Do the Heartland Propaganda! Part Deux

Since Scott Walker and WisGOP are failing in convincing Wisconsinites of their dishonest and incorrect agenda, as evidenced by the right-leaning Marquette University Law School poll showing Walker and Tom Barrett dead even, and Walker below 50% against any opponent, does this give right-wing propagandists pause? HELL NO! They're going to try to double-down by spreading their hateful lies to other parts of the state!

As shown by this Heartland Institute story, Scott Walker front group CRG and other rightie business owners are trying to get radio stations in western and northern Wisconsin to carry the same propaganda that Milwaukee and Green Bay-area listeners get subjected to. This group recently convinced Eau Claire's WMEQ to carry talentless banshee Vicki McKenna (it doesn't say how, which sure makes you wonder what deals were struck). Remarkably, McKenna's own program director and a MacIver hack admit in the article that these shows are nothing more than WisGOP propaganda without any hint of acknowledging why this might be a problem in publically-owned airwaves.

Jerry Bott, director of programming and operations at WISN radio in Milwaukee, said it is no coincidence that in the 2010 gubernatorial election, Walker won by huge margins in southeast Wisconsin, and that, generally, the most conservative members of the state legislature come from the that part of the state

“Hosts on conservative talk radio affect public opinion by making a convincing case that conservative principles are powerful, proper, and effective said Bott. (Ed. note: It's "convincing" if you're a gullible moron. In the fact-based world, we call it a bunch of deceptions and lies) “This has an effect on public opinion in areas where conservative talk radio can be heard which, in turn, provides a fertile environment for conservatives seeking public office to be elected.”

In addition to Walker and Johnson, southeast Wisconsin is home to other notable conservative politicians, including Congressmen Paul Ryan (R) and Jim Sensenbrenner (R) and Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus.

“Talk radio has had a very specific impact on who represents the people of southeast Wisconsin,” said John K. MacIver Institute for Public Policy President Brett Healy, a close observer of Wisconsin politics for more than 20 years. “If you can get some of these personalities on the local radio for the long term, this will be a great case study to see if it has a discernible effect on local elections and politics” in western and northern Wisconsin.

In other words, WisGOP isn't even trying to adjust it's plans and ideas to fit the realities on the ground. They're trying to convince talk radio listeners that their reality is different than....reality. It reminds you of another time we heard about the Heartland Institute, and that was when they were exposed for Operation Angry Badger, a right-wing funded attempt to make Act 10's salary cuts seem like a good thing for education and a general denigratation of Wisconsin public schools and their teachers to try to lead to more voucher school scams. Talk radio is a central part of strategies for campaigns like Operation Angry Badger, because they have one-sided hosts spread one-sided think tank propaganda that's disguised as "fact" and "studies", then give free air time to politicians to continue to spread the Big Lie. ("Hi, this is Scott Walker!")

And if you listen to enough of this garbage, you might become convinced that objective facts are not "reality." A great example comes from the cross-tabs in the Marquette Law poll. As we know, Wisconsin has lost the most jobs of any state in the nation over the last 12 months, nearly 24,000 in all. But check out the responses to this question from the Marquette poll, and ask yourself "Which one of these is not like the other?"

For the state as a whole, are there more jobs, fewer jobs, or are they about the same?
Very liberal- 9.6% More, 66.1% Fewer, 24.3% About the Same
Somewhat liberal- 9.7% More, 57.1% Fewer, 31.4% About the Same
Moderate- 20.7% More, 41.2% Fewer, 35.6% About the Same
Somewhat cons.- 21.8% More, 27.1% Fewer, 45.7% About the Same
Very conservative- 46.6% More, 15.6% Fewer, 33.1% About the Same

Hmm, think the very conservative folks who get that answer wrong BY A FACTOR OF 3 TO 1 might get their "facts" from people like Sykes, Belling, and McKenna. You bet they do. It goes right with the study which showed Fox News watchers knew less about current events than people who didn't watch news at all. And now you know why this organization made up of a Scott Walker front group and mediocre, selfish business owners want hate radio to be spread to other parts of the state, because their only chance of survival is to have a bunch of misinformed zombies take over the voting booths, and talk radio is the medium that works best to reach these weak-minded dopes.

And it's why we in the fact-based world must stay loud and aggressive, and counter every one of the lies propaganda outlets with a strong defense of reality. Walker's falling poll ratings in the face of his campaign blowing $21 million in expenses shows that people who have a clue see through Gov. Dropout and his failed policies. Now we have to stop innocent others from being sucked in, and make sure our voice is part of this state's conversation.