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After Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s public performance in Great Britain left his London audience “befuddled,” in the description of The Washington Post, a spokesman for the Democratic National Committee made a generous offer.
“Do any other GOP presidential candidates want to go to London?,” asked Mo Elleithee. “If so, let us know. The DNC is more than happy to pick up your travel costs.”
Actually, Wisconsin taxpayers should welcome any cross-party financial assistance. Walker’s four-day fake trade mission to England was certainly a pointless waste of state money that was never really intended to do much of anything to expand Wisconsin business.
As for the trip’s real purpose, a shallow attempt to try to enhance Walker’s international credentials as a potential Republican presidential candidate, Walker was rather pathetic in his first try at growing into a towering international figure.
Let’s be clear. Real trade missions led by past governors, Democratic and Republican, have reaped substantial benefits for Wisconsin manufacturers.
The way you could tell they were real trade missions is those governors were accompanied by a large number of high-powered corporate executives from many of Wisconsin’s leading companies.
A dead giveaway that Walker’s mission wasn’t really serious was that he was accompanied by only one actual corporate executive, Dan Ariens, a close political ally and CEO of the Ariens Co., which makes snow blowers and riding mowers in Brillion, Wis.
I guess we’ll know Walker’s trade mission was a success if we see Queen Elizabeth on a riding mower out in front of Buckingham Palace.
Most of the other sightseers accompanying Walker were staff from Walker’s troubled Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. (WEDC), the state agency that has difficulty creating jobs and preventing its own top officials from quitting theirs.
Another sign of successful past trade missions is that they’ve opened up new, rapidly growing markets such as China and the Pacific Rim, providing millions of new customers for Wisconsin companies.
Does anyone seriously think Walker needed to travel to England to establish trade relations? Is there any country on earth with which we have longer and better established trade? We’ve been trading with Britain ever since the U.S., pardon the expression, evolved from them.
It became obvious Walker’s trip was merely presidential campaign posturing when almost all of his activities were the shallow photo ops of American elections—visiting Margaret Thatcher’s grave, stopping by a Harley-Davidson dealership and the oldest campaign cliché of all, yet another factory tour.
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Punts on Evolution Question
Walker’s only public event was the one that brought him the most international ridicule, when he refused to answer a question about whether he believed in the theory of evolution at Chatham House, a think tank devoted to international affairs.
Justin Webb, the BBC moderator of the question-and-answer session, later said: “I asked it because it tells us about positioning [by right-wing Republicans] with the party base pre-2016. And, frankly, it makes us laugh!”
Apparently, Britain thinks it’s hilarious that Republican politicians from America have to adopt the ignorance of the Bible-thumping, backwoods fundamentalists in the 1925 Scopes “monkey trial” and deny evolution to avoid offending their more dim-witted right-wing voters.
That’s why Brits amuse themselves by toying with Republican governors running for president who make quick trips to England to try to pretend they know something about the world.
They previously embarrassed governors Chris Christie and Bobby Jindal into making bone-headed statements about vaccinations and Muslims controlling European city neighborhoods.
That’s why Walker was determined to avoid revealing his total lack of knowledge about international affairs by refusing to answer not only questions about evolution, but any questions at all on international affairs before an organization discussing international affairs.
Repeatedly, no matter what the question was—Ukraine, Vladimir Putin, Islamic State terrorists—Walker said he would only answer questions about international trade. And his answer was he was for it. Who do you know wants to buy some cheese?
“I just don’t think you talk about foreign policy when you’re on foreign soil,” Walker explained, conveniently standing on foreign soil. At another point, Walker said, “I don’t think it’s wise to undermine the president of your own country.”
Now, that really is a sensational, headline-grabbing position for any Republican to take these days toward President Barack Obama.
But Walker quickly explained he only meant Republicans shouldn’t undermine the president when they’re outside the United States. When they’re back in the U.S., undermine away!
“That’s certainly something I will answer in the United States in the future,” Walker promised.
Remember when your mother used to say if you can’t say anything nice about somebody, you shouldn’t say anything at all? Walker believes if you can’t say anything bad about President Obama when you’re on a phony political junket, you shouldn’t say anything at all.
So Walker befuddled England by repeatedly saying nothing over and over and over again.
