Althouse: "Several Madison alders are sponsoring the resolution creating the LGBTQ+ Rainbow Murals and Crossings Art Pilot Program, which would install LGBTQ+ inclusive rainbow flag markings..."

March 8, 2020

"Several Madison alders are sponsoring the resolution creating the LGBTQ+ Rainbow Murals and Crossings Art Pilot Program, which would install LGBTQ+ inclusive rainbow flag markings..."

"... at pedestrian crossings on the Capital City Trail and near the Capitol Square.... 'It would be a reminder to residents who see it that the LGBTQ community is an important part of the fabric of Madison, especially given that we have a lesbian mayor and many other queer people in positions of power'" (Capital Times).

Why should the street be painted to remind us of who's in a position of power? I would not paint anything political on the street. Let the street be a street. It doesn't need to talk to us, especially not to nudge us about what we should believe or value.

163 comments:

LYNNDH said...: What, no cruel neutrality?; 3/8/20, 1:23 PM
effinayright said...: Ah fer chrissakes!

How many more times do normal people have to have their noses rubbed into all these claims of specialness?; 3/8/20, 1:26 PM
Mr Wibble said...: Why should the street be painted to remind us of who's in a position of power?

Because that's all social justice is: an attempt by certain groups to exercise power over the rest of us. Because the activists now in charge have only one interest and that is to humiliate and abuse everyone they dislike and blame for the snakes in their heads and the fact that they can never be truly happy. How is this shocking?; 3/8/20, 1:26 PM
Mr Wibble said...: How many more times do normal people have to have their noses rubbed into all these claims of specialness?

Forever. And if you decide to accept it and embrace it, they'll simply move on to something else which you disapprove of which they'll claim is special.; 3/8/20, 1:27 PM
Bay Area Guy said...: Generally, I like rainbows. They are pretty.

Generally, I'm fine with gay folks. "Live and let Live" tenet has worked well for me.

Generally, though, the LBTQTYWZCX political movement is so tedious, humorless, self-righteous, obnoxious, clueless, preachy, over-bearing and political correct that I am starting to not like rainbows.; 3/8/20, 1:28 PM
Dude1394 said...: Because that is what YOUR political party does.; 3/8/20, 1:29 PM
The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...: I don’t find it objectionable. It gives normal people rich opportunities to riff.; 3/8/20, 1:33 PM
mockturtle said...: They did some of the same idiotic things in Seattle when they had a gay mayor [who was later forced to resign for past sex crimes with minors]. Sexual aberrations are an unfortunate fact of human society but are NOT something to celebrate.; 3/8/20, 1:34 PM
Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...: Painted rainbow flags on the crosswalks - they did it in downtown Boulder, all over streets around the Pearl Street Mall.

Then again, we are constantly reminded who the governor is, and he also lives in a condo nearby the mall.

I pay my quarter sales tax on-line and have done so for years. The CO tax site is not a place to platform your campaign. oh wait - yes it is. Jared Polis' photo is all over the place.; 3/8/20, 1:34 PM
Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...: Bay Area Guy @ 1:28

That! 100% that.; 3/8/20, 1:36 PM
The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...: And yet the rainbow crosswalks are still there in Capitol Hill. Love means...never having to say you’re sorry.; 3/8/20, 1:36 PM
Mr Wibble said...: Generally, I'm fine with gay folks. "Live and let Live" tenet has worked well for me.

Generally, though, the LBTQTYWZCX political movement is so tedious, humorless, self-righteous, obnoxious, clueless, preachy, over-bearing and political correct that I am starting to not like rainbows.

A podcaster I listen to is a queer woman and likes to say, "I hate it when my friends on the right say homophobic stuff, because they're talking about me. But I also can't blame them because I see shit like this. It makes me want to crawl back into the close and nail the door shut."

The activists don't seem to understand that they can make people care, but can't control how we care. There's eventually going to be a very ugly backlash.; 3/8/20, 1:37 PM
Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...: You must worhsip your democratic betters, at all times, even when crossing the streets.
Kinda creepy, actually.

Trump hires a gay guy to some top level job and the media ignore it.; 3/8/20, 1:37 PM
I Have Misplaced My Pants said...: I think we should paint a bunch of Bible verses and pictures of saints all over Austin to remind is that Texas has a Christian governor.; 3/8/20, 1:42 PM
bagoh20 said...: The only people the Right generally promotes is veterans and law enforcement. People who make sacrifices for others, rather than self-promoting people seeking to control and dominate your personal opinions and standards. It's one of the reasons I moved right in my own affiliation over the years. The left just keeps getting uglier, more trivial, and more fascist every year.; 3/8/20, 1:43 PM
mockturtle said...: Mr Wibble, you make a good point. I like gay people as well as straight people and literally, some of my closest friends have been gay. But the Pride parades and the appropriation of the rainbow are intended to disgust non-gay people and they succeed.; 3/8/20, 1:43 PM
traditionalguy said...: Simple. Because they are after the kids. They want to destroy them before they marry and reproduce and raise beautiful people who do the same forever. Happy families are their enemy.; 3/8/20, 1:46 PM
ga6 said...: for reference:

https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=uter+de+limden++1939&form=HDRSC2&first=1&cw=1117&ch=596; 3/8/20, 1:46 PM
mockturtle said...: Pants suggests: I think we should paint a bunch of Bible verses and pictures of saints all over Austin to remind is that Texas has a Christian governor.

