September 25, 2014

"Democratic candidate for governor Mary Burke stumbled Thursday when asked to define plagiarism and said..."

"... she had not violated her principles with a jobs plan that includes nearly word-for-word sections that also appear in other candidates' plans."
Asked by reporters to define plagiarism, Burke said: "This, this probably, using words, exact words, from a source that doesn't, that isn't cited and isn't attributable."
Probably!

The real question isn't what plagiarism is, but who Mary Burke is. What's authentic? Where's the substance?

109 comments:

David said...

You are seeing the authentic Mary Burke. All sprocket. No chain.

Big Mike said...

@David, you beat me to it. Why are you asking where her substance is, Professor? What if she has no substance?

glenn said...

Mary Burke has two thing going for her that make a lack of substance irrelevant. She's 55 and she's a Democrat. No substance required.

Anonymous said...

Lt. Frank Drebin: "Go ahead, threaten me like you have the American people for so long! You're part of a dying breed, Hapsburg, like people who can name all fifty states! The truth hurts, doesn't it, Hapsburg? Oh sure, maybe not as much as landing on a bicycle with the seat missing, but it hurts!"

Anonymous said...

Her problem is that her problem runs against her message. that she was a smart HBS grad, who knew business and knew how to grow jobs in WI. Now she's been outed as a dumbie who has no original ideas and is stuck stealing other peoples work, and not caring much about it or ethics...

Ann Althouse said...

"What if she has no substance?"

Well, I'm putting out my request: Show me the substance.

She's standing by the old report, which is central to her candidacy, related to the fact that she has a Harvard MBA and that's the substance. But if that's nothing, even if it's not a negative (because it's not technically plagiarism) that leaves us with nothing. There needs to be something!

Drago said...

The Drill SGT: "Her problem is that her problem runs against her message. that she was a smart HBS grad, who knew business and knew how to grow jobs in WI."

Worse, she claimed to have spent hundreds of hours on development of her jobs plan.

Obviously not.

The word is "dilettante".

Ann Althouse said...

For example, I'd like to know what she has achieved on the Madison School Board. I understand that she attempted philanthropy related to Madison Prep (which was about helping disadvantaged students) and then she sought office. But then what happened? It's puzzling. How can a cipher be governor?

Balfegor said...

Honestly, I don't understand why the jobs plan copy-paste thing is such a scandal. She's just "plagiarizing" from other Democrats right? Is it such a surprise that Democrats running for similar offices in states facing vaguely similar issues are going to be proposing basically the same policy solutions?

There's a tension, I guess, between voting for a candidate because he has original ideas you like, and voting for a candidate because he is going to be a generic representative of the policy positions supported by his party, but it's a tension that to my mind is basically irrelevant to most candidates today. People vote for candidates largely on the basis of cultural affiliation (or sometimes outright racial affiliation, in the case of many racial minorities). And frankly, there's legitimate, though somewhat unfortunate, reasons for that, in a diverse country. When things go pear-shaped, you want to know that your leaders are people who will stand up for your interests. Abstract debates about policy are really sort of irrelevant when the main questions are how big a pie the government can bake, how that public pie is going to be carved up, and most important of all, how big a slice can be served up to you and yours.

Drago said...

Ann Althouse: "There needs to be something!"

After clean/articulate and sharply creased pants in 2008 I'm not so sure there really needs to be something anymore.

Maybe we have moved fully into a permanent "there simply needs to be the "right" someone" scenario.

Drago said...

Ann: "How can a cipher be governor?"

Easier than a cipher can be president, and we've already lived thru that.

I'm sensing a theme.

furious_a said...

a smart HBS grad...

It was "smart HBS grads" and their ilk who created the exotic financial instruments that fed the 2008 Financial Collapse Inferno.

PTUI with this childish, naive faith in credentialism

Michael K said...

"How can a cipher be governor?"

Hey, it worked for Obama. Come on. It's the 21st century when nobody knows any history.

Drago said...

Michael K: "Hey, it worked for Obama. Come on. It's the 21st century when nobody knows any history"

History is like, 100 years ago or more or something!!

