Paul Soglin: Waxing America

Why the Prospects for Milwaukee Are So Bleak

The problem with Milwaukee is talk radio.

So long as Charlie Sykes, Mark Belling and Jay Weber dominate the discussion on crime and poverty, there is little hope for Wisconsin's most important city to work its way out of its troubles.

For the past three months as I drove to Milwaukee every other week on I-94 I listened to Milwaukee stations. Sykes on the way into town, Belling on the way out.

This past month I discovered Jay Weber. Yikes.

It is impossible for them to engage in any kind of constructive discussion. They are so blinded by ideology, so blinded by a need to discredit any thought, idea, or proposal from the left, that it leaves the metropolitan area frozen.

On the issue of crime, I will gladly join them in making specific criticisms of some inadequate approaches to law enforcement.

There is a need to jail and convict, there is a need to fix 'broken windows.'

There is a need to drive out drug dealers, extortionists, and pimps from low income communities.

There is a need to stand up to public officials who attack those who might assist the police in combating crime.

But there is also a need to expand the discussion beyond their narrow purposes. Sykes does not understand how New York City lowered crimes rates when Giuliani was mayor. Belling does not understand the management of a police department, and Weber, especially does not understand the nature of community policing in Madison or anywhere else in the western hemisphere.

None of them understand that law enforcement alone does not work. To bring about real change law enforcement must be combined with strategies that strengthen neighborhoods and address issues of job training, education, childcare, transportation, and health.

So long as the discussion is drawn in the narrow lines provided by Sykes-Belling-Weber, there will be no meaningful discussion of the issues and Milwaukee will not arrive at sound solutions.

That is because community leaders, business leaders, and political leaders need the support of citizens to implement change. Sykes-Belling-Weber do an excellent job at what they know best - making sure metropolitan Milwaukee never achieves cohesion.

Sykes Rule Number 11: Phooey

Today Charlie Sykes blesses us with 3 of his fifty ways to leave your common sense in the trash heap of history.

Rule 11: The After you graduate, you won't be competing against rivals who were raised to be wimps on the playground. The  Duke of Wellington once said that “the Battle of Waterloo was won on the playing fields of Eton ” – reflecting his view that competitive sports shape a nation’s character. We sure as hell should hope that’s not true about America unless, that is, we plan on going to war against an enemy who also values non-competitive, risk-free, self-esteem building play activities for its young….

Here is the scoop according to Soglin:

• It is doubtful that Wellington ever said these words.
• If he did, the comment is directed to strategy, not physical prowess.
• The biggest playground wimp in the world, could blow both Wellington and Napoleon's armies off the battlefield. Just ask Albert Einstein.

As for Sykes' rule 10, Life is like dodgeball, we all know that is false.  For a more valuable insight, I refer all of you to Mark Twain:

• All you need in this life is ignorance and confidence; then success is sure.

And to quote the aforementioned Albert Einstein on life:

• Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile.

50+ Things You Won’t Hear on Talk Radio

A new “book” by radio talker Charlie Sykes has inspired Wisconsin’s lefty bloggers – and we are legion – to collaborate on this post. We are so technologically advanced that we were able to do it via the Internet, without even having an all-day meeting to try to reach consensus. Contributors include:

• Jim Rowen of The Political Enivronment
• Michael and Anne Mathias, of  Pundit Nation
• Cory Liebman and Scot Ross of One Wisconsin Now
• Bill Christofferson and Steve Hanson of Uppity Wisconsin 
• Jay Bullock of  Folkbum's Rambles and Rants
• Joel McNally  1290 WMCS Radio
• Gretchen Schuldt of  Milwaukee Rising
• Brew City Brawler
• Illusory Tenant
• and, of course,  Waxing America.

Quite a distinguished group. Perhaps the most blog brainpower assembled since Thomas Jefferson blogged alone.

