May 17, 2013

A Madison, WI proposal to authorize community street painting projects to "bring people together."

We're not talking about water soluble paint, but permanent paint jobs, the equivalent of murals, but on the horizontal surface that cars drive on. The alderwoman who proposes the new ordinance — Marsha Rummel — got the idea from Portland, Oregon, "where community members paint an intersection to give it a sense of place and create a public square."

There would be a permit process, including a petition "indicating approval from at least 60 percent residents, businesses and non-residential properties within a 200-foot radius of the proposed location"  and "assurances for the city that hold the design's applicant responsible for maintenance of the painting and requires them to have insurance." (I'm quoting the Cap Times article, not the ordinance, so I don't know whom to blame for the irritating ambiguity.)
"You can't just say you want to come in and do this. It needs to be maintained over time. Paint fades. It needs to be repainted from time to time, just as we go and repaint traffic lines," said Arthur Ross, the city's pedestrian-bicycle coordinator.
Which is why it's obviously a terrible idea.
"What it really is is a community building activity. It gets people out of their houses and working on something together," Ross said.
And what about when it breaks them apart because it's ugly, it makes the neighborhood look trashy, and it's not properly maintained.  I loathe these government dreams of bringing people together. Leave us alone! I know it's Madison, but people have their own private ways of getting together.

Here's Wisconsin State Journal columnist Chris Rickert mocking the proposal by stressing the provision that forbids "text, numerals, symbols, overt messages or any images designed to convey a message of any kind." Obviously, this provision is needed to avoid making street painting a public forum incurring First Amendment protection from viewpoint discrimination. Rickert jokes that in his neighborhood pretty much everyone hates Governor Scott Walker: "In my ’hood, liberal politics are a building block of community, a distaste for Walker one of the glues that hold residents together," so the things his neighbors would get enthused about painting on the street will be rejected. What if Madison risked permitting messages and accepted the legal proscription on viewpoint discrimination?
Residents could get their Wisconsin-shaped fists and [Obama] “Hope” images, for example, but would have to accept the risk — albeit a small one — of getting portraits of the governor and Ronald Reagan, too.

No doubt the latter would play havoc with traffic in my neighborhood, where drivers would surely wonder just where they made a wrong turn and how they got so horribly lost.
Long-time Madison politico Stu Levitan — in a thread on the Isthmus forum titled "Why does Rickert even bother?" — acts like no one can tell what Rickert actually thinks and accuses Rickert of not even knowing what he thinks. Here's what I think: If you want to make fun of lefties and actually hurt their feelings, you have to use your sledgehammer!

***

Meade frequently comments over at the Isthmus, and I can't tell you how many times the cocooned lefties there simply cannot understand his gentle verbal comedy. For example, here's a blog post written by former Madison mayor Dave Cieslewicz, who's writing about bicycling without coming to a full stop at stop signs:
To be clear I wasn't promoting the flauting of the law. I was being honest about what most bikers do at a quiet intersection. Let those drivers who have never exceeded the speed limit cast the first stone.
Meade comments:
I see Dave has now become Jesus on a Bicycle.
Then, noticing the misuse of "flauting" for "flouting," adds:
Jesus on a Bicycle, tooting his legal flute. (Although he doesn't promote it.)
Dave, instead of laughing, gripes:
See, now this is why I usually don't read the comments.
This is the first time Dave responded to Meade in the comments. Indeed, just a few days ago, Dave was blogging about how he doesn't usually read comments on his blog (which he said was "not a blog") and how he has a special problem with Meade. (I blogged about that here, noting that Dave accused Meade of repeatedly calling him "a liberal idiot," which is not a fair description of Meade's comments.) Meade responds:
I'm trying to help you, Dave. With word usage, spelling, etc. (Do I need to use a sledgehammer? Compare flaut with flout.)

But your sense of humor could also use some tweaking, Dave. Why the thin-skinned Mom, Laurence is being mean to me! My advice: roll with it! Ride right through those stop signs if need be. Laugh at yourself more. Who knows? - it might even help you get your old job back.