That's like, alot!

Where's my juicebox?

Curious George said...

"Ann Althouse said...
For example, I'd like to know what she has achieved on the Madison School Board."

Seriously? She is one of seven people. She runs nothing there. How is this in any way pertinent? Hell, she had to spend $130,000 of her own money to even get on it! This after being "Madison Person of the Year" for once again, giving away a boat load of money.

By the way, there are additional examples of plagiarism now.

Mary Burke is a rich do nothing hippie, a waste of DNA. She isn't qualified to manage a freakin 7-11 much less a state.

Sharc said...

I think the real question isn't what plagiarism is, but who Mary Burke is. What's authentic? Where's the substance?

richard mcenroe said...

She is a blown-up hog's bladder whose only use in life is to beat Scott Walker about the head and shoulders with nonsensical bouncing noises.

richard mcenroe said...

"I understand that she attempted philanthropy related to Madison Prep...

ATTEMPTED philanthropy? There is only do, or do not.

Meade said...

The super real question isn't what plagiarism is, but who Mary Burke is. What's authentic? Where's the substance? What is reality? Who invented liquid soap and why?

paminwi said...

Hey Drago: according to folks in the Obama administration, specifically, Toomy Vietor, history is like 2 years ago!

"Dude, that was like 2 years ago!"

We can't have too high of standards for these people. It is why Democrats like Mary Burke. I mean she went to college, she worked for daddy (no confirmation from anyone in the family how successful she was growing that European market - curious, isn't it?), she snowboarded, she did a few things for Jim Doyle, she vacationed, she ran for school board and now she is qualified to run our state. What a sad, sad situation this is!

Anonymous said...

Substance = Placebo ointment.

Placebo ointment = Political Lube.

Apply liberally to the affected area.

rhhardin said...

It's using platitudes without crediting Plato.

No longer just a planet.

Big Mike said...

There needs to be something!

Why? The world's full of empty suits, and some of the suits that are empty are pants suits. Perhaps she ran because she's rich and bored. Perhaps she ran because she thinks governing a state is easy, just give a couple good speeches and the opposition will fall all over themselves to fall in line. Who knows?

DanTheMan said...

>>For example, I'd like to know what she has achieved on the Madison School Board

We were asking the same question in 2008 about a community organizer.
"What has he done?"
You didn't get an answer then, you won't get one now.

Some people are low information voters by choice.

Michael said...

Trek would be the company that dumped Greg Lemond, the clean biker, at the insistence of Armstrong, the dirty biker. That would be Burke's company albeit after she had tired of working there. She claims a preposterous growth in sales during her tenure and under her area of responsibility: $3 million to $50 million in three years. Cant back it up. Very unlikely.

Unknown said...

Ms. Mary No Substance keeps shooting herself in the foot and has now doomed whatever unlikely chance she had to win.

Gahrie said...

Honestly, I don't understand why the jobs plan copy-paste thing is such a scandal. She's just "plagiarizing" from other Democrats right?

Her main argument is that she is smarter and better credentialed. Stealing other people's ideas isn't what smarter people do.

Big Mike said...

It's puzzling. How can a cipher be governor?

Ah, but does she realize she's a cipher? Lots of people desire the power and prestige of high political office without realizing that the job comes with an in basket.

Who invented liquid soap and why?

That one's a lot easier. The "who" is the person who forgot to put in the ingredient that solidifies the soap into bars. Why? The plant manager realized you could charge lots more for the liquid soap dispenser than you can for the paper wrapper around the bar.

Drago said...

Unknown said...
Ms. Mary No Substance keeps shooting herself in the foot and has now doomed whatever unlikely chance she had to win.

It seems like only yesterday we were informed huffily by the lefties that Wendy Davis and Mary Burke were political "forces to be reckoned with".

They didn't tell us that the dem party damage control artists were the ones dealing with the "reckoning".

RecChief said...

I'll stand by my earlier comments on earlier threads. It's not about "plagiarism" at all.I think David, the first comment on this post, got it right.

Bob Boyd said...

If you can't do, teach.
If you can't teach, teach snowboarding.

