Is BNN Done?

Quick question: does anyone know what happened to the Blog Net News? Is it simply no more?

Ron Johnson and the Tea Party (Redux)

The only real interesting development out of the Johnson campaign today was the addition of several photos from the Madison April 15th Tea Party to Johnson's Flickr page:

Why is this interesting? Because Johnson has largely tried to downplay his involvement with the Tea Party during his first week on the campaign trail. The photos, however, tell another story. The title of each picture contains the words "Tea Party." It suggests that the campaign is going to try and have it both ways with regards to the tea party: shrug it off in the mass media, but use it to brandish his conservative bona fides in the new media.

One would think that after Rand Paul's disastrous TV interview last night and the ensuing discussion on race and Tea Party movement that one would want to continue to distance one's self from the TPers, but that's not what appears to be happening here.

James T Harris Calls the First Lady a Ho(e)

Excuse me, I meant "garden tool."

This witty insight apparently costs $8000.

MORE: No sooner did I throw this post up here then did JTH post an idiotic "promotional video" hawking his speaking services. If you want to see someone pander to dozens of people with conservative cliches and platitudes, by all means, check it out.

EVEN MORE: This should almost go without saying, but the assertion Harris makes in the video that the government now controls 51% of the economy is, of course, bullshit.

None of this Makes any Sense

Will someone please decipher Kyle Maichle's latest epistle to the solipsists?

Ron Johnson's Web Site is Live

The URL is kinda long -- www.ronjohnsonforsenate.com -- but easy enough to remember. The layout is remarkably green. It wouldn't hurt to have crafted even a short biography:

That's it. No policy initiatives, stances on major issues or any other pertinent information. Right now it would appear the site is primarily used to collect personal contact info, but we're sure that will change shortly.

The Best Blogger in Oshkosh

While I'm pimping blogs I should give some well deserved props to OSNW3, which is truly the best blog made in Oshkosh. Josh Herman's blog does weather better any news outlet in the state and with more passion.

More of This, Please

Add Word Warrior to your RSS feed/bookmarks/whatever. Very impressive stuff. On the blog's about page the author(s) state rather succinctly that they want to "cross visions" -- in this case modern feminist thought with traditional Catholicism -- and they do an exceptional job of doing just that. It's quirky, smart, experimental and nuanced. Frankly, it's the best student blog in Wisconsin.

The kids, as they say, remain alright.

Just Come Out of the Closet Already, Maichle

I'll take this to be an admission of responsibility.

We all know it's you.

Kyle Maichle Can Run, but He Can't Hide

When Wisconsin's Shittiest Blog©, Northshore Exponent, mysteriously went dark a few months ago we shed a solitary tear because we were going to miss Kyle Maichle's vacuous, grammatically-challenged posts. It was kind of like head-hunting for the fat kid during a game of dodge ball in 4th grade gym class: it may not have been the noble thing to do, but boy was it a self-esteem builder!

Anyway, tonight we found where Mr. Maichle's been hiding and we couldn't be happier with the news because it turns out Maichle has decided to train his creepy obsession with DPW chair Mike Tate into a wonderfully inept blog called Mike Tate Watch.

Honestly, I got glass-cutting nipples when I came across this piece of work.

Maichle has decided not to attach his name to this project, but his finger prints are all over this nonsense. Case in point: his persistent use of the nickname "dirty" to describe a former candidate of no consequence (a staple of his earlier work). The funny thing is that the anonymous author actually tries to pass himself off as someone other than Maichle ("Thanks to our good friend Kyle Maichle at North Shore Exponent").

Weak, dude. Really fucking weak. Like it isn't painfully obvious that you're the guy behind "MTW" ...

This is going to be fun. Maye he'll finally tell us who won Federal Douche Bag of the Year?

The Sheboygan Mess

After an extended hiatus, The Sheboygan Mess appears to be back in business.

Go there for all the latest news from Wisconsin's craziest city.

Stuff that Should Happen ... Soon

A SCOTUS nominee who has a basic understanding of modern technology would be a good thing:

During oral arguments today in the case City of Ontario v. Quon, which considers whether police officers had an expectation of privacy in personal (and sexually explicit) text messages sent on pagers issued to them by the city, the justices of the Supreme Court at times seemed to struggle with the technology involved.

