Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker got a call from someone identifying themselves as "David Koch." Walker was more than happy to talk, and talk he did for 20 minutes: To a Prankster! Here's the audio ...

David Koch, Scott Walker art, 02/23/11. (photo: File photos, unspecified)

AUDIO: Scott Walker Blathers All to Prank David Koch

By Michael Scherer, TIME

23 February 11

isconsin Gov. Scott Walker got pranked. A talk show host, claiming to be conservative moneybags David Koch, called up the governor to talk about the union showdown in the state. Walker did not really say much different in private than he would have in public. ("Yeah, good stuff," Walker says about Andrew Brietbart, at one point, but that's not really a giveaway.) But he did talk to Koch for about 20 minutes, giving him chapter and verse of his strategy in the union showdown. (Audio is in two parts.)

Notably he does not take the fake David Koch's bait at several points. The AFL-CIO just blasted out a partial transcript making light of one passage:

WALKER: So, we're trying about 4 or 5 different angles so each day we crank up a little bit more pressure, but the other thing I've got layoff notices ready, we'll put out the risk notices, we'll announce Thursday, they'll go out early next week, probably 5 to 6,000 state workers will get at risk notices of layoffs, we might rachet that up a little bit too.

FAKE KOCH: Beautiful, beautiful. Got to crush that union.

WALKER: Well, it's one of those in the end, I talked to Cullen, I had 3 or 4 other of my business leader friends who known him over the years and just kind of pass the message on these guys, if they think I'm caving, [they've] been asleep the last eight years, I've taken on every major battle in Milwaukee County, and won even in a county where I'm overwhelmingly overpowered, is because we don't budge.

Walker does make it clear that he envisions a nationwide, state-by-state push back by Republican governors in Ohio, Florida and possibly Michigan. "I talked to [Ohio Gov. John] Kasich the other day," says Walker. "And John's got to stand firm in Ohio. I think we do the same thing with [Gov.] Rick Scott in Florida. And [Michigan Gov. Rick] Snyder, if he got a little more support could do the same thing in Michigan. If you start going down the list, there are a lot of us new governors who got elected to do something big.... This is our moment."

If anything, this call shows what money buys in politics. Not many Swampland readers can just call up the governor of a midwestern state in the middle of a crises for a 20 minute chat. But Walker took the call because Koch spends big in Republican and conservative politics, and Walker knows it.

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+51 # Ezrha Jean Black 2011-02-23 21:31

You have to look at it as almost a speciating moment. Could he sink any lower? (Uh-oh -- a question better left unasked.) Still Walker is one radically new breed of pond scum. I hope he at least leaves his DNA to science (and nowhere else!); we need to know how to prevent another from crawling the planet, much less to high public office.

+67 # DPM 2011-02-23 22:14

While there is always a hard core element in any group, that is either ignorant, just plain stubborn or has something immediate to gain for themselves, I will bet many that voted for these anti-citizen politicians are rethinking what they did. They may be prepared to change their minds in the next elections. Many of those that fought against fascism, in WWII are gone now, but as the younger population finds out what fascism means and see the similarities in what is happening in the U.S. today, they will repudiate it's false rewards.
Up with the protesters!

+12 # DS 2011-02-24 08:54

You may have hit on a sad, sad point. Most folks today have no idea the poison that is fascism. They don't know, so they are about to get blindsided by the reality. We REALLY need to point this out loud and clearly to everyone where we are headed.

+36 # X Dane 2011-02-23 23:31

I would think this opens the eyes of many of the people who woted for this despicable excuse of a Governor.

If they didn't KNOW before, it should be crystal clear now, that he is bought and paid for by the Koch brothers.

The democrats have the PROOF that Walker is a piece of corrupt scum. I hope there is something illegal in what he did and said.

He should be booted from office. Gray Davis was dismessed for far less.

+2 # AndreM5 2011-02-24 08:05

Come on. Gray Davis was recalled ostensibly for wanting to cancel a few tax cuts but to hear the press accounts it was because he was boring. In reality, he was recalled because a few rich guys (can you say "Issa?") discovered they could pull it off and thereby cancel an election. Issa bungled his plans by letting Arnold take advantage leaving him out in the cold.

