March 8, 2011

Abe Sauer — blogging at The Awl — goes on a bizarre rampage about Meade getting in to see Scott Walker's budget address.

This wasn't anything sneaky. Remember? I blogged a couple photos Meade iPhoned from the assembly chamber just before the speech began. And this guy Abe Sauer imagines he's uncovering some kid of scandal:
What kind of special access was granted to the assembly chamber that day? How did everyone get in? Let's look at Larry Meade...
His name isn't "Larry," Abe. Abe Sauerkraut.
Meade did not have press credentials. When I asked Althouse about how he got in, she told me, "Legislators had tickets to give out, and he was given one. With a ticket, you got in for the speech."

Which legislator let Meade in? Althouse and Meade live in the University Heights area of Madison, which is represented by Brett Hulsey (D-77). Their Senator, Democrat Fred Risser, is currently in Illinois to prevent a quorum and was not the source of the pass....

Representative Hulsey's office confirmed that it did not let Meade in—what's more, that "no tickets were allotted to Rep. Hulsey."

Ann Althouse did not respond to further questions about Meade's presence in the gallery or who let him in.
Abe Sauer published that after sending me 2 emails, the first, which I answered as quoted, and the follow up, which I hadn't noticed yet in my overflowing email inbox. He makes it look like I was covering up. Meanwhile, it seems he's calling my representative's office and asking personal questions about me and Meade! That's pretty creepy.

Meade spoke to Hulsey's office yesterday, and they said they would not disclose such information about their constituents. Maybe Sauerkraut thinks it's important, newsworthy information about me and Meade. Is it? I think you'd first want to know what the procedure is for getting into a Governor's speeches and whether there's anything amiss if a legislator gives a ticket to someone outside of his district.

Sauer didn't bother to do the research before he began flinging mud shredded pickled cabbage around. Meade, however, did the research. It turns out the Governor's office controls the tickets to his speeches. That's true now, and it was true in the past when there were Democratic Governors. The Governor's office distributes some tickets directly and gives other to the majority and minority leaders of both houses, who then pass those out however they want. (If Hulsey, a freshman, didn't get any tickets, it was, I think, his own party leader's decision.) Now, the minority leader of the senate is one of the fleebaggers. So no tickets went that way. Anyway, one of the legislators who had tickets to distribute offered me 2, and I accepted the one for Meade. (I had to teach a class.)

The idea that legislators must only give tickets to their own constituents is a figment of Abe Sauer's imagination. Several legislative staff members told Meade that tickets are distributed to nonconstituents all the time and have been for years, by Democratic and Republican legislators! If Abe Sauer's made-up ethical rule were in place, that would mean that someone like me, who lives in a Democratic district but looks unfriendly to the Democratic agenda, couldn't get access. And if you were a Democrat in a Republican district, you'd have a hard time. It would be an access-restricting rule.
So: two prominent local cheerleaders of Governor Scott Walker had access to the address, without going through their Representative (who was, interestingly, provided with no tickets, in any event), while thousands of Wisconsin citizens remained locked outside. This is the sort of thing that raises questions about the extent of special access in Madison, in light of Walker's relationship with Koch Industries and the makeup of the audience in general for the budget address.
There's the conspiracy thinking tell: Koch. And if it's so interesting that Hulsey didn't get tickets, why didn't Abe Sauer try to find out why? The answer lies with the assembly minority leader, a Democrat. But why find out the fact? It's so much more exciting to take a few data points and fantasize.

Utter conspiracy bullshit from Abe Sauer and The Awl.

UPDATE: Sauerkraut Balls.

167 comments:

garage mahal said...

So how did Meade get his ticket? I can't tell from your response.

Anonymous said...

Saeurkrautgate!

I'm a Shaaaaark said...

That's because you can't read, apparently, or have comprehension problems.

The answer is in there. Go read it again.

Fred4Pres said...

Jealous!

coketown said...

@Garage: Read again. She explicitly states where Meade's ticket came from.

Franklin said...

Maybe Abe Sauer is merely the latest nom-de-plume of noted conspiracy theorist and amateur gynecologist Andrew Sullivan?

Anonymous said...

The important issue isn't the proposed law in Wisconsin. It's not the massive, juvenile protests. No, it's about one man who watched a speech by the governor talking about the law that the protesters are protesting about.

chickelit said...

Abe sounds filled with acerbic wit.

Sofa King said...

I don't understand why anybody cares which legislator is was. Can someone explain why Mr. Sauer thinks it is so important?

MikeR said...

Read the comments over there at the Awl. Hilarious! It really reads like a parody. "Did you or did you not eat tuna for lunch??!!" "Exactly what was the brand of tuna??!!" "Why are you concealing your answer to my question??!!"

Henry said...

Meade's name is Meade.

Methadras said...

Leftards are unhinged retards at this point. Garage McButterfuck notwithstanding. He's their point man.

coketown said...

