Scott Walker on Hannity - An Offer You Can Laugh At!

Governor Walker called into the Sean Hannity Show this afternoon. "The Governor for all of the people in this State of Wisconsin" is playing politics on national radio.

He praised the "courageous" Republican Senators who are the subject of recall petitions in the state. I think one needs to analyze the word "courageous" in this context. The Fond du Lac, WI officers (and police dog) shot in the line of duty this weekend were courageous. Men and women in uniform fighting for their country are courageous. Protesters throughout the Middle East who are challenging dictatorial governments.

It is not courageous to use an shady, obscure parliamentary procedure to split out part of bill. It is not courageous to pass that bill through without any serious debate on provisions that the majority of the state indicated it was against. It is not courageous to vote on a bill then run away under police escort.

Then Scotty "The Drama Queen" Walker goes on to complain (whine) about tactics used by the unions when they sent letters to employers threatening boycotts. He called it "tactics worthy of the Godfather." 'Let me make you an offer you can't refuse or... I won't buy your stuff." What Godfather is he talking about, Beaver Cleaver's godfather. Don Corleone has got to be rolling in his literary grave... with laughter.

To Hannity's discredit, he bought it hook, line and sinker. He is putting the Governor's new website where he pitched a request for money to help the Senatorial robots with the recall votes, that do not yet exist, created by the petitions that have not be submitted. (Anyone else see a campaign war chest being built on momentary hysteria?) At no point, did either of these Tea Party drama queens mention that eight Democrats are also having petitions circulated to try to recall them.

Here is the upshot:

• People are courageous when they do what everyone around them is doing and it appears politically necessary.
• Send Scotty "The Drama Queen" money so he can fight recalls that don't exist, yet. (And may not if there are not enough signatures.)
• Boycotting businesses because your disagree with their policies is a mafia tactic worthy of Don Corleone and the Cosa Nostra.
• Whining on national radio is the new way to beg sympathy for your idiotic, overbearing political decisions.

A letter to the Guv!

Dear Governor Walker,

Please keep calling national radio shows and dramatizing what is going on in Wisconsin. Since the McCain campaign fell apart, we haven't actually had a politician we can laugh at when they act like the sky is falling because someone says boo!

Thank you.

One Wisconsin Citizen/Blogger

Joe the Plumber? Seriously? - Conservatives Need the Past to Survive the Future

I think that Conservatives have some valid points. There is something to be said for some ideas, like controlling the size and scope of government, protecting our borders and maintaining financial solvency. The ideas aren't bad; I part with them on execution.

Here's the problem that I see with the Neo-Con/Tea Party/Republican movement as it exists now: it has become an American Idol pageant of misfits and 15-minute media hounds.

So, who is the Tea Party getting its information from:

1. Glenn Beck - A recovering alcoholic, coke addict DJ who was pro-life until he found a new life at Fox. After converting to Mormonism, apparently Beck found out that God is running the show and he needs to be a decent person. No Osmond, he has not let that stop him from using profanity and mercilessly attacking people, including children. (Click here) He also peppers his shows with an apocalyptic prophecy ascribed to Joseph Smith. (reference)  The next time he says that the US Constitution is "hanging by a thread," look up the prophecy.
2. Sara Palin... former beauty queen, mayor of a large town in Alaska, former Governor of Alaska, reality TV star. OK, she's pretty. She was the mayor of Wasila, Alaska, the town with the Bridge to Nowhere. She declined the bridge, but not the money. As Governor of Alaska, she resigned. For all the accusations of nepotism, cronyism and other shenanigans, she resigned, despite having already being on the campaign trail with John McCain for a year or more. Her biography, Going Rogue , is named for a joke from SNL!
3. Joe the Plumber - Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher shot to fame after questioning then-candidate Obama about a small business tax for businesses making over $250,000 per year. Interestingly, he wasn't making $250,000! When asked by Diane Sawyer, he responded, "No, not even close." At the time, he was a plumber's assistant, not a business owner. Then he became a campaign issue. His political view suddenly becomes a touchstone for the New Right.
4. Mark Williams - Radio host and de facto Tea Party spokesman - Let him speak for himself. "Williams denounced those carrying blatantly racist signs against President Obama during the tea parties as "no more part of the mainstream of America than the hippies who wear nipple clips and feather boas in San Francisco streets during so-called peace demonstrations."* Really? What? Huh? 'Nuf said?
5. Rush Limbaugh- This one is harder. He is an entertainer, therefore not necessarily constrained by truth. That said, he has maintained his point of view for a very long time and his following is undeniable. A little more self-education of his listeners might help things, but at least he's not Mark Williams.

Conservatives who are needed to lend this new movement legitimacy:

1. Margaret Thatcher  - Although the PM of Britain, her philosophies had a huge influence here in the U.S.. Well thought out, articulate and applied with compromise and discretion, Maggie was a woman that no one messed with. She was respected around the world and left a lasting impression on those who grew up listening to her political views.
2. William F. Buckley, Jr. - Soft-spoken, polite and generally demure, his intellect was astounding. He was able to article Conservative philosophy while still sounding like a man off the set of Kathryn Hepburn film.
3. Ayn Rand - Not strictly a Conservative, she was a Capitalist who understood how wealthy and power could make the world a better place. Unfortunately, her ideas fall apart when humans touch them. Her novels in particular have influenced Conservatives since their publication.
4. Ronald Reagan - Father of the modern Conservative movement, the Tea Party doesn't actually listen to what he said and did. Instead, they listen to a myth of the man. Not without his foibles, he was a man of great compassion and vision. He was smart enough to hire the right people into the right places and leave them alone.
5. Barry Goldwater- Goldwater was a Constitutionalist. He wanted to the government to return to the original vision that had been laid out by the Founding Fathers in the Constitution. Again, the ideals never really met up with the ideal. Kennedy's assassination destroyed any possibility of Goldwater being elected.

There are many on both lists that could be added, but if the Conservative movement expects to survive, it needs to look back to its roots. The danger of the cult of personality, on both ends of the political spectrum is that all of these people can talk, few can lead and fewer still can understand what they are doing and why.