The truth doesn't matter?!?!?!?!

 There is a lot of talk about the state and validity of mainstream media these days.  Although never very “worldly” contemporary mainstream media outlets in America have definitely gotten much worse in their coverage during my lifetime.  Here in Wisconsin there have even been organized boycotts of media outlets over the stunning lack of coverage, or extreme spin they put on stories.  We have seen aerial photos of mass protests around the Capitol in Madison of groups numbering over 100,000 people.  The next day television and print media will report “several thousand” attended the event.  That of course is only one possible example.

Although the media is supposed to be the fourth branch of our government, there to maintain a informed citizenry, active in the processes of democracy, they have failed us in that mission.  All too often money from commercial advertisers has dictated what stories these outlets carry.  Even worse when dealing with the modern neo-conservative movement of right wing extremists, it is not only a matter of what stories are reported, but how they are reported and when.

Wisconsin is of course no exception, as a matter of fact we are dealing with some of the worst media coverage imaginable.  Media outlets in Wisconsin receive stories now straight from Governor Scott Walkers office, not just press releases, but actual story content and directions on how to spin it and when it goes out.  That is why the few hard news stories that have actually been covered in Wisconsin under the Walker regime tend to only come out late on Fridays, when media viewership is at a low point.

Here in Madison one name comes up over and again when it comes to media representation, and that name is Clay Barbour.  For the last two years or so, Clay Barbour has been one half of the coverage of events in state government for the Wisconsin State Journal, along with Mary Spicuzza.  If one were to automatically believe all the buzz that one hears, Barbour is the most spin driven, blatantly racist, pro-Walker hack to ever come down the turnpike.  So I decided to look into Clay Barbour and report to my readers on what my research into him turned up.

Clay comes to us from his native North Carolina and has previously worked for the Charlotte Observer and the St. Louis Post Dispatch among other publications.  He received his degree in journalism from Appalachian state and appears to have been set on a course to become a journalist since he was rather young.  To explore his facebook page it would seem that Barbour is hardly a radical right winger by any definition, rather he seems like a, more or less, moderate independent.  Some quotes I lifted off of his facebook page include:

Here's the think about Akin. His ignorance is the natural evolution of the all-too-common anti-intellectualism favored by that wing of the GOP. It starts with the concept that you can put Bible stories on the same scientific footing as evolution. It continues to a complete disregard of climate change. And now, it settles in on a basic, fundamental, misunderstanding of 9th grade biology. It is simply the natural evolution of dumbassery writ large.

The entire time I watched the Eastwood RNC speech, I kept thinking, "Would the Duke have stooped this low?" And to me, some of the worst bits were the dismissive ones, like his mocking of the epic student loan problem in America.

Not sure what pisses me off more; the now-common over-the-top insults tossed at the president by totally irrelevants musicians (specifically to get attention) or the media coverage of them. Hank Jr. is, and has always been, a bad joke. Nugent, a complete idiot (worse musician than pontificator) and Mustaine is by everyone's account a total douche (just ask Metallica).

Like Paul Ryan. Hate Paul Ryan. I think we can all agree, the dude needs to buy better fitting suits. OK, maybe only I can agree on that. But that doesn't mean it's not true. Dude looks like a 14-year-old wearing his dad's clothes.

Says it all about collective bargaining, no mention on women, voting rights, barely mentions John Doe and makes it sound like Walker may not even be involved )double read that)

In the article attached to the link below, written by Barbour, it would seem that the entire Wisconsin Movement, all the backlash against Walker, is related only to collective bargaining.  It would seem from this story, that only public union employees are the people opposed to Walker’s radical agenda.

http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/govt-and-politics/elections/gov-scott-walker-tenure-is-marked-by-tight-reins-ideology/article_6d8c3e8c-a79c-11e1-8944-0019bb2963f4.html

There is no mention of the attacks on equal pay for women, removal of science and medical fact based sexual health education in schools.  Likewise no mention of repeal of child labor legislation, destruction of tenant/renter protection laws, no mention of the monstrous tax breaks for the wealthy which led to the defunding of education and other important services.  No mention of the long term goal of dismantling the entire state’s police and sheriff’s departments and replacing them with near-minimum wage privatized personnel.

The two paragraphs below are from a television news interview with Barbour where he seems to back up the sentiment that this is all a “union only” movement, and that it has little to nothing at all to do with the majority of Wisconsin citizens.

O'DONNELL: Yeah, so what's your sense of that? You're the reporter out there. I know there's this Democratic state senator Jon Erpenbach who said today it's not about the money, that this is really about the unions' bargaining rights, and that this is just the Republican governor taking advantage of a budget situation and trying to break the unions with this. What is it about?

BARBOUR: Yeah, it's - I definitely think you could say that it's more about weakening the unions in this state. The governor has put several pieces of legislation into this budget repair bill to specifically weaken the unions. So - so I don't think there's any disagreement there. But as you can tell from the crowds and from the unions that are bringing - they're bringing people in from out of state to fight this. They sort of feel like this is the firewall, they've got to fight it here or they're going to be fighting it in Ohio and New York, New Jersey, Tennessee, Michigan - so it really does come down to collective bargaining for most of these people.

To think back upon the statements Barbour made on his facebook page, it would hardly seem likely that the spin he put on the stories linked to above, would be his personal spin.  Very few reporters have the kind of personal clout, that would allow them to spin stories the way they want to.  Normally that decision comes from the much more powerful editors who determine nearly completely, the content of story material.

And the Wisconsin State Journal which Barbour works for, like the Milwaukee Journal Sentinal, are both admittedly conservative leaning publications, and that comes from their staffs at the Capitol building in Madison.  And of course as previously mentioned, there is also the complicity of Walker’s own staff in what is being reported.

So it would be my tendency at this time to say that Clay Barbour is not an extremist with an agenda, rather it seems more like he is a reporter who has given up on journalistic integrity as the only way to maintain his position with his employer.  I could almost start to feel sorry for a family man like Barbour who had to make a terrible decision between his need to serve his readers, and his commitment to be a provider for his household……..almost!

Then I think of this story from not too long ago.  When the ALEC and Tea party owned members of the legislature were ramming through legislation at all hours of the night, and Rep. Joel Kleefisch was caught on film by Arthur Riggs, voting for other republicans who were out having a drink at the time.

WI Assembly Representative Caught Double Voting, Solution: Cover the Windows.

Republicans in charge of the State Assembly took yet another shot at transparency, this time, literally.  I came to the gallery today to find this.  The windows to every gallery door had paper and tape over them.  Why would they do this you may ask?  The answer is quite simple.  Last time they were on the floor, Arthur who runs the page Shit Scott Walker is Doing to My State, got some controversial footage.  It was of Representative Joel Kleefisch (R-ALEC) voting for absent members.  Some dismissed it as common practice but the impression the general public had was quite different.  Whether common practice or not people don’t like to see this happen.

The Republicans, who control the Assembly by a large majority, must have been embarrassed by Joel getting caught.  Clay Barbour and Mary Spicuzza, of the Wisconsin State Journal, quickly attacked Arthur and his footage and said that he was breaking policy himself by filming from the gallery.  The problem is that Arthur was not filming from the gallery–this was a direct lie.  And when confronted with the fact that they literally lied to their entire reading audience, they brushed it off and the lie remains to this day.  Fortunately for Arthur the footage was picked up by a number of people at MSNBC and also Keith Olbermann who named Kleefisch as his “worst person.”  And the Republicans, obviously failing in their poorly disguised attack of Arthur through Clay and Mary, did what they always do.   They covered it up.  Again, literally.  They covered up the windows so no one can film from outside the gallery as Arthur was doing when he caught Kleefisch.

