February 9, 2023

I'm only noticing now — and only because "Madison" is trending on Twitter — that Joe Biden flew into Madison yesterday.

I wrote "flew into Madison" because the plane landed in Madison, but the event was at the LiUNA Laborers' Training Center in DeForest. 

Know your Madison-area landscape:

 

DeForest is a village with a population of 10,811. It has a library, built in 2002, designed to look like Norway's Stavekirke, honoring the Norwegians who settled in this region. It's close to Madison, but I don't think I've ever gone there and walked around, though, of course, I've zipped past it on I-90. 

This is the first time I've mentioned DeForest on this blog. And I've mentioned Paoli and McFarland and Waunakee.

ADDED: I'm just focusing on that third photograph. Why are there so few people on the risers behind the podium? That's supposed to be the big photo op, and it's full of empty space:


Do the workers not support Biden? Are there not that many people at the LiUNA Laborers' Training Center in DeForest? Were there others but they didn't look the way the campaign wanted them to look? Maybe they destroyed the racial balance. Was anyone in DeForest annoyed that Biden's signs said "Madison, Wisconsin"? 

AND: I anticipate that some of you, taking me up on the invitation to study that Madison-area map, may be wondering whether the LiUNA Laborers' Training Center is really in DeForest, because what about Windsor? The Training Center lists its address as DeForest, but there is a little village called Windsor in that area. 

Windsor voted to incorporate as a village on November 3, 2015; prior to its incorporation, it was a town, and a portion of the town was a census-designated place.[5] Windsor is a part of the Census Bureau's Madison metropolitan statistical area.

A portion of the former town was part of a disputed annexation by the Village of DeForest. In July 2004, the village and town reached a settlement in which part of the disputed area would be annexed by the village and part would remain with the town. In addition, the town and village agreed to exchange other less populated land.

A territorial dispute of some kind. Was it bitter? Is there strife? I had not heard of it, but it seems the people of DeForest and Windsor care about these lines. I was just writing this post to say the I think the Madison/DeForest line matters, but I had never ever heard of the DeForest/Windsor particularities.

ALSO: That's a great picture of the mayor of Madison and the governor of Wisconsin. So bright and wholesome. Love the colorful neckwear.

70 comments:

tim in vermont said...

He is running on neo-Trumpism. Trump won the intellectual battle, Josh Hamash, who profited by buying small American companies and shipping the jobs to China, lost.

You know what crucible finally precipitated the molten truth out of all of the claptrap fed to us by the globalists who forced Biden on us? The war in Ukraine, which has demonstrated incontrovertibly that the US does not have the industrial capacity to fight a war with Russia, or more importantly, and by extension, China, or maybe even North Korea, without going nuclear.

Our government was an alliance of neocons and globalists, but in fact, these two power centers have sharply divergent interests. The globalists have lost, just as Trump predicted. The neocons are in charge now. The neocons want an industrial capacity in the United States to fight a war with China. It's too late for that, BTW, better to just get along with China as best we can. The only thing the neocons had against Trump was that he cared about American lives and wished to avoid wars. He had sympathy for the grunts, and their families, sympathies that no self-respecting neocon could brook.

The other thing that ended globalism, and showed that Trump was right, was the pandemic and the way it exploded "just in time," our economy ground to a halt due to globalism. Oh, and incidentally, "just in time" is no way to procure weapons, because, as we have learned, "just in time" is, in fact, "too late."

Shouting Thomas said...

LiUNA tries to unionize construction workers.

Biden’s open borders policy allows millions of illegals into the country, where many of them are employed for cash as construction workers…

Undercutting the wages of American construction workers. And putting them out of work.

richlb said...

Windsor chants "Build! That! Wall!!"

MadTownGuy said...

If only someone had a little white balloon and set it bouncing through the 'crowd'...

Fredrick said...

It doesn't look like there is racial balance in the photo op. What is the racial makeup of the laborers union and don't those people work for a living? I can't imagine too many people using a vacation day to be at a Biden speech this far out from the 2024 election. His last campaign sure didn't motivate any in person attendance.

Jersey Fled said...

"Why are there so few people on the risers behind the podium?"

Hopefully because the rest are all working on those shovel ready projects.

Owen said...

From the pictures it would appear that Biden attracted a crowd of literally dozens of people to this Potemkin event in a “census-designated place.” They mobilized Air Force One and, I suppose, the Beast and various teams of advance security and logistics experts at a cost of, my SWAG, several hundred thousand dollars. For what, exactly?

michaele said...

Oddly, in his speech at this gathering, Biden returned to the trope that the republicans wanted to take their Social Security and Medicare. And, yet the night before, at his State of the Union speech, when he said that same kind of line, the pushback by GOP members was so loud, he acknowledged that it was no longer an issue to worry about. So, is Biden suffering from short term memory loss or political lying? Not they are mutually exclusive.

