Commentary Update for July 9, 2003:Carrying stormwater for the Chamber?, The promiscuous deployment of Old Glory, Censorship, Inc., More from the Scene, First Anniversary of A Second Opinion, Corporate exploitation of children, Money laundering in Wisconsin, Iraq, Protecting government's ass

I must say I am pleasantly surprised at the number of people who sincerely miss seeing Commentary produced as frequently as it was in the last few years. Doug Freshner's (our original videographer) retirement, the dismantling of the Dempsey Hall television studio, and the removal of the campus television station from the basic cable package are all factors that have contributed to slowing us down and lowering our visibility. But again, it is incredible how many people out there are hungry for independent news. A guy stopped me in Cub Foods the other day and said, "your show is the only one that tries to get to the root of the bleeping bullshit that goes on around here." How's that for an epitaph: "tried to get to the root of the bleeping bullshit." Bloechl and Hentz's "Eye on Oshkosh" does the same thing, with more of a working class edge.

Anyway, Commentary's fate ultimately will be decided by the viewers. If enough people want to see it and make that known, it will continue.

In Other News:

Carrying Stormwater For The Chamber?: Last week's update included a short piece on conflicts of interest affecting the Oshkosh Common Council's stormwater utility resolution. The Oshkosh Northwestern ended up doing a story on the potential conflict (without mentioning Commentary, of course), and followed it up with an editorial whitewash that may be the single most awful opinion piece ever written. Publisher Kevin Doyle, who really is a pleasant guy to talk to, himself sat on the Chamber Board of Directors a few years ago. One would think that kind of information would be relevant to point out in the editorial.

After watching the Common Council before, on, and after June 24th go to sickening lengths to pacify the Chamber (i.e. at least two motions to lay over the resolution, individual meetings between Chamber representatives and Councilors, convoluted amendments, no expressed outrage over the Chamber's threat to use Representative Gregg Underheim to get the state public service commission involved, cut in the "equivalent runoff unit" rate from $38 to $19), I decided I had to speak out. Here's my statement delivered at the July 8th Common Council meeting. Of course, the Council passed the utility and the Northwestern's coverage of the event neglects to mention that the Council was called on to delay the vote so as to get an opinion as to the appropriateness of participation of the Chamber Boys on the Council.

The Promiscuous Deployment of Old Glory: On a recent trip to Missouri, I couldn't help but notice the sheer amount of flags flying on buildings off highways. Somewhere in the pit of Southern Illinois I even saw a flag waving proudly from a Hooters restaurant (I couldn't help but hum John Mellencamp's "Ain't that America?" after seeing that). Jim Kunstler captures the mood perfectly.

Censorship, Inc.: My latest Media Rant for the Valley Scene is a review of Larry Soley's Censorship, Inc. Mike McCabe of the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign recently released two essays that are relevant here: The Corporate Corrosion of Politics and Rebellion's Spirit is Alive. The latter piece addresses the FCC media ownership ruling, which has also been written about recently by Jay Heck and Tim Damos of Common Cause Wisconsin.

More from the Scene: Cheryl Hentz wrote the cover story for the July Scene, "Gay-Friendly, No More?" It's about how Wisconsin was once a progressive leader on the issue of gay rights, but no more. Actually, Wisconsin once was a progressive leader on just about everything before the state got sucked into the "professional" government model that has ruined virtually every state and local government in America. Somehow average, everyday citizens who governed us through the Great Depression and World War II were not ready to handle the "complexities" of the 1970s (when most of this "professional" nonsense came into being, at least at the State level). Show me a professional government that works well and I'll show you a decimated downtown, abandoned manufacturing facilities, and a frontage road Wal-Mart superstore.

First Anniversary For A Second Opinion: John Lemberger just released the First Anniversary Issue of his A Second Opinion. Here 'tis.

