Military Weapons Unleashed In NJ Grocery Store

We will see headlines about incidents like this until sanity is returned to gun ownership in America.

No doubt the restriction-free advocates of gun ownership will say that willful, angry and disturbed people will do what they intend to do regardless of the law, or that ubiquitous concealed or open carry will deter these mass killings, but if you make it child's play to obtain battlefield-service guns, what you get is a bigger and guaranteed body count.

Dogs Forbidden In WI Wolf Hunt

Successful litigation by Wisconsin humane societies.

Look for Walker's DNR to appeal.

Faint Praise For Romney: Speech Avoided Most Of Ryan's Lies

That needling commentary - - but a fair measure of the damage Ryan's acceptance speech falsehoods had done the night before - - showed up in the USA Today fact-checking story about Romney's major address:

TAMPA, Fla. – In a speech heavy on anecdotal history but short on policy details, Mitt Romney avoided major falsehoods in making his case to the American public while accepting the presidential nomination at the Republican National Convention.

Even a key Democratic strategist, Bill Burton, a former press secretary for President Obama, tweeted shortly after the speech ended: "Romney actually avoided almost all of the lies from Ryan's speech." That was a reference to Rep. Paul Ryan's address the night before, which we found to contain a number of false and misleading claims.

Romney, Ryan, Right Go Right After Facts And Fact-Checkers

They've been fighting the facts on climate change, evolution and female physiology, so little wonder that the Fox/Faux News-fed, talk radio-driven propagandists would now turn their fire on independent fact-checkers who point out the falsehoods in the GOP ticket's pronouncements.

Details here.

You can follow this trail straight to Karl Rove ("Mission Accomplished"), to Roger Ailes.

Paul Ryan Forgot His Ayn Rand, Herman Cain

One last Paul Ryan, post-Convention observation:

In his acceptance speech Wednesday night, Ryan said it was President Obama's fault that young people are without jobs.

Odd for a self-reliant Ayn Randian like Bootstraps Ryan to be distributing victim cards.

Probably surprised Herman Cain, too.

Remember this from the primaries?

"Don't blame Wall Street, don't blame the big banks, if you don't have a job and you're not rich, blame yourself!"

Bring Back Michael Steele

You can say this about Reince Priebus: He's no Michael Steele.

Advantage Steele.

I doubt that Steele, adult that he is, would have green-lighted that Clint Eastwood-stunt-gone-wrong - - letting the actor ad lib his way through a demeaning, prime-time wasting attack on the US Presidency.

As a vaudeville act, you couldn't have done any worse, and to close that circle - - no one was there with the hook.

Amateurs!

And give Priebus low marks also for exercising zero control over the content of the nominees' speeches.

As a Wisconsinite and consummate pol, Priebus certainly knew - - as the independent fact-checkers announced quickly - - that the Janesville GM plant had closed during the George W. Bush administration, regardless of Paul Ryan's dishonest, home-town revisionism.

And having called off day one of the convention because of the dangers posed by Hurricane Isaac, how could convention planners, the candidate himself and his staff let Romney wisecrack about rising seas when the Gulf and much of the Southeast is and will be flooded.
Is Louisiana laughing?

Are the insurance companies laughing? No: they've been warning about rising sea levels for years because they have underwritten policies exposing themselves to billions and billions in losses as the Arctic ice cap melts and seas rise and weather extremes are real.

Here was Romney's funny:

President Obama promised to slow the rise of the oceans and to heal the planet…My promise is to help you and your family.

Not comedic. Or Presidential. As Mitt himself said Thursday, "We deserve better."

So the convention began as Isaac approached, and floundered while the rains kept falling.

Where was Michael Steele when they needed him?

Cross-posted at Purple Wisconsin.

Romney's Foolish Comment On The Rising Seas

At the end of his acceptance speech Thursday night, Mitt Romney mocked Barack Obama for his concern over rising seas:

Said Mitt:

President Obama promised to slow the rise of the oceans and to heal the planet…My promise is to help you and your family.

Big laugh line. Big laugh from the floor.

But how funny is it tonight near New Orleans? Or to the north, where the flooding is headed?

Are the insurance companies laughing? With facts and science on their side, they've been warning against rising sea levels for years because they have billions and billions of dollars of property insured along threatened coastlines.

Rising seas, melting Arctic ice, extreme and changing weather, fires, drought, and crop losses are all related and are not getting too many chuckles from Central Wisconsin to the plains to fire-riven Colorado and Texas.

Romney can make fun of science, but the joke is lost on the rest of us.

Romney's Fake Admiration For Obama '08 Completely Transparent

Ryan did the same thing: profess being lifted up by Obama's election, only to be let down during his term.

A load of BS, as Mitch McConnell and others announced early on the goal was to make Obama a one-term President, which meant filibustering, blocking and defeating any and everything - - even a jobs bill.

Clint Eastwood Makes Our Day

Great job, Reince Priebus!

Ryan Seals Case Against Voter ID

If rights, as he tells the convention, come from nature and God, then government cannot abridge the right to vote with voter ID laws.

Lyin' Ryan

Even if Ryan drops the claim, the damage is done. From PolitiFact, right after Ryan's speech:

Says President Barack Obama broke his promise to keep a Wisconsin GM plant from closing.

Paul Ryan on Wednesday, August 29th, 2012 in a speech at the Republican National Convention in Tampa

Did Barack Obama break a promise to keep GM plant open?

...Our rating

Ryan said Obama broke his promise to keep a Wisconsin GM plant from closing. But we don't see evidence he explicitly made such a promise -- and more importantly, the Janesville plant shut down before he took office.

We rate Ryan's statement False.

PolitiFact Says Ryan's GM Claim In Veep Acceptance Speech "False"

Well, that didn't take long:

Did Obama make such a promise as a candidate and break it after becoming president?

Actually, the plant closed before he even took office.
 

Tommy Thompson In Tampa Sighted, Shouting

Wannabee Senator Bellicose with his wealthy pals shows some things never change:

Speaking about Ryan, Tommy startled a few people when he suddenly shouted at the top of his lungs: "We're gonna do what's right and we don't care what happens!"

Walker Ambushed By Team MSNBC, Stumbles Over Janesville GM Plant Talking Point

Kudos to the MSNBC crew for coming into an NBC interview with Scott Walker and, led by Rachel Maddow, challenging Scott Walker on the timing of the Janesville GM plant closing.

I'll bet the scripted and cautious Walker never figured he'd find himself on MSNBC and struggling to get his spin heard. And he complained that the hosts, also including Al Sharpton were talking over him - - a classic talk radio host ploy.

Ryan and Walker blamed President Obama for the plant closing, but the decision was GM's and was done during the closing weeks of George W. Bush's presidency.

Walker oddly told Maddow and Ed Schultz that the auto bailout plan should have been more generous.

What: More Big Government?

Side note: Walker has failed to bring new work into the plant, though he's been governor for a year and a half, with a new Commerce Department to micro-manage precisely for situations like Janesville.

