More than mere opinion,
the NY Times espouses political action for partisan gain
without having to report their in-kind political campaign contribution!
Bullhorn Man as photographed by the Venerable Meade
If there’s one thing the mainstream news media fears more than paying news paper deliverers a living wage, it is the threat of an economic boycott.
But that doesn’t stop the New York Times from urging an economic boycott of their political enemies adversaries. No, “enemies” is the right word after all. For the Times of New York has given up on reporting the news; even editorial opinionating is passé. The Times these days lurches into outright, Capital “R” Resistance advocacy — like John Nichols at the ramparts of the Act 10 Capitol Occupation, only with a bigger bullhorn. And without Antifa’s black masks.
Naming names to the committee
NY Times columnist David Leonhardt lauds two companies — Walgreens and Microsoft — for having “spoken out” against Republicans for passing legislation in special session after Tony Evers defeated Scott Walker November 6. Because, you know, he told them to in a previous jeremiad to do so … or else!
But “neither is asking for the return of past political donations,” Leonhardt gripes. “Their current strategy seems like a middle ground designed, above all, to avoid bad publicity.” Bad publicity, if you haven’t noticed, that liberal Leonhardt is only too thrilled to generate. But wait! There’s more!
The partisan political propagandist (no campaign contribution report required) ups the ante but listing more “companies that supported the Wisconsin Republicans and haven’t yet taken a stand — like Dr Pepper Snapple, J.P. Morgan Chase or Humana.
This past summer, Microsoft also donated $1,000 to Roger Roth, the Republican president of the Wisconsin Senate.
The Times man justifies his partisanship with overheated hyperbole: “Because the Wisconsin Republicans are engaged in an anti-democratic effort to undermine the results of an election. It’s dangerous stuff.”
Not to be outdone, former Enron adviser Paul Krugman shrieks that Wisconsin “is turning into Hungary on the Great Lakes.”
‘Was it worth it?’
Now, the Blaska Policy Werkes also criticized Republican legislators — not because the legislation is not sound, for the most part.
Snap Quiz: recite the legislation they passed. None comes to mind? That’s because most of the package was so anodyne — so much inside baseball. Like confining early voting to two weeks before an election so that Wisconsin would enjoy uniform election laws. Hardly a putsch to “undermine an election.” (Although preventing new attorney general Josh Kaul from withdrawing from the multi-state Obamacare lawsuit without legislative approval is a slight power shift.)
In any event, Scott Walker remains the governor until January 7, as does the Legislature — which won’t change that much after January 7. But this kind of stuff could have been — and really should have been — enacted on November 5, the day before the election. Walker himself warned the election would be tight; the Marquette poll showed it even-steven.
Blaska’s Bottom Line: Was the policy prize worth the political price? Act 10 was worth the fight. The special session goodies, hardly.
Sad news: Multiple sources (including this one) say the The Weekly Standard — a favorite here at the Policy Werkes and Manor — is folding. A bright and lively opinion weekly with superlative coverage of the arts. Damn and heck.
Is anyone hotter right now than 
