Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Scott Walker is a real butt. Just because he is ignorant and ill-schooled does not mean he should aim to bring his whole state down to his level.

Yeah, the evidence is cumulative and not innovative - much already is known proving what a butt the man is.

However, there is quite recent reporting here and here, buttressing his buttedness, along with proposed bill language evidence of his will to repudiate the general societal value of an educated population in favor of a blinders-on trade-school-like outlook of what the University of Wisconsin, in Walker's ideal world, should be denigrated into being (click the thumbnail to read and weep):


The report as linked to above with that bill snippet as a sidebar item explains:

First articulated in 1904, the Wisconsin Idea states that the mission of the UW System is to solve problems and improve people's lives beyond the classroom. The core principle is that "the boundaries of the university are the boundaries of the state."

Walker hadn't alluded to changing the UW System's mission during his budget speech Tuesday night; it does not appear he had ever mentioned it publicly.

But in the proposed budget he released Tuesday, the governor made the UW System's mission to "meet the state's workforce needs." He also proposed striking language about public service and improving the human condition, and deleting the phrase: "Basic to every purpose of the system is the search for truth."

Late Wednesday afternoon — long after stories about the governor's effort lighted up social media and news websites — Walker backed away when confronted by Milwaukee Journal Sentinel columnist Daniel Bice. He said the new language was a drafting error and "kind of a nonissue because that's not a problem with us."

Walker implied at an event in Oconomowoc that UW System officials saw the language and "somehow overlooked" the changes. "We have no problem" reinserting the Wisconsin Idea, he said. "Our focus is on creating an authority that gives them full flexibility, and not on changing the mission." Cross immediately issued a one-sentence statement thanking the governor for his commitment to the Wisconsin Idea.

However, UW officials did raise objections before the budget proposal was released, according to Alex Hummel, associate vice president for communications.

Further, at a stop in De Pere earlier in the day, Walker made no mention of any drafting error.

"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 available in the state," Walker said.

What a piece of work Scott Walker is. (Fashioning tools instead of minds can be left to the MIT robotics faculty, Scotty. It ain't rocket science. Alone. It is education, including liberal arts, history, languages, literature, all the other things that trade-school narrowness down plays. "Culture" Scotty. No, Scotty, not merely the Petrie dish variant, engineer that DNA and all, but the bigger stage, Scotty, ...)

And dropping that sentence about "the search for truth" fits with the truth being the little shit should have been impeached.

Hat tip to an attentive reader for calling the situation to Crabgrass attention.

____________UPDATE____________
Responding to a reader comment, it is this MinnPost item that examines Scott Walker's view of environmental policy.

Those as unfamiliar with MinnPost as I am, infrequent readers, might note the homepage

http://www.minnpost.com/

has a banner headline menu, with Education coverage separately logged, as well as Environment coverage. With Strib now a Glen Taylor fiefdom, MinnPost has the opportunity to seize the day.

Back to Scott Walker: The man is a savage. A dissolute slash and burn mind with an unfortunately resolute will.

Wants to be President. Jeb will bury that brand. Not that Jeb's much to hoot about, environmentally oil patch, educationally for-profit robotic virtual schooling - flavored with union-busting because That is something to shoot at since it benefits ordinary folks. With Jeb and Scott having little real difference, it is just that Jeb has more money and clout behind him. (An interesting typo, in typing "more money" I dropped the m, typing at first "ore money." The bet is that Walker and Jeb each have a bundle of that too, from the mining industrial complex. Then there's a Freudian-slip possiblity it was a typo with a view about who they're each 'oring to. Possibly just morning fingers on the keyboard with insufficient coffee before typing.)