Going Into 2014, The GOP/Tea Party Agenda Is Unwinding

Wherever you look, the GOP's message - - mean-spirited, punitive, inaccurate and often unconstitutional - - is eroding.

On the consulate attack in Benghazi, a cudgel against Hillary Clinton:  

A New York Times report on the September 11, 2012, attack that killed four Americans -- including Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens -- in Benghazi, Libya, calls into question much of what Republicans accusing the Obama administration of a cover-up have said about the incident.

On Obamacare:

A crucial GOP line of attack against the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is that millions of people will supposedly lose coverage thanks to shifting requirements on the health insurance exchanges — a flagrant violation of President Obama’s infamous “if you like your plan, you can keep it” proclamation. The truth has always been more complicated, of course. Republicans are constantly blurring the line between people who lose a plan and people who lose coverage. That is, many people might lose a particular insurance plan but immediately be presented with other options. 

Now, a new report from the minority staff of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce has destroyed the foundation of that particular GOP claim. It projects that only 10,000 people will lose coverage because of the ACA and be unable to regain it — or in other words, 0.2 percent of the oft-cited 5 million cancellations statistic.

On same-sex marriage: 

An 18th state just joined the ranks of those that allow same-sex marriage in the United States. Just one day after New Mexico became the 17th state to legalize gay marriage, a federal judge made Utah the 18th, ruling that the state's ban on same-sex marriages violated constitutional rights. After the weekend, on Monday, December 23rd, the same judge denied a request to place a hold on same-sex weddings. 

Ohio, too, came a step closer to legalizing same-sex marriage on Monday. A federal judge ruled that state officials must recognize same-sex marriages on death certificates.  

On mandatory drug testing for welfare recipients:

A federal judge on Tuesday struck down as unconstitutional a Florida law that required welfare applicants to undergo mandatory drug testing, setting the stage for a legal battle that could affect similar efforts nationwide.

On blocking an open-pit mine in Northern Wisconsin hills and wetlands:

Feds Again Cite Flaws In New WI Iron Mining Law

On reproductive rights:

A federal appeals court panel Friday upheld an injunction delaying Wisconsin's new law requiring abortion providers to have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals, writing that state attorneys failed to prove implementing the law quickly would protect women's health.

On Second Amendment absolutism: 

A federal judge upheld most of New York's new gun control law on Tuesday, rejecting arguments that its bans on large-capacity magazines and the sale of some semi-automatic rifles violate Second Amendment rights. 

Judge William Skretny in Buffalo concluded those provisions are constitutional because they're related to achieving an "important governmental interest" in public safety. Those two features make guns more lethal, he wrote, citing testimony submitted in the case.

On sales of "Unintimidated" - - unimpressive:

About 7,200 copies of Gov. Scott Walker's book "Unintimidated" have sold during its first month in bookstores, an average of more than 250 copies a day. 

The sales figures as of Monday, provided by Nielsen, put Walker on pace to sell about as many copies as the memoir of former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, another Republican Midwestern governor who released a book amid talk of a presidential run. But Walker still has a long way to go to match sales that other Republican politicians who have published books in recent years have seen.

A Step In Right Direction: Making Plastics From Airborne Pollution

Start off your new year by reading about something new. At least it was news to me:

Two childhood friends spent a decade, beginning in college, figuring out how to cheaply make plastic from carbon that's been captured from the atmosphere.

DNR Again Underwhelms With Clean Air Tip

Really, DNR - - big state agency filled with experts - - this is all you've got for a year-end statement?

For the week of December 29, 2013:
"Gifts to return or exchange? Gathering them all together and taking care of them all in one trip will reduce your air emissions by reducing the vehicle miles traveled."

There is a pattern to the agency's default to self-parody.

Another example:

FOR THE WEEK OF JULY 1, 2012:"Happy Birthday America! No doubt about it, fireworks are a part of the festivities on the 4th of July. Yes they do cause air pollution, but the smoke is localized and disperses quickly causing little harm. Learn more"

By the way, there is genuinely substantive information elsewhere at the agency's clean air web site.

