The first John Doe investigation, in which six of the governor's close associates wound up being charged and convicted for a variety of felonies and misdemeanors, is just an example of the occurrences that have led many to wonder how and why this man surrounds himself with so many who have so little regard for the law or just plain common decency.

You might be able to excuse a bad hire or two, but Walker has made a habit of it. Tim Russell, the deputy chief of staff for Walker's Milwaukee County executive office who was convicted of stealing $20,000 from a fund meant for needy Iraq war vets, was hired by Walker for important jobs on five different occasions. In fact, Walker helped engineer a plan to take the fundraising away from the American Legion to put his man Russell in charge. What happened, of course, is history.

While the release of the emails revealed a steady stream of racist and ugly "jokes" and comments between Walker's campaign and county exec staffs, Milwaukee blogger James Rowen pointed out that this is far from unusual among Walker's appointees.