Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, a Republican who rose to national fame last year for his crackdown on union bargaining, greeted President Barack Obama, who called Mr. Walker’s labor policy “an assault,” with a smile. He gave the president a white Milwaukee Brewers baseball jersey with “OBAMA” and the number “1” stitched on the back.
Mr. Walker scrapped plans to tour this city’s Master Lock manufacturing plant, citing the stomach flu. He said the change of plans had nothing to do with politics. “If it was politics, I wouldn’t have greeted him here,” Mr. Walker told pool reporter David Nakamura of the Washington Post.
“We’re certainly pleased the president’s here,” he continued. “It’s a great focus for Wisconsin. We love manufacturing. That’s our No. 1 industry. The bottom line is we’re one of the biggest, most dependent on manufacturing of any state in the country. We appreciate the fact that the president’s focusing on manufacturing.”
Mr. Walker, who just days ago delivered a blistering speech about Mr. Obama to a gathering of conservative Republicans in Washington, said Wednesday wasn’t the time for that sort of thing.
“Today’s the president’s day,” he said. “I’m appreciative he’s in Wisconsin, appreciative he’s focused on manufacturing. We’ll leave politics for another day.”
I have few nice things to say about Governor Walker, well none really, but at least he knows how to be a good host and to put his differences with the President on the back burner when the man makes a visit to his state.
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| President visits Masterlock company in Milwaukee |
Perhaps he would be willing to give Arizona Governor Jan Brewer some lessons on how to be a human being?
Finally. Basic civility has won out.
ReplyDeleteI'd like to think Walker wasn't lying about the stomach flu as it is running rampant here in Ohio. But he is a tea-bagger . . . .
The most gentlemanly thing he did was greet the President and then disappear, although I think you give him too much credit. He knows his days are numbered, and he also knows that had he accompanied the President, he would have had a real problem pretending to be happy and nice in the background. Personally, I think this was an attempt to be seen as something otehr than the monster he has shown he is, and while he's a good actor, he's still a Koch puppet.
ReplyDeleteWalker is a Koch whore who is in a tough battle to maintain his governorship. If it would have helped him fight the recall, he would have wagged his finger in the President's face. This was nothing more than an attempt to appear reasonable after driving over teachers, nurses, plow drivers, firefighters, police officers, etc.
ReplyDeleteSo nice to see Walker be gracious to President Obama. It's high time. This President has to be the first to have endured so many personal attacks for doing nothing more than trying to keep the ship afloat.
ReplyDelete... Or Governor Sean Parnell, who didn't show up at all, when the President stopped at Elmendorf Air Force Base, and spoke to a large crowd... He is very weak, at least Brewer had the guts to meet the prez. although she was an animal.
ReplyDeleteHe's a complete douche and does nothing unless he thinks it will make everyone forget this "sily recall". Sorry Scooter, we will recall you. You don't deserve to stand near our President. Go home, don't you have a John Doe investigation to prepare for?
ReplyDeleteIn the spirit of the event, I'd like to say something positive about Gov Walker: I hope our president used a good hand sanitizer after shaking Walker's positively flu-infected hand.
ReplyDeleteScott Walker is a coward. He was afraid to go in that union plant. What a wimp. I am actually surprised there was no finger wagging incident so I give him a tiny little bit of credit for showing the proper respect to our President. Other than that he's a total asshole and I can't wait until he is recalled.
ReplyDeleteObama #2
ReplyDeleteHe is still a slimey douche bag, just look at the past associates he had doing his "pailin-izing" fake letters to editor, self praise written by his lackeys and a child porn loving employee.
ReplyDeleteHe's toast in the recall coming up.
Where's the finger in the face? Where's the money bomb solicitation the day after? Koch must be all he needs.
ReplyDeleteSurprising show of class from this loathsome politician.
ReplyDeleteBUT, it is a timely reminder of how this country dealt with political differences - even conflict - until quite recently.
Courteous professionals argued policy positions, attacked or defended those differences - NOT ad hominum ("to the man") attacks, demonizing opponents and declaring sole claim to righteousness.
Personally, I appreciate the gesture as a reminder of how far we have left the path of democratic discourse.
Yes, Walker is a cowardly, slimy, Koch whore douche - but with the manners and sense of decorum to honor the office and the democratically elected leader of our country.
ReplyDeleteDear Wisconsin MoveOn member,
ReplyDeleteGovernor Scott Walker thinks he can take bank settlement money owed to victimized homeowners in Wisconsin for other purposes and there's nothing we can do about it.