This map shows less-than-good levels of both ozone and particulate matter air pollution in four counties spread across the state  - - Kenosha, Grant, Eau Claire and Outagamie.

More Alcohol Abuse Treatment A Good Idea...

But it's still a cop-out and dangerous public policy, Sen. Fitzgerald, to keep giving tickets only to first-time caught drunk drivers.

Time To Order Joel Austin's Book "Discovering The Penokees"

I cannot strongly enough recommend Joel Austin's 160-page book about the Penokee Hills in Northwest Wisconsin in the Bad River watershed near Lake Michigan threatened with obliteration for the largest open-pit iron mine in North America. The book is full of breath-taking photographs plus additional documentation, essays, and scientific information. The publisher notes:

Profits from sale of the book will be used to work with others to fight this mine--to leave open other future possibilities for developing a sustainable economy, to preserve this landscape for future generations so they are able to stay, work and play here.

(Softcover, 160 pages, 126 color photos, map, guest essays, references)--$28.95
BOOKS NOW AVAILABLE! TO ORDER Bookstores -- contact us for resale ordering information. Thanks to all who contributed to our fundraising site on Indiegogo.com. Video featuring Jenny Mahan's song, “Where Will You Stand?”
and Joel Austin's photographs and Joel Austin's photographs

Walker's Job Tweet Represents 42% Of The Truth

What's left out of this gubernatorial Tweet...

Governor Walker ‏@GovWalker1hWEDC worked with hundreds of companies in 2013 - helping to create/maintain thousands of jobs: http://ow.ly/sa02O 

•  
• • 
    
   

Is the heart of the rest of the story:

With About A Year Left, Walker's 250,000 New Jobs' Pledge Is 42% Fulfilled

• Mor
  

ObamaCare Enrollment Spiking; Bring On Stories About Lives Saved

It won't take long for media to run with stories from among the two-million-and-growing new enrollees' whose lives were saved by medical exams, tests or procedures that were unavailable pre-ObamaCare because of pre-existing condition barriers or excessive costs.

Having feasted on coverage of the healthcare.gov rollout problems, and allowed critics to yammer on about all the program's difficulties, a shift in coverage is appropriate and predictable.

Local Boy Makes Good In Utah

That would be Ft. Atkinson native and now US District Court Judge Robert Shelby. His ruling from the bench in Salt Lake City opened the way for same-sex marriage in deeply-red Utah.

On Retaining Race-Based Mascots/Nicknames, Wisconsin Goes Backward

While The Washington Post tells us about this hopeful development in the campaign against the city's race-based, Native American-stereotyping NFL team name…

2013 is the year the campaign against the NFL’s use of this racial slur coalesced into a permanent movement.

...Wisconsin intentionally goes the other way to satisfy a certain reactionary GOP constituency represented throughout state government by a Blatant Bigotry caucus:

Gov. Walker told the AP today he will sign a bill to make it easier for Wisconsin school districts to retain race-based names, mascots and logos that stereotype Native American people... 

The measure Walker says he will sign also invalidates three previous name-changing orders directed to school districts by the State Department of Public Instruction under current law... Walker cloaked his bill signing motives in a Tuesday Journal Sentinel interview with a mumbly-jumbly and preposterous civil libertarian charade.

As the paper reported: 

He said he empathized with those who are offended by Indian team names, but cast the ability of schools to choose their team names as a First Amendment right.  

"I get the concern" of opponents, Walker said. "But the counterbalance to that that I'm looking at is, by the same token, from a free speech standpoint...where do you draw the line on free speech?" 

So in Wisconsin, school districts - - units of government - - can behave discriminatorily under a grant of free speech by the state. 

That's about as twisted as Daniel Snyder claiming his Washington, DC NFL team name honors Native Americans.

In Wisconsin, "R" stands for Retrograde, Republican and Race-based.