Ann Althouse said...

On the question of racial balance, DeForest is "95.34% White, 1.48% African American, 0.34% Native American, 0.68% Asian, 0.14% Pacific Islander, 0.62% from other races, and 1.40% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino people of any race were 2.19% of the population."

Biden is choosing to appear in an overwhelmingly white part of the country, then may have to try to cover up that reality.

Madison itself is less overwhelmingly white: " 71.0% White, 9.5% Asian, 7.4% Black or African American, 0.5% Native American, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 3.8% from other races, and 7.8% from two or more races."

RideSpaceMountain said...

Curb yourenthusiasm DeForest! Don't everybody get excited all at once!

gilbar said...

remember when? remember when Jo Biden "said" he was going to "unite" america?
it was back around the time, that he "said" he was going to have a "transparent"* admin.

So, where did Jo go after his state of the union speech? To a Union boot camp, in Blue Wisco.
Now that the dems have axed the iowa caucuses.. I assume that Jo won't EVER set foot in Red iowa.

"transparent"* Now that i think about it; Maybe Jo meant "trans Parent" who'll chop off their daughters breasts?

gilbar said...

ps WHY is iowa a Red state? Because we require voter ID, and don't mail out ballots?

re Pete said...

"Too much of nothing

Can make a man abuse a king

He can walk the streets and boast like most

But he wouldn’t know a thing

Now, it’s all been done before

It’s all been written in the book

But when there’s too much of nothing

Nobody should look"

rehajm said...

When I lived in Boston a number of those union actions would happen around my building- at Legal Seafoods when the McDonalds hate was happening or at the Park Plaza which is full on union love (Park Plaza was the place where they tried to launch card check when Obama was President) Anyways, if you hang around these things there's always the carefully chosen people for the photo op and just off camera there's a handful of suits keeping watch, who are either union leadership or the government/quasi government organization hired in the outsource of the photo op. You can tell it is theatre because all the hard hats are shiny and new, as are much of the kit. If you hang around after its over some of the background people can be seen taking off the shiny hard hats and vests and putting on their office jackets and stepping into their Mercedes or BMW to head back to the law firm...

The union guys in Boston are too wealthy to have their people work these things or the picket lines- they usually hire lessers to stand on the lines if they aren't going to be backdrops to some pol. Too ugly, those lessers are...

Wince said...

Why are there so few people on the risers behind the podium? That's supposed to be the big photo op, and it's full of empty space

This photo makes the event look even more sparsely attended.

Gusty Winds said...

Althouse wrote: On the question of racial balance, DeForest is "95.34% White, 1.48% African American, 0.34% Native American, 0.68% Asian, 0.14% Pacific Islander, 0.62% from other races, and 1.40% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino people of any race were 2.19% of the population."

Biden is choosing to appear in an overwhelmingly white part of the country, then may have to try to cover up that reality.

Madison itself is less overwhelmingly white: " 71.0% White, 9.5% Asian, 7.4% Black or African American, 0.5% Native American, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 3.8% from other races, and 7.8% from two or more races."


Biden likes Ivory Tower liberal white people, and there are plenty of them in Madison and DeForest. That's his tribe.

Don't expect Biden or our beta cuck Gov Evers to go to Milwaukee where a 37-year-old white police officer was killed by a 19-year-old African American man (also killed). This was just this past Monday immediately after the man was released by a liberal judge with 12 months probation for not one, but two hit and run car crashes.

Does this stuff even make the Madison news?? Or is the 70 miles enough of a buffer zone?

And this April in Wisconsin we have and exiting WI Supreme Court race where white liberals from DeForest and Madison will vote for an openly partisan liberal judge who is promising to legislate from the bench. She totes the bullshit line that Act 10 was unconstitutional, and that Wisconsin is Gerrymandered because Madison can't control absolutely everything.

rehajm said...

...and 7.8% from two or more races.

How enlightened of you...

Achilles said...

Nobody honestly thinks 81 million people voted for this man.

Mike of Snoqualmie said...

That's not the usual Air Force One. It looks like a smaller narrow-body jet, not a 747 jumbo jet. Wikipedia has a picture of the C-32, a 757-based cargo/passenger plane.

Why would Bidden (as Joe does what China bids him to do) fly on a smaller jet when he could fly on the luxorios 747?

narciso said...

is malley a neocon, in sherman, no one is a hardcore islamist, the other an inveterate leftists, yes they gave victoria the eastern european billet, you saw her work in libya,

why not lumumba, or marighella, the former was the martyr for the soviet cause, the latter the theorist about urban guerilla fighting, from brazil

Temujin said...