Sykes repackaged and expanded on a little schtick he started more than 10 years ago, with what was then called, Rules of Life for Teenagers.  It ran as an The Urban Legends op ed column in 1996 with 14 rules, and now has grown to 50 – and a book, “50 Rules Kids Won’t Learn in School.”

Sykes’ rules, which will make you either groan or say “Duh!,” are getting predictably good reviews from Sykes’ fellow wingnut bloggers, for such “insightful” sayings as “Life isn’t fair; get used to it.” (Did he steal that one from Jimmy Carter?)  (Soglin actually agreed with some of them in one of his posts. That tells you how good they are.)

If you must, here’s a website where you can find more of the 50 Rules. But you can stay right here and read 50+ Things You Won’t Hear on Talk Radio. You are welcome – nay, more than welcome, invited even – to add your own, in the comments section or by email.

1. Might does not make right.

2. Repetition doesn’t make anything right.

3. Ditto wishful thinking.

4. Ditto the size of your IQ.

5. Size only matters if you’re insecure.

6. Guns do kill people.

7. The rich get rich and the poor get poorer; it’s the Republican way.

8. You are your brother’s and sister’s keeper.

9. People don't choose to be poor, any more than they choose to be gay.

10. The Fairness Doctrine is not an “Equal Time” rule.

11. The economy is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the environment, not the other way around. – Gaylord Nelson.

12. When you go to war, God is not on anyone’s side.

13. Reagan raised taxes.

14. I'm sorry.

15. I was wrong.

16. I shouldn't have interrupted you.

17. Bill Clinton isn't still President.

18. George Bush made a mistake.

19. Gays are human beings.

20. The American public turned against the Vietnam war before the press did.

21. There were no weapons of mass destruction found in Iraq.

22. Saddam Hussein was not behind 9/11.

23. Abstinence programs don't stop teens from having sex.

24. Abortion is a choice best left to a woman and her doctor, not the government.

25. Prayer doesn't improve test scores.

26. You are not entitled to your own facts.

27. Joe Wilson didn't lie. Valerie Plame was covert.

28. Bill Clinton was incredibly popular.

29. Al Gore didn't say all those things you think he said.

30. Climate change is real.

31. Tax cuts don't increase revenue.

32. The Clinton Administration employed more women and minorities in top positions than the Bush administration.

33. Illegal immigrants commit fewer crimes than American citizens.

34. Universal health care is cheaper and of better quality in most Western nations than our "free market" approach in the US.

35. Compassionate Conservatism is neither.

36. When a poor person dies of hunger, it has not happened because God did not take care of him or her. It has happened because neither you nor I wanted to give that person what he or she needed. – Mother Teresa.

37. Blaming parents for their out of control teenagers may feel good but it does not lower homicide rates.

38. Iraq was not a breeding ground for Al Qaeda terrorists until the United States invaded.

39. No Democrat was ever caught fondling a FEMA director and saying, "You are doing a heckofa job Brownie."

40. Politicians should leave the science to the scientists.

41. Political scientists should learn that politics is not a science.

42. Medical decisions should be between doctors and patients, not between big insurance companies and their accountants.

43. Even people that I disagree with are innocent until proven guilty.

44. Being poor is not a character defect.

45. You didn’t grow up rich in the suburbs because you’re so smart. (You were born on third base; that doesn’t mean you hit a triple.)

46. Radio airwaves belong to the public; broadcasting on them is a privilege, not a right.

47. The greatest tragedy in mankind's history may be the hijacking of morality by fundamentalists.

48. The poor go to heaven, too.

49. In fact, it has been said that “it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”

50. Taxes are not inherently evil.

51. The US health care system really isn't the best in the world.

52. Dick Cheney is not omniscient.

53. The president really can't just do anything he damn well pleases. Even if he's a Republican.

54. The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts. -- Bertrand Russell.

55. Gay marriage won't hurt your marriage.

56. Poverty causes social problems.

57. The Constitution mandates a separation between church and state.

58. The right to privacy is a constitutional guarantee.

59. Justice Scalia has expressly repudiated strict constructionism.

60. The U.S was founded not on Christian but on Enlightenment principles.

61. Bill Clinton was, at worst, slightly right of center.

62. It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena… attributed to Theodore Roosevelt.

63. The United States is the only country in the world to have dropped nuclear bombs on a civilian population--twice.

64. Be a class act. Class seems to be inextricably related to kindness, consideration, and a general recognition of human worth. -- Roy Beers.

