June 3, 2012

Wisconsin Citizens Media Co-op drops a load on Scott Walker.

Beginning with an "Editor's Note" — presumably an attempt at deflecting a defamation lawsuit — that reads:
What follows is one woman's account of the Scott Walker she knew at Marquette University. To the extent possible we have verified its accuracy, including the accuracy of details not printed here in order to protect the identities of the people involved. All of the elements are consistent: the principals were at Marquette University when the incidents recounted here allegedly happened, and "Ruth" did have a baby shortly thereafter. However, attempts to reach "Ruth" and her first husband have been unsuccessful, as phone numbers listed for each have been disconnected, and so far we have not been able to independently verify Bernadette's account.
They are orgasmic at Daily Kos — "OMFG!! Scott Walker's Got a Love Child?!?!"

Via Jay (in a comments thread here), who says: "Can you smell the desperation?"

Yes, I can. The recall election is Tuesday. I was going to link to something really desperate in Isthmus this morning, but the Isthmus site seems to be crashed right now. There's a lot of desperation and maybe all the desperados went there at once. Well, this is the link, if it works. The article is called something like Legal Cloud Gathers Over Scott Walker, and it purports to have sources that say that Walker is the target of a criminal investigation. Ah! The site is back. It's "Legal cloud gathers over Scott Walker as recall election approaches":
With the recall election only two days away, federal prosecutors are closing in on Governor Scott Walker, according to veteran political reporter David Shuster, former Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager, and former district attorney Bob Jambois.

In a conference call organized by state Democrats on Saturday evening, June 2, Shuster, Lautenschlager, and Jambois laid out evidence that Walker is a target of a federal investigation.

Wisconsin Democratic Party Communications Director Graeme Zielinski added that there is evidence of wrongdoing after Walker's time as Milwaukee County Executive, and that the investigation includes criminal activity during his time as governor.

Based on conversations with a lawyer who has knowledge of the investigation....
Quite the "legal cloud," no? It's less of a cloud of law than a swarm of Democrats. Desperate Democrats. Embarrassing. You just had a former President appear on behalf of your candidate. Why not a little grace and dignity as you approach the end?

UPDATE: "Daniel Bice, the 'Watchdog' reporter of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Online interviewed the anonymous woman who had the baby, but she adamantly denied that Scott Walker was the father according to a comment by Daniel Bice to the linked story." I wonder if Daniel Bice knows anything about the lawyer with knowledge of the federal investigation.

74 comments:

Tom Spaulding said...

Why not a little grace and dignity as you approach the end?

That which one does not have, one cannot show.

Chip S. said...

Why not a little grace and dignity as you approach the end?

Apparently whatever genes predispose being a lefty also interfere with the completion of a complete Kubler-Ross sequence. Instead of reaching a resting state at "acceptance," they cycle back to "denial".

Tom Spaulding said...

Oops! Wrong Scott Walker: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/06/03/1096950/-Woman-Denies-Walker-Fathered-Baby-JSO-Reporter-Daniel-Bice

Dang, just when I thought we had our own Jesse Jackson/John Edwards.

I'm Full of Soup said...

The word dignity is rarely used in the same sentence with President Clinton.

Matt Sablan said...

"And so far we have not been able to independently verify Bernadette's account."

-- Then you don't publish it. It's... really not that hard.

I'm Full of Soup said...

Tom- that is hilarious that Gillick, the Midwest College professor, seems to have blamed the wrong Scott Walker!

chickelit said...

What a disgusting attempted smear of the Governor. I hope this changes a few more minds and adds to the self-inflicted damage to the Democratic Party on Tuesday.

Stand with Walker and walk with standards.

Comanche Voter said...

"Drops a load" is a fairly accurate description of what's going on here. Whoever walked this story in needs to pick up after their dog.

Ross said...

I think this is a foreshadowing of what the liberals will stoop to do in October against Romney.

Chip S. said...

chickelit said...

Stand with Walker and walk with standards.

eelpout said...

Lautenschlager agreed that "Walker should have produced evidence to clear himself" if he was not a target of investigation, and that it would be "malpractice" for his attorneys not to seek a letter from prosecutors clearing him.

Desperate! Walker is an Eagle Scout!

Tom Spaulding said...

The facts are as cold and hard as you make them.

Matt Sablan said...

I actually felt the need to praise Daily Kos for not immediately dog piling on a poorly sourced attempt to smear a Republican. They CAN learn.

Chip S. said...

It appears that the enduring "Wisconsin Idea" is McCarthyism.

edutcher said...

Too bad they weren't this diligent 4 years ago.

But, yeah, do they have anything even close to being substantiated?

