O.K., he wasn’t exactly MAGA.
Father was driving up East Washington Avenue while the little kid in back thought he would explode as the imposing State Capitol loomed ever larger through the windshield like a vision from the Wizard of Oz. How great must be this thing called “Gummint!”
If Wisconsin were to build its state capitol today, from scratch, what would it look like? Doubtful anyone would attempt the inspiring Beaux Arts monument to democracy, built between 1903 and 1917. Hellz bellz, even the Catholic churches built these days are light on statutes, glittering mosaics and soaring arches. Where’s the drama?
This is a roundabout way of paying homage to good old Music Hall on Madison’s University of Wisconsin campus. The structure was built as Assembly Hall in a different age, in 1880. To this eye, the Victorian-Gothic structure is elegant without being ostentatious; serious but approachable. It’s the kind of campus building you feature on web pages. Of the 420 buildings on the UW-Madison campus, few are more beloved than this one, Bascom Hall (1859), North Hall (1851), Science Hall (1888), and the Old Red Gym (1894). A little less steel and blank glass, builders; a little more heart. (We do like the Chazen.)
An update: We set out a petition at the county GOP caucus chastising the President for blaming Rob Reiner for his own murder and for portraying the Obamas as apes. One Republican signed it; you’re reading him now.
News that the Herb Kohl Foundation will spend $20 million to update the venerable structure “while maintaining the building’s character” to accommodate the growing La Follette Institute is good news.
The other good news is the late Senator’s $10 million in support for the Institute itself. With former county exec Jonathan Barry, this scribe sat front row to hear Mitch Daniels at the Memorial Union (another classic, built 1926-28). He appeared in a one-on-one conversation Monday evening with La Follette director Susan Webb Yackee, she visibly giddied by the large grant.
About Mitch Daniels: Former Republican OMB director, went directly from eight years as Republican governor of Indiana, where he encouraged charter schools and private school vouchers, to the presidency of Purdue University, where he froze tuition throughout his tenure, which ended in 2022. Advocated for intellectual diversity, open debate, and high standards before Trump & Co. declared war on Higher Ed. Mitch Daniels brought uncommon wisdom levied with good midwestern common sense to Shannon Hall 02-16-26. Said he had invited J.D. Vance fresh off Hillbilly Elegy, to speak to Purdue students. “Not sure what happened since,” he joked. But took no obvious swipes at Trump; the governor’s equanimity and change agent cred spoke loudly enough. (Say this for Trump, he wants good architecture, too.)
Republicans believe in bootstraps, pulling oneself up by. Education should provide the leather, Republicans believe, in lieu of filing claims at the grievance complaint window. That’s our take on Gov. Daniels remarks. As college president, he required mastery of American government, aka civics, before graduation.
Blaska’s Bottom Line: That’s what La Follette teaches, and Mitch Daniels practices. Badly needed when sizable numbers in this wobbling republic think one can shout down speakers, prosecute political adversaries, and amend the Constitution by executive order.
8 responses to “UW-Madison invited a Republican!”
Speaking of Republicans at UW, Tom Tiffany will be at 3070 Grainger Hall (courtesy of UW Republicans) tonight (Tuesday 2/17 at 6:30.
A belated invite to all to vote today 02-17-26 for Nathan Wagner for circuit court as opposed to the two woke opponents, one of them an Evers-appointed incumbent replacing abortion lobbyist Chris Taylor, the other a supporter of illegal immigration.
Wagner’s web site was totally lacking in useful information, but the contents of the web sites of the other two were enough to make me vote for Wagner. A bit of a Hobson’s choice.
“Abortion lobbyist”? “Supporter of illegal immigration”? Sounds like the usual Democrat candidates for WI courts, courtesy of Dane County progressives.
I would like to hear the former govenor of Virginia Glenn Youngkin. Even some Democrats say good things about him. My second choice is Marco Rubio.
Steven Miller would have nothing nice to say about an institution that deserves nothing nice to be said about it. Woke Communism not sifting and winnowing, it’s anarchy.
I cannot believe more Republicans have not condemned those 2 really bad and totally wrong social media moves. Maybe it’s time to get rid of the political parties. The total lack of civility and respect on both sides is sick!
You’re right, the buildings that have risen on the UW-Madison campus in the last thirty years are all from the Ho-hum School of Architecture–not a one is worth more than a three-second glance–and they would all have made Frank Lloyd Wright puke. The Chazen is an exception, and it’s no coincidence that it was built with private donations rather than designed by some state-hired drone. But for a real horror-show, take a look at Obama’s presidential museum looming over the Hyde Park neighborhood in Chicago. It looks like the headquarters of the Evil Empire in Star Wars–more brutal that anything the brutalists dreamed of in their heyday.