GOP Convention Day Two; First Impressions

* Ryan is energetic and effective, and Team Obama has to be even more energetic and effective countering his slickly-delivered falsehoods: that President Obama raided $716 billion from Medicare - - the money was taken from insurance companies and hospitals for the care of low-income citizens, and that Pres. Obama closed the Janesville GM plant.

The plant was closed in 2008 when George W. Bush was elected.

Romney-Ryan Would Kiss Clean Beaches Good-Bye

The Obama administration's initiative to clean up Great Lakes beaches would be a goner under Romney-Ryan.

A Reminder: GOP Cut FEMA, Corps Of Engineer Funding

Isaac accountability check:

The New York Times reminds us that Tea Partyish Republicans in Congress have forced cuts in FEMA and US Army Corps of Engineer funding - - the very disaster relief programs that will help rebuild the Gulf states when Hurricane Isaac blows itself out and that may help save New Orleans from another Hurricane Katrina-style catastrophe:

By Thursday, Mitt May Have Been Eclipsed Twice

He won't match Ann's sparkle, and Ryan tonight may set a high bar, too.

Opening Night In Tampa: EgoFest, And Not Romney's

What an odd first convention night for the Republicans.

Governors touted their states - - Wisconsin, Ohio, South Carolina, New Jersey - - and told their personal or political stories, but had little to say about Mitt Romney.

Wasn't that their assignment - - to flesh out a guy to a television audience - - not to the conventioneers - - who remains a distant and mysterious, country club fellow?

Instead, I saw a lot gratuitous praise for women, and a lot of egos on display by governors and others who have their own agendas, but Romney was an afterhought. I can't imagine he's happy about the evening unless he's completely dense.

I also found it fascinating that this is the party of small government and self-reliance, but two speakers - - Ann Romney and Chris Christie - - touted publicly-funded government scholarship programs.

Live-blogged at The Political Environment earlier in the evening.

Cross-posted at Purple Wisconsin.

Chris Christie, Deadly Dud

Wow. Not much there for Romney. Like Walker and Santorum's talks, too.

These guys don't like Romney.

Lots Of Love for Government Education At GOP Convention

Ann says Mitt started a government scholarship entitlement for kids in MA; Christie's Dad made it through college with the GI Bill.

Here, here!

Santorum At The GOP Convention: Everyone Back To 1923

His Dad didn't get any government handouts as a child back then, so a pox on everyone put out of work today in the Bushwacked economy who doesn't have Santorum's Fox News paycheck savings and his fine federal pension on the horizon and home-school children subsidized with taxpayer funds  - - but who might be using food stamps today.

Shame on these government dependents.

And like Walker before him, Santorum spends precious air time repeating the exposed lie about Obama relaxing welfare for work requirements - - but barely mentions Mitt Romney.

Scott Walker At GOP Convention: Uninspiring, Misleading

I've seen Walker do better. Probably hard for him to get up for the event, as Romney and Ryan are the stars.

And for all his job-creator rhetoric, the record shows very little employment growth on his watch and a loss of 19,000 jobs in Wisconsin since the recall.

A Manipulative GOP Plays Another Race Card

You'd think the National Republican Committee would have learned its lesson about the nominating Convention and race when officials disclosed a few days ago they were overtly aiming their core messages at disaffected white voters - - background, here - - but NBC Evening News has just reported that Convention officials have seated delegations near the front pf the hall and TV coverage from the small, but relatively diverse territories of Guam, the Virgin Islands, the Mariana Islands and Puerto Rico.

So there will be some relatively non-white faces on TV tonight, except those delegates from territories and not one of the 50 states of the District of Columbia cannot vote in the November election for the candidates they are nominating.

Tommy Without Principles

He's bold enough to accept the GOP's retrograde platform that would force sexually-assaulted women to bear their rapists' children - - though his disagreement with the position isn't important enough for him to try and change his party's platform.

That's having the election-year courage of someone else's convictions.

What? GOP Convention Plans Upset By Ron Paulites?

How could these Ron Paul Absolutists not be welcome at the Republican Convention? Ain't that tent big enuf?

Boo!

Guess The Romney Convention Mystery Guest

What a cheesy ploy to get people to watch The Country Club Reality Show, when the real magic comes later when the "New," or 'Human' Romney is introduced.

But if there is a legitimate mystery guest, I'd go for Joe Lieberman, the fallen away Democrat.

WI Wolf Hunt Injunction Possible Wednesday

Following a motions hearing Tuesday, a restraining order could follow:

Court proceedings begin today in a lawsuit that seeks to stop Wisconsin’s inaugural wolf hunting season. Dane County Circuit Judge Peter Anderson will hear motions in the case today. Then on Wednesday, a hearing will take place on a request for a temporary injunction to halt the wolf season until the full lawsuit can be considered.

Some history, here.

DNR records show more than 15,000 applicants to date for the wolf hunt permit lottery.

Give Conservative Columnist David Brooks Special Pulitzer

Tidbits from his hilarious NY Times column today about Mitt Romney's bio:

Mitt Romney was born on March 12, 1947, in Ohio, Florida, Michigan, Virginia and several other swing states... He was given the name Mitt, after the Roman god of mutual funds, and launched into the world with the lofty expectation that he would someday become the Arrow shirt man...

He uttered his first words (“I like to fire people”) at age 14 months, made his first gaffe at 15 months and purchased his first nursery school at 24 months. The school, highly leveraged, went under, but Romney made 24 million Jujubes on the deal... 

Romney also went on a mission to France. He spent two years knocking on doors, failing to win a single convert. This was a feat he would replicate during his 2008 presidential bid... 

After Harvard, he took his jawline to Bain Consulting... While at Bain, he helped rescue many outstanding companies, like Pan Am, Eastern Airlines, Atari and DeLorean... 

He barely won the 2012 Republican primaries after a grueling nine-month campaign, running unopposed...If elected, he promises to bring all Americans together and make them feel inferior.

Outstanding Set Of Alternative Energy Maps

Check out the site.

A sample:

Many thanks to David Ferris at Forbes.com.

Rebecca Kleefisch Supports Paul Ryan's "Forcible" Rape Distinction

Our own Lt. Gov. shows how tough it can be to stand with Paul Ryan:

In a masterful bit of Orwellian dissonance, Wisconsin's recall-surviving Lt. Governor Rebecca Kleefisch (R) last week called Rep. Todd Akin's attempt to categorize rape "abhorrent, insulting" and "disgusting," before immediately reversing course and approving of VP nominee Paul Ryan's efforts to do the same.

Remember: the term was not thrown out there was in a vacuum.

Ryan and his House of Representative pal Todd Akin were proposing it as a limitation on federally-funded abortion access.

When Small Government Conservatives Want Big Government

It takes a hurricane to make small government conservatives into big government devotees.



