May 13, 2012
Walker the talker
Never at a loss for words and rarely allowing truth to get in his way, Governor W. wasn't phased when we learned about his "conversation" with David Koch! (It was a good fit for Candid Camera, but ignored by Charles Franklin.) When he met the media? No problem. Embarrased? Nope. By telling Koch that they (W's men)considered placing trouble-makers into the capital demonstrations, he really, in my view, ended any credibility he had. He should have resigned for discussing illegal activity, but no way. He plays hard ball.
In Beloit with cameras whirring, a billionaire widow asks, With all the fervor of a three-year-old on Santa's lap, please Santa, "Can you make us a red state?" And Santa, played by W., says, first steps first. He will first divide and conquer. You know...public employee unions go first. Normally 2 follows 1, but Walker acts like nothing happened! Step 2? Did I say that? There might not be a number 2, or a Santa for that matter.
Right to work? Don't worry about it! It won't get to my desk, was his Romney-like response. I couldn't see the facial expression but I could feel the wink, wink to his supporters. Promise the voters anything but give them Arpege! Egad! The question posed by the billionaire who gave him $500,000 and a warm embrace, wants Right to Work. And Walker? Well, I guess so. He voted for it in the Assembly and it is GOP doxology, but, hey, don't bet the farm on it! This is Candid Camera time again.
Stick with the Gov. W. He will create 250,000 jobs, put candy in every school bag, and fool 'em again!
Meanwhile, Franklin Alert. Prepare yourselves for a rash of polling data from the so-called Marquette Law School poll. MJS continues to publish anything that has the Marquette poll in the title but won't tell us who is paying for the polls, who is shaping the questions, who determines if a poll will be published or not, and if MJS is getting first dibs on the results? We need a laugh-o-meter.
The latest chuckle from Charles Franklin? Lots of people won't vote against our bold governor. A million petition signers? Who asked? Ok Santa, let's go!
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There is no difference between Walker and the latest convicted and jailed of Illinois. Isn't this a pay for play that should be investigated?
-WisconsinLiberal | Fox Valley, WI | May 13, 2012
People in Wisconsin's hinterland still love and adore Scott Walker. They actually believe he has balanced the budget; that putting government workers and teachers in their place is good for the state and creates jobs; cutting funds to education and health programs is good because it will force people to learn and to stay healthy; schools are saving money so raises are being handed out to teachers; that sex should be taught in lockerrooms and through Internet porn sites; that the voter ID nonsense will make voters more responsible so they vote conservative; that lower taxes will make government run more efficiently, if at all; the Paul Ryan budget is tops and who cares about Medicare or the poor; Ron Johnson is the best solution to that rabble rouser Russ Feingold. The list goes on and on ad nauseum. These authoritarian types want less government. The only way their system of governance will work is if there is more government and fewer freedoms for all.
There's much convincing to do throughout the state that Walker is bad for Wisconsin. He is absolutely wrong for Wisconsin. Even John Dean, the Nixon Administration leftover, has written that Walker is dangerous for a democracy. The pro-Walker groups are happy because they can hunt and fish and carry their guns. Low wages don't seem to bother any of them as long as Walker remains in power. Walker is going to lower those taxes and make shooting deer easier.
There is only one thing worse than Scott Walker winning the recall against him and staying in power. That would be for Wisconsin voters to allow this to happen.
-Pietr Haikuu | Hurley, Wisc. | May 13, 2012
I agree with Pietr, and these are the same people who can't understand how anyone can be brainwashed. They wonder how the Germans didn't know what was going on or how the people of Iraq supported Saddam etc.
They believe all the propaganda and do no investigation on their own. Sometimes when actually faced with the truth they deny it. This is America and they have every right to do so, I just wish we Americans weren't so lazy and actually looked into the issues, instead of believing all the hype.
-Michael Reinfeldt | Reedsburg WI | May 13, 2012
Not everyone in the state is surveyable because not everyone in the state has a land line phone and a listing in the phone book. How are polls conducted to get opinions from people like me? Which group of voters has more people who have cell phone only? Do voice mail calls count?
-Maria Caliente | Middleton, Wisconsin | May 13, 2012
Pietr - good summation. Sad to say that here in suburban Milwaukee (Franklin) it's not much better. It's like being in a poorly written TV movie version of "1984". It's hard to match the absurdity in the sign I saw in nearby Hales Corners saying "Support and Pray for Gov. Walker" - - - as if he's a Martin Luther King type of figure!
Michael - I too have often wondered how my ancestral homeland (Germany) could have evolved into the unforgivable horrors of the Hitler era. A recent cable series on the National Geographic channel (?!?) had some relevant background, where the primary reasons that I gleaned from it were that through a combination of the Great Depression and hyper-inflation (300 Billion - - with a "B" Marks for a loaf of bread) largely attributable to excessive reparations from WWI, the German people were pushed to extremely desperate limits where they would follow a recognized (even by the mainstream German politicians of the time) crank/madman. Like most people, I still can't forgive/accept them doing what they did but - - - much like a 'normal' person who is constantly tormented by someone else and after years of abuse he/she kills that person - - - I can intellectually understand the series of events leading up to the deplorable act. Similarly in Hussein-era Iraq, he was a dictator who could (and apparently had) tortured/killed dissidents (especially back when the US was supporting him), so there was extreme personal danger in disagreeing with his regime. However, here in Wisconsin, we still have a secret ballot, no personal danger in organizing/voting for or against a given candidate, the economy is hurting but nothing like Germany's was in the 1930s, AND we have exceptional media CAPABILITIES (especially via the Internet), etc, etc, so things are in no recognizable way equivalent to the extremely negative conditions in 1930s Germany or 1990s Iraq. The point being that too many people here (and much of the US in general) are listening to the distorted analysis of the right-wing and are believing it, and they're voting AS IF this were 1930s Germany or 1990s Iraq. I think it's a form of 'inertia-fad' that will, unfortunately, continue on until we bottom-out in yet another Great Recession/Depression for a decade or two...
-Eddie | Franklin, WI | May 13, 2012
This past year, what's troubled me most is the way Scott Walker has pitted one group of citizens against another. It's always reminded me of how Hitler rose to power in Germany by doing much the same thing - pitting one group of citizens against another, playing on people's fears, etc. I did some research and found this interesting passage . . . by changing a few words , the passage seems to fit what has happened in our state under the Walker administration:
"Hitler came to power under legal means, as he gained support under his reformist policies. He promised the people that the German society would be restored in all areas, such as economically, socially, and internationally. As Hitler and his party increased in power, so did the portrayal of the Jews as the source for many of Germany's problems."
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Scott Walker came to power under legal means, as he gained support under his reformist policies. He promised the people that the Wisconsin society would be restored in all areas, such as economically, socially, and internationally. As Walker and his party increased in power, so did the portrayal of the public workers as the source for many of Wisconsin's problems.
Of course, that Walker came to power under "legal" means is still "to be determined".
-CM | Brookfield, WI | May 13, 2012
Eddie, have you thought of making your own sign?
Gov Walker is no Martin Luther King.
-Franz Fripplfrappl | Madison | May 14, 2012
I wonder if people who support Walker will change their views after finding out ABC company paid O.OO for taxes in several years yet the owner has a half million dollars to give for her own political views (gain).
She has money to pay for what she thinks will help her business interests, yet she doesn't have a dime to pay for her companies fair share in taxes.
How do you justify this??
If I were a right winger this would turn my stomach.
-Michael Reinfeldt | Reedsburg WI | May 14, 2012
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