12/23/2011

That's Debatable: End of the year awards

By Scot Ross, Brian Fraley

WisOpinion.com has asked two veterans of Wisconsin policy and politics, Scot Ross of One Wisconsin Now and Brian Fraley of the John K. MacIver Institute for Public Policy, to engage in occasional exchanges on a topic of their choosing. In this installment of "That's Debatable," Fraley and Ross give their picks for end-of-the-year awards.

Become a fan of That's Debatable on Facebook

Scot Ross

Brian Fraley

Winner: Progressive solidarity After the corporate-financed takeover of state government and historic losses on the federal level, the state's progressives strategized, mobilized and energized themselves for a fight like this state has never seen. It started with outrage over the rejection of federal funds to build high-speed rail between Milwaukee and Madison. It moved forward when Gov. Scott Walker and the lapdog GOP Legislature handed out $140 million in new special interest tax breaks and took away the rights of people to hold corporations accountable. And then the historic uprising against Gov. Walker, first for his attack on collective bargaining and later for his dismantling of public education, health care and environmental regulation. Wisconsinites took to the streets like never before to stop Scott Walker. It started with protests across Wisconsin, continued with the recalls of two Republican senators and moves on with the coming recall of Walker. Progressives stood defiant with their brothers and sisters in organized labor, locked arm in arm against the attacks by Gov. Walker. Loser: Gov. Scott Walker Walker could have brought Wisconsin together to solve the state's challenges, but instead the oft-called Koch-head ripped our beloved state apart by governing from the extreme, corporate right like a modern-day dictator. No Machiavellian tactic was off the table, no betrayal of the Wisconsin ideal left undone. Gov. Walker has won victories for his corporate masters - but the price to the people of Wisconsin has sealed his inglorious fate in our state's history. Rookie of the Year: Tie - United Wisconsin & the Wisconsin progressive online community The recall of Scott Walker is being driven by a grassroots movement that was started with one website and an online list of people interested in recalling Gov. Walker. The information sources for outrage at Walker come from alternative media found in the ever-growing Wisconsin progressive blogosphere, which provided consistent analysis, breaking information and compelling narratives that not only informed people across Wisconsin, but also across the nation and the globe. The Occupy movement owes its roots to Wisconsin. Revolutions against the oligarchy are always economic and the fight against corporate American and a return of citizen democracy owes its success to the efforts in Wisconsin to organize and take action.

Rookie of the Year: Media Trackers And with this, many heads at the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, the mainstream media and One Wisconsin Now explode. While some of their reports may not have panned out to be as large as originally sold, no one group or individual new to the scene in 2011 had as large of an impact. They did uncover facts and stories the traditional media missed. They broke the news about the Wisconsin Jobs Now BBQ parties, the out-of-state union recall workers living in a hotel and voting here, and the news that three-dozen people were registered to vote from a single property owned by state Sen. Lena Taylor. Plus, the folks at Media Trackers drive the left in Wisconsin nuts. Runners up: Congressman Reid Ribble and state Rep. Michelle Litjens. Loser of the Year: Graeme Zielinski From his televised tantrum wherein he tossed baseless accusations of voter fraud on election night in the Darling recall, to his bizarre tirades on Milwaukee radio, to his unhinged jihads against alternative news organizations, the spokesperson for DPW is the runaway winner for 2011's Loser of the Year. (In fact, you may be surprised at how many Democrats feed me information about this guy's antics!) You may ask why this award wasn't bestowed upon Zielinski's boss, Mike Tate. Sure, Democrats may have lost seats in Congress, a U.S. Senate seat, the gov's office and legislative majorities under Tate, but not this year. Besides, Tate is generally a decent human being, even a nice guy, not a loser. Note, the title of this award is not guy who loses a lot. It's loser of the year. So let's raise a glass in his honor. Runners-up: Marty Beil and Mary Bell. Winner of the Year: MacIver Institute By most accounts it should be U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan. His (now bipartisan) push for fiscal responsibility has changed the debate across the nation. He was a runner up for Time Magazine's person of the year. But he broke our hearts and didn't run for president so he does not win this honor. Besides, if I give Media Trackers an award for a couple stories they broke, Winner of the Year most certainly is: the MacIver Institute. Self-serving? Perhaps, but consider this: From the story behind state employee contracts, to coverage of the push for collective bargaining reform; from coverage of fake sick notes, to teachers taking their students to protest; from protesters disrupting a Special Olympics ceremony to Hitler salutes at the Christmas Tree lighting; from Pink Dress Guy's antics to the Mickey Mouse GAB; from coverage of an obnoxious protest at Messmer High School, to the It's Working educational campaign, MacIver has led the way. Millions of people have seen our reports on YouTube and at our website, and our Facebook page and Twitter feed are becoming more popular by the day. The good news for 2012? We're just getting started, folks.