Indianapolis - A Great Place To Be A Bigot

Here's a couple of short videos from my home away from home, Crooks and Liars, which are too funny not to share:

Walker Gets Punt'd

As the gentle reader is surely aware of, Scott Walker took a taxpayer-funded jaunt over the pond to merry old England where he proceeded to embarrass himself (and us) by refusing to answer some simple questions, like whether he believes in evolution.

As I wrote at Crooks and Liars, while Walker is hoping that this would all go away, he gets called out by his 73 year old high school science teacher:

Among those who questioned Walker: the chair of his high school science department, Ann Serpe, 73. “Answer the question when they ask you!” Serpe said in an interview. “He could have manned up a bit. That’s what I would tell him.”

Serpe, who taught chemistry and chaired the math and science department at Delavan-Darien High School in Delavan, Wis., before her retirement in 1998, now lives in nearby Elkhorn. She recalls that Walker, her pupil and an advisee in student government, was a bright, committed participant in class. Walker graduated in 1986.

What would Walker have learned in high school? “We taught the theory of evolution, and human evolution, as a prerequisite to understanding biological classification. I went out and looked at my biology textbook just to make sure.”

Adding to Walker's chagrin, I also cite an English commenter who nails it:

What does one expect from an uneducated toff who is little more than a factotum for the Koch brothers? What is most unsettling is that there are all to many American voters who do not recognize they are dealing with a male Sarah Palin. The fact he duped a majority of Wisconsin voters to re-elect him reveals how dangerous Walker is, how politically stupid and indolent the American voter is, and suggests that the spirit of Joe McCarthy thrives in its home state.

What a bloody embarrassment Walker is.

Quote of the Day (And Bragging Rights)

I'm honored and excited that Charles Pierce of Esquire picked up my story about the deadbeat Orville Seymer, which I had posted on Crooks and Liars (as well as on here).

Pierce's take on Scott Walker, who keeps getting tied up with lowlifes like Seymer, was not only dead on but absolutely priceless:

Both capper and Daniel Bice point out that this deadbeat's organization was central to the political rise of Scott Walker, the goggle-eyed thrice-elected manager of said midwest subsidiary, and also that it has been central to Walker's defense against the stubborn charges that he regularly uses one office to help him get elected to the next one. I swear, I have never seen anyone whose rise to national prominence has been so thickly festooned with small-time, penny-ante grift. It's like nominating a squeegee-man to be Secretary of the Interior.

I would point out that the squeegee-man would have one distinct advantage over Walker - the squeegee-man would know which end of the squeegee is the business end.

Words Of Wisdom For Wisconsin Women Voters

Caveat Emptor

And yes, that is my debut on Crooks and Liars.

The Real Reason Walker Doesn't Want To Do The Healthcare Exchanges

Karoli, writing at Crooks & Liars, had the misfortune of watching Scott Walker speaking with Paul Gigot about his abdication of his duties in setting up a healthcare exchange in Wisconsin.

She absolutely nails it in her translation from weasel speak to English:

Finally, on the question of the Medicaid expansion, Walker appears cagy when he says the idea of 100 percent funding is tempting, but you know, that damnable fiscal cliff gets in the way. (It doesn't.) Reading between the lines, I see this as the real excuse for his foot-dragging on expanding Medicaid:

In light of the fiscal cliff and everything else out there, there's a very real possibility even with the next year or two that Medicaid funds to states might be reduced and without true flexibility through block grant, now we have a real tough time dealing with what we have today, let alone anyone.

Whisper with me now: Scotty Walker doesn't really want to cover those poor folks. He just wants the money for them so he can use it for other things, and keep kicking the poor in the teeth for every problem there is for as long as possible. Poor people, after all, shouldn't expect health care.

This is so stupid. The federal government is trying to REDUCE health costs by getting these people covered and in front of doctors before they are so sick the state bears a huge burden, but yeah, poor people. Can't stand the idea of poor folks getting a leg up when Scotty can't control the funds flowing through to them. Plus, fiscal cliff!

Now that I've debunked Scotty's stupid reasoning, let me share with you what my strongest reaction to this segment was. It was the closing:

GIGOT: It is going to be a big debate and we'll watch your decisions carefully.

To which I reply, WHY? Why will we watch Scotty's decisions carefully? Why on earth would we care what Scott Walker does? Because he's done so well managing Wisconsin? Shoot, every Wisconsinite on the planet should be overflowing with gratitude that Walker didn't see a way to profit personally or politically from state-based exchanges and the Medicaid expansion.

Damn, she's good. And I'm not just saying that because she included a couple of links to my stuff, but it does show where she gained her keen insight into the ways of the weasel Walker.

Local Bloggers, National Exposure

This has been a good week for a couple of our local bloggers.

My friend, Lisa Mux, aka Waukesha Wonk, earned some national attention when she had a post regarding TOMMY!!'s feeble attempt to regain relevancy republished on the Progressive.

And yours truly wasn't without a few moments of glory.

My post about how every 3.5 seconds someone was signing a petition to recall Scott Walker was rounded up at Crooks & Liars.

And my compilation of the damage done in eight years of Walker's malfeasance as Milwaukee County Executive was highlighted on Mark Crispin Miller's site.  (And I do agree with Miller's assertion that Walker needs to be prosecuted for his crimes.)

Not a bad week at all, if I say so myself.