Fun talk:Wisconsin

"Land of Lakes"
The Land of Lakes reference here (probably added by a Commonwealth subject) is mostly inaccurate. The Land O' Lakes company is based in Minneapolis-St. Paul and "Land of 10,000 Lakes" is Minnesota's official license plate slogan (America's Dairyland is the cheeesheads).

When Wisconsin was admitted to the Union, it boasted 9,000 lakes - the most of any state at the time - so briefly was called the land of lakes. When Minnesota was admitted later, through one-upsmanship, assumed the title with 10,000 lakes. This of coarse (despite the official slogan), is in error. Minnesota actually has over 15,000 lakes - many of which have not been named yet. nobsIt all depends what ISIS is. 00:41, 21 November 2014 (UTC)

"So..."
Anyone want to discuss the state's lurch to the far right in recent years? Seems a lot of Wisconsinites became born-again ultra-conservatives/libertarians around 2005 onwards. ConfusedLiberal (talk)
 * I don't know that it's lurched to the right; seems it has always been the home of (pretty much non-violent) radical extremes andactivists from both sides of the spectrum. nobsI was in Bagdad when u wer in dadsbag. 21:22, 3 March 2015 (UTC)

Prognostications
As predicted more than a year ago, Wisconsin was key in the presidential election and providing leadership in this troubled world. nobs 13:19, 13 December 2016 (UTC)

Gerrymandering
Sorry, but being a native of one of the two most educated states in the Union, you should at least try to have that sentence make some sense. A governor is elected by statewide popular vote. If you mean GOP control was solidified by gerrymandering state & federal House districts, say so. Walker had nothing to do with it other than signing a piece of final legislation.

And South of the North? Gimme a break. Look at any educational and test standards, reading comphrehension, or graduation rates compared to any state South of the Mason-Dixon. South of the North would belong to Indiana, Mike Pence' home state, or Southern Illinois (Eygpt, as Steven Douglas referred to it other). nobs 03:25, 28 January 2017 (UTC)
 * Wait, you hail from the snowblower state? Reverend Black Percy (talk) 03:36, 28 January 2017 (UTC)
 * Cheesehead born and Cheesehead bred. And when I die I be a Cheezehead dead. nobs 03:38, 28 January 2017 (UTC)
 * I hear it's not easy being cheesy... Reverend Black Percy (talk) 03:44, 28 January 2017 (UTC)
 * I've been living among Southern rednecks, Hispanics, and Native Americans for 30 years. A lot of real Democrats of the Civil War type, not the immigrant factory workers who signed up with the New Deal back in the Midwest. I can't shake my accent, and everybody here blames me as a Yank. Yes, the GOP started in Wisconsin, but Yankees are goddamn New Englanders of the RINO type. nobs 03:51, 28 January 2017 (UTC)
 * Interesting angle. Would you concede that the oft-discussed urbanized proto-red "fifth column" inside the modern GOP has taken any (or perhaps much) of its historical tendency from that very same New Englander zeitgeist, per se? Do you see any future big-time political hope for the "rugged masculinity" of that more classical frontier-spirited conservatism, the one which I surmise is arguably so central to the people you name as your peers above? Reverend Black Percy (talk) 04:04, 28 January 2017 (UTC)
 * The GOP historically has two wings that control it ideology and agenda. Like the Democrats, a Republican party in different states mean different things. Some Democratic state parties look more Republican when compared to DC politics at the national level, as do some GOP state parties look more Democratic. The historic wings are represented by the New York and Wisconsin Republican parties. Texas Republicans are a new thing, and there has always been much mistrust between "estab!ishment" Republicans of the North, and the Texas Southern Baptists of the South who seem a little self-imposing, have trouble getting along with anybody else, and tend to want to dominate things. After Tom DeLay fucked up the GOP with his bullshit, leadership reverted back to the Wiscondin GOP (nobody trusts RINOs or Texans anymore, their all consumed by the god almighty dollar and corruption).


 * The Wisconsin GOP I'd liken to the, an organization with a parallel history; a minority compared to the , but independent and respected for its organization, commitment, and leadership that other state parties or churches look to emulate in times of confusion.


 * As to "rugged masculinity", that seems more of basic American characteristic shared by Democrats and Republicans that only a tiny few, call 'em liberal pantywaists or identity politics advocates or whatever, wish to challenge. They seem more like oddball outcasts to people in the mainstream. nobs 04:51, 28 January 2017 (UTC)

Alchohol culture
Wisconsin holds the distinction of being the only Wikipedia page of the 50 states with a subheading, Alchohol culture. Is this notable for inclusion? nobs 01:09, 19 February 2017 (UTC)
 * Surely you don't mean to imply that Wisconsinians are all out-of-control drunks? Reverend Black Percy (talk) 04:44, 19 February 2017 (UTC)
 * You'd have to experience it to understand. Once you stick a cork up your ass, i.e., eat cheese, you'd be amazed how much you can drink without it going right thru you. Wisconsinites can, unlike I've seen eleswhere, drink from 6 AM daily, hold a job, raise a family, and make house payments. South of the Mason-Dixon line, if somebody tries to drink half as much, they end up sleeping in doorways downtown. In Wisconsin, it is you civic duty to drink, pay taxes and create jobs by doing so - literally. nobs 18:10, 19 February 2017 (UTC)
 * Ok, here's a neighborhood bar in a small town of a few thousand. I shit you not, if you sat in the seat of that helicopter and threw a beer bottle, you could hit my mother's tombstone. No kidding. nobs 20:43, 28 March 2017 (UTC)

Shattering the Blue Wall
Why did Hillary Clinton loose Wisconsin? Why do bl:ue collar workers vote against their own economic interest? Easy answer. A rebellion against big government and federal mandates. And nowhere is it more discernably clear than in Wisconsin's liquor laws.