Source: abaldwin360

Clay Barbour and Mary Spicuzza really did go on the attack.  And with much more vehemence than anyone possibly could have predicted.  And also, they were in the wrong and the both knew it, so there was definitely some strong personal bias to things this time.  And events such as this have happened before I learned while doing the research for this posting.  As a matter of fact when challenged once, Barbour even went so far as to make the following quote, Barbour said “the truth doesn’t matter!” 

http://slysoffice.blogspot.com/2012/05/wisconsin-state-journal-reporter-truth.html

And with that statement any possible empathy, along with any respect for Barbour as a “journalist” was gone.  I just can not see any other possible way around it.  Respect for the truth is not just the basis for all morality, it is the very cornerstone of journalism itself.  If you have no respect for the truth than you have no integrity, and thus you are no longer a journalist, you are a hack, a corporate whore as it were.  A few months back I had a prolonged debate with Chris Rickert of the Wisconsin State Journal, over companies and employers punishing employees for signing the recall petitions against Scott Walker.

The matter of journalistic integrity was discussed, and at what point a journalist becomes a mouthpiece for hire.  Rickert stated that himself and others (Barbour was alluded to in that conversation) didn’t  receive all that much compensation for the work they do, in other words they felt underpaid.  Thinking back on that now, not only is Barbour a whore, but a cheap two-bit one at that.

At least Barbour is good at one thing that journalists are known for, protecting their sources.  Barbour and ALEC, Tea party extremist Robin Vos appear to be good personal friends.  You can see them paling around the Capitol together all the time. Two strutting and dapperly dressed, pompous men out and about together.

 Right now the big story starting to form out of Madison is the criminal investigation into Vos and his soon to be ex-wife, her alleged multiple felony counts of voter fraud, seemingly carried out with his complicity.  All the while Vos was drinking in public establishments and being overheard bragging about a pay to play scandal he was (allegedly) involved in, before heading back to his office to have sex with a staffer on his office desk.  Once again conservatives and family values just do not seem to ever go together.

It would be my opinion to advise Clay Barbour that having now given some serious thought to the matter, that he may want to consider looking for another career field.  Something where fact checking is second to story telling perhaps, or similarly along those lines.  Luckily for him, he seems to have already been pursuing that option.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tT5wiXkHA-I&feature=plcp

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RkiDQR6Nr74

ADDITION TO THE ORIGINAL POSTING, THIS IS ADDED ON 09/13/12
I just found out that due to a significant decrease in readership (see how that works Clay?) that budget cuts are forcing a reduction in staff at the Wisconsin State Journal.  So I guess Clay will not be a thorn in the side of honesty in Wisconsin anymore soon.  Rumor has it that he has found another position somewhere on the East Coast though, bye bye Clay.

On Wisconsin!    FORWARD!!!!

One minute of your time

It took me hours to create this (with some help of course) but it would only take you seconds to sign it.

http://pac.signon.org/sign/tommy-thompson-release?source=mo&id=49967-19833809-URKwF4x

And while I'm posting links.......

http://action.wearewisconsin.org/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=8827



On Wisconsin!    FORWARD!!!!

Paul Ryan's Book of Ayn Rand, the Latter Day Saint.

In all honesty Paul Ryan metaphorically and not quite literally, burns the Bible. That is the degree of respect he shows for the book, for the New Testament it would seem.  At least in public anyway, I am not quite sure what he does at home with his family.  Paul Ryan of course is the Congressman from Janesville Wisconsin who was recently tapped as Mitt Romney's running mate for office.  You remember Willard "Mitt" Romney, he is the Bishop of the Mormon Church that has somehow flip-flopped and bought his way to the Republican National Convention in Orlando next week.

Mitt as a Mormon bishop, supports such "Christian" concepts as child brides and polygamy.  You would think that a candidate like Willard Romney who supports the raping of children as a path to Heaven would be as radical as it could ever get in a presidential race, well your wrong.  Romney is practically a humble and devout mainstream practitioner compared to his vice-presidential candidate Paul Ryan.

Before I go any further though I must state that Willard Romney's radical Mormonism does not, absolutely does not reflect the views of the vast majority of Mormons, known as "Jack Mormons" who are mainstream Christians and have left behind the trappings of the old church, birthed in a bloody massacre in Utah in the nineteenth century.  The majority of Mormons want nothing more to do with child brides than they do with death and violence in the name of God.  They are good and humble, tax paying citizens devoted to family, faith and community.

Paul Ryan on the other hand is a different story, he makes a point of spending an hour every week on Sunday in church, well lately he does, for the sake of appearances.  And for the average low I.Q. member of the Tea Party, that is all the proof they need that Ryan is a devout Christian and follower of the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth.  For those of us with triple digit I.Q.'s though, the truth is more than just a matter of window dressing. Understanding the role religion plays in a individuals life, we know that there is certain behavior and beliefs that must accompany a statement of faith.

Ryan is a member of the Catholic Church, and membership has it's privileges, namely being able to call yourself a member of a church, which is considered good form for a national candidate.  But scratch the surface just ever so slightly, and you will see that the teachings of Paul Ryan, and the teachings of the Catholic Church, have almost no common ground whatsoever.

Jesus of Nazareth, known as the Christ, the "Prince of Peace" is neither followed nor respected by Paul Ryan.  Paul Ryan is a worshiper and devotee of the philosopher/novelist Ayn Rand.  She of course is the person who penned the book that replaces the Bible for the Tea Party, "Atlas Shrugged."

Ryan never seems to tire of promoting the teachings and philosophy of his messiah Rand.  He is proud to point out that reading and knowing Rand's literature is a requirement for all members of his staff, the Bible, not so much.  But like all self serving, and some might say self-worshiping types, Ryan picks and chooses from the teachings of Rand to suit his own agenda of greed and malevolence.

Lets start with a little background on the late Ayn Rand.  Born in the former Soviet Union to Jewish parents, Rand emigrated to the United States at an early age.  She developed a love of writing and of letters at an early age and experienced some commercial success with a manuscript that was adapted to a stage play and also a early motion picture.  It was at this time that she started to conceptualize her philosophy, her guiding force as it were, that she never stopped promoting which is known as "Objectivism."

The philosophy of Objectivism is a fairly simple one to grasp, which probably has a lot to do with the Tea Party adherence to it.  Basically Objectivism states that the individual, the unbounded ego, is all that could and should, ever matter in this life.  Rand as an Atheist not only talked the talk, she walked the walk, which makes her a much more honest person than Paul Ryan.  Ryan has the walk down, but falsely calls himself a Catholic....isn't there something in the ten commandments about bearing false witness?

Anyway, Rand never stopped promoting her philosophy, this Objectivism which is also known as "the morality of rational self-interest."  She believed that the individual should place their desires before other things such as family and friends, government and law, morality and ethics.  Her philosophy states that nothing should ever get in the way of the individual taking what they want, regardless of the cost.  This is of course diametrically opposed to the teachings of Jesus.

You can tell from the legislation that he pushes, that Paul Ryan is a strict adherent to placing his own interests above that of constituents, law and country.  And it is in the name of his political self interest that Paul Ryan breaks away from the very teachings of Ayn Rand, as those teachings do not serve his political interests.

Rand in the name of Objectivism, in the name of self interest, was a supporter of:

Abortion.  She did not believe that a pregnancy or child should be able to hinder the self interest of the individual.  Paul Ryan breaks with her here because his political base is anti-abortion, even in the case of rape or incest.  Paul Ryan is pro-rape though, that is apparent from the legislation he supports.  The truth is in the way he walks the walk, not the lies he espouses when he talks the talk.