By the way, you still owe me a correction, Dave: I've never called you "liberal", "idiot", or even "liberal idiot". Check - as President Obama might say - the transcripts. Although I will admit - some of what you say on your blog is amply dumb.

Hey, thanks for the reply!
Again, Dave responded:
I don't want my old job back, Laurence. I'm happy misspelling stuff and using poor grammar as a non-blogger.

And as for the liberal idiot stuff, while you may never have used the exact words, that's the gist of much of it. I'm not offended. I've never denied that I'm either liberal or an idiot. I am who I am.
And so it goes, in Madison, Wisconsin, where one can have a hell of a time looking for witty conversation. You may wonder why Meade puts his writing over there instead of hanging out in the comments here where people adore him. But that's Meade. You may similarly wonder why we live here in Madison, Wisconsin!

People have their own private ways of getting together.

137 comments:

Methadras said...

Why must leftists feel the need to want to bring people together. For what? Where people together in their neighborhoods before this do-gooder proposed this idea? And why should Madisonians be okay with graffiti in their streets?

Levi Starks said...

I'm picturing a nice "don't tread on me" flag design at an intersection near me.

Original Mike said...

"The alderwoman who proposes the new ordinance — Marsha Rummel"

Dingbat.

Sorun said...

"Rickert jokes that in his neighborhood pretty much everyone hates Governor Scott Walker"

The neighborhood that hates together, stays together.

Known Unknown said...

working on something together

I do this when I go to work.

Thankfully, I live in a place that respects this.

Known Unknown said...

"The alderwoman who proposes the new ordinance — Marsha Rummel"

The Dessert Fox!

Ann Althouse said...

"Why must leftists feel the need to want to bring people together. For what?"

They see govt as all embracing. They don't want you in your private associations, but in one big association with the govt.

Mmmm... feel the big hug... here it comes.

wildswan said...

Isn't it kind of dangerous to have people looking down trying to interpret a painting on a street instead of glancing in various directions to see what is happening around the car and how to drive safely? Doesn't this resemble texting while driving?

Original Mike said...

"I loathe these government dreams of bringing people together. Leave us alone!"

Michelle Obama: "Barack Obama will require you to work. He is going to demand that you shed your cynicism. That you put down your divisions. That you come out of your isolation, that you move out of your comfort zones. That you push yourselves to be better. And that you engage. Barack will never allow you to go back to your lives as usual, uninvolved, uninformed."

ricpic said...

If these street murals include depictions of people they better be diverse people 'sall I can say! Or else!!

Palladian said...

If these street murals include depictions of people they better be diverse people 'sall I can say! Or else!!

What Madisonian would allow themselves to drive over a black person?

test said...

Methadras said...
Why must leftists feel the need to want to bring people together. For what?


The better question is why do leftists believe displaying their intolerance brings people together?

I'm Full of Soup said...

Those Obama Hope posters will soon evolve into Obama is a Dope posters.

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

Government run bowling alleys might work.

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

Taxpayer subsidized beer!

Lucien said...

Unless it's just the right kind of paint it can cause glare when the sun hits it from the right angle. Then when a driver blinded by glare runs down a mother & two children will the community come together to pay the multi-million dollar plaintiffs' verdict for unsafe road conditions?

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...

EMD said...
"The alderwoman who proposes the new ordinance — Marsha Rummel"

The Dessert Fox!


Freakin' brilliant!

hawkeyedjb said...

Another example of the government that strays too far from its core responsibilities. As a result, neither the basic functions nor the feel-good crap gets done well.

Sorun said...

"where community members paint an intersection to give it a sense of place and create a public square"

The intersection becomes a "public square" where the neighbors are all going to hang out admiring their painting and discussing their hatred of Scott Walker. Forever and ever.

Anonymous said...

Methadras said...

" Why must leftists feel the need to want to bring people together. For what?.."

________________________

Surveillance is easier.

Amartel said...

Thin-skinned, punitive, oblivious, deflecting blame (motorists are worse so it's okay). Progressive dullard.