Does The Awl have a crossword puzzle? I imagine their irate infatuation with Althouse and Meade will manifest itself for a long time. For example, "Five letter word for insufferable union-busting instigator with a f#$%ing Flip camera and iPhone and sketchy ties with legislators and the Kochs."

Leland said...

I went to a Space Shuttle launch a year ago. The person next to me got a ticket to the VIP area from his Congressman. No conspiracy, just asked for, and then got a ticket. I got mine as a contractor for NASA. I'm not surprised that access to the Senate gallery is available from political leaders.

Finally, if you don't like over-representation in the gallery by people on the right (or whoever you don't like); then you might petition your own representatives to be present in the chambers. Once again, an obvious difference between a quorum call and a filibuster.

Rick Caird said...

You will let us know when Abe Sauer apologizes, won't you.? That will happen about the same time mahal tells us he found the answer,

Toad Trend said...

@garage

My God, man...

@Ann Althouse

"It's so much more exciting to take a few data points and fantasize."

Precisely why they'll always be the drama queens.

Henry said...

@Coketown -- Nice riff.

TMink said...

Progressives do tomorrow or did yesterday what they falsely accuse you of today.

Trey

garage mahal said...

@Garage: Read again. She explicitly states where Meade's ticket came from.

From a legislator they won't name? Okay...Why bother explaining something that you won't explain.

Anga2010 said...

2xbleh for linking to that garbage! I got suckered into reading it and now I want those 5 inutes of my life back.
Don't feed the trolls.

TWM said...

I just read the comments over at the Awl and lord has Meade got them riled-up. It's hilarious. All that energy, first in writing about something that is nothing, and then in arguing about it later on when the answer would have been so easy to find. Of course, it's not an answer they wanted so, as Ann said, better to spin their wheels in muddy conspiracy theories.

The left would be a constant source of amusement if they were so damn dangerous.

retire05 said...

This clown would really be in a twit if he knew how tickets to Presidential inaugural events were handed out.

In both the 2001 and the 2005 inauguration, I wanted VIP parade seats for both my spouse and myself. I called before I arrived in D.C. and got the tickets from my Congressman, who just happens to be on the other side of the aisle from me.

I also managed to get tickets, secured by his office, to the two biggest balls.

What the hell is it any of his business?

Tell him to pound sand.

Anonymous said...

A legislator gave a ticket to Meade. It's pretty clearly, though not completely clearly, a legislator from a district that isn't where Althouse and Meade live.

That's SAUERKRAUTGATE, people. That's the issue that's going to define the Wisconsin public-sector labor dispute. So don't take your eye off the ball.

And, whatever you do, don't throw Althouse and Meade into the briar patch.

Christopher in MA said...

"From a legislator they won't name?"

I must have missed the operating instructions of the blog which state Althouse has to tell you anything you demand, garbage. Frankly, I'd say that - having seen the unhinged lunatics and shrieking goons that have polluted your Capitol for lo, these many days - she's concerned (quite rightly, I would think) that naming the legislator would open him or her up to an unending stream of innuendos, smears and crank calls from "Desperately Seeking Koch" idiots like Abe Sauerkraut.

Or you.

Unknown said...

Obviously, the a lot of people end up with things of which they wouldn't normally come into possession: they know somebody who knows somebody...

That's how The Blonde got to ride on the Goodyear blimp.

Either that or it was Ann's ticket given to her by the Gov himself for meritorious reportage (garage is smiling, now).

Henry said...

Meade's name is Meade.

No, he goes by his middle name (hey, what's his middle name...?)

(I still refuse to believe they go around calling each other Althouse and Meade)

(maybe Meadhouse M and Meadhouse F?)

Martin L. Shoemaker said...

garage, if you and Abe and clavius (or whatever his handle was) want to play Connect the Imaginary Dots, Professor Althouse is under no obligation to help you. We all know you'll end up fabricating a Koch connection, no matter what she says. Just say it already: "Ann Althouse is a paid propagandist for the Koch brothers!" You know that's what you want to say, you're just looking for the excuse.

wv: restroor. Where Shaggy went, according to Scooby.

coketown said...

@Garage: You're right. It's a ruse. Meade actually got in with one of the Koch brothers. One sat on the other's shoulders in the classic fedora/trenchcoat/glasses-with-fake-nose-and-mustache routine. That's why Walker asks his aid six minutes into his speech:

"Who's the really tall guy near the back? Does he want to sit down?" And then Koch's legs said, "No, no. We--I mean I, couldn't possibly. A-choo."

deborah said...

"Now, the minority leader of the senate is one of the fleebaggers. So no tickets went that way. Anyway, one of the legislators who had tickets to distribute offered me 2, and I accepted the one for Meade. (I had to teach a class.)"

lol, okay, I'll bite. How is it that you and the legislator came into contact? Did you call him? Did he call you? Did you run into him?

Henry said...