Walker is a different breed entirely. He is the Manchurian Governor put in office by the corporatists to pull off a massive theft of public assets solely by executive order. The labor assault is a diversion that may or may not succeed.

+7 # Anagnorisis 2011-02-24 00:41

While it is incumbent upon us to give each his due, devil or angel, it is every bit as imminent that results are tallied accordingly. Republicans will be blamed in the next round of pugilism with no hitting above the belt. Fascism indeed emerges from its subterranean lair seeking to morph to the maw of Moloch. The Constitution and Bill of Rights are near superseded. Money swears. The empire falters. Not a sockdolager, much more a swan song.

+9 # HooverBush 2011-02-24 04:06

Favorite part:
Yup Joe Scarborough's one of us.
Yup-Yup-Yup!

That's right he's locked in to the Right-wing cause, since Lori died in his office, and will lie cheat & steal for the Republican cause! The guys who covered things up for him.

+2 # genierae 2011-02-24 06:50

Who's Lori?

+2 # katbarb 2011-02-24 12:47

What did he mean by "Not one of us"? [Dem. officeholder he told Koch not to call when Koch offered]. One of us??? As in the mafia?

+1 # genierae 2011-02-25 05:54

katbarb: I got the impression that he meant that this particular Democrat was easier to manipulate than the others, but unlike Republican right-wingers, he wouldn't put the corporate, rich elites first. You're right, they are organized just like the mafia, and they are just as dangerous.

+2 # X Dane 2011-02-24 14:06

Were you in doubt???? I am just glad that Mika is there as a counter ballance.
She does speak up. Unfortunately good ole Pat Buchanan is there too.

+20 # genierae 2011-02-24 04:29

I disagree with the author of this piece, Walker did say things that he wouldn't have said in public. He considered putting plants into the protests to cause trouble, I doubt if he would have announced that in one of his press releases. He also agreed to let Koch pay for a fancy trip to "Cali", to celebrate. And he spoke of increasing the pressure on the Dems by increasing the number of lay-offs, which is blackmail. The whole tape was proof that Walker is in bed with Koch and other corporate elites and that the people who elected him are not even on his radar screen. It also showed how gullible and incompetent he is, by assuming that the caller was really Koch. I hope that even if Walker has his way, there will be a strong movement to have him recalled. He has to be in office a year before that can happen, but they need to be planning it now. If I lived in Wisconsin, that's what I would push for.

+2 # X Dane 2011-02-24 14:13

Genierae, Walker himself said it in an interview the day after. He said, that he was saying the same in private as in public; but of course we know better.

-36 # J l Essmyer 2011-02-24 04:48

I find this whole "prank" to be very much like an entrapment scam pulled by any one of our official government agencys.
Those of us who are hoping and working for a better world should not stoop to the level of lying and then calling it a "prank" We can do better..

+14 # DaveW. 2011-02-24 09:29

J I Essmyer, So in another words you think we should play nicey-nice, perhaps engage in more useless negotiations and stick to the "fair and balanced" mantra as do our predatory friends at Fox. We can do better...but we'll have to be in a "position" to do better first. Like it or not this is "war" in an ideological sense. The "prank" tactics have been used by the right for decades. They've been pretty damn successful wouldn't you say? Labor's hard fought victories in the first half of the last century weren't achieved by observing rules of protocol their opponents had long since abandoned. It's trench time. Evolutionally, we're still a violent, war-like species despite how many of us bemoan that. We won't win this battle using conciliatory words. You've sometimes...got to give as good as you get.

+2 # X Dane 2011-02-24 14:56

Dave, I didn't see your comment or the following ones, which are also right on.

I got so mad at the suggestion, that we should not do such A BAD THING, that my blood started boiling and I immediately started writing. You and Lee are so right.
There is no doubt that the republicans are out to totally destroy us, and have been for many years. The majority of our people just didn't realize it. And they sure would not believe it when somebody said so.

Remember when Hillary said: THERE IS A VAST RIGHT WING CONSPIRACY ??????
She was almost laughed out of town. Many thought she was paranoid, and saw conspiracies everywhere. Well she SURE WAS RIGHT. I agreed with her, for the right wing started hounding Clinton before he even entered the White House.

