Tuesday, April 8, 2014

A Matter Of Degrees

Scott Walker has always  been a forward-thinking man.  And by that, I mean he always is looking for a way to advance his own political aspirations and doesn't do a thing or make a decision until he's looked at it from all angles and has determined whether it would help or hinder his political advancement.

From the very day that Walker was elected as Milwaukee County Executive, his objective wasn't to do what was in the county's best interest, but to do what was in his political best interest.  Hence we saw acts of austerity, diminishing services and his first salvos at the unions, all in the interest of trying to sell himself as a gubernatorial candidate.

The same could be said for when Walker became from governor. From day one, every move he made was based on how it would help him in a future presidential campaign.  That he has been fairly successful in appeasing the money brokers like the Koch Brothers is evidenced by the way he was able to raise enough money to buy his way out of Walkergate - so far.

One of the many obstacles that Walker would need to overcome - besides his horribly bad jobs record, Walkergate, and all of the really bad legislation he signed off on - was the fact that he does not have a college degree.

So, two years ago, when the Teapublican legislature came out with their Flex Option degree scheme, one knew the fix was in.  The Flex Option is a scheme that basically would allow a person to skip actually learning things at school and getting a degree based on experience.  

Thus Walker could point to his eight years as county executive and three years as governor and claim he is now an expert in political science and/or management and - poof - instant degree!

If one wasn't sure that the fix was in with the introduction of the Flex Option plan, they should have been when it was recently announced that Walker appointed long-time aide/political advisor, Jim Villa, to a position in the UW system.  

The gentle reader would recognize Villa's name from Walkergate.  Villa has worked for Walker while he was a state legislator and as county executive as well as worked on many of Walker's political campaigns.  Villa was one of Kelly Rindfleisch's favorite chat buddies while she was campaigning from the Milwaukee County Courthouse.  He also provided the address that Rindfleisch used to defraud the county, claiming she was a citizen of Milwaukee County.  Villa and Rindfleisch were so close that they were even vacation buddies.

Villa was sort of like Tim Russell, but slightly smarter.

It's pretty obvious that Walker appointed Villa to this position so that Villa could have access to almost every part and every person in the UW system to ensure that when Walker does take his assessment/exam - most likely later this summer or fall at the latest - there won't be any unexpected hitches in Walker being given his unearned degree,  And at a pay rate of $178,000, Walker can feel assured that Villa will be properly motivated to do all the troubleshooting and strong-arming that needs to be done.

Sure enough, almost on cue, Walker has come out and announced that he would like to take advantage of the Flex Option plan he had crafted and passed so that he too might get a degree without really earning it.

How convenient!  Now he can run for president and show off his degree!

This scheme is an insult to everyone that is working or has worked hard to earn their degrees by, y'know, actually learning things.  It's an insult to those still paying off student loans while Walker was the one being paid off while politicking around the country.

While Walker is making a joke of the UW system, the final joke might be on him.  While the local press might be willing to give him a pass or even help cover up some of his misdeeds, the national press will be able to sniff out the fake degree in a heartbeat.  And they will not be as lenient as the local corporate media about this.

Walker's lack of education will become painfully obvious as he tries to explain this one away.

On a final note, I would hope that the gentle reader agrees with me in thinking that when Walker does get his doctored degree, whatever the major is, he should get a Bachelor of Science degree.

Because this plan of Walker's is nothing but pure B.S.

7 comments:

  1. I can't help a nostalgic comparison to one of our favorite movie scenes. "...by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Universitatus Committiartum E Pluribus Unum I hereby confer upon you the honorary degree of THD....'Doctor of Thinkology'. -The Wizard of Oz.
    Of course, we all know that the Scarecrow was much smarter than our favorite soon-to-be college student. A head full of straw is not such a bad thing.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Budgetary woe unto the University of Wisconsin if it does not willingly participate in the Governor's flex option degree scam. Let's assume he extorts his B.S. in Flexology from the U.W. Regardless of how he spins it, he is a college drop-out without honor or ethics who scams himself an honorary degree. Won't that be a special commencement ceremony. Thousand of boos and backs turned. I can hear it now...eat shit, fuck you.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The UW system gets only about 15-18% of their funding from the state; it goes down each and every biennuim. Cutting state funding would only hurt the students through tuition hikes and increased service charges, more than it already has.

      Delete
  3. Great plan. Let's give the prison population degrees in criminology and Bill Kramer a Doctor of Crotchology.

    ReplyDelete
  4. In the event UW confers a degree on this POS, I do believe that I will return my UW diploma to the Board of Regents in protest and request a full refund.

    ReplyDelete
  5. He knows he's going to need a degree, honorary or not if he wants to run for president. He knows it. So my guess is expect it to happen.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Not thinkin Scotty is the sort to sit in a actual classroom and if he does online classes one supposes he'll cheat again by having someone else do the work for him. Perhaps Kelly rienfliesch?

    ReplyDelete