One more time on Summerfest and the Army.

Having now visited the Army exhibit at Summerfest, rather than relying on newspaper accounts, I am ready to say that Peace Action-Wisconsin, Veterans for Peace and others made some real gains.

As Julie Enslow of Peace Action said:

This is a victory. We asked for the Virtual Army Experience to be removed and it was... They removed the Humvee and the huge screen with the virtual ride through the streets of a middle eastern town with people appearing on the streets to shoot at. After a temporary shut down of the tent to remove the virtual experience game, it was reopened with two rifle practice targets.

One target was a typical circular target and the other, according to a TV reporter on the scene, were black silhouettes of the upper body and heads of people such as are used in police target practice, and I guess some arcade games.  I cringe at the thought of the black silhouettes but it is a heck of a lot better than the virtual experience exhibit. Its not often you can take on the Army and win.

I bring to you today a story that is eight years old and as recent as today’s headlines. 

A foolish tale of mirth and merriment it is indeed--and for those who want a real all-American Fourth of July story, well...this one fits better than a glass slipper on Cinderella’s foot. 

The story, as you might have guessed from the headline, starts with a simple premise and ends by paraphrasing Ronald Reagan’s famous question:

Had we elected Jerry Springer in 2000 instead of George Bush the Younger, would we be better off today than we were eight years ago?

Come along for the ride, Esteemed Reader, and we shall see...

I am going to make the case that Jerry Springer would, in fact, have been the better choice by addressing four areas of Administration policy: foreign relations, legislative management, press relations, and fiscal policy.

In each of these areas I believe I can demonstrate with powerful evidence that a President Springer would have made better choices...and to show you what I mean, let’s begin with foreign relations.

""Rarely is the questioned asked: Is our children learning?" 
--President Bush, Florence, South Carolina, January 11th, 2000 

We said it yesterday, in urging people to thank Milwaukee's Summerfest for doing the right thing and shutting down an Army exhibit that featured virtual killing:

It is never easy to publicly take a stand and reverse an earlier decision -- not to mention facing down the military.

Summerfest found just how hard it is after a right-wing radio talker, crazed by the decision, spent hours urging his listeners to call the festival and complain.

The result? A "compromise" which allowed the game to begin operating again, replacing the human targets with inanimate ones.

"The decision to reopen “America’s Army” was announced late Wednesday afternoon in a joint news release from the Army and Summerfest faxed to the Journal Sentinel on Army stationery," the newspaper reports.

UPDATE: Summerfest "compromises."

Rabid radio talker Charlie Sykes devoted more than half of his morning show railing on Summerfest for asking the Army to shut down a virtual killing game, urging listeners to call those wimpy Summerfest folks and complain.

Actually, Summerfest needs to be thanked and congratulated for doing the right thing. It is never easy to publicly take a stand and reverse an earlier decision -- not to mention facing down the military.

Please take a minute to call Summerfest at 414-273--2680. They need some support.

More here.

So you thought Iraq was bad? Look forward to Iran. Read the recent New Yorker article by Seymour Hersh, Preparing the Battlefield.

A Democratic senator told me that, late last year, in an off-the-record lunch meeting, Secretary of Defense Gates met with the Democratic caucus in the Senate. (Such meetings are held regularly.) Gates warned of the consequences if the Bush Administration staged a preëmptive strike on Iran, saying, as the senator recalled, “We’ll create generations of jihadists, and our grandchildren will be battling our enemies here in America.” Gates’s comments stunned the Democrats at the lunch, and another senator asked whether Gates was speaking for Bush and Vice-President Dick Cheney. Gates’s answer, the senator told me, was “Let’s just say that I’m here speaking for myself.” (A spokesman for Gates confirmed that he discussed the consequences of a strike at the meeting, but would not address what he said, other than to dispute the senator’s characterization.)

Chalk up one small victory for the antiwar movement and common sense. The Journal Sentinel reports:

At the request of Summerfest officials, the U.S. Army on Tuesday removed a virtual urban warfare game that allowed fest-goers as young as 13 to hop into a Humvee simulator and fire machine guns at life-size people on a computer screen.

Peace Action-Wisconsin began a campaign on Tuesday to shut down the "game," asking people to call Summerfest to complain. It didn't even take a whole day to get results.

Congrats to Peace Action, Veterans for Peace, Wisconsin Network for Peace and Justice, blogger Michael Mathias and everyone who got involved and made a phone call.

As background, yesterday's post on the subject.

Clean Sweep Wisconsin's foray into the state Assembly races is being fronted by former state senator Tom Reynolds (R-Outer Reaches).

Reynolds has created Clean Sweep Wisconsin's PAC and is recruiting numerous rightwing candidates to run in the Democratic primaries of Milwaukee state representatives.

Wonder if that means all Catholics and non-virgins will be swept away this election cycle.

The Wisconsin State Journal's Mark Pitsch politely describes Reynolds as "eccentric".

But with Reynolds, politeness obscures reality.

The Milwaukee Shepherd-Express' Lisa Kaiser leads her piece from June thusly:

See Original Post

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has let us know that it is offical:

As of today, Miller Brewing Co. no longer exists — other than in the hearts and minds of those who worked there, and those who drank its beer.

The company once known as Miller Brewing is now MillerCoors LLC, a joint venture of Miller Brewing and Coors Brewing Co. The new company officially begins business today, following Monday’s signing of the closing documents by executives from SABMiller Plc and Molson Coors Brewing Co., corporate parents of Miller Brewing and Coors Brewing.

I'm not sure how the rest of Wisconsin feels, but I was saddened to hear this news. Maybe I am overreacting and need to understand that buyouts and consolidations are a part of the modern global world. Maybe I am naive to think that Miller and Wisconsin are somehow synonymous and, therefore, immune to outside influence--its kind of like the Packers, no?

Check out the new MillerCoors website--if you really want. :(

Nice brief coverage of the some of the new technologies discussed at the Personal Democracy Forum.

The political world is a picture with a lot of chiaroscuro. Some elements are illuminated with very bright lights. Others are shrouded in shadows.

As more of the visible parts of government are explored with the
precision of digital technology, there may well be pressure to reduce
the area in darkness.