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New blog address

Reminder: My new blog address is: http://mcbridesmediamatters.blogspot.com

Comments

After giving it a lot of thought, I've decided to allow comments on my blog. I will not allow anonymous comments. If you have something to say, I believe you should put your name to it, and be prepared to stand by it.

I do this hesitantly. If you want to know why, read this article. I haven't experienced anything quite like this. However, some postings have come close, and I do relate to it. So, I simply ask that you stick to debating the issues, albeit vigorously. If it degenerates into the sort of thing I've seen on some blogs, I may reconsider.

Unfortunately, there's something wrong with this blog, and it won't let me activate the comment function. I've tried everything, including new templates, to no avail. So, to allow comments I've had to create a new blog.

The new blog address is http://mcbridesmediamatters.blogspot.com.

Please note that there is simply an extra s. My old blog address was http://mcbridemediamatters.blogspot.com. Please update your bookmarks/blogrolls accordingly!

I will leave this blog active because I want to retain the archives on it, but I will be posting at the new blog from now on.

I hope you enjoy the comments!

Why did the City of Milwaukee hire a felon on supervision to be a poll worker?

And why are the media still too busy playing violins for Kimberly Prude to ask the more interesting questions. Page 4 of the appellate decision upholding her conviction confirms she worked as a poll worker. Why did her probation agent not report to the city that she was not qualified to serve as one, since she made her intentions clear? How many other felons under supervision have been hired as poll workers? Washburn's World quotes some relevant statutes and asks some very good questions.

"Criminally negligent"

I am watching This Week with George Stephanopoulos. He's interviewing motormouth Joe Biden. If I heard it right, I believe Biden just called the Bush administration "criminally negligent" for how it's responded to the terror threat. Criminally negligent. Stephanopoulos didn't even challenge him on it. He moved on to another question.

Why don't Democrats get called on their outrageous rhetoric? But a Republican like Dick Cheney says that we'd be less safe if the Democrats won, and the media hyperventilate and write negative stories about it for days.

By the way, it's amazing how the liberals paint Fox News as so biased, but no one paints ABC News as biased even though it employs George Stephanopoulos, Bill Clinton's press secretary, as chief Washington correspondent.

Standing against the thought police

James Harris is under attack for quoting an author who said this:

“There is only one force in this world that is capable of controlling a teenage male: his father. Women, you can either let black men rule their households as husbands and fathers or hide in your homes with doors locked as they rule the streets in roving gangs. If you don’t believe me visit any inner-city neighborhood, if you dare.”

Harris' point in quoting this passage was obviously that the involvement of all fathers is critically important to the well-being of teenage males, including those in the black community where absentee fatherhood is way too high. Engaged and empowered fathers are critically important to communities, families, and children. The lack of present fathers is a critical issue for the black community. For saying this, Harris outrageously became persona non grata after a speech he gave.

As conservatives, we should all speak up when a fellow conservative is under attack by the politically correct thought police for supposed "offensiveness," especially when it deals with race, which is the favorite tactic of the left (cry racism) in its efforts to silence conservatives. If any of us stays silent or mutes our response for any number of reasons, we hurt the conservative cause. I wonder what would happen if Harris said this same thing on his radio show?

My only problem with the passage above is that teenage girls need fathers just as badly. Everyone needs a father. Fathers matter, despite what some cartoonists think.

I strongly support James. Don't let them get you down, James. You are exactly what this community needs.

This posting is pretty funny

From Spring City Chronicle:

The police want to question a lake country trophy wife. I want to know if she’s currently single.

Click on the link, and you will see what he means.

More talk radio derangement syndrome

But now it's coming from Republicans in Washington, who are upset because the conservative media won't carry their water on illegal immigration.

Comments by Republican senators on Thursday suggested that they were feeling the heat from conservative critics of the bill, who object to provisions offering legal status. The Republican whip, Trent Lott of Mississippi, who supports the bill, said: “Talk radio is running America. We have to deal with that problem.” At some point, Mr. Lott said, Senate Republican leaders may try to rein in “younger guys who are huffing and puffing against the bill.” (New York Times)

No, Mr. Lott, the problem is with Republicans in Washington who are patronizing the conservative public, which DOES NOT WANT AMNESTY. Conservative talk radio is merely giving a voice to that principle and reinforcing it. Amazing that Lott sees talk radio as a problem. Would he rather live in an America dominated only by the MSM? I'll say it again. Give us border security first. Prove it works. Then we can talk about the rest. Michelle Malkin has a great post on this, including Rush's response.

HBO hints that Tony was whacked

Fans of "The Sopranos" are seizing on clues suggesting that the controversial blackout which abruptly ended the TV mob drama meant that Tony Soprano was rubbed out, and HBO said on Thursday they may be on to something. One clue in particular, a flashback in the penultimate episode to a conversation between Tony and his brother-in-law about death, gained credence as an HBO spokesman called it a "legitimate" hint and confirmed that series creator David Chase had a definite ending in mind. (Yahoo news)

In that conversation, of course, Tony's brother-in-law says, in a conversation about death: "You probably don't even hear it when it happens." (He never said anything about it going black. That was a game-of-telephone Internet myth.)