Garage, here's your script:

Garage Mahal: No evasions, Althouse, no evasions if you please.
Althouse: Evasions? What the hell are you talking about?
Althouse: [whispering to Meade] What the hell is this nonsense?
Meade: [covering the microphones] Althouse, I'm kind of new at this job, but I don't think it's good public relations to speak that way to Garage Mahal, even if he is an idiot.
Garage Mahal: I am Garage Mahal, and I have here a list of people who are known by the Awl as being new media bloggers!
Althouse: [amid shocked reaction from the crowd] What?
Garage Mahal: Who nevertheless are still making up the audience of Governor Walker!
Althouse: Garage who?
Garage Mahal: I demand an answer, Althouse! There will be no covering up, ma'am! No covering up!

Henry said...

(I still refuse to believe they go around calling each other Althouse and Meade)

Until I hear otherwise, I'm sticking with that.

I'm Full of Soup said...

The Awl is making a federal case of this.

Chase said...

In my 55+ years of life,I cannot recall a higher level of desperation and accompanying use of dishones handling of the truth among liberals and democrats than now.

The use of Koch with absolutely NO supporting facts would be laughable if it were not written by an adult. An ADULT! How far has the IQ level of the average Democrat/liberal fallen in just the last 10 - 12 years?

Best of all, todays Democrat leaders like Rachel Maddow practice this conspiracy by dishonest use of facts everyday, continually making false arguments by associating facts that have no correlation or association with whatever subject they are discussing. They practice lives of daily dishonesty; it's harde and harder for them to grasp reality.

It's a tough time to be a liberal.

Robert said...

What's the over/under on how long it takes Chip Ahoy to photoshop Althouse and/or Meade in cheerleader outfits?

Anonymous said...

Deborah -- My speculation is that it's a Republican out of their district and that local politicos on both sides (1) were reading Althouse like crazy and (2) felt -- in different ways -- like Althouse's coverage was very powerful.

It would be natural, therefore, for one of those politicians to contact Althouse with an offer of tickets to the show -- so that it could reported on Althouse.

The fact that no one is telling who gave the ticket is also interesting. I can't decide what it suggests, though.

chickelit said...

I can't decide what it suggests, though.

It suggests integrity.

reader_iam said...

A legislator saw one of your videos that went viral and thus offered you two tickets, one of which you accepted, and somehow the identity of the legislator is confidential information that only can be shared with those who can be trusted with such confidential information?

I don't actually care who saw Walker's speech in person or not (that's what TV's for, and no need to dress up or sit captive, either) but the whole "confidential info" claim here is just weird, especially *since* it's quite true that legislators can and do give tix to anyone they please, constituents or not. Why make it all mysterious? Did the legislator ask you not to tell? If so, isn't that odd?

MikeR said...

reader_jam, Ann and Meade are withholding the information because it's fun. Because it seems to be very annoying to a lot of idiots.

X said...

who do you work for garage?

yeah, I thought so.

Anonymous said...

Did the legislator ask you not to tell?

Obviously yes.

If so, isn't that odd?

Why is it odd?

Martin L. Shoemaker said...

reader_iam said...

Why make it all mysterious? Did the legislator ask you not to tell? If so, isn't that odd?

Ah, the old "If you're not guilty, you have no reason not to talk" canard...

It's not "mysterious"; it's a combination of "None of your business" and "Oh, boy, watching you get all riled up about this imaginary scandal is really funny!"

traditionalguy said...

Wasn't Meade in Manchuria for several unexplained years? And wasn't Walker there with him, both later claiming to have been working at a secret Koch-a-Kola Chinese Bottling Plant where CO2 was produced, bottled and shipped hidden inside a sweet brown liquid ready to fizz over when the cap was pulled? I demand an answer!

Alex said...

Why make it all mysterious? Did the legislator ask you not to tell? If so, isn't that odd?

Because she doesn't want the legislator to be spammed with a torrent of hate mail/calls and possibly vandalism from the likes of garage FUCKall.

Anonymous said...

I do agree that it is intriguing why it's such a top secret deal about who gave Althouse and Meade the ticket(s). I wouldn't call it odd. There are many reasons for confidentiality. I'd just like to know which one is at issue here.

Also, I agree that a case can be made that a member of a congress shouldn't be clandestinely giving out tickets to events. It sort of goes against the openness and transparency that we strive for.

Then again, sometimes you ethical issues competing against each other and you have to sort of order them and sacrifice what's less important.

Tank said...

Calling this moron sauerkraut is really unfair to a great hot dog topping.

reader_iam said...

A legislator saw one of your videos that went viral and thus offered you two tickets, one of which you accepted, and somehow the identity of the legislator is confidential information that only can be shared with those who can be trusted with such confidential information?

I don't actually care who saw Walker's speech in person or not (that's what TV's for, and no need to dress up or sit captive, either) but the whole "confidential info" claim here is just weird, especially *since* it's quite true that legislators can and do give tix to anyone they please, constituents or not. Why make it all mysterious? Did the legislator ask you not to tell? If so, isn't that odd?

lemondog said...