General strikes.  Rand believed that strikes were a excellent way to force the change that she agreed with to come about, indeed it is a important part of her fictional novel Atlas Shrugged.  Paul Ryan believes in strikes, well he believes in his party shutting down the government to achieve its own ends.  He just doesn't believe that you or I should ever employ those same tactics for our benefit, as what is good for us is not necessarily good for Paul Ryan, which is all that Paul Ryan cares about.  This he has perfectly in common with Rand.

Rand was opposed, in the name of self interest to:

The military draft.  Ryan is pro-draft, just not for himself and other rich people.  He is a very strong supporter of sending the children of the working and middle class off to war to support economic interests like oil production and mineral rights.

Homophobic legislation.  Rand believed that you should let nothing get in the way of what you desire.  If you want to have a same sex relation, then you should have a same sex relation.  It is all about getting what you want and nothing else should ever matter.  Politically Ryan breaks with his god, I mean hero, Rand on this one, at least publicly, as it runs contrary to his political benefit.

Social Security and Medicare.  Rand was opposed to tax money being applied to the greater good of the nation.  Anything that helps somebody else was contrary to her beliefs.  Paul Ryan is also opposed to anything that is to the benefit of America as a nation.  Like Rand he believes only in making himself stronger, and the heck with anyone else, that includes one's own family.  Paul Ryan is where he is today though, because Social Security paid his way through college.  It is a good thing when it helped him, it is a bad thing when it helps anybody else.  Ayn Rand broke with her own philosophy on this matter as well, taking Social Security and Medicare benefits when it suited her need.  Even though she had plenty of money and could have made a very strong point supporting her own arguments, by not taking the benefits.

So there you have the philosophy of Ayn Rand and Paul Ryan, Objectivism, the love of one self and all else be damned.  Just like Ayn Rand proved herself a hypocrite by not strictly following her own philosophy, so is Ryan a hypocrite for worshipping Rand, but only when he has something to gain from it.

So you see, Ryan may claim to worship Jesus, to be a Christian.  But in all reality the teachings of Jesus, namely that the good of all people is the highest calling, do not appeal to Ryan.  What does appeal to him is the teachings of an Atheist, Benzedrine junkie, open marriage advocate and philosophical hypocrite.  Ryan may talk one way, but what really counts are not his words, but his actions.  And by his actions it is evident that Ryan would gladly throw the Bible he says he loves, to the ground and stand on it.  All the better to hold up high, the writings of his beloved Ayn Rand.

There is a reason why the Catholics Bishops of America have condemned Ryan and his austerity budget.  There is a reason why Catholic Nuns have taken to a nationwide tour, opposed to Ryan's dream of austerity.  There is a reason why Catholics nationwide are enraged at Paul Ryan spreading what they consider to be the Devil's work, in the name of Christ.  Nothing that Paul Ryan proposes for America, has anything to do with the teaching's of Jesus!  His own families parish priest has come out to speak against Paul Ryan.

At Rand's funeral there was a six foot tall floral arrangement in the shape of a dollar sign.  What a fitting statement that is to summarize the life of a person who only believed in worshipping herself and her personal desires.  I imagine there will be a similar floral arrangement in the future at Paul Ryan's service.  That way he could at least be honest in death, unlike how he is in life.

In case you were wondering if I'm the only one with these thoughts in mind......http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/08/27/1124666/-The-Paul-Ryan-Ayn-Rand-Satanism-Connection-Made-Simple

And on a related note.......http://samuel-warde.com/2014/01/dc-mean-tweets-paul-ryan-reads-hes-satan-incarnate-videos/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0TxCWbTqz9s&feature=g-vrec

On Wisconsin!    FORWARD!!!!

How Paul Ryan fits the A.P.A.’s “Psychopathic Checklist” and the danger represented to America.

The purpose of this posting is to demonstrate who and what Paul Ryan is and how he fits completely, the diagnosis and the profile of a “psychopath”.   Psychopaths (also known as sociopaths, if the diagnosis comes from a sociologist as opposed to a psychiatrist/psychologist) represent 3% to 4% of the general population.  They are recognized by the behavioral patterns that they demonstrate.  These behaviors are created by a lack of “conscience” or in other words a lack of concern about right and wrong, good and evil.  They are almost completely incapable of acting outside of their own interests, desires and greed.  This is because psychopaths quite literally do not experience emotion and emotional responses, the same way the rest of us do.  

Love, joy, regret, sorrow and the whole wide range of emotion that most of us feel, are not available to them.  Now recognized as a genetic trait, psychopathy is a result of nature and not nurture, as was once believed.  Psychopaths may have spouses, children and they may even own pets.  They have no love for these people or their own pets, they are nearly the same to a psychopath, they exist only to further an agenda.  They only value them as “window dressing” they do not love them; they do not care about them.  They cannot because inherently, essentially, they have no capacity for love or concern.  They have no ability to feel guilt or shame.  Regardless of whatever they do, however how much damage they do or how bad they hurt others, it simply does not matter to them.  They are free to do anything they want with very little concern at all toward the outcome, except in regard to achieving what they want.  They have ego, tremendous ego, but no pride because they cannot feel shame.  That is how Paul Ryan can request stimulus money, and then deny it with no concern whatsoever for being called out on it. 

Now it is important to note that psychopaths understand the difference between good and evil, between right and wrong, they definitely understand the difference between legal and illegal.  They are wholly responsible for their actions – they are not suffering from a condition which causes delusions or hallucinations.  They are not the same as a schizophrenic.  As a matter of fact intensive studies have shown that they do not suffer from their condition at all, they actually enjoy it and find it to be a valuable tool to use against others.  Psychopaths consider themselves to be completely superior to those who are not psychopathic.

I would like to state before I go on any further that I am not a psychologist/psychiatrist nor am I a sociologist.  I did however work in conjunction with professionals in those fields in producing this post.  This posting is intended to explain the basics of the mechanisms that allow Paul Ryan and other psychopaths to do what they do.  I hope by posting this to increase overall awareness of what we are dealing with here in Wisconsin.  And also, to induce discussion amongst other professionals in the fields of mental health that will help to allow future generations from allowing psychopathic people from coming into positions of power where they always wreak great havoc, and cause immense suffering unto others.

Diagnosing a psychopathic personality type is akin to proving a criminal guilty in court.  The criminal defendant will or most likely may, profess their innocence with great zeal.  Proving the case against the defendant is similar to diagnosing the psychopath, their actions which makes them a psychopathic type must be proven as they will not readily confess voluntarily on their own.  Another way of saying it would be that their "actions speak louder than words" and it is their behavour which marks them as what they are.  The words they use are chosen only to confuse and blind you to their true nature.

Psychopathy is a recognized psychological condition.  It is not a recognized mental illness.  Psychopaths are capable of telling right from wrong, are capable of controlling their behavior in small amounts, however they are compelled to put their own interests first.    They have a horrific freedom most of us could never imagine, would never even want to imagine.  They can lie, cheat, steal and they can even rape and burn, wound, torture and kill without batting an eye, without a twinge of remorse.  This is not to say they are ‘raving-lunatics’ nor are they “mad dogs’.  They are sane people with the ability to act without conscience, with no concern for the welfare of others.  They do have the ability to control their behavior and have some understanding of the need to self-regulate at least to the point of not running blatantly afoul of the law.  They do not enjoy being imprisoned as it inhibits their ability to seek self-gratification.