Also, getting ideas about government from Portlandia is bad policy on its face. Also, use of the word "oommunity" is a signal, a dog whistle if you will, (like "social w/3 justice" or "fairness") to hang onto your wallet and RUN.

Henry said...

You and Meade should propose a painting of Jesus on a bicycle.

I don't think one of those tromp l'oeil paintings of a giant pit opening up to the flames of hell would be approved.

Mom! Watch out! It's a giant pit to hell! AAAAAAGH.

Amartel said...

"The intersection becomes a "public square" where the neighbors are all going to hang out admiring their painting and discussing their hatred of Scott Walker. Forever and ever."

Let them play in traffic.

AllenS said...

I'd like to drive down there and paint an big FUCK YOU, MADISON on the street.

Astro said...

Someone should point that alderwoman towards this, a redesigned, safer, 'better', more attractive intersection:
Poynton Regenerated

Calypso Facto said...

Who gets sued when the first painter gets run over in the roadway or when the painted road surface causes a car to to lose traction and kill a pedestrian?

Anonymous said...

Methadras, because they generally want certain ideas about the world to be true. The idea of 'community' or secular collective humanist solidarity bringing all people together is where they begin...

Art, street art, etc merely fits into that framework. It's a means to an end.

Why do they support gays at the moment? Bicyclists? Ending homelessness? Ending poverty? Minorities? Green policies? Unions? Absolute equality and universal rights?

Because they are idealists, and have a raft of post Enlightenment 'isms' they assume are universal, and are constantly seeking to universalize and activate into law.

President-Mom-Jeans said...

"Let them play in traffic."

Careful Amartel, if some of the lefty trolls see this they will threaten to tie you to the tea party and denounce you as an extremist.

President-Mom-Jeans said...

How about a portrait of "Speedbump" Tsarenov?

No, the Madison lefty retards would probably prefer some sort of image against Scott Walker.

Maybe they can incorporate Puppets somehow.

edutcher said...

I'll bet exactly what gets painted is going to be strictly monitored.

No patriotism, no capitalism, no conservatism.

Peter said...

I'm picturing a nice "don't tread on me" flag design at an intersection near me.

At leaast skull-and-crossbones (Jolly Roger) and the text, "Abandon All Hope Ye Who Enter Here." A tromp d'loeil will show drivers trying to claw their way out of a flaming pothole.
____

Forced togetherness. Like the office Christmas party, but government-sponsored. Strength through Joy. Whatever.

Sorun said...

"You and Meade should propose a painting of Jesus on a bicycle."

Jesus after the first rainstorm

Anonymous said...

I bet some unemployed painters/artists need a paint job.

n.n said...

What is the food stamp situation in Madison? In the nation at large, its consumption is progressive.

Perhaps they should authorize a community farm project to "bring people together" and put food on their table. If they don't understand how that works, they can hire Amish advisers.

President-Mom-Jeans said...

Althouse says:

"Here's what I think: If you want to make fun of lefties and actually hurt their feelings, you have to use your sledgehammer!"


I fully agree with you for once Ann, and have been putting this into practice at every opportunity.

You're welcome.

garage mahal said...

And so it goes, in Madison, Wisconsin, where one can have a hell of a time looking for witty conversation

If the conversations in Madison are a little over your head, don't despair, there are a lot of smart people in Madison!

Anonymous said...

And they have plans for you, for the laws, for your money, for many of your liberties, for how we all ought to live, and what we all ought to do.

While they are taking away all of the above through taxation, restrictive inefficient cronyist laws, and by always taking the high moral ground and pushing other voices out of the public square, they think are a little closer to making a better world, getting power, and those who disagree must be wrong, evil and dispensed with. They think they are acting virtuously in service of the ideals.

Ezra Klein is trying to build a media platform that will enshrine this progressivism, and he sticks to reports, data, wonkdom, and policy to further his aims. They are SO close. Universal health care will make the world so much better, our society so much more equal and fair and just.

The passionate commitment and displays of feeling towards the ideals identify oneself as a member.