Wisconsin was blackmailed by the federal government to raise both its drinking age and blood-alchohol content at the threat of loosing its share of federal highway taxes collected at the gas pump to maintain old federal highways and the Interstate. Democrats have gambled for 30 years assuming drunk blue collar workers are too stupid to understand simple economic processes.

On the age issue, we suffered this debate during the Vietnam War, that if an 18 year old was mature enough to get drafted and die for his country, or make decisions at the ballot box that affected other's lives to vote for which candidate should govern the community, he sure as fuck by law had the right to make decisions for himself about his own health and safety in the use of alchohol.

These traditions and family values have been handed down for centuries. How did the major breweries in Wisconsin, that made Milwaukee survive as the 'Beer Capital of America' for 12 years of federal Prohibition, and a major employer in the city and state? (with services sector jobs as deliverymen, bartenders, waitresses, etc)? Democrats relied too much on their communist union activities with interests outside the state and nation which ultimately destroyed the state's manufacturing base, drove all the jobs to Mexico and China, and left the people with nothing but its heritage.

Wisconsin's multitude of liquor establishments vastly expanded during Prohibition, one of the first federal government encroachments on individual freedom that pre-dated the New Deal. People opened up their homes as which, when Prohibition was repealed, never shut down. Today it is still not uncommon to find six taverns on a city block in Milwaukee, basically converted 19th century bungalow houses with the tavernkeeper residing upstairs.

You don't think these average bluecollar workers don't see the similiarities to the Obamacare mandate, dictating how people should live their lives for the good of their own health, and Prohibition, and all the lawlessness and disruption it brought?

Wisconsin's drinking culture. I was taught how to drink at an early age, thanks to lifting the taboo restrictions. In my current Southern city, occassionally a proposal is floated to allow weekend drinking in college dorms to keep the kids off the road. When I attended the Univ. of Wis.-Milwaukee, every morning I ate breakfast in the Student Union cafateria, a mini box of Corn Flakes with a 12 oz. bottle of Miller Genuine Draft - that's how it was served - to pour over it. In high school we had an open campus for lunch and routinely walked downtown for a 25 cent beer (which is still available in Wisconsin) and returned to class. Competition between alchohol sellers is fierce, because there are so many of them, and most all will risk selling to a minor - provided the bartender knows you're not going to act stupid or kill somebody on the highway. This comes from learning and knowing how to drink, and the societal aspects of being an accepted member of a community.

At 15, me and three others regularly patronized a bar on Friday and Saturday nights. The bartender checked our ID's, I should say, asked if any of us had a driver's licence just to insure one of us was 16 years old with a car to haul the rest of us minors home before midnight curfew. This is Wisconsin's drinking heritage and culture, today only reminiscent in the fact Wisconsin is the only state that allows a 12 year old to drink legally in the presence of a parent or guardian - a law that didn't exist prior.

Basically, the Democrats think people are dumshits. I don't see how they can undo some of the damage they've done to themselves. And Wisconsin, like California, has usually led the nation in progressive legislstion addressing the nation's problems. Let's hope it continues. nobs 22:48, 1 April 2017 (UTC)
 * Last two states to raise their drinking age to 21 were Vermont and NY. I was under the impression Wisconsin had already raised the age before Reagan signed that law.
 * Also, f the Mothers Against Drunk Driving.CorruptUser (talk) 23:28, 1 April 2017 (UTC)
 * Both Minnesota and Wisconsin have prohibitions against DWI checkpoints as an unwarranted intrusion and Fourth Amendment violation, whereas in my state they put up billboards warning about them. Also, in Minnesota, Arizona, and New Mecico, if a minor is busted drinking in a bar, the place is red-tagged, shut down, and lucky to ever reopen. In Wisconsin, it is entirely on the minor, who has to wait til he/she is 18 or 21 to get a valid driver licence. Amazing the disparity between states in interpreting basic Constitutional rights and issues. nobs 23:56, 1 April 2017 (UTC)

Incidentally, the law now common throughout the United States that places liability on not only the liquor establishment but tbe employee serving alchohol to a drunk who causes death began in a bar I drank at many times. In 1980, a kid celebrating his 18th birthday ordered 46 straight shots of whiskey and hit the floor dead. His mother sued, and won a precedent. MADD was formed at about the same time, and pushed that legal precedent to state legislstures throughout the US. nobs 00:16, 2 April 2017 (UTC)
 * Probably not appropriate for this article, but Wisconsin's culture of tolerance is the one place an alcoholic can drink without stigma. George McGovern's daughter was found dead in the snow behind a store when she drank herself to death. [https//www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/teresa-mcgovern-a-death-in-the-cold/2012/10/21/42ad26ca-1bde-11e2-ba31-3083ca97c314_story.html?utm_term=.bb6f76ebab5e]
 * It's culture of tolerance and political correctness is carried to extremes. A boxer who was denied a boxing license in several states because of a detached retina and medical opinion that one more flow to the head could cause blindness, the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled he could not be denied a license because of his disability. nobsAloha Snackbar 15:15, 6 August 2017 (UTC)