:-) That's funny because we all know the uproar that would ensue. Even the Ten Commandments cause Libs to go postal.; 3/8/20, 1:47 PM
Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...: btw-
That Christian cake baker in CO - (the cake shop owner given back his freedom by 7 of the 9 Supreme Court Justices) he is still harassed by the "oh so tolerant left" all the time. Some local radio hosts have been known to re-play the frightening threatening nasty vile hate-filled spew that homosexual activists leave on his voicemail...

Because tolerance.; 3/8/20, 1:48 PM
Skeptical Voter said...: One thing about those queer streets. None of them are straight.; 3/8/20, 1:49 PM
Mr Wibble said...: Mr Wibble, you make a good point. I like gay people as well as straight people and literally, some of my closest friends have been gay. But the Pride parades and the appropriation of the rainbow are intended to disgust non-gay people and they succeed.

The Babylon Bee headline said it best, "Gay Pride Parade Sets Back Gay Rights by 50 Years".

Another one put it well, "Evangelicals vote for party which lies to them over party which wants to actively destroy them."; 3/8/20, 1:49 PM
stevew said...: This is the thing that bugs me about the whole LGBTQ thing (add the + if you must, I don't know what it means to say): we must notice and acknowledge the existence and presence of LGBTQ people. We can't just live our lives, do our jobs, enjoy our families, and enjoy the weather (or complain about it). No, we must recognize and celebrate the LGBTQs among us. Often. Repeatedly.; 3/8/20, 1:51 PM
Inga said...: Why not just enjoy the lovely rainbow colors on the streets of Madison? I’m sure it will be lovely.; 3/8/20, 1:51 PM
Jim at said...: Remember when it was all about equal rights? How they just wanted to be treated like everybody else?

Yeah. A lot of us knew it was all a bunch of crap right from the start.; 3/8/20, 1:52 PM
rhhardin said...: Put up asshole signs.; 3/8/20, 1:53 PM
campy said...: If I happen to step in some dog (or human—it's a lefty city, after all) excrement before trodding on the Sacred Rainbow, is that a Hate Crime?; 3/8/20, 1:54 PM
Two-eyed Jack said...: I'd be okay with painting the rainbow, but with the expectation that everyone pick a lane and stay in that lane every time they cross the street. To celebrate diversity. And inclusion. That's what would be empowering.; 3/8/20, 1:55 PM
Inga said...: “I think we should paint a bunch of Bible verses and pictures of saints all over Austin to remind is that Texas has a Christian governor.”

I think it would be fun to have items from stories of the Bible, the Torah and the holy texts of all sorts of religions painted on the streets and sidewalks. When it comes to Satanism or Rastafarianism, one might need to pick items carefully.; 3/8/20, 2:00 PM
Sebastian said...: "Why should the street be painted to remind us of who's in a position of power?"

Oh no, not that again. "Why, oh, why?"

Why, oh, why do progs do these prog things? Why do they want to turn public space into propaganda? Why do do they fight the culture war continuously and everywhere? Why do they try to control our lives?

"I would not paint anything political on the street."

I would to be a prog doing the prog thing. It's so sad that they do that.

"It doesn't need to talk to us, especially not to nudge us about what we should believe or value."

You have a lot to learn. Thou shalt be nudged.

If I am not mistaken, you want government to be boring, keep things simple, and leave you alone. You do realize, don't you, that if that is your preference, you'd have to oppose any prog getting anywhere close to power? Including their fellow travelers, like Amy K?; 3/8/20, 2:01 PM
The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...: “One thing about those queer streets. None of them are straight.”

See? No rainbow crosswalks, no Henny Youngman.; 3/8/20, 2:02 PM
Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...: I promise the rainbow bands on the pavement are not lovely. They are a creepy reminder of how
State promotion of one group over another is wholly inappropriate. It is not inclusion. It is separation.; 3/8/20, 2:02 PM
Automatic_Wing said...: It's a reminder to the residents to toe the line...or else.; 3/8/20, 2:04 PM
M said...: A majority, not all, but a large majority of gays want to gay society. They want to show daddy and their “stupid crazy religious” grandma that THEY are the good demographic and the Normies who built 99.99999999999999999999999999999999999999% of EVERYTHING USEFUL are the ”bad people”. Presumably because they are boring what with their orderly, productive lives.

Why does gay sex need to be taught in elementary school? Why do trannies need to be forced on toddlers? Why does every TV show need a gay person or five in it? They claim it is to counteract bullying and yet they are some of the worst bullies in modern society. You do not have to graphically describe alternative “sex” acts to young children to promote tolerance.

Teach them that anyone who isn’t harming others should be left to their own choices. Teach them that mean girl bullying is a type of social dominance for the weak and that truly strong people are at least superficially kind to everyone. No you don’t have to invite the weird kid to your birthday party but you shouldn’t rub it in either and you shouldn’t be friends with people who would. That’s it. No need for an LGBT assault on our children.; 3/8/20, 2:04 PM
YoungHegelian said...: @Mr. Wibble,

Young Man, we must keep our references to our primary sources correct, lest we lead the youth of today astray!

Gay Pride Parade Sets Back Gay Rights by 50 Years is, believe it or not, from The Onion, not the Babylon Bee.

It's actually funnier to think that it's in a Left-leaning publication like The Onion rather than the Bee.; 3/8/20, 2:04 PM
Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...: I'd like the pot-holes filled and the streets maintained for safe driving. The idea that pavement must be a place where State scantioned lectures occur?

