Ignorance on the Bench

By now, you've probably heard the comments made this week by Waupaca County Judge Phillip Kirk during a sentencing hearing for a convicted child molestor. If you missed Bob Burnell airing those comments yesterday here on WOSH here's a link to video of the sentencing hearing:

http://www.fox11online.com/dpp/news/video-judge-philip-kirks-remarks

While some have chosen to focus on Judge Kirk's strange choice of words: "sweet smelling jock strap" and "penis floating in the Wolf as walleye bait"--the real focus should be on the shocking ignorance shown in trying to equate homosexuality with pedophilia.

It is hard to believe that someone who is entrusted with sitting in judgement of others can be allowed to hold a blatently homophobic and scientifically incorrect personal belief. Ask any psychiatrist or consult any study of pedophiles and you will find ZERO CONNECTION BETWEEN SEXUAL ORIENTATION AND PEDOPHILIA. Pedophilia is an adult psychological disorder characterized by a preference for prepubescent children as sexual partners; this preference may or may not be acted upon. Homosexuality is attraction to adults of the same gender. Many child molesters don't really have an adult sexual orientation. They have never developed the capacity for mature sexual relationships with other adults, either men or women. Instead, their sexual attraction focuses on children – boys, girls, or children of both sexes.

So for Judge Kirk to spend seven minutes trying to convince a pedophile that he is gay is not only a waste of time--but seems like an overt effort to perpetuate an unfair and painful stereotype. The Catholic Church has been another good one for that--claiming gays infiltrated the clergy to have access to children--in an effort to explain away the priest sexual abuse scandal and its criminal and pathetic efforts to cover it up. What would Judge Kirk's "explanation" have been if the defendent had molested little girls? "Your urges are normal--just make sure they are a little bit older next time, OK?"

If the defendent in this case was actually homosexual and was looking for illilcit gay contact he could have gone to that certain bookstore here in Oshkosh or the nearby park that police are raiding all the time to get his fix. HE WOULD NOT HAVE CHOSEN BOYS ON HIS SCHOOL BUS!

In talking with a reporter who has covered several other similar hearings in Judge Kirk's courtroom, this is a pretty normal admonishment that he delivers to child molestors whose victims are boys. So don't think that this is just a guy who had a bad day or chose a few bad words when the cameras just happened to be the courtroom. This is obviously a deep-seated belief that Judge Kirk holds and is not afraid to share. Maybe the people of Waupaca County are comfortable having such an ignoramus representing them in the dispensation of justice--but to the rest of us outside the county, it just makes you look like a bunch of backwoods bigots.

They're All Gone Now

Lost in the hoopla over the death of Osama Bin Laden last week was the death of the last known combat veteran from World War One.  Australian Claude Choules was 110-years old when he passed away.  He was 14 when he joined the Royal Australian Navy--and lied about his age to enlist.  He was still young enough to serve during World War Two as well.  With Choule's passing, we now run the risk of completely forgetting about "The War to end All Wars".

If you asked most Americans who the US fought against in World War One, I'm guessing it would look like one of those Jay Leno Tonight Show skits where he goes on the street to ask questions about history or current events.  "The Nazis?" would probably be a very common answer.  "The Russians?" would probably be the second most popular answer.  If most people learned about WWI the same way I did in my grade school and high school classes I can't blame them for being clueless.  It was lumped in with pretty much everything else that happened in the 20th Century during the last week of class--because it was more importatnt for us to spend a week learning about George Washington Carver and Susan B. Anthony earlier in the semester (but I digress).

World War One also suffers from a lack of shocking events or easily-identifiable bad guys.  I don't think the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand matches Pearl Harbor--or 9/11--in terms of shock and anger created.  And the Kaiser just didn't seem as evil as Hitler or Osama Bin Laden.  There were no dramatic beach landings (for US forces anyway), no concentration camps to be liberated and no nuclear bomb to end everything.