Another hall that is only partially filled for Biden. And those in attendance- the union workers- were told to be there for pay, or lose shifts (I'm guessing). This guy could not attract a line of people if he was handing out water in Miami in July.

No one wants to see or hear more of Biden than they do by accident, walking past a TV when he's talking.

Whiskeybum said...

A line of nearly 20 cars waited to catch a glimpse of Air Force One Wednesday morning as it landed in Madison.

Wow, you mean almost 20 cars showed up near the airport? So, something like 17 or 18 cars? That's probably about the number of cars waiting for a red light at the main intersection in Windsor, WI at any given time. Wisconsin is really gung-ho for Potato Joe!

And I love the generic 'good news' sign propped up on the podium: "Good Jobs - Lower Costs - Better Pay". Can you be more specific? And since 'Better Pay' equates to 'Higher Costs', how do those economics jive? What's going to drive 'Lower Costs'? Inflation?

Iman said...

81 million!

/sarc

Bob Boyd said...

That's not the usual 747 they use for Air Force One. Maybe the runway at Madison can't handle the larger plane.

Bob Boyd said...

A territorial dispute of some kind. Was it bitter? Is there strife?

Casualties were very high. That's why there are so few men to fill the stands at the Labor Center.

Gusty Winds said...

The irony of seeing "Lower Costs" on the signs in front of Biden, in a town (Madison, WI) where the University of Wisconsin drives young people into massive debt with out of control college cost so woke admins can live a good life.

They are the one's getting the "better pay" and have ZERO respect for the private sector working class.

And guess which town benefits the most from WI tax payers, and throws and absolute shit fit if anyone tries to curb state spending or lower the tax burden...that's right Madison.

It's like the entire town is living in Mr. Rodgers Land of Make Believe.

Bob Boyd said...

"Almost 20" means 11 if it's Biden.

If it was Trump, they'd have said, "Not even a thousand cars made the short trip to the airport to greet the unpopular President who is under investigation by numerous Congressional committees. Trump claimed falsely on twitter that a "huge" crowd had turned out for his arrival.

Sebastian said...

"lower costs" of what?

Curious George said...

"Why would Bidden (as Joe does what China bids him to do) fly on a smaller jet when he could fly on the luxorios 747?"

Dane County Airport probably can't handle the 747...or that 747.

Mike of Snoqualmie said...

Joe Bidden has a mental reboot while trying to deliver his speech. He stops talking, moves toward the podium, puts the mic down briefly, then starts talking on the other side of the podium.

He also stumbles through "junk free prevention act" as he's reading from the teleprompter.

He should be in a home for the senile, not the White House. Jill is on a power trip. "First Lady Jill Bidden" must be an aphrodisiac for her. Now she's angling for the Second Dude's affections. What a lovely person she must be (/sarc).

Black Bellamy said...

I asked Alexa this morning to play NPR news. First story "President Biden is traveling around the country to support his legislative agenda" followed by several minutes of details where he is going, who he is going to speak to and about what. Second story was "Death count in earthquake reaches fifteen thousand."
No one gives a shit about the Turks. They are over THERE, but meanwhile HERE we have a politician reading speeches in places!


Gospace said...

Darn, I go to comments and Bob Boyd already said what I was going to say, but better.

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

He's running.
Biden - the pro-Union grift/ anti-right-to-work (without a union) - mob boss.

Rusty said...

"20 cars lined the road." There are 19," laborers" lining the bleachers at the union hall.
Tell me there was vote fraud without saying there was vote fraud.

Mike of Snoqualmie said...

Joe "Helen of Troy" Bidden has a face that launched a 1,000 Chinese "weather balloons."

Humperdink said...

A twin engine jet. Biden's version of going green.

Bob Boyd said...

The guy in the orange tie looks a little too much like Fauci.

MadisonMan said...

All those swarms of people are certainly enthusiastic to vote for Incumbent Biden!!!!

Big Mike said...

That's not the usual 747 they use for Air Force One. Maybe the runway at Madison can't handle the larger plane.

Correct. Madison has three runways: 9006 ft, 7200 ft, and 5846 ft. Technically a 747 could land on any of them, in a desperate pinch, but taking off on a runway less than 10,000 is officially deemed inadvisable.

Big Mike said...

Nice of Evers to wait for Biden in a University of Illinois tie.

Fred Drinkwater said...

Big Mike, Ouch. I'm going to have to try landing a 747 on that 5800 foot runway. Sounds terrifying. (Simulator, of course.)

Owen said...

“On the question of racial balance,…” I was disappointed that the numbers stopped at one decimal place. And only one category for mixed race (“two or more”). If these numbers and categories are important —and they are— we need more precision and more complete specification. I want to know how many people —to ten significant figures— are Trobriand Islander-Lithuanian-Tutsi-Bengali-Cherokee-Bog Irish, and in what proportion. Also if they are binary, ternary, rainbow transitioning, autistic and furrykin. Without that information we will be unable to rank people and cut them the right-sized reparations check.

