One Hundred Years Ago And One Year Ago: The Folly Of Greed And Hubris

April 15, 2012 is an auspicious day for the world and for Fitzwalkerstan.

One hundred years ago today, the RMS Titanic sank into the icy depths of the Atlantic Ocean, whose waters were as dark as the night sky overhead. The tragedy took more than 1,500 lives. It's sinking is being memorialized around the world.

Most people will tell you the ship was sunk because of damage done to the ship's hull after striking an iceberg.  Historians will tell you that it was sunk by greed and folly.  The builders of the ship tried to skimp on the cost and used cheaper rivets.  The folly was extended when the captain had the ship go faster than advisable given the time of year and reportedly ignored warnings of icebergs.

Phil Scarr has found some interesting data which shows the priority of the culture of that time, as evidenced by the percentages of the people saved broken down by passenger class.

To this day, people are still intrigued by the story of the Titanic, as evidenced by further explorations and discoveries about the ship's watery grave and continuing discussions of the people and the events of that fateful night.

One year ago, the RMS Scott Walker ran into his own version of an iceberg, in the form of a congressional panel in front of whom he had to give sworn testimony regarding his Budget Disrepair Bill and specifically about the union busting Act 10.

Walker's greed and hubris was exposed as Representative Gwen Moore laid out the fact that there was no financial crisis until Walker artificially created it by handing out hundreds of millions of dollars to his corporate sponsors; when Representative Bruce Braley (D-IA) grilled him about hiring Brian Deschane, the son of a rich lobbyist, whose not only didn't have a degree but did have two drunk driving convictions; when Representative Gerry Connolly (D-VA) forced Walker to admit that he never campaigned on attacking workers the way he did; and when Representative Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) took both of Walker's ham and cheese sammiches and ate them in front of him while Walker was forced to admit that attacking the workers, stripping them of their rights, saved the state no money.

Remember these facts, presented under oath, whenever you see a Walker commercial where he says he had to balance the budget, where he is so full of integrity he could just burst, when he said that he attacked the workers in order to save taxpayers money.

They're also handy talking points when confronted with a Walker-supporter that tries to regurgitate his lies.

Just ask them: Was Walker committing perjury then or is he lying now?  Then stand back and take cover as their heads explode.

RMS Scott Walker

On April 14, 1912, the RMS Titanic ran into an iceberg. In the early hours of the next day, the Titanic went below the waves forever, taking the lives of 1,517 people with it.  The real tragedy behind the Titanic's sinking is that the whole thing could have been utterly avoidable at so many junctures.

If they hadn't tried to cut corners, they might have used a better grade iron for the rivets. If the company wasn't trying to cut corners, they might have had enough lifeboats on the ship.  If it wasn't for their hubris, they might not have been going too fast or ignored the warnings from other ships that icebergs were in the area. The list goes on and on of things that could have been done differently, done smarter, which could have kept this from happening.

Instead, out of greed, corporate hubris and the overwhelming desire to cater to the upper (richer) passengers, the ship barreled ahead regardless of the dangers, and the completely unnecessary tragedy unfolded.

Ironically, on April 14, 2011, 99 years later, Scott Walker ran into the US Congress.The results to Walker's career and future political aspirations will not be known for a while, but it doesn't look that much better.

Like the fabled ship, RMS Walker went to sail with less that quality ideas, insufficient forethought, but enough hubris to fill ten Titanics.  The results of Walker's folly was utterly predictable and utterly preventable.  However, unlike the horrors of more than 1,500 people losing their lives, on this fateful ego trip, the only lost by Walker was whatever credibility he might have had, much less any chance at a national office.

Now, I admit I did not get to witness the repeated rectal reamings that Walker received, but I have seen some of the YouTube clips and read some of the stories.  So please forgive me if I don't lay them out in the chronological order of their occurrences, but here are some of the more exceptional moments of the day.  In each clip, pay close attention to Walker's expressions has his day just keeps getting worse and worse.

The first one is our own Congresswoman Gwen Moore who lays out the hypocrisy of Walker's claims of there being a fiscal crisis while he is giving money hand over fist to his buddies, the road builders, as well as some of his other lies regarding the budget, including pension plans:



Next up is Representative Bruce Braley (D-IA) who hammers Walker on the hiring of Brian Deschane, the 20-something year old with no college degree, little experience and two DWI who landed an $81,000 a year job due to his lobbyist daddy buying it for him:



Noteworthy from that clip is that Walker claimed that Deschane's hiring was "five steps below" him. Dan Bice of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel is quick to point out that this isn't exactly true, since it was Walker's Chief of Staff that was involved in it, at Walker's bidding no doubt.

As fun as those were, they were just the warm ups. The third clip is Representative Gerry Connolly (D-VA) who had to repeatedly redirect Walker's evasive answers until Walker had to finally admit that he did not indeed mention attacking workers' rights during his campaign, contrary to his previous statements:



But it was Representative Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) who took away Walker's bag lunch and ate both of his ham and cheese sammiches in front of him, by cornering the elusive Walker into admitting that his union-busting bill doesn't do one darn thing for correcting the state budget, whatsoever:



The similarities between the Titanic doesn't end with the entirely avoidable collision and eventual sinking of both of these symbols of hubris.

After the sinking of the Titanic, there was an investigation into the cause. The surviving crew members testified, usually in order to point the finger at the deceased officers, or anywhere but themselves.  Likewise, after he was in an environment he controlled instead of the harsh reality of the world, Walker used both of his twitter accounts to blame the media and to blame Governor Jim Doyle or the bipartisanship of the legislature.

There is a huge difference between the Titanic and Walker which is relatively simple to see.

As mentioned above, when the Titanic went down, more than 1,500 people lost their lives.

However, if we don't get the floating piece of hubris known as Walker to go down, hundreds of thousands, if not millions, will suffer for it.