What do Scott Walker and George Wallace have in common? It's not totally clear at first glance. One is a Republican, the other a lifelong Democrat before founding his own party. One hails from the birthplace of progressivism, and the other comes from the deep south of Alabama. One is a Koch-funded corporate shill, and the other, despite his intense racism and extremism, built his state-level and presidential campaigns on small donations. Though both conservatives, Walker and Wallace were from different worlds.
So what do they have in common? Simple: a disrespect for the rule of law and a pathological hatred of a maligned minority. Join me below the fold.
The picture above is that of Governor Wallace's infamous Stand in the Schoolhouse Door, an incident in June 1963 in which Wallace physically blocked the entrance to the University of Alabama to prevent two black students with flawless records to enter, despite being ordered by a federal judge to let them in.
The other man in the photo (arms crossed) is Deputy Attorney General Nicholas Katzenbach. Though Wallace cut off Katzenbach and used the opportunity to spout platitudes about states' rights that were eagerly lapped up by his disgruntled supporters around the country, Katzenbach came back (after a call to President Kennedy) with the federalized Alabama National Guard. Wallace was ultimately forced aside, and the rule of law won the day.
So how does Scott Walker relate to all this? Though there are certainly some differences--Walker, to say the least, is not a fanatical racist.--the two cases are remarkably similar.
Wallace, though prior a racial moderate who had been endorsed by the NAACP in past elections, later pledged he would never be "outniggered" again in an election. He came into office in 1962 pledging to defend "segregation now, segregation tomorrow, and segregation forever!" and to that end, he and his like-minded government fought tooth and nail against the results of Brown v. Board of Education. Using state detectives, they dug up dirt on hundreds of black applicants to state universities, using any excuse they could muster to deny them admission. When three black students of unimpeachable intelligence and character--Vivian Jones, Dave McGlathery, and James Hood--applied, and refused to yield to threats of violence, their admission was ordered by a federal judge in early June.
Though he received nationwide coverage and thousands of telegrams of admiration, the country as a whole and the federal government would not stand by while African-Americans were given second-class citizen status throughout Alabama--no matter how much Southern legislators swore it was for the best of both races! We as Americans recognized that equal protection was codified into the Supreme Law of the Land, and we forced Wallace to yield.
Walker finds himself in a similar place. With his cabal of compliant legislators, he violated the law to disempower a much-maligned minority--public workers' unions. They mobilized state law enforcement to ferret out civilly disobedient Democratic lawmakers. Their extremist actions were applauded by a minority, but nonetheless have been bolstered millions of Americans nationwide. Ultimately, they seem to have violated the law of Wisconsin, and a judge--a circuit judge, but appointed a protector of the law nonetheless--issued a restraining order to prevent it from going into effect.
Walker is bulldozing ahead nonetheless. Though this is a state law and has a quite a ways to progress judicially, Walker and his Department of Justice have clearly placed themselves into the regressive camp. Is he making his Stand in the Union House Door?
If so, I hope he's ready to find out what it's like to be on the wrong side of history.