It takes more than a book of matches and a bobby pin for MacIver (Institute) to get anything right these days. This Koch funded rightwing thanktink is trolling for some controversy after last night's stunning accounting of 300,000 signatures in 12 days. Surely something must be amiss! After all, "it is working in Wisconsin" and saying it over and over (through million dollar mouthpieces) must make it so.
"Problem of Duplicate Signatures Looms Over Recall" reads their headline of today. Yes, that is correct. This is a problem so big that it actually looms. It takes up space. Spatial space. Psychological space. It hovers. It is such a god-sized problem that only the sky can hold it. And like a vast raincloud, it might spill down on the fraught and problematized recall process, eroding its very veracity...
The state board overseeing the potential recall election of Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker tells the MacIver News Service that they will rely upon temporary workers to scrutinize recall petitions and those individuals will not be expected to catch any duplicate signatures submitted by recall organizers.
That's right, folks. MacIver has a scoop! The Government Accountability Board will have to rely on temporary workers for scrutiny! Redundancy might not even be caught. Redundancy might not even be caught.
This revelation comes as one statewide liberal group is actively promoting the collection of duplicate signatures, paving the way for a lengthy process wherein Walker supporters will challenge the validity of the recall petitions.
And a "statewide liberal group," in actively promoting the collection of duplicate signatures, means, of course, that for every signed petition, there is another one signed. Two for the work of one. So, (if my public school math serves me) our 300,000 petitions is actually, in reality, only 150,000!
This explains it all! Wisconsin couldn't have actually defected from extremist right wing corporatist Koch-amore so quickly. It is those tricksy Unionists! It is their Two-for-One Signature Sale!
And that trick will cost the state dearly. Down the road. When well-intentioned Walker supporters ("We won, get over it!") have to count the endless duplicate signatures. MacIver, outraged, cites GAB spokesman, Reid Magney, who suggests:
“While it is not illegal to sign more than once, we do not suggest people sign a second time unless they have good reason to believe the first petition they signed was somehow fraudulent."
(emphasis mine, assuredly not MacIver's).
One Wisconsin Now follows GAB's advice with this disclaimer:
“[N]ote, however, that only one signature per person will be counted.”
But wait!
"Pro-union groups obtaining recall signatures will be expected to self-police the collection of duplicate signatures."
But alas, MacIver laments,
"Neither the state Democratic Party nor the pro-labor organizations steering the recall drive have disclosed any process by which they will identify and discard the duplicate signatures they obtain."
They are rudderless. Process-less. They will not be rigorous about repetition. And ditto to that!
Well, MacIver. This will be hard to fix with hairspray, clothespins and a bottlecap. Because, you see, what you don't mention is that the reason honest citizens on the street (from Wausau to Milwaukee, Door County to LaCrosse, Racine to Superior) feel compelled to sign the petition more than once is because of the duplicity and mendaciousness of Republican operatives who have laid waist to the rule of law and have publicly pursued the misinformation campaign of Trojan Horse recall groups.
They laugh about law, and purport to shred and burn falsely gathered petitions.
People care enough about their rights in Fitzwalkerstan to sign twice.
So, MacIver, let's headline the Problem of Felonious Fraud that LOOMS over the recalls. Let's talk about Operation Burn Notice. Let's talk about honest citizens being run down by tea bagger's trucks while gathering signatures. Let's talk about progressives minding their own business but being hounded and harassed by Facebook Fascists that are one step short of criminal.
Let's try to fix that with a leaf-spring, duct tape and some lubricant, and then we'll talk. Meanwhile, get your abacuses and your happy homespun Waukesha database software all booted up… because there's gonna be a damned lot of counting to do!
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(Can't get enough Wisconsin-y goodness? Check out Giles Goat Boy's diary detailing Republican mendacity when it comes to constitutional procedures.)