A Democrat with common sense

Good for Plale.

MADISON—Today Senator Jeff Plale (D-South Milwaukee) expressed his support for Milwaukee Alderman Tony Zielinski’s proposed Gang Loitering Law, which would allow police to ticket individuals who are loitering in menacing fashion after being warned to disperse. Senator Plale noted that this ordinance is needed so that the police are better able to provide effective crime control.

Sen. Alan Lasee blasts Democrats who voted for affirmative action for illegal aliens

Good for him. Where's the rest of the outrage?

"Blocking" the state budget

Who might block the state budget? According to the media, Republicans.

But you could just as easily say that Democrats might block the state budget by refusing to remove the $1.7 billion in tax increases, right?

Instead of headlines like this one, GOP asked early about blocking state budget, the media should start writing headlines like this to be fair:

GOP asked early about blocking Democrats' tax increases

And instead of this lead:

Republicans who control the Assembly asked in March for a list of what would happen if they blocked a new state budget - months before Assembly Speaker Mike Huebsch said publicly it was a possibility.

They could write:

Republicans who control the Assembly asked in March for a list of what would happen if they blocked $1.7 million in Democratic tax increases in the new state budget - months before Assembly Speaker Mike Huebsch said publicly it was a possibility.

The illegal alien cop takes a plea deal

An illegal immigrant who assumed a dead relative's identity and became a Milwaukee police officer has agreed to plead guilty to a federal felony, according to federal court documents filed today.

Oscar Ayala-Cornejo, 24, has agreed to plead guilty to falsely claiming to be a U.S. citizen, according to a plea agreement filed today.

The charge could bring up to three years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Because of the plea, the recommendation will be six to 12 months and the U.S. Attorney's Office is recommending a sentence on the low side of that, according to the agreement. Ayala-Cornejo, a Mexican citizen, has agreed to leave the U.S. He would likely have been ordered deported after any sentence he served. (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

My reaction? Well, anyone who reads my blog or listened to my show knows I'm a hardliner on illegal immigration. But, honestly, I'm having a difficult time drumming up much outrage over the illegal immigrant cop. The plea deal sounds fair. If they'd just tossed him out of the country, rather than sent him to prison, I could actually have lived with that too. After all, he will now serve more time than the founder of a gang in Milwaukee who was sentenced this week in a sexual assault.

What he did was wrong. You can't be a law enforcer if you're not following the laws yourself. It's a bizarre story. Our border security should have prevented his family from coming here in the first place.

It appears he was brought to this country illegally as a juvenile by his parents. His father had given him the dead cousin's identity when he was a juvenile. So here he is. America is pretty much all he's known. He graduates from Wisconsin public schools. Now, he's an adult. Is he supposed to just wander back to Mexico at that point after being brought here as a juvenile? I suppose if he was such a believer in enforcing our laws, yes, that's exactly what he should have done. Or he could have just stayed here and worked in a factory. Gone on welfare. Turned to crime to support himself. Instead, he became a cop. I know this won't be a popular blog posting. He lied while applying to the force. He knew he didn't qualify to be an officer. He needed to be fired. He shouldn't have been paid. He needs to leave the country and try to come back the legal way, if he'd be admitted.

But, let's put it this way: For all the reasons mentioned above, I'm just far more upset by the illegal alien who allegedly killed the cop in Kenosha and had prior contacts with law enforcement than I am by the illegal alien who was a cop. I think it's absolutely absurd that the government can get Ayala-Cornejo out of the country and send him to prison while, at the same time, NOBODY in this state is even making a half-hearted effort to track down all of the illegal aliens who are sitting in our jails and who have criminal records. I do understand that, once the authorities were tipped off about Ayala-Cornejo, they had to act, so I'm not criticizing them. It's just that his story illustrates again the glaring inconsistencies in our immigration enforcement.

No one is trying to track down the illegal aliens with criminal records in this state in a systemic manner. No one knows how many there are. The media haven't even aggressively tried to pin down the citizenship of the Delavan mass murderer after the DA said he wasn't sure of his citizenship (even though he's deceased, it's relevant to know). But we can all get upset about the illegal alien who became a cop? We can figure out a way to crack down on him?

I'll say it again. Let's spend our resources tracking down all illegal aliens with criminal records in this state first. Figure out who they are, and get them out of here fast. Then, we can all get upset about Ayala-Cornejo.

A promising new blog

Check out Little Miss Sunshine, a new blog by a female conservative (nice to have more of those blogging). Check it out.

UW pays Paul Barrows $135,000

Courtesy of Wispolitics.com, you can read the settlement agreement here. Background on the Barrows scandal. Just in case you wonder where your tax dollars go.

