Hypocrisy of Walker exposed following John Doe investigation

Current governor once called for the removal of former gov. following criminal investigation

The fallout from the John Doe investigation seems to be the job of Graeme Zielinski, the (now) former Democratic Party of Wisconsin’s Communications Director. Zielinski, who made malicious tweets comparing Gov. Scott Walker to serial murderer Jeffrey Dahmer, was promptly removed from his position on Monday to a lesser role as “media consultant” for the DPW.

While his demotion was understandable, all of the hubbub from the Zielinski tweets seems to have masked the bigger picture: what does the closure of the investigation really entail?

Though conservatives across the state saw the end of John Doe as vindication for their beloved governor, the end of the investigation does not necessarily mean he’s innocent. We need to keep in mind that a handful of his workers, in the very same office that Walker himself was occupying, have since been found guilty of using taxpayer dollars for political purposes.

And while no criminal charges have been brought to Walker himself, it doesn’t mean that he didn’t know about it or actively looked the other way: it could very well mean that there’s just not enough evidence for the prosecution to bring forth such a case.

Still, such notions are mere speculation; Gov. Walker came out of the investigation unscathed and untouched, and it does us no good to look back when we must look forward.

But before we do move on, it’s important to note one last thing: by Scott Walker’s own standards, he is unfit to serve as governor.

Walker once spoke ill of his Democratic predecessor, who had in his own administration a low-level purchasing agent that faced criminal charges -- who wasn’t even hired by former Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle, but by Scott McCallum, the Republican governor BEFORE Doyle.

The purchasing agent, Georgia Thompson, was eventually acquitted of all charges thrown against her. In fact, the appeals court called the case against her as “beyond thin,” but that didn’t stop then-County Executive Scott Walker from railing off against a Democratic governor whom he wanted out of office:

“The indictment handed down today shows how corruption can infiltrate all areas of government,” Walker said. “[It] provides further confirmation that the Doyle administration is damaged and must be removed from the Capitol.”

Walker saw one conviction -- which, again, was overturned in an appeals court -- of a public servant several steps away from the executive office as reason enough to justify the removal of an entire administration.

Imagine what he’d have said of a half-dozen people close to the governor being charged with crimes.

That’s how many were convicted in John Doe. Today, however, Gov. Walker, ever the hypocrite, maintains his innocence, in spite of his feelings on Gov. Jim Doyle just a few short years ago.

Were he consistent on the issue, were he to hold true to his own sentiments from 2006, perhaps Walker would have a better understanding of why so many today are skeptical of the outcome of the John Doe investigation.