They activate on their own.

Of course the ideals CAN'T BE reached, and this idealism is always being universalized like all other ideas and running into reality, but that won't stop them from trying. We'll be lucky if we get away from the current round of progressivism without serious damage to our institutions.

They place impossible demands upon those institutions and human nature.

oneredquilt said...

This seems to be an intersection looking for a lawsuit. With all of those colors and lines, anybody walking or riding a bike (maybe even Jesus!) could easily be not seen and run over.

Carol said...

The Dessert Fox!


Freakin' brilliant!



Because she eats too much cheesecake - ?

garage mahal said...

I'd like to drive down there and paint an big FUCK YOU, MADISON on the street.

Really? You need Madison more than we need you.

Sorun said...

"there are a lot of smart people in Madison!"

There's street smart, book smart, and government employee smart. Too many Madisonians are the third.

Sigivald said...

I loathe these government dreams of bringing people together. Leave us alone!

Didn't you know that community doesn't count unless it's State-controlled?

Sorun said...

"Really? You need Madison more than we need you."

Given that Madison uniquely relies on money from everyone else in the state, I'd say Garage is government employee smart.

President-Mom-Jeans said...

Barely high school educated government employee smart.

Think DMV.

William said...

I think a tastefully done picture of Che Guevara taking a leak on Gov. Walker would serve to bond the community and celebrate its ideals. The artist who executed such a work would see his reputation soar.

rhhardin said...

The Udder, all gush and goodwill a yard wide.

Roethke's types.

Leland said...

Give some kids a box of spray paint. Not only will they get it painted in no time; they'll likely do it without blocking traffic. Either way, you'll be stuck with a picture that some adore and others wish was never there. Bonus, you get kids out from behind video game consoles and on the streets, ganging together...

garage mahal said...

"Given that Madison uniquely relies on money from everyone else in the state, I'd say Garage is government employee smart."

The University of Wisconsin-Madison's profound impact on Wisconsin's economy, one that totals $12.4 billion annually, is detailed in a new report (PDF) that underscores the importance of the university to the state's economic well being.

The report’s findings indicate that UW-Madison, along with its affiliated organizations and startup companies, support 128,146 Wisconsin jobs and generate $614 million in state tax revenue.

Economists also found that for every $1 of state tax investment in the university, there is $21.05 in economic activity in the state.


link.

SteveR said...

Artistic expression not subject to the First Amendment as controlled and determined by lefties. What could possibly go wrong?

I'm glad to see Madison broadening its horizons by looking at Portland, Oregon. 1b to 1a Madison as the most reflexivly liberal place in America.

Freeman Hunt said...

As someone who, like many people, drives a lot, please don't make it harder to see pedestrians!

Freeman Hunt said...

If neighbors are forced to get together and discuss what they like or don't like in art, is this likely to make them like each other more or less? I'm thinking less.

virgil xenophon said...

One can never have too much Stalinist public art..

virgil xenophon said...

**Sorry, left out the adj "progressive"

I Have Misplaced My Pants said...

"In my ’hood, liberal politics are a building block of community, a distaste for Walker one of the glues that hold residents together,"

Geesh, lefties are such dour assholes. I remember that united-in-our-grand-struggle-against-the-oppressor-Bush bullshit from when I lived in Seattle. I far prefer my current 'hood which is suburban south Texas, where the building blocks of community/what people talk about casually are kids, church, hobbies, sports and schools. Stuff sane people construct their lives around.

You may wonder why Meade puts his writing over there instead of hanging out in the comments here where people adore him. But that's Meade. You may similarly wonder why we live here in Madison, Wisconsin!

People have their own private ways of getting together.


Heh heh, is this code that Meade sockpuppets?



CWJ said...

Proposals like this (and I've lived through multiple examples) are attempts to preempt both thought and time. It will make no difference that perhaps people moving in six months or six years from now would want something else painted on the street, the mural must be maintained. Its the continuing leftests' conceit that whatever transitory thought crosses their mind at the moment is superior to everything that has gone before, and must be preserved for all time. Well at least until the next transitory thought passes through the collective.