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

Biden is really popular. 9as you can see by the crowds) Why he will run and win in 2024.
The left want Trump in the R spot. Then the cheat to win crowd can play their part again.

0_0 said...

The smaller plane is used for smaller runways that can not take 747-sized planes.

tim in vermont said...

If Joe Biden had a "Trump was right" jar, it would be overflowing with hundred dollar bills.

gilbar said...

W bush landed airforce on at Ames (AMW, the long runway, 1/19 is 5,701 by 100 ft )
Of course, when Barry O'Bama came to Ames, HE landed in Des Moines (DSM, its long runway, 5/23 is 9,004 by 150 feet).

I'll let YOU decide, why democrats need longer runways?

Lars Porsena said...

I bet dozens of and dozens of people attended.

Humperdink said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Meade said...

“Nice of Evers to wait for Biden in a University of Illinois tie.”

Syracuse U? You know—where Joe graduated first in his class with the highest grade point average and IQ since Neil Kinnock.

Iman said...

h/t George Thorogood

You folks talk about the Madison crew
We got a thing we call the Madison Screws
We do the Madison Screws
We do the Madison Screws
We do the Madison Screws baby
Spend away your blues, ohh yeah

Now Joe Biden flew into town, it’s true
He told me “Big Lou’s just like you, he’s on meds too!”
Ben Dover Madison Screws
Get ready, Madison True Screws
I got the Madison Screws Blues
Now screw away your blues… ohh yeah

wendybar said...

Keep him there.

Gerda Sprinchorn said...

My guess is heckling.

If there had been even a single heckler at the event, it would have dominated the news story. Now that heckling has become commonplace, you have to keep attendance tightly controlled.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

The VP was here in GA yesterday and they shut down a major artery just for her and her security. Not good to say the least.

n.n said...

climate change

Bob Boyd said...

Joe "Helen of Troy" Bidden has a face that launched a 1,000 Chinese "weather balloons."


LMAO!

Humperdink said...

I just love the hard hats in the photo. Reminds me of all the people wearing white lab coats with stethoscopes dangling in previous Chi-Com healthcare debate photos. I wish someone would grab one of these props and ask them where they work. Probably all dem staffers.

Joe Smith said...

And boy, are his arms tired...

Joe Smith said...

He's just visiting his communist base...

Aggie said...

They counted almost 20 cars there to see Presiden Biden, but they had to wait for a red light to do it.

I wonder what Hunter needed the 747 for.

Michael said...

Geography is white supremacy

Danno said...

Vallarta-Ast (Deforest, WI) | Disc Golf Courses

https://www.discgolfscene.com/courses/Vallarta-Ast

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Best disc golf course in Wisconsin. You have to watch out for the wild parsnip in the rough, though.

walter said...

Did Joe get a cone?
Any girl sniffing?
Busy week for Team Juice.

walter said...

"Syracuse U? You know—where Joe graduated first in his class with the highest grade point average and IQ since Neil Kinnock. "
--
"Look it up!!!"

Tomcc said...

It's a small(ish) town training center. Does it serve all of Wisconsin or a larger geographic area? If not, then, yeah, not a lot of staff or students. Is the orange tie a Ukraine thing?

Rocco said...

The 747 typically uses about 7,000 feet of runway. Dane County airport has a 9,000 footer.

The amount of runway needed by a specific plane varies by a lot of different factors, including weather, etc, etc. So Bush landing in Ames on a 5,700 footer took some skill and planning to execute.

During testing Boeing landed a 747 in just 4,200 feet, but that was under ideal testing conditions.

There were some plans to replace Air Force One due to it being an aging air-frame, but Trump scuttled those plans due to the billions it was projected to cost.

Mike of Snoqualmie's link to the C-32 Wiki page notes that Air Force 2 is a C-32. Not an expert, but just glancing at the photos I can't see any difference in livery between the two.

Maybe AF1 is just to the point where it is going to need more repairs, and Joe bummed a ride on AF2. With her experience vehicle shopping last year, maybe Ann can give Joe some tips on getting a new ride.

Butkus51 said...

Biden is choosing.......

lol

Old and slow said...

It's impossible for Joe Biden to bum a ride on Air Force 2. If he is on the plane it is by definition Air Force 1.

Narr said...

I believe Old and slow is correct about the nomenclature. Whatever plane POTUS is on is AF-1.

walter said...

They might have opted for a ride with fewer stairs.

Bunkypotatohead said...

He got the most votes ever by sitting in his basement last time. Why mess with success?