Wealthy Congressman With Taypayer-Subsidized Health Care Rips Obamacare

Leave it to GOP California Congressman Darryl Issa - - a multi-millionaire who enjoys multiple taxpayer subsidies including a generous pension plan, Cadillac health care, private gym on Capitol Hill and free round-trip air fares back home  - - to denigrate insuring Americans finally accessing health insurance:

"The fact that people well into the middle class are going to get subsidies is going to cause them to look at healthcare...sort of in a Third World way of do we get subsidies from the government for our milk, for our gasoline and, oh, by the way, for our healthcare," said Issa.

Feds Again Cite Flaws In New WI Iron Mining Law

Though I am still looking for a link to, or the full text for the US Army Corps of Engineers' August 1, 2011 letter to Wisconsin officials advising against the so-called 'streamlining' iron mine reviews eventually put into state law - - some background, here, and also here - - I've plucked this follow-up letter from the STELLAREPORT blog, so a hat tip there for posting it:

Idaho Trumps Wisconsin's Wolf-Killing Blood Lust

Bad enough that Wisconsin this year allowed the legal, over-quota killing of 257 wolves - - while also knowing that scores more wolves will be killed by cold temperatures, poachers and vehicles, as past data have shown - - but the State of Idaho wins the Blood Lust Award:

A federal judge Friday allowed a wolf- and coyote-shooting derby to proceed on public land in Idaho this weekend, ruling its organizers aren’t required to get a special permit from the U.S. Forest Service.

Prizes go to the shooters who kill the biggest wolf and the most females. 

Local boosters report the motels are full, so everything is in balance.

After Opposing What He'd Promoted, Tommy Again Supports High-Speed WI Rail

Gov. Amtrak is back, sort of.  Remember him - - the guy who was so pro-Amtrak the railroad put his name on a locomotive?

That's the same Tommy Thompson who now says he's hopeful there will be an Amtrak connection between Milwaukee and Madison - - after toeing the Walker 'Kill The Train' line a couple of years ago and saying the full federal construction funding should be spent on highways.

Which was not possible, as he well knew, given that Tommy was a four-term Governor and a former Amtrak board chairman who pretended you could ignore the legal and program differences between highway funding and Amtrak construction stimulus dollars that were awarded specifically to Wisconsin for inclusion in the Midwest High-Speed Rail network.

Anyway - - it's nice to see Tommy again saying the right things about rail and Wisconsin and promoting good ideas about energy alternatives and smart policies in the Midwest.

Though his supporting Scott Walker as a potential presidential candidate makes little sense if Amtrak is what Tommy likes, since a President ('No-Train') Walker would likely kill its federal funding.

But the truth is that Tommy's effective time has passed, and the $810 million in Amtrak funding that had been secured by Gov. Jim Doyle through Pres. Obama to advance Wisconsin in the region is gone.

Like these Milwaukee-built, banned-in-Wisconsin trains now serving Oregon.

Walker buried that opportunity to please the anti-government ideologues, to stick it to Obama and deny Doyle any legacy, and Tommy missed his chance to do the right thing when it counted.

In The Dead Of Winter, A Colder Political Climate

It's shocking that Democrats in Congress went along with Republicans in the much-touted budget deal and agreed to end extended unemployment payments to Americans out of work long-term in a sluggish 'recovery' through no fault of their own.

Nearly 24,000 Wisconsinites will be among those nationally losing their small checks today (and three times that number throughout 2014) through an action by a cold Congress adding nothing to the economy but damaging deprivation and deeper despair. Stories of brutal consequences will surface. The budget deal was bi-partisan. So is its shame.

In CNN 2016 Poll, Ryan Behind Clinton By Eight; Walker...

