Dear Tell All: I remember when it was fun to live in Madison — sometime between 2008 and 2010. Barack Obama had been elected president, replacing George W. Bush’s disastrous reign with Democratic hope and change. Wisconsin had a Democratic governor, Jim Doyle, and Democratic control of the state Legislature. Madison had a liberal mayor, Dave Cieslewicz, with a generally civil approach to running the city. If memory serves, local dinner parties were enjoyable back then. The main thing we had to wring our hands about was how high the redeveloped Edgewater Hotel should be.
Ah, the innocence! In 2010, Scott Walker was elected governor and began the right-wing takeover of the state. It was one shocking power grab after another, from crushing unions to gerrymandering to suppressing the vote. Paul Soglin also ousted Cieslewicz as mayor. It was a liberal replacing a liberal, but Soglin traded Cieslewicz’s civility for a crankier tone.
These changes marked the beginning of the end of fun in Madison. I began dreading dinner parties because everyone just kept saying the same thing about the same subjects: Act 10, the recall drive, the canceled train project between Madison and Milwaukee, etc.
When the recall failed, my friends sunk into doom and gloom. And just when I thought dinner parties couldn’t get any worse, Donald Trump won the 2016 election. Now every social event is dominated by denunciations of fascism.
Hey, I agree, but life is short! Can’t we occasionally have a good time? Can’t we occasionally change the subject to Taylor Swift’s love life or the Brewers’ chances in 2017?
Will fun ever return to Madison?
Buck E. Bad
Dear Buck: Pardon me if I don’t agree that your boring social life is the worst thing that’s happened in the world since 2010. Rather than bitching about sad dinner parties, you could join people who are taking action to make the world a better place. It can be lots of fun to stick up for democratic ideals, as demonstrators proved at Scott Walker protests and the Women’s March.
That said, I understand your impatience with doom and gloom. Life is short, we need to fill it with as much Taylor Swift and as many Brewers games as possible. If your friends are bringing you down, make your own fun, either with a new group or on your own.
The Brew Crew’s home opener is April 3. See you at Miller Park.
Do you have a question about life or love in Madison?
Write Tell All, 100 State St., Madison, WI 53703. Or email tellall@isthmus.com