Sharc said...

Meade, I don't appreciate that. Almost word-for-word, dude.

Meade said...

Sharc, I know. You should be flattered. Both of you.

Alex said...

Now add Susan Wismer to the list.

"Democratic gubernatorial South Dakota nominee appears to have plagiarized parts of her issues page from Texas gubernatorial candidate Wendy Davis and Wisconsin gubernatorial candidate Mary Burke, who herself is embattled in a plagiarism snafu of her own."

n.n said...

Her substance is derived from her certification. That's why she and others of her kind mocked Walker. He is of a lower social station than them, and they have not acquired the good graces of courtesy and respect. As for testing her substance or mettle, you have to elect her to know her character.

Meade said...

Bob Boyd said...
"If you can't do, teach.
If you can't teach, teach snowboarding."

And if you can't teach snowboarding? Buy a seat on the Madison school board.

And then run for governor.

Jupiter said...

"Her main argument is that she is smarter and better credentialed. Stealing other people's ideas isn't what smarter people do."

Actually, she hired someone else to steal his own tired cliches.

Bob Boyd said...

Alex said...
Now add Susan Wismer to the list.

"Democratic gubernatorial South Dakota nominee appears to have plagiarized parts of her issues page from Texas gubernatorial candidate Wendy Davis and Wisconsin gubernatorial candidate Mary Burke, who herself is embattled in a plagiarism snafu of her own."


Its not plagiarism. Its assimilation to the hive mind. Its a Borg thing.

Big Mike said...

Stealing other people's ideas isn't what smarter people do.

Actually we do it all the time. But we're careful to "reapply" or "repurpose" ideas that have been tried and tested and shown to work. Then we build off them.

That's one of the two main critiques of this episode. The ideas that Burke's aide cut and pasted have either been tried and failed (someone pointed out Delaware) or not tried at all because they came from the platform of a losing candidate. The second critique is that there's no evidence in her jobs plan of repurposing or adjusting these ideas to the unique social ecology of Wisconsin, much less building on them.

And I guess a third critique would be that if Mary Burke really cared a whole lot about jobs for out-of-work Wisconsin residents then she'd have taken what her aide put together and reworked the ideas and edited them to read like something she wrote.

Curious George said...

Mary Burke' presser when she rolled out "her" jobs plan.

http://www.channel3000.com/news/25165390

Nothing about "bringing in the best ideas".

She will regret saying this: "You know, I've seen 8th grade term papers that have more work put into them."

Walker will eat this idiot up during the debates.

Bob Boyd said...

What I don't get is why anybody would doubt the whole Harvard grad = substance thing. What happened to this country to make everybody so gosh-darned cynical?

Sharc said...

It's hard out here for a plagiarist.

Curious George said...

Althouse posted her words, now listen to them. Really, what a moron:

uh...uh...er...uh...uh

Her inflection is even in the form of a question. I'll bet her handlers go thru a bottle of scotch per day.

Meade said...

I know, Sharc. Plagiarists, turtles...
it's hard all the way down.

Titus said...

She will lose. With the exception a small section of Madison, Wisconsin is essentialy Duck Dynasty.

Personally, I don't give a shit about Wisconsin politics because I live in the people's republic, where we are fab, thin, diverse new economy and wealthy.

Wisconsin, for the most part. is gross and totally boring white. That is why all the younguns moved away asap.

tits.

Titus said...

Also, Wisconsin is totally obese which is so nasty. Even that fags are fat-I mean really-how degrading is that?

Meade said...

At least we don't live in a state where you can marry your cousin. Like Massachusetts or California.

Gross and unfab.

Meade said...

Fix your laws, thin fab diverse people.

Meade said...

Also, we like our liberals fat, here in Wisconsin. Fat and sleepy, rich and self-satisfied.

That's how we like 'em.

Michael K said...

"Perhaps she ran because she's rich and bored. Perhaps she ran because she thinks governing a state is easy,"

She ran because she told the Democrats she would be self-funding. Then she said no. What a joke ! Ha Ha.

Hagar said...

It looks to me like this is worse than mere plagiarism.