We need Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen to intervene and prevent Governor Walker from bailing out his budget on the backs of foreclosure victims.
That's why I created a petition to Attorney General Van Hollen on SignOn.org, which says:
Governor Walker plans to keep $25.6 million of the $31.6 million coming straight to the state and reserve the other $6 million for the Department of Justice to be "allocated at a later date." Stop him now before he robs us again!
this guy is a scourge on Wisconsin
Obama Popularity Rising While Republican Enthusiasm Falls
ReplyDelete...With President Obama’s approval ratings on the rise, we can expect Republican rhetoric to become increasingly shrill in tone. It is difficult to imagine – they have thrown the kitchen sink at him already – but the better Obama does, the more things Republicans find to attack him for, most of them completely unrelated to reality or the facts on the ground.
It will be no easy task to unseat Obama. Polls show his popularity on the rise with Democrats and Independents (even among Republicans), the economy is improving and Republican enthusiasm waning. More and more Americans are for marriage equality, contraception (including most Catholics) and even abortion rights (a recent ABCNEWS/Washington Post poll shows that support at 57 percent) even while Republicans make those issues central to their platforms. If any movement in history was swimming against a historic tide, it is the GOP of 2012.
A new CNN/ORC International Poll released Wednesday has sobering news for Republicans: “the number of Americans who think things are going well in the country is on the rise. Six out of ten say things are going poorly in the country, but four out of ten say things are going well, up 15 points since November.” This is not the sort of news a party running on the thesis that Obama is driving America into the ground wants to hear – or can afford to hear.
Not that Republican rhetoric will ever reflect these facts – their narrative will forever be divorced from reality and not even running parallel to it. The Republican Party is very skilled at diverting attention from the facts and inventing new ones though this will be more difficult with FOX News’ move toward the center. The steady diet of misinformation that fueled Tea Party rage since 2010 is becoming more spotty (though don’t expect miracles - no, really, don’t). Let’s just say “change” at FOX News is incremental but there is hope when somebody like Bill O’Reilly sticks up for Ellen DeGeneres. I wouldn’t expect to see anyone anytime soon on that network saying...
http://www.politicususa.com/en/obama-popularity-rising-while-republican-enthusiasm-falls
That is quite the change from how President Obama was treated by that stupid, racist, malicious, nasty hateful bitch, Jan Brewer. Arizona she be embarrassed.
ReplyDeleteWalker looks rather peppy there. It is interesting that he can meet the President on the tarmac, but is too sick to actually go with him to visit the Master Lock Factory.
ReplyDeleteWhen I have the stomach flu, I am usually in the bed with a bucket beside me.
Stomach flu my ass. More like an allergy to union shops. Imagine the boos, hisses and stink eye walker would have been on the receiving end of. Would not have played well in the press for him and he knows it. He also knows he's getting recalled here in WI. Good riddance, scooter.
ReplyDeleteAt least he did greet the president graciously and not with a withered finger wagging in his face and a barely legible letter. Brewer is a cunning stunt.
Wingnuts Furious About … Fox News Going 'Liberal'
ReplyDeleteWhat are America’s old white racist exurban cretins on Medicare and Social Security upset about today? Oh, the usual: Obama, liberals, gays, sex, black people, youth, hippies, the poor, the rich, Mexicans, “the hip hop,” Iran, exercise, unemployment, unemployment benefits, vegetables, a talented black woman with addiction problems such as Whitney Houston, organic farms, birth control, people having sexual intercourse in general, solar energy, Mormons, national parks, public transportation, Europe, NPR, Media Matters, the New York Times, CNN, MSNBC and Fox News. WAIT WHAT IN THE ??? Yes, Fox News. The wingnuts have spastically lurched from one invented outrage to the next with such shallow furor that they finally wound up enraged about the very teevee channel that tells them what to freak out about.
http://wonkette.com/463611/wingnuts-furious-about-fox-news-going-liberal
Walker has the fastest recovery rate of anyone I know. He was "too sick" to take a tour of MasterLock with President Obama but he's not too sick to do this today: http://tinyurl.com/7w4zcro
ReplyDeleteThat jersey should have been given by Mayor Tom Barrett not Walker. Walker just about destroyed Milwaukee.
The recall election can't come fast enough for me or the other 1+ million voters in Wisconsin who signed the recall paperwork.