In fact, the Great War really had no ending.  The Allies never made it into Germany to remove those who had driven the war effort.  The French and the British just wanted to stop fighting and to start punishing the Germans and Austrians--and maybe pick up some additional land for their empires.  And then you had President Woodrow Wilson desperate to create his legacy (and a New World Order) with the League of Nations.  Nearly all historians agree it was the end of World War One that sowed the seeds for World War Two--as heavy sanctions on the Germans created the anger and hatred that allowed National Socialism (Naziism) to rise--and for the Cold War by allowing Communists to sieze power in Russia.

And now they are all gone.  The men who fought the first fight to preserve freedom around the world.  Let's not forget them--or the sacrifices they made.

I Guess He Learned His Lesson

The following is an e-mail that purportedly was sent by a UW Oshkosh student to WTMJ Radio host Charlie Sykes after news broke that Professor Stephen Richards solicited recall petition signatures in his class on March 7th.  That story was given a boost by a student recording of Richards spending about 8 minutes at the start of class that day asking kids to sign the petitions (right outside the classroom please!) and explaining why they should do so (but I won't keep track of who does or doesn't!).  UWO Chancellor Richard Wells says Richards was talked to--and that "corrective action" was taken. The author of the e-mail is not identified.

direct from dr richards class

I'm sitting in Dr. (I use that term loosely) Richards' class as I'm writing this. Just wanted to let you know that instead of apologizing for his actions and everything that has come out in the last couple days, he scolded us. He started by telling us that he has had a police escort all day due to death threats. He then proceeded to tell us that it is illegal to record a professor without his/her permission. He stated that "anyone has any smart phones or recording devices, to turn them off or leave." He then proceeded to tell us that he could have charged those students with some sort of BS crime and had us arrested and kicked out of school. His rant has been going on for the better part of 20 minutes now and isn't showing any signs of slowing down or stopping. Just like his political rants which take place multiple times per week, this is the kind of crap that disrupts our opportunity to learn at an institution of higher education.

I don't see the need to be scolded because this idiot finally got busted. As a criminal justice student graduating in May, this guy is a disgrace to me and the rest of the students in the program.

Just a heads up that absolutely nothing has changed since the "corrective action" that was handed down from Chancellor Wells. The guy is a joke and doesn't deserve his position.

Thanks for getting this story on the air. The CJ students really appreciate that our story is finally being heard.

Now, I've got just a couple of things about what Professor Richards allegedly had to say. 

First, nobody at the Oshkosh Police Department could confirm that Professor Richards was put under police protection and nobody at UWO Police returned my calls yesterday.

Second, when I was in college, it was considered common practice to record lectures in the classroom.  Of course these were the days before professors would archive mp3's of their lectures allowing students to download them and listen back at their convenience--and that was on those little micro-tapes that sounded like garbage anyway (but I digress).  And shouldn't a Criminal Justice instructor know that in Wisconsin a conversation can be recorded so long as one party is aware of the recording?  And isn't recording conversations a common law enforcement tactic--in order to catch suspects discussing or committing illegal activity?

Third, nothing builds the student-teacher relationship more than threatening to have your class arrested and charged with crimes and kicked out of school.  I'm guessing finals can't come fast enough for the kids in Professor Richards' classes this spring--and at the administration building as well.  Perhaps the winds of summer will just blow this whole thing away, right?

For years now UW officials have been telling us that failing to provide employees with hefty raises and better benefits have "made it difficult to attract and retain the best teaching talent."  The more we learn about Professor Stephen Richards, the more I think they might be right.

Act Like You've Been There Before

Sometimes I have to give President Obama some credit.  Seeing some of the "teases" for the President's upcoming interview with 60 Minutes--he justifies his refusal to release the pictures of a dead Osama Bin Laden by saying "There is no need to spike the football."  I'm not sure if he goes on to explain that phrase--perhaps telling the story of Hall of Fame running back Barry Sanders--who never spiked the ball or did an over-the-top endzone celebration after scoring a touchdown.  When asked about that during his career, Sanders said his father told him early in his playing career "Act like you've been there before."

