It’s hard to believe that in the heart of Waukesha, a group of liberals and progressives can gather to talk politics.
Who knew there were so many politically active liberals there? We’ve been told over and over and over again that Waukesha is completely Red (not in a good way, though) and that there simply aren’t any liberals there. Well, if last night’s turnout was any indication, it’s much more purple than Don Taylor might care to admit.
![The Inaugural Drinking Liberally Waukesha](http://bloggingblue.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/2011-11-07_18-44-43_859-1024x575.jpg)
The speaker for this first meeting was John “Sly” Sylvester from WTDY in Madison. He talked for about half-an-hour about the mess in Madison, the crippling of our democracy and the need to recall Walker. He reminded people that in the not too distant past, there were Republicans who were reasonable people. They had ideas, some good and some bad, but they had them. Now we have mouthpieces for corporate legislation machines (ALEC) and special interests (Koch Industries). He’s a great speaker (being a radio guy) and the Waukesha crowd loved him.
![Sly talks with Drinking Liberally Waukesha](http://bloggingblue.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/2011-11-07_18-49-38_786-1024x575.jpg)
We started in the upstairs room at Sprizzo Caffe but as the crowd grew, we quickly overflowed it and had to move to the restaurant below.
This is what’s known as a “good problem to have.” We “Occupied” the whole restaurant and the group spread out and talked politics: local, state and national. There were folks from all over Waukesha county including Brookfield, New Berlin, Oconomowoc, and Delafield. Lisa, my co-host, and I could not believe how well the event worked out.
![#OccupySprizzoCaffe](http://bloggingblue.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/2011-11-07_19-11-33_864-1024x575.jpg)
We got the group together at the end for a photo to commemorate this historic meeting of liberals, progressives and others in the heart of Waukesha.
![The First Drinking Liberally Waukesha!](http://bloggingblue.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/2011-11-07_19-24-58_437-1024x575.jpg)
It was a remarkable evening, both for the people in attendence as well as the place where we met; in the heart of Waukesha. What we’ve started is the process of turning Waukesha Blue.
Drinking Liberally Waukesha meets on the first Monday of every month at 6:30pm at Sprizzo Caffe.
We’re having a special meeting on Saturday, November 12th at 6:30pm at Sprizzo Caffe for a talk / discussion with Scott Wittkopf of the Badger Democracy blog and author of Blame Waukesha.
And on December 5th, our 2nd “official” meeting at 6:30pm at Sprizzo, we’ll welcome Mike McCabe from The Wisconsin Democracy Campaign who will talk about the destruction of Wisconsin’s progressive heritage and what we can do to stop it.
Hey Don Taylor! Watch out!
We’re coming up fast on your left!
This is a most excellent post, Phil! 🙂
Thanks!
Phil, this is great news! I’m glad to see you guys had such a great turnout, and I’ll be sure to be at next month’s meeting!