National hurricane center forecasters and airborne storm chasers were working overtime to plot Hurricane Isaac's course, and FEMA began to position relief assets in the region.

When Tea Party Republican Florida Governor Rick Scott told southern county residents to evacuate, they did so on Interstate highways built mostly with federal funding.

As Isaac turned west towards Louisiana, small government Tea Party Republican cheerleader Gov. Bobby Jindal complained to President Barack Obama that the feds shorted his state in emergency planning money.

And when the storm passes, it will be the federal government - - spending tax money - - that leads the cleanup and reconstruction.

As it should.

Pity that Republican governors along the Gulf Coast and GOP obstructionist tightwads in the House of Representatives do not understand that the plight of the long-term unemployed, or drought-ravaged farmers - - fellow Americans trying to return to productivity - - is no less desperate.

GOP Has Forced Cuts To FEMA, Corps Of Engineers Funding

The rain-delayed GOP convention in Tampa is certainly under a cloud.

The New York Times reminds us that Tea Partyish Republicans in Congress have forced cuts in FEMA and US Army Corps of Engineer funding - - the very disaster relief programs that will help rebuild the Gulf states when Hurricane Isaac blows itself out and that may help save New Orleans from another Hurricane Katrina-style catastrophe:

Between 2010 and 2012, House Republicans forced a reduction of 43 percent in the primary grants from the Federal Emergency Management Agency that pay for disaster preparedness. That is $1.8 billion that will not be available for evacuation equipment and supplies, communications gear that lets first responders speak to one another, and training exercises...

That spending was enormously useful during last year’s tornadoes in Joplin, Mo., and Tuscaloosa, Ala. Although the effects of the cuts will not be felt yet as gulf states deal with this week’s storm, they will leave the region less prepared for future hurricanes, tornadoes and floods. 

The New Orleans area, in particular, will rely this week on $14 billion in levee construction, pumps and other flood control structures built by the Army Corps of Engineers since Katrina. But the corps’s construction budget has been cut by 21 percent since 2009 because of Republican pressure, hitting flood prevention especially hard. 

GOP Platform Ends Medicare As We Know It

Big win for private insurance companies...big loss for GOP at the ballot box.

In a leaked party platform circulating on the eve of their convention, Republicans reveal in candid detail how they intend to remake Medicare.

\

The platform, snagged by Politico on Friday afternoon after the Republican National Committee accidentally posted it to its website before taking it down, is scheduled to be approved at the convention early this week.

The text details the privatization policy that GOP lawmakers have supported for years, and that Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan are selling as necessary to “save” Medicare.

In Case Walker Touts Mercury Marine Expansion In Fond du Lac...

Be reminded that it was Wisconsin state government under Democrat Jim Doyle, with cooperation of the union, and local taxes that saved the company as a Wisconsin employer and laid the foundation for the expansion.

Expanded version of this posting at Purple Wisconsin:

But I don't think you will hear Walker touting the Mercury Marine expansion, and not because he's down in Tampa getting ready to tell the GOP faithful that he busted unions in Wisconsin, and so can you.

It's because Mercury Marine was saved as a Wisconsin employer through the intervention of Gov. Jim Doyle, (D) and a union that accepted concessions.

Walker has little use for private-sector unions as well - - except as fodder for divide-and-conquer strategies tailored to serve major state corporations and donors - - and like the talk radio shows who promote Walker at ever turn, only use Doyle as a punching bag.

Big let's all be fair and balanced about it and give credit where credit is due: to union members who made sacrifices, and to the former Democratic Governor who provided public sector leadership when it counted to save jobs and pave the way for growth.

Limbaugh Claims Obama Is Now Meterologist-In-Chief

Limbaugh tells his audience President Obama changed the weather forecast to make it appear that Hurricane Isaac would hit Tampa to force the RNC to reschedule events.

Early Arctic Ice Melt Shows Planet Is Warming

You know - - we all need that ice to be there to reflect sunlight, cool the earth in the winter and regulate the ocean temperatures.

Place your bets on where this event lands on the GOP convention workshop list.

Best Monday Tweet So Far

Ryan Lizza ‏@RyanLizza
 

Great line from @ronbrownstein: "Very patriotic convention -- the floor is red, the seats are blue, and the delegates are white.

You Need A Scorecard To Sort Out GOP Convention Distractions

All sorts of things are muddying the GOP's Tampa convention and I'm not talking about the one named Isaac.

You've got negative overlaps from Ron Paul, Paul Ryan and Ayn Rand, and if Rand Paul shows up...

Dark Clouds Over Tampa Not All Weather-Related

The Sunday New York Times, as close as we have to a national paper of record's leading edition, featured yesterday a troubling disclosure and analysis of the Romney-Ryan campaign's decision to stir the racial pot in search of a winning recipe.

Said The Times, in part:

TAMPA, Fla. — Mitt Romney is heading into his nominating convention with his advisers convinced he needs a more combative footing against President Obama in order to appeal to white, working-class voters and to persuade them that he is the best answer to their economic frustrations.

Having survived a summer of attacks but still trailing the president narrowly in most national polls, Mr. Romney’s campaign remains focused intently on the economy as the issue that can defeat Mr. Obama. But in a marked change, Mr. Romney has added a harder edge to a message that for most of this year was focused on his business and job-creation credentials, injecting volatile cultural themes into the race...

The strategic shift in the campaign message that has been unfolding in recent weeks reflects a conclusion among Mr. Romney’s advisers that disappointment with Mr. Obama’s economic stewardship is not sufficient to propel Mr. Romney to victory on its own.

This is dangerous righty talk radio territory - - playing to an angry base, appealing to fear and victimization - - reminiscent of other intentionally divisive presidential campaign race cards - - Ronald Reagan's "welfare queens" rhetoric, or Richard Nixon's southern strategy - -  with the way paved by the overtly segregationist George Wallace.

[Monday morning update: Chris Matthews nails Reince Priebus about this on live TV.]

Team Romney is willing to unearth the worst in the country's body politic and embrace our original and historical cultural sin.

And employed as the ugly, final, tactical phase of four years of far-right race-baiting to discredit the country's first African-American President by continually painting Barack Obama as an illegitimate outsider who somehow seized the country that needs to be taken back.

The Times story is especially noteworthy because it flatly calls false an allegation in a new, inflammatory Romney ad without citing an independent analyst or third-party vetting service - - essentially challenging the rest of the media to condemn the ad and the tactics behind it before the strategy gains a toe-hold:

Many of those voters are economically disaffected, and the Romney campaign has been trying to reach them with appeals built around an assertion that Mr. Obama is making it easier for welfare recipients to avoid work. The Romney campaign is airing an advertisement falsely charging that Mr. Obama has “quietly announced” plans to eliminate work and job training requirements for welfare beneficiaries, a message Mr. Romney’s aides said resonates with working-class voters who see government as doing nothing for them.

It will be interesting to see if the Journal Sentinel amplifies the Times' analysis, given that Paul Ryan, the GOP Vice-Presidential candidate is from Wisconsin.