65. Being black in America is hard. It doesn’t just give you special privileges.

66. Being gay could not possibly be a choice since no child who ever heard the hatred tossed around playgrounds would ever choose it.

67. Living in poverty is hard work. It’s not for the lazy.

68. The truly conservative position on gay marriage would be to insist upon it.

69. We’re going to need all the immigrants we can get here to pay into Social Security to support the Baby Boomers in retirement.

70. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

71. Blessed are the meek, for they shall possess the earth.

72. Blessed are they who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

73. Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after justice, for they shall be satisfied.

74. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.

75. Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God.

76. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God.

77. Blessed are they that suffer persecution for justice' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

78. Whatever you do to the least of my brethren, you do it to me.

79. If we really want to love, we must learn how to forgive.

And finally, a few of local interest to Sykes & Company:

80. Really -- hair is supposed to move!

81. Jessica McBride is not a journalist.

82. Midnight fireworks can backfire.

83. Paul Bucher has never been a judge, not even for one day.

Soglin Podcast With Sly, WTDY, The Pulse:Meadowood Crime

Here is the podcast with Sly from Friday on Madison West Side Crime  and Meadowood:

Paul Soglin - West Side Crime

I am was saddened when I opened up The Capital Times this morning and read:

Landlord law tops mayor's list: Seen as help in fighting crime

The chronic nuisance proposal would identify addresses where police calls and other problems are frequent, and require landlords to come up with a plan for improvement. It would also allow the city to take action against the landlords if their properties don't improve.

It is truly depressing.  They just do not get it. Stop and ask yourself two questions:

• If jobs, and job training, quality childcare, transportation to home and work, and quality health are the keys to ending poverty and in turn stopping crime, how does a law that requires landlords to control tenant behavior become the top priority?
• If the Madison Police department with a $50 million budget cannot control crime in Meadowood, how are a rag tag collection of untrained landlords going to do it, especially with half the Madison Common Council making it virtually impossible to evict?

Do not get me wrong. A solid code enforcement program with Building Inspection and the property owners working together is critical.  They can start with the vehicles that are either abandoned or improperly registered or licensed (some belong to families too poor to register, others belong to punks who use them in the commission of crimes.).  Then they can move on to the 'neutral' parts of buildings and look for contraband that no one wants to keep in their home and risk possession of anything from drug paraphernalia to weapons charges. After that they can meet to examine exterior lightening and other safety items.

For that we need a new ordinance? Phooey.

Then they can gain the confidence of the good families in these buildings who would also like to see the gang bangers, drug dealers and other thugs thrown out. You need them and they will not help until there is trust. Can you say Community Policing? Family enhancement? Public health nurses and social workers?

Duh.

Of course, some of the problems are from 15 year old teenagers who live in those buildings who have not graduated to the Big House. Tell me how this new landlord ordinance is going to change their lives and behavior. Oh. We will evict them. More phooey.

Hey I know. Let's have a study.

Well study this:

Put in community police officers $$$$$$$$$$$$$ and nurses, more $$$$$$$$$$$, work with employers and local religious organizations.

And yes, kick out the older thugs and make it clear they are not welcome anywhere in the metro area.

Sorry.  This was supposed to be a short post on the podcast. Got carried away. The solutions for Meadowood was supposed to be Monday's post.  I suppose I will do it again. I love talking to myself.

Taking Grammatical Exception With Stephanie Miller Show: Yippy Skippy

As a long time listener to the Stephanie Miller Show, I am deeply troubled by the use of the phrase yippy yippy in the introduction to Stand Up News.

