Charlie Sykes, race baiter

It's not a surprise that Charlie Sykes took the low road of race baiting in his discussion of the 12th & Vliet "riot" on Monday.

What percentage of people there have cable TV? he mused at one point.

"I would say at least 85%," opined one caller, who didn't allow her ignorance to stand in the way of a precise statistical assessment (indeed, with those skills, why did she have time to call in to Charlie at 9:30ish on a Monday?). Others bemoaned how the people were lining up to get free food vouchers so they could get their hair done.

None of this is a surprise, and Mike Plaisted and Zach Dub have addressed the broader right wing narrative (and Capper ably provides a frontline POV in comments at Zach's).

(Nor is it a surprise that Charlie Sykes' denunciation of these people as moochers is inconsistent with some of the central premises of his show in recent months. Charlie frequently bemoans the high cost of gasoline, which drives up the cost of everything, including food, he says. And then uses it to attack "Democrats!" Sometimes, he'll say "Imagine being on a fixed income." (In point of fact,many workers in America are on a fixed, if not shrinking, income. But in this case he's most likely referring to wealthy pensioners.) So, if food costs are rising -- as Charlie tells us -- wouldn't it be likely that the people most affected by sharp increases in food prices (i.e. the poor) would show up in great numbers upon hearing a rumor that free food vouchers were being distributed. And, earth to charlie: Shiftless moochers don't show up in a line at five in the morning, as you suggest. Moochers aren't aware there's two five o'clocks. People who are having a hard time making ends meet do. But you've never known people like that. And even if you had, that might interrupt a narrative of  thug culture/culture of dependency driven by a few knuckleheads that Monday.)

The thing that aggravated the Brawler the most, however, and showed some pristine race-baiting by Sykes, was his connecting the "riot" to a local push for the city to require mandatory sick time for workers.

As Charlie says:

"You don't think the voters in the city of Milwaukee are going to go, 'Hey, this is great, I get free time. I basically now get a week and a half where I don't even have to show up at work. I just have to call in and say "I'm sick" and my employer has to accomodate me and pay me. You don't think that voters in the city of Milwaukee are going to overwhelmingly" vote for mandatory sick days.

As someone who's worked in the real world (i.e., not grown up in Fox Point, not entered a field in which you were a legacy, not held a job as a radio host after lying about the identity of a female co-host not your wife), the Brawler would suggest that most people call in sick when they or their children are actually sick. And, earth to Charlie, there are places where you can get fired right now if you do that because you don't have sick days. (Please see Pundit Nation.) And if you don't think an employer will find a reason to can somebody if they sense they're abusing the sick day policy, you really have no sense of how the world works. Labor market's slack,baby. Fear is in the air. Only a coddled talk show host, whose entire work for the day is recasting and transmitting crap he's read on the WSJ editorial page or on blogs could speak with such assured ignorance.

Here's a story from the real world:

She cited the case of a father with a son who suffers from asthma. The boy was in and out of the hospital and needed to be monitored for 48 hours. Although the father had worked at a grocery store for three years, he was not able to miss work to care for his son, Stear said.

Now, there may be an economic case to be made against this. (And the Brawler thinks it's weak. It is difficult to imagine any business suffering unduly for having to give an employee a day off when he or she is sick.) But Charlie doesn't even make an effort to make that case. Instead he suggests that support for mandatory sick time would be driven by an urge for shiftlessness by "voters in the city of Milwaukee."

And when he says "Voters in the city of Milwaukee" he quite clearly is talking about "black voters." And when he imputes to them a propensity toward shiftlessness and laziness, that's classic racism.

Moreover: Longtime listeners of Charlie Sykes may recall that WTMJ gave him several days off after his mother died last year. It's nice that they did that. Many employers would be less generous. Is that OK with Charlie?

Comments

[John Foust]

Isn't this an age-old debate about how to help the poor? There are so many who want to have the right to place an indefinite number of sanctions and interferences on the lives of the recipients, in exchange for whatever charity they're giving. It's as if they're building a list of all the reasons to justify not to help: you're too fat, your hair is too nice, you have cable, pretty clothes, etc. It's the very same "We know what's good for you" attitude that the conservatives are always using to lambast the liberals when they've proposed to interfere in personal freedoms to smoke, eat trans-fats, etc. Who Would Jesus Help, and How? Is the focus on the helping, the values inculcation, or the strings that the method can require?

[Hermes]

Good insight, Brawler. Poor coddled rich white male Sykes doesn't seem to get that other people have different situations.

[AutismNewsBeat]

Great comment. Sykes is a joke.

[Jiim]

Um, have you taken a look around? 9 paid sick days a year? Sick days are great, but it should be up to the business to offer this to keep a quality workforce.. not mandated by the government. Since this has passed, it has created one new buisness that I know of for sure in Milwaukee. This business helps other business oweners move OUT of the city of Milwaukee. Bye Bye jobs.. Good luck.. Let us know how that entitlement works for ya. As for the moochers.. what a joke!! Did you see these people standing in line.. How about not getting the $200 hair makeover.. there's some cash for food. How about not having the latest I-phone I saw these people on while in line.. there's some cash for food. How about laying off the $50.00 you spent getting your fancy nails done? Or the women that were there putting the free vouchers in there COACH purses!! (me hears those cost quite a bit).. some even blasted the program because they were not getting their FREE STUFF FAST ENOUGH!! And that they would be late for their SPA APPOINTMENTS!! (was Charlene Hardin in line??) Laughable.. but thats the mentality.. if its free.. its for me!!! There were countless stories of the people who most were in need of the vouchers being pushed out, or to the rear of the line and ending up not getting any of them. Lets see.. a government entitlement program, missing it's mark, and ending up wasting money... Haven't we seen this movie before??