And by being on the ticket grants his blessing to a strategy which could propel him to the Vice-Presidency and beyond.

Cross-posted at Purple Wisconsin.

Scott Walker Makes Twitter

EastCoastMadTown ‏@ECmadtown
 

Awww RT @MadNewsMan: Gov. Scott Walker Heckled During Speaking Event in Tampa http://goo.gl/QIzgg via http://nbc15.com

 

Retweeted by America United

Mining Takes A Hit In N. Wisconsin

The Lakeland Times has the story:

The Oneida County Board of Supervisors decided Tuesday against pursuing mining as a vehicle for economic development.

After three hours of discussion, including emotional testimony from a number of mining opponents, the board voted 12-9 to discontinue exploring the feasibility of opening a mine in the town of Lynne or in any other part of the county...

Since the resolution failed to receive a majority vote, mining “will no longer proceed as a policy goal for Oneida County,” Corporation Counsel Brian Desmond said. “The mining issue will be stricken from the agendas (of the Forestry Committee),” he added.

Tweet Of The Day

John Dean ‏@JohnWDean

EXCELLENT: Poll shows Akin now trails McCaskill in Missouri Senate race: via @STLtoday

Akin is down by nine points.

Out In The Open: Romney/Ryan/Rove Race-Baiting

The flip-anywhere-do-anything-to-win GOP campaign takes its predictable ugly turn after four years of far-right race-baiting the country's first African-American President.

From The New York Times Sunday, pre-convention story:

TAMPA, Fla. — Mitt Romney is heading into his nominating convention with his advisers convinced he needs a more combative footing against President Obama in order to appeal to white, working-class voters and to persuade them that he is the best answer to their economic frustrations... 

The Romney campaign is airing an advertisement falsely charging that Mr. Obama has “quietly announced” plans to eliminate work and job training requirements for welfare beneficiaries, a message Mr. Romney’s aides said resonates with working-class voters who see government as doing nothing for them.

The moves reflect a campaign infused with a sharper edge and overtones of class and race. On Friday, Mr. Romney said at a rally that no one had ever had to ask him about his birth certificate, and Mr. Ryan invoked his Catholicism and love of hunting. Democrats angrily said Mr. Romney’s remark associated him with the fringe “birther” camp seeking falsely to portray Mr. Obama as not American.

Ryan's Intro Kicked Off A Run Of Bad Media

It was just fifteen days ago that Mitt Romney picked Paul Ryan for the campaign co-pilot seat, and they've been in rough skies ever since.

Ryan spent the first few days saying he wasn't really trying to kill Medicare as we know it, then burned up part of a week by denying, then admitting that, yes, he had solicited funds from the very federal stimulus program he'd repeatedly condemned.

And just as that fire was put out, sort of, Ryan's legislative far-right pally Todd Akin burst on to the scene with his now-infamous screwy suggestion that raped women could magically prevent their pregnancies and thus were not entitled to abortions - - misogynist cruelty on par with the proposal Akin and Ryan had endorsed in the House of Representatives to limit federally-funded abortions to only women who had been raped "forcibly."

Ryan had become the Dick Tracy comic strip character with a personal rain cloud over his head - - and just as Ryan was to jet off for the Tampa Convention a bigger, legitimate storm - - Hurricane Isaac - - took aim at the Florida Gulf Coast and has already cut at least one day off four days of GOP hoopla there.

They say national party nominating conventions are intentionally superficial and scripted, but this one won't escape some discussion of changing climate extremes - - Ryan voted against measures to stem greenhouse gas emissions (see a report on Ryan's record, p. 136) - - even if the Tampa event puts more climate change deniers under one roof than attended the last ALEC reunion.

And as Florida first responders are pressed into action with the approaching hurricane, Romney may wish he hadn't said the lesson of Scott Walker's recall election win was that we didn't need more firefighters and police officers. 

Tampa had already heavily borrowed police from across Florida to help with convention security, and that was before Isaac began to bear down on the convention city.

Nothing has gone right for the the GOP since Ryan loped into an oddly-choreographed early Saturday morning news conference/photo op on the dock off the USS Wisconsin, now a museum ship permanently tied up in Virginia.

It's still a long way to November 6th - - but shorter by two weeks, and counting, then when Ryan joined Team Romney.

Rocky takeoff for sure, in part because Ryan didn't use those two lost weeks to show us he's ready to sit in the Captain's seat.

In fact, he hasn't looked much different than Dan Quayle, 2.0.

More Dirty Air Along The Lake Michigan WI Shoreline

Advisory for Ozone (Orange)

Start Time:	2:42PM CT Saturday, August 25, 2012
End Time:	1:00AM CT Sunday, August 26, 2012
Counties:	Door, Kenosha, Kewaunee, Manitowoc, Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Racine and Sheboygan

---

AIR QUALITY INDEX CHART

Air Quality Index (AQI) Values	Levels of Health Concern	Colors
When the AQI is in this range:	...air quality conditions are:	...as symbolized by this color:
0 to 50	Good	Green
51 to 100	Moderate	Yellow
101 to 150	Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups	Orange
151 to 200	Unhealthy	Red
201 to 300	Very Unhealthy	Purple
301 to 500	Hazardous	Maroon

For More Information:

• Detailed Alert Status Information
• Air Quality Index
• Air Quality Notices Media Kit
• How You Can Help During an Air Quality Notice
• Do a little, save a lot!
• Local DNR air management program contacts

Waukesha Water Utility Loses Key Staffer To Green Bay

The Waukesha Freeman reported today that Nancy Quirk, technical services manager at the Waukesha Water Utility, has taken a job as the General Manager of the Green Bay Water Utility.

I'd reported on this blog Friday about an apparent high-level resignation in Waukesha.

It's a huge promotion for Quirk, who was blocked from the top Waukesha water job by Duchniak - - recruited from Oak Creek to Waukesha with the long-term water supply issue a top priority.

Duchniak was recently provided by the utility commission with a vehicle and cash bonus opportunities as its slow-moving and precedent-setting Lake Michigan diversion application moves forward.

It will be interesting to see what impact if any this has on that application, a major and controversial water utility project in Waukesha over the past few years.

The team that put together or promoted the application for Waukesha has changed markedly.

City administrator Lori Luther left in the summer of 2011.

In early 2010, the utility parted ways with its long-term application technical consultant, and Mayor Larry Nelson, a diversion proponent, was defeated in April, 2010, by current incumbent Jeff Scrima.

Tommy And Romney's Taxing Problems

Mitt Romney and Tommy Thompson are withholding their tax returns for the same basic reason: the self-serving political narratives they are selling in TV commercials would be undermined by a fuller explanation of where and how they made their millions.

Tommy knows he'd be justifiably defined as just another Washington DC insider by greater disclosure about business relationships that came his way after serving as George W. Bush's cabinet Secretary of Health and Human Services.