Sod off, swampy.; 3/8/20, 2:05 PM
Etienne said...: I think the Teachers Union should sponsor a mural where two boys are holding hands under a rainbow, and watching one man screw another in the ass, while wearing an Amy Klobuchar mask and high-top sneaker's.; 3/8/20, 2:05 PM
The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...: I once got a half hour rant out of some Muzzie woman painted into some bullshit coexist mural on the side of a building in Olympia. Public art should be thought-provoking.; 3/8/20, 2:07 PM
Night Owl said...: You live in a leftist parody of itself. It's all fun and games until a tiny house pops up in your yard.; 3/8/20, 2:08 PM
Etienne said...: "queer people in positions of power"

The only viable position is the doggie position.; 3/8/20, 2:08 PM
traditionalguy said...: NB: it is never enough to accept the minority cults, we must build monuments to them to show publicly how much they are admired for being noble , superior hero’s.; 3/8/20, 2:09 PM
Hey Skipper said...: Several Madison alders are sponsoring the resolution creating the LGBTQ+ Rainbow Murals and Crossings Art Pilot Program, which would install LGBTQ+ inclusive rainbow flag markings...

Talkeetna, Alaska made a cat mayor.

Not to be outdone, Madisonisians vote for trees.; 3/8/20, 2:10 PM
Sam L. said...: Last I heard, "alders" are TREES. Was it supposed to be "elders"?; 3/8/20, 2:11 PM
Tarrou said...: "Why should the street be painted to remind us of who's in a position of power?"

To ask the question is to answer it. Kto/Kogo?; 3/8/20, 2:12 PM
I Have Misplaced My Pants said...: I imagine it used to be “aldermen” but we can’t have that horrible gendered language because our heads would explode and it would also literally be the Handmaid’s Tale all up in here.; 3/8/20, 2:16 PM
Etienne said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 3/8/20, 2:19 PM
pchuck1966 said...: You will be made to care and forced to pay for it.; 3/8/20, 2:21 PM
Anchovy1214 said...: As long as it offends Normals, It's a go.; 3/8/20, 2:24 PM
Chris N said...: At Peace Plaze East, we welcome community murals and uplifting reminders of our loyalty and obligations to the collective. Each morning, our Leader's words echo in the Human Pagoda.

Earthsong fills our hearts. Modern living and bodies in space/time, groping towards Utopia.

Namaste.; 3/8/20, 2:24 PM
LA_Bob said...: "I would not paint anything political on the street. Let the street be a street."

Yes. Absolutely right.

Fiorello LaGuardia, the legendary and shorter-than-Mike-Bloomberg mayor of New York City said, "There is no Democratic or Republican way of cleaning the streets." Apparently there's a Democratic way of painting them.; 3/8/20, 2:25 PM
Clyde said...: With that kind of attitude, Althouse would be one of the first sent to the re-education camps, come the revolution.; 3/8/20, 2:26 PM
ALP said...: I think we need to be reminded of the civil engineers that make roads possible rather than who the power structure sleeps with.; 3/8/20, 2:27 PM
Browndog said...: *art; 3/8/20, 2:29 PM
Browndog said...: All they wanted was to be able to get married, just like everyone else.

It'll be fine.; 3/8/20, 2:31 PM
WK said...: It doesn't need to talk to us, especially not to nudge us about what we should believe or value.

Nudge not, lest ye be nudged.; 3/8/20, 2:40 PM
effinayright said...: "Why should the street be painted to remind us of who's in a position of power?"

*************

Why not go all the way, and have signs along the street proclaim, "Prepare Your Anus"...; 3/8/20, 2:40 PM
wendybar said...: Waste of taxpayer money. They just love to blow through it as fast as they can.; 3/8/20, 2:42 PM
Wince said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 3/8/20, 2:45 PM
Wince said...: How is this proposal not Islamophobic?

They're putting symbols in contravention of Muslim beliefs on walkways in a way that puts Muslims in the position having to decide whether walking over them will be construed in terms of their cultural practice of putting such symbols on the ground to walk over them as an expression of disgust.; 3/8/20, 2:46 PM
Levi Starks said...: Dont you think you’re taking cruel neutrality a bit too far?; 3/8/20, 2:50 PM
MaxedOutMama said...: I thought alders were trees, and elders were people?

In English, "alderman" is a carryover from an old form of elder - it literally means a senior man/person. If you want to drop the "man", you are either (wince) going to have to go with alderperson or just correctly use "elder", which also means an senior person.; 3/8/20, 2:53 PM
FullMoon said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 3/8/20, 2:56 PM
FullMoon said...: Even better would be a rainbow colored hand with middle finger raised. Two messages at once..; 3/8/20, 2:58 PM
MaxedOutMama said...: I also have to comment that it sounds as if they are painting the rainbow flag on the ground where people will walk on it, which is widely held across many cultures to be an insult to the group which the flag represents. See, this is what happens when you abandon the rules of grammar - you become unable to think coherently at all.

Or is this really a sick inside joke of some sort by the crabby trees of Madison?

Truly this is one of the weirdest things I have ever seen posted anywhere. I'm not blaming Ann - she didn't make this up. I wouldn't blame Ann if she posted about this for an entire week, because there's either a lot of cognitive dissonance or just pure nastiness embodied in this little caper. This is the sort of thing I would expect from Putin or some whacked-out fundamentalist Muslim group. I think she's quite right to bring it to our attention.

But dang it all, try painting an American flag on the ground and invite a veteran to walk on it, and you WILL get a lesson. I would no more paint a rainbow flag on the ground where people would walk than I would willfully degrade any other symbol.; 3/8/20, 3:06 PM
Achilles said...: Why should the street be painted to remind us of who's in a position of power?

