You have to draw the line somewhere, or maybe not. The Left in Wisconsin is so incensed at what Governor Scott Walker has done that they are apparently willing to associate with anyone who despises Walker as much as they do. Walker is being targeted for a recall election because of his work to curtail the power of public sector unions – a move required to help balance the state’s $3.6 billion structural deficit left by outgoing Democrat Governor Jim Doyle, and a move that helped return power to local government jurisdictions facing the prospect of hiking taxes to meet their budgets.
Democrats and leftwing groups in the state must secure a minimum of 540,208 signatures to force a recall election in which Governor Walker would have to defend his seat against a Democrat challenger. Last week was the final week in which signatures could be gathered on recall petitions.
To help keep the momentum going in the final week, and presumably to help fire up the troops, Ian Murphy, a Buffalo, New York based blogger came to Wisconsin to tour the state and cheer on the effort. Murphy earned folk hero status among the state’s anti-Walker class when he impersonated as billionaire libertarian donor David Koch and managed to bluff his way into a one-on-one phone call with Walker during the collective bargaining reform debate. The audio of the call was released on Murphy’s blog, the Buffalo Beast. It contained nothing shocking about Walker whereas Murphy merely fulfilled all of the Left’s stereotypes of what rich conservatives and libertarians must be like in private life.
But faking like he is a conservative isn’t the only thing Murphy does. In a column on his website headlined “F*** the Troops,” he writes:
“So, 4000 rubes are dead. Cry me the Tigris. Another 30,000 have been seriously wounded. Boo f–ing hoo. They got what they asked for–and cool robotic limbs, too.”
For such profanity laced, bigoted and insensitive comments it would make sense for Democrat elected officials and party staff to shun Murphy on his visit to the state. Unfortunately, they welcomed him with open arms because he, like them, is opposed to Governor Walker.
When he arrived in state Murphy hung out with state Senator Jessica King (D) who won her seat in a recall election in August of 2011. In Madison he was welcomed to the state capitol by state Senators Tim Cullen and Bob Jauch, both Democrats. Cullen is running against Walker in the recall election and Jauch has compared the actions Wisconsin Republicans to the communist leadership of the USSR.
On a flyer announcing Murphy’s tour of the state was a tacit endorsement from former Wisconsin Attorney General Peg Lautenshlager, a Democrat who once had the embarrassment of getting stopped for drunk driving while serving as the state’s top law enforcement official. Several Democratic Party of Wisconsin employees also supported the tour.
That Wisconsin Democrats, Democrat elected officials, and one early challenger to Governor Scott Walker in the recall election would eagerly welcome to the state someone who expresses hatred of American soldiers is despicable. In failing to distance themselves from the hate-filled rants of Ian Murphy, these officials are offering their support and endorsement of such rhetoric. That should be repulsive to the millions of Wisconsinites who, irrespective of party or politics, appreciate the heroic efforts of our nation’s brave men and women in uniform.
This report by: Brian Sikma, Media Trackers