Not included. Christie and Clinton ran virtually even. The rest of the Walker-free field looked like this:

Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who ran for the nomination in the last election, is down 17 points to Clinton; freshman Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas trails by 18 points; Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida and Rick Santorum, a 2012 GOP presidential candidate and former senator from Pennsylvania, are 19 points behind; and former two-term Florida Gov. Jeb Bush faces a 21-point gap between himself and Clinton

With About A Year Left, Walker's 250,000 New Jobs' Pledge Is 42% Fulfilled

The math is against him, and so was the core of his austerity-driven 'program.'

Try taking that number to your supervisor or instructor.

Big fail.

Ending WI Income Tax Would Hit Cities, Lower Earners

Gov. Walker is laying the groundwork for his 2014 re-election and possible national 2016 presidential bid by thinking aloud about getting rid of the state income tax.

The corporate right's dream scenario, for sure. Welcome to Tax-Free Wisconsin.

But among the consequences - - since even Walker would not wipe out the state-supported public services which he and the right endorse - - corrections, road-building, private schools - - would be a massive shift in service responsibilities to already-strapped local governments where property taxes and fees are already at their limits while basic service and social needs are growing.

So the tougher political and financial choices would be forced on Mayors and council members while Walker and GOP legislators could pose for albums of Holy Pictures/campaign promos as the tax-cutting champions.

Meaning cities like Milwaukee, and Racine, and others would face more real-world obstacles; wealthier suburbs have comparatively lower service needs for certain tax-supported services - - transit, libraries, or parks - - because higher numbers of suburban residents have multiple vehicles, home Internet-connected computers and big yards, and thus would fare better.

The rich would get richer and the poor would get poorer - - individuals and municipalities alike.

There's also talk of shifting some state service financing to sales taxes, either through higher rates or eliminating exemptions. I'll believe the exemption reform when I see it: Sales taxes are never going to be extended to white-collar attorney fees, doctor bills, architectural services, brokerage activities, etc. with significant numbers of Republicans as the practitioner.

And extending or raising sales taxes on more general merchandise will just hit lower-income earners the hardest, repressively.

The right-wing social experimentation underway in Wisconsin in the Walker era has already failed to create jobs matching the national pace - - and Walker is only 42% towards his goal of 250,000 new jobs in a four-year term now just about three years done - - because the changes implemented here are rooted in ideology, not practical economics.

Adding in tax changes that are designed to help Walker while further hammering Wisconsin's cities and their low-income residents will only extend the state's stagnation.

You Learn Something New Every Day

Starter yachts. Who knew.

Over-Quota WI Wolf Kills? Hey, Hunters Paid Good Money For Those Licenses

So what's an extra six dead wolves to blood sport-luvin' Wisconsin, anyway? You're gonna harvest 251, so what's another, what 2-3%?

Relax. What are they gonna do? Call their legislators?

Quota, shmota. 251...257: who's counting here? They're just wolves.

And so the DNR underestimated the final tally. Didn't you ever make a mistake? We're talking DNR here, not IRS. And it's not like anyone died.

Remember, the hunters were just out there enjoying themselves, they'd paid $49 each to shoot them a wolf, hoist it in the air and get someone to post their First and Second Amendment handiwork on Facebook.

And if the hunters and the poachers and the motorists didn't kill all the breeding pairs this season, there will be more wolves to trail, bait, trap, hound and shoot next year!

On, Wisconsin.

WTMJ Talker Extends Time-Warpy War On Christmas To Boxing Day

Well, that was Jeff Wagner on the radio this afternoon - - December 26th, a/k/a/ Boxing Day - - in full uproar over a War on Christmas skirmish reported somewhere not in our listening area on December 12th.

And Wagner also pitched TV-4's Christmas food drive - - oops, Holiday food drive, excuse me - - a worth cause but held on the 17th.

Then I heard the disclaimer: We were being fed some of what the station calls the Best of Wagner - - a taped replay and rather context-free, I might add - - as station management goes into cheapskate mode over the holidays when the on-air bigwigs are not around.

Just another way talk radio misinforms.

Follow Far Right's Climate Change Denial Money Trail

Solid investigative piece, with links to data. Read, download and archive:

The percentage of Americans accepting the reality of climate change declined dramatically... 

