Saturday, November 1, 2014

Wisconsin can make history this election--because it has to



As I mentioned in my last post, I’ve allowed the right-wing nonsense of the so-called newspaper Washington Times to leave spam in my inbox. I’m not certain how I allowed this to happen; it probably occurred after I clicked on a link of some particularly egregious propaganda to see where right-wing anti-Obama paranoia would lead this time (or any other time). The other day it was something like this:

Dear Reader,

I'd love to see an atheist try to explain THIS.

It's a video about a recent discovery made by biblical researchers in Maryland. While investigating a certain New Testament passage, they found something they never expected...
A mysterious healing message within ancient scripture.

It appears to contain a secret for defeating one of our worst diseases... and the science behind it has been verified by one of America's top doctors!

Watch it here -- you may never look at the Bible the same way again.

P.S. This is America, and people are free to believe whatever they want. But I've yet to hear an atheist offer a real explanation for the "healing message" revealed in this video.

Even if you are a firm believer in Christian Science or a Jehovah’s Witness, it is about 100 percent guaranteed that you will not find any “miracle cure” here save a demand that if you actually want to find some obscure line or passage about “faith healing,” you will have to pay for. Making money for the “messenger” is the bottom line for all this “secrets” to be revealed. 

Thus the paranoia and conspiracy theorizing of the right knows no boundaries. Unfortunately politics and the running of this country is under the sway across a wide swath by this kind of illogic and uber-partisanship. Sadly, the state of Wisconsin, where I grew-up, has long abandoned its reputation as a bastion of progressiveness, championed by governor and then U.S. Senator Robert “Fighting Bob” La Follette. Instead, the state’s voters saw fit to elect a deceitful conman in Republican Scott Walker as governor. Walker currently has a bare 48-47 poll edge over Democrat Mary Burke—who is trying to become Wisconsin’s first female governor. Walker, through the Washington Times, had the nerve to leave this in my inbox:

Fellow Conservative,

A new independent poll shows I’m in a dead heat with my Democratic opponent among registered voters. National unions and a dozen liberal Super PACs are dropping millions of dollars in these final days to make sure I am defeated.

Frankly, if I don’t massively increase my spending RIGHT NOW my union backed Democrat opponent could defeat me. Can you rush an immediate contribution to my campaign of at least $35?
If we don’t move immediately, the union-controlled Wisconsin Democrats will finally get what they want. They’ll be able to roll back every good thing we’ve done in 4 years. That’s why our need is so urgent.

We can’t let that happen. Politics aside, we’ve saved Wisconsin taxpayers over $3 billion dollars, eliminated the $3.6 billion budget deficit, and created over 100,000 new jobs - all while cutting taxes by $2 billion dollars.  Because of the generous donations of people like you we’ve accomplished these things - and earned the ire of the DC Democrat machine that wants exactly the opposite.

Can I count on you once again? Conservatism is under attack here, and it's urgent that I hear back from you today.

If you sit this out, we may lose. Sometimes we ask for as little as $3, but because the Election is right around the corner do you think you could find at least $35? Your contribution will help us do what it takes to win.

Democrats and their allies want to make an EXAMPLE out of me. They're burying me in attack ads, including ridiculous ads that the independent group Politifact rated as half-truths and lies. But despite that, I refuse to back down, and I won't stand by idly as national Unions bus in supporters and liberal Super PACs funnel money into big TV buys.

You can help me stand up to the Union bullies and win this race in the next few days.  You and I can fight back. Liberals see this race as their chance to squash conservatism and destroy our national success story. The stakes are high because they know I am not finished yet, and that scares them. I have a hunger to do more. I am putting taxpayers back in charge of government.

But I don't have access to a Union war chest like my opponent. I depend on activists like you who help me defend conservatism $35 at a time. Can I count on you this time?

I humbly thank you for your support and for standing alongside me in defense of conservatism.

Sincerely,
Scott Walker
Governor of Wisconsin

This missive is so full of self-serving, hypocritical malarkey, I don’t know where to begin. First off, Burke isn’t getting hardly as much money from the unions and “liberal Super Pacs” as Walker is getting from his friends like right-wing extremists the Koch brothers and various right-wing super-PACs, who dumped millions of dollars to save his job in the recall election. If Walker is whining about money now, it is because he has wasted his millions fruitlessly on vicious attack ads fewer people are believing.

Walker’s so-called “job creation” is of course a complete sham. By gutting state expenditures, he has actually slowed job growth and the potential revenue base. Like all conservatives (including those in the legislature), he doesn’t understand that well-off and rich don’t “invest” their added largesse in jobs and the economy—they keep it in their own pockets. Gutting government budgets just means fewer transportation jobs and other public service functions that recycle tax money back into the state economy—thus maintaining and creating jobs as well as keeping revenue up. It is also more “human.”

Walker claims that right-wing extremism (he calls it something else, of course) is a national “success” story. We see what this “success” is doing in Washington, DC and it is a complete and utter disaster where nothing gets done in Congress. Walker is one of the worst governors Wisconsin has ever had; the state can make “history” by electing its first female governor—not because it will be, but because it has to be.

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