It is important to note here that a psychopath and a psychotic are two completely different people.  The two conditions have almost nothing of significance with each other, even though the names of the conditions are so similar that the average citizen would use them interchangeably.  To draw a simple comparison of the difference between a psychopath (remorseless yet legally sane i.e., can tell right from wrong) and a psychotic (remorseless and legally insane i.e., incapable of telling right from wrong) I would like to reference a movie that that most of us have seen and would remember.  

The movie “The Silence if the Lambs” gives us quite literally a side by side comparison of a psychotic and a psychopath.   In the movie Jodie Foster’s character (Clarisse Starling) a FBI agent, is escorted down the dark hallway of a maximum security jail for the criminally insane.  At the end of the hallway are two cells side by side.  On the one side is a character named Miggs on the other is Hannibal Lector.

  Lector is very bright and creative; he is polite and well-spoken and has earned advanced degrees in medical science.  The warden relates a story to Agent Starling about how Lector once while in medical care grabbed a nurse and (cannibal instinct) ate her tongue, holding her down as she struggled.  His blood pressure hardly rose at all while committing this act; only enough to show a difference between resting and minimal psychical exertion.  He committed a violent act without feeling or emotion thus no real change in biometric readings.  Almost as if you or I saw an ant crawling on our sleeve and we brushed it away without thinking. 

To a psychopath there is little difference between an insect and a human being.  The primary difference is that a psychopath has more to gain from a human.  To the psychopath a person is a source of money by way of fraud or theft, a source of sexual gratification through deceit, coercion or rape.  Not all psychopaths are so violent; likewise not all have the same desires or objectives.  Some psychopaths are content to never work or do anything meaningful for their existence.  Their behavior manifests through deceit and playing on the emotions of others.  They can con their way into being supported financially by others.  Although they don’t have emotions like you or I, they recognize that we have emotions and they learn to manipulate them.  They can play off of our pity for them as well as misdirect our anger against them when they cause us harm. 

The psychopath recognizes and understands that emotions exist in others but they view it as a contemptible weakness.  It is sign of the psychopaths inherent sense of superiority which reinforces their perceived right to do anything they want.  That is how Paul Ryan can try to spread austerity and suffering to his constituents, while simultaneously professing himself as a Christian and a charitable person working for the common good.

Not all psychopaths desire the same things.  Some use deceit to acquire wealth and power, others are content to deceive their way into being supported in a comfortable yet minimal existence, free of labor while quietly holding contempt for those who support them.  So your 'lazy' cousin who is in their mid-thirties and has never held a job, who lays around smoking pot and playing video games could be a psychopath.  Others crave sexual gratification and/or dominance and will achieve it through any means they can think of.  Mostly they crave and cherish power in whatever form they can achieve it, over other people.

Some psychopaths are not interested in acquiring other peoples’ wealth or property.  They have no desire to claim another’s emotional or sexual innocence.  In short they may not have much interest at all in the everyday trappings of wealth and power.  Some desire fame and glory, respect and adoration.  They want the loyalty of those around them.  In other words, they covet not physical/monetary gains but rather mental/emotional gains.  These are referred to as “covetous psychopaths” and they achieve these ends through taking things away from others.  An example of this comes from a study in Dr. Martha Stout’s “The Psychopath Next Door” in which a covetous psychopath with a Bachelor’s degree in psychology but no Ph.D. cons her way using her sexuality, into an unearned Doctor's position at a psychiatric hospital.  Jealous of the admiration and professional respect enjoyed by a colleague (a real doctor) she torments that Doctor’s patients, destroying their lives and their families in order to diminish the standing of her colleague who is at a loss as to why her patients are suddenly seeing their conditions worsen.   Then she proceeds through deception and manipulation to cast her superior in a less than desirable light.

I believe Scott Walker is a covetous psychopath.  The state of Wisconsin is filled with loving families, mutual respect, honesty, decency and until recently honest and transparent government and all of these are things totally alien to a psychopathic person like Paul Ryan.  Knowing he is capable of feeling no happiness from love, kinship, neighborliness, knowing he can never enjoy the warmth and happiness we all share in a Packer’s Super Bowl victory, he plans to strip us of our happiness and all that sustains it. Particularly he has gained the political strength to potentially destroy the economy and the prosperity which it gives us.  But enough of my thoughts, what does the Psychopath Checklist say and how does it qualify Paul Ryan as a psychopath?

The “Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders” (DSM IV) is published by the American Psychiatric Association it defines Anti-social Personality Disorder (psychopathy) by the following personality and socially deviant behaviors:

Lack of guilt – can’t /won’t admit mistakes,  Paul Ryan has never even came close to admitting to an error, no matter how small or insignificant.  Even though it may have been to his advantage to do so.  The television commercials he is running right now attest to this.  His blatant and unrepentant duplicity over his stimulus funding request attest to this as well.  Also the fact that he is quite literally going to be killing and hurting people by destroying or restricting their access to health care and by impoverishing them is of no concern to him except for the fact that he will profit from it, both through sense of power and financial gain

Lack of Emotion –   The Congressman’s sleepy eyed stare has never altered in the slightest.  Has anyone ever seen him show any sign of emotion whatsoever? He has reacted to affronts to his ego, but not shown true emotion.   No it has not and will not happen, he is incapable of it.  Even when confronted with people critically questioning him or hurling insults at him, it just does not register with him.  He can though, take delight in his power to hurt people, as with the disabled senior citizen he had arrested recently for criticizing him.

Self-serving reasoning –   Paul Ryan is very intellectually aware that former President Bush destroyed the economy, him and the corporate imperialists he gave free reign to.  And yet with a straight face he will speak all day long on how repeating that performance will somehow improve the economy.  Every time there is a new tax cut, new loopholes for the ultra-rich and it fails to create jobs, he will just say that repeating the process one more time, and them again, and them again, will create prosperity.  He knows it doesn’t work, he knows he benefits from it with kickbacks and insider trading deals, and so he can lie through his teeth as often as he feels he needs to, to achieve the benefits for himself that he desires.   

The same with acting against the doctrine of his Catholic faith, even with all the Catholics Bishops (with the exception of the possibly psychopathic Bishop Morlino, who may be a psychopathic personality type himself)  and nuns, layity and even his own familie’s priest telling him he is betraying his faith, he can happily keep working towards the same ends.  He will tell you with a smile that he is completely in line with the teachings of his church contrary to all the evidence against him.  He could, and someday possibly might, slap the Pope in the face and still tell you he is a respectful and dutiful member of the congregation, adhering to its every teaching.  His behavior towards Sister Simone and the Nuns on the Bus tour, amongst other Catholic groups opposed to him, is plain evidence of this.

It is amazing the amount of damage and division caused in Wisconsin by Paul Ryan.  Most people when warned that it would happen refused to believe it, now they do.  They don't want to think that things can be that bad.  Not in America, folks are willing to believe that Mohammar Ghaddafy and Kim Jong IL were political leaders who were insane and preyed upon their people.  But folks didn't want to think it could happen here.  The truth is psychopaths are everywhere in the world and they are seen in every race and in every nation, they are of both gender's.

The loftier the personal goals and the desire for gain, the more the psychopath will cloak themselves in normality.  People are all to willing to believe that a guy in jeans and a black leather jacket is willing to rob them, but not a guy in a suit.  Psychopaths use those perceptions against us and all too often, it works all too well.  Psychopaths while being monstrously inhuman and inhumane, have the ability to all too easily HIDE IN PLAIN SIGHT.

