Scott Walker finally approves what we can or cannot protest at NFL games...or anywhere!!!

The first amendment is just too long and lacks that certain commercial appeal for profit making apparently. Unlike the Second Amendment, which is short and sweet enough for the gun industry to latch onto so they can lobby and sell guns through the NRA, “petitioning the government for a redress of grievances” doesn't even make for a good hat.

Congress shall make no law respecting … the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances

Republicans have been trying to put an end to protesting since they lost out to the anti-war movement in the '60's.

When over a million Wisconsinites, including children, protested the vilification of teachers and union busting in Act 10 back in 2011, Scott Walker didn't see it as act of "petitioning the government," he saw it was a form of "intimidation." Believe it or not, he even titled his book "Unintimidated" to make his case, characterizing protesters as out of state agitators, and comparing his stand against them to fighting ISIS.

Walker's family raised their kids to stand during the National Anthem:



Now that Trump has taken a firm nationalistic anti-First Amendment stand on protesting at NFL games, our presidential wannabee is jumping on board:

Walker wrote in a letterto NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. "But disrespecting our flag, and the men and women who have fought to protect and defend our country, is not American in the slightest."

Here's the logical response from Democratic Rep. Melissa Sargent:

Walker does have a legislature filled with anti-constitutional Republican sycophants:

And one or two "rebels:"

Walker now defends Protesters, but backs "Ann Coulter Bill" Punishing Free Speech on UW Campuses

Not many Governors have a calm, detached sociopathic speaking style like Scott Walker, thank god. And while he demands that same low key communication style from his most vociferous opponents, there's still no way he's ever going to change his mind.

Walker is the best argument against career politicians, because guys like Walker see only politics and pure ideological policy as the end game, not good public policy.

The Walker Authority Shredded the First Amendment during 2011 Capitol Protests against Union Busting Act 10: How could the nation forget:

The government is forbidden from making a “law abridging the freedom of speech…or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances” … but in 2011 ... Scott Walker, concluded … residents did not warrant 1st Amendment protections ... Walker’s response, typical of a fascist unaccustomed to being challenged, was to have many protesters arrested and fined for exercising their 1st Amendment rights; something Dane County Judge Frank Remington ruled was unconstitutional.

The conservative McIver Institute Director of Communications Nick Novak was angry that the six protestors claimed being arrested caused them embarrassment, created difficulties finding a job, and fostered a negative stigma in their personal records that will follow them for the rest of their lives. The real victims who deserved reparations, according to the belief tank … were “multiple Republican legislators that were harassed in the halls of the capitol and the governor who was routinely compared to Adolf Hitler.”

On Upfront with Mike Gousha, Walker provided his most laughably outlandish moment of hypocrisy yet; defending free political speech and their constitutionally protected protesters. Walker finally reached what was once believed to be an unreachable level of bullshitting, but he did it, and with a straight face to boot:



I hope you're sitting down...

Walker: "Whether it's against me or somebody else say, "I disagree," but disagreeing and even protesting is one thing, if you come into an auditorium where they're having a discussion or a conversation on this, and you want to hold signs up, you want to protest that, you want to rally out front, perfectly fine. But the minute you shut down a speaker, no matter whether they're liberal, conservative, or somewhere in between, I just think that's wrong." To me a university...anywhere free speech should be upheld...but disrupting and shutting down as we've seen here in Wisconsin, but elsewhere across the country, shutting down the ability for someone to actually be heard is not free speech."

Here's a short recap of bill Walker is talking about above, and now backs on our UW campuses:

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R- Rochester, and Rep. Jesse Kremer, R-Kewaskum, proposed legislation (that) would set new rules for free speech and expression on University of Wisconsin System campuses. That includes penalties for people who disrupt free expression on campus by engaging in "violent, abusive, indecent, profane, boisterous, obscene, unreasonably loud or other disorderly conduct" … Students could be expelled under a bill.

