You probably heard by now that the head of the state's largest super pac, Kurt Bauer of the Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce, suggested that the state drop "America's Dairyland" from vehicle license plates and replace it with something more directional like ..."Forward." Gov. Scott Walker seems to agree.
Keep in mind that "Forward" has been the Wisconsin state motto for the past 170 years. So, it's nothing new or original.
Bauer said “To me, ‘Forward’ connotes resolve, indomitability and progress — not a bad image to project to the rest of the world. It can draw people into the state.”
Barack Obama thought the same when he chose "Forward" for his campaign. Conservatives however claimed Obama’s slogan reveals his secret communist and/or fascist allegiances.
US News Excerpt:
My friend and former colleague Victor Morton of the Washington Times has a provocative take on the Obama campaign's use of the slogan "Forward." Unfortunately for Obama, Victor writes that the term brings with it a lot of leftist baggage:
The slogan "Forward!" reflected the conviction of European Marxists and radicals that their movements reflected the march of history, which would move forward past capitalism and into socialism and communism. ...
Whoa! ...Foxconn anyone?
But there's more. Even conservatives that disagreed with that assessment say the same thing ...only differently. Over at National Review Online, Jonah Goldberg argued that Victor misses the more basic point.
"Forward" is simply a synopsis of the progressive understanding of the State. The State has always been seen by the left as the engine of history. When Obama says he's about going Forward, he's also saying that he thinks the government is the thing that moves us all forward, that the State is the source of Progress.
Again. Whoa! ... Foxconn anyone?
They said it. Not me.
But why I bring up Foxconn is because Foxconn's entry into Wisconsin marks a significant departure from conventional free market capitalism and its relationship with state government.
Foxconn will NOT happen in Wisconsin without heavy reliance on state power and extensive use of collectivism. So much that Foxconn supporters like the WMC, Paul Ryan and Scott Walker have said it will provide Wisconsin with mega-opportunities and have transformational effects on the state. So much that, they call it "game-changing" forward. Of course, government will have to "provide" first.
Unfortunately, they're right. Under Scott Walker and Foxconn, Wisconsin's "Forward" won't mean what we thought it meant in Wisconsin for all these years. Instead, it will mean what conservatives have redefined it into ...a government-run economy and society moving past capitalism into socialism, fascism and/or communism.
The handwriting is on the wall in Wisconsin ...and conservatives wrote it.
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