The reasons usually given for this backsliding are the economic downturn and the GOP’s reactionary opposition to anything President Obama supports. A new study by Drexel University environmental sociologist Robert Brulle, released Friday afternoon in the journal Climatic Change, suggests another reason: massive investment in climate change denial by interests that benefit most from frying the Earth.

Walker Finds Jobs For Cronies, But Obstructs One Vet's Hiring

Shallow work towards his failed 250,000 new jobs' pledge by the nation's smallest Governor:

Scott Walker is effectively keeping a combat veteran from achieving the job for which he's qualified, but Walker handed out plum state jobs to legislative pals - - in fact, two high-paying jobs to former Democratic Senator Jeff Plale who'd voted with Republicans on his way out - - and a host of various insiders, sometimes bending the rules and defying common sense.

Walker's awarding of big-salaried state jobs - - the pattern began in the early hours of his administration when a 27-year-old lobbyist's son got an $81,000 job - -  - - to good soldiers like Cindy Archer, or disgraced WisDOT manager Steven Krieser, and, through civil service manipulations, State Capitol police chief David Erwin and his deputy;

With Walker, How Many Tipping Points Do You Need?

If it wasn't his Act 10 "bomb," or the felony sentencing of political staff aides, or two John Doe probes or forced ultrasounds and direct attack on Planned Parenthood, or his unstoppable false speaking and writing...to the give-aways to private interests from iron ore to frac sand mining companies to anyone who wants to fill a wetland...then surely it is Walker's imperious signal that he would deny of a pardon to a combat veteran so he can pursue a Wisconsin police career.

Because Walker is not granting any pardons, period.

This story should go viral statewide and nationally because it says everything about a narcissistic and authoritarian Scott Walker who believes everything is about him.

Walker The Authoritarian Narcissist

I have noted before on this blog Scott Walker's illeism, narcissism and authoritarianism; it's a bad combination and this example takes the cake.

Count how many times Walker uses the word "I" or "me" in just a couple of sentences about a combat veteran who will not obtain from this Governor the simplest of considerations - - a pardon, not a commutation - - so the vet can become a police officer.

In fact, you can stuff that GOP compassionate conservatism altogether: Walker the authoritarian has not issued a single pardon in three years, because Mr. Morality doesn't inject himself into the justice system unless he's working with his own defense fund:

And see how Walker turns the issue into an extended political self-reflection. How does this become all about him?

Walker has said he doesn’t consider pardon requests because he doesn’t believe he should inject himself into the criminal justice system. 

 “I just look at (granting pardons) and say that’s not really why I ran for office. It’s not what I campaigned on. It’s not what I talked about,” the governor said in March. “To me, the only people who are seeking pardons are people who have been guilty of a crime and I have a hard time undermining the actions of a jury and of a court.”

Thanks to the MAL Contends...blog for bringing this to my attention.

WI DNR Prowls For Wolf/Livestock Depredation; And For Wolf Poaching?

Now that the official wolf killing is over in Wisconsin, with 251 wolves 'harvested' with guns, traps, bait and packs of hounds - -why over at the DNR's wolf hunt information page is there this entry- -  

Anyone suspecting a wolf depredation in northern Wisconsin should call USDA-WS immediately at 1-800-228-1368 (in state) or 715-369-5221. In southern Wisconsin call 1-800-433-0663 (in state) or 920-324-4514.

- - without a similar request for information about wolves illegally killed by poachers (some of whom could also be the so-called '3S' hunters - - Shoot, Shovel and Shut up)?

The DNR knew of 20 such illegal wolf kills in 2012, its records showed, so if the goal is truly wolf and wildlife management - - and not mere wolf killing for the price of a $49 permit - - why isn't the DNR also asking the public for its assistance to stop wrongful wolf killing, too?

WI GOP Secrecy Delivered Gerry-Mandering And Mine Bill, So...