That sharply contrasts with his recent comments at CPAC during his infamously flawed run for president:

“I want a commander in chief who will do everything in their power to ensure that the threat from radical Islamic terrorists does not wash up on American soil. If I can take on 100,000 protesters, I can do the same across the world.”

But his comments weren't the only ones that trashed the peaceful protests directed at what we thought were accountable elected politicians:

Sen. Ron Johnson (R) of Wisconsin denounced what he saw as "mob rule" trying to thwart the electoral will of the people, citing specficially the "amount of thuggery, the threats of execution" against Republican lawmakers.

University of Wisconsin law professor Ann Althouse viewed the events in the Capitol as a near-total breakdown of law and order. "How do you like this new democracy, that has a mob storming the Capitol and, with the aid of the minority party, blocking the access of the majority party into their offices and into the legislative chamber?" Professor Althouse wrote on her blog. "It looks more like anarchy to me."

To others, this was precisely the sort of situation for which the guarantee clause was created.

"It is hard to recall many moments that more directly echo the concerns of the founders than the situation America faces today, with a mob of protesters, some bused in from out of state by labor unions bent on protecting their financial interests, occupying the state house at Madison and the governor there under heavy guard," states a New York Sun editorial.
Cornell University law professor William Jacobson wrote on his blog, Legal Insurrection ... The appearance of a bullhorn-toting protester on Feb. 27 in a "COPS FOR LABOR" T-shirt showed that "the police union members involved have actively advocated and offered to participate in insurrection against the legal authority in Wisconsin."

But the Guarantee Clause obviously doesn't apply: 

The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government, and shall protect each of them against Invasion; and on Application of the Legislature, or of the Executive (when the Legislature cannot be convened), against domestic Violence.-ARTICLE IV, SECTION 4

In reality, the Guarantee Clause would protect us from the likes of Scott Walker:

Cornell University law professor Aziz Rana, author of "The Two Faces of American Freedom," wrote, "the truth about the guarantee clause is that its initial purpose was less a concern with popular protest and far more a worry with potential backsliding by state governments into aristrocratic or monarchical forms of government," says "That would suggest to me that ... peaceful protest combined with local police sympathy and the decision by some legislators to flee to Illinois are not issues that would invoke the guarantee clause." 

Wisconsin Republicans kept the fear mongering myth about protester violent alive, and that there was massive destruction of public property by liberal vandals. Nope, never happened:

The protests were peaceful, on the whole – with only 18 arrests during more than three weeks of steady protests in Madison – but critics question whether Dane County Sheriff Dave Mahoney, too, was taking sides.

"We are seeing democracy in action, people engaging in their government, making their issues known," Sheriff Mahoney told Time magazine. " I'm very proud that the people of Wisconsin are engaged in their government and shown the rest of the world how democracy works." At one point, he said his deputies "aren't palace guards."

No Vandalism either...according to PolitiFact, the highly publicized cost of repairs, do to protester vandalism, got all the necessary political mileage, despite being a Pants on Fire lie:

By March 7, 2011, the Department of Administration reported that all signs and banners in the Capitol had been removed. Some of the signs are being considered for preservation by the Wisconsin Historical Society or the Smithsonian Institution.

The protesters "have adopted an ownership ethic in the building, treating it with the utmost care and respect," wrote Jason Tish, executive director of the Madison Trust for Historic Preservation and a local field representative for the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

He called the demonstrators "evangelistic about their respect for the building." "The extent of what I saw today is just chips and nicks -- cosmetic damage," he said in an interview. "I don’t see how they (protesters) could have conducted themselves any better." Tish said the building bore the signs of the "accelerated cumulative effects of lots of people going through the building. I saw no intentional damage." The new estimate: $347,500, some 20 times less than the original one. And there are indications that even that could be high.

This smells like an effort to pour gas on the anti-protester fire. The claim was ridiculously high. And that gets a Pants on Fire rating.

