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The US is in a dark moment, requiring serious people who can recognize real problems. People like Scott Walker helped to get us here: a divider who has undermined democracy.
Fortunately, some of us were there in 2011 and can set the record straight. Thread. https://twitter.com/ScottWalker/status/1347655963050913794
Fortunately, some of us were there in 2011 and can set the record straight. Thread. https://twitter.com/ScottWalker/status/1347655963050913794
The WI protests featured 100,000 people. They were angry that Walker went after public sector unions with no warning. They protested peacefully. But to Walker, that is the same as a violent assault by an armed mob on the Capitol (below).
The WI protests were remarkably peaceful, so much so that a prank caller to Walker pretending to be a Koch brother suggested that Walker plant some troublemakers in the crowd. "We thought about that" said Walker, who would later compare the peaceful protestors to ISIS.
Fox News tried to help Walker claim the WI protests were violent, splicing in footage of fights in CA into the peaceful WI one. Protestors mocked this by carrying inflatable palm trees. https://madison.com/wsj/news/local/govt-and-politics/on-the-capitol-palm-trees-in-madison-only-on-oreilly/article_2c263fac-46bc-11e0-aff9-001cc4c002e0.html
The WI protests were supposed to be Walkers origin story for his flaccid presidential run, so he has always overstated them.
Put it this way, I brought my kids down there, and they were about as rowdy as the Saturday farmers market at the State Capitol.
Put it this way, I brought my kids down there, and they were about as rowdy as the Saturday farmers market at the State Capitol.
Its not just that Walker is a hypocrite. He also has played a role in getting us to the current moment. Riding the tea party 2010 wave election, Walker led the way in democratic backsliding, changing the rules of the game to disenfranchise voters.
Walker pushed the most extreme gerrymander and voter ID laws in the country, and disbanded a nonpartisan election board when they started asking questions about his campaign finance activities. One of his last acts of Governor was to strip powers from his Democratic successor.
Ok, can we just take a moment to remember Scott Walker's Venn diagram https://twitter.com/donmoyn/status/1073645547750350851?s=20
How does this anti-democratic approach of Walker align with the insurrectionists who stormed the Capitol? I wrote this in the Washington Post during the lame duck power grab.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/wisconsin-republicans-are-trying-to-subvert-the-will-of-the-voters-theyre-part-of-a-larger-trend/2018/12/03/cf20dbd0-f72c-11e8-8d64-4e79db33382f_story.html
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/wisconsin-republicans-are-trying-to-subvert-the-will-of-the-voters-theyre-part-of-a-larger-trend/2018/12/03/cf20dbd0-f72c-11e8-8d64-4e79db33382f_story.html
The point is that Walker is part of an escalation of anti-democratic action. It starts with the premise that its fine to undermine democracy a bit for a little more power, and ends with a willingness to completely deny election outcomes. See @jbouie here. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/05/opinion/trump-georgia-senate-elections.html
In sum, if you look back at the WI 2011 protests and the storming of the Capitol this week, the anti-democratic mindset of the Trump mob shows is much more aligned with the actions of Walker than those who protested him in WI.
Walker should be ashamed to make the comparison.
Walker should be ashamed to make the comparison.
