To steal an old phrase from moms: If ifs and buts were candy and nuts … at least we’d have some fucking candy. But all the ifs and buts in the world can’t justify the current Wisconsin recall elections.

Throughout the past few months, I’ve heard every justification imaginable for recalling Gov. Scott Walker. Some say he didn’t reveal his true intentions toward unions in his campaign. Others claim his actions toward workers are morally reprehensible enough to warrant a recall. I say they’re wrong.

Before I start on my opinion, I feel obligated to prove facts. Walker did say in his campaign he would go after government workforce spending. You didn’t have to look toward obscure hometown newspaper articles to see it either. All you had to do was turn on your television.

In one ad, Walker bragged about cutting the Milwaukee County government work force spending by 20 percent. In another, he discussed his desire to make all public employees pay toward their retirement and pension. We knew he wanted to cut government work force spending; if you didn’t, you just weren’t paying attention.

So now the big question: What about the collective bargaining provision we’ve all been protesting since February? While it is true the governor did not outright say he would be eliminating collective bargaining until after the election, he did hint he did not see collective bargaining as an important part of the budget process.

In an edited transcript of an interview with the Appleton Post Crescent that appeared on Walker’s campaign website, he noted budget debates can be settled through statutes without using collective bargaining.

To me, this transcript paints a picture of a man who has no respect for the collective bargaining process, and I was certainly not surprised he did away with it.

While I liked that unions were able to bargain for their wages, benefits and working conditions, I do not believe that is a constitutionally given right. Not every state gives its employees the right to collectively bargain, and as long as states are not discriminating against employees who choose to unionize, they are not doing anything illegal. While many may disagree with Walker’s choice to take away these privileges, it is certainly not against the law for him to do so.

This recall campaign against Walker is not about fraudulent promises, and it is certainly not about illegal policies. It comes down to the fact that people don’t like the laws he passed. Laws, he said, or at least hinted, that he would be going after.

If a public official lives up to their campaign promises and does not break the law, there is no basis for recall.

So what happens the next time a governor, Republican or Democrat, offends a large portion of his or her constituency with a law he or she chooses to push? Do we just constantly scream recall? How will Wisconsin’s leaders ever be able to govern with the constant threat of a recall hanging over their heads?

If recall elections continue to be used in this way, if Wisconsin is constantly stuck in campaign mode, there can be no governing. There can be no government. The very nature of our democracy will be changed, likely for the worse.

In the act of a recall, we have a beautiful tool to remove legislators who have committed truly awful acts from power. If we do not use it responsibly, the best-case scenario is we lose the right to recall. The worst case? Recall elections become the norm, and Wisconsin’s elections become an anything goes, no-rules, free-for-all where we are recalling legislators left and right because we don’t like the look of them.

In golf, there is this useful little thing called a mulligan. When I played mini-golf as a child, my dad let me take as many as I needed. When I started playing real 18-hole courses, that ended. My dad said if I were old enough to play a real course, I was old enough to play the ball I hit.

If you’re old enough to cast a vote, you’re old enough to live with the consequences. If you did not research the candidate enough before voting for him, that’s not a reason for recall. If you did not vote, that’s your problem. The only thing you can do is learn from this, and take that lesson to the polls next time around.

Carolyn Briggs ([email protected]) is a senior majoring in English.