Sunday, January 20, 2013

Walkergate: Divide And Conquer, John Doe Style

As I was writing the previous article regarding the upcoming sentencing of Tim Russell, I was struck by something which I believe to be of some significance.

We learned during Kelly Rindfleisch's sentencing that Walker had his campaign staff working hand in glove with his county staff (which often were the same people).  They had daily conference calls every morning at 8 am.*  They would proceed to work together all day long as the transcripts and emails showed.

By all appearances, it seemed that Walker had a finely tuned machine that was working on all cylinders.  A real juggernaut.

But was it?

As we learn more and more of the sordid details, it appears that it was anything but and that Walker was keeping them in line with false promises and real threats if they stepped out of line.

But when one leads with fear and lies, it is difficult to keep it together for long, especially in the face of adversity.

Darlene Wink was a faithful soldier and followed orders from everyone.  Even though she was worried about getting caught, she didn't hesitate to do campaign work on county time.  However, once she was arrested, it only took her only two weeks to take a plea deal and squeal on her fellow criminals, Rindfleisch and Russell and who knows who else.

During Rindfleisch's trial, we learned that she and Jim Villa were talking smack about Russell.  Meanwhile, Walker was letting them think they were all that as he was having Russell do more independent work, something Rindfleisch wasn't allowed to do.  When she finally accepted the fact that she had no way out, she did not hesitate to sing on her superiors, including Russell and Cindy Archer.

I have no reason to doubt that Rindfleisch also ratted out Walker.  Oh, I know her lawyer denied this up and down, but with Walker's well known wont of retaliation, it was undoubtedly a measure of self-preservation.

Russell was a real pip.  He stole from two candidates that trusted him to help with his account.  When Walker moved him to the Director of Housing Division, Russell wanted more money, but Walker wouldn't give it to him, so he stole from Walker's veterans/campaign fund.  Russell also stabbed Wink,  Rindfleisch and others in the back by falsely using their names to help cover his embezzlement and other illegal activities.

Then when his courtroom antics were of no avail, he sang like a songbird.  And given the way that he had his finger in everyone's pies, he would have been a fountain of information.  That alone is probably causing a lot of uneasiness with the likes of Cindy Archer, Tom Nardelli, Keith Gilkes and, of course, Walker himself.

And let us not forget the thirteen people that turned on Walker faster than even Wink - the people like Cullen Werwie and Fran McLaughlin who given immunity for their testimony.

But the biggest backstabber of them all was the head weasel, Scott Walker:

  • He refused to pay Russell even the average of what he was supposed to, but expected him to do even more work.  
  • Walker funded Rindfleisch's legal defense, but didn't spare a dime for Russell who is/was a long time personal friend.
  • Walker wouldn't give Russell a cushy state job, supposedly because of Walkergate, but didn't hesitate to give one to Russell's husband, Brian Pierick.  Walker also gave state jobs to Keith Gilkes, Cullen Werwie, Cindy Archer and Tom Nardelli - all of whom are just as culpable, if not more so, than Russell.
  • After her house had been raided, Walker demoted Archer, taking her out of a position of power and cutting her pay.
Is it any wonder that his underlings are turning on Walker? When they realize that it's their butts on the line and that he's been playing them for fools, they also realize they don't owe him anything, especially not their loyalty.

Even though it doesn't immediately help Wisconsin deal with the dire straits that Walker has but it in and is about to make worse, I take some small satisfaction that Mr. "Divide and Conquer" is having his team divided and conquered by John Doe.


*I remember all those tweets from Walker during his campaign on how he was at the Courthouse early to get to work.  Obviously, it wasn't work for the county or the taxpayers.

4 comments:

  1. What has been so thoroughly amazing to me through this whole saga, has been the hubris of all the bit players, as well as their overseers. They appear to have had no clue that they could sometime be held accountable for their dishonesty. I suppose if you feel protected and part of a holy regime little things like stealing and lying get lost in their quest for power. Hmm, I guess I'm not so amazed after all.

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  2. From the demeanor of Walker's lackeys: Wink, Russell, Rindfleisch, and Archer, I have come to the conclusion that these people have some sort of personality disorder. Like any psychopath, Walker is capable of exuding charisma and exerting psychological control over people like this, much in the same way a cult leader operates.

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  3. It seems that both Walker's operation and the national GOP is about moving money around to fund political aims. Whether it is setting up tax-exempt front groups or setting up unaccountable systems that allow money to disappear (WEDC), things are not what they seem. I've wondered whether Russell and Kavanaugh felt justified in pilfering from the Veteran's Fund because maybe the yearly fundraising event wasn't really about raising money for veterans anyway. Is there any evidence of that?

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