Scott Walker’s Refusal To Take Responisiblity

[su_right_ad]Rather than admit a mistake by trying to remove wording consistent with the Wisconsin Idea from the mission of the state’s university system, Scott Walker tried to pass it off as “a mistake someone made.”

The prospect of dropping the Wisconsin Idea, a cherished part of the university’s history, sparked an immediate and intense backlash when it was noticed Wednesday in Walker’s budget. [su_thin_right_skyscraper_ad]UW System President Ray Cross said the Wisconsin Idea is “embedded in our DNA.”

Walker seemed to defend the new language during an appearance Wednesday, saying it would better focus the UW System. Later that day he changed course, promising that the Wisconsin Idea would remain unchanged. His spokeswoman, Laurel Patrick, blamed the mission statement revisions on what she called “a drafting error.”

But Walker changed his explanation on Thursday, saying it wasn’t a drafting error but rather a mistake made by someone in his administration who misunderstood his direction to add career readiness to the mission statement.

“To me, in the end, it was a confusion out there, a mistake someone made,” Walker said. “What we wanted was to keep it simple and not make changes other than to add this item about workforce and career development.”

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D.B. Hirsch

D.B. Hirsch is a political activist, news junkie, and retired ad copy writer and spin doctor. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.