Meade making news.

Needs a cross examination gig on boringheads to explain.

Bushman of the Kohlrabi said...

LOL. Doesn't Walker know that disrupting his speech was their free speech right?

chickelit said...

Calling this moron sauerkraut is really unfair to a great hot dog topping.

Not to mention intellectual brats!

David Smith said...

So, who is Abe Saur(kraut), what is the Awl (anything like a petard, fit for hoisting?) and why would anyone care?

Just wondering...maybe it proves how provincial we are here in flyover country.

Triangle Man said...

Has your neutrality (cruel or otherwise) been compromised by this gift of access given to your husband by a legislator?

I'm guessing no.

Tank said...

Remarkably, one of the most important issues in Wisconsin continues to be who is in the building and who is not.

Wierd.

PS The Koch brothers are my heroes.

Triangle Man said...

Calling this moron sauerkraut is really unfair to a great hot dog topping

Who needs hot dogs?

Michael K said...

Ann, by now you should realize that the political is personal to the left. Just be happy that your sons are not nuclear engineering grad students at OSU.

Tank said...

Who needs hotdogs?

AAAARRHGNGNGGNGNE

What could be better than a nice bacon wrapped cheese dog.

With Abe Sauer on top.

garage mahal said...

garage, if you and Abe and clavius (or whatever his handle was) want to play Connect the Imaginary Dots, Professor Althouse is under no obligation to help you.

I didn't write this post begging the dots be connected. Whatever. I guess we know why he got a ticket. A nice pat on the head for a job well done.

Meade said...

To me the best part of the non-story was in the plethora of PayPal donations we started receiving right after the Awl post went up. Hmm. Coincidence? All through the weekend, it seems like in regular time measures of about 10 minutes, we got donations in $10 increments. I haven't added them all up yet but I'm sure, by now, the total is substantial.

Who was doing that? The donations appeared to be computer-generated. Was it the Koch brothers themselves? Governor Walker?

I like to think it was AllenS and rhhardin working in tandem.

Anyway, whoever it was - from Meadhouse to you - thanks a billion!

Anonymous said...

Also, I'm glad you came to comment because I know Ms. Althuuse is busy so instead you can tell me how you got into the assembly chamber when thousands of other Wisconsinites were denied entry to the capitol.

Even if I thought an investigator was needed here, my first choice wouldn't be some guy who seems amazed by the very idea of needing a pass to get in.

James said...

Scott Walker releases his e-mail communication with the 14 flee baggers. Read the exchanges here: http://www.wispolitics.com/1006/110308communications_emails.pdf

chickelit said...

Garage is hard to reason with when he's all koch'd up

MadisonMan said...

I figured he just used a press pass to get in. But I guess not.

Who needs hot dogs?

Oscar Meyer?

James said...

I guess this posts answers Deborah and Clairvius Narcisse questions about the ticket.

BTW, is it possible that Abe Sauer and Clairvisu Narcisse are the same person?

chickelit said...

Oscar Meyer?

Mayer not Meyer. And you, a Madisonian. :)

The Drill SGT said...

@typo:

uncovering some kid of scandal

The Drill SGT said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
chickelit said...

BTW, is it possible that Abe Sauer and Clairvisu Narcisse are the same person?

I detect about a 90% sequence homology in their strings of characters. So yes, probably so. Certainty is always risky though because there are so many posers out there.

I'm a Shaaaaark said...

Have you now, or have you ever, been given a ticket to an event by a state legislature? I remind you, sir, you are under oath.

Joe Sauerkrautarthy, House Committee on Blogging Activities

Leland said...

I'll bite. How is it that you and the legislator came into contact? Did you call him? Did he call you?

I dunno, but Althouse wrote clearly in her post that a legislator "offered to me", which suggests the contact was from the legislator to her. In addition, Althouse said she had to teach a class, so couldn't attend. I doubt someone with other obligations was calling around asking for tickets.

So I'll bite, did Deborah actually read Althouse comments? Did she only read Sauers comments? Can Deborah comprehend what she read?

Anonymous said...

Deborah is a mensch. Save your snark for the assholes.

MadisonMan said...

I was surprised that there's a cabbage tag. How many tags do you have?

Joseph of FP said...

I'm just trying to figure out why is it a big deal how and why Mead got a ticket.

garage mahal said..."Whatever. I guess we know why he got a ticket. A nice pat on the head for a job well done."

Hi Garage :) My response to that would be, "So what?" I'm not trying to be snarky, I just don't see why this is a big deal.

reader_iam said...

I'd just like to know which one is at issue here.

Me, too, 7M. And I'm with on the rest of your comment, too.

Martin, I'm not riled up and nor was my comment, or the questions therein, written in a riled-up style.

Chickelit: I don't think we can tell, either way, whether this speaks to integrity.

Martin L. Shoemaker said...

Seven Machos said...

Deborah is a mensch. Save your snark for the assholes.