And he also knows that that two-thirds of the voters in the August 14 GOP primary - - potential swing or stay-at-home voters come November - - were more aligned with Tea Partiers who know that the insiders' revolving door Tommy spun through keeps Big Government and its enablers fully-staffed, fueled and rewarded.

Tommy still wants people to think he's just a farmer from Elroy: nitty-gritty details of the real story - -  'How I Went To Washington And Became A Millionaire' - - would turn his good-old-boy story to fiction.

Romney is presenting himself and the Bain Capital investment firm he created as an All-American success story, but Bain isn't a Main Street hardware store or suburban strip mall filling station.

Bain and Romney benefited from arcane accounting methods and wrung every dollar imaginable out of a tax code that wealthy legislators provided, and which the Ryan budget expands - - including off-shore and Swiss bank accounts.

This costly technical work and the investment vehicles it drives are far beyond the means of everyday small business owners and working people, and using these special opportunities to amass a $250 million fortune paints Romney into an insider's corner smaller and more exclusive than Tommy's.

By hiding their income tax returns, Romney and Tommy are clumsily trying to conceal whom they really are.

Can they, should they get away with it?

Let's hope not - - and if they lose, some of the blame will be correctly assessed to their distrust of a full evaluation by the voting public, and their preference for secrecy over disclosure in a democracy.

Romney To Birthers: 'I'm In;' To Everyone Else - - 'I'm Pandering'

Romney finds a way to connect with the birthers.

How low will this panderer go?

Has there ever been a more grasping Presidential candidate, willing to overturn his prior record, and say and do anything for a vote?

Hardly Breaking News: Limbaugh Got His Facts Wrong

Just for the record:

America's leading reactionary blowhard, in rushing to slur President Obama as responsible in the wake of the Manhattan shooting, even got the basic facts of the shooting wrong, too.

Limbaugh said the gunman "killed his boss" and wondered aloud if Obama's criticisms of bosses - - who/where/when??? - - had set the gunman off.

The New York Times this evening has a long and sad piece about the shooter - - a designer, and the victim - - not the shooter's boss.

Just a salesman and co-worker.

Not Resigned To Waukesha Status Quo

This week's high profile resignation in Waukesha may be followed another one - - unrelated but newsworthy.

Checking for details.

Key FL Republican, Romney Backer, Says Stimulus Helped Economy

When the truth is off-message, and on the eve of the Tampa convention, too.

Bad luck:

A newly-released audit from the office of Republican Florida Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam, a Mitt Romney supporter and former member of the U.S. House Republican leadership, says that the 2009 stimulus bill did benefit the state of Florida.

“Based on reports received by the [Office of Energy], the State of Florida has benefited from the investment of [American Recovery and Reinvestment Act] funds,” the report says, pointing to jobs created and retained as well as energy cost savings through the distribution of stimulus funds.

Yet Another After-The-Fact Dirty Air Alert In SE Wisconsin

Walker eliminated the early warning notices in early 2011, so now when an "advisory" is issued, you've been breathing polluted air for some time.

Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources

Advisory for Ozone (Orange)

Start Time:	4:00PM CT Friday, August 24, 2012
End Time:	1:00AM CT Saturday, August 25, 2012
Counties:	Kenosha, Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Racine, Sheboygan

---

AIR QUALITY INDEX CHART

Air Quality Index (AQI) Values	Levels of Health Concern	Colors
When the AQI is in this range:	...air quality conditions are:	...as symbolized by this color:
0 to 50	Good	Green
51 to 100	Moderate	Yellow
101 to 150	Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups	Orange
151 to 200	Unhealthy	Red
201 to 300	Very Unhealthy	Purple
301 to 500	Hazardous	Maroon

For More Information:

• Detailed Alert Status Information
• Air Quality Index
• Air Quality Notices Media Kit
• How You Can Help During an Air Quality Notice
• Do a little, save a lot!
• Local DNR air management program contacts

Huge Dairy Threatens Pristine Land, Water Near Wisconsin Rapids

The battle in Wisconsin over large dairies and their neighbors is coming to a head in the Town of Saratoga, near Wisconsin Rapids, where woodlands atop unusually clean groundwater and near trout streams could be compromised by the construction of a massive dairy operation.

The permitting is in the hands of the state.

Details, here.

More, later.

Limbaugh Blames NYC Shooting On Obama

Media Matters ‏@mmfa

"I wonder if Obama's constant warfare on bosses...might have led this guy to pull the trigger." --Limbaugh on Empire State Bldg shooter

From Limbaugh's website/broadcast today:

You heard about this? Okay. The New York Daily News is reporting that the Empire State Building shooter did indeed kill his boss. He was fired. He went out there and he killed his boss. I wonder if Obama's constant warfare on bosses and so forth might have led this guy to pull the trigger...?

"Oh, no. Rush, you didn't really say that! We have time on the delay to bleep it. No, Rush! Oh, you didn't really say that!"

Yes, I said it, and we're not gonna bleep it out...Who's out there ripping bosses to shreds every day? Who's out there ripping businesses to shreds every day?

And who's out there killing jobs every day?

Summarizing The GOP Convention And Campaign

The Convention outcome:

Mitt Romney is nominated because the GOP (Greedy Old Party) has found and embraced the wealthiest person ever to run for President on its ticket - - though former rival New Gingrich's anti-Romney ads during the primaries documented that much of that wealth had been made at the expense of other people.

Paul Ryan is nominated because he is the architect of a budget plan that keeps the tax code working to protect and enhance the Romney niche wealth - - again at the expense of other people.

The Campaign strategy:

After the nominations, with the help of Super PAC's and the Citizens United decision, Republicans will spend about a half-billion dollars convincing all the other people that Romney and Ryan are working for them.

Romney-Ryan will count on the power of wealth already disproportionately showered by the tax code on the 1% to achieve the unabashed commercial flim-flamming of the electorate  - - greased by swing-state voter suppression laws - - in the most cynical and corrupt political act in American history.

Manhattan Shooting: Some Basic Questions

Details are sketchy, but if it is correct that a man killed a former co-worker with a .45 pistol, then shot it out with police who killed him in the heart of New York City:

*  A .45 is a very heavy weapon. the .45 semi-automatic was originally a military sidearm. Why should police officers and civilians end up in its line of fire on crowded streets and sidewalks?

* The shooting took place in one of the most densely-populated spots in the world - - near the Empire State Building.  How long will it take for the pro-gun movement to say that the shootout would have been shorter or less harmful - - the shooter and his target are dead and at least a half-dozen other people injured - - if everyone had been carrying a gun and returned fire?

Near 34th and Fifth Ave!

Climate Change May Soak, Define GOP Tampa Convention

I was getting ready to write about the ironies of the GOP's climate change denial position should a major storm disrupt the Tampa convention, but hurricane Isaac and the National Journal beat me to it.

