I was about to write a post highly critical of Mayor Tom Barrett. Then I realized that I have a bumper sticker on my car from his last run for Governor. I'll be switching it for a Kathleen Falk sticker, but I put it there in the first place because he was running against Scott Walker. Too often, liberals and liberalism is the "anything but" option. I think liberals have unwisely allowed the carpet of wealth and value creation to be pulled out from under them. Conservatives never tire of playing the family values card, yet time and again the headlines prove that they don't have a leg to stand on.
The Barrett quote I remember most distinctly is one where he states that he sees himself as a cheerleader for Milwaukee. Milwaukee doesn't need a cheerleader, it needs a dominatrix. Milwaukee needs a politician who is not afraid to break some china. One of its co-morbidities is clinging to the status quo. That's probably a holdover from the days when wealth creators sat at the table of power. These days, too often it's wealth destroyers who call the shots in this town.
