory and may turn that seat D for the first time in like forever.

The 4th Congressional district primary here in Milwaukee is also tight. An open 4th CD seat is more rare than a Brewer's title, so three prominent local Dems are taking their best (and, in some cases, dirtiest) shots. Tim Carpenter is my guy in this race, but I am not confident enough to make a prediction one way or another. It will all be about turnout: A strong turnout from the South Side and GLBT community can push it to Tim; Attorney Matt Flynn and State Senator Gwen Moore will also be counting on turnout. I think Gwen will be helped by hard-fought primaries in her old Senate district and a couple of central-city Assembley districts, though, and Flynn has a fine field operation. I will predict no more than a mere 12 or 15-point spread between the three, but I can't say who'll come out on top.

The 5th CD race is also of interest to me, because Bryan Kennedy actually has a chance to beat Jim "PATRIOT ACT" Sensenbrenner. Libertarian-leaning Republicans are not happy with how F. Jim has "gone DC" and there will be a libertarian on the November ballot. Kennedy has out-raised any other former Dem opponent to F. Jim, and has landed moderate Republican support in addition to key labor union and other lefty endorsements. I'm predicting Kennedy by at least 10% over challenger Gary Kohlenberg.

As for me, I'm seeing the doctor tomorrow afternoon to go over the MRI of my back. I'm hopeful at least I can get treatment, even if my iBook is still away for repairs.

Is it just me . . .

Or is all this talk about TANG making anyone else thirsty?

My beloved iBook, by the way, is in the Apple infirmary for a display issue. They're telling me three weeks, but I'm holding out for something faster. Sigh. Mostly that just means posting will continue to be light for a little while.

Solidarity!

So Milwaukee has moved one step closer to requiring pre-payment at gas stations, to stop drive-offs and the many hours of precious police time they soak up. But wait! The business community is up in arms over this unwarranted intrusion into the rights of small business owners. And, of course, the conservative bloggers are fuming, too.

And how is the right half of Milwaukee's blogging community showing their sympathy and solidarity for these put-upon Milwaukee business owners? By refusing to buy gas from them, of course.

This is the kind of thing that makes my head explode.

Creeping Malaise

Well, not so much creeping malaise, really, as a sharp, stabbing pain in my back accompanied by the pressure of a particularly greuling opening of the school year, the weight of unfinished household projects delayed by my back, the recognition that the best candidate for the job has waged the worst campaign, and the realization that my 30s look a lot like my 20s, only with less hair.

Ergo, the dearth of new posts. I'm sorry to disappoint. Someday soon that switch will flip again and I'll have the passion and fire to rage, rage against the lying of the right, but for now, I'll mostly just be whining.

Go volunteer at the Iron Blog with the time you would have spent here. They need you more than I.

Lying Liars

This one's worth the day pass. Or you can read about George W. Fraud for free. Or read both.

And an update on my back: The doctor is now pretty well convinced it's a bulging disk or worse; he's got me doing a course of steroids (because, yeah, I need to gain more weight!) and if that doesn't work we'll try something more agressive. I don't know if he means Zell Miller agressive or Dick Cheney agressive, though.