Stalin had statues.

The giant black fist still greets those entering Detroit.

Tyranny is always marked by monuments.

Tranny tyranny is no different. The people in power are always eager to display their power.

You will now bake me a cake.; 3/8/20, 3:06 PM
JaimeRoberto said...: Sounds like another case of wealthy white people being subsidized by working class people of color.; 3/8/20, 3:07 PM
Achilles said...: Mr Wibble said...

Because that's all social justice is: an attempt by certain groups to exercise power over the rest of us. Because the activists now in charge have only one interest and that is to humiliate and abuse everyone they dislike and blame for the snakes in their heads and the fact that they can never be truly happy. How is this shocking?

The river of history flows in one direction.; 3/8/20, 3:08 PM
daskol said...: Alder sounds like a tree, not a politician.; 3/8/20, 3:08 PM
daskol said...: Don't miss the forest for the alders.; 3/8/20, 3:10 PM
daskol said...: Aspens, left unmanaged, will take over entire mountainsides, killing the pines and the firs and all the other trees with cover and a root system that makes an entire forest a single organism. These are aspens, not dignified mighty alders.; 3/8/20, 3:12 PM
DavidUW said...: Love to see my property taxes that are going up 6%/year every year for the past decade are going to something important.; 3/8/20, 3:18 PM
Bruce Hayden said...: The good thing though is that they have essentially painted themselves into a corner, and headed down a rabbit hole with transsexuals. We now have trans Lesbians - guys who identify as lesbians. Even some who haven’t sexually transitioned. And women who complain about having anatomical males in their bathrooms are obviously not woke enough. Even if they are actual female homosexuals who don’t like men, because trans has more virtue points that cis homo. Where do you draw the line? It’s easy, if you can use traditional religion. Much harder whe you have discarded it. So, why can’t you have sex with kids, if you are allowed to teach them at even younger ages that sexual perversions of all sorts are good? And, indeed, under Islam (another group with a bunch of victim points) effectively only allows male homosexuality if the other party is prepubescent.

We all know the answer - society is happier and more productive if the traditional monogamous heterosexual family is celebrated, as contrasted with when it is attacked. Not keeping women chained at home, of course, because we no longer, as a society, need them mothering 10 kids in order to raise 2 to maturity. But otherwise, with a marriage of a single male and a single female living together in wedlock and having children. That is the environment that statistically provides the best results in child rearing. Their kids are more likely to be happy and a benefit to society, instead of a cost to society. Less likely to get involved in drug use, crime, teen aged pregnancy, dangerous sex, acquire STDs, etc. In many cases significantly less likely. These norms being violated by the left these days are norms, because they have been proven by millennia of human experience.

We may be forced to accept kids born out of, and raised out of wedlock, or by gay parents, etc, but we cannot be forced to believe that it is good for society. It is not. Their kids and grandkids will suffer for it. They will likely never reach their full potential, but will, instead, become locked into dysfunctional pathologies that lead to incarceration, disease, or even early death, for their kids, and esp their grandkids.

Most people don’t care if an adult ends up gay, or even transsexual, etc. Live and let live. Just keep it to yourselves, and don’t use it to destroy society. Don’t impose it on our children, or probably even your own. Don’t make us pay for the promiscuous sex of gay men, or deal with the effects and costs of subsidized out of wedlock child raising. Don’t force society to allow male predators into female safe havens. Etc. Because, then, it is no longer live and let live, but rather forcing normal society to support the dysfunctionalities of these pathologies.; 3/8/20, 3:26 PM
Ralph L said...: What do you want all over Madison--sunrise murals?; 3/8/20, 3:30 PM
gilbar said...: they did this in Ames, the painted the White Crossing marks rainbow colors;
and when the DOT said; "that's uncool, not all people (will see the crossings if not white)
and the city council told them:
"Fuck OFF we're queer, and we're here (in power); we'll do WHATEVER WE WANT"; 3/8/20, 3:30 PM
robother said...: Alders are great for smoking salmon, otherwise not worth much.; 3/8/20, 3:36 PM
Kevin said...: We must single people out to show how inclusive we are.

Now that's progressive!; 3/8/20, 3:44 PM
Jupiter said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 3/8/20, 3:45 PM
Mr Wibble said...: Young Man, we must keep our references to our primary sources correct, lest we lead the youth of today astray!

Gay Pride Parade Sets Back Gay Rights by 50 Years is, believe it or not, from The Onion, not the Babylon Bee.

It's actually funnier to think that it's in a Left-leaning publication like The Onion rather than the Bee.

I'm ashamed to admit that you are correct. I had forgotten that it was The Onion, back when it was still funny.; 3/8/20, 3:46 PM
Jupiter said...: "Why should the street be painted to remind us of who's in a position of power?"

Why are they named after Presidents?; 3/8/20, 3:46 PM
Francisco D said...: Why should the street be painted to remind us of who's in a position of power?

People who lose wars don't build statues unless they are White Southerners who were once in a position of power.