Walker loses big against Devil's Advocates Host, but media spin follows...

Wisconsin State Journal Reporter Molly Beck may need to take a continuing ed class on journalism. 

Two big mistakes in the following story that distorts and minimizes the impact of what it means to stand up to a repressive government like Scott Walker’s, and protect the 1st Amendment. 

First, she set out to anger readers by making them resent Devil's Advocates radio host Dominic Salvia's big win for a citizens 1^st Amendment rights, by writing “taxpayers” will end up paying for Walker’s unconstitutional law arresting protesters at the Capitol:

Taxpayers will pay a local radio show host $75,000 to settle a lawsuit he filed against Gov. Scott Walker’s administration after being arrested in 2013 while covering the arrests of protesters at the state Capitol.

Second, nowhere in the story did Beck mention that “radio host” Dominic Salvia is a libertarian who voted for Scott Walker in the recall, leaving the impression he was a nasty unpatriotic terrorist “liberal:”

Dominic Salvia, co-host of the liberal talk show Devil’s Advocates Radio Show on The Mic 92.1 FM…

Beck was joined by Upfront's Mike Gousha (bottom video), and WTMJ’s conservative authoritarian host Jeff Wagner, who did everything he could to make it seem like another long haired 60’s throwback and Madison liberal misbehaved again, disrupting the peace and tranquility of the state Capitol. Scott Walker and Republican lawmakers had nothing to do with it of course ramming Act 10 down everyone's throat. At least Liberal America spent the time to investigate and got it right:

The man they arrested was Dominic Salvia, the conservative voice on the popular Devil’s Advocates Radio Show. This guy spent years defending Republican Governor Scott Walker to a progressive audience. Mr. Walker best not count on that defense anymore.

Here’s the full surreal rant from Wagner, that makes it perfectly clear the 1^st Amendment right to protest ones government is passé, and such bad behavior will no longer be tolerated. You'll notice he received no calls, or at least didn't include them in the online audio clip. A fine example of repressive one party right wing authoritarianism:

Unsettling attack on Judges...that don't follow the one-party dogma. It should be noted those same supposed liberal "Madison" judges, have decided in Walker's favor as well. Blaming judges without having a good reason to do so is meant to denigrate the whole judicial branch of government. Real American like, huh?

In this amazing video clip of Dominic Salvia's arrest as a reporter, with crystal clear audio, you can see for yourself that from the very beginning, the polite questions Salvia asked about why he was being arrest were completely ignored:

This was decided in a federal court, away from the predictable State Supreme Courts support of Walker's agenda, and the likely decision Salvia faced there.

Here's Devil's Dom and Crute on Upfront with Mike Gousha:



Here's Dom's interview with Bill Press:

Walker agenda exploits Fear and Xenephobia with ban on Syrian Refugees. What next protesters?

Scott Walker has turned Wisconsin into something so conservatively radical that that he truly believes the states remaining liberal Democrats are not much different than ISIS terrorists. Hey, Walker said so...

Audience member question: "Should you become commander and chief, how would you deal with threats like ISIS?"

Walker: "If I can take on 100,000 protesters, I can do the same across the globe,"

Walker is unintentionally doubling down on that idea, despite his denials, with his recent ban on Syrian refugees. WSJ:

Gov. Scott Walker on Tuesday wrote U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry to say that state officials would not aid any federal attempt to resettle Syrian refugees in Wisconsin. "Our state will not facilitate the coordination or provision of benefits or services for individuals whose presence could pose a potential risk to our people."

If Walker's statement wasn't enough, get a load of Paul Ryan's contradictory comment pushing the right wings xenophobic panic attack, while bragging about being a welcoming country to immigrants...just not this time. WKOW's Greg Neumann:

Paul Ryan: "Our nation has always been welcoming, but we cannot let terrorists take advantage of our compassion. This is a moment when it's better to be safe than to be sorry. So we think the prudent, the responsible thing is to take a pause, in this particular aspect of this refugee program, in order to verify terrorists aren't trying to infiltrate the refugee population." 