While scientists caution that no single weather event can be directly attributed to climate change, major weather events associated with climate change, such as this summer’s drought, and the 2005 hurricanes Katrina and Rita, tend to fire up the incendiary debate about climate change -- which could happen once again if a massive political convention gets hit by a major storm.

The Republican party has shifted hard to the right on climate change since the last presidential election -- in 2008, McCain campaigned on the promise of tackling climate change, and embraced the cap-and-trade policy that has since become politically toxic within his own party. Now, denying the scientific findings linking oil and coal pollution to climate change has become mainstream in the GOP, and nominee Mitt Romney has publicly walked back his formerly expressed views that humans contribute to global warming. 

And Romney just yesterday outlined a plan to greatly expand fossil-fuel exploration and dependency, so has set the table for a full discussion of the consequences of fossil-fuel combustion = = greenhouse gas production and release, which scientists say is directly related to an overheating planet and more extreme weather.

Let's hope no one is injured as Isaac approaches or strikes Tampa, though the possibility of a political storm in any case is more than likely. 

Former Federal Budget Director Lays Bare The Ryan $$ Myth

Despite what you will hear in GOP commercials, the Ryan budget does not reduce the deficit. A great explanation of The Ryan Myths:

I’ve worked closely with Rep. Paul Ryan. He’s an honest and amiable guy. In part because of his winning personality, Ryan, Mitt Romney’s running mate in the presidential election, has convinced many in Washington that his budget blueprint is a serious proposal for solving our long-term fiscal problems. Unfortunately, it’s not. Let’s dig into the asterisks of Ryan’s plan and unearth the fine print.

One Wisconsin Voter Remembers His Meeting With Paul Ryan...

And how quickly the Congressman turned the discussion to his family's business.

The topic was land and water conservation, recalls Madison attorney Peter McKeever:

What was surprising was how quickly Ryan asked when would wetland fill permitting in Wisconsin allow mitigation banking, the practice of spending public money to create or maintain a new wetland after an existing wetland is filled in. He made it very clear that he thought this should be a high priority, and he mentioned his family company’s experience moving earth.

Creating a new wetland requires the moving a lot of earth, and it so happens that Paul Ryan’s family owns one of the nation’s largest earth moving companies, Ryan Incorporated Central. On its website the company touts its experience and expertise in constructing wetlands.

...the most disturbing thing about the meeting was that he so blatantly made it clear that his primary interest was changing the wetland fill permitting process so that his family’s business might be able to belly up to the trough and get profitable contracts...

The fact that he made this leap to personal benefit so quickly with two strangers left me with a very bad taste in my mouth, and no confidence that Ryan was in office to act in the interests of the public.

Another After-The-Fact SE Wisconsin Dirty Air Notice

Advisory for Ozone (Orange)

Start Time:	6:02PM CT Thursday, August 23, 2012
End Time:	1:00AM CT Friday, August 24, 2012
Counties:	Kenosha, Racine, Rock and Walworth

---

AIR QUALITY INDEX CHART

Air Quality Index (AQI) Values	Levels of Health Concern	Colors
When the AQI is in this range:	...air quality conditions are:	...as symbolized by this color:
0 to 50	Good	Green
51 to 100	Moderate	Yellow
101 to 150	Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups	Orange
151 to 200	Unhealthy	Red
201 to 300	Very Unhealthy	Purple
301 to 500	Hazardous	Maroon

For More Information:

• Detailed Alert Status Information
• Air Quality Index
• Air Quality Notices Media Kit
• How You Can Help During an Air Quality Notice
• Do a little, save a lot!
• Local DNR air management program contacts

Daily Air Quality Hotline - 1-866-324-5924 (1-866-DAILY AIR)

Scot Ross Sees Ryan Serving Flat GOP Brew

Nicely-done op-ed by OWN's Scot Ross:

You may know that U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan is the first member of Generation X slated on a major party presidential ticket. But if you think this translates into Ryan offering a fresh, forward-thinking approach, speaking to the challenges facing his generational peers, "don't believe the hype," as our 1988 Gen X anthem goes.

[Ross is Executive Director of One Wisconsin Now. I sit on OWN's C-3 Institute board.]

Walker's DNR Managers Censor Theater In Their Spare Time

Wisconsin is open to nothing.

Romney's Three Million New Jobs' Pledge Gets Big Laughs In Wisconsin

Mitt Romney Thursday pledged to create 3,000,000 new jobs in the fossil fuel sector if he is elected president.

In Wisconsin, you can hear a collective snicker and snort, as we remember Scott Walker's all-PR/no substance pledge to create 250,000 private sector jobs in Wisconsin after four years in office.

Great ad copy - - just no performance.

He's than one third of the way through that four year term - - during which about 80,000 new jobs would have kept him on pace - - but he's falling far, far short, according to PolitiFact's continuing analysis:

So far in 2012, the monthly numbers show a net increase of 2,400 jobs.

When considered with the census numbers, the state has created an estimated 21,951 jobs since Walker took office. That means the state will need to create 228,049 more jobs before the end of Walker's term in 2014 for him to achieve his goal. (Here is our graphic monitoring changes).

Even the Wisconsin Department of Revenue said the 250,000 number would not be met.

As I said, you can hear what we think of the Romney/Walker approach.

 

Paul Ryan Learns National Media Doesn't Play Fox/Talk Radio Patty-Cake

Paul Ryan has been in The Todd Akin Avoidance Bunker this week ever since Ryan's reliable Missouri anti-abortion clone commandeered the national conversation with a weird lecture about rape and female physiology that threw science, base-line respect for 51% of the population and the entire Romney-Ryan campaign game plan under the bus.

So Ryan, who strongly opposes abortion even in cases of incest and rape, and supports the total abortion ban implicit in the so-called Personhood legislation he and Akin have backed, eventually had to face the media traveling with him and explain the contradiction he'd come to represent without looking like a fool or a hypocrite:

Walk that far-right line to keep the Tea Party and Right-to-Life movement satisfied - - the reason he is on the ticket - - while at least appearing to defer to Papa Bear Romney, who has said he supports abortion exceptions in rape and incest cases.

So Ryan abandoned the fatally-toxic Akin, but muffed the scene because he couldn't tell the complete truth about just how Akin-like he really is.

So reporters pressed Ryan - - unlike the obsequious talk show hosts who let Ryan and his ilk prattle on without a challenge - - about the qualitative difference between Akin's signature, offensive stance on "legitimate rape" and the "forcible" rape language Ryan and Akin wanted added to federally-permitted abortion funding to narrow the exception.

The Washington Post's Dana Milbank nicely-framed Ryan's failed effort to mislead the media; the episode will be remembered when Ryan wanders off script or the Fox 'News' set where real reporters might be able to interview him:

“Look, I’m proud of my record,” he told reporters on his plane, but “Mitt Romney is going to be president, and the president sets policy. His policy is exceptions for rape, incest and life of the mother. I’m comfortable with it because it’s a good step in the right direction.”

