Today like yesterday I am going to be writing on the theme of 'We are Wisconsin.' It is an important thing to remember especially in the light of recent events and the truly remarkable media circus that surrounds them.
In the last few days there has been a minor landslide both local and national regarding an incident in which a private citizen poured a beer of the head of his districts legislator. At first I thought this was going to be just another example of over-reporting of a minor issue.
Apparently the media felt the need to make much, much more about this than I thought the market could hold, and is succeeding. I will be getting more direct feedback on how folks around the badger state feel individually about this as I travel around Wisconsin over the next week or so.
Its' nice to get away from all the stress that comes from spending too much time at the capitol building, the DOA offices and so forth. We are all Wisconsin and included in that comes a great deal of diversity and character both individual and cumulative. Likewise when it comes to all the multitudes of people opposed to Scott Walker there is going to be a diversity. Not just of age or gender, locality and income level, race or ethnicity. But a diversity of opinions on just what are the best tactics/strategies to use in protecting Wisconsin from the governor.
"Beer guy" from last weeks incident, is from Senator Robin Vos' district who spent a long and unsuccessful time trying to communicate with his representative. In this years right wing avalanche of radical legislation, the GOP has refused to communicate or negotiate with their constituents or fellow legislators. Things have become very heated as time went by and 'beer guy' and the senator did indeed eventually communicate with each other after much effort and by then both sides were rather frustrated and harsh words were exchanged by both people. One time 'beer guy' approached Senator Vos (who for those of you who don't know yet, is a man, that's right one guy poured beer on another guy in a bar one night) and gave him a pink slip, literally a ladies pink slip, to symbolize the literal pink slip he believed the senator would receive through recall. I don't understand how this is pressing news material.
Another person named and negatively portrayed in the press lately is 'Segway' guy as he has come to be known. For those of you who don't know yet 'Segway' uses his segway as a mobility device, as he prefers it (understandably) to a wheel chair. Segway has done lots of very good, very positive work for the Wisconsin movement and he has done it fearlessly. Even though time and again he has risked serious physical injury at the hands of the state patrol officers who are brought in as skull-breakers. He has been repeatedly injured by these rogue officers just like others were at the capitol last week for sitting quietly and recording the assembly while it was in session.
The amazing thing to me last week and what should have really drawn the media's attention, was the footage of the protesters being violently removed from the assembly gallery by officers. Especially when minority student protesters, including young girls, were being viciously man-handled by these white officers. These same officers in the footage can be seen selecting the minority individuals and intentionally leaving the white protesters alone. With of course the exception of one disabled American individual 'Segway' who had multiple constitutional rights violated.
Also notable is that our right to film these procedures is and was, and previously defended before the supreme court, to be guaranteed. The constitution can not be trumped in Wisconsin. The officers knew this but followed the orders of papa Fitzgerald and other GOP influences and intentionally went after protesters anyway. And by their individual nature, went after women and minority students out of preference. That is why the district attorneys office dismisses all charges against the protesters, because they were illegally arrested and can sue the state if the charges are not immediately dropped. There is no coddling of the protesters going on.
But that is what the the media reports on, not savage and illegal police behaviour right inside the capitol building itself. But rather they focus on allegations of 'coddling' and spilled beer. That is why right now I am organizing a large scale boycott of all Madison television media outlets for the month of October. Not just tuning them out, but folks calling the stations managers and marketing director's and letting them know that it is their slanted/under reported, over reported/biased journalism. The primary sponsors of these stations particularly the main news sponsors will be contacted as well and told that the boycott extends to them as well to apply pressure to correct these problems.
Now I can understand how some of the reporting of the issue's is going on. I of course, don't agree with it but I understand some of it now after finally receiving information from the Wisconsin state Capitol press corps. On page two of the protocols and definitions applied, to media to be allowed to cover the functioning of government in Wisconsin is what is becoming known to me as 'The Paragraph' Cue dramatic music now.
The paragraph reads verbatim as:
"Correspondents shall declare that, while a member of the WCCA, they will not act as an agent in the prosecution of claims, and will not become engaged or assist, directly or indirectly, in any lobbying, promotion, advertising, or publicity activity (legally speaking 'publicity activity' is reporting of news and/or events occurring or occurred) intended to influence legislation or any other action of the Legislature, nor any matter before any independent agency, or any department or other instrumentality of the Governor's office.
No wonder the press is focusing on facetious issues like the current 'great butter debate' instead of the real issues affecting all of our lives. Maybe some day all of this will be explained after the FBI and the fed's take their case against Walker and his campaign into court, by the media. Or then again will it?
On Wisconsin! FORWARD!!!!