Why not a UW system President, says Assembly leader and fan of closed government Robin Vos:

"I'm a big believer in transparency," Vos told the Journal Sentinel. "But I don't want the possibility of getting second tier instead of top tier candidates" because finalists don't want their current employers to find out they are interested in another job.

Walker Collapse? About the 250,000 Failed Jobs' Pledge? Oh, I See...

It's a verb, not a noun...

Flimsy charges by Democrats about Gov. Scott Walker collapse

DNR Raises Multiple, Basic Questions About Initial Mining Permit

The Wisconsin DNR has raised questions about 29 fundamental land use, road-building, erosion control, restoration and related water issues after reading the storm water permit application submitted by GTac mining for only its proposed removal of tons of sample iron ore rock to test.

Here is the DNR's mining page - - and you can read the entire list of agency's concerns in pdf format, here.

Prepare to be shocked at the information the DNR finds missing or insufficient.

A sample - - Item 18.

Your plan reads as if the construction activities and therefore the implementation of erosion controls and ultimately restoration will occur when the ground is not frozen. If work is to be conducted in the winter, a different suite of best management practices will likely need to be implemented. 

These alternatives need to be discussed at length. 

Also a related permit for one road.

Keep in mind the final mining permits needed by the company to dig the much more complex and massive open pit mine of 4.5 miles long, 1000-ft. deep, half-mile wide site - - after first removing The Penokee mountain range - - will be far more detailed - - yet final permit review procedures were put into a fast-tracked framework with ridiculously short and arbitrary deadlines by a mining 'reform' law written with GTac's input.

In Scott Walker's Wisconsin, Every Day Is 12/23 Festivus

The Wisconsin air is filled with legitimate grievances. Festivus has a certain Groundhog Day quality that only a successful Election Day can change.

Book It: PolitiFact Finds Another Walker Whopper

Continuing his documented pattern of false speaking, Gov.Walker has been found by PolitiFact to have included a false claim in his nationally-touted book "Unintimidated":

Walker says protesters in La Crosse blocked an exit and surrounded a State Patrol car carrying the governor and were "beating on the windows and rocking the vehicle." When the car was "extricated" from the crowd, a truck blocked a second exit.   

Yet we could find no mention of the car rocking incident before the book came out Nov. 19, 2013. 

Beyond the book itself and related public statements, there was no concrete evidence provided by Walker’s office, despite numerous inquiries by PolitiFact.   

Local police, journalists at the scene, and people from the company and the crowd do not recall seeing Walker’s car rocked or banged upon. And no one involved in news coverage, local law enforcement or witnesses reported seeing a truck blocking the car from leaving.
Finally, in a recent interview, Walker toned down his description of the incident.  

Based on the available information, we think the book’s depiction of what happened -- an organized effort to prevent Walker from leaving that placed him in direct danger -- is False.

Note also that PolitiFact cites follow-up work by La Crosse journalists who even used Googles satellite  imaging to disprove Walker's claim:

La Crosse Tribune editor Chris Hardie said reporter Chris Hubbuch and photographer Peter Thomson covered Walker’s visit and watched his car leave the plant. 

"Both Chris and Peter were standing outside when the governor left," Hardie said. 

"Neither of them remembers any kind of car rocking or the car being surrounded, that kind of thing." 

The journalists reviewed a Google satellite view of the property and refreshed their memories about where they were standing in relation to Walker’s car, Hardie said. 

"They would have noticed if they were blocking and beating on his car," Hardie said. He noted, too, that the journalists would have also been alerted if they had seen flashing police lights or heard a siren from Walker’s car -- something else the governor described. 

They witnessed nothing of the sort.

When will the national media begin to hold Walker accountable with tough questions and demands for honesty?

From PolitiFact, here is Walker's complete and desultory ratings record.

Walker's statements by ruling

Click on the ruling to see all of Walker's statements for that ruling.

