Standing Pat in the legislature: UPDATE & BUMP.

When I was nine years old I had a babysitter named Pat. He was about 14 or 15 at the time. He was an incredibly smart, nerdy guy but he had a rough edge to him.

I recall one Summer evening when Pat took my brother and me for a walk in the park. There we met his girlfriend who happened to be babysitting Renee and Jenny, two girls we liked. Of course, my bro and I couldn’t let them know that. When we were ages 9 and 7, meaning it wasn’t cool to like girls. While we were walking in the park that evening I decided to toss pebbles at the girls while they walked in front of us. Pat politely told me to stop but I didn’t listen. As dusk approached, Pat took us back home. Once we arrived back at our place I turned on the television. All of a sudden, Pat charged in and flicked off the TV. He demanded I spend the evening in my room because of the bad behavior I exhibited in the park. In a typical 4th grade whine I asked “Do I have to go to my room?” He sternly replied, “Just be grateful I’m not kicking you’re a$$.”

I went to my room and stayed there until I awoke the next morning. And no, I did not tell my mother what Pat had said. If I had, I would have gotten it worse from her. Instead, Pat told her how I spent the evening in my room after we got back from the park. “I never heard a peep out of him the whole night”, he told my Mom.

Pat was quite the politician, eh?

So I guess it would be no surprise to tell you that he indeed went into politics.

But I think it's fair to say that he might be one of the more popular politicians in the state of Wisconsin.


The Wisconsin State Legislature moved forward today with legislation giving small businesses more options on how to market their products. Both the State Senate and Assembly passed SB 63 and AB 122 today, legislation that will make it possible for retailers to provide customers with a maximum of two, three ounce samples of beer, as is currently allowed with wine.

“I’m very pleased that my colleagues in the Legislature have given this measure their support,” said bill author Senator Pat Kreitlow, (D-Chippewa Falls). “Brewers will have more opportunities to market their products and consumers will also benefit with more choices from being able to sample different flavors before they buy. This will lead to increased sales and that will mean more jobs here in Wisconsin.”


Say, isn’t the Leinenkugel brewery located in Chippewa Falls? I guess I would be curious to see a list of contributors to Senator Kreitlow’s campaign.



UPDATE:

Well, I thought I was being tongue-in-cheek when writing this post. Unfortunately, the gentleman who was the subject of said post did not take it that way. Yes, Senator Kreitlow himself found out about my entry and decided to send me an e-mail expressing his displeasure. Given the context of his e-mail message I am going to assume it was for my eyes only.

Nonetheless, I will respond to his remarks.

Senator Kreitlow, let me assure you of one thing: I was in NO WAY attempting to be spiteful of you. If anything, I was being self-deprecating. My insinuation was that I got what I deserved for my bad behavior and was even expressing appreciation of the fact that you didn’t rat me out to my mother. THAT’S IT!!!! If you read more into it than that, I sincerely apologize.

Also, the remark about the Leinenkugel brewery was meant to be in line with the rest of the post: total tongue-in-cheek. I guess if I have to explain that I was trying to inject humor while being anecdotal, then it must not have been that funny. I just thought it was ironic that a sponsor of such legislation happens to reside in the very same town of a well-known brewery. The “campaign contribution” remark was not meant to be insulting nor was it an attempt to question your integrity.

Best wishes to you as well, Sir.

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