DAs ignore illegal voting

Illegal voting has now become a crime that has been de facto repealed by non-prosecution in Wisconsin, like office sports pools, rubber ducky races, and illegal immigration. Outrageous. Reminder to Wisconsin district attorneys: You are not legislators. If you think it's unfair that felons on supervision can't vote, then run for state Assembly or Senate, and try to change the law.

Wispolitics.com reports, in a great piece of journalism, that:

Of the 26 county district attorneys that received referrals from the state Elections Board of possible illegal voting cases, only five offices have responded to the SEB. The district attorneys’ offices were supposed to give a response by May 25.

All of the offices responding have decided to not prosecute the violators, found the referrals were eligible to vote or do not have any immediate plans to prosecute.

The Elections Board sent a list of 92 people it believed may have voted illegally in the 2006 election to 26 county district attorneys after their names showed up in the state voter registration system and were crosschecked with the Department of Corrections database. See the county-by-county breakdown: http://www.wispolitics.com/1006/070517VoterFelon.pdf

Due to the underwhelming response, SEB spokesman Kyle Richmond said the Elections Board sent out reminders to the non-responding DAs to tell them they are required to respond with the enactment of Act 451 from the 2006 session. The counties receiving the most referrals – Milwaukee (34), Racine County (10) and Dane County (eight) – all did not report to the Elections Board.

Dane and Racine County offices did not return calls on the progress of their cases by press time. Though Milwaukee County still has the most cases pending, there will probably be a hold on the investigations into illegal voting by felons from last fall’s election. “The same people that investigate the felon voting are investigating the McGee matter and there have been no new developments yet,” Milwaukee County Assistant District Attorney Bruce Landgraf said.

They didn't even bother to respond!

Before you put a halo on Kimberly Prude

There is ample evidence in the record that Prude knew exactly what she was doing when she cast an illegal vote in the City of Milwaukee in 2004. She wasn't just a poor grandmother who didn't realize that felons on supervision are barred from voting in Wisconsin, so don't join in the media/liberal violin playing or their template that this is an example of excessiveness by U.S. Attorney Steve Biskupic. In fact, unless you think Prude's probation agent perjured himself/herself or that someone has a faulty memory, there is evidence that Prude may have perjured herself in the case.

According to the appellate decision released today upholding her conviction:

• She had signed five different rules of supervision documents before voting, each reminding her that she was ineligible to vote.
• Signs were posted at City Hall and the parole office (during the period of time she was required to report) stating that felons on supervision couldn't vote.
• Her probation officer testified about specifically telling Prude before she voted that she was ineligible to vote because she had indicated a desire to get involved in campaigning (she was a volunteer for Kerry/Edwards who attended a rally featuring Al Sharpton).
• The probation officer testified that Prude specifically acknowledged that she couldn't vote. Prude denied this in testimony.
• She was a poll worker so she was presumably more familiar with procedures.
• A supervisor at the polling place was concerned about a poll worker believed to be Prude's handling of registration cards, including two registration cards for the same voter with different handwriting, verified by Prude.

By the way, why is the City of Milwaukee using felons as poll workers, anyway?

How the left is like Carmela Soprano: Stop compartmentalizing McGee

The typical line from many on the left who support Ald. Michael McGee Jr. has always been: "But he's an effective alderman when he's not getting arrested, allegedly threatening his pregnant ex-girlfriend in open court, using anti-gay slurs, and so forth."

They remind me of battered spouses, who are said to compartmentalize their lives. They're able to forget about the bad side of the abusive spouse and define them only by the good side, rather than seeing that the bad side is so bad that it inherently means the person is no longer good at all. This is especially true when a person gains financially from the abuser. Heck, when it comes to McGee, the left reminds me of Carmela Soprano.

This latest story on McGee is an example of why the left should stop compartmentalizing McGee's persona. Is it really any surprise that McGee's bad personal behavior allegedly was indistinguishable at a certain point from his professional life?

Ald. Michael McGee used his anti-crime Rapid Response Team as a way to solicit bribes from business owners in his district, a federal search warrant released today alleges. (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

Can all of the Carmela Sopranos on the left at least take the Rapid Response Team off the list of McGee's supposed accomplishments now?

Disclosure: My husband represents McGee's recall opponent Vianna Jordan, and has filed impeachment papers against McGee at her request.

Chicago considers "congestion fee" for driving downtown

First New York, now Chicago.

This guy's a real charmer

What a jerk.

Paris Hilton is lucky she doesn't live in Iran

She thinks a couple days in jail is bad?

Outrage in LA

People need to lose their jobs and criminal charges need to be considered over this. You can listen to the 911 calls at the top right of this blog.

LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- A woman who lay bleeding on the emergency room floor of a troubled inner-city hospital died after 911 dispatchers refused to contact paramedics or an ambulance to take her to another facility, newly released tapes of the emergency calls reveal.

Edith Isabel Rodriguez, 43, died of a perforated bowel on May 9 at Martin Luther King Jr.-Harbor Hospital. Her death was ruled accidental by the Los Angeles County coroner's office. Relatives said Rodriguez was bleeding from the mouth and writhing in pain for 45 minutes while she was at a hospital waiting area. Experts have said she could have survived had she been treated early enough.