There is just no there, there - quite literally so - and that is very bad for someone who claims to be far more intellectually qualified and a quite superior person to Scott Walker.

William said...

There have been several notable plagiarists in recent memory. None of them suffered any lasting damage to their reputation or careers. Of course, they have all been Democrats or liberals in good standing. That may have more to do with it than the inconsequence of plagiarism.....I wonder what would happen to George Will if he got caught in a plagiarism scandal..

furious_a said...

"Wendy Davis", if that *is* her real name.

A little DFW joke after the Dalls Morning News her biography.

Anonymous said...

I never thought these kind of things really happened until it happened to me: I was in Massachusetts visiting family when I was reintroduced to my cousin Kate. I remember when she was just a typical precocious five year old eating ice cream and drawing big blue skies with crayons -- it is so hard to believe that was thirteen years ago!

Later in the evening I was sitting in the hot tub when Kate approached with a towel wrapped around her. She asked if she could join me and I said of course'. Then she dropped her towel and -- to my surprise -- she was totally naked!

"Your breasts weren't that big and round when you were five," I said, and she smiled.

"I'm eighteen now, cousin Steve, a lot of things have changed."

Then she proceeded to give me a blow job, but somehow she got pregnant from it and so we ended up getting married: cousins can marry in Massachusetts. We are now the proud parents of the cutest conjoined twins anywhere. And their babysitter from down the street is HOT, but that's another story...

PB said...

You want substance? Democrats don't want substance.

Mark said...

Off the top of my head there are two obvious ways to respond to the whole "plagiarism" thing (btw, I'm of the opinion that this isn't plagiarism, just sloppiness):

* These are best practices shown to work in transitional economies (always good to throw in some buzzwords -- then you can make up what you think a "transitional economy" is and talk about the Bright Future Under Democratic Leadership)
* When I hired whatshisname I told him I admired his work on the other campaigns. I accept responsibility for not monitoring his work product for this campaign more closely, but the central themes still reflect my ideals for the future (FOLLOW TEMPLATE ABOVE RE: BRIGHT FUTURE).

How many days has it been since this blew up? And Burke hasn't bothered to come up with a strategy, let alone a set of practiced talking points, to deflect and defuse this problem?

Totally unserious. Dilettante.

RecChief said...

"PB Reader said...
You want substance? Democrats don't want substance."

I believe you're right. It's more about emotion and meaningless gestures that make a person feel good. And don't forget framing everything as if a disagreement with their preferred position is a moral failing, no wait, more than a failing you're downright evil unless you emote correctly. And none of that thinking for yourself either

Fred Drinkwater said...

Stealing other people's ideas isn't what smarter people do.

Actually we do it all the time. But we're careful to "reapply" or "repurpose" ideas that have been tried and tested and shown to work.


I do this all the time, but of course I am (begin fake russian accent) sure to call it "research". (end fake russian accent)

Drago said...

Meade: "Also, we like our liberals fat, here in Wisconsin. Fat and sleepy, rich and self-satisfied.
That's how we like 'em."

I am reminded of the great Charles Laughton as Gracchus in Spartacus explaining to Peter Ustinov's character how lean men are always doing things and causing trouble whereas "Corpulence makes a man reasonable, pleasant and phlegmatic".

RecChief said...

Mark,
It's not the charge of plagiarism. It's not even the recycling of others' ideas. Quite a few of us borrow concepts and mold them to the circumstances in front of us.

It's the fact that she held forth her credentials as the main reason people should vote for her. She positioned herself as uniquely qualified, through her education, to lead Wisconsin. It was her Harvard Business School education, you see. She, and her followers, mocked Walker for not graduating. And then we all found out that she didn't even take ideas that had worked before and hammered them out to fit Wisconsin. She didn't use that oh so important Harvard Business School education to come up with an economic plan.

Instead, she outsourced it. And the reason she hasn't come up with a polished explanation to address it, is because she knows she outsourced it. She knows that she mailed it in on the centerpiece of her campaign. She actually didn't have a plan that came to her because of her elite education, she can't come up with a plan to address the situation either. I don't live in Wisconsin, but I wouldn't vote for her if I did, based on how she has handled the whole situation irrespective of anything else during this campaign. Unless that kind of thing is ok with you.

bflat879 said...