Dumb Ron Johnson has the typical do-nothing GOP response down cold...we "have a lot of questions." Next issue please....

Ron Johnson, chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, said "Americans have a lot of questions" about the issue and "our first task is to keep Americans safe."

Add Walker to the other 31 frightened governors giving ISIS just what they want. Scared to death of challenging terrorist tactics, Walker could just be helping ISIS stop the flow of refugees with planted "evidence:"

WaPo: Security concerns have increasingly been cited as a justification for keeping borders closed and refusing to resettle migrants ... after a Syrian passport with the name Ahmad al-Mohammad, a 25-year-old born in Idlib province, was found near the body of a suicide bomber. French authorities say fingerprints from the suicide bomber match those of someone who passed through Greece in early October.

Refugees and migrants reaching Europe do represent some kind of security threat However, it is not only deeply unfair to paint all of those arriving with the same brush — it is also self-defeating. If Muslim refugees come to Europe and are welcomed, it deeply undercuts the Islamic State's legitimacy. 

Some have suggested that the Islamic State deliberately sent someone along this route to help sow discord. Given the availability of fake Syrian passports in Turkey and other places ... the passport found near the body of one of the Paris bombers was planted there to further inflame a tense Europe — an idea strengthened by reports that a different man was found traveling with the same passport in Serbia.

The anti-immigration right wingers like Scott Walker are only strengthening ISIS:

What seems almost certain is that the Islamic State wants you to equate refugees with terrorists. In turn, it wants refugees to equate the West with prejudice against Muslims and foreigners.The screening process can take years, leaving legitimate refugees in limbo. It's worth remembering that making that welcome worse may be exactly what the Islamic State wants.

No broken hearts from our armed conservative authority, who oddly, still don't feel safe.

ACLU of Wisconsin was among the groups to criticize Walker's remarks Tuesday. The group said in a statementthat "the U.S. already has an extremely rigorous and multi-layered security screening program in place for refugees seeking to resettle here. Attempting to shut out refugee resettlement in Wisconsin blames refugees for the very terror they are fleeing, and erodes our own civil liberties," the group said.

Here's what Sen. Elizabeth Warren had to say about a fear mongering GOP leaders:

“These events test us. It is easy to proclaim that we are tough and brave and good-hearted when threats feel far away -- but when those threats loom large and close by, our actions will strip away our tough talk and reveal who we really are."

"We face a choice. A choice either to lead the world by example or to turn our backs to the threats and the suffering around us.”

Voxdotcom put out this nice piece on the conflict in Syria and the rise of ISIS. It offers Republicans food for thought...I'm kidding of course, that's not possible. The reality; we don't control what other countries do or end up creating due to their own policies, not including our own constant meddling: 

There's still more, Media Matters:

La Opinión -- one of the leading Latino daily newspapers in the U.S. -- also noted that "[t]his type of reaction does nothing but feed internal fears, granting a victory to terrorists, whose goal is precisely to shake the feeling of safety in free societies":

"The Paris attacks carried out by ISIS are being used to sustain the Republican Party's nativist, anti-immigrant discourse. It is sad to see that the reaction to terrorism is to build border walls and ignore a humanitarian crisis out of fear. Terrorism triumphs when it succeeds in intimidating governments and civilians. Leadership is shown by rising to challenges posed by the situation, not by taking advantage of them to feed existing fear and resentment against immigrants and foreigners among the electorate."

Republican hypocrites demand Clinton apology for saying their "views about women" similar to "some of the terrorist groups."

Who can forget this vilification of American protesters exercising their 1st Amendment right to redress their government:

Walker: “We need a leader with that kind of confidence. If I can take on 100,000 protesters, I can do the same across the world."

That was just fine with rank and file Republican voters. There were no objections or apologies. And yes, Walker compared Wisconsin protesters to ISIS.

