‘Seriously, block his ass!’ (That ass being the Squire’s)

Isthmus reporter Dylan Brogan is a reliably liberal voice but he committed some journalism earlier this month and got played The Race Card for his efforts.

The incident is a Little Red Book tutorial on how the Madison Left mau-maus members who deviate from the approved orthodoxy (that being: black man oppressed victim! America, racist to its rotten core!)

Brogan reported that Madison Ald. Mo Cheeks spent $18,000 on his re-election campaign this past April — completely blowing his neophyte (and white as Wonder Bread) opponent out of the water with 84% of the vote.

“So why was Cheek’s campaign one of the most expensive in city history?” Brogan queried. His article, “Hey Big Spender,” answered its own question. To summarize:

• Cheeks spent his money on professionals.
• His full-color lit (mailed rather than dropped) would have done a U.S. Senate campaign proud. (It’s no wonder, he had the work done by a Washington, D.C. political shop.)
• Cheeks also hired as a consultant the same campaign operative who directed Hillary’s presidential operation in Wisconsin and is now running a gubernatorial campaign.
• On top of that, he hired a full-time campaign manager.

Well, you would have thought the Isthmus reporter had spray-painted swastikas on M.L. King Jr.’s memorial across from city hall! The racially charged blowback is an object lesson in how the identity politics infecting Madison derails the public discourse and warps policy decisions. Oh, did we mention? Ald. Cheeks is A Person Of Color.

A reader named Eileen Harrington kicked off the race shaming:

I have to ask whether this is racially motivated? Or sour grapes? Or what? I’d like to see the author explain why attacking Mo Cheeks for his successful campaign is newsworthy.

Brogan took to social media to ask what other readers thought.

Ald. Mark Clear read from the party platform:

Dylan Brogan’s story, while factual, is red meat for those who would prefer that an uppity black man is kept in his place, and use coded, highly inflammatory phrases like ‘cop hater’ to incite emotions.

Former school board candidate Ali Muldrow took up the cudgel:

When you’re talking about people of color in the era of Donald Trump it doesn’t take much to incite bigotry. … If you want to talk about campaign-finance please be aware of Racial dynamics as you do it. Please question Your own motives in scrutinizing the leadership of people of color at a time like this.

(Brogan, properly chastized, promised “I will.”)

The ever-reliable cop basher Amelia Royko Maurer threw down:

Dylan, there is a chiding/mocking tone in the title/column as opposed to one of curiosity. … I don’t believe he or any other candidate, who isn’t a millionaire (or white), has a choice but to raise and spend as much as they can.

Ald. Clear jumped back in:

Amelia nailed it. Many candidates are lauded for their fundraising prowess. Dylan’s story had just enough “how dare he” to incite the dumpster fire this thread has become.

Blaska rejoined the fray to point out that the Mo Cheeks juggernaut was a tune-up for his expected bid for mayor, a point that Brogan missed.

Mo is running for mayor, mainly on the race ticket. [During the campaign] His surrogate, Ald. Dave Ahrens, went to the news media to question, every so slyly, why a white man in this and another race would run against incumbents who happened to be African-Americans. Why would a 25-year resident of his neighborhood, vice president of his neighborhood association, run against the sainted alderman Mo Cheeks? Could the reason be (cue the Church Lady) RAY-CISM?!!!

To support his thesis, Blaska linked to the “news” article wherein Ald. Ahrens dealt the race card from the bottom of the deck: David Ahrens: What are the odds of these council matchups?

Matthew Braunginn of the local Black Lives Matter affiliate then posted this curiosity:

David’s weekend activities:

Get it? Blaska is an alt-right Klan-loving, Nazi skinhead! Madison author and liberal gadfly Stu Levitan jumped to Blaska’s defense:

You think calling Blaska a Nazi/White Supremacist was fair/accurate? Yes, he’s very conservative — but you’re calling him a Nazi.

Matthew Braunginn retorted:

What’s the difference between someone that spews WS [later identified as “white supremacist”] ideology but doesn’t label themselves one and those that call themselves WS and say the exact same stuff?

Savion Castro, the One Wisconsin Now operative and campus free speech enemy, doubled down on the race card:

Now that the piece has been absolved of any negative racial connotations by a member of the nearly all-white Wisconsin press corps, we can get back to investigating the donors of Scott Walker’s $447,602 criminal defense fund.

Someone named  Kelly Danner opined:

It would have been a more interesting article if it looked at the obstacles that POC [people of color], women, and other minority candidates run into when financing campaigns, even at the local level …

Blaska thought that a bit rich.

Obstacles that POC, women, and other minority candidates run into when financing campaigns, even at the local level.” ??? Mr. Brogan’s article is about how Mo had no trouble raising money, n’est-ce pas? This IS Madison.

The Heckler’s veto, in print!

Up popped Emily Mills, who enjoys First Amendment protections sharing her standard-issue liberalism in a regular opinion column for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

DB has to get the last word, and the ickiest, most off-base, ignorant last word possible. Seriously, block his ass. He’s never had anything of substance to contribute to discussions. Oh he’ll protest and cry bias, but the fact is there are conservative people with whom you can have honest discussion, and then there are the Blaskas of the world.

In calling for Brogan to “block his ass,” Ms. Emily is on the familiar ground of campus liberals. Indeed, her piece for the Milwaukee daily provides what intellectual cover she can muster for the heckler’s veto.

“Shouting down a Neo-Nazi … should be your patriotic duty,” she writes. Of course, just who might be a “neo-Nazi” is up to Emily Mills. Her example is Ben Shapiro. A Jewish neo-Nazi! Quite a feat!

The formula is simple: brand your adversary a Nazi and you are free to heckle, disrupt, drown out, shout down, smash windows, spray-paint swastikas, burn cop cars …

We close with this example of liberal-progressive-socialist situational ethics from a certain Jeff Christensen:

Elected official draws challenger. Elected official raises resources to get re-elected. Elected official is re-elected. I praise Alder Cheeks for doing the work needed to win. More people should learn this model of electoral politics.

Blaska asked if that applied to Scott Walker. We are still awaiting a response.