Scott Walker's False Claims He Has Held "Listening Sessions" Across Wisconsin

Scott Walker appears on ABC News This Week
and offers his third position on amending
the Fourteenth Amendment in seven days.

Updated - "The impression is fast setting in that Scott Walker, former King of Iowa, is a nonsense person and a ridiculous presidential candidate. (Newell, Salon)"
 ---
To understand Scott Walker is to see an undeveloped psyche, a man with no essence who will say anything with facts posing no barrier.

This morning the Wall Street Journal reports Walker saying, "We’re doing the hard work of the town-hall meetings, the small-group sessions. I think that pays off because, while the national media is focused a lot on another candidate, in the end, voters in these early states clearly take this stuff seriously." (O'Conner, Wall Street Journal)

Last week, Walker said his flip-flop on Common Core education standards is the result of holding listening session across Wisconsin: "We'd hold sessions around the state, we'd listen to people, we'd talk to people," said Gov. Walker. (Neumann, WKOW-TV)

Actually, Scott Walker has held zero townhall-style, unscripted listening sessions in Wisconsin.

Walker's recent false claims to the contrary are asserted out of concern that Walker doesn't know much about public policy, displaying not-even a pedestrian grasp of major public policy issues, ala Sarah Palin with whom Walker does not wish to branded this early in the campaign.

This is a guy whose press office demanded that all questions be pre-screened on a press phone call on Walker's healthcare plan 'to phase out ObamaCare on Day One' last week. (Politico)

This is considered open and accessible for Scott Walker who regularly bans reporters in an attempt to keep his lack of policy knowledge a secret.

This is not a well-kept secret, it's just not many in the campaign press write about it. Writes Dylan Byers in the right-leaning Politico:

In March, Walker made public appearances in Texas and South Carolina but closed the events to press and refused to take questions from the media. In April, while visiting Europe, he held no public events and took no questions from reporters. In May, while visiting Israel, he did the same. An aide told the Journal that Walker was going to 'focus on educating himself about Israeli issues and won’t hold public events or take questions from reporters.'

Walker's refusal to hold listening sessions, from the Midwest to the Middle East, should be news, as should his lying about it.

It is understandable from Walker's point of view why Walker avoids unscripted question-and-answer sessions.

Take this the latest headline on CNN: Scott Walker on birthright citizenship: 3 positions, 7 days. Writes CNN's Eric Bradner:

The Wisconsin governor and Republican presidential candidate was asked on ABC's 'This Week' whether he backs Trump's push to end the 14th Amendment's mandate that all children born in the United States are automatically granted citizenship. 

'Well, I said the law is there. And we need to enforce the laws, including those that are in the Constitution,' Walker said

United States Constitution

What "laws" are in the United States Constitution?

For Scott Walker's edification, here is a link to the Leonere Annenberg Institute for Civics explaining the United States Constitution. There are no laws in the Constitution.

Walker would do well to begin with Article 1, Section 1:

Section 1 - The Text
All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives.

Section 1 - The Meaning
The framers of the Constitution separated the powers of government into three branches, granting legislative power (the power to pass laws) to Congress, executive power (the power to administer the laws) to the president, and judicial power (the power to interpret and enforce the laws) to the courts. The unique and limited powers of Congress are contained in Article I.

Fourteenth Amendment Citizenship Clause

With respect to Scott Walker's on-again, off-again commitment to amend the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution, Jenna Johnson in today's Washington Post has a timeline of Walker and his campaign's statements over the last week. It's pretty funny and at Walker's expense. Last Monday evening Walker blamed his change-the-Fourteenth Amendment-citizenship-clause position on a confusing "three-hour roving [press] gaggle."

Last Friday, Walker explained he was for changing the Fourteenth Amendment citizenship clause because he was "tired." (Blue Cheddar) (ThinkProgress) (CognitiveDissidence) (Mal Contends)

Johnson's piece ends with a quote from AshLee Strong, Walker's campaign spokeswoman, saying in part: "His position is very firm."

Firm, and strong and bold. Unfortunately for the nation, Walker's idea of a bold unscripted question-and-answer session is to yell at an audience, "Unintimidated! I am not intimidated by you, sir, or by anyone else out there."​