Hey! At Althouse, no one is immune from snark!

(Well, a few are so clueless they don't recognize it, rendering them somewhat immune...)

Peter V. Bella said...

Meade was on the grassy knoll.
Meade was the real creator of Watergate.
Meade was deep throat (nttawwt).
Meade was part of Irangate.
Meade ran Contragate.
Meade crated the intlligence on WMDs.

Meade has done nothing less than saved the world.

commentor said...

Back, and to the left.

Back, and to the left.

Back, and to the left.

commentor said...

The real question is, who was handing out grassy knoll tickets.

Clairvius Narcisse said...

you guys are funny cuz you're so serious.

Anonymous said...

One more thing that I think is absolutely critical: Althouse reported that at one point in Walker's speech, Walker turned to Meade and made some gesture precisely to Meade.

In my mind, that's a vital piece of information. Arguably, Walker knew Meade was going to be there. He knew where Meade was going to be sitting. We also know that Althouse likes to pepper her prose in a detective-like style. Still further, state congresspeople don't have big staffs the way, say, a governor does.

I contend that it was Walker's office that gave Althouse and Meade the ticket(s).

Revenant said...

I agree -- the comments at the Awl are hilarious.

The sense of entitlement those people have is amazing. Their schtick appears to be "yeah we make shit up, but that's because you didn't answer our questions".

When called on making shit up, they say "well, answer the question, then".

Meade said...

MadisonMan said...
"I was surprised that there's a cabbage tag. How many tags do you have?"

Uh, MadMan, I don't want to embarrass you but do you even read this blog? Are you high?

Click on the cabbage tag. We true blue long-time Althouse readers would never ever EVER be surprised at the cabbage tag. You've now got me worried about you, man!

Anonymous said...

MUST. FIND. OUT. WHO.

Must know their:

-name
- spouses name
-address
- campaign donors
-business contacts
-where they dine
-where their children go to school

Giving Meade a ticket will not go unpunished.

Welcome to Palin's world, Alhouse.

Peter Hoh said...

Meade needs to officially register as a one-named person.

Like Pele.

Chip Ahoy said...

Mmmm, tuna.

Leland said...

Meade needs to officially register as a one-named person.

Just don't use Madonna... It's already taken. (looking at you, Gaga!)

Brian Hancock said...

Why does it matter so much that Meade or Ann was offered a ticket or by whom?

I thought it was honorable for reporters not to give away their sources - and Meade (and Ann) have done the best reporting I have read of the situation in Madison.

Keep tweaking them over at Abe's joint.

john said...

Meade said "thanks a billion".

If you got a $billion, I want my money back. I think it was a couple thousand; I'll get back to you on that.

deborah said...

James, I had asked Althouse previously for her take on whether it was expected that someone in new media to disclose such things as ticket sources. In my post I quoted her:

If you want more information, you can click on the link. That's blog style. I don't spell everything out. This is new media and I do things with photos, writing, and links that many readers enjoy. Not gonna change that. If you click the link, you'll get to an enlargement of the photo, and you can read the sign. As for interviewing the man, he was on the phone when Meade was there (I was home, sick.) Meade does a lot of interviews. So do I. But it's not according to journalistic conventions. This is blogging, and I'm all about inventing and developing this writing form that is blogging. If that unsettles you... Good!

This has been my basic question, with relation to 'old' media. Would a traditional journalist be expected to disclose the source of his ticket?

As far as Clairivus, I've wondered if he's related Awl, because he claimed that Meade had trolled at other/another website(s).

(Aw, Seven :)

chickelit said...

I thought it was honorable for reporters not to give away their sources - and Meade (and Ann) have done the best reporting I have read of the situation in Madison.

Exactly. Unless some law was broken, that is (or was) routine journalistic practice. That's what I meant by integrity.

deborah said...

Leland, saying she was 'offered' doesn't preclude her phoning, chatting about the upcoming speech, and hoping for an offer. NTTAWWT.

commentor said...

Ann Althouse
Tue, Mar 8, 2011 at 3:26 PM
To: Abe Sauer
Yeah! Why won't Barack Obama release his birth certificate?


Tee hee. I know what you're driving at here, even if it probably went over Abe's head.

MadisonMan said...

Click on the cabbage tag.

Darn those conflicting edits pages!

Of course I clicked on it! I'd just never seen it before. I mean, who keeps track of cabbage -- besides the Irish and big fans of Corned beef? Is there a bean tag? No. Peas? No. Brocolli? No. Corn? Yes. Eggs? Yes...of course!

So how many tags exist?

Clairvius Narcisse said...

yes! i was drawn here by meade's peurile "defense" (turns out he didn't get a ticket from hulsey as he first implied).
honestly, it wasn't that big a deal until meade got twitchy about it. as a result you now have a new troll here at althorse (see, it's cute to make fun of someone's name). fret not, i bore easily when it comes to brain-dead bullshit.

Issob Morocco said...