County and state authorities are now investigating Rodriguez's death. Relatives reported she died as police were wheeling her out of the hospital after the officers they had asked to help Rodriguez arrested her instead on a parole violation. Sheriff's Department spokesman Duane Allen said Wednesday that the investigation is ongoing.

In the recordings of two 911 calls that day, first obtained by the Los Angeles Times under a California Public Records Act request, callers pleaded for help for Rodriguez but were referred to hospital staff instead.

Harry Reid says surge has already failed

I guess he wouldn't mind losing to al-Qaida then. Disgraceful. Meanwhile Gen. Petraeus says it hasn't failed. Reminder of what Gen. Petraeus said back in late April:

Army General David Petraeus also said that in early September the United States will conduct a full assessment of the Iraq mission’s progress and then will make recommendations as a result of that assessment.

“I want to make clear that there is vastly more work to be done across the board and in many areas,” Petraeus, commander of Multi-National Force - Iraq, said in a Pentagon news conference. “This effort may get harder before it gets easier.”...

Al-Qaida terrorists in Iraq have become “a formidable foe with considerable resilience and a capability to produce horrific attacks,” Petraeus said. Approximately 80 percent to 90 percent of suicide bombings in Iraq are caused by foreign fighters, he said. Extremist Iraqi militias also remain a problem, and Sunni insurgents “are still forces to be reckoned with,” he said. He also said Iranians are involved deeply in the insurgency, though the level of involvement by senior members of the Iranian government is unclear.

Surveillance camera plan falls apart

What a joke.

Milwaukee is a city where a 4-year-old girl was gunned down while playing rope and where a 12-year-old girl was just shot. And it's also a city that can't find a way to get surveillance cameras in high-crime neighborhoods or an anti-gang loitering ordinance through the council. But it can jumpstart the bookmobile just fine.

Plus, it's absolutely ridiculous that we now will have surveillance cameras at the Bradley Center and Maier Festival Park but not in the city's violent crime neighborhoods. I understand that those cameras were paid for by "homeland security grants", but I'm a little more worried about some punk shooting a kid in Milwaukee's central city right now than I'm worried about a terrorist striking a Bucks' game.

Kane says term "gang member" is outdated

In a column opposing an ordinance to give police an extra tool to crack down on loitering gang members, Eugene Kane writes this paragraph:

A Milwaukee Journal Sentinel series on crime this year pointed out gang membership is declining while smaller, three- and four-person "crime crews" that perpetrate mayhem have become more prevalent. In that regard, the anti-loitering proposal may be targeting a group already in decline

They might be less organized and have smaller numbers, but they're still gangs. The dictionary definition of gang reads: a group of persons associated for some criminal or other antisocial purpose: a gang of thieves. Or, if you want to check out a more academic perpective, you can go to this site. You will discover that having even two members will cause academics to dub you a gang.

Members of the "crime crew" he's talking about murdered a state drug agent and committed a brazen robbery spree. This is just another example of Kane trying to minimize Milwaukee's violent crime problem. Calling gang members "crime crews" (or knuckleheads, as Mark Belling pointed out previously, or refusing to admit the city is in a crisis state) are ways to remove the rationale for reasonable solutions like the anti-gang loitering ordinance by making vicious killers sound less ominous.

By the way, why does Kane call the plan an "anti-loitering law" instead of an "anti-gang loitering law?" The alderman who's proposed it (based on a similar ordinance in Chicago that has already passed constitutional muster) calls it an anti-gang loitering law/ordinance four times in this press release (the initial headline aside). The Chicago ordinance it's based on is typically called an anti-gang loitering ordinance.

What is this story missing?

Any reference to Owen Robinson's tax pledges.

Credit where credit is due

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Gov. Jim Doyle said today that the Legislature should fix a committee-approved budget to make sure it waives tuition for veterans who enroll in graduate programs.

Good.

"Elitism"

A Waukesha School board member says it's "elitism" to require students to have a 2.0 GPA to participate in extracurricular activities and sports.

Waukesha - Student athletes and others who participate in School District activities might have to study a little harder next year, after the School Board passed a measure tonight to raise the minimum grade required for them to take part.

The new standard will require students to have at least a 2.0 grade point average to remain eligible for after-school sports or extracurricular activities. Previously, the district has required to students to maintain a 1.5 GPA.

The measure passed on a 5-3 vote, with board members Barbara Brzenk, Ellen Langill and Patricia Madden against. Board member Daniel Warren was absent. The proposal to raise the grade requirements was initiated by School Board member Frank Finman as a way to encourage better academic performance.

But Brzenk deemed it a potential detriment to kids."This is a form of elitism and I do not believe it's acceptable in public schools," she said. (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

When a tax becomes a user fee

Assembly Republican leader Mike Huebsch tells Wispolitics that the gas tax isn't really a tax. It's a user fee.

