This is insidious, and goes beyond last week’s questioning of Obama’s patriotism, because it allows Walker to wink and nod at the far-right fringe where people really believe that Obama is a Muslim from Kenya who hates America. The governor is flirting with a significant segment of the Republican primary electorate: Those who have peddled the notion (accepted by 17 percent of Americans at the end of Obama’s first term) that Obama is a Muslim.
Beyond that, Walker’s technique shuts down all debate, because there’s no way to have a constructive argument once you’ve disqualified your opponent as unpatriotic, un-Christian and anti-American. On the Internet, Godwin’s Law indicates that any reasonable discussion ceases when the Nazi accusations come out; Walker is essentially doing the same by refusing to grant the president legitimacy as an American and a Christian.
Put shoe on other foot
But if this is Walker’s standard, it seems only fair that it should be applied to him, as well. Here is what one of those meet-the-candidate Q&As might look like if the answers were drawn from actual demurrals Walker has used in other contexts in recent weeks:
Why does Scott Walker hate America?
“I’ve never asked him that.”
When did he stop beating his wife?
“He can speak for himself.”
Does Walker love his children?
“For me, I’m going to punt on that one as well.”
Does he have ties to the Muslim Brotherhood?
“I don’t know. I honestly don’t know, one way or the other. I’ve said that 100 times, too.”
I’ll go out on a limb and stipulate that Walker loves his country and his family, and I have no reason to think he isn’t a good Christian and a decent man. But he’d be a better man if he didn’t insinuate with his demurrals that his political opponents are not.
Last week, asked about Giuliani’s remarks that Obama doesn’t love America, Walker ducked by saying, “I’m in New York. I’m used to people saying things that are aggressive out there.”
In this campaign, Walker will hear all kinds of aggressive, and defamatory, things from his far-right supporters attempting to demonize the opposition. He’ll have to choose whether to answer the calumny truthfully — or with more shrugs and feigned ignorance.