Walker's inner sociopath rejects idea of helping Syrian Refugees as president: "Everybody wants to talk about hypothetical's, there is no such thing as a hypothetical.”

Scott Walker's sociopathic behavior has never gotten the kind of media attention it should have statewide or nationally. That I'm hoping will now change.

In one of the clearer examples of non-answer word salads, Walker's embarrassing and brutal disconnect concerning the plight of fleeing migrant families from Syria should scare the daylights out of every American voter. Imagine how he'll respond someday after a natural disaster, or when all our social safety nets have been repealed and the nation is faced with a dramatic increase in human suffering. Oh, sorry about that, hypothetical's don't exist, as Chris Hayes sarcastically laments following the clip below:

Reporter: “What would you do to address the migrants who are currently fleeing into Europe? Does (sic), should the U.S. accept some of those migrants into the country?”

Scott Walker: "Well, again the problem is we're ignoring the basis of the core of the problem. The problem is this president has had a weak stance in terms of taking on ISIS."

Reporter: “But to follow up, if you were president today, what would you do?”

Scott Walker: "I'm not president today, and I can't be president today. I'm going to be president in January of 2017 and I'm telling you what people need to do. Everybody wants to talk about hypotheticals. There is no such thing as a hypothetical."

Reporter: “Governor, the fact that these refugees need a place to go is not a hypothetical, and Pope Francis has even come in and said that countries need to help them. I mean, should the U.S. play an active role?”

Scott Walker:  "Again. I'm taking about what I'll do as president ... that will be a year and half from now."

New York Magazine wasn't about to let Walker's comments go unanswered, unlike the pass Wisconsin media would have given him:

Walker has avoided answering questions with similar evasions before — although "I'm not president, so I can't answer that" is the closest he has come to finding the secret cheat code that will allow him to advance to the convention without having to provide much insight into how he might deal with the types of difficult decisions a president has to make. 

When asked if he would have done the same thing as Obama during the auto crisis in May, he replied, “That’s a hypothetical question in the past. We’re going to talk about the future." 

You really can't make this stuff up.

Is Scott Walker a ruthless con man...?

There's no way I can add anything to the following reporters comments below, about Scott Walker's "Family Care" con. Come on, even "Stand with Walker" Borg-ites will feel like taking a shower after this one. Wausau Daily Harold:

It was the week after Christmas and before New Year’s in 2011, the end of Walker’s first

year as governor. Our usual political reporter was off with family, and so I was given the job of calling in to a news conference Walker had called to announce an end to the state’s cap on Family Care enrollments.

This was greeted as terrific news. Family Care, which is a Medicaid program that helps elderly people and those with disabilities to stay in their homes rather than go into nursing homes, is a popular program and it helps a lot of people.

Walker and Republicans had placed a cap on enrollments shortly after coming in to office in 2011. This end-of-year announcement meant the program would do away with its waiting lists and would expand from 57 to all 72 counties in Wisconsin. It was “very good news,” the executive director of the Aging & Disability Resource Center of Central Wisconsin told me.

So, great. Walker had a change of heart. We reported the news.

And then that night a Wisconsin political reporter, not me, scooped that, in fact, Wisconsin had been ordered by the federal Centers for Medicaid and Medicare to lift the cap and expand the program. It was illegal not to do so.

Walker had called a press conference to take credit for something he’d spent a year resisting, a policy he had changed only when he was forced to do so.

I felt like a sucker for writing a credulous, straightforward account of the policy change. As I remember it, we ran my story in print the next day, only to then have to pick up the Associated Press’s better, less bamboozled report the next day, explaining that Walker had been forced to make the amazing policy change he’d touted as his own. Well, you win some and you lose some. I remember this story because it embarrassed me.

Now it is 2015 and Walker is running for president. You’ll never guess what happened this year. In the budget he proposed this year, Walker wanted to dismantle Family Careand a related program known as IRIS. Those proposals were altered in the budget process, with some portions of the proposed cuts restored. The program is now going to be overseen by insurance companies.

Maybe Walker should call a news conference to brag that he saved the program. 

Walker only candidate described as "Dictator," "Authoritarian," and "Dangerous." Tells you something...