CWJ said...

BTW, Art Ross seems to be a busy fellow. I presume all bicycles and pedestrians have been properly coordinated for him to have time to work on this.

Oh the value Madisonians like Meadehouse get for their annual $15k in property taxes.

Methadras said...

This is a leftists dream, why have the freedom of association when they can use tax payer dollars to get you to associate instead. They want you to associate based on their ideas, neglecting the fact that you can associate without them, but then there is still the matter of the money spend to uglify your neighborhoods. Preposterous and bizarre all at once.

Methadras said...

EMD said...

"The alderwoman who proposes the new ordinance — Marsha Rummel"

The Dessert Fox!


Nothing screams leftist like fat dyke-y, short haired hideous leftist cow.

Kirk Parker said...

"I loathe these government dreams of bringing people together. Leave us alone!"

Oooooh, where's the Althouse the cranky libertarian tag? :-)

Methadras said...

Ann Althouse said...

They see govt as all embracing. They don't want you in your private associations, but in one big association with the govt.

Mmmm... feel the big hug... here it comes.


Anathema to freedom of association in every sense. Plus, EWWW!!! Cooties!!!

gerry said...

"where community members paint an intersection to give it a sense of place and create a public square."

Without that, the intersection is not a public square and has no place.

And you have a "pedestrian-bicycle coordinator"?

garrison said...

check out 5600 ne Stanton, Portland OR for the street tat. not very threatening.

Anonymous said...

Leftists here at Althouse have the balls to deal with the many cocooned rightists and Meade has the balls (only assuming here) to deal with the leftists at the Isthmus, sounds fair.

gerry said...

...and good heavens. What about all that toxic latex runoff as the paint falls away?

I don't care if latex isn't toxic, I like thew way "toxic latex" sounds when talking about Madison, Wisconsin.

Methadras said...

Inga said...

Leftists here at Althouse have the balls to deal with the many cocooned rightists and Meade has the balls (only assuming here) to deal with the leftists at the Isthmus, sounds fair.


Oh look, it's the rectally challenged here to squirt her brand of logic onto the thread. Titus would be jealous.

President-Mom-Jeans said...

Did the boozed up old Cow just admit she is a tranny?

I mean, more so than the bug eyed picture she used to put up?

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
gerry said...

Meade has the balls (only assuming here)

What a bitter old hag of a bitch you must be.

Anonymous said...

Ann, I don't think I've ever read similar invective to compare with our local loons at Althouse, at the Isthmus. Meade hasn't had to deal with such lowlifes there, lucky boy.

Sorun said...

Who benefits from having UW's main campus located in Madison? It's Madison, not AllenS.

Madison needs its state tax and tuition payers more than they need Madison.

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Curious George said...

"The alderwoman who proposes the new ordinance — Marsha Rummel"

Madison dpoesn't have "alderwoman" or alderman. It has "Alders. It went to this because Alderlesbian wouldn't fit on the little name placard they use at council meetings.

Anonymous said...

I'm assuming he has big balls, you dumb dummy because I have NOT SEEN his balls, that is Althouse's territory.

President-Mom-Jeans said...

Double posting already, geeze what time is out there?

Hitting the sauce pretty early. Glad to see the disability checks are put to good use.

gerry said...

Inga.

What a bitter old hag.

Anonymous said...

Gerry, that mean nasty cardinal face suits you.

Anonymous said...

It only took a few comments to prove what I said at 1:20. I knew they would not dissapoint, lol. Meade ya got it easy over there.

gerry said...

Yeah. It's pretty cool, thank you. It's from a photo Meade took, I think, although the Professor may have shot it.

X said...

Inga said...
Gerry, that mean nasty cardinal face suits you.


nah, too easy.

Sorun said...

By the way, the IRS (like Madison) would like you to appreciate how important they are to you. Without them, how would you get your tax refund?

President-Mom-Jeans said...

X said:
"nah, too easy."


I see what you did there.

Bushman of the Kohlrabi said...

