Kermit, the lovable Muppett character lamented the difficulty of being green.
It's not that easy bein' green
Having to spend each day the color of the leaves
When I think it could be nicer being red or yellow or gold
Or something much more colorful like that
Ben Manski has solved that by running on the Green Party ticket. Yes, there is such a thing. Over in the 77th, at least.
Ben has a real chance of winning, John Nichols keeps reminding us over at The Capital Times. Nichols continues his man crush on Manski with yet another piece plumping for his candidacy. I have pointed out the incestuous relationship the Comrade has with Green Ben. Nichols chairs the directorship of Ben's day job at Liberty Tree organization, a Leftist community organizing crew. In other words, they're on the same team.
The race in the 77th is shaping up to be as high-minded as a food fight in the United Nations cafeteria - liberal but dirty.
Let's start with who really is a son of the 77th. Hulsey's people are claiming Manski is a carpetbagger -- that he only recently moved into the district from the east side of Madison. (Ah, that east side/west side divide!) And he's only renting ! Renters are persona non grata in Shorewood Hills.
Manski, for his part, accuses Hulsey of being from Oklahoma, which is serious stuff if true. (It is.) Think about it, west side liberals. Have you ever known anyone from Oklahoma? I mean, really KNOW them? Oklahoma is not O.K.!
There's plenty of fallout from Comrade Nichols' fawning puffery (just be glad you don't have to report it as a campaign contribution, John) over at the Capital Newspapers website. We hear from one of the candidates and, that candidate alleges, the other's campaign manager. Here's a taste of the chatter :
trural: It's fascinating to watch Manski dance around such basic questions like his residence and his party affiliation ...
Ben_Manski: Unlike you and your chosen candidate -- from Oklahoma, is that right? -- I grew up in District 77 ...
westsideliberal: I have owned my house in District 77 for over 15 years. In that time, I have only met you once. You were leading a chant against Al Gore, calling the VP a corporate whore. Real classy.
Ben_Manski: We would prefer to buy, but the house was not for sale. It will be on the market next year, and we have first option on it. ... My values and history are all here and were formed here. My opponent's values were formed in Oklahoma.
Oklahoma is represented in the U.S. Senate by James Inhofe, who called global warming "the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people."
That brings up the other big issue in the 77th, besides Oklahoma: Al Gore. Yes, the Patron Saint of Global Warming, aka "Climate Change." Al Gore, the Sasquatch of huge carbon footprints is leaving big footprints in the 77th Assembly District.
For we now learn that Ben was afoot at the Barack Obama rally on the UW Library Mall Tuesday. For this we turn to Caffeinated Politics (a must read at the Stately Manor). Blogger Greg Humphrey is no one's conservative and, although liberal, he is thoughtful. He suggests it may be payback time in the 77th Assembly District:
I was truly amused when a college student thrust into my hand a piece of literature Tuesday at the President Obama rally. The face-up side to the half-page thick-stock flyer had a picture of Obama and two quotations he recently gave at a political event.
But then the flyer turned into a Ben Manski for State Assembly piece, and when flipped over featured more on his race along with a photo of the candidate.
Seems not too long ago Ben Manski was doing all he could to undermine the Democratic presidential nominee Al Gore to make sure Ralph Nader would be elected to the White House. ... Was President Ralph Nader not available for an endorsement?
"President Ralph Nader." Nice touch!
Yes, it's hard being green. My uncle Greg was honored by the UW for his environmental work on the old farmstead. He was an active environmentalist. But Brett Hulsey is an environmental activist. Used to work for the Sierra Club, then hung his own shingle when he decided it was time to make some real green as a consultant.
One of his clients was Alliant Energy, for whom he said a few kind words about their proposed coal- and stover-fired electricity generating plant in Cassville. (Doyle's PSC turned it down. I told my old high school classmate Bill Harvey, Alliant Energy president, that he should go nuclear.)
It is SO-ooo hard to be green!
Anyway, that's the background for the e-mail I received Thursday evening from the Manski campaign, wherein he refers to Hulsey as "my opponent -- the coal lobbyist."
"Get back in your box!"
That's what my opponent -- the coal lobbyist -- is barking at Democrats, these days. He seems to think he owns them. How foolish!
"Barking!" I love it!
Ben is in interesting company: He is endorsed by Madame Brenda, Austin King, Esch Vedder, Ashok Kumar, Bert Zipperer, Marg Passman and Bill "No Pledge" Keys, Ed Garvey, the Madison teachers union and -- you read it here -- Blaska's Blog. We cannot inflict Brett Hulsey on the coming Republican majority. Too many of them are my friends.
Ben, feel free to use my name and image in the 77th in your race against Old King Coal.
Manski the Green for Assembly! Kucinich ... I mean, Nader for President! U.S. out of North America! Or, at least, Oklahoma. Maybe we could sell it to China to pay off the national debt.
Living like a liberal
"It's hard work, politicizing your whole life," laments humorist Matt Labash in the July 19 Weekly Standard . He skewers Justin Krebs' book, 538 Ways to Live Work and Play Like a Liberal.
The 32-year-old Krebs didn't just write this book, which comes complete with a 538-item checklist. He's lived it. He sharpened his liberal-living iron on the mean conservative streets of Highland Park, New Jersey; Cambridge, Massachusetts; and, finally, that repository of red state madness, the island of Manhattan. Girding him for battle were his parents- two good liberals, who sent him to a cooperative preschool, where he called all the other kids' moms and dads by their first names. Krebs says his parents were his "playmates" as well, though all was not idyllic. There are some intimations of child abuse; they took him to a Walter Mondale rally when he was just 6 years old.
Upon graduating from Harvard, Krebs had his liberal ticket punched repeatedly. He served in the office of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton. He blogs ...
Because he is running for governor
Scott Walker's proposed budget for Milwaukee County is relevant. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports these highlights :
Total spending: $1.3 billion, a reduction of 10%. Tax levy: A $1 million - or 0.38% - reduction, to $262.3 million. Employee concessions: $45 million in givebacks, including a wage freeze, higher employee health care costs and an employee pension contribution of 5% of pay. Fees: No general fare increases for buses or the zoo. Mental health: $5.5 million more for mental health programs. O'Donnell Park: $6.6 million to repair O'Donnell Park. Good luck and God bless, Becky
Wow, Rebecca Kleefisch was suffering from cancer during the primary. Although I supported Brett Davis, chatted with her and bought a "Pretty Conservative" T-shirt from her campaign for my wife. Good to catch it early, as I have found out.
They would do it to us
Althouse makes note of the crowd at Barack Obama's visit to the UW-campus. "Boy, that's an overwhelmingly white crowd ."
Wait a New York minute! Did Althouse use the word "boy" in connection with our President?
Book her Danno. Paging Madame Brenda!