Charlie Pierce lights up Walker on the Iowa soapbox

As usual, Charlie Pierce nails it when it comes to our "Unintimidated" Governor making a scene at the Iowa State Fair today. Here's just a taste of a standout column.

That he has people willing to follow him to Iowa in order to take exception to him, of course, makes Walker virtually unique among the itinerant mendicants who have brought their presidential campaigns to this spot on the midway just a few degrees east of the corn dog stands. This is because, alone among the crowd of candidates, Walker most clearly is running on his record of being a complete prick to the right people – which include teachers and nurses and the people who clean up after Alzheimer's patients in group homes. Running against the right people is a staple of all campaigns, right and left, but it's rarely as clear the raison d'etre of one as it is the raison d'etre of the Walker campaign. It is a toxic combination of belligerence and aggressive victimhood. You have to go all the way back to the George Wallace campaigns of 1968 and 1972 to find one that is so clearly defined by the people whose political power it wants to crush.​...

He truly is a remarkable liar, already a far more remarkable liar than even Mitt Romney was, and I didn't think that was possible. For example, the evidence is that while he managed to ram his programs through his pet legislature, he hid behind his capitol police. He took a tunnel to get to the office. He and his pet legislature changed the rules of what was allowed in the Wisconsin capitol building, which always had been open space. He was unintimidated by singing grandmothers because his administration had them arrested and hauled away.​

And, it scarcely needs to be mentioned, when 100,000 of his constituents showed up on his lawn, Scott Walker did not deign to meet with them. Hell, Nixon took that famous midnight walk among the antiwar folks back in 1970. OK, he talked about football with them, but at least he was there. Yesterday was one of the few times Scott Walker ever has come within shouting distance of the people who have protested against what he's done to the state.​

(And, you have to admit, it takes some big clanging brass ones to talk about "taking on the big special interests" a couple of weeks after giving $250 million of that sweet taxpayer cash to the owners of the Milwaukee Bucks, to say nothing of riding to victory three times on tidal waves of dark money.)​

I will cautiously think that the protestor was a legitimate one - as Charlie points out, it's not like Scotty does events open to the public here (even though we are still paying his 6-figure salary and benefits), so some feel they have to take their shot wherever they can find it. I'm not sure it's the best strategy, because I think silenty having signs and informing is better than allowing Scotty to whine and play victim in this instance. And honestly, Walker's about 2 more bad weeks from being a punchline nationally that will never again get above his current national rating of 6%.

But if the guy does turn out to be a plant, I wouldn't be at all surprised, given how badly Walker's campaign is flailing and today's GOP is all about hating certain groups and playing the victim when those groups respond in kind. The "I am not intimidated by you" line sounds scripted as hell, given that this is a guy who (laughable) called his book and SuperPAC "Unintimidated." Either that, or he's just that slow on his feet. Let's not forget that this is the same guy who told "David Koch" he wanted to plant troublemakers in those 2011 crowds, and only decided against it because he felt it might hurt him politically, which is the only "right or wrong" that Scott Walker cares about.

Sadly, I can see this dimwit getting a small boost in the short term out of this, such is the whiny hate machine that is today's GOP. But to the rest of us outside the bubble, it was a reminder why this soulless empty suit inspires such disgust in us, and why people like me feel a need to constantly remind others of what's really happening back here in Wisconsin.

EDIT- Adding this priceless picture, as I'm betting I'll go back to it several times in the coming months.