While every Republican running for president leans toward authoritarianism, Scott Walker is hands down the most obvious sociopathic danger, and the media is noticing. Under his gentle, lazy-eyed demeanor, is a man that doesn't just defeat his political enemies, he eliminates them.  Reporters are on this story. Alternet:

Whether waging war on his political enemies at home or fantasizing about attacking enemies abroad, Walker arguably is the most toxic authoritarian candidate in the Republican field. It’s insufficient to merely say that Walker likes to punish his enemies, or that he relishes sneak attacks, or that his career has been marked by the politics of fear, blame and divisiveness, and an inability to show restraint. All of these are true.

“I find [him] more Nixonian than even Richard Nixon himself (the authoritarian leader with whom I was, and am, so very familiar,” wrote ex-Nixon White House Counsel John Dean in April 2012 ... Today, three years later, Walker is parading around the campaign trail like an American dictator in waiting. He has a lengthy record on so many issues that reveal the same pattern: pick fights, launch sneak attacks, smear and scapegoat opponents, and then punish the defeated, according to Wisconsin media analysts. But he also has the personality of an aspiring American tyrant, as Dean noted.

He’d kill President Obama’s nuclear pact with Iran … Walker said he had no compunction about killing Iranians, saying he was ready to go to war with Iran on “day one” of his presidency … his latest political assassination target is the blandly named Government Accountability Board, a bipartisan panel of judges whose mission is keeping state elections fair and corruption-free … (regarding) the state’s Supreme Court, Walker’s benefactors had bankrolled successful high-court campaigns and had a sitting majority … days before Walker officially announced the Court not only ruled 4-2 that the corruption probe was out-of-bounds, it also rewrote the state’s campaign finance laws to allow the very collusion that was seen as illegal under the prior law.

He called for GAB’s head … to disband what is arguably the nation’s most reputable state election oversight board, and replace it with panel of political allies, mirroring his Supreme Court majority.

Dana Milbank offered us this warning:

ALEC, which inspired many of Walker’s anti-labor efforts in Wisconsin, drew several hundred union protesters as legislators arrived for its conference. “I understand you had a few protesters yesterday,” Walke (said) “For us, that’s just getting warmed up. That’s nothing. We got 100,000 protesters.” Portraying the pro-union forces as violent thugs … “Those big government interests — they believe they can win by intimidating elected officials. There were amazing things they did to try to intimidate us. The good news is we didn’t back down.”

This is the essence of Walker’s appeal, and why he is so dangerous … his technique of scapegoating unions for the nation’s ills is no less demagogic … even though unions represent just 11 percent of the U.S. workforce and have been at a low ebb. This year, Walker likened the union protesters to the murderous Islamic State: “If I can take on 100,000 protesters, I can do the same across the world.” Before that, he described public-sector union members as the “haves” taking advantage of the “have-nots” — the taxpayers.

He denounced the protests against his efforts to undo the unions as “thuggery.” He described collective bargaining as a “corrupt system” and diagnosed union leaders as having a “sense of entitlement.” Walker this year signed anti-union right-to-work legislation. He has said he doesn’t think the minimum wage serves a purpose, and he has opposed prevailing-wage and living-wage requirements. ALEC official Leah Vukmir (R), a Wisconsin state senator, introduced him by talking about the “unhinged wrath of the forces” who opposed him and their “unprecedented vile behavior.” 

Walker, describing the bargain shopping he does at Kohl’s department store, said he would do the same with taxes. It was a zany analogy. Kohl’s offers discounted merchandise for middle- and low-income consumers. The Laffer curve, the basis for supply-side economics, meant huge tax breaks for the rich that never trickled down.

But deception is the demagogue’s tool. Walker spoke Thursday about “the death threats not just against me and my family but against our lawmakers” … And some of Walker’s claims — including the alleged threat to “gut” his wife “like a deer” and of protesters “beating” and “rocking” a car he was in — could not be substantiated by independent authorities.

Such deception, however, is in the service only of the larger deceit at the core of his candidacy: By scapegoating toothless trade unions as powerful and malign interests, he enlists working people in his cause of aiding the rich and the strong.

Will Wisconsin reelect the Dirtiest, Nastiest political Thug in the country, Scott Walker?

Right, Mary Burke would run for governor on her record at Trek, knowing she was fired?