I don't know why anyone would be upset with her. She said she didn't compromise any of "her" principles. Well, she is a Democrat so, as a consequence has few principles except whatever it takes to win an election, so what could she possibly compromise?

donald said...

I didn't realize until today that she's a piece of ass.

Drago said...

RecChief: "It's the fact that she held forth her credentials as the main reason people should vote for her."

Well, when you lack accomplishments, you go with the army you have, not the one you wish you had.

Mark said...

The main reason I wouldn't vote for her is she's had a week to get the talking points down, to get the politics down pat on this problem (and yes, it's a problem because she was selling herself as the smarter, better-educated, more sophisticated candidate) and she hasn't bothered to do the work.

It's lazy and bottom-line disrespectful to people who do have to work.

Curious George said...

Attributal?

Uh, Mary, the source IS attributable. Just not to you.

Yeah. she's a genius.

Drago said...

Curious George: "Yeah. she's a genius"

She could use a couple of skilled "corpsemen".

If they speak Austrian even better.

Geniuses.

Drago said...

Mark: "..she hasn't bothered to do the work"

You can't teach a dilettante to do in one week what they've spent a lifetime avoiding.

DavidMB said...

...but of course I am (begin fake russian accent) sure to call it "research". (end fake russian accent)

Tom Lehrer FTW!

"Plagiarize!
Let no one else's work evade your eyes!
Remember why the good Lord made your eyes,
So don't shade your eyes,
But plagiarize, plagiarize, plagiarize..."

David said...

Nobody liked "all sprocket, no chain?" I thought I finally came up with a good one.

traditionalguy said...

Like false voter's ballots and identity theft, plagiarism is simple fraud. A photo ID cures one type, passwords another type and asking the genius to repeat what she did not write should restrain the other.

You get the sense that a Democrat female politician is sure these days that she is immune to criticism because of men giving women the back of the hand meme and warring on the women meme are the only stories that are ever in the media.

People can still cheat and beat any safeguards against deceit, but making fraud harder to do is a basic function of good governance.


The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...

" David said...
Nobody liked "all sprocket, no chain?" I thought I finally came up with a good one"

No, man. That was quality stuff.

F said...

Hey David, I liked "all sprocket, no chain." Don't say "nobody"liked it.

Skeptical Voter said...

Well what the heck, when I think about Mary Burke and her plagiarism and substance problems, I'm reminded of a Wendy's Hamburger advertisement from 1984.

So I'll "plagiarize" a line from Wendys, and from aged actress Clara Peller who famously asked, "Where's the beef"?

I mean if you can't steal a line from a nice old lady, why bother?

Drago said...

madisonfella said...
Did Scott Walker plagiarize his proposed plan to drug test the parents of children receiving government assistance or is that an original idea of his?

Irrelevant to Mary Burkes ridiculous predicament.

Nice squirrel though.

Anonymous said...

The topic is plagiarism. The question "Does Scott Walker write his own plans or does he copy them from somewhere else?" is far more relevant to the discussion than Spartacus or corpsmen or Obama.

Emil Blatz said...

Excuse me for sounding like a broken record, but Scott Walker is going to beat her like a rented car.

Emil Blatz said...

Excuse me for sounding like a broken record, but Scott Walker is going to beat her like a rented car.

Fen said...

Note the moral character of the Left: madisonfella wants to pretend "they did it too!" instead of addressing the serious concern that Mary Burke is just a bag of hot air.

Fen said...

Principles of the Lowest Common Denominator.

"its okay to round up jews because FDR rounded up japs"

clint said...

"The real question isn't what plagiarism is, but who Mary Burke is. What's authentic? Where's the substance?"


You have to elect her to find out what's in her. Just like with major legislation.

Diogenes of Sinope said...