Tobacco Lawyer Targets Corporate Exploitation of Children: As you all know, most states have now successfully taken the tobacco industry to court an received many millions of dollars in settlements. Wisconsin has the dubious distinction of being one of the few states that blew its settlement money so the then governor and legislature could balance a budget in time to get through an election cycle (remember, this is a "professional" gang). Anyway, the lawyer most responsible for getting the tobacco lawsuits going nationally has now set his eyes on suing corporations that make kids obese by filling up our schools with their high fat products. This article from the Seattle Times provides a good introduction. Meanwhile, Kraft Foods is already trying to launch preemptive PR strike against such suits. According to John Stauber's Weekly Spin, "But the Guardian's Mark Borkowski calls Kraft's move 'PR at its shabbiest and most shameful. It is an abject demonstration of the way in which PR can create and then exploit an agenda of apparent corporate responsibility to promote a brand, enhance its status, and to set out a stall that provides preemptive evidence to guard a company's reputation against future attack.' Borkowski points out the dubious nature of Kraft's desire to be 'part of the solution,' considering that the food company is majority owned by the Altria Group (formerly Philip Morris). O'Dwyer's PR reports the Ad Council has hired GYMR, a Washington, D.C. firm, to handle PR for a government-sponsored anti-obesity campaign. The effort, called 'Healthy Lifestyles,' has a $125,000 PR budget through December. Eric Leininger, senior VP of marketing services for Kraft, is on the Ad Council's board of directors."

Money Laundering in Wisconsin?: From Jay Heck of Common Cause Wisconsin: Remember the infamous legislative caucus scandal investigation of 2001-2002--that toppled Wisconsin's legislative leaders when felony charges were lodged against former Senate Majority Leader Chuck Chvala, former Assembly Speaker Scott Jensen and others?

While it doesn't dominate the news like it used to, the investigation it still still very much ongoing as evidenced by the revelation yesterday that the FBI is investigating possible money laundering of campaign cash from a shadowy enterprise known as the DLCC (Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee) that may have conspired with Chvala to illegally "launder" out-of-state money--hundreds of thousands of dollars of it--to be used in Wisconsin to influence the outcome of several state senate elections in 2000 and earlier.

Common Cause In Wisconsin first raised questions about the DLCC back in 1997 and has been leading the effort to reform Wisconsin's broken and compromised campaign laws that have enabled such enterprises like the DLCC to flourish. Senate Bill 12, the bipartisan comprehensive campaign finance reform bill introduced by Sen. Mike Ellis (R-Neenah) and Sen. Jon Erpenbach (D-Middleton) and strongly supported by CC/WI that would greatly reduce the ability of outside money to influence the outcome of state elections. But even the strongest campaign finance laws can't deter determined illegal activity. The FBI involvement in this case could produce new charges against Chvala--who is already facing 19 felony counts for extortion, misconduct in public office and more from the Milwaukee County District Attorney's office.

A front page story in today's Milwaukee Journal Sentinel about these latest
developments (with analysis from CC/WI) can be accessed below:

http://www.jsonline.com/news/state/jul03/152748.asp

Iraq Material: Well, when even the conservative Wall Street Journal calls it a guerrilla war, you know you've got problems. The Christian Science Monitor reports that our troop morale is at "rock bottom." In an interesting op-ed piece, the Toronto Star's Richard Gwyn says the "macho" US has run into "Arab male pride." Polls now show that for the first time a majority of Americans believe the Prez "stretched the truth" about WMDs.

Protecting Government's Ass: Every semester now I have a discussion with my students about the government's response to 9/11, and invariably the discussion leads to the Department of Homeland Security and its Ready.gov website. Last semester a student said that such websites are based on the idea that, "since the government has shown that they are not able to protect our asses, they figure they better protect their own." I almost gave the student an A in the class just for that comment! Wisconsin and its illustrious new governor, Jim The New Democrat Doyle, have now created Wisconsin's own Homeland Security website: http://emergencymanagement.wi.gov/ Get to work on your Family Disaster Supplies Kit right now.

All the best,

-Tony