In the last few days there has been a minor landslide both local and national regarding an incident in which a private citizen poured a beer of the head of his districts legislator. At first I thought this was going to be just another example of over-reporting of a minor issue.
Apparently the media felt the need to make much, much more about this than I thought the market could hold, and is succeeding. I will be getting more direct feedback on how folks around the badger state feel individually about this as I travel around Wisconsin over the next week or so.
Its' nice to get away from all the stress that comes from spending too much time at the capitol building, the DOA offices and so forth. We are all Wisconsin and included in that comes a great deal of diversity and character both individual and cumulative. Likewise when it comes to all the multitudes of people opposed to Scott Walker there is going to be a diversity. Not just of age or gender, locality and income level, race or ethnicity. But a diversity of opinions on just what are the best tactics/strategies to use in protecting Wisconsin from the governor.
"Beer guy" from last weeks incident, is from Senator Robin Vos' district who spent a long and unsuccessful time trying to communicate with his representative. In this years right wing avalanche of radical legislation, the GOP has refused to communicate or negotiate with their constituents or fellow legislators. Things have become very heated as time went by and 'beer guy' and the senator did indeed eventually communicate with each other after much effort and by then both sides were rather frustrated and harsh words were exchanged by both people. One time 'beer guy' approached Senator Vos (who for those of you who don't know yet, is a man, that's right one guy poured beer on another guy in a bar one night) and gave him a pink slip, literally a ladies pink slip, to symbolize the literal pink slip he believed the senator would receive through recall. I don't understand how this is pressing news material.
Another person named and negatively portrayed in the press lately is 'Segway' guy as he has come to be known. For those of you who don't know yet 'Segway' uses his segway as a mobility device, as he prefers it (understandably) to a wheel chair. Segway has done lots of very good, very positive work for the Wisconsin movement and he has done it fearlessly. Even though time and again he has risked serious physical injury at the hands of the state patrol officers who are brought in as skull-breakers. He has been repeatedly injured by these rogue officers just like others were at the capitol last week for sitting quietly and recording the assembly while it was in session.
The amazing thing to me last week and what should have really drawn the media's attention, was the footage of the protesters being violently removed from the assembly gallery by officers. Especially when minority student protesters, including young girls, were being viciously man-handled by these white officers. These same officers in the footage can be seen selecting the minority individuals and intentionally leaving the white protesters alone. With of course the exception of one disabled American individual 'Segway' who had multiple constitutional rights violated.
Also notable is that our right to film these procedures is and was, and previously defended before the supreme court, to be guaranteed. The constitution can not be trumped in Wisconsin. The officers knew this but followed the orders of papa Fitzgerald and other GOP influences and intentionally went after protesters anyway. And by their individual nature, went after women and minority students out of preference. That is why the district attorneys office dismisses all charges against the protesters, because they were illegally arrested and can sue the state if the charges are not immediately dropped. There is no coddling of the protesters going on.
But that is what the the media reports on, not savage and illegal police behaviour right inside the capitol building itself. But rather they focus on allegations of 'coddling' and spilled beer. That is why right now I am organizing a large scale boycott of all Madison television media outlets for the month of October. Not just tuning them out, but folks calling the stations managers and marketing director's and letting them know that it is their slanted/under reported, over reported/biased journalism. The primary sponsors of these stations particularly the main news sponsors will be contacted as well and told that the boycott extends to them as well to apply pressure to correct these problems.
Now I can understand how some of the reporting of the issue's is going on. I of course, don't agree with it but I understand some of it now after finally receiving information from the Wisconsin state Capitol press corps. On page two of the protocols and definitions applied, to media to be allowed to cover the functioning of government in Wisconsin is what is becoming known to me as 'The Paragraph' Cue dramatic music now.
The paragraph reads verbatim as:
"Correspondents shall declare that, while a member of the WCCA, they will not act as an agent in the prosecution of claims, and will not become engaged or assist, directly or indirectly, in any lobbying, promotion, advertising, or publicity activity (legally speaking 'publicity activity' is reporting of news and/or events occurring or occurred) intended to influence legislation or any other action of the Legislature, nor any matter before any independent agency, or any department or other instrumentality of the Governor's office.
No wonder the press is focusing on facetious issues like the current 'great butter debate' instead of the real issues affecting all of our lives. Maybe some day all of this will be explained after the FBI and the fed's take their case against Walker and his campaign into court, by the media. Or then again will it?
On Wisconsin! FORWARD!!!!
1 comment:
Matt: And don't forget the violent attack of a woman by a Capitol groundskeeper, which you witnessed after she screamed. If not for her heart baloon - the object of the attack, she probably would have been seriously injured. Again, WI media and the capitols RW dictators made it a point to downplay the incident. PEACE & FREEDOM OF THE PRESS
P.S. Thanks for the Follow.
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