I love this quote from Lisa Subeck (referred to as a member of "the City Council," which, if you're going to used capital letters is called the "Common Council"):
"My reaction was, this doesn’t have a very Madison feel to it... It really will turn many people off." With Mr. Lenz appearing as a speaker, she said, 'you really have to think, this isn’t reflective of our values."Lenz = Bob Lenz, a motivational speaker, with "ties to anti-abortion groups, particularly one called Save the Storks, which parks buses in front of abortion clinics and offers ultrasounds to pregnant women."
Lenz, we're told, was disinvited after a Wisconsin State Journal article — "In the Spirit: Brat Fest takes a big turn toward religion this year," highlighting a plan for a morning worship service and a stage devoted to Christian rock music — caused some locals to complain and threaten a boycott.
At that point, the religionists looked excluded and unwelcome instead of the other way around.
Does the NYT rehabilitate the pride of the locals who ended up looking hostile to religion? Incredibly... I mean, predictably... Scott Walker gets blamed:
Perhaps nerves are still a little frayed here, three years after angry protests over a collective-bargaining law shook the Capitol, and the failed attempt to recall Gov. Scott Walker the year after that.Please. Madison was always liberal, even when Wisconsin elected Tommy Thompson.
Some longtime residents said they missed the time when Wisconsin seemed more politically easygoing, a place where voters kept a Republican governor, Tommy G. Thompson, in office from 1987 to 2001.
Sorry I didn't notice this Madison-centric story until I read about it in The New York Times. I thought I opened up the local news sites nearly every day. (I guess my aversion is more severe than I realize.) And I should have seen David Blaska's "Boycott Bratfest? Another progressive assault on free speech."
And the NYT missed (or choose to ignore) past lefty protests against the Bratfest that were based on the brats themselves. Local news from 2011:
... Bratfest -- the traditional Goliath known as World's Largest -- is beset on three sides by little Davids trying to make the case that a Johnsonville brat is as good as a couple bucks in Governor Walker's pocket: the People's Bratfest, Wurst Times, and Alt Bratfest.
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32 comments:
I love sausages of all kinds and corn on the cob dripping with butter. But, really, is this the kind of festival that Michelle 0 would endorse?
Both WI and Iowa will have to change their diets if they want to remain as bastions of liberalism. Dukakis was right when he told Iowa farmers that they needed to grow endives and berries if they wanted to solve their problems.
Thanks goodness we here in ME are protected by a key member of the Senate who is pushing back against the attempts by food fascists to exclude potatoes from school lunches.
Nerves are a bit frayed. After three (3) years.
I hear a lot on the web from those who believe in "freedom from religion." That is a pretty funny construct. In South Boston, didn't they want "freedom from blacks?" Isn't "freedom from gays" pretty universally reviled at this point by "right-thinking" people?
I guess it is important that your bigotry and intolerance be fashionable.
We head for Wisconsin next week. Bratwurst!
Spoiled brats become liberal weinies.
Sales have never topped 2010. The festival is bigger in terms of stages and all, but not brats.
Metcalfe is a conservative in a liberal town, Johnsonville gives to Walker. This event is advertising for both more than local festival, years ago it lost the community aspect when it moved from outside the store.
If Metcalfe wants this to be part Christian festival he can do that, but its glory days passed when his father did. When it really was about the people who shopped at the store.
If there was one of those scenarios where the Russians had to bomb one American city after some Doctor Strangelove type mistaken pre-emptive strike, I would put Madison second on the list. Unless Nancy Pelosi was in Madison instead of San Francisco, in which case I would put it at the very top of the list.
There are other "fests" that came to be because of the whole liberals can't eat Johnsonville brats because the owners of Johnsonville support Walker. I want to know how many people showed up at those "fests" this past weekend.
Sensible people realize there were 4 other stages of music to attend if you did not want to hear "religious" music. But, who ever said liberals were sensible?