The United States military, as well as most world military's,  take great care to look for and identify psychopaths and others who can cause great and irreparable damage to those institutions.  Likewise I hope to see government, at least at the state and federal level in America, do the same thing.  I hope you will research this on your own and talk about it with others.  Hopefully a greater understanding of the threat that these people represent will come to light to prevent future catastrophes like the one occurring in Wisconsin now, from happening again.  Hopefully better studied and more learned people than I will pick this up and run with it after I post this.

Back when I was slowly dying in the capitol from malnutrition during my hunger strike, I imagined that Governor Scott Walker (himself a psychopathic personality type as well) was either hoping I would just give up and go away, or that he never even knew that I was there.  Many members of the GOP used to intentionally walk by me and attempt to torture me by carrying open containers of hot food.  A couple of them would just stop and look at me, some smiling, some confused perhaps.  One person whom I didn't know at the time used to observe me once or twice daily, occasionally taking pictures of me with his camera phone.  Only later did I learn that this person was a mid-level staffer for Scott Walker.  Apparently he was documenting my slow death to report to Walker, who I imagined must have felt God-like knowing that he held (indirectly) the power of life and slow death over a human being.

I wish I could thank by name the doctors and researchers who helped me compile and put this post together.  For reasons that I am sure most folks could understand, they are afraid to be named at this time.  Paul Ryan and his cohort Scott Walker, have millions upon millions of dollars in corporate money at their disposal, as well as resources beyond that to quash those who oppose them.  People have been removed from their positions because of him and nearly bankrupted. There have been dozens of arrests and detainment's in Madison without charges.  University professors are especially vulnerable as they are state employee's and susceptible to the whims of our psychopathic and fraudulently elected leaders.  Walker has dissolved the office of The Secretary of State of Wisconsin out of personal spite.  Imagine what he could do to someone who was not a politically powerful and well known public figure.

In summary, judge Paul Ryan not by his speech and double-talk, but rather by his willingness and even outright desire to harm countless others as a stepping stone to achieving his own ends.  That is society's greatest tool to use to defend itself against a psychopaths inherently destructive behaviour.  Judge him by what he does on the campaign trail, as well as by his voting record.  Doing that, the behaviour patterns that he exhibits will quickly reveal his true nature.

Am I the only one discussing the mental state of Paul Ryan and others like him within the GOTea apparatus?  No of course not: http://www.forwardprogressives.com/the-conservative-march-toward-a-society-of-sociopaths/

I hope that this posting has proven somewhat enlightening to you readers.  Hopefully you will think, discuss, and research this further on your own.  Perhaps seek out some professional opinions on this matter, and most importantly, consider what we have to lose if a person such as Paul Ryan were to be allowed the power of federal office.  Until next time, solidarity forever.

The following were very useful research materials:

The American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders    (DSM-III)

and (DSM-IIIR) as well as (DSM-IV)

Dr. Martha Stout, ph.d. through her book 'The Sociopath Next Door'

Dr. Robert D. Hare ph.d. through his book 'Without Conscience'

Both book are worth investigating as they are both written by highly respected researchers in their fields.  Dr. Hare is the creator of the 'psycopathic check list' which is a tool used by law enforcement agencies around the world in identifying and diagnosing psychopaths.  It should be noted here that Dr. Stout is a Doctor of Sociology, and as such in her profession, refers to people such as Paul Ryan as 'sociopath's' or as being 'sociopathic' instead of a 'psychopath' or 'psychopathic' The terms are interchangeable as both science's agree on the definition of the subject, the only variance being that they approach the subject matter from different viewpoints.

http://www.salon.com/2014/05/03/diagnosing_paul_ryans_psychopathy_arrogant_manipulative_deceitful_remorseless/

I hope I have not terrified you, my readers, with all this discussion of psychopaths and the wake of destruction they leave behind them.  I merely wish to show you the true face of the evil before us.  We are combating it, and we are winning.  Keep up the good fight and solidarity forever my sisters and brothers.

On Wisconsin!    FORWARD!!!!

By their very definition

Hello readers and welcome back, I have to admit that I missed writing this blog while I was away recently.  Was busy working on the book version of this and my experiences in the Wisconsin Movement.  Just a quick posting for you today.  A posting about heroes, heroes of mine and hopefully, yours as well.

HERO:  A noun.  Definition-

     Admired for achievement and noble cause.

     One who shows great courage.

     Central figure in period, history or movement.

     Regarded as a model or ideal to others.

When I think about who my heroes are today, as I sit here in my office and watch the clouds rolling in across southern Wisconsin, certain names jump immediately to my mind.  Those heroes are ordinary citizens who have spent time, resources, themselves......for the betterment of all Wisconsinites.  People who have achieved results for a noble cause, who have shown great courage.  They have played a central role in a movement, as well as in Wisconsin history.

And they are most definitely  REGARDED AS A MODEL OR IDEAL to myself and many, many others across the great badger state.  And this is the list of those heroes:

Roberta Retrum

Randy Bryce

Bernie Starzewski

Joanne Studacher

These people and if there are others and I missed you I am deeply sorry, have been fighting since day one with all of they're hearts, for the Wisconsin Movement.  Through two winters they fought, all the while they continued to educate themselves and others, they grew stronger and more formidable, as they fought in the trenches to defend democracy, and the very state itself, for our children and our children's children's future.

All throughout the black days of 2011, through the recalls and more, they continued to slug it out, toe to toe, with the massive and unrelenting giants of corporate imperialism.  All the while they withstood the slings and arrows of verbal assault, they withstood vandalism of their property, and sometimes even threats against their very lives and well being.

They took on the powers that be, and the status quo, and throughout all that time, throughout that entire ongoing struggled, they maintained the high road of honor, decency and respect.  A truly Herculean task by any reasonable definition and for that I now salute them and the effort they produced in the hopes of helping out all of the rest of us.

Running a campaign is no easy task, the pure mental, emotional and physical effort involved is not easily described in words.  But its effects can be measured easily, measured by the pride, admiration and respect that the effort instills in others.  And I sincerely hope that the aforementioned will help these four brave souls recover from their efforts, as well as invigorate them all, for the continued fight to come.

Although these good citizens did not win the primaries that they dedicated themselves to, they have won something much greater for themselves, the eternal gratitude of all of us who realize what is at stake, and what this fight cost the brave individuals.  And although they may not be continuing on into the November general elections, they are winners all.  They are winners because they taught us all some very important things about heroism.  About never giving up the fight, about digging deep down and finding the strength buried deep inside all of us, the strength to do absolutely anything at all.

They taught millions of us Wisconsinites what it means to rise to the occasion.  They taught us what it means to take the lead and to never flinch at any obstacle thrown before us.  They reminded us of the meaning of humanity, and the meaning of courage and true strength.

They taught us what it means to be heroes, and for that they have, and always will, the admiration and gratitude of legions of fine human beings.  Thank you for being our heroes.  Thank you for being my hero and once again.....solidarity forever!

Addition to original posting:
It was brought to my attention that I left out one very important name from this list.  At the time I wrote this piece I was only thinking of the recent elections, but there is another very and truly heroic name that belongs on the list, and that is Lori Compas.  Lori Compas is the lone individual who recalled, and then ran against Fitzgerald, narrowly missing out on replacing him in the states legislature.  Truly a heroic and epic task which makes her quite a formidable person indeed.  Thank you to "M" for bringing that to my attention.



On Wisconsin!    FORWARD!!!!