Scott Walker blamed a fawning press that never bothered to vet Burke's record. Check out the the Journal Sentinel's look at the Republican/Walker operatives behind the smear, it's breathtaking.

Watching Walker's well rehearsed response to reporters, our incidental governor continues to act completely removed from this nasty October surprise, except for his carefully crafted pot shot at Mary Burke. Walker is not known for thinking quickly on his feet. From WISC:

Walker: "Any other candidate at any other time in this state's history wouldn't have made it through the primary with the kind of scrutiny that it would have warranted here. You all cover things like my thumb way more than you cover my opponent. You cover the bald spot on my head more than you cover my opponent. Wipe that whole story off the table and I think we make a convincing case with or without that, that her whole campaign in the last year since October 2013 has overwhelmingly been based on what she's against."

Funny how prepared Walker was to continue the personal assault on Burke...

Walker: "Any other candidate at any other time in this state's history wouldn't have made it through the primary with the kind of scrutiny that it would have warranted here. You all cover things like my thumb way more than you cover my opponent. You cover the bald spot on my head more than you cover my opponent." 

As you can see, even this sociopath was having a hard time containing his glee over the irreparable damage his campaign lobbed with this bomb. Smugly calm too.

Mary Burke responded to the political hit piece:

No ax to grind?

She answered questions about recent allegations that she was fired from her job at Trek Bicycle and going after those who shared the story, including former Trek president Tom Albers and Human Resources Director Gary Ellerman. Burke said her position was eliminated in a re-organization and stands by her performance at Trek.

"These are complete lies and fabrications. Tom has an axe to grind, Gary Ellerman has an axe to grind with Trek, and it just shows Scott Walker is not going to stop at anything …these are lies and the voters should look at my track record of exactly what I have accomplished."

Here's WKOW's Greg Neumann with the complete story, a tale oddly released just before the election. Weird huh? Walker said, "They can say anything they want..." leaving the issue out there for his breathlessly in the bag voters:

Walker won't say Burke's name!!! Says he's not running against anyone...condescending much?

Scott Walker couldn't be more clear about how much respect he has for his gubernatorial challenger Mary Burke.

Walker: "...my opponent."

Walker's disregard for women is evident by what he has signed into law, and not by what he chooses to say, or more importantly, not say.

Walker: "It's a lot more effective not to personalize the contrast. I'm not running against someone, I'm running for the state."

Not personalizing it by referring to her by her name? I've gotta say it, Walker's "her, come on, get serious" attitude makes my blood boil.

And for those unquestioning "stand with Walker" followers, the governorship isn't the place for a woman.

Here's WKOW's Greg Neumann with video of Walker's listless and dehumanizing sociopathic commentary:

Walker and Ryan don't have time for all the "smaller freedoms" Americans are losing.

A recent Tweet got my curiosity up enough to write the following post on the governing style of a true Rightwing Authoritarian sociopath like Scott Walker. This isn't a case of name calling, but instead a loud warning to voters who might want Walker to address their concerns someday. Popular support of certain issues, whether through polling or public protests, are of little concern to "Walker the leader."

Check out this International Business Times article from April 2012 about our supposed brave and "Unintimidated" governor:

Walker's lack of concern is shockingly revealed in this WKOW Greg Neumann interview around Christmas. Walker doesn't sweat the little things, like women's health, because freedom stripping laws are simply media created controversies. Again, our incidental governor is not to blame:



Over and over again Republicans are very clear about their desire for absolute control, like this jaw dropping statement from Paul Ryan. Honestly, I can't get this one out of my head:

Walker takes fight to imagined "they want to control your lives" Liberal Enemy

Republicans have nothing left to defend their failed ideology except to create false premises and imagined enemies. Welcome to the alternate universe, the conservative bubble, an echo chamber of nonsense issues, platforms and liberal villains.

Below, Scott Walker not only doubles down on the false premise that liberals want to control everyone's life (no more incandescent light bulbs folks), but he's suffering from a bad case of projection (Walker's wants dictatorial one party rule):

jsonline: In an interview with Right Wing News ... Poverty: 

"the Left, they want you under their thumb. They want to control you. They want to control your lives. They want you to be dependent on the government. We should say we’re the ones, not only for the poor, but for young people coming out of college, for working class families, for immigrants, for others out there. We should say we are the ones who empower the American Dream. We’re the ones who say you can do and be anything you want, but it’s because we empower you with the ability and the platform to do that. The other side tells you they want to help you, but in the end they want to keep you limited in how far you can grow."