+1 # X Dane 2011-02-24 15:18

RM. Oh how I wish that was true:
(Most Americans see this as just what it is) Don't we all wish ! I don't think so, but they MAY start to see the light, when THEIR wallets get hit or they loose their job because of the actions of Walkers and the rest of the republicans.

If MOST AMERICANS got it the republicans would not be the majority in the House now.
Dave is right, It is "WAR" and if we don't fight back and act smart AND STAND TOGETHER we are finished. And we must speak to our friends,ALSO THE ONES THAT DON'T AGREE WITH US. We just can't be confrontational .

+3 # X Dane 2011-02-24 15:28

Dave, just a PS. in regard to "pranks"
the right wing did a lot more than pranks, Remember a "little incident" named Watergate.??? that was the republicans BREAKING INTO THE DEMOCRATIC OFFICES to learn what their strategies were before the election. SOME PRANK
Thank god they screwed up.
Unfortunately they don't often do that.

+1 # DaveW. 2011-02-24 19:02

X Dane, You're right, "pranks" would infer something on the order of a hotfoot or exploding cigar. The "pranks" the GOP are perpetuating are, ultimately, deadly.

+6 # LeeBlack 2011-02-24 12:46

Generally I am uncomfortable with the 'prank' type of tactic but this brought out the truth in a way that nothing else could. This brought out his true motivation and showed how in debt he is to his backers. It also showed the game plan being used by the Conservatives - notice how he referenced other governors who should follow his lead. I would think his plan to show a quorum then disenfranchise one party is illegal; it is certainly immoral. This is a person who was elected to represent all the people in his state, not just those who voted for him OR out-of-state people who sent him money.

+2 # X Dane 2011-02-24 14:29

J I Essmyer, WRONGEED to expose the disgusting things the republicans do.
The suckers who bought their boldfaced lies (about how they will create jobs) will not believe it, if we TELL them about the nasty things they will do. They NEED TO HEAR IT.

It also frustrates me how often TV hosts, --reporters or whatever they are,-- will not call out the lies or misinformation the republicans tell, when the host KNOWS the truth.

I get mad enough to yell at the TV, which is why I could NEVER watch a Beck program, I would kick in the screen, and I am not in the market for a new TV.

+19 # Todd Williams 2011-02-24 05:44

Walker = scumbag! This man is truly a pig. He will lose in the long run. Organized labor will prevail. Maybe what is needed is a strike.

+29 # VSweet 2011-02-24 06:01

Scott Walker is digging a pit so wide and large to bust unions, attack the working poor, ignore the underpriveleged ,downsize and remove state and federal health care for the needy and strip Wisconsin people with the right to vote with his amendments.
This very pit he is digging for us, may he land in it first face down.

+22 # RM 2011-02-24 06:02

I agree with DPM. It appears that the republicans are overplaying their hand. John Boner is playing chicken with the government shutdown on March 4th. He will end up just like Gingrich did -- a total failure. Most americans see this as just what it is -- a ruthless power grab by republicans who somehow think they were given such a mandate by their slim victory last November. They will mostly be gone in 2012.

+16 # Reductio Ad Absurdum 2011-02-24 07:54

It happens every time. When a Republican wins and election, he or she immediately assumes they have the electorate's permission to be just as Republican as they possibly can be. When the electorate sees just what that means, they are shocked.

+12 # James R Young 2011-02-24 06:40

Let's see, he claimed everyone but public employees sacrificed. I don't think the wealthiest hoarders sacrificed much, as they slowed the velocity of money to depression levels (some trickle-down, NOT). It's more like they ravaged everyone but public employees, and now want to finish them off, too. Public employees took less in pay, preferring to get the benefits they used to promise. They reneged on two of the three legs; defined pension plans/health, private savings, and want to cut social security (the last ditch leg of the three legged stool). How are they doing while they run government like a junk bond business (underfunding pension plans, etc)?

+3 # bob dorn 2011-02-24 08:36

"They're either insane or so cynical it might as well be the same thing," a friend of mine just told me.
Here's how these weird, half-Goth Destroyers might have evolved into a kind of insanity. From a lazy disbelief in doing good they take a short hop to dislike of those who believe because believers make you uncomfortable, then proceed to a
suspicion do-gooders are really as selfish as yourself, just less honest, and so now the believers can be hated...
At the extremes, the GOP's crazy. And the extreme's all there is to that party.