This is standard 2-days-before-the-election mode for the Uncle Saul types, but after Dubya's drunk driving arrest went flat, you'd think they'd have gotten the message.

bagoh20 said...

They really don't have anything do they? Walker would win by 20 points if Wisconsinites were wise.

If I was to date a Wisconsonite, the first thing I would ask is who she voted for in this election. Nothing would tell me more about her intelligence than that.

Tom Spaulding said...

I actually felt the need to praise Daily Kos for not immediately dog piling on a poorly sourced attempt to smear a Republican. They CAN learn.

At the link I posted, commenters are suggesting the GOP planned this false story to start a "Dems are desperate" meme. Seriously. Thereby solidifying the fact that they are, indeed, desperate.

Thanks, moral and intellectual superiors!!

mesquito said...

This is the kind of last-minute smear which worked before the internets.

Patrick said...

"Why not a little grace and dignity as you approach the end?

Isn't that what they want to impose on the rest of us? On their terms, of course.

Toad Trend said...

Lying, cheating, deceiving, in interchangeable order.

It's all they have.

Indeed, the desperation is tangible.

alan markus said...

This is the kind of last-minute smear which worked before the internets

Like I've said before, the left just doesn't quite understand how the internet works.

Matt Sablan said...

I just started reading the Daily Kos comments on this story. I remember now why I stopped reading the Daily Kos, in general.

F said...

So where are we now, almost noon in Wisconsin? Is the father of the baby a different Scott Walker or not? Will the newspaper admit in tomorrow's edition they had it wrong, or wait until Wednesday? And will the editor still have a job?

Matt Sablan said...

I kind of feel *bad* for the people at Kos trying to tell people not to think this is a conspiracy. My favorite:

"Are we really gonna do this? Accusing this woman- whose privacy has just been trashed- of lying and looking for Koch brothers money?"

The poster of that is probably an upstanding individual. It's a shame he or she is surrounded by the trash that accumulates at some sites.

lemondog said...

Dirty tricks live and well.

To what degree, if any, have Wisconsin media picked on the story, including denials?

ed said...

Frankly sounds like the malice requirement for a defamation lawsuit has easily been met and well documented too. Might be amusing for Walker to file the lawsuit and get a chance at discovery, depositions and placing all of it on the public record.

ndspinelli said...

Folks, This is just preseason hardball. Wait until the clock is ticking on POTUS.

William said...

If true, it will be effective in changing some votes. If false, well, that's not what this election is all about.....Just as a matter of curiousity, has any dirty trick been so maladroitly executed that it actually backfired on the perpetrator?

Fen said...

Wait! Maybe Walker is one of those HISPANIC-WHITES! Mary Mapes and Dan Rather "have a memo from an unimpeachable source"...

Democrats. They really do think you are this stupid.

Stan25 said...

Was Dan Rather and Mary Mapes involved in the smear? Seems to me like that is the current M O of the DemocRATs in the 20 years.

Fen said...

At the link I posted, commenters are suggesting the GOP planned this false story to start a "Dems are desperate" meme. Seriously.

Drawing from historical experience about these kind of attacks, the more likely scenario is that Barrett has a love child and Dems are trying to set up their typical Tu Quoque fallacy to give Barrett some cover.


"Both sides have a love child, so Barrett is excused"

Tom Spaulding said...

the more likely scenario is that Barrett has a love child and Dems are trying to set up their typical Tu Quoque fallacy to give Barrett some cover.

No cover needed. Right-thinking trumps Wrong-acting on the Left, always and forever.

Exhibit A, B and C: Bill Clinton, Jesse Jackson, John Edwards.

John Burgess said...

Wow! The stench of desperation is reaching 1,300 miles away.

Maybe some rebranding is in order:

The Pathetic Party.

The Whiny Little Baby Party.

The Whaa-Whaa Party.

The Oh, Gosh, Look What You Made Me Do! Party.

cassandra lite said...

Thugocrats.

Brian Brown said...

I take it at this point garage is wobbling around in the woods with a stack of absentee ballots muttering "Love child! and "Kleeeeeeeefiiissssshhhhh with drool everywhere...

Saint Croix said...

Kudos to Daily Kos for reporting the truth.

Alex said...

The singular morality of the leftist:

where i'd criticize your (earlier) diary... (4+ / 0-)
... is in downplaying the story as "...this story has more than a hint of desperation to it."

Hell no, it's not desperation!

It's a nice big piece of heavy artillery, with ammo and crew, arriving at the front lines with enough time to help us win the war!

This will convince some undecideds. Hard to tell how many, but every single vote counts.

We need to use this for all it's worth, including with push-polls, media publicity, the whole nine yards.