• True9 (11%)(9)
• Mostly True11 (13%)(11)
• Half True18 (21%)(18)
• Mostly False15 (18%)(15)
• False24 (29%)(24)
• Pants on Fire7 (8%)(7)

Republican from Wisconsin

Scott Walker, a Republican, was elected governor of Wisconsin in November 2010. He was recalled in 2012 after igniting controversy with a bill curtailing public-employee union collective-bargaining rights. He survived the recall election, defeating Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett.  Walker is a former Milwaukee County executive and former member of the state Assembly.

Walker's Support For Race-Based School Names Reaches LA Media

The Los Angeles Times takes note of Scott Walker's signing the race-based school name/logo/mascot bill.

Just the kind of PR to help attract businesses, college students, young, mobile professionals and tourists to Wisconsin.

More commentary, links on this blog, here.

With Three Wolves To Go, DNR Closes The Hunt Monday

An end to the blood letting is in sight. The 'harvest' quota was 251, up from 117 last season.

Walker Casino Tactic Opens Door For Fund-Raising, Barrett Strong

Walker's waiting another year and election cycle to make his casino decision lets lyricist Barrett Strong be a Wisconsin pun and political prognosticator:

Money (that's What I Want)

Walker Backs Off Casino Timing Pledge Made Thursday On Sykes' Show

What a difference a couple of days make:

On Thursday, during Obamacare, book tour and Christmas nut-roasting chit-chat with AM 620 WTMJ talker and GOP megaphone Charlie Sykes, Gov. Walker said he'd definitely make his decision on the possible Kenosha casino before the 2014 gubernatorial election.

"No doubt about it," he said at about the 2:40 mark here.

On Saturday, Walker's people were signing a different tune:

Gov. Scott Walker may postpone a decision on whether to approve the $800 million Indian casino proposed for Kenosha until after he stands for re-election in November, according to the governor's top aide. 

The state is hiring outside attorneys and a financial adviser to examine the issue, and they may need the extra time to analyze the off-reservation casino proposed by the Menominee tribe, Administration Secretary Mike Huebsch told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

As the Right Defends "Duck Dynasty's" Phil Robertson...

It forgets its own pillorying of The Dixie Chicks.

And TV networks are not required by the First Amendment to give a platform to anyone. Paula Deen, meet Alec Baldwin.

I'm No Lawyer, But...

How can Wisconsin's state constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage survive a federal court test if a similar state constitutional amendment in Utah has just been struck down?

Rep. Nygren Oddly Backs "Certain Brothers"

Why the code? Whom might they be?

The Coen brothers?

The Gallo brothers?

The Jonas brothers?

A White Southerner Sheds Light On Duck Dynasty Uproar

I'm always glad to pass along the opinions of Morris Dees and to help him raise money for the invaluable Southern Poverty Law Center:

I’ve never seen "Duck Dynasty," but like many of you, I’ve been hearing a lot about the remarks of Phil Robertson, one of the stars of the reality show seen by millions. Robertson said some highly offensive things about LGBT people in an interview with GQ Magazine and, after much criticism, has been suspended indefinitely from the A&E Television Network. But I want to talk about what the 67-year-old from Louisiana said about African Americans during the pre-civil rights era: “I never, with my eyes, saw the mistreatment of any black person. Not once. Where we lived was all farmers. The blacks worked for the farmers. I hoed cotton with them. I’m with the blacks, because we’re white trash. We’re going across the field. They’re singing and happy. I never heard one of them, one black person, say, ‘I tell you what: These doggone white people’ – not a word! … Pre-entitlement, pre-welfare, you say: Were they happy? They were godly; they were happy; no one was singing the blues.” That’s simply breathtaking. I don’t know anything about Robertson’s experiences. But I grew up on a small cotton farm in Alabama and also worked in the fields alongside African Americans. It shouldn’t even be necessary to say that they were treated as second-class citizens, most of them mired in abject poverty and with very little opportunity for anything more. There was no such thing as equality in any sense of the word. And of course black folks didn’t go around saying anything about “these doggone white people.” The threat of racist violence was ever present, and there was virtually no chance any white person who harmed a black person would face anything close to justice.  I wonder what Robertson would say about the four little black girls who were killed in the Klan bombing of Birmingham’s Sixteenth Street Baptist Church – or the many, many others who were lynched over the decades? What would he say about Emmett Till, the 14-year-old who was murdered for supposedly flirting with a white woman in Mississippi? Were they happy about their situation, too? Those like Governor Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, who trot out First Amendment arguments to defend the offensive speech of Robertson and bemoan the consequences they face, are equally misguided.  Sure, Robertson has every right to say hateful, offensive things wherever and whenever he wants. But there is no First Amendment right to have a TV show. There is no First Amendment right to be free from criticism. No one is calling on the government to shut him up. Maybe Robertson simply doesn’t understand the hurtful nature of his words. Maybe he was blind to the reality of life for African Americans when he was growing up. Maybe he still is. Being oblivious to the suffering of others is at the root of racism.  But why is anyone in this day and age defending segregation and attempting to paint over the terrible injustices that took place during Jim Crow?   Regardless of Robertson’s personal experiences, this idea that African Americans had it good during Jim Crow is the same kind of historical revisionism that we hear from Holocaust deniers who want us to ignore the lessons of history. It must be denounced loudly and clearly. Sincerely, Morris Dees Founder, Southern Poverty Law Center

Make a contribution to support our work fighting hate, teaching tolerance, and seeking justice. Take advantage of corporate matching gift opportunities. Contact your employer's HR department to see if they will match your contributions to the SPLC. We welcome your feedback. Contact us online. 400 Washington Ave. Montgomery, AL 36104

WI DNR Says 15 Of 234 Wolf Kills Aided By Dogs

Those numbers - - 234 total, of which 15 were aided by dogs - - represent wolves registered with the DNR in the current hunting season as of Dec. 19th, the agency said today in response to my email inquiry.

Wisconsin is the only US state to sanction the use of dogs in wolf hunting; a challenge to that part of state law by humane societies is pending in state appellate court.

The current wolf hunting season is ongoing in one NW Wisconsin zone. Dogs were first allowed on Dec. 2.

The allowable kill this season statewide is 251, up from 117 last year.

Comments To DNR On Waukesha Water Diversion Heavily Negative

The DNR has posted the several dozen comments it has received on Waukesha's proposed diversion of Lake Michigan water and return flow via the Root River into the Racine Harbor.

Nearly all are negative, ranging from short statements of concern - - some even hand-written - - about Root River flooding or Waukesha water conservation efforts deemed insufficient to lengthy documents written by scientists and local, regional and national organizations that raise substantial legal, hydrological and related technical issues.

Some of the criticism has been foreshadowed.

The DNR is reviewing Waukesha's proposal, has preliminarily found it does not justify the amount of water sought, and posted letters the letters it sent to Waukesha on the matter this month, here:

• Letter to Waukesha Water Utility dated Dec. 13, 2013 [PDF]
• Letter to Waukesha Water Utility dated Dec. 3, 2013 [PDF]

Still to come: the release of a DNR-produced environmental impact statement, formal hearings about it, and more reviews and hearings in the seven other Great Lakes states whose Governors would all have to approve the plan along with Gov. Walker before the nearly $200 million plan could get underway.

The comments are well worth reading.

A Story Most Fowl, Yet Speaks Volumes

Every once in a while a story floats by with one phrase that ties the whole thing together, like this:

McDonald's Mighty Wings Prove Feeble With Customers

A quick review for those who haven’t seen them: They look like McNuggets with bones...

Worse for restaurant owners: they might have to help the corporation 'eat' 10 million pounds still in freezers.  

Franchisees have been told they must participate in another upcoming promotion 

– the date and pricing of which are not yet clear – or else pay for the excess inventory.

McDonald’s spokespeople could not immediately be reached for comment.