Tuesday, July 29, 2014

Editorial About Walker's Trek Fail Missed Important Evidence

The Journal Sentinel today chastises Gov. Walker for attacking Trek - - the iconic Wisconsin firm that any other Governor would love as a homegrown model - - as part of his increasingly desperate campaign against former Trek executive Mary Burke, the company founder's daughter.

At one point, the editorial makes this statement to underscore what was wrong with Walker's attack on Burke at the expense of the company:
Walker erred by not acknowledging Trek's contributions to the state even while criticizing one of its former executives. If it was any other company, he'd have been fawning.
This point could have been strengthened by saying that, in fact, Walker had acknowledged Trek's contributions to the state - - only to contradict and negate the praise in his self-serving attacks.

Walker and his administration had twice created and posted video promotions on the website of his economic development agency, making his attack on Trek more of a flip-flop for self-interested and partisan purposes.

You can access both of the videos here - - and note in one that Walker handles the intro calling attention to himself, of course, and urges viewers to look closely at several Wisconsin business success stories, with Trek featured prominently.

In other words, when Walker thought that sidling up to Trek was good for his image and yes, his campaign by extension, he was eager to associate himself with the company and bask in its light.

But when Burke's candidacy began to take hold, he had no hesitation to turn on her and Trek, regardless of the dirt he was willing to throw on the company and the weight of the hypocrisy he was willing to embrace.

The editorial suggests Walker's hypocrisy includes an act of omission, but there is an overlooked history of commission, too, and video evidence to prove it.

Citing the videos would have used Walker's own words to sharpen the editorial and better explain the cynicism behind and enveloping his Burke/Trek attack.

7 comments:

Boxer said...

Gutess bastards!

Anonymous said...

Can someone please explain why they treat this dirtbag with kid gloves? It is disgusting. Just let the guy have what he's got coming. He could say that we are in the month of December and the JS would say their is some truth to it. Burke would then come back and say that it is July and they would say that since it is the 29th we are almost done with the month so she gets a false. So what if they endorsed him, if they came out with a Burke endorsement and said they are not only disgusted with his policies but also his lies and corruption we would see a huge gain for Burke. Unfortunately the JS seems to enjoy the corruption because bad news sells.

Anonymous said...

journal communications is a propaganda machine and milwaukee journal sentinel is an important tool for spreading disinformation.

Of course, you're kind of "ticklish" about that fact, for whatever reason.

Each time scott walker puts out a negative ad, mjs promotes it with a headline and a nooooze report that retells the lies, hiding behind the lie of objective journalism.

Sure, they quote a Burke aide so the story appears "balanced" -- but the response is limited to a sentence or so -- while the entire content of the ad is repeated in paragraphs.

This creates the illusion that walker's dishonest negative ads are "one side" of a story -- each being factually equivalent to the other (which is impossible).

So you're point that mjs could have made a more compelling case against that ad is a valid and important point.

But more important is that mjs (who endorsed walker for governor twice) decides to leave the salient issues OUT of their editorial.

journal communications' business model is to screech racism and hate across the state -- all directed against their hometown.

Jake formerly of the LP said...

It isn't because "bad news sells". They wouldn't be covering up for Walker and WEDC if that was true.

They're chasing the Walker and right-wing oligarch ad money, and are trying not to be on Scotty's bad side. And that's the disgusting part of the story, and it's why I don't spend a dime on that rag

Anonymous said...

The words "leadership" and "integrity" don't apply to the editors at Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. No wonder MJS hasn't earned a Pulitzer since Scott Walker took office.

Anonymous said...

Jake -- they are not "trying not to be on Scotty's bad side."

They are already in his pocket -- always have been. They are complicit with hoisting this fraud into higher-and-higher levels of office.

They are a propaganda machine -- having written off their hometown years ago, the corporate owners have decided that a legitimate ad-sponsored information business model is less profitable than being a shrill propaganda/disinformation asset for multinational corporations -- the same ones walker takes marching order from.

I won't spend a dime with them either -- they don't care -- their circs been tumbling for years.

But they still lead the propaganda machine across the rest of the state.

Anonymous said...

The media in general provide cover for Walker. They all know that he has tons of money for media buys and they want that ad revenue. They'll keep giving Walker top billing and not find a lot of fault with him as in everything money drives! But in this election I have a feeling that truth is going to trump money and evil.