Bug Walker with it; force him to issue denials; then ask if he'll issue sworn statements, take paternity tests, etc.

Keep it in the headlines so only a bigger scandal can eclipse it, for example an indictment.

That's how to win: not just "victory" but crushing victory.

"Minus two votes for the Democrat" equals "plus one vote for the Republican." Arithmetic doesn't care about your feelings.

by G2geek on Sat Jun 02, 2012 at 10:50:01 PM PDT


Yup, pure Alinsky action baby!

Sydney said...

What's up with the roommate that she would spread such a false story? You would think if she was as intimately involved in the matter as she claims, she would at some point have met the boyfriend and know whether or not he was the same Scott Walker who is now governor. Can a public figure sue a private citizen for spreading malicious lies?

Rabel said...

Saint Croix said:
"Kudos to Daily Kos for reporting the truth."

You need to check their first story before giving them any credit.

OMFG

Alex said...

The Kos Kidz have been attempting to vandalize the Walker wikipedia page:

Scott Walker (politician): Revision history
View logs for this page
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From year (and earlier): From month (and earlier): Tag filter: Deleted only
For any version listed below, click on its date to view it. For more help, see Help:Page history and Help:Edit summary.
External tools: Revision history statistics · Revision history search · Contributors · User edits · Number of watchers · Page view statistics
(cur) = difference from current version, (prev) = difference from preceding version, m = minor edit, → = section edit, ← = automatic edit summary
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Matt Sablan said...

I'm surprised Walker's page on Wikipedia (and any politician currently in an election) doesn't have their page protected to prevent vandalism. That seems a pretty basic precaution Wiki could take.

greenlantern said...

Next up: "The 14 Alien Babies of Scott Walker!"

Alex said...

Next up... "Walker busted for cocaine and multiple hookers!"

Chip S. said...

It's all really a tribute to Richard Dawson.

Sources say...!

Wally Kalbacken said...

OK, so it wasn't Walker. But then, who was this dirty bastard that Gillick's roommate preggers?

Alex said...

No doubt there will be many more last minute scandal stories popping up on Daily Kos in the next 36 hours. Uncle Saul would be smiling from hell.

Daddy Binx said...

I must say that I am embarrassed for the citizens of Wisconsin. (I say this as someone who has never lived there but has ancestral ties to the place.) Before all this started last year I had a generally positive view of the good people of Wisconsin, but this whole, drawn-out, tawdry affair has changed that for the worst.

Is there something in the water out your way? How can people treat fellow human beings this way? Have they no shame?

Alex said...

Daddy Binx... don't tar all Wisconsites by the actions of the radical Madison left. That's not fair.

n.n said...

News flash: Women learns she is mother of a bastard child from a "journalist."

This could be The Washington Post reporting.

The much vaunted fourth estate is floundering in a progressive loss of integrity.

I thought the American press was held to higher standards. Perhaps not. Corruption is a universal degeneracy.

Daddy Binx said...

Alex said:
Daddy Binx... don't tar all Wisconsites by the actions of the radical Madison left. That's not fair.


I know there are decent folk living there, but a society doesn't become this toxic overnight. An awful lot of people helped to make this happen, either through active participation or passive enablement.

Sweet Mother of God, what a zoo!

Larry J said...

Daddy Binx said...
I must say that I am embarrassed for the citizens of Wisconsin. (I say this as someone who has never lived there but has ancestral ties to the place.) Before all this started last year I had a generally positive view of the good people of Wisconsin, but this whole, drawn-out, tawdry affair has changed that for the worst.


I've visited Wisconsin several times to attend the EAA convention at Oshkosh. Those were fun trips.

As a general rule, state capitals seem to be full of government types who take an elistist view of the rest of the state. The same is generally true in major college towns. When you combine those two factors, as in Madison (and Austin), you get a toxic liberal atmosphere that's usually very unrepresentative of the state as a whole.

Brian Brown said...

HA HA HA HA, from the "reality based community" comments section at the Daily Kos:

The story remains unverified but has not yet been invalidated.

!!!

Big Mike said...

Daddy Binx... don't tar all Wisconsites by the actions of the radical Madison left. That's not fair.

Yes it is. Lefists equate Republicans with creationists so turnaround seems perfectly fair. FWIW I think the Madison left is pretty close to the center of what's left of the Democrats now that the Blue Dogs have mostly been purged.

Michael K said...

"but after Dubya's drunk driving arrest went flat, you'd think they'd have gotten the message."

Actually, the George W drunk driving story worked and affected the evangelical vote. I blame Rove for not recognizing that this needed to be aired in the spring of 2000. That story was the proximate cause of the tie in the popular vote. That story energized every dirt peddler in politics to keep working.

eelpout said...

