Commentary Update for November 11, 2002: Walters/Fonder, Midterm Elections, Jim Young Endorsement, Horrible Op-Ed, Chaet Letter, Frisch On Human Services, 8th Amendment Award, Robert Lorge

Dear Friends of Commentary:

This week Jim Mather and I engage in some post-election analysis with two very respected Wisconsin journalists, Melanie Fonder and Steve Walters.

Melanie Fonder is a correspondent for WisPolitics.com and former staff writer for The Hill, a weekly newspaper that covers Congress. She is also a former reporter for The Green Bay News-Chronicle and has written for a variety of publications including Marie Claire. She's co-author of the book, “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to American Government.'' Fonder, a Grafton native, graduated from St. Norbert College in De Pere and from the Fund for American Studies Institute on Political Journalism at Georgetown University. Click here for details on the book:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0028643534/qid%3D1021899174/sr%3D1-1/ref%3Dsr%5F1%5F1/104-6642776-4513530

Steve Walters is Madison Bureau Chief for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and instructor at the UW-Madison School of Journalism and Mass Communication, where he earned his undergraduate degree. Based in Madison, he has worked in the
Capitol since 1988. Before that, he was managing editor of the Waukesha Freeman and, before that, covered Iowa's Capitol. He was a founding member of the Association of Capitol Reporters & Editors (ACRE), a former president of the Des Moines chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists and is a member of the advisory board of stateline.org, the Internet news service of state governments. Here are a few Journal Sentinel pieces by Steve that we mention on the show:
http://www.jsonline.com/news/editorials/nov02/94401.asp
http://www.thewheelerreport.com/papers/1106sentmccallum.htm

In other news:

Mid-Term Misinformation?:
The news media have been completely inaccurate in their reporting as to how the Republicans' mid-term gains compare with other years. This article by historian Rick Shenkman helps clarify things.

Thanks Pete, but Jim probably could have used the endorsement before the election:
Waukesha Freeman columnist Pete Kennedy wrote this glowing endorsement of Green Party candidate for governor Jim Young. Too bad it appeared after the election, guaranteeing that it would have no impact on the results.

The worst op-ed in history?:
I've seem some atrocious op-eds in my day--probably even written a few--but this monster from a recent Oshkosh Northwestern by former state legislator Gordon Bradley has to take the cake. He blames student voters for virtually all of our ills. Ryan Buck sent this response to Commentary, and current UW Oshkosh student Dan Bush sent this.

So What would WE do?
Commentary fan Eric Chaet of DePere submitted this thoughtful letter.

Ann Frisch raises hell, prompts state review of county action:
Few college professors anywhere are as active on as wide a range of issues as UW Oshkosh Professor of Education Ann Frisch. Recently, Dr. Frisch acted as an advocate for a Hmong family that ended up caught in the Winnebago County Human Services Department bureaucracy. Ann sent Commentary copies of statements she made to the Winnebago County Board, the Human Services Board, and the Oshkosh police. The MUST reading out of this material is her description of how the Hmong family was treated by the bureaucracy. Click this link and scroll down to the bolded material.
http://www.uwosh.edu/faculty_staff/palmeri/commentary/annfrisch1.htm#frisch2

Perhaps some of our self-anointed "reformers" on the Winnebago County Board can get more publicly involved in this issue.

Can you say 8th Amendment?:
As we all know, the 8th Amendment of the United States Constitution says that "Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted." I happened to see this letter in the Green Bay Press Gazette yesterday from a Mr. Bert Compton of Wausaukee, WI dealing with the beltway snipers:

WAUSAUKEE — Now that the snipers have been caught, the wheels of justice could do us all a favor by marching them out to the nearest stump, nail some things to it, push them over backwards, cut their throats and then hang them.

And do this before the lawyers get their dukes on the case and keep them alive for the next 20 years to line their own nests with taxpayers’ money. The snipers deserve it and we could use a break.
Bert Compton

Thank you Robert Lorge:
Finally, after the election Republican Robert Lorge, losing candidate for Secretary of State, sent a letter to pundits, journalists, and supporters. He refers to student Bob Knudsen of WRST radio here at UW Oshkosh and yours truly as "real journalists."

"I do want to thank Corey Scholtka, WisconsinCaucusScandal.com, Wispoliticoms.com, Tony Palmeri, Bob Knudsen, Ben Jones, and a few other real Journalists still out there . . . "

The reason I present that is not to toot Commentary's horn, but to provide the local Gannett press with more evidence of the fact that Republicans such as Mr. Lorge have as much regard for the program as anyone else.

Best,

-Tony