Does he now regret his sponsorship of legislation that made a distinction between “forcible rape” and other kinds — a position eerily similar to Akin’s “legitimate rape”?

“That bill passed, I think, by 251 votes,” Ryan replied. “It was bipartisan.” He neglected to mention that it passed after removal of the “forcible” language.

Romney Surrogate Promotes Todd Akin's Weird Ideas About Rape, Female Physiology

"Legitimate rape."

"Forcible rape" - - the distinction Paul Ryan and his anti-abortion buddy Todd Akin tried to write into federal health care funding legislation.

And those amazing female powers Maureen Down discovered in the odd-ball right's science comic books that can wish away a pregnancy.

Where do these leading conservatives get such ideas?

Mitt Romney was a devotee during his 2007 presidential campaign of one Dr. John Willke, a leading right-to-live physician who has promoted weird ideas about female physiology and rape that were channeled the other day by Republican Senate candidate Todd Akin.

Reports The Atlantic online:

Hailing him as "The Father Of The Pro-Life Movement" and "an important surrogate for Governor Romney's pro-life and pro-family agenda," the Romney for President campaign in 2007 welcomed Willke's endorsement.

"I am proud to have the support of a man who has meant so much to the pro-life movement in our country," Romney said in a statement at the time. "He knows how important it is to have someone in Washington who will actively promote pro-life policies. Policies that include more than appointing judges who will follow the law but also opposing taxpayer funded abortion and partial birth abortion. I look forward to working with Dr. Willke and welcome him to Romney for President."

Willke was equally effusive. "Governor Romney is the only candidate who can lead our pro-life and pro-family conservative movement to victory in 2008," he said in the statement.

And in the wake of Akin's controversial remarks - - including that women who are raped don't get pregnant - - Willke reprised his beliefs in The New York Times:

“This is a traumatic thing — she’s, shall we say, she’s uptight,” Dr. Willke said of a woman being raped, adding, “She is frightened, tight, and so on. And sperm, if deposited in her vagina, are less likely to be able to fertilize. The tubes are spastic.” 

Leading experts on reproductive health, however, dismissed this logic. 

“There are no words for this — it is just nuts,” said Dr. Michael Greene, a professor of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive biology at Harvard Medical School.

All of which is doing legitimate damage to Romney's campaign, and the reputation of Paul Ryan, Romney's Robin, and Akin's close political and philosophical ally.

A Bit Of Sex Ed 101 For Iowa Cong. Steve King, (R)

Steve King - - a Member of Congress (read: national policy-maker) from Iowa, said he was unaware that statutory rape can lead to pregnancy.

The independent, non-profit and esteemed Guttmacher Institute on family planning cited this data - - yes, I know, some of that stupid science King's pal Cong. Todd Akin can access on the House Science Committee - - in 1996:

Recent studies indicate that at least half of all babies born to minor women are fathered by adult men.¹

In Nevada, the figure was higher:

In Nevada 70% of the babies born to teen mothers are fathered by adult men (2004 Nevada Vital Statistics). 

Akin Chooses To Be The GOP's National Contradiction

He says :

"I don’t believe it’s right for party bosses to decide" who the Missouri Senate candidate should be, and “It makes me uncomfortable to think that the party bosses are going to dictate who is going to run," but it's OK for those same party bosses - - nearly all men - - to write a convention platform and frame legislation giving government the right to choose for women - - and to dictate that women who are raped should be forced to give birth to their rapist's baby.

Routine Republican Response: 'N-O!'

*  Wisconsin GOP US Senate candidate Tommy Thompson, on releasing his tax returns:

No. (Actually, his exact comment was: "The answer is N-O. What part don't you understand?")

*  GOP Presidential candidate Mitt Romney, on releasing more than one year's tax returns, and one year's estimates - - as have other candidates routinely:

No.

*  Cong. and GOP Vice-Presidential candidate Paul Ryan, on having solicited Obama stimulus funding:

No. (Later, 'OK, yes I did, several times, but it was my staff's fault.') 

*  Missouri GOP Senate candidate Cong. Todd Akin, on dropping out of the race after his "legitimate rape"comments:

No.

*  Iowa GOP Congressman Steve King, a Todd Akin backer, on whether incest or statutory rape can lead to pregnancy:

          No. (Actually, his exact comment was, "Well, I just haven’t heard of that being a circumstance that’s been brought to me in any personal way and I’d be open to hearing discussion about that subject matter.")

*  Paul Ryan, on allowing abortion in cases of rape and incest:

No.  (Later, 'OK, yes in rape cases, but only because it's Romney's position.')

* Any chance the Republican Party platform being prepared for next week's convention in Tampa will soften its long-standing position on allowing abortion in cases of rape and incest?

No.

WisDOT I-94 Planning In Dreaded 'Too-Early-To'-Know-Anything' Phase, So Be Careful...

Since what's inevitable is the "It's-Too-Late-To-Do-Anything-About-It' end phase.

Hat tips to former Milwaukee Mayor John Norquist for his before-and-after highway planning frame and to transportation activist Gretchen Schuldt for the report and maps from WisDOT's not-so-informative informational meeting about I-94 reconstruction and expansion in and near Story Hill and Miller Park:

The Wisconsin Department of Transportation doesn’t have any preliminary or potential I-94 reconstruction / expansion plans available yet for public view, and WisDOT spokeswoman Emlynn Grisar said there should be information on options in three or four months.

Nothing has been decided, according to WisDOT — not whether lanes will be added, not whether any Hawley Rd. ramps will be closed, and not whether any additional land WisDOT wants for freeways near the Story Hill neighborhood will be taken from Miller Park parking lots or elsewhere — like the neighborhood itself.

Tar Sand Oil Pipelines Pose Exceptional Hazards, Report Says

A devastating spill in 2010 into the Kalamazoo River in neighboring Michigan from an Enbridge company tar sand pipeline revealed weak regulations and high risks for moving the toxic, oily goo - - "dilbit" to insiders - -from Canada to the US, and there are plans to move even greater quantities across Wisconsin and over the critical US Ogallala Aquifer from the Dakotas to the Gulf of Mexico, says this report in The New York Times.

After the dilbit gushed into the river, it began separating into its constituent parts...No one could say with certainty what they should do. Federal officials at the scene didn’t know until weeks later that the pipeline was carrying dilbit, because federal law doesn’t require pipeline operators to reveal that information. 

The 2010 spill could have been worse if it had reached Lake Michigan, as authorities originally feared it might. Lake Michigan supplies drinking water to more than 12 million people. Fortunately, the damage was restricted to a tributary creek and about 36 miles of the Kalamazoo, used primarily for recreation, not drinking water. 

This close call hasn’t deterred the energy industry from announcing plans to build or repurpose more than 10,000 miles of pipelines to carry dilbit to the United States and global markets. That includes the controversial Canada-to-Texas Keystone XL pipeline, which would pass through the Ogallala aquifer, the nation’s largest drinking water aquifer.