The Governor of Wisconsin ran an ad showing an image of a dead 2 yr old implying his opponent was responsible.

Some blogger unaffiliated with Tom Barrett ran a story and retracted it.

It's the same thing, see!

Shanna said...

So random unverified rumors from college are fair game now?

Love Wisconsin.

Keystone said...

Look at the bright side. This will take the focus off of voter fraud of which there will be plenty among the Dems.

B said...

Bailey said...Lautenschlager agreed that "Walker should have produced evidence to clear himself" if he was not a target of investigation, and that it would be "malpractice" for his attorneys not to seek a letter from prosecutors clearing him.

You know, it has been widely disseminated and at this point is very clear that there is a gag order on the John Doe investigations. That goes for an ongoing federal criminal investigation if such even exists.

If Walker asked or had his lawyers ask, and then publicly indicated having done so and why, then he would be in contempt. He could ask, and undoubtedly has, but that does not mean he got an answer or could disclose the results if he had..

You should at least superficially educate yourself concerning how criminal investigations work. Otherwise, like garage when he was around spouting this nonsense, you just come off as determined to display partisan stupidity.

And I would not put any time into Lautenschlager if and when you try to work it out..

B said...

Bailey said...The Governor of Wisconsin ran an ad showing an image of a dead 2 yr old implying his opponent was responsible.

Now you're just lying.

B said...

Here's the weasel words - What follows is one woman's account of the Scott Walker she knew at Marquette University.

The Scott Walker she knew. Which she hopes will leave her the ability to be flabbergasted that it's a different Scott Walker. I don't think that's enough cover.

I think Walker should go after her and the Media Co-op. Get discovery going and find out whether she or the C0-op knew beforehand that is was not the same Scott Walker.

Roger J. said...

Somehow I dont think this "story" will have much effect on Tuesday's election. Except for Milwaukee and Madison democrat, most voters are smarter than that. Walker by 8.

Lyle said...

Maybe Democrats will lose future elections because of all this crap.

Chip S. said...

Perhaps my memory is selective, but I seem to recall that any time there's even a hint of some nasty business by a conservative, half a dozen or so of Althouse's resident liberals show up demanding to know why all conservatives haven't yet denounced the scurrilous behavior of their fellow-traveler.

This thread's been in existence for 6.5 hours, and the only lefty to show up is some idiot trying somehow to blame Walker for the fact that rumors continue to swirl around him.

Next time garage mahal or purplepenquin or AndyR or some other liberal Miss Manners demands that shit from me my response will be, "Fuck off."

But I'll mean it in the most civil manner possible.

Brian Brown said...

Bailey said...

The Governor of Wisconsin ran an ad showing an image of a dead 2 yr old implying his opponent was responsible.


Of course no such thing happened.

Bailey said...

Lautenschlager agreed that "Walker should have produced evidence to clear himself" if he was not a target of investigation,


Yes!

Because that is what we do in America! People who haven't been charged with crimes provide evidence they are innocent!!!

Idiot.

Henry said...

The update is pretty much mandatory reading for why hearsay is not evidence: she believes Dr. Gillick is mixing up stories.

She being the woman who didn't sleep with Scott Walker.

Cincinnatus said...

Ah, reckless disregard for the truth ... virtually admitted upon its face.

Henry said...

@Alex -- Excellent point.

Here's a quote from the KOS comments on the original story:

Already on Wikipedia... (5+ / 0-)
With Daily Kos as a cite!

by Duct Idaho Palin on Sat Jun 02, 2012 at 11:46:28 PM PDT


There must be a word for that moment when stupidity crosses into irony, but I can't think of it.

Leland said...

I'll give this credit to the story. It reminded me of the stories when Bush was President. The stuff like WTC was an inside job, in which the POTUS managed to convince the military and some unknown engineers from an unstated government agency to sneak into the WTC and plant explosives to implode the building. Yeah, such a story is so remarkable, it must be true right? No one could possible make up such a fantastic story and risk their credibility!

Paul said...

"I think this is a foreshadowing of what the liberals will stoop to do in October against Romney."

Exactly Ross.

Desperate times call for desperate measures.

Next you will hear from Obama's people that Mitt is a closet Moonie.

David said...

"I wonder if Daniel Bice knows anything about the lawyer with knowledge of the federal investigation."

Probably. But you won't hear about it because Bice would rather use the lawyer as a source. And Bice has the leverage to do so.

David said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
gerry said...


If I was to date a Wisconsonite, the first thing I would ask is who she voted for in this election.


What about how she voted in 2008?

SeanF said...

Legal Cloud Gathers Over Scott Walker

It's Fitzmas all over again!

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