Proper grammar calls for yippy skippy.

We have plenty of current, proper applications in such sterling examples as:

Yippy Skippy I love my new hair!!!!

or:

Yippy Skippy, the update! Mike is on Hiatus and Susan was eaten by dingos, but Alan has churned out lots of new material. Due to his recent lobotomy,...

or:

It seems you have finally made it to the close of this seemingly endless saga!! Yippy skippy.

The Urban Dictionary,  is of no help for there is no entry for yippy yippy and a very inadequate definition of yippy skippy:

a sarcastic answer to anything that you have to do or something that doesn't sound fun.

As you would expect, a search for the Internet, finds virtually no references to yippy yippy.

There are countless entries for yippy skippy.

So there.

Update: 10:28 am. I called Steph a few minutes ago to share all of this with her, and now she has, unfortunately, and very appropriately, identified me as another listener with entirely too much time on his hands.

I want a certificate. A certificate thats says: Another Stephanie Miller listener with entirely too much time on his hands.

American Pie: The Day the Music Died

Countless articles exist explaining the lyrics to Don McLean's American Pie. Before anyone further examines this elusive poem, I suggest they learn more about the first twenty six years of McLean's life. McLean's life is not that elusive.

From his own website we learn that McLean's father died when he was fifteen, and that he was heavily influenced by the music of many folk singers noted for their radical politics.  In fact some of them were cited as Communists by the House UnAmerican Activities Committee. (HUAC)

By this time, Don's musical focus was very much on folk, thanks, in part, to The Weavers landmark 1955 recording "Live at Carnegie Hall". ..After managing to get his home number from the telephone directory, Don phoned Erik Darling...

... performed at venues like the Bitter End and Gaslight Café in New York, the Newport Folk Festival... He appeared with such artists as Herbie Mann, Brownie McGee and Sonny Terry, Melanie, Steppenwolf, Arlo Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Janis Ian, Josh White, Ten Wheel Drive and others. This was the start of Don McLean’s career as a professional singer, songwriter, musician and performer.

These performers and locations were a hot bed for political radicals.

The Wikipedia post is helpful

He learned the art of performing from his friend and mentor Pete Seeger. McLean accompanied Seeger on his Clearwater boat up the Hudson River in 1969 to protest environmental pollution in the river. The Clearwater campaign was widely credited for improving water quality in the Hudson River.

Finally there is a mention from Fiftiesweb.com: McLean had attended several Catholic schools.

McLean was a radical, but not just any radical. He was a Catholic radical. An understanding of Daniel and Tom Berrigan and their brothers is helpful. Catholic radicals can be more militant, more uncompromising and more demanding on themselves.  I witnessed this over and over again in the 1960's and 1970's as the left debated issues of conscious and morality. It should be understood that radical in the context of 'Catholic radical' is more a statement of principle than a drive to revolution.

While other radicals might support an end to the war in Vietnam, Catholic radicals frequently took peaceful but illegal steps to physically stop the war machine. While other radicals supported the civil rights movements, Catholics  were at the forefront, with Jews, in risking their lives in the Deep South.

The Analysis

I am not going to provide a line-by-line critique of American Pie. Others have adequately demonstrated that American Pie was not the name of the airplane that crashed in that Mason City, Iowa cornfield killing Buddy Holly, Richie Valens, and the Big Bopper.

The references to Bob Dylan, the Rolling Stone, and the Beatles are accurate.

There is no question that McLean was distressed by the new direction for music that grew out of folk music. McLean was probably disappointed that Bob Dylan abandoned the mantle of Pete Seeger as the new generation's folk singer. The Rolling Stones disappointed millions of us when they flirted with violence and made their pact with the Hell's Angels at Altamont.

As for the Beatles, their music was the worst of the 1960's for dancing. It was never played at parties. Never. But worse, the Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and even Dylan smothered the music that nurtured McLean (and other's) in the 1950's.  Not just the folk music, but the blues and all the music compiled by the Alan Lomax.

