Ed's going to have more on the GOP buying recall signatures with booze in Wisconsin

[highplainsdem]

Rachel already talked about this. I'm glad Ed's covering it, too.

[gateley]

1. Missed Rachel and can't tune in to Ed -- can you give an overview? Thanks! nt

[highplainsdem]

3. Link to story about this at HuffPost, with audio:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/21/wisconsin-recall-shots_n_851459.html

Amanda Terkel
Wisconsin Recall Fight Heats Up As Democrats Complain Of 'Shots For Signatures' Deals (AUDIO)
First Posted: 04/21/11 08:49 AM ET Updated: 04/21/11 03:28 PM ET

-snip-

According to a draft of the Democratic complaint to the GAB, obtained by The Huffington Post from a Democratic source, a woman who was at John's Main Event, a tavern in Burlington, Wis., with her friends on Feb. 27, "heard that someone was providing 'shots' to people if they signed a petition to recall State Senator Robert Wirch," a Democrat.

The woman, who signed the complaint, said a bartender showed her the recall petition and told her that if she signed it, she and her friends would get free shots.

The source also passed along an audio recording of the encounter, in which the woman says, "So you're going to get us -- one, two, three, four, five shots if we sign this?" A man responds, "That's right. ... I'll buy them."

There are many questions that remain surrounding the recording, including whether the bartender was joking and whether the woman actually supported recalling Wirch or was just egging on the signature-gatherer. But it does demonstrate that a party's reliance on a network of unsupervised signature-gatherers can end up causing headaches.

-snip-

I haven't listened to the audio file at HuffPo yet, but I assume it's the same one Rachel played and Ed will talk about.

[gateley]

7. Thank you so much! nt

[PearliePoo2]

2. Go Ed!

I'm loving this red-headed rabble-rouser!

[highplainsdem]

4. kick

[think]

5. tonights police and fireman segment is Ed on!

A must see. Two republicans, one a police officer from Ohio and one a fireman from Florida are explaining why they believe the Republican party has betrayed them. Michael Steele is trying to defend the Republican response and going down in flames!

Thank you Ed. You are beyond dead on. You are Ed ON!!

[gateley]

8. You have to give Steele credit for going on Ed's show after Ed spanked him on Maher. nt

[think]

13. I have a fair amount of respect for Mr Steele

I don't envy the role he must play in backing the Republican party talking points in light of what's happening to the fireman and police officer. That would be painful.

[gateley]

15. I admit I like him now since he's no longer Chair and as tightly constrained by

The Talking Points.

[malaise]

6. This is a great program

Even Steele is jumping ship from the Ryan budget.

Bwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!

[senseandsensibility]

9. LOL

I noticed that. Steele is really trying to distance himself from the party and especially from the Ryan thing.

[senseandsensibility]

10. So when is the booze thing coming up?

Can't wait.

[highplainsdem]

11. After the commercial break. Finally...

[MedleyMisty]

12. Hate to beat a dead horse

But when these people do tricks like this, why do we sit around saying oh, we can compromise with them, we can play fair, we can work within the system, it will be all right, everyone plays by the rules here, yay rules, and if we're nice and sweet and polite they might give us our freedom for free?

How much cheating and underhanded tricks and outright breaking the law do they have to do before we realize that they're not playing by any rules?

[think]

14. You aren't beating a dead horse. You are beating on a machine

that does not feel your beating nor acknowledges your existence. However, if enough of us beat on the machine we might find the off switch....