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Fraley’s Smell Test

Brian Fraley sees this...

Ald. Michael D’Amato will not run for a fourth term to represent Milwaukee’s Third District on the Common Council, a source close to the alderman said today.

...and wonders:

I wonder if there is another shoe to drop regarding this story. This doesn’t pass the ole smell test.

Posted by Owen at 2000 hrs
Politics + Politics - Wisconsin

1. Nice attempted-smear support, Owen.  I can see why you are first on the TV/radio guest list.  Substance is for suckers, right?  Great work.

   Posted by Mike Plaisted on November 26, 2007 at 2055 hrs
   
   
   

2. Why do you assume it’s a smear?  Perhaps he has a medical condition.  Or perhaps he is moving.  The “other shoe” does not always mean scandal.  It just means that there may be more to the story.

   Posted by Owen on November 26, 2007 at 2101 hrs
   
   
   

3. Oh, so sorry, Owen to mistake the “smell test” insinuations by you and Fraley.  I didn’t realize you were creating more than one scenario out of thin air.  Please, do go on.  And, by all means, don’t let messy things like hard facts get in the way.

   Posted by Mike Plaisted on November 26, 2007 at 2111 hrs
   
   
   

4. So… this post isn’t scratch and sniff?

   Posted by james wigderson on November 26, 2007 at 2121 hrs
   
   
   

5. I’m sorry.  Were you offering any facts?  Please share.  Do you know why D’Amato said a few weeks ago how much he loved being an Alderman and serving the community and is not seeking reelection?  Doesn’t that seem at all odd to you?

   C’mon, Mike.  Try to look past your partisanship a little. 

   I’ll even throw you a bone.  I think that Trent Lott’s stated reason for retiring early is crap and that he is retiring so that he can become a lobbyist sooner and rake in the bucks. 

   See?  That wasn’t hard.  Now you try.

   Posted by Owen on November 26, 2007 at 2121 hrs
   
   
   

6. Maybe a higher paying job in gov’t—say Joel Brennan’s vacated position at DCD for $40,000?
   Maybe a higher paying job in the private sector—say with developers New Land Enterprises or The Mandel Group?

   Who are you kidding Owen?  Sure the “other shoe” could mean anything.  But when something “doesn’t pass the smell test” that means there’s a stink in the air. I’d say most folks would say the stink isn’t roses but something rotten.  And rotten doesn’t mean anything other than, well, rotten.

   Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on November 26, 2007 at 2130 hrs
   
   
   

7. oops. that should read “for $40,000 more.”

   Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on November 26, 2007 at 2132 hrs
   
   
   

8. The fact is, Owen, I’ve known Mike since he was a kid in grade and high school with my brother, who worked for him in City Hall.  I know how much he loved serving the East Side and the city and he did a fantastic job. 

   There is nothing suspicious about someone who says he loves what he does, and then decides it’s time to move on and try something else.  Throwing Trent Lott over the side is only recognizing the painfully obvious.  The difference is that facts of the changing law and Lott’s obvious money grab are out there for all to see. 

   There is no reason—none—to speculate darkly about D’Amato’s decision to move on now.  Wait and see what he does and then GOP flacks like you and Fraley can squawk about that.  As it is, you use the occassion of his announcement to cast suspicion on the motives of a successful Democrat.  That’s more than just wrong—it’s cheap.

   Posted by Mike Plaisted on November 26, 2007 at 2140 hrs
   
   
   

9. Indeed, there tends to be a negative connotation with the “other shoe” expression and I have no doubt that Fraley meant it that way.  But to say that wondering if we’ve heard the hole story constitutes a “smear” is… well… a smear.

   Posted by Owen on November 26, 2007 at 2141 hrs
   
   
   

10. Ah, I see, Mike.  You hardly ever comment here, but someone questioned the motives of one of your childhood friends, so you decided to jump to his defense even though you don’t have any actual facts to lend to the discussion. 

    Understandable.  Way to stick up for your friends.

    Posted by Owen on November 26, 2007 at 2144 hrs
    
    
    

11. I would have commented about your lame smear-post anyway.  Now you’re demanding facts from me? Hilarious.  Really, do people let you get away with this crap on WPR and any of your other non-Sykes token-blogger gigs?  Why?

    I’d rather stick up for my friends than be a suck up to to anyone, much less the GOP.  Good luck with that career choice.

    Posted by Mike Plaisted on November 26, 2007 at 2201 hrs
    
    
    

12. A little history here.  He had to change plans before because of his wife’s health—which wasn’t evident immediately, until they felt ready to talk about it.

    Or very recent history.  His aide now is going to run for D’Amato’s seat—the aide who was going to run for Wasserman’s seat, because Wasserman is running for Darling’s seat.  So now who will run for Wasserman’s seat in the Assembly, hmmm?

    Lots of possibilities here, all known with a little research or just a memory that goes back more than a month.  But not a one of them is any kind of reason to suggest a “smell test.”  As if we’re going to believe that wasn’t meant as an implication. . . .

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on November 26, 2007 at 2325 hrs
    
    
    

13. Mike, you’re so testy.

    Can’t we all just coexist?

    This is not how an alderman who was talking about reelection just a couple of weeks ago announces he’s giving up his seat. (His aide begins campaigning for the seat days before it’s leaked that the alder is not running). Common sense dictates that there is more to this story.

    I never said it was a scandal. But. much like GOP Senator Lott retiring before the two year lobbying moratorium kicked in, the timing here begs for an explanation.

    Posted by Fraley on November 26, 2007 at 2339 hrs
    
    
    

14. Can you imagine how good it must feel to be Plaisted. 

    Who wouldn’t want to be so articulate, right about everything, and so well-rounded to border on the perfect?

    That’s way BETTER than winning the lottery in my book!

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on November 27, 2007 at 0036 hrs
    
    
    

15. Yes, Conde, it’s good to be King.  I thought the pay would be better, but, hey…

    Fraley is following me around these comment threads with his “coexist” dig and denying he meant anything about scandal with his groundless “smell test” comment that was expanded on by others, creating an air of suspicion, which was the point of the lame comment to begin with. 

    Coexist? We do. Tolerate? Barely.

    Posted by Mike Plaisted on November 27, 2007 at 0814 hrs
    
    
    

16. Are we officially into the “Silly Season of Politics?”

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on November 27, 2007 at 0933 hrs
    
    
    

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