The report’s findings indicate that UW-Madison, along with its affiliated organizations and startup companies, support 128,146 Wisconsin jobs and generate $614 million in state tax revenue.

So UW produces a report that says we can generate tons of bucks by spending more on UW.

Shocka!

It appears the underpants gnomes are alive and well in Madison.

madAsHell said...

What a slob!!

bagoh20 said...

"And what about when it breaks them apart because it's ugly, it makes the neighborhood look trashy"

I too fear the zombie Basquait.

bagoh20 said...

The problem is the that unlike other peoples' work we have this unfounded respect for "art" without any real discernment or standards.

If we could simply agree that if it sucks and detracts from the neighborhood we will paint over it, then the problem is solved. That's how we handle any other trade. Do a good job or do it over right.

Another fun idea is to have a community vote on each mural at time of completion and maybe every two years. Then eventually you get only the most valued murals and a fun community activity that's ongoing as new murals go up regularly.

garage mahal said...

Who benefits from having UW's main campus located in Madison? It's Madison, not AllenS.

If you read that article you would see that's not the case.

Anyways, take away Madison or Milwaukee, two cities Republicans hate, and Wisconsin becomes Mississippi. Which I think is their goal.

n.n said...

Let them eat paint.

Ralph L said...

My town spent some Federal Porkulus money resurfacing the barely-used downtown streets and then having fake-brick crosswalks pressed and dyed into the intersections. Three years later, they've held up OK but collect dirt in the crevasses.

We thank your grandchildren for their contribution!

Ralph L said...

Wisconsin becomes Mississippi
Somehow, I don't think so.

Chip Ahoy said...

Did I tell you about the time we flew a Cessna 172 to New Orleans? I dint? Goes like this: BM kept asking me which city I'd like to see and I kept saying Chicago. Why? Because King Tut was being exhibited there. Thud.

Thud, thud, thud. Then at length, "New Orleans." Surprise! Why? King Tut is being exhibited there.

Apparently New Orleans was acceptable because off we went. The city painted the street in front of the museum in stripes, colors drawn from Egyptian palette, the whole thing, it's a long street, and I thought, "F'n wow, man, ACE! I wish my city would paint its streets."

[Portland intersection paint project]

I'm for it.

As much as the impulse as described here irritates me, I'm still for it.

As much as I dislike parroting other cities, I do like that.

Did I tell you about the time I won such a collective community contest? I was in the first grade. I did tell you about the award of three dollars. Fine. Well shut up, it was like being presented with a treasure chest and the promise of a life as acknowledged artist.

Amartel said...

I, too, won a collective community art award in the first grade. No, really, I did. The local fire department gave me a blue ribbon for my vividly abstract rendering of my elementary school in flames. I was working with water-based pigments, of course, in the peinture de doigt style. This was in 1975 or so. If it happened today I would likely be medicated.

bagoh20 said...

Here in L.A. we arrest people for this shit, but at least we don't have a bunch of bureaucracy involved. If we want this on a particular wall, we just paint it white and go to sleep. In the morning, like magic we have art. No paperwork, no meetings, just magical free art.

bagoh20 said...

Take away Wisconsin and Madison becomes Detroit, which is much worse than Mississippi.

Anonymous said...

Madison could NEVER be Detroit, Milwaukee, maybe, but even that is a stretch.

Quaestor said...

According to her own campaign button, Alderman Rummel is an "engaged progressive". Given what we've learned this past few weeks about self-described progressives... sheesh. She won't use that moniker next time around.

On the "flauting" for "flouting" controversy I've noted an interesting etymological confluence of these words. I've never seen "flauting", though it could mean playing a flute (flauting is what a flautist does?) as in "George, are you flauting or strangling a parakeet?" To flout is to show scorn or contempt for, as in to flout a law or convention. However, flout derives from from Middle English flouten, to play the flute

Quaestor said...

Madison could NEVER be Detroit, Milwaukee, maybe, but even that is a stretch.

They used to say something similar about Detroit. Inga knows not the meaning of hubris.

Anonymous said...