Walker's right, they are the party that likes to "say" things. Thanks for the speech Scott, but empty pep talks don't accomplish anything in the real world, and condescends to adults living out the nightmare of long term unemployment and poverty created by business interests.

So Republicans "are the ones who empower" us? Anyone feel empowered working for lower wages, longer hours, fewer benefits, unaffordable health care, growing job insecurity, and a growing wealth gap that keeps us all from the American dream?

Walker refuses Vets Pardon, Dashing Career as Police Officer over past Felony.

Want to see just how sociopathic Scott Walker really is? Walker is calm. His unshakable demeanor and droopy eye'd stare has always been a dead giveaway, but his refusal to even consider just one pardon while governor is brutal and revealing. WKOW's Tony Galli captured the moment:

Walker: "If you pick one there's thousands of other examples out there of people who may not have the media or other outlets behind them, who would be in an equal position who probably have a compelling case to be made that we don't know about." 

A former felon over a substantial battery conviction, and combat vet with a degree in criminal justice wants to get into law enforcement but needs a pardon to be able to have a gun. Walker has decided to deny him the ability to carry.

Walker: "I think there's a number of other areas that (have) tremendous needs in the state of Wisconsin," Walker said.

The Party of Punishment

See the nice analysis at MAL Contends.

Walker starts a trend: As more and more people fall through the cracks, and as safety nets are shredded, Walker will try to marginalized the media reports of these victims. Walker and other Republicans know victims stories will turn the public against them. Walker is leading that movement. 

Walker gave up his "divide and conquer" guilt over Act 10...to God.

The purity and "righteousness" of the conservative belief system has never been more abundantly clear than in a statement made by Scott Walker in his book "Unintimidated."

Reporter Dave Weigel wrote in Salon:

God got Scott Walker out of a serious jam. It was February 2011, Ian Murphy, the editor of the Buffalo Beast, called Walker’s office pretending to be donor/industrialist David Koch … goaded Walker into talking about his strategy for passing Act 10 … “Bring a baseball bat,” said Murphy/Koch. “I have one in my office,” said Walker, “a Slugger with my name on it.” 

…when Murphy/Koch asked about the wisdom of “planting some troublemakers,” Walker said his team had “thought about that” but dismissed it.

Here’s where God sent his message directly to Walker, turning his bad divisive arrogance into a more subtle nudge from our Lord:

“Only later did I realize that God had a plan for me with that episode,” writes Walker. After his press conference, he picked up his daily devotional and saw the title for Feb. 23: The power of humility, the burden of pride. “I looked up and said, ‘I hear you, Lord,’” writes Walker. “God was sending me a clear message to not do things for personal glory or fame. It was a turning point that helped me in future challenges, helped me stay focused on the people I was elected to serve, and reminded me of God’s abundant grace and the paramount need to stay humble.”

It's kind of like hearing voices in your head to justify your actions, isn't it?

Don't get me wrong, I still think Walker is a sociopath. But just for the sake of this story, let's just say if he did feel anything once, he gave it up to God.

Scott Walker uses O'Donnell Tragedy for "Disgusting...blatant poltical purposes" on Campaign and County Time.

Remember this Scott Walker statement, "It is disgusting that anyone would use a tragedy for such blatant political purposes," because it describes exactly what Walker did with the O’Donnell parking structure accident that killed a 15-year-old boy on June 24, 2010.

For Walker, the ends justified the means in his efforts to become the next governor. Where the John Doe investigation let Walker off, even though it successfully prosecuted his completely corrupt handpicked staff, this O’Donnell effort removes all doubt. 

jsonline: Gov. Scott Walker worked simultaneously with his campaign staff and county aides in coordinating responses to media inquiries, open records requests and news stories about the 2010 O'Donnell Park tragedy, according to newly released emails. The records show that Walker was integrally involved in the efforts to challenge any negative publicity

Here’s that Walker line again, directed at both his campaign and county staff.