He also reiterated Assembly Republicans will approve a budget without any tax increases, though he said fees would be a different story." The conference committee will be able to see a budget without tax increases because Republicans are going to show them how to do it," Huebsch said. Huebsch also said "I have never included fees" in his no-tax pledge." A fee is something we charge someone that uses a service of the state government," Huebsch said, citing the gas tax to pay for public roads as one example. By contrast, Huebsch said, the cigarette tax "is not a user fee," and he said "It is not something we will be increasing in the Assembly budget."

Um, no, fees to use public roads require TOLL BOOTHS.

And what about people who buy gas for their lawn mowers and boats? Is my front lawn a service of state government? Plus, the cigarette tax funding would go in part to pay back services of state government (health care costs for the poor), so to continue his logic...

What does he think state government uses income and property taxes for? Services of state government.

Education: A war from our past is their present

And this video. I can't post it. It's too graphic and disturbing. If you can take it, watch it. And they are debating a school in Madison? Will this be Iraq in 15 years? Will this be our allies there who also believed in us and fought alongside us?

I will never forget interviewing some of these freedom fighters on veterans' day when I was a reporter for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and being struck by their stories of heroism, their sacrifice... and how almost no one was there to honor them.

10 Wisconsin Democratic Legislators think illegal aliens should qualify for affirmative action

Specifically, they voted against a proposal in the Legislative Council which would require that, as the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel described it, "race and ethnicity could be considered only for U.S. citizens for student loans, University of Wisconsin System admissions, civil service hiring and minority business contracting."

That's not the case now? Apparently, it's not.

The proposal passed out of the Council but only because Democrat Tim Carpenter crossed over and voted with Republicans. Good for him. The vote was 12-10, with all Republicans supporting it, and all other Democrats opposing a citizenship requirement. This proposal came out of Glenn Grothman's affirmative action committee or, as the MSM like to put it, his "controversial" affirmative action committee because it's controversial to many Democrats.

According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's blog, the citizenship requirement proposal faces an "uphill battle" in the Democratic Senate.

The other Democrats on the committee are listed on the state website as: Fred Risser; Roger Breske; G. Spencer Coggs; Russ Decker; Mark Miller; Judy Robson; Terese Berceau; Jim Kreuser; Mark Pocan; Marlin Schneider.

So what the Democrats who oppose this provision are saying is essentially that ILLEGAL ALIENS should get special preference because of their race over non-minority U.S. citizens for student loans, UW admissions, CIVIL SERVICE HIRING and minority business contracting (isn't it illegal for illegal aliens to work?)

I've heard of a lot of crazy things in the illegal alien debate, but this might just win the top prize.

Here are the members of the committee. Here's what all of the Democrats except Carpenter voted against.

Bush remains tone deaf on immigration

Yes, on some issues, I also have Bush Estrangement Syndrome, to borrow a phrase from Michelle Malkin.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- His party divided and his polls sagging, President Bush prodded rebellious Senate Republicans on Tuesday to help resurrect legislation that could provide eventual citizenship for millions of illegal immigrants. "It's a highly emotional issue," said Bush after a session in which several lawmakers bluntly told him their constituents do not trust the government to secure the nation's borders or weed out illegal workers at job sites. To alleviate the concerns, the president said he was receptive to an emergency spending bill as a way to emphasize his administration's commitment to accelerated enforcement. One congressional official put the price tag at up to $15 billion.

The headline was pathetic enough - Bush pleads for GOP immigration support - but his response is to suggest spending 15 billion more dollars? Not quite the way to win over conservative hearts right now. Enforcement first. Prove to us that you can get that part right, and we'll look at the rest.

Oh, and by the way, President Bush?

If you hate Communism and prize freedom so much, free Harrison Jack while you're at it.

OJ, look in the mirror

OJ speaks out about Paris and trashes the news media:

For our morning dose of WTF!, we turn to O.J. Simpson, who says that Paris Hilton is less newsworthy than an astronaut in space, and that television is now "all about the ratings." (TMZ)

TMZ continues:

Like it wasn't when O.J. decided to ride the white Bronco?

Was the Delavan murderer in this country legally?

Analco's first name is spelled three ways in court records: Ambrosio, Argenis and Aguenis. Walworth County District Attorney Phil Koss said Analco, who was born in Mexico, had a Social Security card, but Koss did not know if he was a U.S. citizen. (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

Bush's watch

OK, I posted on it too, so I'm part of it. But the Bush watch story is really ridiculous! Bush slips his watch into his pocket, and it's a news story around the globe!

Was Dan Rather sexist?

CBS brass are calling Dan Rather a sexist for his slam on Katie Couric and CBS News. Rather had said:

CBS had made the mistake of taking the evening news broadcast and "dumbing it down, tarting it up," and playing up topics such as celebrities over war coverage.

So were the comments sexist? Rather's right that CBS erred from the beginning by trying to make the news less serious. That's a question of format, not anchor choice. So his criticism has validity. But I think the term "tarting it up" was an unfortunate choice. I winced when I first read it, although he didn't specifically say it was Couric tarting up the news. The way he used the word implies the last definition below. But still...

