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Announcer: The David Pakman Show at www.DavidPakman.com.
David: To all of our iPhone and Android users, make sure you have the Stitcher Smart Radio
app on your phone. Use promo code "David" whenever that pops up to be entered to win
100 bucks, Louis, and also support The David Pakman Show. You can also go to www.Stitcher.com/DavidPakmanShow.
You know, it's amazing, every single month, there's a huge increase in the number of people
that are listening to the show on Stitcher. I have to say, I love the app, I've been using
it for years, I didn't know it was getting this popular.
Louis: And I know absolutely nothing about it.
David: Right, Louis's phone... show your phone, actually. Why don't you hold your phone up,
just to show people what you're working with here? That's Louis's phone. And for people
who are just listening, it's just, I don't know, it's an old phone. I don't know what
else to say.
Louis: This should put to rest any misnomers about how much I make on this show.
David: [Laughs] There we go. So there's this incident related to choking, a judge-choking.
Over the weekend, the "Wisconsin State Journal" reported that Justice David Prosser, quote,
"grabbed fellow Justice Ann Walsh Bradley around the neck" in an argument in her chambers
last week, according to at least three knowledgeable sources.
And Bradley later confirmed the report. Supreme Court Justice Ann Walsh Bradley actually accused
Justice David Prosser of putting her in a, quote, "chokehold" during a dispute in her
office earlier this month. Things are really escalating in these chambers, aren't they,
Louis?
Louis: I love this.
David: "The facts are that I was demanding that he get out of my office, and he put his
hands around my neck in anger in a chokehold," she told the "Journal Sentinel". Over the
weekend, there were a bunch of media outlets that reported on this, OK?
What do you think, Louis, was the angle that the conservative media outlets had on this?
So remember, what we have is an allegation from the more liberal Ann Walsh Bradley that
the more conservative David Prosser grabbed her around the neck and put her in a chokehold.
How do you think conservative media portrayed this story?
Louis: As if they might not be true.
David: Absolutely. If you looked at Google News earlier, OK, I did a search for David
Prosser on Google News, there's basically two stories that are... two lines, two narratives
that are so different from each other that they couldn't possibly even be remotely both
true, OK?
"The Detroit News" headline said, "Wisconsin Justice Accuses Colleague of Chokehold". OK,
that's accurate. That's what has happened. There has been an accusation made, we do not
yet have proof, that is what has happened.
Louis: That's news.
David: That's news, exactly. The blog Care, the number 2, www.Care2.com, had a headline
that read, "Prosser Allegedly Chokes Fellow Justice". Again, that's true.
Louis: That's news.
David: There was an allegation made, that's news, OK? The conservative blog, these are
the top four, OK, so I'm not just randomly picking, these were the top four at the time
that I looked this up. If you don't know what Hot Air is, you might read their headline,
which is, quote, "Hit Job on Prosser", and say wow, David Prosser is being framed! Someone
is... this is a concerted effort to smear his name by alleging that he put another judge
in a chokehold when it just wasn't true.
Now again, Louis, you and I know about Hot Air; a lot of people may not. They go onto
News.Google.com, David Prosser, two headlines have these allegations, and then we see "Hit
Job on Prosser".
Louis: The aptly-named Hot Air.
David: The aptly-named Hot Air, exactly. And finally, there's the Fox News headline, and
what does the Fox News headline read, Louis? "WI Judge Smeared? 'He Put His Hands Around
My Neck'". Couldn't all possibly be true, as we know.
And again, the top two headlines can be substantiated with facts. We know that the allegation has
been made. We know an accusation has been made. It is simply fact. That is the story,
OK? The statement that was released by Bradley does accuse Prosser of putting her in a chokehold.
It is an allegation. And both sources say Prosser has denied the charge.
The Hot Air headline assumes facts that are not in evidence. If Bradley is lying, it could
be a hitjob, but there's been no investigation done. There is no evidence to back that up.
It is just not news. It is nonsense. But again, if you don't know what Hot Air is, you look
it up, and you have absolutely no idea.
And do I even really have to explain why the Fox News headline is nonsense? I mean, "Fair
and Balanced", self-proclaimed, there is nothing fair and balanced about this particular story.
If they were covering both sides, OK, maybe they would say, "Wisconsin Judge Accused of
Assault, But Denies the Charge". That would be news. That would be substantiated by fact.
Instead, it's simply a headline assuming there's been a smear of the conservative judge.
Louis: Which we're used to by Fox News, the only news outlet that has to claim to be fair
and balanced.
David: Absolutely. And you know what?
Louis: If you have to claim to be fair and balanced, I think there's something wrong.
David: Greta Van Susteren called for the resignation not of Prosser, but of Chief Justice Shirley
Abrahamson. She said, "While I have no idea who is off the wall, Judge Prosser or Justice
Walsh or both of them, I do know one thing: Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson sure is not
doing her job to lead the court. She needs to step aside and let someone else attempt
to run that zoo."
Brilliant. Fox News, instead of even addressing the fact that we have an allegation of a physical
attack on a colleague in a judge's office, she says well, if this is even going on, then
it's the chief justice who should resign. Incredible. Just a nonsense story. And again,
the reason I care, the reason I get scared, is if you just Google it and you see two stories
saying one thing and then two stories just making stuff up, you may not be able to discern.
The average person may not discern that.
Louis: Right.
Transcript provided by Alex Wickersham and www.Subscriptorium.com. For transcripts, translations,
captions, and subtitles, or for more information, visit www.Subscriptorium.com, or contact Alex
at subscriptorium@gmail.com.