Fast forward to the following comment from Hillary Clinton defending women's rights:

“Extreme views about women – we expect that from some of the terrorist groups. We expect that from people who don’t want to live in the modern world..." Clinton said to cheers.

So what are our hypocritical Republican "war on women" warriors saying:

“For Hillary Clinton to equate her political opponents to terrorists is a new low for her flailing campaign. She should apologize immediately for her inflammatory rhetoric,” said Republican National Committee Press Secretary Allison Moore.

Do Republicans really want to go there? Of course.

Salon's Joan Walsh went a little deeper into Walker's bizarre comparison that his clueless supporters deny to this day, as shown in these tweets. Just to be clear, many of the protesters weren't in unions and showed up supporting WORKERS in general:

Joan Walsh: Walker himself tried denying that he’d compared Wisconsin protesters to ISIS.  

“You all will misconstrue things the way you see fit. 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.” 

He made a similar argument at the New York event where Rudy Giuliani upstaged him … according to Larry Kudlow, an event co-sponsor:

"Walker argued that when Reagan fired the PATCO air-traffic controllers over their illegal strike, he was sending a message of toughness to Democrats and unions at home as well as our Soviet enemies abroad. Similarly, Walker believes his stance against unions in Wisconsin would be a signal of toughness to Islamic jihadists and Russia’s Vladimir Putin."

Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry quickly criticized Walker’s remarks:

"That is a terrible response. First, taking on a bunch of protesters is not comparably difficult to taking on a Caliphate … Secondly, it is insulting to the protesters, a group I take no pleasure in defending. The protesters in Wisconsin … 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." 

Wisconsinites discovering the real Scott Walker, and some even like him.

It was more than entertaining to hear callers on the Mitch Hank Show vent over Scott Walker's criticism of protesters attending his soap box speech in Iowa.

I put a few of the callers together, including "Stand with Walker" supporters who still hate the 1st Amendment and the whole idea of protesting the government.



I came across this interesting "cover story:"

While Iowa Protester was Attacked, Walker Bragged he wasn't Intimidated!!!

It was a little out of character, but Scott Walker needed a boost in the polls.

When the news broke about Scott Walker's egomaniacal attacked on a few protesters in a small crowd at the Iowa State Fair, I had a chance to ask my conservative friend in Milwaukee what he thought; do people have a 1st Amendment right to redress their government if they disagree with policy, or are they now seen as disloyal Americans, trying to "intimidate" their political leaders?

Without hesitation he said it was intimidation, just like Walker. Another real constitutional scholar. And since it is intimidation, Walker no longer has a responsibility to listen to those now vilified dissenters. It's a perfect example of rightwing authoritarianism.  

In Wisconsin, Walker typically avoids public confrontations with scheduled appearances closed off to all but his corporate supporters and captive employee audiences.

Walker's outburst was calculated to play off his book (boost sales?), and play up his reputation for taking on hundreds of thousands of Wisconsinites in the dead of winter who protested his "divide and conquer" agenda.

Published on Aug 17, 2015: At the Iowa State Fair Soapbox, Governor Scott Walker brings the crowd to a thunderous applause when he says he is unintimidated and a proven, tested leader.

The funny irony? Walker bragged about standing up to 100,000 taxpaying American people, because he wants to "fight for the American people." You can't make this stuff up folks. Here's a more complete look at Walker's attack:

"Again, unintimidated. I am not intimidated by you, sir, or anyone else out there. I will fight for the American people over and over and over and over again. You want someone who’s tested? I’m right here. You can see it. This is what happened in Wisconsin. We will not back down. We will do what is necessary to defend the American people going forward. If you give me the chance, I will not be intimidated, just like I wasn't intimidated here or anywhere else."

"Go get 'em, Scott!" a supporter screamed in response.

I also included Walker bragging about freezing tuition for the last 4 years, as if that's any kind of solution to rising college cost. Oh, and he blamed Hillary's speaking fees for skyrocketing college costs. He really did.

