Kane STILL an Apologist for McGee

Eugene Kane is still serving as an apologist for Ald. Michael McGee.

I wonder if he really supports McGee or if he just enjoys tweaking those that aren't in McGee's corner. They would be the ones that aren't willing to excuse bribery and extortion and voter fraud.

Actually, I think Kane is a fraud.

He writes:

As strange as it may seem, some people in town have no idea why Ald. Mike McGee is in jail.

To be more accurate, they don't know why McGee is still in jail.

Most savvy folks know McGee has been charged with serious crimes, including bribery and political extortion. But this is Milwaukee, where three aldermen were charged with political shenanigans that included financial irregularities and public corruption. It's also Wisconsin, where a caucus scandal in Madison involving some of the state's most powerful leaders - including a Senate majority leader, Assembly speaker and others - yielded a slew of felony charges. As I recall, none of them had to sit in jail more than a few hours.

Savvy folks know that those officials didn't pose a physical danger to the community.

McGee does.

It's ridiculous for Kane to fail to note that difference.

Equally ridiculous is Kane's lame attempt to explain away McGee's language.

He writes:

Authorities claim to have tapes on which McGee is talking about violence, but the contents have remained sealed under a state court ruling that limits release of wiretap information. That secrecy is a big part of the confusion about the case in some parts of the city.

For example, there's already speculation about interpretation of the language McGee uses on some recordings. According to reports, McGee talks about "peeling back" an intended victim's "wig" and "sewing his cap," which Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm took to represent an explicit threat of violence.

McGee's attorney argued it was a case of street language being misconstrued. In fact, the phrases were taken from a rap song.

Oh, I get it.

McGee wasn't really threatening to commit violence. He was merely quoting a rap song. He's an Ice-T fan.

How "white" of Chisholm to misunderstand!

This is about context.

Who cares if McGee is using the same term used in Ice-T's "Peel their Caps Back"?

The intercepted conversation wasn't harmless banter about rap music.

McGee's words have been misunderstood by clueless listeners before. He was accused of being anti-Semitic when radio talk host Charlie Sykes mistakenly thought he said "Jew cops" when he actually said "Jude cops," as in Frank Jude Jr. When McGee suggested a political opponent should be "hung," many unfamiliar with McGee's typical hyperbole thought he was advocating an actual lynching.

Because of his status as a polarizing figure, it's important for all Milwaukeeans to learn more about the charges against McGee in their totality. Many people might know exactly where they stand on McGee, but they can't really be certain of his guilt or innocence in this case until they learn more.

So the fault lies with "clueless listeners," those not versed in rap.

It's positively idiotic for Kane to excuse McGee's words as a simple misunderstanding.

You know he is intending to stir up a hornet's nest when he bashes a local talk radio personality.

Whether it's Charlie Sykes or Mark Belling, Kane knows that he's guaranteed some reaction when he lashes out at them. It's as if he wants attention.

Instead of staying on topic, the investigation into McGee's behavior, he mocks people for supposedly not understanding McGee-speak.

If that's the best defense for McGee that apologist Kane can come up with, then McGee is in trouble.

Of course McGee is entitled to his day in court, but this isn't about a few words. It's about what McGee did, the extortion and bribery.

Talk about clueless.