Remember when people actually tried to fix things that were broken? When government agencies working together was a good thing? When if you saw a problem you actually went to work, rolled up your sleeves, and tried to do something about it? No more.
Welcome to the bizarro world of WIsconsin Republican Politics. From today's Journal-Sentinel --
Republican gubernatorial candidate Scott Walker took Democratic candidate Tom Barrett to task for meeting with Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson in Milwaukee on Thursday in the wake of the massive release of untreated water and sewage from recent storms and flooding.
Barrett, mayor of Milwaukee, is meeting with Jackson and fellow Democrat Gov. Jim Doyle and local leaders on water technology issues.
“It’s pure hypocrisy that President Obama’s environmental police are coming to town for a photo op with pals Tom Barrett and Jim Doyle and the schedule of events doesn’t include a tour of the billions of gallons of raw sewage and storm water Barrett’s sewerage district dumped into Lake Michigan,” said Walker’s campaign manager, Keith Gilkes.
(h/t to Illusory Tenant for pointing this out)
I'm trying to understand this. I didn't see anyone saying that the releases from MMSD weren't an issue. I thought the purpose here was to talk about water technology issues. Cripes, I somehow thought that this was a good and productive thing, not an opportunity for Walker to once again carp about the fact that Barrett presides over a city that is not perfect. I suspect Barrett knows that Milwaukee is not perfect. I'm pretty sure the EPA knows it too. I won't even go into the difference between spilling sewage into the lake and spilling crude oil (Walker tries to suggest that the MMSD releases are worse than the Gulf oil spill) because Walker and his party seem to be science-immune. Or maybe just science-deaf.
The big difference I see here is the ability and will to talk about the issues, and actually work toward solutions rather than sitting on the sidelines and carping about it. Which seems to currently be the Republican mindset. Find fault, say no, make a stink, lay blame, but never ever under any circumstances offer a productive idea or solution. Other than, of course, lowering taxes for the rich, which will solve all problems. Life is simple, and it's purely ideological. Let's not talk about what actually stands a chance of working, it only muddies the waters.
It's time for all of us to work to make this horror stop. Talk to your neighbors. Make a stink of your own. Say that you want government to be responsible, to do things, and for Wisconsin to move forward, rather than just complaining that life is not perfect.