Having lived through the crack hysteria of the 1980s, which launched the country into the horrors of mandatory minimum sentences, no-knock warrants, and the other delights of the "war" on drugs, I am continually amazed by the deeply empathetic coverage—and the deeply empathetic political response—to the opioid epidemic. Why, you'd almost think that some of the difference is About Race. But, as we know, nothing ever is About Race, so we must simply have evolved as a people in our attitudes toward drug addiction.

However, you can count on Scott Walker, the goggle-eyed homunculus hired by Koch Industries to manage their Midwest subsidiary formerly known as the state of Wisconsin, to bring us some good old poor-bashing. From The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel:

Even though federal money remains available for providing health care to more Wisconsin residents, the GOP governor says he's not reconsidering his decision to skip that and forgo hundreds of millions of dollars from federal taxpayers. Instead, Walker is asking officials in President Donald Trump's administration to sign off on the governor's proposals to move more single adults off state BadgerCare Medicaid coverage and into the workforce. The centerpiece of those measures is the governor's plan to screen childless, able-bodied BadgerCare recipients for drugs. "Obviously, we were going to do it no matter what," Walker said of his plan. "But yes, the more we can push reforms that work for Wisconsin ... the more we can control our own destiny."

This charming little weasel hasn't been off the government dime for decades. This is for all those fearful souls out there in Waukesha County who believe that impoverished youngsters are going through their pockets while they sleep. Drug-testing the beneficiaries of government programs is a proven waste of actual time and actual money. But as a campaign commercial, and as an excuse to degrade and demoralize those same beneficiaries, it's as reliable as the rain. In most places where drug-testing of this sort is in place, more people get thrown off programs for not taking the test than for testing positive. Tell me again what an aberration in Republican politics Donald Trump is.

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Charles P. Pierce Charles P Pierce is the author of four books, most recently Idiot America, and has been a working journalist since 1976.

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