Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Job Numbers Fall, So Walker Triangulates

Classic politics by distraction and performance by diversion:

Gov. Walker's job numbers continue to fall; adjective-free data reporting is leaving him increasingly vulnerable, undermining his 250,000-new-private-sector jobs pledge.

Hence, his entire message, definition, and purported mission as a job-creator.

So what do you do when miscalculation and failure stares you in the face, exposes your weakened reality and threatens your Presidential dreams?

Go arrest some protesters!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

First, I had to look up what "triangulation" might mean other than a means of location using 3 points etc. Apparently it's a term from interactive type psychology where a person or a couple drags a third party or topic into the behavioral/emotional melee to avoid the real issue. Miserable Couple Ann and Bob avoid looking directly at their crappy marriage by focusing on how difficult little Johnny is, to Johnny's wee detriment. They all end up on Jerry Springer.
Okay. So your point then is that Walker is using this impending "protest crackdown" as a distraction from the bad job numbers? A tactic that might normally be referred to as a Red Herring?
What the heck. CLEARLY the singers and other protestors have been very painful thorns in the sides of everyone the Walker Administration for a LONG time, and they certainly have been working on a Final Solution to this protest problem all along. It's not something they just pulled outta their backsides as a distraction for anything. This is not stategery re: Jobs. They want the capitol to go back to the way it was BTB - Before The Bomb.
The Singers and others bug people as a stand-alone issue. Absolutely the Walkerites want them gone - regardless of job numbers, regardless of Walker's presidential aspirations, or his latest approval rating, or the LdF trout spearing, or what he had for breakfast on Valentine's Day. Various approaches have been used to deal with the protestors, now this.
No relation to job numbers.
Not a distraction, not triangulating, not even a red herring. Two issues, unrelated...until YOU. The only triangulating being done here is done by you, as you duct tape two completely unrelated issues together in order to come up with a third item - this Frankenstein of a blog post.
You could critique the job numbers - that would make sense. You could cover the latest on the capitol protesters, also sensible. What you prob'ly can not do is back up the premise that these issues are related in any manner in anyone's head but your own. And if you say that was some kinda tongue-in-cheek thing, get your tongue outta your cheek and keep it out. It looks too weird.

A. Wag said...

@ anonymoustoxin: No one can accuse you of not living out your name.

Boxer said...

Anonymoustoxin--You miss the point: the triangulation comes about due to the timing of these two issues. At the PR/governance nexis this kind of stuff happens ALL THE TIME. It's called politics.

Can James prove it? Can you disprove it? No, to both questions. To know for certain would require an insider's knowledge of Walker's motivation, or that the situation was cleverly exploited by one of his spokeskids. They actually teach this in schools, buddy.

James' blog posts (not just this one, but the body of his work in TPE) are well-supported by facts and figures and linked to the source materials. He shouldn't have to re-tell each story from the beginning so that newbies like you can get the whole picture just by floating by whenever.

Your comments about the Solidarity Singers reveal the depth of your ignorance: the Singers are "thorns in the side" of the administration? too bad! "Absolutely the Walkerites want them gone -" ? It's not the Walkerites privilege to decide who can come or go in the Capitol building, which is bought and paid for by the citizens of Wisconsin, the same taxpayers who pay the salaries, benefits and perks of the governor and legislators who WORK there. They don't own it! And the Singers "bug" people? Have you heard of that little thing called Free Speech? It's a constitutional right of all the people of the United States.

Have you thought about the hypocrisy inherent in an administration that outlaws cameras, signs, and now singing in the state Capitol, yet allows guns in the same chambers? This stuff outta be in the Onion, not reality.

In one respect, though, I'm glad the Walkerites are as extreme as they are: keep it up, fellas, it'll get you gone.