We know little about Burke and the media is making no effort to find out anything about her. Why has she chosen not to marry? Who is her significant other? Who are her friends? Exactly what did she do at Trek? What did she do during the years she dropped out and snowboarded? Why did she drop out? Where did she live, what did she do and who did she spend her time with?

Mark said...

Diogenes, those questions about her time off were answered in detail. Read the paper once in a while, it will save you from asking questions that have already been answered.

donald said...

I hear ya Diogenes. Till I saw that plunging neck line photo I had no idea.

Rusty said...

Meade said...
The super real question isn't what plagiarism is, but who Mary Burke is. What's authentic? Where's the substance? What is reality? Who invented liquid soap and why?


Much like Wauwatosa, there is no 'there' there.

Rusty said...

Meade said...
Also, we like our liberals fat, here in Wisconsin. Fat and sleepy, rich and self-satisfied.

That's how we like 'em.

They cook up better that way.

Bobber Fleck said...

David said:
"Nobody liked "all sprocket, no chain?" I thought I finally came up with a good one.

It was quite good. I'm glad you offered that comment early in the thread as it kept me from posting:

All seat post, no seat.

Curious George said...

"Mark said...
Diogenes, those questions about her time off were answered in detail. Read the paper once in a while, it will save you from asking questions that have already been answered."

Bullshit. Not only were they not answered in detail, she has provided multiple versions. It's all grey, murky, and like you, full of shit.

Christy said...

Would be interesting to run some of her work at Harvard Business through plagiarism software.

Joe Schmoe said...

Nobody liked "all sprocket, no chain?" I thought I finally came up with a good one.

I liked it. But a sprocket is still a critical part of the bike. I think it works best when the first part of the analogy is something superfluous.

How about "all air, no tire?"

Or "all tassle, no handlebar?"

John henry said...

Blogger Fred Drinkwater said...

I do this all the time, but of course I am (begin fake russian accent) sure to call it "research". (end fake russian accent)

Awwww.... Fred, or Nikolai or whoever you are, you beat me to it.

I "borrowed" the 10" LP from my uncle back in 1957 and still have it. I still know the song pretty much by heart.

For those who don't know what we are talking about,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQHaGhC7C2E

If I were Walker, I would get this in heavy rotation on Wisconsin radio stations. Play it whenever Burke walks into a room, etc.

John Henry

John henry said...


Blogger Bobber Fleck said...


All seat post, no seat.


isn't that homophobic?

John Henry

Unknown said...

need glasses, I read "How can a copier be governor?" vice cipher.

"You know, I've seen 8th grade term papers that have more work put into them."

add

"and I copied them."

garage mahal said...

Her inflection is even in the form of a question. I'll bet her handlers go thru a bottle of scotch per day.

Burke should have just said she wasn't going to answer any questions, like Walker, when he was repeatedly asked about racist emails, his staff joking about disabled people, whether or not he knew if any of this was going on. Or who was bankrolling his criminal defense fund.

Mark said...

Curious George, this isn't enough detail?

http://www.jsonline.com/watchdog/noquarter/mary-burkes-resume-includes-2-year-hiatus-b99343965z1-274292931.html

You don't even try, how pathetic.

Althouse must be so proud to have you come here every day and swear at people. It really shows the class of Republicans, also their inability to google.

Todd said...

Balfegor said...
Honestly, I don't understand why the jobs plan copy-paste thing is such a scandal. She's just "plagiarizing" from other Democrats right? Is it such a surprise that Democrats running for similar offices in states facing vaguely similar issues are going to be proposing basically the same policy solutions? 9/25/14, 7:07 PM


For me (can't speak for everyone else) the issue is NOT that her jobs plan was "stolen" from others because as has been noted elsewhere, there are few original ideas left in Government. I would completely endorce someone saying "Here is my jobs plan, I got it from Mr. XXXX and he used it to create YYY jobs in 2 years!" but that is NOT what she did.

She said here is MY jobs plan and not only was it taken from others but she did not know it was taken from others and she did not know it well enough to speak to it in any sense. It is one thing to turn in a plan that you understand and can explain why parts of it match other plans and be able to justify why those parts were taking (even if you had others write it for you) but to stand there and stammer because you don't know it well enough to say "boo" is completely different and quite revealing.