Shit doesn't get built unless it is by people in a position of power.; 3/8/20, 3:46 PM
GingerBeer said...: Better yet Madison should have streets that sing! It can create roads specifically tuned to play songs by LGBTQ+ artists. You don't have to look at a mural or a crosswalk, but you can't escape the tunes your car generates. Compulsory acknowledgment. Now that's a fabric that all good Leftists can support.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musical_road; 3/8/20, 3:49 PM
Bruce Hayden said...: “Aspens, left unmanaged, will take over entire mountainsides, killing the pines and the firs and all the other trees with cover and a root system that makes an entire forest a single organism. These are aspens, not dignified mighty alders”

Yet, in the west, Aspens are not the summit or climax tree. Aspens are typically the first trees to come in after a forest fire, but within a century or so have usually been pushed out by the large evergreens. Almost invariably, if you look close enough, whenever you see aspens, you can find evidence of previous forests of large evergreens. Yes, aspens have those root systems but what they don’t have is height. They need sun, and don’t get it in older forests of pine, spruce, fir, etc. towering over them, esp as the needles move upwards over time on these evergreens (likely caused by the canopy moving ever higher over the decades, and the lower down needles, and their limbs, not receiving enough sun either). Another advantage that these large evergreens have is that they are better adapted to fire. They have thick bark that protects them from periodic fires that run through the floors of forests, burning the underbrush - and the aspens with their thin bark. Thin enough that deer can, and do, strip it when hungry enough (Ever try to grow young aspens around a lot of deer? The only way to really do it is with fencing). Aspens tend to not survive that very well. The problem that we have seen in recent years though is that, thanks to aggressive human fire suppression, the fuel loads of the evergreen forests have built up to the point that we now see crown fires, that these large evergreens do not survive, because they burn hot enough and high enough that these trees now burn, and when they burn, the fires are hard to stop.; 3/8/20, 3:54 PM
sinz52 said...: bagoh20 said: "The only people the Right generally promotes is [sic] veterans and law enforcement. People who..."

...have employed armed force.; 3/8/20, 3:55 PM
Mary Beth said...: It would be a reminder to residents who see it that the LGBTQ community is an important part of the fabric of Madison, especially given that we have a lesbian mayor and many other queer people in positions of power

I pay attention to politicians before an election. Once elected, I don't want to be reminded of them. They just need to do their job and stay out of my day-to-day life as much as possible. This insistence on trying to make everyone think about them seems too culty. It's a good reason to vote against them next time.; 3/8/20, 3:57 PM
Ken B said...: Next, prosecutions for walking disrespectfully on the rainbows.; 3/8/20, 3:57 PM
sinz52 said...: My advice:

Don't paint anything on the street that you don't want to be soon eroded by cars and trucks and snowstorms and snowplows. Or soon defaced by pothole patches. If there's a pothole, what are they going to do? Carefully repaint on top of the pothole patch?

Two years ago, they repainted the yellow lines dividing the roads where I live. Now those yellow lines are already badly eroded.; 3/8/20, 3:57 PM
Ken B said...: 16 years for spitting on the street.

If you think I am kidding, google.; 3/8/20, 3:59 PM
gspencer said...: What you said, "Let the street be a street. It doesn't need to talk to us"

What the homosexuals et alia say you said, "You said you HATE queer people and want us all DEAD!"; 3/8/20, 3:59 PM
Ken B said...: Orwell answered the question why in 1984. A boot grinding a face, forever.; 3/8/20, 4:00 PM
Temujin said...: Collectivism destroys everything.; 3/8/20, 4:04 PM
tcrosse said...: Well, they could give streets new names, like Reacharound Road or Scissoring Parkway.; 3/8/20, 4:05 PM
David Begley said...: Madison should put a mural on King Street for its most famous Free Speech champion: Ann Althouse!; 3/8/20, 4:13 PM
Quaestor said...: Welcome to queer fascism. A lot like the old fascism, except the normals wear the striped pajamas and the queers are in the guard towers.; 3/8/20, 4:18 PM
exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...: As another commenter noted above, I want elected officials to fill potholes and maintain the roads, not celebrate diversity via painting rainbows on crossings. I'm not that familiar with Madison, but if it's like Milwaukee, it has at least some streets with potholes the size of craters.

Spending taxpayer money on something so frivolous shows, once again, how stupid and unserious the woke are.; 3/8/20, 4:19 PM
Christopher B said...: Like somebody said, "You will be made to care.". I think you voted for her husband.; 3/8/20, 4:22 PM
Quaestor said...: ...I am starting to not like rainbows.

Swastikas used to be harmless until people like the queers who run Madison ruined it.; 3/8/20, 4:24 PM
cbunix23 said...: They're behaving like dogs marking their territory.; 3/8/20, 4:25 PM
autothreads said...: "It would be a reminder to residents who see it that the LGBTQ community is an important part of the fabric of Madison, especially given that we have a lesbian mayor and many other queer people in positions of power'"

If there is a lesbian mayor and many other queer people in positions of power in Madison, a rational person might think those facts in and of themselves demonstrate that the LGBTQ community is an important part of the fabric of Madison.

Do we need to ask if the people promoting this stuff think bible-believing Christians and Orthodox Jews are part of the fabric of Madison? They'll be painting verses from the Quran on Madison streets before that happens.; 3/8/20, 4:26 PM
Quaestor said...: The gays who are NOT fascists need to speak up leak we draw the wrong conclusion about the whole fucking alphabet soups of poseurs and sexual freaks. Douglas Murray is a man with a brilliant mind and an eloquent style, but he's just one man.; 3/8/20, 4:42 PM
Doug said...: The rainbows are little sign posts that say: "Spend your money in some other town, where there are grownups."; 3/8/20, 4:46 PM
Inkling said...: Perhaps some brave group should act in the night and with high-quality paint, put the Jewish Star of David and the Christian cross on those same streets. What's good for the goose...; 3/8/20, 4:47 PM
Ken B said...: Inkling
Those would get you prison time. Crescent, go for a crescent.; 3/8/20, 4:50 PM
Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...: A rainbow flag on the crosswalk is a lecture from the State.; 3/8/20, 4:58 PM
Darkisland said...: Blogger Francisco D said...