Sauerkraut balls are better than Wasabi balls.

deborah said...

Disclosing a ticket source is not the same as disclosing an information source. The problem is the ticket being received from a public official who may benefit from a certain type of coverage to an entity that may be seen as favorably covering one side.

BJM said...

I'm waiting with abated breath for Sauer's scoop, complete with charts, a PPT presentation and forensic video [by the shadowy Pihc Yoha, a leading expert in all things crumbly] that Meadehouse planted the explosive charges that brought down the Capitol building that subsequently pancaked onto Michael Moore.

Or maybe it was a double stack of pancakes eaten by Michael Moore in the capitol...my tinfoil hat shifted for a second...but it was reeeeaaalllly bad.

The dastardly Duo were last seen driving Northwest...and we all know what THAT means...don't we?

Palin/Althouse 2012!!11!

commentor said...

it wasn't that big a deal until meade got twitchy about it.

See this works both ways. X isn't a big deal until a bunch sneering contemptuous people start telling you to shut the fuck up and also give them the facts about X immediately, while acting as if X is worthy of a 'Gate' suffix.

At that point, they can whistle for facts about X. Human nature old chap.

SteveR said...

It seems logical to me that Ann is not telling, at least in part, to drive some people crazy. Not Vortex crazy but just a little bit. Having neutered ole Abe, she's still got the bait dangling and its still working.

Martin L. Shoemaker said...

Issob Morocco said...

Even further off topic...

Sauerkraut balls are better than Wasabi balls.

Never having tried either, I wouldn't know. But I really like wasabi, so wasabi ________ pretty much appeals to me. (Wasabi peas are food of the gods!) Where did you find wasabi balls? What's in them?

Ann Althouse said...

"better to spin their wheels in muddy conspiracy theories."

I prefer: better to twirl their forks in ragged cabbage shreds.

Mark said...

The Modern Progressive is starting to look a lot like the Old Fashioned LaRouche Accolyte.

MadisonMan said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Meade said...

"ragged cabbage shreds"

That's it! THAT is what the Capitol smelled like last week!

MadisonMan said...

Let me try that again.

The egg salad challenge video is not synched up.

Mayonnaise. What's the point!? It's gelatinous.

It needs to be redone.

Meade said...

...with not so subtle notes of patchouli and toe jam.

And bean soup.

chickelit said...

The problem is the ticket being received from a public official who may benefit from a certain type of coverage to an entity that may be seen as favorably covering one side.

This would seem to open a door to (1) inquiring where every news source gets their tickets and (2) whether every news source is favorable to one side or another.

reader_iam said...

I don't think the word "sources" means what some of you seem to think it means, in the context of reporting. You're confusing concepts.

I'm Full of Soup said...

Does The Awl have a point? Nyuk nyuk nyuk.

BJM said...

@Deborah

What would be Althouse's motive in "favorably covering one side"?

You obviously did not see Althouse's post where she said she will lose a significant amount in benefits per year if Walker's bill passes.

granmary said...

Another fine example of what happens to you if you are a reasonable liberal who dares to look at both sides of an issue.

X said...

I don't think the word "sources" means what some of you seem to think it means, in the context of reporting.

maybe you could explain. it sure doesn't seem to mean what it meant before Plame.

deborah said...

"It seems logical to me that Ann is not telling, at least in part, to drive some people crazy."

lol, ya think?

deborah said...

"This would seem to open a door to (1) inquiring where every news source gets their tickets and (2) whether every news source is favorable to one side or another."

chick, I alluded to that in another post. I'm curious as to protocol in new media.

deborah said...

BJM, I didn't say or imply Althouse had a motive in covering one side favorably.

Methadras said...

garage mahal said...

I didn't write this post begging the dots be connected. Whatever. I guess we know why he got a ticket. A nice pat on the head for a job well done.


At least he went out there and became a citizen reporter to give a view to those who don't have one. What have you done, lapdog union tool?

reader_iam said...

Comrade X: Deborah got there already. And a breach of the standard doesn't necessarily mean the standard's not worthwhile.

Chickelit: Yes, it would, and properly so. And this would be nothing new. If asked how I got into an event when I was reporting, I answered (and didn't think it was weird I was asked). And when I was editing, if I asked a reporter that sort of thing, I expected an answer.

Because at one time I was in charge of stringers (as an assistant city editor), I asked that question quite a lot, among others.

This is nothing new.

Methadras said...

Is this is a soros/sheen backed conspiracy on who meade got the ticket from? Will Garage McLadyparts be woman enough to through himself under the union tool buses as they roll in and out of Madison?

shiloh said...

Must be a slow news day at The Awl and Althouse as Meade may be on his way to Joe the Plumber notoriety. ;)

Paddy O said...

I want to see Meade's birth certificate!! He wasn't even born in Wisconsin, I'll bet. How did a non-native born resident get winked at by the governor?!

garage mahal said...

What have you done, lapdog union tool?

