"There was an earthquake, a terrible flood... locusts: It wasn't my fault! I swear to God!"
It's bad enough that Governor Scott Walker has traveled outside the state more than any other first-term Governor in state history, but he's also taken along five bodyguards for these trips, which total well over 100.
Jake Elwood's Walker's excuses? Out of those 100 + trips, "only one was a personal vacation" and he really needs security because he's got a "stack this high" of threats he says would measure five feet tall if printed-out and stacked-up.
The truth is that like most Governors around the country, Walker has had a handful of serious threats and does need some security. But five bodyguards? No. Iowa governor Terry Branstad, for example, usually has no bodyguard and when he does have a security detail, its only one officer.
In addition, the vast majority of "threats" that Walker is counting would not be considered "serious" threats by law enforcement professionals, however, even if we counted all the threats that Walker is counting, open record requests have revealed that the number is somewhere between 125 and 150-- or a stack of papers about a quarter of an inch tall.
And while Walker has certainly gone on out-of-state trips that were arguably official state business, the vast majority of his out-of-state excursions were for his "personal" benefit-- which most of regular folks would call a vacation.
Another day, another stream of emphatic excuses from Walker. We've seen this movie before.