The on again off again recall election against Milwaukee Ald. Michael McGee is on again, with the primary set for April 3rd. Although I don’t live in that district and won’t have the opportunity to vote in the recall election, comments like this at a press conference from the Alderman today probably don’t help him out:

“This is a war without bloodshed. We’re at war with the City of Milwaukee” – Milwaukee Ald. Michael McGee

The first thing I thought after hearing that is, “who’s the ‘we’re’ he’s talking about”? I have to wonder if he doesn’t realize that the kind of behavior he’s exhibiting now that the recall is on is exactly what landed him in the middle of a recall election to begin with.

Will be an interesting race to watch on the local level.

Off a few other blogs, the ever changing John McCain speaks on abortion rights.

1999:

“[C]ertainly in the short term, or even the long term, I would not support repeal of Roe v. Wade, which would then force X number of women in America to [undergo] illegal and dangerous operations.

2007:

Republican presidential candidate John McCain, looking to improve his standing with the party’s conservative voters, said Sunday the court decision that legalized abortion should be overturned.

“I do not support Roe versus Wade. It should be overturned,” the Arizona senator told about 800 people in South Carolina, one of the early voting states.AP

Remember that the media has different standards for Republicans if confusing contradictions like this pop up: when a Democratic candidate admits he was wrong about a vote which was backed with dubious intelligence he’s a “FLIP-FLOPPER”.

When Republican John McCain changes his mind and promises to overturn abortion rights in an obvious attempt to kowtow to ultra-conservative voters, he’s a “STRAIGHT TALKING MAVERICK”!

I can’t say I was surprised to open this mornings MJS opinion page and find endorsements for three of the MPS School Board candidates; Bruce Thompson, Joe Dannecker, and Michael Bonds.

All three are what I consider institutional candidates at a time when fresh thinking and new leadership is need for the MPS School Board. Thomspon, who’s running for the city-wide seat, has been on the board previously. He lost re-election back then for good reasons, not least of which is his unwavering support for a flawed voucher system.

As the MJS article points out, he may have great ‘analytical skills’, but is that really the problem that MPS is facing right now? A lack of analysis from the board? Hardly. What’s needed on the board right now is more action, less bureaucratic “analysis”, and leadership that goes beyond delivering non-specific sound bites about solving the problems MPS faces.

Of course, Thompson is just one example of that kind of leadership, and he’s hardly the kind of board member who best represents the diverse mix of children from Milwaukee.

While I don’t do “weblog endorsements”, I would recommend to those of you who live in the city’s third district to read up on Stephanie Findley. She’s running for the board seat in that district and is not only a good friend of mine, but an exciting candidate who will bring some fresh ideas and new leadership to the MPS School Board.

And that’s exactly what it needs right now, not “more of the same” from candidates who’s endorsements seem to rest more on the length of their resumes than their vision for progress.

Who said the people at Fox News weren’t geniuses?! They’ve got their own Daily Show/Colbert Report rip-off called “The 1/2 Hour News Hour”! And wow is it… funny.

Get it?!? “BO MAGAZINE!” woooooo hah, that’s good comedy!

I don’t know what’s more annoying, the lame skits, bad jokes, or repeated forced laughter coming from the audience.

Believe it or not, it gets worse. The other episde (there are two so far) has Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter play President and Vice President!

Liberals would really hate that, and that’s what makes it funny!!

I somehow think the founders of America would disagree with President Bush. As Josh Marshall put it today, “Bush: To be patriotic you don’t have to agree with my policy, but you do have to support it.”.

Watch for yourself:

On a side note, this President has never been known for being very good at press briefings, but today’s was especially bad. Between the ill-timed inside jokes, futile attempts to rib the press corps, and his defensive attitude, he came off as even more obstinate than usual.

Jessica McBride used to wait for the bus in -40 weather, they never cancelled school back in those days, and today’s kids are just a bunch of wimps!

The only part that’s missing from this her latest rambling screed is where she had to walk uphill both ways while fighting off timberwolves and 40 lbs. of books in her backpack on the way to school.

I don’t buy the argument that the cold endangers kids. I used to go sledding in weather like that. A hat, mittens, boots and a good jacket will take care of the danger. If parents are worried about their kid waiting for the bus, they could take their kid to school – or sit in their cars with the kid until the bus arrives. gmtoday.com

So toughen up kids! You’re a bunch of “wimps” according to McBride/Bucher. Getting frostbite toughens ya up, especially those kindergartners. They’re too soft these days, and it’s all the liberals fault.

Besides, as McBride/Bucher points out, who actually rides the bus anymore anyways!? Why doesn’t everyone get a ride in their parents Hummer to school like in the commercial?!

Give it up for one of Wisconsin’s “leading conservative voices of reason” – Jessica McBride.

The cover article in the new Newsweek has a decent look at the coming war with Iran, and the Bush administration’s deliberate intentions on picking a fight with them.

At least one former White House official contends that some Bush advisers secretly want an excuse to attack Iran. “They intend to be as provocative as possible and make the Iranians do something [America] would be forced to retaliate for,” says Hillary Mann, the administration’s former National Security Council director for Iran and Persian Gulf Affairs. – Newsweek

If there was any doubt that a war with Iran was going to be averted, the deployment of a third aircraft carrier group to the region makes it clear what the administration is planning on.

Let the faulty intelligence and anonymous powerpoint presentations commence! It’s time to get our war on again.

Anyone actually surprised?

US preparations for an air strike against Iran are at an advanced stage, in spite of repeated public denials by the Bush administration, according to informed sources in Washington.

The present military build-up in the Gulf would allow the US to mount an attack by the spring. But the sources said that if there was an attack, it was more likely next year, just before Mr Bush leaves office.

Neo-conservatives, particularly at the Washington-based American Enterprise Institute, are urging Mr Bush to open a new front against Iran. So too is the vice-president, Dick Cheney. The Guardian

Starting another war and letting someone else clean up the mess. That’s the Bush way.

The real question is whether this suicidal policy of starting a war with Iran can be stopped, and if so who can stop it. Because frankly conservative think tanks like the American Enterprise Institute and Dick Cheney had their chance to roll the dice with our National Security and tens of thousands of lives already, it’s going to take real effort and courage to stop the war this time.

Fun stuff on a Friday night. I’m curious who the poor Republican who had to sit in the middle seat was.

The top Republicans in the 2008 race are a bunch of wishy-washy white guys that don’t stand out? No kidding!

Many conservatives say they pick “none of the above” when faced with a choice of Arizona Sen. John McCain, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former New York Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani as the 2008 Republican presidential nominee.

“No one of the three top-tier individuals is a conservative,” said Tom Carney, a Florida lawyer and Republican fundraiser. “But even more importantly, none of them have original thoughts. They are all ultimate pragmatists. They want to be president without the necessary vision in this time of international crisis.” Washington Times

Throw in the four divorces and an annullment between the three of them and Newt Gingrich and watch as “social conservatives” become even more disinterested, which sets the GOP up for the ultimate no-win situation in 2008.

Either the “base” they’ve bragged about so much for the last 10 years will nominate a candidate who is too extreme to win the general election, or they’ll nominate someone from the “middle” who won’t compel the same “base” to get out and vote.

Good luck my Republican friends.