There'll be other days... (um, maybe it does start today...)

As much as I would love to believe Walker's hands are undeniably dirty in this illegal campaign donation scandal (in which William Gardner, president and CEO of Wisconsin & Southern Railroad Co., funneled tens of thousands of dollars in donations to Walker through W & S employees last year), (1,2) it seems a pretty hard sell on several fronts.

First off, once the donations were realized to have been illegal, it appears Walker's campaign returned the funds to Gardner and his employees. (1,2,3)
Secondly, both Gardner and Walker alerted the Government Accountability Board (regarding campaign financing) when the situation was revealed. (3)
Lastly, most telling and seemingly so VERY unlike the current state administration, Gardner's company was supposedly not in a position to benefit from his donation--instead, his railroad would have benefitted greatly from the new tracks laid for the Milwaukee-Madison high-speed rail, which Walker killed even before his first day in office (3,4)  (although according to Milwaukee's WTMJ-TV4, Gardner's company is in line for plenty of money in Walker's current budget).  (5)

But I don't think this is what a lot of us thought it would be. For those looking for the scandal, deception, or ethical violation that will bring down Scott Walker, this won't be it.  Instead, for you, I just have one word:

Patience.

ADDENDUM: It's starting to stink a bit more:  Gardner, who claims he didn't know it was improper (1) was strongly fined for doing essentially the same thing ($5000 through his daughter) in 2005, TO WALKER'S CAMPAIGN.  Take a look at the criminal complaint yourself  (here, through JS Online article) (1,6) and see what you think (it also contains some communications between Walker and Gardner, including Gardner asking for some government preferential treatment).  According to GAB officials, this is all something that wouldn't have been discovered without a tip from Gardner's "friend." (7)

Hmmmm...let's just see how this all plays out, after all...


Thanks to The Political Environment for scrutinizing the Criminal Complaint (click here for post)

(1) Railroad executive charged...,WI State Journal, 4/11/11, http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/govt-and-politics/blog/article_d2f5df16-644b-11e0-8834-001cc4c03286.html
(2) Railroad exec charged..., JS Online, 4/11/11, http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/119595644.html
(3) Walker donor broke...rules, JS Online, 5/19/2010, http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/94344739.html
(4) Statement from the US Dept. of Transportation, 12/9/10, http://www.dot.gov/affairs/2010/dot20810.html
(5) Railroad Executive Pleads Guilty..., Today's TMJ4 News Live at Six, 4/11/11, http://www.todaystmj4.com/news/local/119596904.html?video=pop&t=a&bctid=CLIP_ID_1447930
(6) Criminal Complaint against William E. Gardner, 4/11/11, http://media.jsonline.com/documents/railroad-exec-041111.PDF
(7) WISN News at Ten, video from 2 PM GAB/Milw DA News conference 4/11/11