for some write-in candidates, for others it’s: c’mon down!
It’s their party and The Capital Times can freeze out Blaska from its school board candidate debate next Tuesday 03-15-22 if it wants. But what a difference three years can make! Editor Paul Fanlund excuses his news blackout this-a-way:
“Our rationale for excluding Mr. Blaska is that his name is not on the ballot. If it were, we would include him. Why should write-in candidates who decide to run long after the filing deadline get the same treatment and attention as those who jump through the hoops required to qualify as an on-the-ballot candidate? The decision is not personal and has nothing to do with ideology.”
They should get the same treatment and attention because the president of a school board that oversees an increasingly dysfunction school district (Ali Muldrow) would otherwise be unopposed. They should get the same … because The Capital Times is not the city clerk but (supposedly) reports the news, fosters discussion, and supports civic improvement.
If “jumping through the hoops” is the criteria, Fanlund (His e-mail address: pfanlund@madison.com) needs to explain Toriana Pettaway. He included Ms. Pettaway among the six candidates at their 01-09-2019 mayoral forum even though “she fell short of the signatures required to make the ballot.” She ran as a write-in.
Perhaps Mr. Fanlund feared Ms. Pettaway, then the city’s racial equity coordinator, would lodge a racial discrimination claim should she be excluded. An accusation the Woke woman scattered like hard candy at an Independence Day parade.
Headline in the Isthmus this week
Like we say, it’s their party. But we note the Fitchburg Star, Madison City Hues, GRUMPs, Madison East Progressives, and the WI State Journal are all covering Blaska’s candidacy. Isthmus did a write-up under the headline reproduced above. So have bloggers Dave Cieslewicz (the former mayor) and Greg Humphrey (he even endorsed Blaska!) The Capital Times did write this news story.
The Capital Times lists Simpson Street Free Press as a co-sponsor of its debate, which is odd because that organization tells Blaska it has no control over that debate. To the contrary, Simpson Street has invited Blaska to its debate two days later, 7 p.m. Thursday 03-17-22.
No hoops to jump
If Paul Fanlund wants a Don’t Rock the Boat debate he’ll get it. The Capital Times dutifully followed the lead of the social justice harassers by demanding school resource police officers be defunded. Writes puff pieces on the likes of Shepherd Janeway/Joyner and Brandi Grayson. Praised Rebecca Blank (“a huge loss!”), the UW-Madison chancellor who made a non-person of award-winning actor Fredric March despite his life of civil rights advocacy. Et cetera, et cetera. (Madison West high school drops Latin.)
Fanlund once asked “Did Madison do right by Jennifer Cheatham?” the former school superintendent. Shouldn’t a real journalist ask that question the other way around? Hold someone to account for the worsening test scores and increasing classroom chaos now spreading to the streets of Madison?
Blaska’s Bottom Line: Let’s not make this any more difficult than it need be. The Capital Times can invite whomever they want to their own debate. They just don’t want Blaska.
Education
Blaska Policy Werkes 
The capital times is doing a disservice to the voters of this city by not allowing Dave Blaska to participate in this debate. The so called progressive newspaper is not that. They claim to promote voting rights but when it comes down to an opposing view from an opposing candidate they do what they want. So much for them promoting democracy. Not.
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This could be misconstrued:
“So have bloggers Dave Cieslewicz, the former mayor, and Greg Humphrey”
Like the old joke “He said I’d like to introduce you to my wife and sister and there was only one lady standing there”
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Got me there! I corrected.
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Crap I actually hoped you got Soglin’s endorsement.
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IMHO both of these are true:
-Fandland is a political hack
-his reasoning for debate inclusion is valid
Assuming you don’t agree with the latter, what would be your criteria for inclusion? I would be concerned with “anyone who declares a write-in candidacy”. What would prevent all the children from Freedom Inc. declaring?
There has to be some proof of work…some skin in the game…what should that be?
An alternative view is not enough. Freedom Inc. has alternative views from Muldrow and company.
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Like I said, it’s Fanlund’s discretion. One hundred Freedom Inc. children did not file paperwork for write-in status. Let’s not overthink this: he just doesn’t want to, even though everyone else is including me.
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Perhaps the question (of why the CT refuses Blaska participation) is better addressed to the advertisers whose poor marketing decision funds our free weekly screed.
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Didn’t realize there was paperwork involved. That at least is something.
Curious as to how it works … is the write in picked up by OCR technology? It would have to recognize variations such as:
David Blaska
Dave Blaska
Blaska
The Squire
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Yes, must fill out all the forms except for getting nominating signatures. That’s in order to have the clerk count your votes. Otherwise, it’s like voting for Mickey Mouse. They’ll recognize “Dave” or just “Blaska.” Dunno about the rest.
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Propaganda like lying can be either an outright lie or lying by omission. In my humble opinion, people like Paul Fanlund are just propagandists. Doesn’t matter who they are, liberal or conservative, republicans or democrats, they only want the public to hear only one side of an argument and that is their side.
Kind of like the whole issue with the number of kids in the Madison school district who cannot read, write or do math at grade level. Do we have any, and I do mean ANY stories in the Capitol Times or the Wisconsin State Journal about the abysmally low number of kids who read, write, and do math at grade level?
Why not Paul?
I would think that this would be important to you. After all, when we get to the point where these children cannot even read the paper, the local papers won’t even have a reason for being and you and many others won’t have a job anymore.
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Fanlund is the poster boy of Madison’s liberal elites; in other words he’s self-righteous, hypocritical and only too willing to do anything to promote his views while canceling those with which he disagrees. I sent him the link to this blog post though I doubt it will penetrate the carapace of self-regard he and his fellows have grown over the years–assuming he bothers to read it.
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Fanlund is typical of so many Madison liberal virtue-signaling male dorkwads, I hate to say.
They frequently contradict themselves, inconsistently apply or ignore rules they expect others to adhere to, and underneath the surface of their “compassionate tolerance” bullsh*t is a barely disguised rage mixed with a toxic stew of arrogance, frustration and resentment.
I have such little patience for these dictator wannabe dorkwads!
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Paraphrasin’ W. H. Auden on Robert Browning
“I don’t think Paul Fandlund is very good in bed. His wife probably doesn’t care for him very much. He snores and has fantasies about twelve-year-old girls.”
Or simpler yet, just use Adam C’s fine, descriptive and close-fittin’ term: dorkwad.
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I’m sure that WILL is ready to step up with some sort of lawsuit that can generate thousands of billable hours.
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When has The Cap Times ever been fair to the conservatives?
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Did Madison do right link doesn’t work.
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Thanks. Fixed. https://captimes.com/opinion/column/paul_fanlund/paul-fanlund-did-madison-do-right-by-jennifer-cheatham/article_d4cfdffe-9a8d-5cb5-99f8-0e4272c4ccb9.html
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The Captial Times is not a newspaper and hasn’t been for decades. It’s a propaganda journal that seeks to prop up the liberal/leftist intelligentsia and provide subterfuge for the fight against the political middle and right. It is essentially anti-Democratic, anti-Capitalist and ultimately anti-American.
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