"It is disgusting that anyone would use a tragedy for such blatant political purposes," Walker wrote in a draft statement that he sent on July 20, 2010, to a small circle of campaign and county staff, including campaign manager Keith Gilkes, campaign adviser R.J. Johnson and Chief of Staff Tom Nardelli.

How clear is this connection, and how “disgusting” was it to “use a tragedy for such blatant political purposes?”

Walker's top Milwaukee County fiscal aide, Cindy Archer, emailed Walker and Walker campaign aides on July 8 that "we may be responding too quickly" to requests for O'Donnell-related records made by his Republican primary rival, Mark Neumann, and by the state Democratic Party. "My sense from Keith is that we should be operating one step above ignoring them," Archer says in an email to county staffer Kelly Rindfleisch.

“One step above ignoring them,” with regards to the death of a 15 boy? Still not completely disgusted by this sociopath?

Walker to Iowans: "We've laid a "positive" foundation to move Wisconsin forward..." Yeah, we're real happy here!

It's no surprise that even the most outrageous and partisan state Republican legislators can't stomach many of the things Scott Walker wants to pass under his governorship. Truly is irresponsible stuff. But the criticism here is countered by the wild eyed praise of Iowans.

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker was the keynote speaker before the Polk County GOP

"Make" it go Red? Walker to turn Country Blood Red?

in Iowa Thursday. Using Wisconsin as his conservative model, the governor talked nationally, insisting the GOP must adapt.

"People realize we stood our ground not for some political cause, not just to keep a campaign promise, but because ultimately we wanted to put the power back in the hands of the hard-working taxpayers. We said here's the pathway forward. We've laid a positive foundation to move Wisconsin forward, and people want to continue down that path. We need to do that nationally, as well, which brings me to my second point, we need to be more relevant as Republicans."

Walker did not lay a “positive foundation” forward, unless having the most partisan statewide divide nationally is a model to be admired. Neighbors now hate neighbors and recall records are used as blacklists for potential candidates for office. jsonline's Craig Gilbert wrote:

The state's red-blue divide is a major reason for this consistency. Walker and Obama routinely get 90% approval or higher from voters in their own party, and close to the same level of disapproval from voters in the other party. That guarantees each of them a large, unyielding bloc of support - and a large, unyielding bloc of opposition.

Walker has done the impossible; he got reelected in the Democratic stronghold of Milwaukee, and then reelected in a recall. For some reason, those droopy sociopathic eyes are hypnotic, controlling and lovingly deceptive. And now it's working for him in other states too.

Read the following on an empty stomach:

"I thought it was absolutely fantastic. I can imagine that guy being our next president."

"That was very inspiring, and it's a great kick-off to the next election cycle, really, and we agree in Iowa with all of his values," Debbie Heldt said.

"I thought it was absolutely fantastic. I can imagine that guy being our next president," Joel Illian said.

"One of the better aspects is, he actually does what he says he's going to do, and I'm not sure that's so true around the nation," Kevin Zierke said.

One Wisconsin Now was there to spread the word, Walker is a lousy governor on paper. Here's the TV coverage from WBAY:

Republicans come to the Rescue over Republican plan to Rob the Poor in Rent-to-Own Scheme.

It’s now become painfully obvious Gov. Scott Walker is a sociopath. His droopy eyed calmness isn't due to a bad case of misplaced confidence, it’s a symptom of a callous disregard for others…preachers son or not.

That never became clearer, if you don’t count the million plus protesters Walker ignored, than his rent-to-own proposal. It’s important to look at his original plan and his original intent when judging Walker’s competence. With this one issue, the air has been cleared:

jsonline: Rent-to-own stores would be able to sell customers high-cost financing plans for televisions, appliances and other goods without disclosing their interest rates … In addition to exempting the industry from state consumer protection laws, the measure would cap how much wronged customers could get if they sued rent-to-own stores. The stores typically sell products under plans that cost buyers two or three times prices they would pay elsewhere.

No one would think that’s a good idea, except Scott Walker. Even misogynist hillbilly Sen. Glenn Grothman knows a bad deal when he sees one:

Sen. Glenn Grothman … said at the news conference the rent-to-own plan was harmful to the poor and would amount to "bleeding millions of dollars each year from our most vulnerable citizens. During this economic downturn to further punish the economically illiterate is scandalous," he said in an interview.

