So of course, Walker tried to imitated Reagan when he ignored the hundreds of thousands of protesters back in 2011 at the state Capitol. Did that send a strong message to...ISIS? In Walker's mind, yes.
There’s just no way to describe what Walker said that doesn't sound
scary:
CNN: Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker says his home-state battles against labor unions prepare him to take on terrorism -- but he denies he's comparing the two.
In context, Walker was talking about ISIS and terrorism:
Walker drew attention at the Conservative Political Action Conference on Thursday with his response to a question about how he'd handle ISIS, and the "radical Islamic terrorism" he condemned during his speech.
"If I can take on 100,000 protesters, I can do the same across the globe,"
Again and again, the media keeps getting wrong:
Walker told reporters he wasn't making a direct comparison.
"You all will misconstrue things the way you see fit," he said, "but I think it's pretty clear, that's the closest thing I have in terms of handling a difficult situation, not that there's any parallel between the two."
And I loved this reference to Walker's supposed "leadership ability," which is looking kind of comical, and very authoritarian:
Walker spokeswoman Kirsten Kukowski underscored Walker's explanation later, saying the comment was intended to highlight his leadership capabilities.Just the opposite really. Yes, it's that gotcha media, like the conservative National Review's honest opinion:
That is a terrible response. First, taking on a bunch of protesters is not comparably difficult to taking on a Caliphate with sympathizers and terrorists around the globe, and saying so suggests Walker doesn't quite understand the complexity of the challenge from ISIS and its allied groups. Secondly, it is insulting to the protesters, a group I take no pleasure in defending. The protesters in Wisconsin, so furiously angry over Walker’s reforms and disruptive to the procedures of passing laws, earned plenty of legitimate criticism. But they’re not ISIS. They’re not beheading innocent people. They’re Americans, and as much as we may find their ideas, worldview, and perspective spectacularly wrongheaded, they don’t deserve to be compared to murderous terrorists.
And the liberal response:
The Democratic National Committee highlighting it, as well. "If Scott Walker thinks that it's appropriate to compare working people speaking up for their rights to brutal terrorists, then he is even less qualified to be president than I thought. Maybe he should go back to punting," DNC spokesman Mo Elleithee said.Facebook and Twitter lit up with parody pictures describing what our authoritarian leader must have meant. Also, here's the full ISIS question and Walker answer:
Well, at least Scooter's campaign is helping to employ people who would normally work for the circus, carrying a shovel and a bucket behind the elephant. The campaign calls these people "spokespersons."
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