Saturday, November 12, 2011

Drinking Liberally in Waukesha

I just returned from the local Drinking Liberally event, which I learned about from reading local political blog Waukesha Wonk. Lately I've been to buried in work to be very motivated about anything, much less politics. However, this meeting was very informative about some behind the scenes goings-on, and it makes me realize how little I know about how politics actually works. The more I know, the more I want to make it work differently.

The guest speaker was Scott Wittkopf (Badger Democracy), who lead the discussion, shared some of his insights, and tipped us to some recent events. Scott is soft spoken and well-informed. I haven't been reading his blog previously, but it was clear he put a great deal of time into research for his blog and the articles he writes. If I had to pick one thing I came away with from this session, it new sense for the corporate political machine that has its grip on Wisconsin (for that matter, the nation), and the vital need to fight back against it.

Despite the "liberal" in Drinking Liberally, the event was non-partisan. People there seemed reasonable, and all were concerned about how wrong things have gone politically in Wisconsin. My thanks to Lisa and Phil for organizing, and the Spizzo Cafe for hosting. I plan to drink liberally* again next month.

* full disclosure - two beers is pretty liberal drinking for me nowadays.