It’s comforting to know that the poor, or as Grothman calls them “economically illiterate,” have his support.

Rent-to-own stores could not charge more than twice as much under their rental agreements as what they charge customers to buy products outright, under the budget proposal. Consumer advocates say that offers no protection because the stores set their shelf prices much higher than other retailers. The law change would also limit how much customers could get in damages from stores that violated the law. "What you're paying for is embedded value," Rent-A-Center spokesman Xavier Dominicis said. "This is a transaction that is very unique. It's deserving of its own regulatory framework. . . . 

You’ll notice only Republican responses are worthy enough to pursue and quote, since as the myth goes, they’re “fiscally conservative.” These are the same great watch dogs of taxpayer money now borrowing and mismanaging the state's economy due to their “no tax” pledge straight jacket. Their unfiltered criticisms, and not the wishy-washy Democratic statements, are probably more entertaining to print:

"Rent-to-own is a pig," said Senate President Mike Ellis (R-Neenah). "It is legal thievery. . . . They are nothing more than usury. It's like the old Al Capone movie."

"I think that whole industry is preying on poor people, absolutely, and we need not facilitate that," said Sen. Rob Cowles (R-Allouez).

The Wisconsin Public Interest Group found rent-to-own stores there on average charged customers an effective annual interest rate of 221%. The rates ranged from 138% to 370%, its survey found. For instance, area rent-to-own stores charged $936 on average for a 32-inch television set that cost $333 on average elsewhere, the report said.

Again, not one Democrat was interviewed for this article. 

Republicans concerned about School Security? Perhaps only if the NRA backs and provides it.

I didn't know this:

Badger Herald: Lawmakers reintroduced a bill this month that would allow school districts to exceed revenue limits in order to afford additional security measures. A pair of bipartisan lawmakers passed a similar measure into law in the 2009 biennial budget, but Gov. Scott Walker repealed it in 2011.

Not only has the governor not addressed the question of sensible gun regulation in Wisconsin (and seems to have gotten away with it), but he’s been against additional steps to secure our schools, a now popular target of law abiding gun owners hell bent on killing large numbers of people. At which point they’re no longer law abiding gun owners.

Rep. Amy Sue Vruwink, D–Milladore, a co-sponsor of the bill, said the proposed legislation would allow schools to exceed revenue caps by $100 per student or a total of $40,000, whichever is greater. “A lot of parents and educators have asked for it. We’re not mandating this. We’re not saying you absolutely have to do this. We’re leaving it up to the local elected officials and the people in the school district to decide.”

How serious are our sociopathic (lacks a sense of moral responsibility or social conscience) conservative lawmakers about school safety?

Sen. Dale Schultz, R-Richland Center, is the only Republican of the 28 legislators currently endorsing the proposed legislation.

This isn't about their convoluted interpretation of the Second Amendment, this is about school security and safety.

And they really don’t care. 

The Walker Authority's Nursing Home Protection Law, Recipe for Death and Abuse.

Big government Republicans, headed up by the Walker Authority, continue to wipe out local control and pick winners or losers in the private sector. So far, Walker has limited local taxes, wants to wipe out residency rules, did away with local sick leave laws and is now going to tell private sector unions what they can or cannot do when negotiating with employers. I know, I'm only scratching the surface. You're welcome to add your own list in the comments section.

You can't make this kind of hypocrisy up, it's just the media never tries to connect the dots.

On WPT's Here and Now, we were reminded of the following anti-free market law passed by our supposed free market Republican majority.

The point is, exempting business from almost all liability concerns, like limiting lawsuits and what evidence can used in our courts, is the opposite of the free market ideal. In that dog-eat-dog world of business, I can sue a company into oblivion, with no limits on their monetary payout. But the government protection racket, bought and paid for by campaign contributions, prevents us all from living out a Rand/Friedman Utopian dream.

Take the obscene nursing home law signed into law by Walker. My hope is that soon, these same Republicans will find themselves in same unregulated and unaccountable senior hell-hole of abuse and neglect they left for everyone else. Personally, they couldn't suffer enough.