I know Milwaukee and I know Madison, no hubris at all, just an intimate knowledge of both cities, their inhabitants and business/ industry of both cities.

Bushman of the Kohlrabi said...

Take away all the tax dollars and Madison becomes Beloit.

Quaestor said...

I know Milwaukee and I know Madison, no hubris at all, just an intimate knowledge of both cities, their inhabitants and business/ industry of both cities.

Like I said, Inga knows not the meaning of hubris... but she is comedy gold!

Anonymous said...

Well Beloit is a hell hole, at least Madison has the lakes.

Anonymous said...

All those who continuously bash Madison, please don't ever visit, and those who don't appreciate living in Madison, please move, to Waukesha or Washington County, you'll love it there.

garage mahal said...

Take away Madison and Wisconsin is a lock for 50th in job creation, instead of 44th.

Wisconsin sees biggest monthly job loss since 2009

Heckuva job.

Unknown said...

take away the taxpayers and leave only the taxeaters in place and anywhere would become Detroit. but you get a reliably Democrat electorate and that's the reason the Dems are trying to Detroitaform the nation.

Stephen Taylor said...

This is one the rare times I hate the Internet. The marching morons here in Austin will see this paint the street idea and they will be on it like stink on shit.

Anonymous said...

Most Texans don't deserve a great city like Austin, it's second only to Madison. I have some wonderful musician friends in Austin, I love that city.

Known Unknown said...

Giant feel good mural does little to reduce crime.

Alex said...

Scott Walker will win re-election in 2014.

Sorun said...

"Anyways, take away Madison or Milwaukee, two cities Republicans hate, and Wisconsin becomes Mississippi."

Take away Madison or Milwaukee, and in some ways, Wisconsin becomes less like Mississippi, not more.

Known Unknown said...

Madison does better than other Democratic bastions because it is a state capital and a college town, just like Columbus, Ohio and Austin, Texas.

They are relatively immune to the ups and downs of normal economic activity, since politics, education and medicine are constants, unlike the Milwaukees and Detroits and Clevelands of the world.

GM does have a legitimate point, that without UW, Madison would be a non-entity.

Known Unknown said...

Because she eats too much cheesecake - ?

Yes, Carol, it's a fat joke. Do try to keep up.

Known Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Known Unknown said...

I think Blogger is having the double-posting issues, not individual commenters.

Anonymous said...

Oh yeah Inga, well you'll never get into the 'progressive pals' timeshare co-op.' Bernie Sanders sponsored, Organizing for Action approved.

We couch surf looking for social justice, making the personal poltical 365 days a year. Vermont to Boulder, Austin to the Bay Area, Seattle to Madison and back again.

We protest on the fly. We're diverse baby, and multicultural. We're not for profit, and global. We hug trees. We drive inner city girls to abortion clinics, and have poetry slams in Wal Mart Parking lots.

We are the world, we are the future, and we've got rights to spare.

Known Unknown said...

Most Texans don't deserve a great city like Austin

Oh shut up.

Sorun said...

"Take away Madison and Wisconsin is a lock for 50th in job creation, instead of 44th."

It looks like all that economic activity created by UW-Madison is in Madison.

Anonymous said...

It's all about liberation, and art, and social justice, and patchouli. Rooftop gardens and Karl Marx. We touch our bodies and our rights.

We play hackey sack in Hackensack. We visit the IRS just to say hi. We are like the Borg, flying our technocratic dream machine across galaxies of thought assimilating the locals and protesting the patriarchy.

Anonymous said...

EMD, oh go screw yourself.

Known Unknown said...

EMD, oh go screw yourself.

Stop being so damn provincial. You don't know 'most Texans' from Adam. You don't know what they deserve. You're so invested in cleaving people based on their ideology.

Guess what? I've been to Austin and it's great. I've been to San Antonio and it's great. I've been to Abilene and it's great. None of that has to do with the ideology of its inhabitants.

Anonymous said...

We speak truth to power unless we're in power, then we shut the fuck up and try to get more power. We have sleepovers in the NPR studios. We make puppets and dream to awake as puppets in the arms of Gaia, Obama, and the one worlder truth brigade.

