While celebrating the big victory, I keep in mind the defeats and what they mean, not just for our state, but for our country:  

Big Money, Republican leaning Corporate Media, saturated RW hate radio and Faux Newzzzz have kept a lying, corrupt, extremist governor in office against the largest state-wide grassroots movement I've ever seen or read about.
If this power combination can save someone as toxic as Scott Walker, every election in this country is vulnerable.  Big Money will just roll in, local and statewide corporate media will pander to the Republicans and attack the Democrats, and hate radio with Faux Newzzz will just hammer away at the rest.  If I was President Obama, I'd be very, very worried (and perhaps more than a bit regretful that I didn't step in to defend the principle of recalls and campaign for Tom Barrett) because they'll use this same strategy to go after him.  

The Republican wins yesterday are very troublesome because they overcame a massive grassroots movement.  This was a test of our very concept of democracy - that People Power could overcome Money Power.  Money Power won.

It wasn't Money Power alone that won.  Money Power was also helped by their previous establishment of a corporatized media with media monopolies once again permitted by the relaxation, lack of enforcement, or elimination of regulations that prevented it in the past.  Our leaders either ignored history or failed to remember that history repeats itself unless we prevent it from doing so.

William Randolph Hearst, media mogul and RWNJ (do those 2 always go hand in hand?) controlled a vast media empire in a time when print media was the only game in town and radio was in its infancy.  As a result, he had a massive political influence that went well beyond what it should.  Rules were established to prevent another media monopoly after his collapsed due to his greed to own it all sent his empire into financial ruin.   Had he been less grasping to buy every newspaper in sight, that empire might still exist today weilding enormous influence.

Instead, lack of enforcement and deregulation have allowed  modern day RWNJ and media mogul Rupert Murdock to emerge.  And Clear Channel with its vast holdings throughout the country continues to expand the reach of RW hate radio with a few progressive stations sprinkled in here and there for "balance".  

Corporations, no longer happy just to buy favorable coverage (or at least prevent negative coverage) with advertising dollars (do they really expect you to buy one of those wind turbines, jumbo jets, or jet engines they advertise?) have now become media owners themselves.  Don't expect to see stories on how many Fortune 500 companies pay ZERO taxes or how their armies of lobbyists keep people paying more so they can pay less.  And don't expect to see any positive coverage of politicians who don't serve their interests.

Big Money didn't do it on its own yesterday.  Big Money has also patiently created Corporate Media over the decades.  The team of Big Money and Corporate Media won.  Our corporate media in Wisconsin has ensured that most people in Wisconsin hadn't even heard about the John Doe or Scott Walkers criminal defense fund, that acted like stenographers for Scott Walker "It's Working" talking points, that failed to point out he's the first governor in history to keep a secret schedule, that accepted and printed Scott Walkers Miracle Math jobs numbers while denouncing the actual Bureau of Labor Statistics report, that promoted Scott Walkers We Have More Teachers Miracle Math Report (yes, we have more teachers if you just ignore the numbers of retirements, layoffs, and resignations, but count replacement teachers as new, additional teachers), and so much other phony claptrap they pass off as "news".

Not just print media, but electronic media is equally at fault.  Celebrity gossip, sensationalized stories, and propaganda are all you get.  Whether on the radio, television, or newspaper it's becoming all Pravda all the time.  Climate change is debatable (stop believing your own lying eyes), "clean coal" is good, the oil companies always clean up after a major spill, the uber rich are "job creators", regulations are bad, taxes are bad, and, my favorite, work hard and save and you, too, will be "prosperous".

And then there's the RW hate radio that saturates every inch of this country and Faux Newzzz available on basic cable everywhere to gin up every wingnut within earshot with an endless parade of sensationalized stories and ideological memes.  

A healthy, vibrant, truth-reporting media is vital to a democracy.  So vital that Freedom of the Press is enshrined in our Constitution.  If it no longer exists because it's been bought, can democracy survive?

I'm concerned about what the future will mean if this combination can save someone like Scott Walker.