The first sign was about midway through the argument, when Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr. - who is known to write out his opinions in long hand with pen and paper instead of a computer - asked what the difference was “between email and a pager?”

Lawyers are notoriously technology adverse. I'm sure this will change as a new crop of attorneys comes up through the ranks, but right now the country is looking at a SCOTUS nominee who is, at the youngest, around 50. Chances are any lawyer over 35 is still kinda old school. Waiting 15 years for someone who can explain Facebook to the rest of Court would be counterproductive.

[via TG]

Early Favorite for Unintentionally Hilarious Blog Post Title of the Year

"I Know Why the Caged Fetus Cries"

I wish there were like a Moh's Scale of hardness by which to measure these types of things.

firefeingold.org

Wow, what a shitty web site.

This is what passes for a major announcement at these tea party things?

I should really grab a screen cap to immortalize just how half-assed this thing is.

Friday Night Link Orgy

The Springfield Nuclear Power Plant baseball team get the Sabermetics treatment.

Democrats are finally hitting back against the ridiculous "no tax" pledge.

"Medicade: A Bargain, not a Burden"

Career suicide via Twitter.

The Dow breaks 11,000.

The old Texas Stadium: Project "Demolicious."

Was the Health Care Reform win based on an appeal to emotions?

Taxes.

Kerry Thomas

Mr. Thomas is one of the underdogs vying for the GOP nomination in the 8th CD.

His web site is old school.

He writes articles about turnips, discount rates at DisneyWorld resorts and seems to think Terri McCormick is the only thing preventing Paul Ryan from turning Green Bay into his own private fiefdom (you read that right). He's also a birther.

Anyway, Thomas seems like a ton of fun.

I would suggest donating to his campaign, but it appears as if the only way to get a check to him is via carrier pigeon.

Thanks for Playing (We Have Some Lovely Parting Gifts for You Backstage)

James O'Keefe = done.

MORE: And it looks like Andrew Brietbart is perfectly willing to go down with O'Keefe's ship.

Dave Weigel has a good look at the big picture:

I’ve known campus conservative activists for a decade, and I know the people who put together the 2006 forum quite well. Extremism — theories about race, right-wing European politics, anti-immigration rhetoric — is seen in these circles as something of a lark. It’s forbidden knowledge. It terrifies liberals. But people like Marcus Epstein and James O’Keefe feel (or felt) like they can get away with playing around in these circles before getting down to serious politics. And once they make that leap — as Epstein did with Buchanan, or as O’Keefe did with his ACORN tapes — the idea of being brought down by controversy is laughable. They’d faced down the Southern Poverty Law Center and won, so what do they have to fear?

Blumenthal’s article is worth reading for the background on O’Keefe’s race obsession at various points in his career. It makes a connection that liberals have had trouble making, between the right’s attacks on ACORN and the organization’s work registering poor, mostly non-white voters. But the new attention on the 2006 Robert Taft Club event suggests that young campus activists with big ambitions are going to find their dabblings in extreme politics coming back to haunt them. In other words, can the tactics conservatives used to attack Safe Schools Czar Kevin Jennings or Green Jobs Czar Van Jones–digging into their associations, reporting that they attended scary-sounding events, finding out-of-context, radical-sounding quotes from their earlier careers–be used against conservative activists?

The Most Refreshing Outlook of the Day

Here.

Any Opinions on "The Daily Caller" Yet?

So far, color me impressed.

Looks more like the Daily Beast than HuffPo. The design is crisp and easy on the eyes -- though there are some places where it seems to get a little busy. I'm sure the site could use some tweaking here and there, but definitely a strong start. The "Ask Matt Labash" column has a lot of potential.

"Letting fatties roam the site is a direct threat to our business model and the very concept for which BeautifulPeople.com was founded."

Obviously, the greatest thing ever said in a press release.

Bravo, GOP New Media Team!

You've done it again!

MORE: Unfortunately, all the links have now been broken by the URL shortener.