We activate, emotionalize, and hug the world in a bouquet of bad laws. We are the 'community'

Freedom is next, progress is just around the corner. We're bringing the UN to every living thing and living room.

Anonymous said...

I don't believe I ever said it was great because of the ideology of its inhabitants EMD, most other Texas cities suck, sorry I've been to several also. San Antonio is a nice place.

X said...

whether from Austin or Dallas or Ft. Worth or Houston or Waco or San Antonio I think we can all agree College Station blows.

garage mahal said...

It looks like all that economic activity created by UW-Madison is in Madison.

Read the link Sorun, it gives you just a few examples. All snark aside UW-Madison is one the state's best assets. And Wisconsin has the talent to compete with any state, but unfortunately our leadership sucks. Money is being spent on freeways and prisons instead of education.

vulture said...

What else to make us feel like a community should we start saying "We Are Borg"?

Anonymous said...

Many Lefties and progressive types are attracted to education, universities, university towns, foundations and government like flies to delicious fecal incidents.

There the ideals will be true. There social change and equality and the right ideas can be pursued.

Am I right or am I right garage? More money for education, who cares if it's bloated and inefficient and a gravy train these days?

Just like farm subsidy beneficiaries and military supporters who don't realize how thinly we're stretched.

We've got to recalibrate. I know where the Lefties will be, especially trolls like garage with their tiny vuvuzuelas.

More education, more equality, more rights and more victims!

garage mahal said...

81% of the Wisconsin students in the UW System stay in Wisconsin.

High tech manufacturing, financial services, tourism, software development, health care, biotechnology, farming.....that's the future. Not strip mines and low wage retail jobs.

Æthelflæd said...

X said... "whether from Austin or Dallas or Ft. Worth or Houston or Waco or San Antonio I think we can all agree College Station blows."

Yessiree.

Austin isn't as liberal thru and thru as Madison anyway. It is a very unique place.

Anonymous said...

Got to get your mouths around the government teat again after Walker so rudely pulled you off.

I mean you still have a purpose right? Even though technology, globalization, and other forces are making the headwinds winds strong against the Good ship America.

Meanwhile, Obama's turning federal tax revenue into a mega-teat, sending the bat signal out to all the fellow travelers, rent seekers and idealists and non-producers.

Progress!

Sorun said...

"81% of the Wisconsin students in the UW System stay in Wisconsin."

Yeah, they're living with their parents.

garage mahal said...

Got to get your mouths around the government teat again after Walker so rudely pulled you off.

You're an idiot.

Anonymous said...

Ah come on garage, keep peddling that university on a hill vision and keep ignoring all the sectors of the economy that still make it possible.

Just like Europe!

Anonymous said...

Bike paths and coffee shops and solidarity and soccer matches. Tech startups and universities across the fruited plain. Terrible green laws and crony capitalism. Unions and craft beer and trains operating at losses everywhere!

Let the rest eat cake.

What a failure to understand much of reality, and a failure of the imagination.

Known Unknown said...

I don't believe I ever said it was great because of the ideology of its inhabitants EMD

It was implied by your statement that Texans don't deserve a city like Austin. What people deserve Austin?

Known Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Known Unknown said...

I'm guessing Madison is a perfectly lovely town to live in (never been there.) Perhaps a bit ideologically rigid, but certainly with its share of attractions.

You Wisconsinites deserve it!

garage mahal said...

@EMD
You should come visit, it's a fun town. Especially in summer. Just about everything you've read in these threads about Madison is wrong.

Known Unknown said...

You should come visit, it's a fun town. Especially in summer. Just about everything you've read in these threads about Madison is wrong.

I certainly don't doubt it is. Most big-U towns are. Heck, most moderate-sized towns are fun, if you know what you're doing.

Petunia said...

Isn't creating a "public square" in the middle of an intersection kind of a...um...STUPID idea?

OTOH, if it would result in fewer liberal idiots in this city, might not be so bad!