The dictionary definition of tart:

A pastry shell with shallow sides, no top crust, and any of various fillings. Chiefly British

A pie.

A prostitute.

A woman considered to be sexually promiscuous.

A prostitute.

A woman considered to be sexually promiscuous.

tr.v. tart·ed, tart·ing, tarts Chiefly British

To dress up or make fancy in a tawdry, garish way. Often used with up.

When the word "marriage" is classified as hate speech...

...you know things are not quite right in the world. Rebecca Kontowicz at Taking a Sharp Right has a great posting on this.

Elm Grove cracks down on kids' playhouses

It's impossible to make this stuff up.

If President Bush means what he says, I have a suggestion for him

Free the freedom-fighting General Vang Pao and his associates for their alleged plot to overthrow a tyrannical Communist regime in Laos, which has oppressed the Hmong people because they fought for us in the Vietnam War, including saving the lives of many downed American pilots.

Since freedom is a birthright, and Pao and his associates were trying to get freedom for their people, a freedom taken from them because they supported our cause, it's supremely ironic that the U.S. government is now trying to take their freedom, right?

Otherwise, this is just meaningless rhetoric. President Bush today at the dedication of the Communism victims' memorial said:

Like our Statue of Liberty, she reminds us that the flame for freedom burns in every human heart, and that it is a light that cannot be extinguished by the brutality of terrorists or tyrants. And she reminds us that when an ideology kills tens of millions of people, and still ends up being vanquished, it is contending with a power greater than death. (Applause.) She reminds us that freedom is the gift of our Creator, freedom is the birthright of all humanity, and in the end, freedom will prevail. (Applause.) I thank each of you who made this memorial possible for your service in freedom's cause. I thank you for your devotion to the memory of those who lost their lives to Communist terror. May the victims of Communism rest in peace. May those who continue to suffer under Communism find their freedom. And may the God who gave us liberty bless this great memorial and all who come to visit her.

By the way, how come the protest in Milwaukee yesterday didn't get the breathless coverage reserved for illegal alien marches? (Photo at top left from Wispolitics.com)

NPR has a good story on "bitter betrayal" and an interview with Vang's attorney.

Leader of murderous gang gets slap on the wrist

The man who brought together a murderous crime crew the Journal Sentinel profiled in April was sentenced this morning to three years on probation and five months in the county House of Correction for second-degree sexual assault of a teenage girl. Walter D. "Red" Humphrey, 27, is a first cousin of Dionny Lamont Reynolds, who is serving a 117-year prison sentence for two killings, including the slaying of state drug agent John P. "Jay" Balchunas in October 2004 at a W. Villard Ave. gas station, and other crimes. (Journal Sentinel)

By the way, let's call it what it is: A gang.

Humphrey's prior record is interesting:

Apart from a July 4 gun-related arrest with Reynolds that earned Humphrey a disorderly-conduct conviction, Humphrey had stayed clear of the group's offenses. But after they went to jail in 2004, he - at age 24 - began a sexual relationship with a 14-year-old girl that led to her pregnancy and his arrest in 2006.

Why doesn't Mayor Tom Barrett speak out about this? He's always ranting about guns. Why not rant about the fact a gangbanger involved in illegal gun use along with a man who killed a state drug agent received only a disorderly conduct conviction for that offense? And has now escaped serious jail time for a sexual assault?

Of course, Barrett is too busy essentially blaming the city's violent crime spike on the Bush administration for its focus on Homeland Security and declining policing funds. Mr. Mayor, that doesn't explain why Milwaukee's violent crime spiked more than other cities. Amazing. Barrett thinks the federal government is more responsible for violent crime in Milwaukee than he is.

The judge in the above case was William Brash. Can't blame this one on Gov. Doyle. He's a McCallum appointee.

What should happen to the accused illegal alien cop?

Deport him after we deport every illegal alien criminal offender currently sitting in Wisconsin jails and prison. (Yes, I know he allegedly committed crimes. But you know what I mean.)

Start with anyone who's ever committed a violent crime.

Oh, that's right. No one knows how many illegal alien criminals are currently sitting in Wisconsin jails and prison.

Go head, be demagogues!

House Appropriations Chairman David R. Obey, D-Wis., today outlined how earmarks will be disclosed before conference, and warned that if Republicans “demagogue” the issue there might be no earmarks in the fiscal 2008 bills. (CQ.com)

Think what this mindset reveals!

Hat tip, the Influence Peddler and Instapundit.

This would be the most brazen theft ever

Did someone snatch President Bush's watch right off his wrist? By the way, I can't believe the Secret Service lets him get that close to the crowd. Update! The White House says Bush has the watch.

Hmmm. Wasn't it a car accident?

Upcoming interview, as reported by Drudge:

PRINCE HARRY: You know when people think about it they think about her death. They think about you know how wrong it was. They think about you know whatever happened. I don't know for-- for me personally whatever happened you know that night. Whatever happened in that tunnel. You know no one will ever know. And I'm sure people will always think about that the whole time.

