Scott Walker

Classless and Spiteful: Jezebel's 'Update' to False Walker Sexual Assault Reporting Story
By Tom Blumer | February 28, 2015 | 7:45 PM EST

As noted this morning (at NewsBusters; at BizzyBlog), Jezebel's Natasha Vargas-Cooper wrote a Friday morning hit piece directed at Scott Walker, Wisconsin's Republican Governor, calling him a "conservative werewolf" for including a provision in the Badger State's latest proposed budget to eliminate the requirement that universities report campus sexual assault statistics to the state.

Vargas-Cooper took this to mean that all such sexual assault reporting would end. Hardly. Hours later, an unbylined Associated Press story carried at USA Today (but still not carried at its national site) made it clear that a) the University of Wisconsin system had requested the provision, and b) such statistics would continue to be reported to the federal government. Jezebel's "correction" and Vargas-Cooper's spiteful tweeted reaction follow the jump.

Jezebel Writer Falsely Accuses Walker of Wanting to Stop Reporting of Campus Sexual Assaults
By Tom Blumer | February 28, 2015 | 9:45 AM EST

On Friday morning at Jezebel, a Gawker-affiliated web site, Natasha Vargas-Cooper thought she had Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker by the — well, you know.

In a post tellingly tagged "Conservative Werewolves," Vargas-Cooper was absolutely sure — so certain that she apparently felt no need to check any further — that Walker's proposed budget would allow its colleges to "to stop reporting sexual assaults." Vicious vitriol ensued (bolds are mine throughout this post):

AP Report on Wisconsin Right to Work Move Presents Union Side Only
By Tom Blumer | February 27, 2015 | 11:28 PM EST

A couple of thousand protesters have showed up to rail against the Wisconsin Legislature's move to pass right to work legislation this week.

That number is far smaller than what was seen four years ago, when Badger State Governor Scott Walker championed Act 10, a budget repair bill which limited — but please note, contrary to frequent press assertions, did not eliminate — most public-sector unions' collective bargaining rights. Todd Richmond's Wednesday evening coverage of the situation in Madison at the Associated Press got plenty of perspectives from union members and others upset with the legislature's latest move, but predictably failed to get any insights from right to work supporters or those skeptical of protesters' positions. Excerpts follow the jump (bolds and numbereed tags are mine):

NBC Declares Scott Walker Made 'First Major Blunder' of 2016 Race at CPAC
By Kyle Drennen | February 27, 2015 | 12:09 PM EST

Desperate to tear down 2016 Republican frontrunner Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, co-host Matt Lauer led off Friday's NBC Today by proclaiming: "Governor's gaffe?...Presidential hopeful Scott Walker under fire for saying his experience with union protesters has prepared him to take on ISIS. Is it the first major blunder of the presidential race?"

New Yorker Writer: Ideally, ‘Walker’s Indecent and Craven Antics Would Disqualify Him’ From the Presidency
By Tom Johnson | February 25, 2015 | 11:02 PM EST

John Cassidy calls the Wisconsin governor “an odious politician whose ascension to the Presidency would be a disaster” but admits, “For all his awfulness, Walker is a serious contender. We’d better get used to it.”

Lefty Blogger Quite Confident That 'Walker Has Not Communicated With God'
By Jack Coleman | February 25, 2015 | 9:34 AM EST

Wow, that's pretty impressive sourcing.

Alarm bells are ringing among liberals in the media that Wisconsin governor and unflappable conservative Scott Walker could well pose a problem for Hillary Clinton's (second) presumptive coronation as president.

Bozell & Graham Column: Obama Criticism Should Be Banned?
By Brent Bozell | and By Tim Graham | February 24, 2015 | 10:47 PM EST

Some might insist Barack Obama is a lame duck, but our national media elite still think of him as a very graceful swan. When this man comes under criticism, journalists are incapable of any sense of objectivity, balance, or fairness. The accuser must be forced to withdraw the criticism, or be punished.

First, Rudy Giuliani said at an event for Gov. Scott Walker that the president doesn’t love America like previous presidents did. That might be a little unfair. Jimmy Carter also loved to get up in front of a podium and lecture about all of America’s flaws.

Bloggers Wonder How Walker Will Handle GOP’s ‘Ample Population of Lunatics’ and Their ‘Stark-Raving-Mad Beliefs’
By Tom Johnson | February 24, 2015 | 4:34 PM EST

Jonathan Chait, Paul Waldman, and Amanda Marcotte each discuss how the Wisconsin governor and probable presidential candidate has responded to recent questions about issues including evolution, Obama’s religious beliefs, and Obama’s patriotism, as well as how his answers might play with the “paranoid” Republican base that thinks, in Waldman’s words, that “Obama is The Other, an alien presence occupying an office he doesn't deserve.”

After Devouring Giuliani for Obama Remarks, New York Times Now Targeting Gov. Scott Walker
By Clay Waters | February 23, 2015 | 9:49 PM EST

The New York Times, having feasted for days on remarks made by former New York City Governor Rudy Giuliani at a private dinner for Scott Walker, is now switching targets to Walker himself.

NYT's Martin Jabs Walker's 'Depressing, Cynical Exercise' Against Media
By Matthew Balan | February 23, 2015 | 3:07 PM EST

Jonathan Martin of the New York Times targeted Scott Walker on CNN's New Day on Monday over his "gotcha game" attack on the media." Martin contended that Governor Walker "doesn't want to answer these kinds of questions – which is problematic, but it also gives him an opportunity on the right." He added that "it's all kind of a depressing, cynical exercise, frankly, because...Walker doesn't want to play the game, and by not playing the game, he then gins up sympathy on the right against the media."

CBS This Morning Scolds Scott Walker for Refusing to Condemn Giuliani
By Jeffrey Meyer | February 23, 2015 | 10:29 AM EST

For the fifth day in a row, the “big three” (ABC, CBS, and NBC) networks have obsessed over comments made by former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani in which he questioned President Obama’s love of America. Since the Giuliani story first broke on Thursday, February 19, the “big three” have given the story 21 minutes and 22 seconds of coverage, with NBC representing 14 minutes and 53 seconds of that total.

WashPost's Milbank Accuses Walker of Giuliani-Related 'Cowardice'
By Tom Blumer | February 23, 2015 | 12:08 AM EST

In his Friday Washington Post column, Dana Milbank accused Scott Walker of "cowardice" which "ought to disqualify him as a serious presidential contender."

Walker's alleged "cowardice" was his failure to disown the following remark made by New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani: “I do not believe that the president loves America.” Last time I checked, Rudy's entitled to his opinion, and Walker's entitled to opt out of psychoanalyzing the Oval Office's current occupant. This sent Milbank into a a blind fury (bolds and numbered tags are mine):