Speaking of backwards thinking:
ReplyDeleteRick Santorum and the War Against Women
Rick Santorum is a bottomless cup of repulsive, dangerous and misguided views. He’s a radical far-right Republican who, in spite of this seemingly endless primary process, hasn’t choked on his own tongue yet — at least from the point of view of conservative Republicans. The rest of us remember his ridiculous “blah people” remarks from last month, but I imagine his use of a Southern Strategy dog whistle only helped his reputation with primary voters.
Nevertheless, his comparatively chokeless campaign appears to have elevated Santorum to be the latest driver of the GOP clown car even though, at the outset, he was pegged as one of those quadrennial D-list candidates who would drop out of the race before or immediately following Iowa. Instead, he won Iowa along with three more states this week. Who knows how long Santorum’s night in the sun will last or whether he’s permanently stymied the Romney campaign. It doesn’t matter. The fact that he’s gained such prominence since being crushed and humiliated in his home (swing) state of Pennsylvania in 2006 is both an indicator of Republican desperation for a solid contender and yet another warning about the increasing radicalization and marginalization of the party.
http://bobcesca.com/blog-archives/2012/02/rick-santorum-and-the-war-against-women.html
Even Il Douche can try to look good once in a while.
ReplyDeleteYeah, but I don't think he really had "stomach flu".
ReplyDeleteSlighty too convenient.
“It’s surprising he would go to the airport and greet the president there, which is appropriate, but then not come here,” said State Rep. Peter Barca (D-Kenosha), the minority leader of Wisconsin’s House . “But then the only trend I’d see is he rarely comes out to the public unless it’s a well-vetted audience, so for whatever reason he does not want to appear in public and meet with everyday citizens, and I don’t understand that.”
ReplyDeleteWalker denied that.
“If it was politics, I wouldn’t have greeted him here,” Walker said at the airport. “Today’s the president’s day. I’m appreciative he’s in Wisconsin, appreciative he’s focused on manufacturing. We’ll leave politics for another day.”
----
Yeah. If he really had "stomach flu" he woulda said "I honestly couldn't come to the tour because I was feeling lousy" or somesuch, not "It's the President's day" and "We'll leave politics for another day".
Why do certain governors think it's OK to lie?
And Gryphen, if the man was actually sick, he should NOT have shaken hands with our President and exposed him to his gastroenteric germs....what a Typhoid Mary!!
So, NO, I'm not giving him any credit whatsoever.
He's a creep, and he's goin' DOWN in the recall election.
I am from Wisconsin. Let me assure you, there was no "flu" involved. You think Walker would actually go into a Union shop with Obama? It would have been a howling mess if he had. He gets protested at virtually every event he goes to here, and always tries to find some secret exit out of wherever he is. He would not dare show his face in a Union shop.
ReplyDeleteWell, there is historic precedent for offering a jersey. Native Americans were given small-pox infected blankets by the invaders-an early instance of germ warfare.
ReplyDeleteW. (for washing hands assiduously) Tortoise
I heard Bill Maher on Leno, mentioning how NO other President has had to suffer the brunt of such face to face disrespect.
ReplyDeleteThat no doubt had the kneejerk rightwingers explode from their easy chairs, screaming, "Oh, yeah? Well, what about how they treated BUSH???" at their televisions.
Sorry: not even a close comparison. There were jokes about his stupidity, alright, but I saw nothing of the hatred we have witnessed these last three years.
Palin ALONE has screeched what is so transparently a jealous hatred all that time, to the point where all but her most crazed supporters are embarrassed for her.
I clikked on a Facebook posting that had a criticism of the President being anti-religion. It meant every closet nutjob could then add their take on the subject.
The usual entry was something along the lines of: "He's nothing but a dirty nigger!" Or, "This illegal alien Muslim Nazi has got to go!"
And they wonder why everyone says the rightwing is RACIST.
You are too kind to Walker.
ReplyDeleteThis POS fucker doesn't deserve credit for a damn thing. There was nothing sincere about his performance, and that's all it was, a performance.
Walker knew all eyes were on him and he wasn't going to give anybody any ammunition to use against him.
Couldn't somebody have loaned Walker a razor to get rid of that stubble on his face and make himself more presentable to the president?
ReplyDeleteIn fact, I'm willing to bet any number of Wisconsin residents would have loved to have taken a razor to him themselves, if not the actual "razor strap", of days long gone.
He is a coward, that is all. He was too scared to share a limo ride with Obama and enter a union business, so he feigned a tummy ache. He is facing recall election and didn't want to turn off independents, while the Koch brothers are spending millions on ads that are trying to make him looks like a great guy. So he held his nose and shook the President's hand, handing him a jersey that is being interpreted as "one-term Obama".
