Sources of (Un)Truth
We are rapidly approaching the eve of another election year. Three weeks ago today, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel published an article about Dan Bice, a man they call a “Watchdog Columnist”. They titled it “Sources of Truth. The Man Behind the Columns that Make Campaigns Sweat”. The author used a question-and-answer format that provided Bice unlimited opportunity to self-aggrandize and he didn’t hold back. He made a number of statements that struck a chord with me, based both on my personal experience as an Independent candidate for Governor of Wisconsin in 2022 and my familiarity with what Bice has been writing for years. Bice’s political bias to the left is evident in all of his writing, making his claim that when covering campaigns “I avoid any snark and don’t write to make a particular point. Just the facts” one of the more ridiculous and deceitful things he had to say. Dan Bice’s view of himself as a “source of truth” and a statement that his job is “to help voters with their decisions in major elections” prompted me to send him the following communication on the same day this article was published.
Hello Dan,
I read the "Sources of Truth" interview showcasing your work in today's Milwaukee Journal Sentinel with interest. Your description of how you do your work in service to the public prompted me to ask you to help me understand your approach to my candidacy for Wisconsin Governor in 2022. Particularly of interest to me was your statement, "If there's a new candidate who has not been vetted before, I may write a series of pieces on that person. Plus, I go where interesting stories lead." You were silent on my candidacy throughout its 18-month duration, despite the fact I was actually on the ballot as an Independent. I am interested in your rationale for not presenting to the voting public coverage of who I am, why I was running, and how I would govern. I certainly had not been vetted and it seems to me I was an interesting story.
I was an atypical candidate to be sure, coming out of the private sector with extensive executive experience in health care and, most importantly, a long track record of outcomes on the national level. My candidacy was born out of the realization that the governor is the chief executive officer of the state, a role my experience and skill set are well-suited for.
My credentials and track record would have made me formidable against any candidate. I have a Master of Science Degree in Nursing and a Master of Business Administration Degree. I spent nearly 30 years as Vice President for Patient Care in major tertiary hospitals and produced outcomes that were recognized as some of the best in the nation. I managed a $200 million budget.
I learned some hard lessons about the corruption in our political system during my run. Most of the media won't cover candidates who are not supported by the Parties or independently funded with big money. The pollsters won't include candidates who aren't polling at a certain level, yet those candidates are denied name recognition by the media's disregard of their candidacy. The debate hosts will only allow candidates on the stage who have raised at least $500k. The stranglehold the Parties have on the political process is made possible through media cooperation.
Your interview, published today, particularly caught my eye because of how you described your approach. It seems to me the public is best served when they have as much information as possible with which to make informed choices. Would you please tell me the calculus you used in deciding to totally disregard my candidacy?
Thanks very much,
Joan Ellis Beglinger, MSN, RN, MBA, FACHE, FAAN
Retired Registered Nurse and Health Care Administrator
2022 Independent Candidate for Wisconsin Governor
Dan Bice did not reply. He is just one of many so-called journalists who are practiced liars. Their biases are so flagrantly exposed through their “reporting” they would more appropriately be called the public relations arm of the Democratic Party. They withhold information, selectively report, distort the meaning of what is being said by quoting out of context and blatantly lie. The infiltration of dishonesty, corruption and political bias throughout the media has become one of the greatest threats to our freedom.
The print and television “news media” are not alone in their betrayal of the public trust. Pretenders who call themselves conservative voices do as much damage to informing the public with integrity as any of the liberal media. Their coziness with the Republican Party of Wisconsin and desire to remain in the good graces of the Party powerful keep them toeing the Party line rather than reporting what you ought to know. My experiences with three well-known “conservative” talk show hosts were a disappointing contrast to the rare, notable exceptions that included Joe Giganti and Steve Schoreder, conservative hosts from the Green Bay area, who were committed to fairly exposing their audiences to all of the candidates.
I met Meg Ellefson, who hosted a radio talk show out of WSAU in Wausau, at an event in the Wausau area while campaigning. I introduced myself and, after telling her about my independent run, she enthusiastically invited me to be a guest on her show. A few days later I received an email from her withdrawing the invitation and telling me she was sure I would understand. I didn’t understand and, when I wrote her asking for an explanation, I never heard from her again. Ellefson went off the air last August to places unknown.
I met Vicki McKenna, a talk show host broadcasting out of Milwaukee and Madison, at a gathering of conservative voters in Madison. I introduced myself and my candidacy with the goal of being a guest on her program as a way of introducing myself to the voting public. Vicki had 2 words for me. “Good luck”. McKenna did not have a word to say about my candidacy for 18 months until after I dropped out in September to support Tim Michels, the Republican candidate. It had become clear to me that with almost no coverage from the media, I could not make enough voters aware of me to compete. When supporters of Tony Evers subsequently spent a $1 million on a campaign to deceive conservative voters into voting for me (I was on the ballot though I had dropped out of the race) to hurt Michels, McKenna was all over it. She couldn’t get me on her show fast enough to rant about the dirty tactics and the dirty money flowing through Wisconsin.
Dan O’Donnell, a radio talk show host on WISN out of Milwaukee, played very dirty after deciding I had no right to run, though he and I have never spoken a word. He trashed me on the air and demonstrated his skill at deception when he referred to me as a “retired nurse” (which I am) while neglecting to mention the elements of my resume that made me an extremely qualified, private sector candidate that the listening audience would likely have found of interest. Dan would never allow someone like me to tell my own story on his program. He prefers to tell his audience what they should think. When I placed campaign ads on his show, he was outraged. He not-so-subtly suggested to his audience that I could not possibly afford the ad spots and must be receiving dark money from somewhere, though he was well aware that all campaign money is publicly reported by law.
Being a well- informed voter is essential to making good choices. Members of the media have shown us time and again they are more interested in influence than information and cannot be trusted to tell the truth. There are some excellent candidates who will be running with conservative agendas in the upcoming election cycle. I can tell you from first-hand experience that Josh Schoemann, Washington County Executive and candidate for Governor, Maria Lazar, Wisconsin Appeals Court Judge and candidate for Wisconsin Supreme Court, and Eric Toney, District Attorney of Fond du Lac County and candidate for Wisconsin Attorney General, are traveling the state non-stop and have made meeting face-to-face with as many voters as possible a top priority. Make it a point to get to one of the venues hosting them or, better yet, gather fellow voters in your area and host them yourself. We do not have to settle for the media’s distorted version of what we should know.
We are rapidly approaching the eve of another election year. If you’ve been thinking the media is a source of truth to help you in your candidate evaluation process, think again. Exercise your own good judgment and trust yourself.