Walker, Wisconsin's Ill Will Ambassador

Defeated Wisconsin Governor and Embodiment of Bitterness Scott Walker took his Pity Pot Tour to Washington State this week where, apropos of nothing, he reportedly bashed Madison as "left of Stalingrad."

Walker doesn't like Madison and the feeling was mutual; in the 2018 gubernatorial race he lost by 29,000 votes statewide, his margin of defeat in the City of Madison alone was more than 150,000 votes.

Walker also said in Washington State, as if anyone there would care, that his rejection as an incumbent could also be blamed on a marijuana legalization ballot measure -- Madison and marijuana being 'the two M's,' as he put it, while overlooking a third 'M' - - Myself - - and his eight years of stalled growth and failed job creation promises, and union screwing, and teacher demonizing and poor people bashing.

And more - - exploding river pollution, expanding deer wasting disease, unaddressed rural and urban drinking water contamination, mounting opioid casualties and infamously decaying infrastructure, to name but a modest few measures of two terms in office where mediocrity was his ceiling.

And can you imagine any other living Wisconsin Governor, regardless of party - - Tommy Thompson, Jim Doyle or Martin Schreiber - - or before them, Warren Knowles, Lee Dreyfus or Gaylord Nelson - - traveling more than halfway across the country and running down Wisconsin's Capital city? 

Which continues to anchor the state's fastest growing county?

A county which now accounts for about 10% of the state's entire visitor spending?

You're supposed to nurture your golden goose, not poison it.

We expect Wisconsin political figures when on the road to pitch Madison as a great place to send a child to college or open a business or run a marathon or appreciate the trails or the summer Farmer's Market or the wonders of Frank Lloyd Wright  - - but to mock and denigrate Madison, or any Wisconsin city, out of personal spite?

No way - - but Walker, being Walker, has a history of slamming cities when he thinks it will help him politically.

One more thing.

Also ask yourselves when was the last time you heard anyone crack a Stalingrad joke?

Never is the right answer.

Since a) the city was renamed decades ago to Volgograd, and b) a pivotal World War II battle there against Nazi invaders when the Soviet Union was our ally led to gruesome casualties, hastened Hitler's defeat and no doubt saved the lives of American and other Allied troops.

This 2013 BBC account of the battle and its sorrow put it this way: 

Bodies from the battle are still being found all over the city and there are relatives still discovering where their fathers, brothers, mothers and sisters were buried... 

The exact figure for how many soldiers died in Stalingrad is hard to estimate, but it is probably close to a million. 

Someone with a better sense of history would be more respectful of all that, but not if the 'M's' you forget - - mean and me-first  - - are your game.