State of the State Address

Dear Reader:
I am on autopilot right now, and have not had the time to post any new stuff for a couple of days, due in part to a schedule that has included some minor, unexciting travel. One trip I didn't take for the first time in two years was a trip to Madison to hear the Governor deliver his State of the State address.
Fortunately, our Madison correspondent, Paul Snyder, did the honors of listening to the Governor talk, sparing us the effort involved in doing so.
Here's Paul's take for your edification and enjoyment; I'll try to get you some of my news shortly.
thank you for reading,
Michael Horne
Editor / Publisher
www.milwaukeeworld.com
1 414 978-8039

FROM BREW CITY TO CAPITAL CITY

“State of this City with the State of the State”

By Paul Snyder

A small tinge of pride at the fact that I live in Madison hit me last night on the way home from the State of the State address.

It was the sight of the suits in the bars, whooping and hollering at the television.

All day, there’d been a buzz going around Madison about the address. Various crews nipped in and out of the Capitol to get their credentials for the evening, and you could overhear a lot of “D’you think he’ll talk about…” speculation.

I have to admit, it relieved me a little. This was to be my first time at the annual address and the Wisconsin State Journal had done nothing all week but serve advance notice of how mind-numbingly boring the proceeding had become in recent years. Granted, it’s not as if I had anything better to do on a Tuesday evening, but when you’re a working man, you tend to appreciate the free time to melt and recoup in the evening, don’t you?

So at least the buzz served up a little hope in me that it wouldn’t be an arduous undertaking that found me staring at the ceiling of the Assembly Chamber and wondering to myself, “Now how do you suppose they painted that?”

But frankly, you have to appreciate these self-congratulatory events where we talk about how well we’ve done. After all, we’re only pointing fingers the other 364 days of the year, aren’t we? Take these things with a grain of salt, and you’d be surprised how enjoyable they can be.

I like the fact that even in 2006, the whole spectacle is introduced the way it has been for over a century now… some dude at the back of the chamber yelling “Mr. Speaker, the Supreme Court Justices have arrived!” followed by thunderous applause, the arrival of the senate, more thunderous applause, the introduction of the Attorney General and Lt. Governor (thunderous applause apiece), and then the arrival of the Governor, and a lot more whooping and hollering.

I wondered what kind of effect it might have if the parties were introduced much in the vein that Ray Klay introduced the Chicago Bulls in the early 1990s. The lights drop, the roaming spotlights get going, that spine-tingling synthesizer line kicks in… “AND NOW…” you know? But then I imagined the bickering about space in the budget for that kind of spectacle. And in all honesty, there is something remotely exciting about hearing “Mr. Speaker, the state Senate has arrived!”

Doyle tallied roughly 45-50 minutes’ worth of speaking, which gave the Democrats a good workout in standing and sitting with every other line out of the guy’s mouth. The folks up in the chamber were also pretty supportive, bar a group of (Junior High? I’ve become so bad at guessing age ranges by appearance now) students bearing green T-shirts which read “Governor Doyle End the Cap.” I don’t know if they were quiet in protest, or honestly just as thrilled as I was to be spending Tuesday night in the Assembly Chamber. We missed the premiere of “American Idol,” you know…

Every Republican in the Wisconsin Legislature, meanwhile, saved their energy to cram WisPolitics.com today with individual reactions, each one of which read exactly the same as its counterparts. “How on Earth are we going to afford this?” they asked of Doyle’s proposed agendas. Yeah, see, better shy away the Chicago Bulls intros ‘til we become the worldwide economic power the guv’s tipped us for...

So though I can’t identify who the suits were in the corner bar across the street from the Capitol last night (Lobbyists? Paiges?), I assume they were of the Republican persuasion. Because I peered in the window as I heard a mighty cheer rise among them from watching the television set suspended above the taps. I don’t know what exactly I was expecting to see on the tube – maybe my alma mater slipping past DePaul, or some highly touted NBA or NHL matchup – something of that particular ilk.

So imagine my reaction when I looked at the TV screen and saw Assembly Speaker John Gard being interviewed, responsible for all that hoopla. Bewilderment? Check. Bemusement? Double check.

“Come on guys,” I said under my breath. “Surely they get ESPN in here?”

And as I shook my head at the ridiculousness of it, I had to smile. What other city in Wisconsin puts that kind of surge into a tavern? Not Milwaukee, believe me, I know…

Are we better for it? Probably not, but it’s nice to be unique.

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