I was thinking the same thing as footage of the celebrations that erupted here in the US on Sunday night as word of Bin Laden's death spread.  You had all the flag waving, the chanting, the placards and signs with the red "X" across Osama's face--or crosshairs--and everyone mugging for the camera.  While you can understand the desire to "celebrate" this victory in the War on Terror--I found it hard not to compare those demonstrations to the street celebrations in the Muslim world after 9-11.  Remember how you thought "What is wrong with those people--singing and chanting--because thousands of innocent people were killed?"  Well, how did we act any differently after the Bin Laden death?  "Act like you've been there before."

And that is why I grudgingly agree with President Obama in his decision not to release the Bin Laden death photos.  As a reporter I certainly want to see those photos--since they represent documentation of an historic and news-worthy event.  The only problem is, in our current culture those photos will not be treated as historical documents.  It would take about half a nano-second before someone is hawking "Osama is Dead" t-shirts, coffee mugs, posters, screen-savers and bumper stickers--all featuring the gruesome death images.  A quarter of Facebook and Twitter users would make the photos their new avatars as well.  And when that happens, how does that make us the better people that we purport to be in this global fight?

Act like you've been there before, America.

Don't Worry, They're Used To It

Later this morning, we will play for you the 8-minute long audio segment of the UW Oshkosh professor who solicited recall signatures from students in his classroom.  As much as I would like you to pay attention to what Professor Stephen Richards is telling his students--that more than 100 faculty members are doing the same thing, that he won't keep track of who signs the petition and who doesn't, that state workers won't be allowed to join unions anymore, that Winnebago Mental Health Center will be closing--costing Oshkosh thousands of jobs, and that without unions, state workers will make only $18,000 a year, that even if you don't live in Randy Hopper's district you can still sign the petitions--because they will catch that and just not count it--I'd like you to pay attention to what you don't hear.

One thing you won't hear is a stampede of students coming down from their seats to sign those petitions.  I'm guessing more than a few of the kids were thinking "I'm not even going to be around here for this recall election--so why should I care?"  Or maybe they were thinking "When I graduate and am making half as much as you and paying for 50-percent of my health insurance premiums and all of my retirement benefits I'll be feeling really sorry for you, Professor Richards".  Most likely they were thinking "Dude, I'm $25,000 in debt to be here because my parents thought it was more important to have a boat that we used three times a year instead of saving for my college education--so can you start teaching us something about Criminal Justice please?"

Another thing you won't hear are any protests to open campaigning in the classroom.  Some will believe that is because the students all support the "plight" of their professors--and that they were "appreciative"of the "courage" shown by those "persecuted" workers.  Obviously, at least one student did have a problem with it--acting correctly and taking their complaint about Professor Richards' conduct to college officials--who I'm sure really dropped the hammer on the Prof with discipline that no one will ever learn about.  But as you listen you'll probably find yourself asking "why are these kids putting up with this?"

The answer to that question is really simple: this is par for the course for many of these students.  Remember, this generation has been used as political pawns their whole lives.  These are the kids who were paraded in front of the School Board to put their Elementary Strings instruments in a cardboard coffin they spent all class period building to create the perfect "made-for-local-cable-access-TV-moment".  These are the kids who were assigned to write papers on "What President Obama's Election Means To Me".  These are the kids the Legislature required to learn about the history of labor unions.  And these are the kids who were told they could walk out of their classes and gather in the gym to "protest" the elimination of courses that only six of them were ever going to sign up for anyway.

So while those of us on the "outside" of the education system howl in protest over the "inappropriateness" of Professor Richards' activities on March 7th--the students of Wisconsin's classrooms will just remember it as another regular Monday.