+11 # Wolfchen 2011-02-24 08:39

Corporate Republican Game Plan:
First attack the public employees unions; then further bludgeon the private sector unions. Voila: Destroy all unions.

This is the same modus operandi that they use in destroying the power of the middle class. Look at how they’ve been largely successful in damaging our national industrial base. Remember when they first started with the mantra that outsourcing our joys was good for our national economy by making us more productive and competitive! The said that the jobs to be outsourced would be low-paying jobs, and proclaimed that Americans would benefit by concentrating on more highly skilled jobs. Then they began to outsource semi-skilled jobs, and still many Americans did not complain. After all, it was the other guy’s oxen that were being gored. Then came the outsourcing of highly skilled jobs such as those in technology…well , you get the picture.

How do they expect to succeed in establishing an American run and controlled by corporation? Very simple but effective: Divide and concur the various interest sections of a population; buy off politicians (an easy undertaking) to further such objective; stack the Supreme Court so as to make such practices legal. It’s time to successfully fight back.

+3 # Buckles 2011-02-24 08:59

At my age 85plus, I've seen it all before with the republicans, destroy the Unions, Reagan, Walkers hero started the power grab, Nixon tried to cut construction pay on Federal jobs.A friend who came from Milwaukee claims Walker was despised while serving there. Barrett should have known Walker was out to destroy the unions,did'nt hear a word from him about it, yet I voted for him.

+15 # tswhiskers 2011-02-24 09:00

Scott Walker has revealed the agenda of the Republican Party in all its nakedness. Unions are the biggest contributors to the Democratic Party, so obviously unions have to be destroyed at least financially. Thus the Dems. will also be destroyed. Since the 2d Bush Admin. the Reps. have made it their goal to become the one party permanently in power, with the Dems. able to offer only token resistance, if that. So far, the media and the Dems. themselves have ably assisted them in this goal. We are heading to becoming a country built on the model of Mexico i.e. an economy with the wealthy few having all the money and power and the rest scrambling for the scraps. This has been evident since the 2d Bush Admin. but the media in its cowardice has self-censored itself. With corporations now owning most of the media and national media making multi-million dollar salaries, they have too much to lose and apparently dare not report the true ramifications of Republican power. I hope Scott Walker has accomplished one good thing in his attempt to kill the unions. I hope the truth will finally wake the American public to the danger we are liable to find ourselves in shortly.

+14 # Alejandro 2011-02-24 10:50

All Blue Collar working people of the Unitad States must stand with the working people of Wisconsin, Union or not.

The middle class is shrinking at an alarming rate as it is. Now we have a Republican Party with the help of the corrupted Supreme Court and Corprate meglomanicas, trying to take OUR country back to the days of the Robber Barons when workers were treated like Chattel and so offten died never owning nothing more then a few rags they called clothes.

This is disgusting and as far as I'm concerned the battle lines have been drawn.

+2 # michelle 2011-02-24 13:24

Please check with moveon.org for a Saturday rally in your area. We must all show up and let the corporate fascists know we are on to them. We need the numbers. Walker is not concerned over 74,000 so let's show up in the millions nationwide. It is only one afternoon. Just think of all the work the people of Wisconsin have put in. Surely we can give one afternoon.

+2 # Willard Wheelock 2011-02-24 14:36

Be forewarned-if the fascists we have to deal with can't destroy working class America with lies and propaganda, they will find more active, unpleasant ways to seize control. Look at what the corporate fascists in Germany and Italy did. The divide and conquer tactics used so far to turn us against one another are succeeding with the fringelunatic right. NOW is the time to stop them. This clown governor is a puppet and look who's pulling the strings.

0 # Hector Lopez 2011-02-27 08:55

These are the type of People that keep Puerto Rico as a colony as well as the People of the U.S. who are becoming a colony too. The People of Puerto Rico and the People of the U.S. need to get together to obtain their independence. We are going through the same thing in Puerto too. 25, 000 public workers were fired as well as the Unions leadership.

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