Re: “Mexican-inspired ice cream — on wheels,” (3/29/2018): To borrow from the great lawmaker, Daniel Patrick Moynihan, one is entitled to one’s own opinions, but not one’s own facts. While it’s great that the guys at El Grito Taqueria will be providing the public with tasty-sounding ice cream in addition to their delicious tacos, they got one thing dead wrong in their initial plan. While visiting Chicago and L.A., they’d have done well wondering less why Madison doesn’t have its own reputable ice cream and spending a couple minutes more on actual research. Or just visiting a local grocery store’s freezer aisle. Calliope Ice Cream has been made here in Madison for nearly a decade now and has offered the capital city of America’s Dairyland such uniquely toothsome flavors as Brandy Old Fashioned (like the cocktail), Spicy Peanut Butter (with sriracha), Hearty Breakfast (with bacon and Madison’s own Old Sugar Distillery’s whiskey), savory Lemon Lavender, and — gasp! — Mexican Hot Chocolate (made with chipotle peppers). Not only has Calliope rocked it at every food fest event it’s been a part of, it’s been sold at Ian’s Pizza and Lone Girl Brewing Co, as well as grocery stores like Woodman’s, Hy-Vee, Metcalfe’s, Jenifer St. Market and Willy Street Co-op for years now.
— Timothy Bauer
Ryan’s legacy
I dispute the fundamental premise of this column (“Ryan Shrugged,” 4/17/2018). Paul Ryan has never been close to a great leader — even opposing Trump wouldn’t have brought that smarmy bastard to such lofty heights.
— Tim Eagon (via Twitter)
The reason Paul Ryan didn’t articulate an alternative Republican vision to Donald Trump is that there is little ideological difference between him and Trump. Both seek to destroy the social safety net and have not been afraid to use immigrants and people of color as scapegoats to do it. The only difference is that Ryan and other Republicans used coded language such as “welfare queens” in their approach, whereas Trump has been a full-fledged bullhorn. Ryan’s concerns about Trump had little to do with concerns about the people Trump was targeting and everything to do with the GOP winning or losing.
— Haven McClure (via web)
A room with a view
Re: “Police ‘desperate’ for psychiatric hospital” (4/12/2018): The Mendota facility is huge. Is it not possible to re-designate some of the structures as a psychiatric facility for such needs?
— Ro Rosenkranz (via Facebook)
Correction: In our contents section last week, it should have read that King George III imposed unpopular taxes on American “colonists.”
