Skeptic Project

About a month ago, the deputy Attorney General for the state of Indiana threw a tantrum about pro-labor protestors in Wisconsin. The state deputy A.G. suggested he'd like to see local law enforcement use "live ammunition" and "deadly force" when dealing with the crowds, which he characterized as "political enemies."

The prosecutor, Jeff Cox, was soon fired.

As it turns out, he's not the only Republican prosecutor in Indiana who took an unhealthy interest in developments in Wisconsin.

A deputy prosecutor in Johnson County, Indiana, has resigned his job after it was revealed that in February, during the large protests in Wisconsin over Gov. Scott Walker's anti-public employee union bill, he e-mailed Walker's office and recommended that they conduct a "false flag operation" -- to fake an assault or assassination attempt on Walker in order to discredit the unions and protesters.

As Wisconsin Watch, a project of the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism reports, Carlos Lam initially denied that he had sent the e-mail, which was part of the tens of thousands of e-mails released in an open-records settlement the Walker administration reached with the local paper the Isthmus and the Associated Press.

When contacted by Wisconsin Watch, Lam had initially denied sending the e-mail, claiming that he had been the victim of identity theft, and said he did not support the criminal activities described in the e-mail.

Lam, however, was lying -- he had recommended perpetrating a massive public fraud, and sent the suggestion directly to Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) at the height of the protests.

In addition to marveling at the treachery, also note the specifics of Lam's claim. In his email, the Republican lawyer explained, "I've been involved in GOP politics here in Indiana for 18 years, and I think that the situation in WI presents a good opportunity for what's called a 'false flag' operation."

The implication seems to be that he, as a long-time veteran of Republican politics in Indiana, is familiar with schemes of this nature.

Also note, Walker himself admitted -- in a phone call he thought was private -- that he and his team "thought about" orchestrating a similar public scam.

There's something deeply rotten in much ot today's GOP.

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2011_03/028622.php