Brett Favre = Sarah Palin

And before we get ahread of ourselves- we're talking the post- 2004 Brett Favre, not the Packer whose play will get him inducted into the Hall Of Fame 5 years after he finally gets the hint and stays on his tractor.

But let's be honest, the recent Brett Favre is much like Sarah Palin.

1. Makes millions off of an image of small-town true-blooded Americana. This is despite the fact that they have disgusting personal lives that are a reflection of their screwed-up, selfish natures, and have been so rich or empowered for so long that they truly have no idea how the average real person lives. In fact, they are comically clueless on the subject.

2. Have blind supporters who buy into this fake image and cover for their many mistakes and huge levels of failure. They also use surrogates in the media who suck up to them to get "exclusive access" (Favre with ESPN, Palin with Fox News).

3. They never take personal responsibility for their own mistakes, and are more than willing to throw anyone under the bus who gets in their way.

4. Not even close to a team player (check out how little Favre helped Aaron Rodgers after he was drafted) and have petty personal rivalries with anyone they see as a possible competitor.

5. Always try to get even at those who beat them, to the point of childish pettiness (Favre with Ted Thompson and Mike McCarthy, Palin with Barack Obama and Lisa Murkowski).

6. Despite all their spectacular failures, has media continue to insist that they are legitimate threats to succeed, and blows smoke up their backsides. This is despite the fact that those who really are in the know rightfully laugh them out of the room, and know they will never get it done when it matters. This is true for the past few years, now, or any time in the future.

7. "Elitist overejukated urbanites" like me who nod and say "We told you so" will never get that admission from the dwindling level of losers that still think their side was right.

AM I WRONG HERE? Yeah, don't think so.

Wisconsin was better than the rest of America before Walker's election

Right on cue from my point yesterday, the Wisconsin DWD released the October 2010 unemployment numbers and they showed job growth not only for the month October, but a growth of 15,500 jobs year-over-year (up about 0.6% from the year before). This 0.6% increase puts Wisconsin right in line with the 0.6% increase nationwide, reflecting the 829,000 added jobs in the last year, with 151,000 of that in the last month.

Interesting how this didn't come out till after the elections that swept the Republicans back in power, wasn't it? In fact, Wisconsin has weathered the storm of this historical downturn pretty well compared to the rest of the country. Check out the change in unemployment rates in the last 3 years here vs. the U.S. rate. I'm using the October rates of each year

2010 2009 2008 2007
Wis. 7.8 8.7 4.9 4.8
U.S. 9.6 10.1 6.6 4.8

So when people say Jim Doyle and the Dems were brutal job-killer that made Wisconsin fall behid, they're DEAD WRONG. You think Nevada or Florida or any of those other subprime or Confederate states dealing with double-digit unemployment wouldn't want to trade with us? Same works for poverty rates.

2009 2008 2007 2006
Wis. 12.4 10.4 10.8 11.0
U.S. 14.3 13.3 13.2 13.3

1 in 8 in Wisconsin is quite a bit different than 1 in 7 nationwide. Now the gap has narrowed slightly from 2.3 to 1.9 points, but it's still 1.9 points below the national average. It's no coincidence that a high investment into health care and education is a big reason why Wisconsin is not in the high teens and 20+ (!) numbers that you see in the South and the subprime states.

So why bring this up? To show that Scott Walker comes into office in a state that is 1.9% below the national average in unemployment and poverty. I'm not thinking that's gonna continue (and not just because the U.S. economy's coming back, barring GOP intereference in Washington), and I think we need to start tracking it. We've done things right in Wisconsin because we don't fall for the low-tax, low-service garbage that plantation states like South Carolina or Mississippi do, but now we have a governor who is looking to Jeb Bush in Florid-uhhh (state motto: "As seen on COPS") as a model of educational reform (check out the "grading schools" idea). Uh oh.

Quick November fallout

Well, it's been 2 weeks since my home state gave in to madness and elected a college dropout and a dowry-collecting d-bag in place of competent, good individuals who actually give a shit about someone who makes less than 6 figures. And I'll break down the numbers on that when I choose to get around to it (basically, I was right in that the polls were pro-GOP biased, but I was wrong in assuming the young and casual voters would realize the stakes and come out like a prez election year, and that working-class whites would be able to see through bagger BS).

But in the short-term, let's note that when Scott Walker was elected governor, the state of Wisconsin had an unemployment rate nearly 2% lower than the national average, and a poverty level also about 2 points below the national rate. I'm betting those numbers get a lot closer (if not cross) in the 2 years we'll be stuck with these clowns.

Oh, and the Cretins for Republicans Governance better back the fuck off of Marina Dmitrejevic in Milwaukee County. 1. It won't work, because Bay View actually has a pair and few senior citizens, unlike the Walker front group. 2. We have a lot more reasons to run your boy Scotty than you do Marina. And we're just biding our time to pull out our petitions.

Ya wanna bring it? We dare you. You've made the mistake of ticking off people smarter and tougher than you, and that's a deadly combination to overcome.

Lastly, I was at the Badgers' thumping of IU, and Bucky did NOT run up the score. IU rolled over as badly as any team I have seen, and last I checked, you don't stop trying to succeed, even if you're just running it up the middle. The national media folks criticizing UW clearly did not see the game, and it's insulting to hear their ill-informed takes.