The Big Ws

Wisconsin governor Scott Walker has even more reason to feel like the cat that swallowed the canary, as the state Supreme Court has overruled Judge Maryann Sumi's decision barring implementation of the state's new anti-labor law. The law stripping collective bargaining rights from most public workers had been blocked from implementation by Judge Sumi on the grounds that adequate notice of a Wisconsin Assembly conference meeting to isolate the provisions of the law from a larger budget bill and make it separate legislation had not been given - thus violating the state's open meetings law. Peter Barca, the Assembly Minority Leader, had been present at that meeting, where he protested against the lack of adequate notice given - even as the Republicans present created the separate bill and walked out as if Barca wasn't there.

In a 4-3 decision, the Court ruled that enough adequate notice had been given of the hastily called meeting under the circumstances. The Court added that Sumi had overstepped her authority by having "usurped the legislative power which the Wisconsin Constitution grants exclusively to the legislature."

The ruling had been aimed not at the merits of the bill but at the way it had been drafted and passed. With the process now having been upheld by the Wisconsin Supreme Court, Walker can now look forward to . . . a challenge to the bill on the merits in federal court. This is probably going to a high court that rules for more than just one state.

Meanwhile, the coup de grace has just been delivered to Anthony Weiner. A nightclub dancer former pornographic priestess - oops, I mean actress, goo goo g'joob - named Ginger Lee has come forward and told the media that she and Weiner had corresponded after she wrote something commendatory of the New York congressman on her blog. Wow, that's astonishing! Exotic dancers write blogs?

Ginger Lee - not to be confused with Ginger Grant, who defeated Ginger Lee in the Miss Appomattox beauty pageant - said that Weiner connected with her online, and that she and Weiner exchanged e-mails between March and June 2011. Ms. Lee then said that Weiner told her to lie about it if she were asked by the media. She added for good measure that Weiner would direct the conversation to sexual matters but that she, professional exotic entertainer that she is, refused to reciprocate.

That did it. Weiner must have been dreading the inevitable moment of shame. I mean, of course, when his wife Huma Abedin got home from a State Department trip - she works for Hillary Clinton - and he had to confront her. But aside from that, he has to take another inevitable step. He is announcing his resignation.

Scott Walker can breathe a sigh of relief that the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled on the collective bargaining repeal law just before people were ready to pay attention to his state again, with the Weiner story about to fade away. But he'd better get used to Wisconsin workers literally making a federal case out of it.