LAUER: Have you stopped wondering?

PRINCE HARRY: I'll never stop wondering about that.

Follow up, Lauer! Harry, what are you saying might have happened?

The Final Scene

After thinking about it for a day, I am even more convinced that the final episode of the Sopranos was pure genius. And I am even more certain that Tony got whacked. And I'm glad we didn't see it. That would have been far too Hollywoodish.

I think the man went to the bathroom so he could ambush Tony from the side, where he'd be more vulnerable. In the next to final frame, Tony looks away from the bathroom, back toward the jukebox, and then he looks toward the jangling door and presumably Meadow and then - black. He doesn't see it coming. They wanted to whack him in front of his family because Phil went down that way.

What is any life but a rich narrative of nuances, relationships, and experiences that just ends in mid-sentence? As Bobby said, you don't see it coming. It just ends. And then the narrative is no more, at least on an earthly level, and not always at the moment you want.

If you haven't seen the final episode, you can watch the last scene at the top right on this blog and decide for yourself.

Yeah, but...

Couldn't help but respond to a couple of paragraphs in Joel McNally's recent column:

Whatever else he did, McGee raised important issues of power and equality Milwaukee must one day confront. Even if McGee is removed, the issues will remain.

Yeah, but... what good does it do to raise issues if your solutions are counter-productive? It does more harm than good. It means you aren't the right spokesman for the cause, so you deserve no credit for "raising important issues." The problem was with his solutions (bricking cars, no-snitching) and with his behavior (arrests, threats, etc.)

Many whites have reacted with glee that a black man they hate is facing political ruin. There is an unseemly eagerness to assume guilt without bothering with such minor details as a trial or examination of evidence.

Yeah, but... it's the pattern of McGee's past behavior that makes many people dislike McGee. It's that same pattern that liberal pundits like McNally simplistically skate over.

One of the reasons McGee was able to overwhelmingly defeat a recall attempt in his district was his constituents' resentment of what they saw as unfair attacks on McGee by the white media and right-wing talk shows.

Yeah, but... maybe they just wanted $5.

Why the New York Times played the JFK plot "inside"

The public editor explores the issue.

If we'd busted the 9/11 plotters before they could act, would the New York Times have played the story "inside"? Would the left have argued the Bush administration was exaggerating the seriousness of the threat by a bunch of unsophisticated amateurs who were probably not actually capable of carrying off such a horrific scheme? Why is it that the American news media take busted plots more seriously when they are busted up by foreign governments (the British airline plot) than when they are busted up by ours? The left has a vested interest in downplaying the terrorism threat politically.

Albanian Democracy

This is an interesting story.

The Sopranos: Blood and Onion Rings?

Spoiler alert! If you haven't watched the Sopranos' final episode yet, and intend to, don't keep reading.

I am still thinking about the final episode. Give David Chase credit. He came up with the one ending NO ONE predicted. At first, I thought it was frustrating. Now, it's just a puzzle. In fact, the final episode is already on On Demand, and I'm fast fowarding through the final episode right now so I can watch the end again and look for clues. I just looked up the lyrics to "Don't Stop Believing".

The genius of the final episode is that everyone can read their own ending into it. I think Tony dies. I honestly thought there was something wrong with my TV. The ending was that sudden. The screen just went black in the middle of the scene. Only death could be that sudden. Tony was the protagonist. If he is killed, the story ends as abruptly as his life. It was either the guy in the bathroom who popped Tony or the two hip-hop types the camera lingered on for a second or two or it was the guy who came into the restaurant with AJ... Almost certainly, the man in the bathroom. Tony is hyper vigilant, always watching to see who is coming through the door. It's Meadow, and it distracts him from seeing the real danger - coming back out of the bathroom, at his side. The pacing of the final scene was exquisite. Fear/anticipation placed over the mundane - eating an onion ring, trying to parallel park a car, making small talk.

I was on the edge of my sofa, literally, wondering what would happen. I half expected the feds to burst in and arrest Tony as he sat at the restaurant table, eating onion rings. Or I expected the entire Soprano family to get whacked, except for Meadow, who was saved by her delay in parking the car. In fact, maybe that's what happened. But we'll never know, right? (unless there's a movie.)

Or I expected Tony to tell his family they were going into Witness Protection. I thought maybe that's why he'd gathered them all together. He seemed almost like he was saying his goodbyes as the show wound down, especially to Uncle Junior, and making sure Bobby's kids would be taken care of. Or maybe that was a premonition or because he expected to be indicted.

In the end, Tony was surrounded by the only family that was ever real. He'd always been loyal to two families, but the Mob family wasn't lasting. The Mob "family" was gone. Silvio, in a coma. Christopher, dead. Bobby, dead. Uncle Junior, not even remembering who Tony was. Paulie, not killed, but not there for him anymore, either. It was over. But, despite all he put them through, Tony's real family was with him in the end. If Tony was killed, they were the ones with him. Which is pretty profound.