I drive the Teamsters Semi motherfucker!

Anonymous said...

"Austin: Only two things scare me, and one is nuclear war.
Basil: What's the other thing that scares you?
Austin: Carneys.
Basil: What?
Austin: Circus folk. Nomads, you know. Small hands... smell like cabbage!"

rhhardin said...

No man's plenum, Mr. Quistgaard, is impervious to the awl of God's will.

- Barthelme

Phil 314 said...

It was Mr. X.

LordSomber said...

Sauer grapes.


I'll be here all week...

vnjagvet said...

From the official US Capitol website:

Passes — Passes are required to enter either Gallery at any time. Visitors may obtain Gallery passes from the offices of their Senators or Representatives. International visitors may inquire about Gallery passes at the House and Senate Appointment Desks on the upper level.

From my personal experience, these passes are routinely handed out to anyone who asks for them. Is the pass procedure any different in Wisconsin?

Known Unknown said...

Dear Professor-

Have you had another opportunity to taste the deliciousness of Sauerkraut balls?

If you are ever in Columbus, Ohio, try Schmidt's they are amazing. And I don't like regular sauerkraut.

Oh, and if you do make it to Schmidt's — the creampuffs are good, and the bahama mama on the pretzel bun is fantastic.

Great. Now I'm hungry.

PaulV said...

Koch Industries are buying all their stuff through the Amazon portal. Will Althouse pay a dividend this year. Garage drives trafic and thinks he deserves his share.

I'm Full of Soup said...

Paul IV said:

"Koch Industries are buying all their stuff through the Amazon portal."

Haha- good one Paul! Garbage Mahal will blame it on SCOTUS and Citizens United!

Trooper York said...

I kinda feel bad that garage is so mad all the time. He used to be in a much better mood.

I mean I heard a rumor that the Green Bay Packers won the Super Bowl?

That can't be right. Next thing you are gonna tell me a black guy got elected President.

DEEBEE said...

I drive the Teamsters Semi motherfucker!
===========================
Semi -- Is that a premature ejaculation -- and why would you ride on something havingthose sorts of problems.

Leland said...

saying she was 'offered' doesn't preclude her phoning, chatting about the upcoming speech, and hoping for an offer.

That's some projection you have there. Why again would the Professor be hoping for an offer if she in fact, turned down the offer?

Anonymous said...

The Koch brothers strike again! Satan wears David Koch pajamas.

Deb said...

Abe got into the Cosmic Caramels

Steven said...

Fess up, Meade: you are David Koch, aren't you?

Robin said...

Jeez, how long are we going to have to endure the continuous nutty references to the Koch's control of the world from the leftwing loons? Just when I was getting used to being oppressed by all the Zionists ...

Revenant said...

This has been my basic question, with relation to 'old' media. Would a traditional journalist be expected to disclose the source of his ticket?

Well, there are two things that spring to mind about the "traditional" coverage of the address:

(1) None of the news reports on it explained how the journalists doing the reporting gained access.

(2) Nobody thought (1) was strange or unusual.

Tibore said...

"chickelit said...
Abe sounds filled with acerbic wit."


He is full of something. It does rhyme with "wit".

deborah said...

Rev, reader_i_am posted above that states it is common practice to ask how a reporter received access.

Shanna said...

In both the 2001 and the 2005 inauguration, I wanted VIP parade seats for both my spouse and myself. I called before I arrived in D.C. and got the tickets from my Congressman, who just happens to be on the other side of the aisle from me.

I also managed to get tickets, secured by his office, to the two biggest balls


Seriously. Generally they get a certain number of these things and they just give them out to whoever asks until they are gone. Sheesh.

The Koch reference just proves that that guy is crazy.

deborah said...

Rev, the reader post @ 4:43.

Anonymous said...

I think the case is being overstated here. Politicians grant access all the time in exchange for even the hope of favorable coverage. This is so common that it is beyond mundane.

Why should Althouse or Meade be any different? Is it because they don't have the license to practice journalism that Wolf Blitzer has?

deborah said...

Shannon and Seven, yes...and we have once again been drawn, inexorably, into the Vortex!

deborah said...

Oops, Shanna, I mean.

Shanna said...

Horray for the Vortex!

Seriously I think Koch references should be a drinking game. It is Mardi Gras.

bagoh20 said...

Of course Meade got a ticket. After giving birth to Trig Palin, he is much admired in some circles.

PaulV said...

Meade is not evil like CNN that covered up truth about SH to gau-in access or Woodward who repeats the lies of his sources to protect them. The left fears the citizen journalist who speaks truth to power.

Methadras said...

garage mahal said...

I drive the Teamsters Semi motherfucker!


Yeah, well, putting a saddle on your mother and having her pull a carriage of Budweiser must be a nice gig for you. Cheers.

daniel said...

It is my impression that almost all, and maybe all tickets to political speeches are given out by politicians.
And yet, I do not recall ever seeing a publication or statement by anyone as to who gave a ticket to whom.
Should Anne be the first to declare such information about this particular ticket?
Should all ticket recipients be required to do so on demand from lunatics?