Why They Fight

Overshadowed by the breaking news of Osama Bin Laden's death on Sunday was the announcement from the state's largest teachers union--the Wisconsin Education Association Council--that it was cancelling its 2011 Fall Convention.  For kids, that Convention meant two days off of school in October every year.  For parents, it meant an annual scramble to find daycare or babysitting for younger students--because nobody else is getting those two days off.  For school districts, it meant an extra two days tacked on to the end of the school calendar in June.  And for teachers--based on reported attendance at the Convention every year--it basically meant two paid holidays.

WEAC President Mary Bell says the Convention is being dumped because--without collective barganing power--her union could no longer guarantee that districts could be strong-armed into giving teachers those two days off with pay.  She also bemoans the "loss" of the "best personal development opportunity offered to teachers every year."

This of course leads to the question many of us "uneducated" folks in the private sector would ask:  "Why not just have the Convention on a weekend?"  That of course would make the most sense.  The Wisconsin Broadcasters Association holds its workshops and awards banquets on weekends.  Why?  Because the vast majority of us have to work Monday through Friday.  Besides, I get paid to be here in the studio or out covering news--not to sit in a convention center and learn about strategies to win my next round of negotiations with my employer.

Also consider this question:  do any private sector businesses shut down to allow employees to attend a convention?  Does Best Buy close up during the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas every year?  Is it impossible to get something to eat during the Grocers Association or the Wisconsin Restaurant Association's annual meetings?  No.  And let's not forget the three months or so of summer break that could host an entire week's worth of convention time if so needed.

Bell also lamented during her Sunday conference call that WEAC is already budgeting for the loss of revenues expected if school districts are no longer required to withdraw union dues from employee paychecks.  If "solidarity in this fight" is so great, why would you have to worry about losing anything when such a contribution become voluntary?  I would think the incredible value provided by the union and its executives would lead members to gladly continue handing over the cash--and maybe even pay a little bit more.  Because this whole thing is about rights--not money--right?

A Job Well Done

It may have taken 9 1/2 years--but getting our final revenge against Osama Bin Laden has certainly been worth it.  The boost to American morale is palpable, and perhaps will rebuild support for the many fronts upon which we continue to fight the War On Terrorism. 

Some have been quick to compare this to the death of Hitler in World War Two--a blow that will only hasten the end of the war.  Unfortunately, this is more like the death of Admiral Yamamoto in that same war.  The architect of the Pearl Harbor attack was killed in April of 1943--thanks in large part to an intelligence coup where the US Navy knew where his plane would be flying--and our pilots shot him down.  That was a great blow to Japan--but he was not the man driving their war effort--and the battle dragged on for another two-plus years.

Nonetheless, this is a great victory for the US Military and President Obama.  The President deserves a hearty pat on the back for the efforts he has undertaken in the War on Terror.  Candidate Obama promised to bring the troops home in his first 90-days in office.  Obviously, those troops were still engaged in battle on Sunday morning. 

And the President learned from the mistakes of his predecessors.  President Clinton had the chance to assassinate Bin Laden at least once during his time in office--and passed on the opportunity.  President Bush had Bin Laden trapped in the mountains of eastern Afghanistan early in the war--and allowed him to slip away without a targeted strike.  President Obama had a killshot opportunity in a coutry with which we are not currently at war and he took it.

Some of the reports last night had the intelligence that led to Bin Laden coming from detainees at Guantanamo Bay.  Again, candidate Obama promised to close that facility and return those held there to their homelands.  But President Obama realized the value of dataining those deadly criminals and continuing to employ interrogation techniques that some of us find unsavory--but obviously can lead to important advances in the war.

I hope that everyone is able to put aside the partisanship for a few days and give genuine credit to those who deserve it.  Those who ignored the protesters on the sidewalk calling for the troops to come home, those who raised a hue and cry about Gitmo staying open and those who thought the continued effort to track down the man responsible for the deaths of 2819 innocent people on September 11th, 2001 was a waste of time.

To quote the great wartime leader Winston Churchill: "Now this is not the end.  It is not even the beginning of the end.  But it is perhaps, the end of the beginning."  Let's keep up the good fight.