David Michael Miller
Here are just two facts about the protesters who filled the Capitol Square four years ago. When they were there crime was dramatically lower in downtown Madison. And when they affixed posters to the marble walls of the interior of the building they were careful to use painter's tape because they found that it left the least residue.
Here are just two facts about the so-called Islamic State terrorists. They take innocent hostages and then brutally behead some of them, posting graphic images of the murder to torment their families. Last week they destroyed antiquities all over Iraq using sledgehammers.
Here's what Gov. Scott Walker said at a gathering of extreme right-wing activists last week when asked how he would handle ISIS: "If I can take on 100,000 protesters, I can do the same across the world."
Whether the governor had planned to use that line when he got the chance or it occurred to him on the spot doesn't matter. It was no slip of the tongue. In what has emerged as his thrust-and-parry style, he will say something outrageous to satisfy and even excite his red meat audience. Then he'll try to take some of the sting out of it for the general, sane public by muddling up what he just said.
So, after his remark his office issued a statement saying that Walker didn't intend to compare teachers, firefighters, police officers and other public employees who peacefully protested Act 10 with ISIS terrorists, despite his plain language that said exactly that.
Walker is no Barry Goldwater. At the 1964 Republican convention Goldwater said, "I would remind you that extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice! And let me remind you also that moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue!"
In the context of the Cold War, with the Cuban Missile Crisis a recent memory, that statement was enough to turn out the lights altogether on his already dim chances to win the general election. But it was an elegantly phrased statement that was true in general terms, if wrong in terms of striking the right tone for the moment. And Goldwater issued no weaseling clarifying statement. He meant what he said, and he stood by it even though he must have known it damaged his chances.
Scott Walker did just the opposite. He said something that was appealing to his immediate audience for sure, but it was outrageous not just for that moment but for any moment. And rather than standing by what he said, he issued a follow-up that was plainly disingenuous.
It's one thing to disagree with committed conservatives who really believe what they're saying and who say it well: Goldwater, Ronald Reagan and even Paul Ryan at times. But Walker is a different animal altogether. He's never eloquent. He's calculating in what he says, but not thoughtful. He stays on message without ever seeming to understand or care what that message means, much less ever having second thoughts about it. Yet, after saying something ridiculous to ignite his base he issues a nonsensical follow-up statement to muddy the waters.
To use his own method, let me say that he is doing metaphorically to American politics what ISIS did literally to the cultural icons of the Middle East.
