Oh, man. Man o' Man.

Interesting comment to my earlier Skubick diary cross-posted on Michigan Liberal. The Senior Capitol Correspondent in context. I won't even cross-quote it here, but it deserves a look.

Boy, am I restraining myself.

I guess it's not quite so "Off the Record," neh? ;)

Skubick the Vampire can't wait to sink his teeth into Granholm over possible revenue increase.

Good Lord, Tim Skubick is still a loser. In the latest Off the Record, Skoob tries to nail Granholm between the eyes (from the comfort of his ivory tower of course) about her bi-partisan budget panel. "THE DECK IS STACKED!!!" "WHERE'S THE OVERSIGHT!?!?" "WHY AREN'T BUSINESS LEADERS THERE?!?!"

Heaven forbid the Governor might want to shut the doors for some time to think. After all, the Republican legislature shut the doors in her face and didn't think when they decided it would be a fun stunt to kill the SBT and get us in this mess in the first place.

Thankfully, the panel -- Dawson Bell, Kathy Barks Hoffman, and Bill Ballenger -- weren't buying (most) of Skubick's omnipresent Granholm bash-fest.

And Barks Hoffman came back and hit Timmeh square between the eyes with her own little gem:

Skubick: "Well here's her -- here's [Granholm's] problem: let's assume that she goes there to raise the tax. And she goes on the road to sell it. Where is the smoking gun? When she says to the electorate 'We cut three billion dollars from the budget already. We can't cut another billion because the sky will fall.' The last time I checked, the sky is still up over Michigan. Where's the smoking gun where all these budget cuts have just ravaged our state? Does she have one?"

Barks Hoffman: "Well, Tim -- you know -- you're not paying in-state college tuition because your daughter's going to school out-of-state. But all in-state college tuitions -- they went up over 10% there for a while."

[...]

Skubick: "I'll give you that -- but where are all the bodies in the street?"

[emphasis added]

Bodies in the street. Well, I can't point you to many of those, but I can point to some potholes, Skubick. And I'm sure there will be many-a-more if JG pulls out that additional $1bn. The sky will still be there, of course. Profound point.

Watch the inanity here.


I really wish he'd have a new thought.

Senior Capitol Correspondent Gossip Columnist Tim Skubick!

Hat Tip to MichiganLiberal:


Tim Skubick: Off the Record > MichiganLiberal. ...In Bizzarro World!

Tim Skubick hearts Michigan Liberal! He loves it so much that he decided to lambast the burgeoning political site and creator Matt Furgeson through the subscription-only MIRS News.

Since I don't want to go down the dark road of copyright infringement hell, an excerpt only:

The favorite blog for liberals to use for ranting and raving may be headed for the dumper sooner rather than later. The web site originator of Michigan Liberal.com [sic] is looking for new work and may be headed for a post in the Gov. Jennifer GRANHOLM administration.
[...]
Last check revealed that no offer had been made, but either way it appears she will have to find another favorite site real soon as Ferguson wants a new and more financially rewarding gig.

Oh, Timmeh. From faux-reporter to gossip columnist. I'm sure he reads PerezHilton.com, regularly, hoping that one day he can catch the Governor in a Britney-like moment. I guess exploiting the Ricky Holland murder to sink S.S. Granholm wasn't enough.

Michigan Liberal isn't going anywhere, and Matt is not leaving the site. Rest assured, MichLib is still here to offer a nexus on all things political, and all things Michigan. If you want, hop over to MichLib to show it some pocketbook-style love.

Next time, Tim, remember: Matt isn't the one railing against you on MichLib. That train is being led by Quaker21.

"Why I Love the Sound of My Own Voice," by Tim Skubick.

Oh, Tim Skubick -- joy of my heart. For those of you who have yet the fine pleasure of a Tim Skubick experience, let me explain:

Skubick is Michigan's "Senior Capitol Correspondent," a lofty self-made title for his own style of punditry. With a weekly TV show on WKAR and a weekly column in the Lansing State Journal, Timmeh is one of the very few syndicated analysts who cover Michigan politics.

Sadly, his work is just a little below the bar of excellence. I think it hovers somewhere above the line of "Chernobyl toxin."

At any rate, this week Tim decided to write a little love letter to himself with a nice pat-on-the back over a very sensitive issue. Would it be the recent welfare reform legislation? How about that single-business tax replacement? Or maybe even a soft piece on passenger rail? After all, he is our "SENIOR CAPITOL CORRESPONDENT!"

No. Skubick writes about the tragic Ricky Holland murder. But he doesn't discuss the case; instead he writes a little CYA number to defend baiting Gov. Granholm in the first gubernatorial debate.

Skubick is -- well, was -- not shy of doing everything he could to kerplutz the Granholm train throughout her term. Not even exploiting the death of Ricky Holland -- a 7-year old Lansing boy -- was off limits if it could tank her reelection. Not shy of using the Holland case in neither his writing nor his words, Tim Skubick tried to pull off a little coup-de-grace against that "Granholm magic" by abruptly asking her -- on television -- if she was indirectly responsible for a little boy's death.

Oh, the sound of gnashing teeth! In fairness: with Skubick, there's quite a bit of teeth to gnash.

So today in the State Journal Skubick defends his question without labelling it his own. Why? The questioned backfired. Viewers and readers found the question uncalled for and exploitative. They found it inappropriate for a political debate, and as a means of sensationalizing the issues. And Skubick -- used to yucking it up with fellow analysts in the Ivory Tower of Lansing -- couldn't take the heat.

From the editorial:

One viewer accused the moderator of being a "colossal ass" for asking about the Ricky Holland murder during the first debate for governor. Wonder if that viewer saw the recent report on the state's gross mishandling of that little boy's abuse case?
[...]
For those who missed that first gubernatorial debate, the question that produced the most vehement public response dealt with the governor's role in all this.
[...]
Many viewers incorrectly thought the governor was asked if she was responsible for the child's death. What many didn't hear was the word "indirectly" before responsible.

The moderator? Tim Skubick -- himself. Of course, he can't stand to identify himself. Instead, he meanders about, pegging Gov. Granholm for her lack of accountability, drecking up the story of a tragedy for some political points.

It's despicable. And worse yet, Skubick writes the whole thing as a giant love letter to himself: that he -- and he alone -- had the cajones to take a stand against a renegade administration. And that those who see him for what he is -- a muckraker and an opportunist -- cannot hear correctly, or just don't know the facts.

The fact is that Tim Skubick is becoming less and less relevant. Time to take him off the pages of the LSJ, and retire him to the spas of Douglas J.