Shit doesn't get built unless it is by people in a position of power.

Watts Towers?

John Henry; 3/8/20, 5:04 PM
Fernandinande said...: "Hurray for us!" they cried.; 3/8/20, 5:23 PM
Ruprecht said...: They want folks to walk on the rainbow flag?
Reminds me of Iran putting the Israel and American flags on teh ground so folks could stomp on them and show disrespect.; 3/8/20, 5:27 PM
Birkel said...: Althouse remains surprised that the slope is very slippery and has very few off ramps.

It's fascinating.; 3/8/20, 5:29 PM
tcrosse said...: The Beaudry Métro station, in the Gay Village of Montréal, is decorated rainbow-style. None of the others are. That makes it kind of a ghetto.; 3/8/20, 5:36 PM
William said...: These rainbow crossings promise to do for gay people what the various MLK Boulevards and decorative art have done for black people. The black people on MLK Blvd walk taller and straighter there than anywhere else in the city. Crime is almost unknown. And all by the simple expedient of changing a street's name. What wonders will these rainbow crossing perform?; 3/8/20, 5:59 PM
Curious George said...: "Sam L. said...
Last I heard, "alders" are TREES. Was it supposed to be "elders"?"

"I Have Misplaced My Pants said...
I imagine it used to be “aldermen” but we can’t have that horrible gendered language because our heads would explode and it would also literally be the Handmaid’s Tale all up in here."

It used to be Alderman and Alder Lesbian. I forget when they decided to shorten it to Alder for both.; 3/8/20, 6:11 PM
n.n said...: Another attempt to unite the transgender spectrum. The "Rainbow" has fared poorly since trans/homos argued with religious fervor to justify their dogmatic principle of political congruence ("="). That said, instead of being "=" and exclusive, they should carefully consider what they want to normalize, tolerate, and reject, and lose their Pro-Choice, selective, opportunistic religion.; 3/8/20, 6:19 PM
n.n said...: Althouse remains surprised that the slope is very slippery and has very few off ramps.

It is, in fact, a progressive (i.e. monotonic) slope, with liberal (i.e. divergent) detours, headed to a dysfunctional convergence.; 3/8/20, 6:23 PM
gadfly said...: “What Would Bob Do?” [sign] proclaimed “La Follette forever.”; 3/8/20, 6:32 PM
cubanbob said...: BleachBit-and-Hammers said...
A rainbow flag on the crosswalk is a lecture from the State."

The people who authorized this don't understand what they have done. Stepping on a flag isn't a ringing endorsement of it.; 3/8/20, 6:34 PM
Jaq said...: With any luck, God won’t get angry again. You wouldn’t like him when he’s angry.

https://phys.org/news/2020-03-evidence-cosmic-impact-destruction-world.html

I think that that impact event shaped monotheism. Well, that’s my humble opinion, unprovable, unfalsifiable.; 3/8/20, 6:47 PM
Ray said...: It's about getting back at those they blame for the shame they feel. Anger will temporarily mask shame, but then you have to get angry again.; 3/8/20, 7:00 PM
Arashi said...: So as part of this movement, will all of the rainbow folks have to start wearing rainbow patches on their clothes so they can be readily identified, so other folks can behave appropriately?; 3/8/20, 7:25 PM
Clark said...: @Quaestor: "The gays who are NOT fascists need to speak up."

There are plenty of us gays—whether or not we are a majority I do not know—that are just going about leading our lives. It is not clear to me why the responsibility should fall on me to go out of my way to correct those people who jump to the false conclusion that the LGBTQ activists represent all gay people. I am happy to speak up when the opportunity presents itself, but notice that when I do it I am importuning you by asking that you "notice and acknowledge the existence and presence of an LGBTQ" person, as someone described it upthread.; 3/8/20, 7:31 PM
n.n said...: Stepping on a flag isn't a ringing endorsement of it.

Certainly not in the Muslim world.; 3/8/20, 7:40 PM
Ken B said...: Clark
The problem is that these activists who are pushing such measures *claim to be speaking for you*. That can make your silence look like assent.; 3/8/20, 8:07 PM
Jeff Weimer said...: Keep voting for Democrats and this is what you get, Ann.

You will be made to care, and nothing isn't political to them.; 3/8/20, 8:12 PM
mtrobertslaw said...: Here's how this silliness will end. Within two or three months after the rainbows have been painted on the crosswalks, an outraged member of the LGBTQ community will claim he has seen people spiting on or deliberately walking on the rainbows. Their intention, he will say, is to desecrate a symbol that is held near and dear by the LGBYTQ community. This is a hate crime and therefore should be criminalized. After endless hours of public hearings and emotional testimony, common council will order the rainbows to be removed.; 3/8/20, 8:12 PM
daskol said...: Yes, aspens have those root systems but what they don’t have is height. They need sun, and don’t get it in older forests of pine, spruce, fir, etc. towering over them, esp as the needles move upwards over time on these evergreens (likely caused by the canopy moving ever higher over the decades, and the lower down needles, and their limbs, not receiving enough sun either).

