Milwaukee Historian John Gurda Skewers Scott Walker

What a piece of writing and analysis by John Gurda in the Sunday "Crossroads" section of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

A sample:

"Here, you sense, is a man who has not been wrong one day in his life, a true believer so sure of what's right for him that he just knows it's right for all the rest of us as well. He governs with a reptilian calm, unmoved by protest and unblinking in the bright light of national scrutiny. For a guy who won his job with barely 52% of the vote, Walker exhibits a chutzpah bordering on hubris, but no matter. In his monochromatic view of the world, no action is reckless if it's right.

"His campaign against public employee unions is absolutely in character: no trial balloons, no negotiations, just an imperial proclamation. Teachers don't need me to defend them, but why would you demonize the very people you expect to educate our entire next generation of citizens? Why would you treat them like parasites on the body politic, even after they've agreed to your demands? And why on Earth would you declare that police officers and firefighters are more important, unless your aim is to divide and conquer?

"In a matter of days, Walker has inflicted damage on the teaching profession that will take years to repair. The real-world consequences of his actions will include a rash of retirements and a drop-off in the number of young people entering the field. Is that the kind of change that a slim majority of state voters really had in mind when they elected him?

"Walker, in the end, does not represent any Wisconsin tradition that I recognize as mainstream"