Sunday, October 26, 2014

Final Journal Sentinel gubernatorial editorial made me flinch

[Updated, Sunday 9:36 p.m.] From the editorial, these paragraphs were particularly galling:

First, about Walker:

Walker's decisiveness is refreshing and his resolve and steadiness at the tiller in the face of vicious political attacks is admirable if often misguided. He's sincere: We don't doubt for an instant that Walker really believes that his ideas are right for Wisconsin…   
Then about Burke: 
A political novice in the Madison snake-pit had better be pretty good at either dodging the vipers or grinding them beneath the heel of her boot. We're skeptical about Burke's bona fides in this regard. If the Republicans retain control of both houses, as expected, she'll be squaring off against two of the best politicians in the state, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) and Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau).
Burke points to her experiences running the state Department of Commerce, as an executive at Trek Bicycles, working with the Boys and Girls Clubs and serving on the Madison School Board. "Part of doing that is building up a team around you that brings to the table different skills and experiences, and I will certainly look to have the best possible team around me as governor," she told us during our interview with her.
Burke seems quietly competent — and very bright. And she has grown enormously as a candidate. There is no reason to believe she will not continue to grow as a politician if she is elected governor. But it's a bigger learning curve than she might expect. 
Another Democratic politician learned that lesson the hard way — or perhaps he never learned it. President Barack Obama, whose disdain for performing the duties of the world's No. 1 politician have been apparent from his first day in office, had plenty of brains, guts and drive when he entered the Oval Office but what he didn't have were either good political instincts or the willingness to use them.
If she wins, Burke will need those instincts — or really good advice — and she'll need to be willing to get her hands dirty in the day-to-day work of governing the state. 
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OK - about Walker:


Refreshing decisiveness, and that tiller steadiness? Sincere? In the face of all his divide-and-conquer, Act 10 sneakiness. Good God.

And about Burke?

The idea that Burke somehow isn't up to the task, that she can't fight off all those big bad male pros, that she'll need lots of advice, that she's still growing, is all unnecessarily dismissive, patronizing and inherently sexist.

If that were all true, why is she tied in the polls with Walker?
And that gratuitous comparison to Obama? What is that, other than irrelevant?

You want a relevant linkage to a US President? 

Try Walker-to-George W. Bush, who was over-flowing with certitude, no doubt sincere, steady and oh-so full of resolve - - but without a shred of awareness for the arrogance and consequences of that stance, and never an apology for the division he sowed through one wrong decision after another made without a second self-guessing.
All in all, a very disappointing editorial.

14 comments:

  1. So they just basically endorsed the creep again. I knew they would.

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  2. Let's not play dumb. They were ordered to write this by their owners. They know better.

    Walker is "decisive"? The guy who won't go anywhere in public in an unscripted moment? The guy who constantly changes reasons for supporting something and signs bills on holiday weekends to avoid scrutiny? Riiiiight.

    And given how Burke keeps rolling along despite the huge GOP-aganda machine in Wisconsin media, she'll have no problems in Madison. Besides, she's not expected to majorly change course- she's expected to stop the disastrous course that we've been on.

    The J-S is a disgrace. And I think even their own writers know it

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  3. The editorial is accurate and you're finding sexism even when there isn't any in the piece, common for the common liberal victim.

    Burke would be less productive than Obama with the House Republicans. The executive order governing isn't going to remove act 10. The Republican dominance will continue until the Democrats can get competent leadership to replace the no nothing egoist and reformed booze thief Chris Larson. Our state Democrat party is very weak and unorganized. Mike Tate is equally over his head.

    The long term outlook is Republican dominance in a blue state that accidentally elected rojo.

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  4. So, they want another 4 years where the legislative and executive branches are of the same party?

    This will not end well.

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  5. Holy moly, that was awful! Poor Walker, enduring those vicious political attacks. Do they mean the time he couldn't leave an appearance because of all those people surrounding his car - the story he told that even newspapers couldn't verify? Or those vicious, vicious Mary Burke ads that point out things that J-S is ignoring? Vicious indeed.
    Yes. This is an endorsement by a newspaper that doesn't 'endorse' anymore.
    And where the heck did this come from:
    "President Barack Obama, whose disdain for performing the duties of the world's No. 1 politician have been apparent from his first day in office"
    ??
    Lots of potshots in there, they must have enjoyed writing it immensely.

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  6. They are impressed with his certainty. I was always taught to be extremely wary of people too certain of thier rectitude. As for his being sure what he.believes is right for Wisconsin, surely the J-S people should know his one and only concern is what is right for himself and his ambition.

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  7. Anon 8:09am- "Our Democrat Party?" Who are you trying to kid? You GOP operatives are really bad at hiding your identities and in concealing what you really mean. You're throwing garbage against the wall, and we see right through you.

    Sort of like how the J-S is really awful at hiding who's really in charge of their editorials. HINT: It's not anyone that is objectively looking at reality in Wisconsin, or someone that isn't involved with Walker and the Milwaukee oligarch community.

    P.S. Some simple-minded people were impressed by another Dubya's "certainty" in 2004. How'd that work out for us?

    Not another dime to that rag, folks.

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  8. They spelled divisive wrong.

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  9. Yeh. "Seems competent"?

    Did JS ed board members borrow the wording from their own HR reviews by their new owner -- to describe the opponent of the guy who has owned them for years now?

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  10. There are your friends over there -- are you ready to sever ties with the state's biggest propaganda machine?

    Sure -- mjs has been decoupled from the rabid hate at wtmj-am -- but mjs acts as the point-of-origin for all the other bogus nooozepaper lies across the state.

    So just why to you stick up for this rag?

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  11. AN old friend often told me never to trust the opinions in a one newspaper town. Sadly, Milwaukee has become that "town".

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  12. Where to begin?
    1) Decisive? It's easy to be "decisive" when your party controls both the house and senate of your state legislature.
    2) Steadiness at the tiller? Scott Walker knows he stands to reap great rewards from the Tea Party and out of state special interests if he implements their policies in Wisconsin. So he fudges the numbers and says and does the most outrageous things, and all with a straight face. Easy to do when you're a serial liar and have no shame.
    3) Sincerely believes that his ideas are right for Wisconsin? Scott Walker could care less about Wisconsin. First and foremost for Scott Walker is doing everything and anything to advance the Tea Party agenda, and Scott Walker. Period.

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  13. From the editorial:

    He has made politics courser in Wisconsin

    Courser?

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  14. When the editors say Walker's decisiveness is refreshing, I wonder if they really meant to say his "divisiveness" is refreshing. Because, a few lines later, the editorial says Walker has made politics "courser" in Wisconsin. Obviously, the editors meant "coarser." Pretty basic mistake you might make in a high school newspaper.

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