Barrett strong vs. Indiana bias law; Walker ducks

Proud of our Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett for his solid public statement against the Indiana 'free-to-discriminate' law roiling the nation. Barrett knows true March Madness when he sees it, as he said in a Journal Sentinel op-ed:

Indiana Gov. Mike Pence signed legislation that invites discrimination based on the discriminator's religious beliefs. State law there explicitly sides with religious extremists over the civil rights of gays, lesbians or others who do not embrace the religious views of those empowered to discriminate... 

Other states are considering Indiana-style discrimination justified on religious grounds. Arkansas appears close to enacting a similar law. Wisconsin would be wrong to follow. 

Our state should be more welcoming to people whose race, sexuality or religion differs from the majority. That is good for business, and, far more important, it is the just thing to do.

Further embarrassed by our part-time Governor and full-time presidentially-politicking-and-pandering Scott Walker, who ducked the obvious question and all its moral and leadership implications:  

On Indiana's new conscience law, which critics say would allow businesses to discriminate against gay and lesbian people, among others, on religious grounds, Walker said he was not aware of any move to follow suit in Wisconsin but declined to say whether he would sign such a measure if it did.

Maybe Walker's got Florida on his mind?

His feigned disinterest reminds me of what he had to say about the 'right-to-work' law he didn't have any interest in before he recently and enthusiastically signed it:

"From our standpoint, it's never going to get to me," said Walker... "It's not going to get to my desk. I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure it isn't there."

And ducked questions about why he'd 'changed his mind.'   

Walker's spokeswoman said he would sign it...Walker walked past reporters, declining to answer questions, at a National Governors Association meeting Friday in Washington.