Back in business again

Hello readers, I haven't had the chance to write any new posting the last week or so, I hope you are all doing well.  Or at least, as well as you can be in the middle of a civil war.  And although it is largely bloodless civil war so far (the TEA Party members have killed under a hundred law abiding citizens so far in various individual assaults and a mass shootings, as well as an attempted mass shootings so far) there is always the possibility for things to change, and change very fast.

One place where that change from bloodless ( almost ) to bloody may come, appears to be the State of Wisconsin's Capitol building here in Madison.  You see folks after all the upset and unrest at the Capitol over the last year and a half, there has been a change in leadership at the Capitol.  The Capitol Police and Security force which is in charge of maintaining safety and law and order there, is under a new administrator, that being one David Erwin.

I was very familiar with former Chief Charles Tubbs who struck me largely, as being a rather reasonable man.  After Mr Tubbs left to become the new head of Dane County Wisconsin's Emergency Management, (he was tired and frustrated by the politics at the Capitol, and the pressure he was under from GOTea legislators to beat and arrest innocent people) he was replaced by Interim Chief Daniel Blackdeer.  Mr Blackdeer and I spoke on numerous occasions about activity and politics at the Capitol. Like Charles Tubbs before him, Dan Blackdeer was feeling the pressure from the TEA party and the Republicans to injure and falsely arrest citizen activists in the Capitol building, exercising their constitutional rights.

I was hoping that Blackdeer would be named the new permanent head of the department, but knew the odds were against that ever happening.  And despite the staff of Capitol Police liking and respecting Mr Blackdeer and supporting his succession, it was not to happen.  Closed door politicking and promises made in whispers once again dominated what should have been a open and transparent process.

Talks between Poppa Fitzgerald who is head of the Wisconsin State Patrol, and Mike Huebsch who heads the Department of Administration, led to the position of Chief, being filled by newcomer David Erwin.  Did I mention that both Fitzgerald and Huebsch are TEA party members, as well as contributors to Scott Walker?

Anyway, Erwin applied for the job after speaking with his boss Mr Fitzgerald.  David Erwin was asked if he would be willing to do what the previous two Chiefs of the Capitol Police refused to do, which was to rule the Capitol building with an iron fist, and make it a place not of the people, but a headquarters for the GOTea where Democratic legislators would tread lightly, and citizens opposed to Scott Walker, would be given the Rodney King treatment.  David Erwin happily agreed to those terms and promised to carry out his illegal orders by any means necessary, well, by any means that they might possibly get away with in America anyway.

Whoops sorry folks, my mind slipped away on me again.  Did I forget to mention that David Erwin was, until this promotion, the personal head of Scott Walker's security detail?  Well he was, and of course still retains a tight relationship with the fraudulently elected governor.

And Erwin, wasted no time at all carrying out the orders as soon as he could take the oath of office, and immediately forget that he took the oath.  In less than two weeks time, the official call has gone out for an investigation into the hiring of Erwin, as well as a call for a investigation into illegal activities he has already carried out blatantly in the Capitol.

Chief Erwin last week, took matters into his own hands, and demanded the arrest of a peaceful citizen, even though that order was contrary to the law.  A well known activist who I will only identify as "Steve" was legally writing a message in erasable chalk on the public sidewalk outside the Capitol.  Chalking is legally and constitutionally protected free speech.  This has been known in Madison for a very long time.  We were amazed when last year, people were arrested for this.  Of course almost immediately all charges were dropped and all law enforcement was advised to NOT ARREST anyone for chalking.  This was made loud and clear to all law enforcement personnel.

And Erwin disregarded that almost as soon as he took office, to appease his radical task-masters, as well as to intimidate and harass those who disagreed with Scott Walker. And of course he picked the most peaceful, even tempered and respectful protester he could find, just to send a message.

 The unofficial word from the Dane County District Attorney's office, is that they will soon be announcing that the charges will be dropped.  At least the DA's office knows they cant break the law and go to court with it.  They had briefly considered it last year, and grudgingly went along with it as myself and others were illegally arrested, only to have judges immediately drop all charges.  After being taught that lesson, they informed Capitol Police and Security that they would look into the legality of any charges brought up by Cap P & S, before even considering going forth from that point.

But that just is not a point of concern for the new chief.  So far the new chief is not agreeing to meet with myself to answer questions at all, not a good sign.  Likewise he is unwilling to speak directly to the media at large about these events.  Then again what is he going to do?  Just up and admit that he will break any law to satisfy his masters?

Surprisingly in a way the answer to the last question is yes, only not to the media.  Instead, at a meeting of Wisconsin Senators and Representatives and staff members, he informed them of some new changes he intends to cause to take place at the Capitol.  The states lawmakers recently agreed that citizen would once again, after nearly two years, be free to witness and report on the meetings of the state Legislature, constitutionally, from the Senate and Assembly galleries.  Erwin informed them that he had no intention of allowing the citizens of Wisconsin to be able to know what their elected officials were doing in Madison.  Especially what the right wing extremist ones were doing inside the Capitol.

To back up that point, he made another, which was given in the form of advice to members of the GOTea.  And this advice was given in front of the Independents and Democrats as well.  He told them that if "protesters" (which of course means anybody, anybody at all, who is opposed to Scott Walker), are ever encountered in the building, that they should "pretend to take out their cell phones and document the encounter with the left hand and punch them in the face with the right"  Just say the magic words, that they felt intimidated, and that he (Erwin) would take care of the rest.

At this point the meeting started to break apart as law abiding and respecting members of the Democratic party walked right out of the meeting and began calling lawyers and the media.  Let me make clear at this time dear readers, exactly what Erwin said.

1.  Pretend to document the encounter.  That means do not document it!  They were told to take illegal action, VIOLENT ACTION, against people they don't like, and it would be okay as long as there is no evidence to deal with in court!  Evidence would of course make everything fall apart in court and lead to the violent offender, as well as Chief Erwin, getting into serious legal trouble.

2.  He told his friends in the TEA party (Republicans, same thing these days) that they could get violent with people and that they could do so with impunity.  As horrible as that is at first glance, he is actually telling them to do so with a surprise attack.  To strike out when women, men, children would not expect it to achieve maximum damage and effect.

3.  Erwin told people that he is willing to break the law.

4.  Erwin asked other people, actually encouraged other people, to break the law.

5.  Erwin also was said to have suggested that the victims of these crimes would be themselves arrested by his staff, instead of receiving medical treatment for injuries suffered.

What the heck kind of cop would ever do such a thing?  The answer is, someone who is not a real law enforcement officer.  Erwin is a fake cop hiding behind political masters, that makes him a criminal.  It also makes him a coward!

Erwin is also a former member of the United States Marine Corps.  The Marines are not known as cowards, they are brave and fearless and fly into battle to protect and defend the constitution of the United States from all enemies foreign and domestic.  That means that he is also a fake Marine and a DISGRACE TO THE UNIFORM!  As a matter of fact, he is a domestic terrorist by its very definition, and should be treated as such in my opinion.  I say he belongs in Guantanamo Bay, where REAL Sailors and Marines know how to deal with such people.

I wish I could have come back to you after hiatus, with some more encouraging news for all you good folks out there, it just wasn't in the cards.  But that is the lesson we relearn everyday here in Fitzwalkerstan, never let your guard down.  Always be vigilant, always be aware, our enemy is all around us, all the time.

Sometime in the month of August I will be going to the Capitol to find Chief Erwin no matter how hard he tries to hide from me.  I know that building way better than he does.  And when I and my fellow patriots finally corner him, I intend to give him something he really needs.  A big ol present and some heartfelt words to go with that gift.