Another thing that helps the Aspens vs. the evergreens: the pine loving beetles. Deer may enjoy a little aspen here and there, but I think mostly the beetles don't, and they kill the pines. Sad to see mountains with > 70% of the pines (but not the firs?) eaten to death or mostly so.; 3/8/20, 8:18 PM
daskol said...: First time I ever saw them, I thought white aspens were maybe some kind of birch or alder like tree that had figured out how to avoid dandruff, come to think of it.; 3/8/20, 8:20 PM
Clark said...: @KenB

Activists claiming to speak for me can make my silence look like assent. Sure, to those who aren't thinking. Granted, that's a lot of people.

Caveat audiens.; 3/8/20, 8:23 PM
ken in tx said...: I'm surprised that Madison is so far behind the times. I was in Charlottetown, New Brunswick, Ca. three years ago. Every cross walk was painted with rainbow stripes and half the buildings sported rainbow flags, including our B&B.; 3/8/20, 8:28 PM
Narr said...: I was going lickety-split down Highway 69 when I was distracted by a crowd of Rainbow People in pussy hats and waving enormous dildoes.

Narr
Then I realized it was just public school teachers' in-service; 3/8/20, 8:29 PM
Quaestor said...: @Clark

I do not acknowledge the existence of T. I do not hold that opinions trump reality.; 3/8/20, 8:35 PM
Quaestor said...: Clark writes: Sure, to those who aren't thinking.

Poppycock. Qui tacet consentire videtur, ubi loqui debuit ac potuit.; 3/8/20, 8:37 PM
Meade said...: Do we really need government choosing winners and losers based on citizens' sexual orientations? I thought we were trying to get away from that sort of thing.; 3/8/20, 8:38 PM
Kevin said...: "Several Madison alders are sponsoring the resolution creating the LGBTQ+ Rainbow Murals and Crossings Art Pilot Program

What do they have to lose?

Until there is a downside, this is a risk-free move and will continue regardless of whether it passes or is implemented.

As Scott Adams likes to say, "it's like picking up free money".; 3/8/20, 8:51 PM
Quaestor said...: Do we really need government choosing winners and losers based on citizens' sexual orientations? I thought we were trying to get away from that sort of thing.

Of course, we do! What are you, Meade, some kind of knuckle-dragging Neanderthal like me?; 3/8/20, 8:51 PM
mockturtle said...: One of my oft quoted adages: Satan always overplays his hand.; 3/8/20, 8:52 PM
Quaestor said...: Pardon me while a lurch off to my cave and slouch toward Bethlehem or something.; 3/8/20, 8:53 PM
Clark said...: That is a legal maxim that doesn't hold in most of the areas in which I practice law.

I speak up as much as I think is appropriate. But concluding that the gay activists speak for all gays is a bit like concluding that Twitter democrats speak for all democrats.; 3/8/20, 8:56 PM
Paul said...: All these people are doing is turning the average Joe (and Jane) OFF on fringe groups.

LGBTQ+ Rainbow Murals and Crossings Art Pilot Program?? Who gives a f*ck.

And yet they expect taxpayers to foot the bill. Like I said... they are turning people off.; 3/8/20, 9:01 PM
DanTheMan said...: >>is a bit like concluding that Twitter democrats speak for all democrats.

It's the 95% of democrats that give the rest a bad reputation.; 3/8/20, 9:02 PM
Narayanan said...: Isn't it time for American to drive on left side of street since all socialist now!?; 3/8/20, 9:03 PM
Bill Befort said...: Elders are woody shrubs with soft, pithy stems. They produce berries,from which your granny made elderberry wine.
Alders are a genus of trees. Some are tall, like red alder, one of the comparatively few deciduous trees flourishing among the coastal conifers in the Pacific Northwest. Here in the Midwest, alders are low in stature and grow in waterlogged soils.
Aspens are members of the poplar genus, like cottonwoods only different. They are "pioneer species" that colonize sites disturbed by fire. Aspens and paper birch yield to more shade-tolerant trees in the ordinary course of succession. Poplars in general are not valued for structural wood, but they make good paper. They grow rapidly and regenerate from root-suckers, saving much of the cost of site preparation and replanting. Where repeatedly cut, they can come to dominate large areas.
There.; 3/8/20, 9:07 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: It's less safe if you put up more clutter bidding for already inattentive drivers attention.; 3/8/20, 9:09 PM
Jupiter said...: Meade said...
"Do we really need government choosing winners and losers based on citizens' sexual orientations?"

Hey, look. You come up with a cis-het flag, I'm sure they'll be happy to paint that all over the streets of Madison too.

Or, should it be separate flags for cis-het male and cis-het female? Now they've got me doing it.; 3/8/20, 9:09 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: Now that I drive again, I just want to know if there's a stop sign ahead or not.; 3/8/20, 9:10 PM
cyrus83 said...: The left never stops because there always has to be a cause to be pissed off about, some wrong that needs to be endlessly redressed in ever more insane gestures. While a live demonstration of gay sex by male strippers in front of kindergarten kids in the name of teaching tolerance/sex education may sound over the top now, some school board somewhere will eventually propose it within a few years just because everything less insane will have already been done - unless of course the normal people have revolted by then and brought an end to this nonsense.