Yet another fine example of liberal tolerance of opposing views.
You don't have to be Sigmund Freud to see that Brats are patriarchal manifestations of...of...something that needs to change.
If anything needs a trigger warning its hundreds of people running around waving big ol steamin' juicy bratwursts.
I didn't really hear a peep about the alternative brat fests this past weekend. Did they actually happen this year?
Ben Brewer took my picture for the NYTimes, too, as I was grilling Chicken Chipotle brats (they were having quite a run on them while I was there, so we had full grills). But I guess I looked insufficiently newsworthy.
I found Brat Fest too loud for my tastes. I recall with fondness its humble origins in the Hilldale parking lot next to Sentry. But you can't go back to that, I guess (I also miss Edgefest).
"Ben Brewer took my picture for the NYTimes, too, as I was grilling Chicken Chipotle brats (they were having quite a run on them while I was there, so we had full grills). But I guess I looked insufficiently newsworthy."
Maybe if you'd waved your arms around "Praise Jesus" style, you'd have been fit to print.
But why on Earth is a Alderman Subeck trying to stifle Free Speech? She should walk a mile in Metcalfe's shoes -- a man who does more/has done more for the homeless and disenfranchised in Madison than Subeck can ever hope to dream of.
It's also disgusting that Berceau hopped on the Boycott-calling wagon. Wisconsin would be very well-served if Ms. Berceau retired from the elected job at which she has done nothing for years.
I found Brat Fest too loud for my tastes.
Loud. Hot. Dusty. Long lines. Warm beer.
Never understood the appeal of Brat Fest. To each their own.
I wonder how many brats Ann ate at Willow Island this weekend? Did she only go for the church service or did she also enjoy the other acts that played as well?
"Why can't I just eat my brat?"
@Althouse, at what point did it dawn on you that you live in a very abnormal city? Somehow I think it has happened since I discovered your blog.
"Blogger MadisonMan said...
...I was grilling Chicken Chipotle brats..."
Those aren't brats. Just as turkey bacon isn't bacon. And soy milk isn't milk.
@CG: True, I guess I should've called them Chicken/Chipotle Sausages.
I tried one, while grilling (It "accidentally" broke). I'll stick with a regular brat.
When did it become a liberal value to boycott the free exercise of spirituality? But by all means do, nobody wants enforced religion. Well, no Christians do.
Trey
Jeezo Pete, everything has to be politicized by the left. Sometimes a brat is just a brat.
What Curious George said!
That reminds us of Jesus feeding the five thousand with three brats and two buns of bread. No mention of mustard, though
Insufficiently liberal implies insufficient brats. They should have conducted a survey to determine the demand and not be left brat-less.
TMink:
Not spirituality. Morality. Most people do not want to stand in judgment of themselves or by others.
This story would peg the "Who gives a crap" meter except it features brats. Anyone of any persuasion that messes with the enjoyment of brats is un-American.
Alles Sind Politiks to the Left.
168,000 brats at $3 each + $6 beers ..... only $140,000 goes to charity.
If this were another charity and over 2/3 was eaten by overhead I would be skeptical.
Seems like a good advertising buy ... act like you are donating to charity when really most is going to stage rental, performers, and other non charity.
I haven't gone since they moved the venue but the brats used to be really cheap. (I'm remembering like a buck or a buck-fifty). Am I misremembering?
Here we go. In 2013, the brats were 50 cents each:
http://madison.about.com/od/Events/a/Worlds-Largest-Brat-Fest.htm
Sorry to step on your poo-flinging.
Oops, I'm wrong. Brats do cost $3 now:
http://bratfest.com/plan-your-experience/food-and-drink-menu/
My apologies.
I used to go because it was In the neighborhood and the brats were cheap. Guess I'm not missing much anymore.
Yes Mike, I know what I was talking about.
As I noted, it is a very long way from the customer appreciation event it was in the Hilldale parking lot. I have been only once since it moved, as it completely changed.
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