I could have titled this post "Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker is a beady-eyed weasel", but that is not news to anyone on Daily Kos, and it's likely that half my posts here could be accurately described as another "Walker is full of crap" story. This one is the crapocolypse, though, so keep reading.
On Tuesday Walker released a proposed budget bill for the next fiscal biennium. He introduced it to the state legislature Tuesday evening in a gathering that was advertised as a budget address but included very few numbers and sounded more like a speech he would deliver at a Tea Party rally in some obscure Iowa county.
Oops, sorry if that is redundant. "...some Iowa county."
By this morning, progressive organizations, bloggers and even a few corporate media journalists had perused the actual document and discovered, hiding among the drastic cuts to programs that improve human lives, this shocking rewrite of the University of Wisconsin's mission statement:
Yes, it's true. He proposed striking out "the search for truth" from the mission of one of the world's finest research universities.
Asked about it Wednesday morning at a stop in DePere, Wisconsin, Walker defended his proposal:
"The focus would be honed in, in particular to look at making sure that we prepare individuals in this state - be they fresh out of high school or coming back later in life - for the jobs and opportunities that are available in the state.”
"
Be they fresh..."??? That doesn't sound scripted at all, does it?
Here is the link to the audio recording of Walker getting all fresh with the Wisconsin Idea.
Scott Walker has a weird grudge with the education system. I don't know if it's because he wasn't very good at learning, or because of his run-in with the administration at Marquette University where he was caught cheating during a student election, or because he could only muster a C average there and dropped out after four years, still needing over a year's worth of credits to get a degree. Whatever the reason, he has spent much of his time in office insulting teachers and undermining public education, culminating in yesterday's budgetary sneak attack on the University of Wisconsin.
Walker had previously announced that he would be seeking a $300 million cut to the UW System, so students and faculty were already mobilizing to fight his budget, but the spiteful (and bizarre) elimination of a statutory directive to search for the truth really rattled some nerves at the University of Wisconsin.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 4, 2015
The University of Wisconsin System releases the following statement from UW System
President Ray Cross:
“The Wisconsin Idea is embedded in our DNA. It is so much more than words on a page. It is thereason the UW System exists. It defines us and forever will distinguish us as a great, public university. Wisconsin must not abandon this core principle and value. We will work to preserve the Wisconsin Idea in every form.”
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Students at the UW-Milwaukee campus occupied their student union today with protest signs. In Madison this evening, a large group of faculty, staff, students, alumni, and parents of students met to plot strategy.
Social media was on fire in Wisconsin all day, with people expressing outrage and shock, or just mocking Governor Walker for his ridiculous and pompous act. What is he going to do next, rewrite Shakespeare's Hamlet?
Here is more about the educational philosophy that has come to be known as The Wisconsin Idea.
By Wednesday evening, Gov. Walker realized that he was in way over his head and had offended UW alumni all over the world. Of course, he couldn't just admit that he made a mistake, or had changed his mind, or had - God forbid - decided to listen to his constituents. No, he had to, as usual, throw some imaginary staffer under the bus, this time by claiming that the attempted murder of truth in Wisconsin was just a "drafting error."
Bud Light Lime was a drafting error. Johnny Football was a drafting error. This was a flaming bag of cow poop left on the steps of
Bascom Hall. This was a shit-and-run perpetrated by the Lance Armstrong of American Governors - Scott Walker.
.