These alders aren't good people. They are narcissists looking to virtue signal to get favorable media reviews and favorable attention from other narcissists so they can feel good about themselves.; 3/8/20, 11:29 PM
cf said...: thank you, Ann, and of course you are right, now that you put it that way.

i keep allowing these usurpations of normalcy, a pox on my lazy heart.; 3/8/20, 11:52 PM
MadTownGuy said...: I prefer David Blaska's term 'alderoids' - not sure if he coined the word but it fits and is both gender-neutral and mildly derisive.; 3/9/20, 12:31 AM
RETCOL said...: Oh, this is nice. I seem to recall some other group doing this in the past. I believe it was in Denmark, no wait, Germany. They had this cute little Hindu symbol. I believed it was in the form of an upper-cased “X” with little appendages. I think it was called a “swami,” no, a “swastika,” that’s it. And everyone loved it and joined the little swastika people and if they didn’t, they were called names and eventually they were excluded from society and later, sent to “education” camps. But that couldn’t possibly happen in America, could it????; 3/9/20, 1:40 AM
Ty said...: Rainbow roads are fun. Reminds me of Mario Kart.

If the pilot program is successful, Madison could expand it to include other locations and designs. The city would retain final authority over the murals and could remove them at any time and for any reason, according to the resolution.

“We don’t see this as any sort of political statement, but regardless, we structured this so it doesn't create an open forum,” Heck said.

That sounds about right.; 3/9/20, 3:10 AM
Rusty said...: What? Nobody has a Lenin stencil?; 3/9/20, 5:38 AM
Curious George said...: "DanTheMan said...
>>is a bit like concluding that Twitter democrats speak for all democrats."

Our resident dullard Inga constantly speaks for the "Vast majority" of a) democrats, because she is one b) liberals because she is one c) military because her daughter is in the Navy d) Wiscos etc.; 3/9/20, 5:59 AM
Chris said...: Attention MUST be paid. you see, it's not enough that you really don't give two shits about gay people or gay pride or any of that. You could care less. Live and let live is your motto. But that's not enough. ATTENTION MUST BE PAID.; 3/9/20, 6:07 AM
Michael said...: While this might appear to some as virtue signalling, or even as using the apparatus of the state to (figuratively and almost literally) cement an ideological message, what those folks don't understand is that in a patriarchal, sexist, colonialist, settler-based theocracy (such as the one envisioned under the Federalist Papers, and operated under the Constitution, Marbury, the 14th Amendment, FN4 of Carolene Products), every day is Kristallnacht, the Pettus Bridge, etc., for lesbians and more so for lesbians of color. The only way to combat this is to fight homophobia and anti-blackness with all tools at all times.

First ye will tolerate, then ye will celebrate, then ye will silently venerate.; 3/9/20, 6:30 AM
Phil 314 said...: We have a rainbow crosswalk in a gay neighborhood, Melrose, in Phoenix. And yes it happens to be the one curved street in the otherwise grid street pattern of Phoenix.

Melrose also has a high concentration of mid-century modern furniture and design stores.

But lets not stereotype.; 3/9/20, 7:24 AM
Clayton Hennesey said...: Here's what it will look like:

https://www.dmagazine.com/frontburner/2020/02/installation-of-oak-lawns-new-rainbow-crosswalks-has-begun/

The phrase "be careful what you wish for" comes to mind.; 3/9/20, 8:46 AM
Marc in Eugene said...: Not to be outdone, Madisonisians vote for trees.

Ha. One could search about online; I expect Madison isn't the only municipality once governed by boards of aldermen and alderwomen that's decided that rule by trees is preferable.; 3/9/20, 8:57 AM
JAORE said...: Virtue signals cost a lot less (and not just in treasure) than action.

Especially the flailing about, unintended consequences, rights stomping actions we've come to expect.; 3/9/20, 9:22 AM
JAORE said...: By the way the cost of placing and maintaining these crosswalks is FAR above the cost of the single, white color. (Most are thermoplastic, not "paint"but that's the generic term. Hmmm multiple colors means multiple melting pots which means....stupid, stupid, stupid.

Of course they could be paint, some idiot highway groups still do that. But then the life expectancy falls WAY off. And they are supposed to include retro-reflectivity characteristics. Oooops.

And how, if ever, do you get off this crazy train? Mill out and replace the asphalt then paint white? Try to cover the old colors/ And the uproar! YOU ARE ERASING US!

Nope, this stupid will go on forever.; 3/9/20, 9:38 AM
PM said...: While NAMBLA struggles with skateboard stickers. Sad.; 3/9/20, 10:06 AM
Known Unknown said...: "back when it was still funny."

It is still funny, it's just that they produce 1000x more content than they did 10 years ago. Most of that stuff probably falls into the unfunny category, because it's harder to be funny than unfunny.; 3/9/20, 10:36 AM
Known Unknown said...: "https://www.dmagazine.com/frontburner/2020/02/installation-of-oak-lawns-new-rainbow-crosswalks-has-begun/"

Just pretend that your town is really into Kiki Vandeweghe.; 3/9/20, 10:38 AM
Brian McKim and/or Traci Skene said...: Ugh. Public murals and other such works are so Third World-ish.; 3/9/20, 10:48 AM
mockturtle said...: Clutter. I hate clutter.; 3/9/20, 11:37 AM
Unknown said...: When my city (Denver) councilman was running for reelection, he highlighted the fact that he had been INSTRUMENTAL in getting a rainbow crosswalk put in (i.e. painted).

It has not aged well (see "paint" vs "plastic stripe" comment, above). It was stupid to begin with. It is JUST ONE cross walk in a neighborhood with 100s. "So what?" on so many levels.; 3/9/20, 4:11 PM
Bunkypotatohead said...: "These rainbow crossings promise to do for gay people what the various MLK Boulevards and decorative art have done for black people."
MLK Blvds are signs to white people to not go there. The homo rainbows will do the same for normals.; 3/9/20, 7:56 PM