More on the Scott Walker Coup in Wisconsin. Here is John Nichols, of The Nation magazine and a native of the state, talking with Ed Schultz about: (1) The deliberate effort to blindside the Dems with the latest, probably illegal legislative move; and (2) The Wisconsin Recall effort.
Our thoughts:
▪ Schultz: "This may be the template for the way Republicans want to handle state and local issues across this country in a very heavy-handed manner" (0:15 in the clip). Yes, more Gaddafi than Mubarak, if I may say so.
We dealt with that earlier — I think we're in a new phase.
▪ The Repubs planned this surprise (1:25), a deliberate blindside effort, behind a cloud of obfuscation from the governor's office. As their ship goes down, they're playing every (bad) card in their hand.
▪ The Recall is "incredibly effective" (2:20 and forward). Note this from Ben Smith at Politico (my emphasis):
In the aftermath of Wisconsin Republicans using a procedural move to pass an anti-collective bargaining bill last night, two liberal groups reported a fundraising bump of $200,000 alone since the bill passed.I hope the deciders in this don't let anyone off the hook. Make them all feel vulnerable. Our Recall contrib link is below.
Combined with last night's take, the Progressive Change Campaign Committee and Democracy for America have raised $750,000 since the standoff in Wisconsin began for a television campaign against GOP state senators facing recall elections.
PCCC and DFA are focusing their efforts against three state Senators in districts that President Obama carried in 2008 -- Sen. Randy Hopper, Alberta Darling and Dan Kapanke. ... The liberal group MoveOn raised an additional $350,000 overnight, bringing their fundraising total up to $825,000 to be put towards the recall campaigns.
▪ Nichols: "Governor Walker is clearly running for the presidency" (5:05) Surprise, and great catch by Nichols. No wonder Walker was so subservient to fake-David Koch. Listen again to the phone call, where Walker is punked and tells all. How is this not a status report to the boss? ▪ The next battle in Wisconsin is the April 5 partisan battle for the Wisc. Supreme Court, with David Prosser (R) squaring off against JoAnn Kloppenberg (D). (Yes Virginia, in Wisconsin they run by party in these court races.) The court is currently 4-3 Republican, and Prosser holds the seat now. So the battle will be to flip the court — OR to get the "Did the Senate act illegally" decision before the court before the election.
Kloppenberg has declined to take campaign contributions of any kind (wow!). You can bet that won't be true in Koch-istan.
Sad, isn't it, when Justice slaves to Party and Party slaves to Money? On the other hand, Money can't buy Justice without slaves (er, political retainers).
Stay tuned, and watch that race. (If you're a Wisconsinite, you can volunteer to help out here.) Heady times, folks.
GP
