Journal Sentinel posts my "scathing" critique of its editorials

Hadn't seen this until now. With an opposing view in print:

Two responses excerpted from the Journal Sentinel's Purple Wisconsin bloggers (www.jsonline.com/purplewis) to our recent editorials on the gubernatorial election on Tuesday:

These paragraphs were particularly galling (in Sunday's editorial on the election):

First, about (Scott) 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 (Mary) 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 Bicycle, working with the Boys and Girls Clubs and serving on the Madison School Board....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." ...

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....

And that gratuitous comparison to Obama? What is that, other than irrelevant?

You want a relevant linkage to a U.S. president? Try Walker to George W. Bush, who was overflowing 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.

—Excerpted from a blog post

at "The Political Environment" by James Rowen