The gift is a brand new suit jacket and trousers, in medium green, a good Wisconsin color.  I intend to hand him a brand new suit and tell him that I am giving it to him because we would all hate to see him naked, and also, that he shouldn't be wearing a uniform, any uniform, as he would  be a TOTAL DISGRACE TO THE UNIFORM.

Friends of mine who are officers with Capitol Police & Security are warning me to be very careful about this.  They tell me they don't think......he would severely injure me, not with witnesses and cameras rolling, but that he would VERY LIKELY attack me and have me hauled off.  I am not looking forward to that, but if that is part of what it takes to get this terrorist out of office, and remove him as a threat to decent human beings throughout Wisconsin, then I am willing to take that risk.

Their is also a big issue with the officers of Capitol Police & Security themselves.  They are apparently (mostly) taking some serious issue with new mandates being made by Chief Erwin.  Well, some major and some minor and some in between.  They say that they have a minor issue with the new Chiefs policy of no facial hair for male officers.  They have an in between issue with the new uniforms and para-military training that Erwin is calling for, namely Kav Maga style training in beating down groups of people.  How to separate the males and incapacitate them first before turning on the females and children.  That even surprised myself a little I have to admit, talk about intimidation tactics!

It looks like Poppa Fitzgerald is finally close to getting his own little private army of thugs down at the Capitol building.....well he seems to think so anyway.  I asked several officers if they had intentions of following illegal orders, if given by the Chief, my questions were answered in unspoken words and knowing looks.

Solidarity!

Thank you again to all my readers for your patience while I was working on the book that is to be made from my blog, and my experiences fighting the radical neo-conservative movement in Madison.  I will be back again this week with two new blog postings.

One about the primary elections taking place in Wisconsin today.

And one about Mitt Romneys new tool, Paul Ryan.  Congressman Ryan of Janesville, is the Catholic hating Papist that seems to believe he is Jewish, because of something that an famous atheist once wrote about.  And for that reason, he wants to install Islamic style Sharia law in Wisconsin and throughout the United States on behalf of a Mormon.  Really......you cant make this up.

 Until next time....

On Wisconsin!    FORWARD!!!!

untitled

Greetings everyone from Madison, Wisconsin.  Just a quick note to everyone that I will be on hiatus this week, working on the notes for the book version of my blog. I would also like to say that my thoughts and prayers go out to the victims and families of yesterdays tragic shooting in Milwaukee.

http://www.jsonline.com/news/crime/shooter-wade-page-was-army-vet-white-supremacist-856cn28-165123946.html


On Wisconsin!    FORWARD!!!!

Are the Dem's forfeiting Wisconsin's Assembly races and candidates?

People ask me sometimes what it is that I do as a member of the Wisconsin Movement.  "Support and logistics" I always tell them.  That is not all that I do, but that is my specialty.  The Wisconsin Movement is the Wisconsin Wave, its the Autonomous Solidarity Organization, its the Democratic Party, DefendingWisconsin.PAC and others.  It is hundreds and hundreds of thousands of individuals, each with their own unique thoughts, skill sets, and opinion on what tactics can and/or should be used to take back our state from corporate interests, and return it to the citizens.

Last year I was at a meeting of the above groups, individuals and more.  Some people were suggesting bloody revolution.  Some suggested legal and political wrangling.  Still some others suggested that if walking around the Capitol while holding signs didn't achieve our goals than we should just quit and give up.  They felt the fight was not worth winning if we had to resort to raised voices and animosity towards those trying to destroy us.

In my occasionally humble opinion, all of the above are wrong.  I never said anything though because a large part of what I do is communicate between all these groups and help to keep them together.  Unity and solidarity are the hallmarks of the Wisconsin Movement.  The GOTea never thought that here, going into the second half of 2012 that we would all still be united in the cause.  But we are.  They also thought they would be the overlords of Wisconsin now.  But they are not.  Because of our strength in solidarity we have been gaining ground even as they lose it.  There is some infighting within the Democratic Party-supporting folk, but nothing at all like the intense infighting within the GOP, TEA, Libertarian radical extremist movement that is threatening to tear them all completely apart.

But nothing on this earth, and nobody on this earth, is perfect.  We do have some squabbling on our side and I am actually going to promote the squabbling in this post.  It is important that I do so, for without calling out some recent bullspit, our whole movement will be weakened and compromised.

This matter was first brought to my attention quite recently by Hallis Mailen and Sara Johann, and I would like to credit them for being "johnny on the spot" with this info.  As many of you know we have several candidates for the Wisconsin State Assembly (and Senate as well) who are new-comers.  People that feel compelled and obligated to jump into the political arena because their conscience's demand it.  I felt the same way when I initiated my campaign back in January.

A very important thing to have when running for office, is a list of the voters in the district for which you are running.  Here in Wisconsin we have the VAN list which is available from the DPW or Democratic Party of Wisconsin.  It is a master list of all registered voters within the state of Wisconsin, and it is very telling in regards to how those registered voters lean politically.

This list is useful, and for most districts, it is a necessity for candidates and their campaigns.  It can be used for mass mailings, it saves money and other resources.  At a time when people have been intentionally divided by the GOTea, there is no point in mailing Democrat candidate literature to someone who is fanatically loyal to the TEA party.

Likewise it is useful when candidates and their support staff go canvassing, going door to door to talk with constituents about the issues and building face and name recognition for when it is time to go to the polls.  It also helps you locate the all important swing voters, the independents who may vote for either party according to the issues of the day.  And of course it keeps you from wasting your time on extremists who cant be swayed by logical or rational means.

Our Assembly candidates in Wisconsin who are new to the game, who are running first time campaigns, see this list as a must have item and key to their possible campaign victory.  Those who are running clean and honest, transparent, grassroots campaigns, these people need the VAN list more than anyone else in the political arena.  And they can get the list, the DPW (Democratic Party of Wisconsin, headed by Mike Tate)  want them to have it.  There is a problem though, the cost of getting the list is a financial burden on these campaigns.

The DPW asks $500 to receive a copy of the list for the district in which they are running.  That kind of money is serious indeed to a honest, grassroots campaign.  Some of these Assembly campaigns have a total of perhaps two to five thousand dollars total, to work with.  And that can be enough money to fund a Assembly run in some districts.  A smart candidate can buy some serious signage and mailings with that money.  They can get their name, face, and message across to the thousands and thousands of constituents of their districts with that kind of money.......just barely, if they are really smart about it.

That $500 cost of the VAN list, means that at this all important, historic period in Wisconsin, we have candidates who are trying to decide between being able to do a mass mailing, or having a list of people to mail their literature to.  Deciding between having signs to put out, or knowing where those signs should go.  That is the kind of situation that can make or break an honest campaign.

If you are thinking that the Democratic party, desperately trying to reclaim the State Assembly, after working frantically for over a year to take back the Senate, is willing to help those campaigns, to help those Democratic candidates, your are unfortunately wrong.  So say the candidates and their staff and supporters.

The biggest compromise the Democratic Party in Wisconsin is willing to make, is to split the $500 fee into two payments.  That may help just a smidgen, but not very much.  Especially when you consider that a candidate who runs for office on a total budget of say $4,000, may never even have $500 in their campaign fund at any one time.  The money comes in a little at a time over a six to twelve month period, depending on when they announce their candidacy and register with the GAB.

Now I understand that the database used to maintain the VAN list is not cheap.  As a matter of fact maintaining that list in 2011 cost  $470,000 I was told yesterday by a party member.  There is a ton of information to collect and cross reference.  All that data has to be entered into the computers by people who spend thousands of hours doing just that.  And those computers must be maintained, and receive maintenance and so on. A building must be rented or leased to house those computers and back up systems.. It is not cheap, not by any means and I understand that.  And under normal conditions I firmly believe that $500 is a very fair price indeed for such valuable information.  But these are not normal times, not at all.