I doubt McLean disdains any of these great artists. I am sure that he would laud John Lennon's contributions to world peace. But they had all tampered with not just Mclean's music, but the people's music. All of this is reinforced in the line: And a voice that came from you and me,

The Day

To understand American Pie is to understand that the Day was more than February 3, 1959. The day was the decade that followed. It was the day at Altamont, the day of the Gulf of Tonkin, the day of each and every assassination and inner city riot. A day is not limited to twenty four hours.

The Music

The music is not just the music of the crash victims. It is the music of Brownie McGee and Sonny Terry, Leadbelly, or some unknown man in Appalachia or a woman in a city ghetto strumming on a battered guitar. But the music is bigger than all of that. It is American culture and America's soul.

The day the music died. A decade of frustration, betrayal, and lying as McLean rightly feared were thrown into the chaos of the past forty years. We lost our soul.

The father, son and the holy ghost... I don't know if that is the three dead musicians, a true religious statement , or reference to Rev, Martin Luther King Jr., Bobby Kennedy, and JFK (and in that order, not the order of their assassinations). Maybe it is all of them.

Drove my chevy to the levee... I cannot believe, given the upbringing and politics of McLean, that no matter how many meanings this has, at least one of the them is a direct reference to James Earl Chaney, Michael Schwerner and Andrew Goodman were murdered on June 21, 1964 ... disappeared on the night of June 21. Their bodies were found in a an earthen levee.

Good old boys were drinkin... I have trouble with this line; context is everything. If you said 'Good old boys' in the 1960's the only thing that comes to mind is smoked filled rooms, with men of questionable scruples.   I opt for southern lynch mobs, not a bunch of musical scoundrels.

While the sergeants played a marching tune.. and ...The marching band refused to yield Marching bands are closer, culturally, to militarism than the rock and folk music of the day. This is a reference to 'bad music' oppressing we who got up to dance.'

American Pie could be nothing more than a poetic contraction of As American As Apple Pie.

Additional references to the lyrics:

Bob Dearborn's Original Analysis from February 28, 1972

Bill Griggs from July, 1985

Explainthelyrics.com

The Octopuss's Garden

Songfacts

Brendan's American Pie Archive-reference to some of the above and more.

www.imissamericanpie.com

The Cubs and The Tribune Company: Rubbing It In

Yesterday's Headline:  Zell wins bid for Tribune, Cubs on block. And from another story: Tribune Co. made a stunning pitch to investors on baseball’s opening day: The Chicago Cubs will be sold at season’s end.

And from Waxing America September 5, 2006: Tribune Company Killing Cubs; Not Dusty Baker

...The Cubs will be losers as long as the Tribune owns them.  It doesn't matter who is the next manager. And there is no one at the Trib or WGN willing to say that.

Followed September 22, 2006 by: Cubs Sale Imminent: Pennant in 2018 Pending

My read on the situation is that the Chicago Cubs are ripe to be sold, and more importantly separated from the media wing of the corporation. I wonder if the new owners would make me the general manager?  Tribune Company May Break Up:

According to the Los Angeles Times, at a Tribune board meeting Thursday discussing corporate problems, a committee was appointed to determine a number of options including a breakup of the conglomerate or an outright sale of the media empire.

Na-na-nana, na-na-nana, hey, good bye,
Na-na-nana, na-na-nana, hey, good bye,
Na-na-nana, na-na-nana, hey, good bye,
Na-na-nana, na-na-nana, hey, good bye.

Go Sox.

