A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines. ...Emerson, in "Self Reliance"
Governor Scott Walker is a man with a small mind. Throughout his local and state career, he's been wanting to privatize everything from school janitors to statewide public servants and probably, if you ask him, the presidency of the United States. Privatization and misery (more for us, less for them) is a strong thread in his constant plea for "austerity."
Mr. Walker has never strayed from his approach to his political career: always pressing for austerity, and never blinking or apologizing for his lightning-rod proposals.
He regularly clashed with the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors over the past decade when he was that county’s elected executive. He pushed to privatize cleaning and food service workers and sought changes to pension and health contributions and workers’ hours. At one point, he proposed that the county government might want to consider, in essence, abolishing itself. It was redundant, he suggested.
“All I can think is, here we go again,” said Chris Larson, one of 14 Democratic state senators who fled Wisconsin last week to block a vote on Mr. Walker’s call to cut benefits. Mr. Larson knows the governor well, having served on Milwaukee County’s board when Mr. Walker was the executive. He says that Mr. Walker is a nice guy on a personal level, “a good listener,” but that his politics are another matter.
“Unions have always been his piñata, over and over,” Mr. Larson said. “And this time I think he’s trying to out-right-wing the right wing on his way to the next lily pad.” ...NYT
He doesn't feel friendly about "people from other places," particularly now as supporters of collective bargaining and public service come to Madison to join in the protests against his austerities-for-others politics.
He was an Eagle Scout, according to the Times. He eats the same ham-and-cheese sandwiches (2) for lunch every day and always has. He didn't graduate from college.
He has the support of the tea party though, mind you, tea party members appear to drink something more, not less, than tea. Those folks wouldn't talk and behave the way they do without spiking their "tea," d'you think? And, just like the tea party, Walker couldn't survive without a fight and cameras to record it.
Lately, he's been hobnobbing with other Republican goblins.
To the anger of his critics, who say he thrives on publicity, he has been on television and radio call-in shows and has taken phone calls of support from some of his Republican friends. He said he was speaking with Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey on Thursday night while exchanging e-mail messages with Gov. Mitch Daniels of Indiana, whom he describes as a “great inspiration and mentor,” Jeb Bush, the former governor of Florida.
