As undemocratically despicable as Walker's budget has become - - and, please, spare me the notion that Walker is a victim here of what the Journal Sentinel once soft-pedaled as overzealous partisanship by underlings on his behalf without his consent - - let's remember these Walker-centered harbingers of the politically-polluted s**storm Wisconsin is buffeted by today:
* A still unexplained conservative power brokers' 2007 vastly-under-reported summit which anointed Walker as the GOP/Tea Party/far-right funders' chosen one.
* Walker's secret email and political fund-raising machine installed in his Milwaukee County Executive on public time with public resources which ultimately led to six criminal convictions of key Walker aides, associates and donors.
* Walker's Act 10 bomb dropped on all public employees in the early days of his first term after a campaign in which he never said it was his intention, despite his proven and false claims to the contrary.
That's a perfect example of reality in Wisconsin under Walker, but perhaps not well known out-of-state, so I have complied much of Walker's history into a comprehensive archive, here. Read on...
* The secrecy with which the Assembly iron mining bill first emerged - - no sponsor, just an immaculate creation - - later found to have been written with the direct input of a mining company later found to have routed to Walker's preferred third-party campaign ally a secret, $700,000 donation to benefit his recall campaign.
* The clandestine gerrymandering bill his legislative GOP allies wrote in private attorney offices behind closed doors, complete with confidentiality oath signatures required of legislators before they could see how voting maps were being redrawn for their districts.
We would do well, all of us - - voters, editorial writers, legislators with enough soul left to vote against this horrible budget until it is stripped of every clandestine and self-serving power grab - - to remember the admonitions of US District Court Judge J.P Stadmueller, a Ronald Reagan nominee, as he presided over litigation and coatroom maneuvering that he managed to correct some of the more egregious partisanship in the redistricting law which Walker and GOP legislators cooked up.
Whether he intended it or not, Stadmueller was promoting a new and improved Wisconsin mission statement, needed more today than ever before:
* A still unexplained conservative power brokers' 2007 vastly-under-reported summit which anointed Walker as the GOP/Tea Party/far-right funders' chosen one.
* Walker's secret email and political fund-raising machine installed in his Milwaukee County Executive on public time with public resources which ultimately led to six criminal convictions of key Walker aides, associates and donors.
* Walker's Act 10 bomb dropped on all public employees in the early days of his first term after a campaign in which he never said it was his intention, despite his proven and false claims to the contrary.
That's a perfect example of reality in Wisconsin under Walker, but perhaps not well known out-of-state, so I have complied much of Walker's history into a comprehensive archive, here. Read on...
* The secrecy with which the Assembly iron mining bill first emerged - - no sponsor, just an immaculate creation - - later found to have been written with the direct input of a mining company later found to have routed to Walker's preferred third-party campaign ally a secret, $700,000 donation to benefit his recall campaign.
* The clandestine gerrymandering bill his legislative GOP allies wrote in private attorney offices behind closed doors, complete with confidentiality oath signatures required of legislators before they could see how voting maps were being redrawn for their districts.
We would do well, all of us - - voters, editorial writers, legislators with enough soul left to vote against this horrible budget until it is stripped of every clandestine and self-serving power grab - - to remember the admonitions of US District Court Judge J.P Stadmueller, a Ronald Reagan nominee, as he presided over litigation and coatroom maneuvering that he managed to correct some of the more egregious partisanship in the redistricting law which Walker and GOP legislators cooked up.
Whether he intended it or not, Stadmueller was promoting a new and improved Wisconsin mission statement, needed more today than ever before:
...we have had enough of the charade and mischaracterization. I don't mean to impugn either you or anyone associated with this case, but as they say, the facts are the facts. What has occurred here is beyond the pale in terms of lack of transparency, secrecy, and at the end of the day, as the court has commented earlier, it may not have anything to do with the price of tea in China, but appearances are everything, and Wisconsin has prided itself for one generation after another on openness and fairness and doing the right thing.
But here's the thing- hardly a any of the scumbags face consequences for breaking the law and acting in secret. None of the redistricting people were charged, despite refusing to produce evidence that judges asked for. Same for Walker and much of his staff in John Doe 1, despite clear evidence of illegal coordination and campaigning on the taxpayers' time.
ReplyDeleteIt's time to take the gloves off, lay down the charges (even if they're not 100% solid) and issue the subpoenas. Perp walks must happen, because these guys don't respond to "Don't do it again." They think getting off without fine so jail time means what they did is OK, and they'll try to do more the next time.
Thank you. We're in such an ocean of corruption, it is hard to see the shore.
ReplyDeleteExpecting milwaukee journal sentinel to tell the truth about walker is like expecting it to rain donuts tomorrow. And since MJS leads the rightwing echo chamber that drenches Wisconsin with Republican and pro-Walker propaganda all take their cues from the largest media outlets, no other mainstream news source will cover any of this either.
ReplyDeleteThe weekly insert of Wisconsin State Journal, Cap Times, won't even tell these stories in a coherent way. There is little hope we will see change as long as we accept a dysfunctional media environment that is rigged against the people.
This should be the final straw. Walker has purposely tried to take away the people of Wisconsin's rights to know what their elected officials and consequently their government is doing. This was a frontal attack on the people of this state and Walker, Vos, Fitzgerald Nygren and Darling must be brought before the public and explain their actions and acknowledge their contempt for Wisconsin's citizens by their actions. The 10 Republicans on the Joint Finance Committee likewise must acknowledge their role in the attack on the citizens of this state. If Walker is unwilling to accept the responsibility for this action it is time to draw national attention to his lack of truthfulness and accountability by occupying the Capitol and protesting both he and all the Republicans involved in this. If the media continue to let Walker stalemate them then it's time for the people he's craping on to take the issue directly to him and his fellow Republicans!!!!!
ReplyDeleteAnon 8:03
ReplyDeleteWalker accept responsibility?
Silly rabbit, "personal responsibility" is for the wee-little folk. To media rock stars like Scott Walker and his political bedfellow, and yes, Walker is a media creation entirely pumped up with propaganda, accountability and responsibility do not apply.
But the problem is not Walker. The problem is our media.
This entire close escape just needs to be told to the rest of the country, especially when Snott Wanker announces his presidential candidacy on July 13, and they start paying closer attention to him.
ReplyDeleteI believe Walker was the one pushing the secrecy agenda. It is part of his "deliberative process" to hide his cronyism and pocket lining politics from the good citizens of Wisconsin. We need to watch him closely and demand he rescind the gutting of open records law.
ReplyDelete