ReplyDeleteJust a week ago he stole $26.5 million from the foreclosure settlement to help close a budget hole. The rest of that hole is being plugged by money that was set aside to aid people with the Voter ID (suppression) law, money for our state universities, and money for the sick here in Wisconsin. The hole in the budget was created by a tax shortfall, as he handed out 2.3 billion in tax breaks to corporations and the wealthy.
He is the most corrupt and crooked blight this state has ever seen, he has torn our state apart. He is bought and paid for by Koch Inc., and a long time member of ALEC.
He is at the center of a John Doe investigation, and when all of the chips have fallen, he will be exposed for the slimy piece of @#$% that he is. There are many pay-to-play shady land deals being uncovered beyond the secret email system.
This is my least favorite post of yours ever, Gryphen. I've wished you would blog about Walker for a long time, and this is what you finally write? Oh, well, nobody is perfect. Still love ya.
3:46 has it on the nose: this was nothing more than an attempt to help Scott Walker defeat the recall attempt. Nothing more, nothing less. Civility had nothing to do with it. Self-preservation had everything to do with it.
ReplyDeleteWalker read and heard about what happened to Jan Brewer after her rude finger-wagging incident: she is now up for a recall election, and she may lose it. He is also aware that the Tea Party has over-played its hand to such an extent that they are actually helping Obama, and to quite a degree. This also explains why Sarah is on better behavior for the past few days. We have seen the fruits of these people for many years now; anything that does not resemble their long-term fruits should be treated as nothing other than a self-serving ruse.
And yeah, Walker DID have the flu, alright: he has "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest". But as for the actual flu bug, Walker was in Chicago fund-raising on Monday. 'Nuff said.
http://www.wisdems.org/news/press
And Wisconsin, once an industrial-job powerhouse state, is the only state in the union to have suffered job LOSSES for the past 6 months in a row, thanks to Walker's grandiose 'job' and union ideas. So much for Walker's pretense to Obama while on the tarmac.
http://host.madison.com/ct/news/local/govt-and-politics/capitol-report/capitol-report-wisconsin-leads-nation-in-job-losses/article_500cbbc4-2b33-11e1-8eff-0019bb2963f4.html
OK. I dislike Walker and everything he stands for. He ranks below Palin, Bush II, and and just above Reagan for me. (I rank them according to how much self control I need to exert to keep from putting my fist through the TV screen when I see/hear them on TV. He ranks above Reagan because unlike the GOP I realize that he's dead). But you gotta give the guy credit for common courtesy. Even if it's a political ploy. At least it shows that he has more brains than Brewer.
ReplyDeleteTo be honest, I would have expected him to pull a Brewer since her actions on the tarmac in AZ greatly enhanced her standing with the wing nuts. He not only was respectful but gave the president that jersey. He didn't have to do that. He could have just shook his hand and said a few words.
On the other hand, I realize that being impressed by this simple act of courtesy is an awfully sad commentary on our society.
It reminds me of a line from the Russian poet Yevgeny Yuvtushenko (I think that's the spelling). "How sharply will our children be ashamed, taking at last their vengeance for these horrors, remembering how in so strange a time common integrity could look like courage."
I'm not equating showing respect to the president with courage, but post-Brewer, in some circles in could be seen that way.
Of course, he wasn't courageous enough to go to the union plant. But give him some credit for bringing a modicum of civility back into politics.
And how about our own Guv, Sean Parnell? Didn't he skip meeting Obama at Elmendorf so that he could attend some kind of local Builders Convention instead?
ReplyDeleteYeah, I would totally blow off meeting the president of the United States so that I could talk to Chuck Spinelli for the 100th time!
You miss the message, Obama 1, as in ONE term. The fondest wish of Mr. Koch-Walker and Republicans everywhere. Get with it folks, this is not civility. Walker is a true tea party fuknut. And a little smarter than the finger waving Arizona douchebag, but that's not saying much. Does anyone really truly believe this is a show of civility? If yes, please call Alice for directions back to Wonderland.
ReplyDeleteCan anyone imagine Scott Walker touring a union factory with President Obama? The "optics" of it all just wouldn't fit his agenda. This "toss the man a jersey, make an excuse and bolt" , though a nice gesture, was just an excuse not to face those workers.
ReplyDeleteFlu my butt, he's a coward of the first order.