RecChief said...

madisonfella said...
The topic is plagiarism


No it's not. You want it to be, and I understand why you want it to be the topic. But that really isn't her problem, and that has been discussed here and elsewhere on this blog.

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...

Emil,
Was the double post deliberate ( given the content of the post)? If so, that's pretty funny. Bunch o' budding Betamaxes (Jesus, how do you pluralize Betamax) around here.

JorgXMcKie said...

"The hiatus was marked by what has been dubbed a "snowboarding sabbatical."

Nobody can agree on the particulars. Some news stories and blogs say the sabbatical lasted three months, others six or nine months or perhaps even a year. The excursion has been described as taking place in Argentina. Or Colorado. Or both. With one friend or several, in 1993 or maybe 1994.

There is a reason for all this confusion.

The details still do not come easily, even for Burke herself."

Well, that sure cleared it up for me!! She obviously plagiarized this explanation from Jon Lovitz's "Tommy the Liar" character and his constantly changing explanations.

ThreeSheets said...

Her substance is that she is not Scott Walker. That is all the Democrats in the State care about. They don't need any actual substance other than that.

garage mahal said...

Her substance is that she is not Scott Walker. That is all the Democrats in the State care about. They don't need any actual substance other than that.

Oh there is truth to that. Many of us would be happy with any non unindicted felon as governor.

Todd said...

garage mahal said...
Her substance is that she is not Scott Walker. That is all the Democrats in the State care about. They don't need any actual substance other than that.

Oh there is truth to that. Many of us would be happy with any non unindicted felon as governor.
9/26/14, 11:19 AM


That would be the preference in most regards but the real question is would you settle for an unindicted felon as governor if that governor had a "D" after their name verses an "R"? How selective is your "outrage"?

Todd said...

garage mahal said...
Oh there is truth to that. Many of us would be happy with any non unindicted felon as governor.
9/26/14, 11:19 AM


Which would you be most likely to vote for, a) a non unindicted felon as governor with a "R" after their name or b) a unindicted felon as governor with a "D" after their name?

Which are you more put off by? The "unindicted felon" part or the "R" part?

CWJ said...

Interesting Garage. Just so I'm clear, are you saying that Scott Walker is a felon? Period full stop. The only qualification being that he has not been charged with anything.

garage mahal said...

Which are you more put off by? The "unindicted felon" part or the "R" part?

The unindicted felon part. I'd vote for a Republican if he/she were on the ballot against Walker.

Marty said...

You don't have to be Polly-Want-a-Cracker to observe this is just a bunch of white people disguising your continued and beloved racism with a bunch of elitist blather.

It's plantations all the way down.

Known Unknown said...

I didn't realize until today that she's a piece of ass.

Uh, no. Maybe you like man hands, though.

Dan Hossley said...

"The question is if she's authentic". I think you have your answer. She seems to be the Wisconsin version of Wendy Davis.

Anonymous said...

Balfegor said...

Honestly, I don't understand why the jobs plan copy-paste thing is such a scandal. She's just "plagiarizing" from other Democrats right? Is it such a surprise that Democrats running for similar offices in states facing vaguely similar issues are going to be proposing basically the same policy solutions?


Balfegor: If she were running as a generic Democrat, then you'd be entirely correct. But she's not. She's running as "Mary Burke, HBS grad and all around awesome person". Who, it just so happens, "developed plans" that are functionally identical to "generic Democrat" plans.

IOW, her story's a lie, she's just another generic Democrat with nothing special to offer.

Which, if understood by the voters, will destroy her campaign.

Unknown said...

I had to post this as bait to Crack:

Officials nab Canadian man trying to cross border with 51 turtles in his pants


Using information gained from an anonymous tip, U.S. authorities detained a man this summer after noticing ‘irregularly shaped bulges’ in his sweatpants. But this wasn’t the Underwear Bomber 2.0. Instead, a Canadian man had taped 51 live turtles to his legs and groin and was attempting to smuggle them across the border, The Guardian reported.

It really is turtles all the way down - eh?