We are in the middle of a class based civil war in America, and apparently the DPW is mostly concerned with maintaining the status quo.  And by that I am referring to what many call "primary purpose" meaning specifically that the primary purpose of any organization, public or private, business based, faith based or whatever, is the continued existence of that organization.  They may have formed to serve a cause or purpose, but above all else they maintain themselves and continue their existence, ahead of any other agenda.  This is a truism when one is discussing a entity or organization where there is lots of money involved.  And there is a ton of money in politics folks, but you don't need me to tell you that.

Even now in Wisconsin, after Scott Walker destroyed the very possibility of a level and fair playing field in elections through dissolving the state's Campaign Election Fund, the DPW is so far, unwilling to budge on this matter.  In all fairness, Wisconsin's still existing campaign finance laws prohibit giving away the valuable VAN list for free.  And I am not saying that the Dem's should break the law and give it away, but there are other options.

One of the many people which I spoke with yesterday, stated that the $500 fee was unalterable, so I informed him that I was aware of the fact that some candidates, who are "good ol friends" of the Dem Party, are paying as little as $150 to access the list.  He then stated that candidates already in office, pay $2,000 a year each, to support the compiling and maintenance of the VAN list.  I said I was well aware of that, but in all fairness, these are candidates with large war chests, drawing on a legislators salary and huge benefits package, receiving business and corporate donations, who can afford that fee.  Which pretty much ended our conversation but at that point I was finished anyway.

 I learned after writing this post that I was very wrong on one point above, there is no sliding scale or variable rate paid for VAN access.  City council candidates pay the $150 rate because they are in districts so small, that the data they are requesting is minimal indeed compared to what a legislative candidate is seeking, thus less information is needed, thus a lesser fee.

Now there is still one very all important point that I haven't brought up in this posting yet, but which I brought up with party reps as well as with Senator Risser.  And apparently it was only Senator Risser who seemed to understand, or even care, about this point.  And that point is that we are going to have Democrat candidates out there, busting their butts and knocking on hundreds and hundreds, if not thousands of doors  WHILE THE NEW CASTLE DOCTRINE LAWS ARE ON THE BOOKS!!!!

Which means while some honest citizens candidate, or their staff member, is out there going door to door, some TEA party extremist whack job, can MURDER THEM.  Kill them in cold blood, shoot them in the face in broad daylight, in front of God and everybody....and get away with it.  Freely and clearly murder another human being, and the only thing that would happen, is that the GOTea would rush to the defense of the killer.  Hell the GOTea is probably sitting around right now, with their cocaine and hookers (how's the "pie" Robin Vos?) ala Andrew Breitbart, just waiting with baited breath to hear about and celebrate the murder of a Wisconsin citizen.  Voter intimidation is of course, not a new tactic within the new TEA Party controlled GOP.

When I originally posted this blog around 11 p.m. on the night of August 1st, I was called out as a sensationalist by a party representative, a party trustee (so to speak, spear carrier may be another applicable term) and by a person seeking employment with the party.  With all due respect to these folks, they are not the ones who are in the trenches.  While we were standing in the snow and the rain gaining recall signatures, they were in snug offices discussing other matters.  They did not deal with the harrasment, with the physical assaults, with the repeated death threats.  We did!  And we know what the right wing, emotionally led extremists are all about.

This is the closest the politicians have come to dealing with the violence,  their staff dealing withthreats over the phone.
http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.channel3000.com%2Fnews%2FGrand-jury-Madison-man-threatened-to-bomb-Dem-HQ%2F-%2F1648%2F15930550%2F-%2F4pds5w%2F-%2Findex.html&h=aAQGbiJZWAQFvsb8cDwPM92tHPi1D5D3itS93mM_IcUk0Nw&enc=AZPckw0qhsSbrsa3tB-h-Bl4MJ1aJVtP_ftZ02Wq1DsbTuezxEclJJWErh1JKVD8M6U_9x8wHl_aQBVEQUhcxb1z

When you are a common citizen, this is what may happen when dealing with "castle doctrine"
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/26/bo-morrison-killing-like-trayvon-martin_n_1381325.html


Only Senator Risser got the message, and I have a feeling him and I, along with some other citizens and members of the legislature, will be having a little sit down chat about how to fix this situation very soon. I very much hope so anyway.  The Senator understood just how valuable that VAN list really is in the age of Scott Walker.  That list will not only aid our candidates in their respective campaigns, it can also steer them away from knocking on any doors of homes belonging to members of the GOTea, gun and violence loving extremists that they are.

Once again a Dem rep called me out on this and stated that the VAN list is not in any way, shape or form a perfect list of who votes for which party.  It is only highly suggestive, in a way too complicated for people like myself to understand, of which individuals at what addresses, vote Democrat or Republican.


This to me reeked of political double speak, how can you say that this high maintenance and very expensively maintained list is extremely valuable, in pointing candidates to members of the party.  While simultaneously stating that it doesnt really tell you anything about what party a person votes for?  You cant have it both ways!

Just this last week on facebook, on the Support Striking Palermo's Workers event page, there was a person posting racist, sexist and violent content under the name of Adam Kind.  Adam Kind was the man who shot Bo Morrison, and is now a celebrated hero of the Wisconsin TEA Party movement and, the Grandsons of Liberty as well


Human life or money DPW?  Winning back the state or maintaining the status quo?  The decision is yours Democrats.  Which will it be?  Earlier I mentioned that legally the list can not be "just given away" to candidates and it shouldn't be.  But the party has the coffers, very deep coffers (though not so deep as the GOTea's) full of cash.  One option available, is for the party to make a legal campaign contribution to their own candidates, which can be used to purchase the VAN list.  That way the list is available for the usage of Dem candidates, will aid our candidates campaigns, and the DPW in all reality wont really lose a penny over the whole deal,  Heck, they would even generate some good press by doing that, showing unity and solidarity with the party base to which they owe a huge favor right now.

And so I am encouraging you good readers, you brave and bold badgers, to pick up the phone and call the legislators for the district in which you live.  To call the DPW at (608) 255-5172, and ask them to do whatever they have to do, to get that list into the hands of our citizen-candidates who are bravely running for office in these tumultuous times.

And before I wrap up this rather long posting, I am going to take a quick little jab at Sachia Cheda, a member of the Democratic machine.  He stated recently that a "qualified' candidate is a person who can easily raise lots of money and would have no trouble paying whatever fee, for things like the VAN list.

 Well Mr. Cheda, contrary to whatever is going on inside your head, there IS A huge DIFFERENCE between a elected representative of the people, and a professional fundraiser!  One cares all about money, the other cares all about the citizens of this great state.  Fundraising, Mr Cheda, is what career politicians do from their office after they get elected, while their staff deals with legislation and issues. After they have become accustomed to the day to day, back room politicking.   Fundraisers are busy having the proverbial "three martini lunch" while politicians are out listening to, and fighting for the interests of their constituents!  I do sincerely hope that clears a few things up.

Thank you Hallis and Sara for bringing this to my attention.  Thank you Senator Risser for agreeing to speak with me at length on such short notice.  Thank you everyone who is going to pick up that phone and make a call or two in the interest of saving Wisconsin.  Solidarity forever.

On Wisconsin!    FORWARD!!!!

Day 10, An apology

Sorry for all the miscues in yesterday's posting.  Once again my lucidity is fading in and out on me.