The press gave little attention to the scuffle caused by our brownshirted constitutional conservative freedom fighters trying to rip the protesters sign apart. So much for free speech. Special Note: The Walker thugs against political speech should be charged for disorderly conduct and vandalism, just like a Germantown kindergarten teacher was for a similar offense, which was written about for months in the Wisconsin Watchdog:

UPDATE: Now we know more about the confrontation Walker never tried to stop or defuse:

More video @GovWalker points and his supporters pounce. @AddInfoOrg ‪#‎iacaucus‬"Unfortunately for Walker, those protestors happened to be Addicting Info proprietor Matthew Desmond and two of his friends, Aaron Black and Khalil White. Matthew explained what happened to him and his friends as they stood peacefully protesting Walker in the front row:

“I was holding up [a] sign, wasn’t yelling at him, but he was screaming at us and his supporters attacked us. We [he and Aaron Black] were both attacked and had our signs ripped up. I kept pulling out more from my pocket and one guy attempted to climb on a hay bale and dive bomb me. They pushed my friend Khalil White, who has a torn meniscus in his knee, and ripped up his sign. Then they pushed me over, at one point, onto a woman in a wheelchair.”

As Charles Pierce recently wrote: Scott Walker's Lies at the Fairgrounds - Scott Walker and his campaign's toxic combination of belligerence and aggressive victimhood were on display:  

Alone among the crowd of candidates, Walker most clearly is running on his record of being a complete prick to the right people – which include teachers and nurses and the people who clean up after Alzheimer's patients in group homes. He truly is a remarkable liar, already a far more remarkable liar than even Mitt Romney was, and I didn't think that was possible. For example, the evidence is that while he managed to ram his programs through his pet legislature, he hid behind his capitol police. He took a tunnel to get to the office. He and his pet legislature changed the rules of what was allowed in the Wisconsin capitol building, which always had been open space. He was unintimidated by singing grandmothers because his administration had them arrested and hauled away.​

And, it scarcely needs to be mentioned, when 100,000 of his constituents showed up on his lawn, Scott Walker did not deign to meet with them. 

(And, you have to admit, it takes some big clanging brass ones to talk about "taking on the big special interests" a couple of weeks after giving $250 million of that sweet taxpayer cash to the owners of the Milwaukee Bucks, to say nothing of riding to victory three times on tidal waves of dark money.)​ 

Hat tip to Jake's Economic TA Funhouse for highlighting Pierce's article.  

Walker's lie about out-of-state protesters finally put to rest. "False."

Scott Walker continues to say point blank that out of state union thugs came to Wisconsin to intimidate and agitate the locals to protest. But he's "Pants on Fire" lying really:

PolitiFact had this to say back in 2011 and now:

In late February 2011, during the heat of the daily protests inside and around the Capitol, Walker said "almost all" of the protesters were from outside of Wisconsin. He made the statement in a phone conversation with a Buffalo, N.Y., blogger who was posing as industrialist and conservative political donor David Koch.

We rated Walker’s statement False.

Fast forward to today: We asked Walker’s campaign for evidence that 100,000 protesters were brought into Wisconsin. The campaign cited isolated reports of demonstrators being bused in from Illinois and New York, but nothing more comprehensive.

For the record, it’s clear tens of thousands of protesters participated in some of the daily demonstrations, but less clear whether the crowds ever reached 100,000. But there is no evidence to indicate that all or nearly all were from outside of Wisconsin.

We rate Walker’s statement False.

Walker hates government protesters...that whole 1st Amendment thing!!!

Scott Walker's reaction is beyond words, and beyond his understanding of the Constitution.

Note: Walker always insisted protesters at the Capitol in the winter of 2011 were imported, out-of-state agitators. Now he's saying protesters in other states are imported from Wisconsin. Make up your mind Scottie (I'm with Laurna):