Todd Akin To America: Stop "Overreacting."

The GOP's fresh face says he's a patriot in the Missouri Senate race to stay, so take that, everyone "overreacting" to his rapey commentary:

By taking this stand, this is going to strengthen our country,” Akin said Tuesday. “It will strengthen the Republican Party.”

He also said his party has had “a little bit of an overreaction” to his comments, which he argues were not morally or ethically wrong, just “a word in the wrong place.”

AG Van Hollen On Voter ID: 'Hey, Hurry Up - - We've Got Votes To Suppress'

With the election just 10 weeks away, Wisconsin in play and the Romney/Ryan campaign stalling on issues from Medicare to legitimate raping, Wisconsin's Attorney General JB Van Hollen proves his GOP cred by getting on the voter suppression bandwagon.

Van Hollen wants the GOP-compliant State Supreme Court to hurry up, blow past the appeals process and get crackin' approvin' the Wisconsin Voter ID law.

Due process? Constitutional awareness?

Screw that: we've got an election to steal.

Paul Ryan Displaces Scott Walker In Coveted Blog Position Here

A link to a Paul Ryan item is now available by clicking through this blog's "train wreck" photo that has graced the home page left margin here since early 2011.

Paul Ryan, The New Wisconsin Political Train Wreck

From Walker To Ryan. On, Wisconsin. Click Through The Photo

Missouri GOP Woman Leader Sticking With "Great...Godly" Akin

While national Republican power brokers are trying to get Senate candidate Cong. Todd Akin off the Missouri ballot before a crucial Tuesday evening deadline, one Missouri GOP leader is sticking by the candidate who managed to put the words "legitimate" and "rape" together and into the political vocabulary.

Reports The New York Times:

“The congressman is totally, firmly, solidly pro-life,” Sharon Barnes, a member of the state Republican central committee, said, adding that Mr. Akin believed “that abortion is never an option.” 

Ms. Barnes echoed Mr. Akin’s statement that very few rapes resulted in pregnancy, adding that “at that point, if God has chosen to bless this person with a life, you don’t kill it...” 

Ms. Barnes said that she believed that the controversy would blow over, and that once people in the state became more familiar with Mr. Akin, they would learn “what a great, conservative, godly man Todd Akin is, and they’ll put his comment in its proper context.”

Opposition Expanding: Oshkosh Newspaper Weighs In Against Proposed WI Wolf Hunt

I have posted a number of items on this blog about the upcoming wolf hunt mandated in Wisconsin by the Legislature that will take place beginning in the fall under rules created by the DNR.

Some of the on-line comments in response have wrongly and angrily suggested that wolf hunt opponents are caricatures of Madison liberals and Native American citizens.

One item I posted on August 15th about Native American tribal objections - - Opposition Growing Against Wisconsin Wolf Hunt - - provoked these anonymous comments, among others:

From "anonymous" - - Apparently everyone in Madison believes the native eco-stereotype in tuned with the earth mother and all that other happy horseshit, when in reality they are nothing but publicity hounds, pounding drums and disrupting whatever they can to appear important and knowledgeable due entirely to their racial heritage...

From "how can you be so clueless" - - You Madison liberals are truly clueless. The 10,000 plus people who put down good money for the chance to kill a wolf should tell you what Wisconsinites really think. The only thing Indians care about is cheating you out of your money at their casinos and gaining political power by pretending they have a right to that which they do not own and did nothing to produce.

It is best that you stay in your little imaginary world in Madison and type on your computer and stay away from the reality of northern Wisconsin.

From "real american" - - These Indians must be the most delicate, fragile creatures on earth; they are threatened by everything from killing a few wolves to someone digging up a few rocks. Real Americans, on the other hand, see no threats, accept no threats and have no threats. We kill off the wolves and then we bring them back and then we kill them again. We dig up the earth for iron and then make the hole in the ground into lakes and parks. We burn coal and oil and when we run out of that we just dig and find more. We spill a few chemicals in the river and then we clean it up. We don’t stop doing things for fear of the consequences, we just do it and when we break something we fix it. We cut down all the trees, and then we plant new ones. We nuke the shit out of cities and then we go in and plant flowers. We don’t sit around whining and crying about how we destroyed the earth, we just go about and build a new one and its no big deal. Stand up! Be strong! Be Proud! Be a real American! Get that wolf tag today.

So I was struck by the thoughtful tone and informative content at the top of an editorial in the Oshkosh Northwestern - - a Gannett chain paper, by the way, so hardly a lefty, underground freebie - - that raised some basic questions about the DNR's permitting dogs in the hunt.

Some organizations have earned the community’s respect and the right to be heard as authoritative voices on issues where their expertise and judgment have never been called into question.

One such organization is the Oshkosh Area Humane Society, which joined a chorus of voices across Wisconsin in speaking out against the rushed and ill-advised regulations for a wolf hunt this fall

“We received our first inquiry for four large dogs to be used for hunting wolves in the upcoming October wolf hunting season,” executive director Joni Geiger explained in an e-mail message to area media. “I find this appalling and I am ashamed Wisconsin would take such a giant step backwards when it comes to animal welfare.”

I'm not sure if criticism of the hunt, or a lawsuit filed against it over the issue of allowing dogs in the chase  - - a practice barred in all other states - - will have any impact before the hunt opens in October.

But I am glad to see that there are serious voices - - Dave Zweifel of the Cap Times is one - - asking important questions, as are experts supporting the lawsuit, according to the Journal Sentinel:

Several acknowledged wolf experts in Wisconsin, including retired DNR managers Dick Thiel and Randy Jurewicz as well as University of Wisconsin researcher Adrian Treves, filed statements warning against the use of dogs to hunt wolves.

In written testimony, Thiel said wolves would regard dog packs as a threat.

"Attacks will be swift and furious," wrote Thiel, former manager of the Wisconsin wolf program. "Dogs will be seriously injured and die, and wolves will be injured and die as they both fight by slashing out."

The DNR still has time to listen, and act.

GOP Platform Writers Oppose Abortion In Rape And Incest Cases

So why are GOP leaders and financiers trying to kick Todd Akin off the Senate ticket in Missouri when they are just as misogynistic as he is - - minus one adjective - - by endorsing Paul Ryan's long-standing position in their convention platform?

Tampa, Florida (CNN) - The Republican Party is once again set to enshrine into its official platform support for "a human life amendment" to the Constitution that would outlaw abortion without making explicit exemptions for rape or incest, according to draft language of the platform obtained exclusively by CNN late Monday.

GOP Wants Akin Off Ballot For Wrong Reason

The Republican Party is worried about the balance of power in the Senate.

Set aside the partisan politics: How about disassociating the party from someone who has demonstrated he doesn't have, as my Mother would have said, a brain in his head. And shouldn't be given a dime of public salary, or a shred of power to vote on laws, budgets, treaties, ambassadors and judges?