Gov. Scott Walker says he isn't worried about a John Doe investigation of his current and former aides.How does that match up with his many false statements so rated after vetting by PolitiFact - - the most by any Wisconsin politician this year?
That's because, Walker said, he is a man of integrity.
"I know that throughout my career - first in the Legislature, then as county executive and now for the last 10 months as governor - I live by the standards I got from my parents," said Walker, whose father was a Baptist minister. "Certainly, they got me to the rank of Eagle Scout, and I continue to have that kind of integrity."
Or a couple of things he said to Ian Murphy, the blogger from Buffalo who posed as the conservative financial guru David Koch in the now-famous taped, prank phone call to Walker, about dropping the bomb on collective bargaining and unsuspecting unions, or discussing planting provocateurs among protesters.
Is this merit badge behavior?
Murphy: Right, right. We'll back you any way we can. But what we were thinking about the crowd was, uh, was planting some troublemakers.Or:
Walker: You know, well, the only problem with that — because we thought about that. The problem with — my only gut reaction to that would be, right now the lawmakers I've talked to have just completely had it with them. The public is not really fond of this. The teacher's union did some polling and focus groups I think and found out that the public turned on them the minute they closed school down on them for a couple of days. The guys we've got left are largely from out of state and I keep dismissing it in all my press comments, saying ehh, they're mostly from out of state. My only fear would be if there's a ruckus caused is that would scare the public into thinking maybe the governor has to settle to avoid all these problems. You know, whereas I've said, hey, we can handle this, people can protest, this is Madison, you know, full of the '60s liberals. Let 'em protest. It's not going to affect us. And as long as we go back to our homes and the majority of people are telling us we're doing the right thing, let 'em protest all they want. So that's my gut reaction. I think it's actually good if they're constant, they're noisy, but they're quiet, nothing happens. Sooner or later the media stops finding them interesting.
Murphy: Well, good; good. It's good catching up with ya'.
Walker: Yeah, well thanks. This is an exciting time. This is, I told my cabinet, I had a dinner the Sunday uh, excuse me, Monday right after the sixth. Came home from the Super Bowl where the Packers won, that Monday night I had all my cabinet over to the residence for dinner, talked about what we were going to do, how we were going to do it, we'd already kind of built plans up but it was kind of the last hurrah before we dropped the bomb. And I stood up and I pulled out a picture of Ronald Reagan, and I said, you know, this may seem a little melodramatic, but 30 years ago Ronald Reagan, whose 100th birthday we just celebrated the day before, had one of the most defining moments of his political career, not just his presidency, when he fired the air traffic controllers. And I said, to me that moment was more important than just for labor relations or even the federal budget. That was the first crack in the Berlin Wall in the fall of Communism because from that point forward the Soviets and the Communists knew that Ronald Reagan wasn't a pushover. And I said, this may not have as broad of world applications, but in Wisconsin's history — little did I know how big it would be nationally — Wisconsin's history, I said, this is our moment. This is our time to change the course of history, and this is why it's so important that they were all there. I had a cabinet meeting this morning, I reminded them of that. I said, for those who thought I was being melodramatic, you now know it was purely putting it in the right context.
Murphy: [Laughs] Well, I tell you what, Scott: Once you crush these bastards I'll fly you out to Cali (California) and really show you a good time.
Walker: All right, that would be outstanding. Thanks for all the support in helping us move the cause forward, and we appreciate it, and we're doing it the just and right thing for the right reasons and it's all about getting our freedoms back.
Murphy: Absolutely. And, you know, we have a little bit of a vested interest as well. [Laughs]
Walker: Well that's just it, the bottom line is we're gonna get the world moving here 'cause it's the right thing to do.
Murphy: Alright then.
Walker: Thanks a million!
Murphy: Bye-bye!
Walker: Bye.
A lot of Eagle Scouts have become exemplary person, with distinguished achievements. But the list of Eagle Scouts also includes:
ReplyDelete* John Erlichman
* H.R. Haldemann, and
* Arthur Gary Bishop, a serial killer.
So earning all those merit badges is no guarantee of honesty or general good character.