Update 6:03 pm from Wikipedia:

• The song remains a favorite of White Sox fans. Today it is used when opposing pitchers are pulled, when the White Sox hit a home run, and when the Sox win a game. It was also played by Nancy Faust during the White Sox World Series victory parade on October 28, 2005. Fans at Soldier Field and other Chicago sports venues are also known to sing it when victory is certain. However, because it is so closely associated with the White Sox (see Cubs-White Sox rivalry), it is never played at Wrigley Field, despite its mention in the song "A Dying Cub Fan's Last Request" by folksinger and Cub fan Steve Goodman.
• The chorus is sung by fans of the National Hockey League's Montreal Canadiens at the end of games where victory is assured.
• The chorus is often played on the public address system during National Basketball Association games when a player on the visiting team fouls out of a game.
• During many Test Cricket games, fans in Bay 13 like to chant this when a drunk spectator is ejected by Police.
• During the matches of the Germany national football team in 1970 FIFA World Cup many fans chanted the song where using the tone shout "Alemania, Alemania, hey hey hey Deutschland" ("Alemania" is "Germany", in Spanish). This form of chanting was used by football clubs within the English Football League prior to the 1970 FIFA World Cup,who would sing, as an example " Na, Na, Na, Na - Na, Na, Na, Na - Hey Hey Millwall ". The chant was still being heard during the 2006 - 07 season of the English Football League.
• In professional wrestling, the song is often sung by the audience when a heel wrestler is forced to leave an arena or "brand" after losing a match or being "fired" and, less frequently, when a wrestler is talking excessively.
• On the late '80s MTV gameshow Remote Control, the song was played (and sung by the studio audience) whenever a contestant lost the game and left the show.
• The song has been featured in the following media:
  • The Simpsons, 1989 - Present
  • South Park, 1997-Present
  • Remember the Titans, 2000
  • Raising Helen, 2004
  • Kingdom Hospital, 2004

McGee's 'Jew Cops' and Al Gore's Thugs

The post earlier this week on the confusion as whether Milwaukee Alderman Michael McGee said Jew cops (he did not) or Jude cops (he did) brought back memories of a moment at the Democratic Party Convention in Chicago in 1996.

Al Gore was speaking and making reference to the National Rifle Association.  A year earlier in a letter to the NRA membership, Wayne LaPierre, their executive vice-president referred to law enforcement as "jack-booted thugs."

The Vice-President was quoting LaPierre and his words were transcribed on the screen for the hearing impaired.

It came out as "jack-Buddhist thugs."

A nicely turned phrase.

Why We Love Milwaukee

Why we love Milwaukee.  From Tim Cuprsin's Inside TV & Radio, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

HE SAID WHAT? Ald. Michael McGee frequently says outrageous and inflammatory things. But his comments weren't nearly as outrageous as Charlie Sykes claimed Wednesday on his annual "Insight 2007" broadcast on WTMJ-AM (620).

Playing a tape of a McGee news conference about recall efforts against him, Sykes claimed that the alderman was blaming "Jew cops" for being part of the attempts to remove him from office.

What McGee actually said was "Jude cops," referring to police accused of beating Frank Jude Jr. in 2004.

WTMJ general manager Jon Schweitzer admitted that Sykes had screwed up.

"We are aware that a mistake was made, and Charlie intends on dealing with this on his show tomorrow," Schweitzer said Wednesday.

One of the members of Sykes' morning discussion, public relations executive Jeff Fleming, of the Zizzo Group, said he hadn't heard the original comments by McGee, and couldn't quite make out the words in the audio that Sykes played Wednesday morning.

"I can understand how Michael McGee's comments could be understood as anti-Semitic. But in hindsight, it would have made more sense for him to have made comments about the Jude cops."

Can we save them from themselves?

And a thanks to Jim Rowen, The Political Environment for the heads-up.

James Brown Has Finally Left The Stage

Rest In peace, James Brown.  Charles Hughes's tribute at Shot of Rhythm is right on target:

..."Say It Loud (I'm Black And I'm Proud)" is still one of the most important singles of the modern era, a proud and loving celebration of blackness that won't ever go out of style. We can't quit, until we get our share. For a man whose life began at the very bottom of America's socio-economic ladder, the triumph inherent in the snapping snare and insistent call-and-response of "Say It Loud" is affirmation at its highest personal and community level.

- Barry Orton