Milwaukee's Goodwill Ambassador showed up this week

NBA Hall of Famer Charles Barkley's genuine enthusiasm for Milwaukee and from-the-heart embrace of the Bucks makes him our city and state's current Goodwill Ambassador.

Compare that to calculated hostility from the embittered and defeated Scott Walker, now our Ill Will Ambassador, who has publicly disparaged Milwaukee in front of an upper-scale audience in exurban Waukesha County - -  

People do not want to see Wisconsin "become another Milwaukee," Walker said. 

- - but later stood with multiple, spiritless "Cheaper to Keep Them" signs to explain his politically-driven 'support' for retaining the team in Milwaukee. 

'Support' he is still over-inflating on Twitter, while forgetting to mention experts took issue with his his 'no-new 'tax' argument: 

11:28 AM - 16 May 2019 With all of the cool things happening around @FiservForum thanks to the @Bucks, I’m happy we got it built & did it without a new tax!!!

For a deeper analysis of Walker's anti-Milwaukee biases, read this excellent piece by John Gurda, our unofficial municipal historian: 

The fact that he could shrug off the collateral damage his campaign was doing to Milwaukee's image, and to its relationship with the rest of the state, is chilling indeed. I don't doubt that our governor has firmly held principles, but that's not where he lives. Beneath the rhetorical camouflage is a ruthless and calculating politician who will exploit any weakness, make any promise and press any advantage to get in office and stay there.

But Walker is a specific kind of politician currently in vogue: an ideologue who sees the world in black and white. His outlook makes him, among other things, a tireless polarizer....and now Milwaukee against the rest of the state. Is his strategy effective? Clearly. Divisive? Oh, my.

So imagine iif there an advisory referendum to choose a public face for a "Visit Milwaukee" or "Come to Wisconsin" publicity campaign, with Barkley and Walker on the ballot.

Here's the slam-dunk pick.