Update: The AP seems to think the ending was a false alarm.

Update 2: Angry fans are deluging the HBO website. I'm not angry. In a lot of ways, I think the final episode was genius, although I'm still turning it over in my mind.

Other critics are weighing in:

Just minutes after the final credit, Jonathon Storm at The Philadelphia Inquirer observed, "Creator David Chase cut to black, to end his TV masterpiece 100 percent unresolved." He called the ending, with a tension-filled but ultimately bullet-free gathering of the Soprano family at a restaurant, "the genius of an ending that set up every one of the signs of Mafia doom, without pulling the trigger."Nondescript Baseball Cap Guy will forever be drinking coffee in that booth. Gray-Jacket Mook's permanently in the bathroom. The hip-hop gangstas will always be standing at the jukebox. Nobody's whacking anybody."

Update 3:

OK, I just watched the ending over again. Carmela was the one who chose the diner that night. How would a killer know that Tony would be going there? I suppose they could be followed.

In the diner...

The camera cuts to normal families.

Tony almost selected other songs on the jukebox. This Magic Moment. Any Way You Want It. It's Gotta Be Me or A Lonely Place, Tony Bennett.

The camera cut several times to a man in a baseball hat. The hat says USA on it.

The man who walked in with AJ was the man who went to the bathroom and who looked suspiciously at Tony several times. Of course, that's the problem with living a life of crime, right? Everyone's a potential danger. You're never just a normal family able to relax in a diner.

AJ had a good final line: "Try to remember the times that were good."

The last scene was Meadow running toward the restaurant. The door jangles. You don't see the door; you just hear it. You presume it's Meadow, but you never see her walk in the door.

You see Tony's face as he looks up toward the sound of the jangling door. There might be a vague look of surprise on his face. Then, again, maybe not. The last sound heard: Don't Stop -

The way the music cut off mid sentence makes me even more convinced Tony was whacked. I think the man in the bathroom came out and shot him in the head from the side. He never even saw it coming. He was looking at Meadow as she came in the door.

Then black - for several seconds. No music over the credits. In a way, there was a lot of resolution. Resolution with Junior, as much as there could be. The final visit with Silvio. Sort of a goodbye to Paulie. The end of Phil Leotardo. The end of the relationship with Melfi. Tony and Carmela on better terms. The end of the mob Family. Did we really need to see Tony's literal end? Isn't it more powerful to imagine it, having been given the setting?

In retrospect, I don't think Tony looks up to see the feds burst in after rewatching the final scene because you get a glimpse of the front door and the street from the outside as Meadow runs toward it, and it doesn't look like anything's happening outside. Also, every time the door jangled, and Tony looked up earlier in the scene, it was a family member arriving (except for the man in front of AJ and a woman who looked eerily like Janice).

MSNBC reminds us of a famous restaurant mob killing scene:

...the famous "Godfather" scene where Michael went to retrieve a gun hidden in a bathroom stall, walked out, shot two men, dropped the gun and left...

They also point out a conversation from the first episode, in which:

Bobby and Tony discuss how death can sneak up on you.

Bobby also said something to the effect of "you don't even hear it when it happens" or something like that. I have read on other blogs that Tony flashed back to this conversation in last week's episode (I don't remember that, but it's probably significant).

A blog critic:

I liked the ending. The banality of evil. The devil’s in the diner. Jersey as purgatory. There is no justice. Cue Sartre.

Apparently, the Michael Corleone restaurant/bathroom hit is said to resemble this real-life scenario .Chase knew what he was doing by having the suspicious man go to the bathroom at the end. He also knew what he was doing by not staging a final Tony hit at an Italian restaurant... how predictable. The genius of the Sopranos was always that, in a lot of ways, Tony was just like any other middle-aged guy struggling with family issues. So, it would be fitting that he would be whacked in a diner eating onion rings while listening to Journey, in a play on a famous Mob hit scene:

In the 1920s, the Mafia families in New York were ruled by greedy men from Sicily who mistreated the men who made them rich. The younger gangsters called the old-timers "Moustache Petes" for their hard-headed, old-fashioned ways. One of the most powerful of the Moustache Petes was Giuseppe "Joe the Boss" Masseria, whose right-hand man was Charles "Lucky" Luciano. Though officially aligned with Masseria's family, Luciano secretly belonged to a group of young Turks from all the New York families who wanted to overthrow the backward-thinking Mustache Petes so that they could take over and expand the Mafia's rackets.

On April 15, 1931, Luciano lured Masseria to a restaurant in Coney Island called Nuova Villa Tammaro where the two men enjoyed a leisurely meal, then settled in for a game of cards. At around 3:30 p.m., Luciano, like Michael Corleone, excused himself to go to the bathroom. But instead of coming out with a gun in his hand, Luciano waited for the sound of gunfire out in the dining room. While he waited in the men's room, four young Turks entered the restaurant, pulled their guns, and started shooting.