John Cunningham said...

an amusing example of the imbecilities of the current Left. the mindless indoctrination of govt schools, along with diversity training and political correctness, have left them utterly unable to do simple reasoning.

MamaM said...

"If life gives you cabbage, make cole slaw."

Anonymous said...

Welcome to the VRWC! I'll see you at the Koch brothers' secret meeting.

Revenant said...

Rev, the reader post @ 4:43.

That doesn't actually address my point. Reader's saying that editors insist on knowing what reporters did to get access.

Ok.

I'm sure Meade's editor wanted to know where he got the ticket from, too. Turns out he got it FROM his editor, though, so I'm guessing that was a short conversation.

The point is, none of US know what reporters do to get access. Knowing that their editors know is about as reassuring as hearing that a manager at a brokerage firm has examined the brokers' trades and pinky-swears they were all totally legal and ethical and stuff.

There's no transparency in professional journalism. Ethical safeguards are meaningless in the absence of outside monitoring.

Jim Treacher said...

Abe Sauer has ripped the lid off the conspiracy. This is a big win.

Conserve Liberty said...

@Methdras: What have you done, lapdog fool?

@Garage: I drive the Teamsters Semi motherfucker!

@Methasdras: Yeah, well, putting a saddle on your mother and having her pull a carriage of Budweiser must be a nice gig for you. Cheers.

Sublime rejoinder that alone redeems an entire week of comment reading!

Paco Wové said...

After the passage of time, Meade can write his tell-all autobiography, I was a secret tentacle of the Kochtopus!

AllenS said...

I've been trying to hide my donations to the blog through my Amazon purchases. I didn't want the sourkraut awl, and garage to know. Yes, it was me who bought the one pound bees wax.

X said...

Comrade X: Deborah got there already.

Not really. She just asserted they were different, just like you did. Please explain why an information source who can also have an agenda is different and deserving of protection.

Meade said...

I knew it. Thanks AllenS.

Gentleman Farmer said...

I read this entire post. Then I went over to whatshisface's blog and read his post. Then I read all of the comments over there. Then I came back here and read all of the comments here.

Thirty minutes of my life I can never get back. And I'm pretty sure that I'm dumber now than I was a half-hour ago.

kent said...

Yeah, well, putting a saddle on your mother and having her pull a carriage of Budweiser must be a nice gig for you. Cheers.

Oh, my. ;)

Henry said...

Gentleman Farmer wrote: I read this entire post. Then I went over to whatshisface's blog and read his post. Then I read all of the comments over there. Then I came back here and read all of the comments here.

Thirty minutes of my life I can never get back. And I'm pretty sure that I'm dumber now than I was a half-hour ago.


And then I read your comment.

deborah said...

Rev, I see what you mean. And as Comrade X notes below you, informants also have agendas. We can only hope for unbiased reporting.

deborah said...

Allen, what'r ya gonna do with the bees wax?

Meade said...

deborah said...
" We can only hope for unbiased reporting"

No no no! That's just it - there is no such thing as "unbiased reporting." There never was! We've known that for at least as long ago as when I took high school Journalism in 1970.

The whole point of New Media is that bias is assumed and, ideally - unhidden, transparent. It's also, thanks to the Web and the blogosphere, self-correcting. It's interactive between reader and reporter.

The big joke in this silly Abe Sauerkraut saga is that of course my ticket came from a sympathetic reader of the Althouse blog who had a ticket to give. There is not one thing wrong with that.

And if Abe Sauer only had an understanding of how New Media works, perhaps he would decide to stop being such a schmuck - the type who publishes private email without asking permission - and he would, himself, be offered access to events such as the Governor's Budget Address to the Wisconsin State Assembly.

But no. Abe Sauer, like every schmuck who ever was and who will ever be, will never, ever, ever, understand that. Why? Because Abe Sauer is blinded by his own bias - the bias of schmuckiness.

deborah said...

"The whole point of New Media is that bias is assumed and, ideally - unhidden, transparent. It's also, thanks to the Web and the blogosphere, self-correcting. It's interactive between reader and reporter."

Thanks, Meade, very thought-provoking.

AllenS said...

deborah,

I'm taking apart a 1980 CJ7 Jeep. When confronted with a bolt that is rusted really bad into the nut. I use my torch and heat it up and then apply bees wax to the nut. Bees wax is great at drawing into the threads. And, it doesn't catch fire. I had run out of the stuff and had to order more.

It's an old Apache trick.

deborah said...

Oh. I thought you might be doing something interesting like making candles :)

Seriously, you could could do the coolest blog following your farm through the year.

Char Char Binks, Esq. said...

I hope Meade didn't have to do any #metoo kinda stuff to get that ticket.

Char Char Binks, Esq. said...

I hope Meade didn't have to do any #metoo stuff to get the ticket.