Actually it's more likely he'd be crawling out of a coffee shop in Shorewood.

Perhaps. But there's pulled pork involved and I don't mess with someone willing to feed me pulled pork. :)

So much to work with there...

Be good, please. :)

Add that to the Most Stupid Comment on Patch list.

Lyle kindly stick that sexist misogynistic statement where the sun doesn't shine, I am sick and tired of male chauvinists like you.

@Lyle: The Republican women I know are hot looking, shoot straight, and are pretty good with weapons, too. :P

Nice answer @GearHead.

@GearHead....I notice you start out with 'hot'. Now talk about misogynistic chauvinism. Thanks for making my point for me.

@Lyle, how would you know what real Republican principles are? You're the first one to screech when someone makes derogatory comments (like you just made) about extremest left wing women like Michele and Hillary.

Here's an interesting article from the Grey Lady in March about the conundrum faced by traditional Republican women: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/11/us/politics/centrist-women-tell-of-disenchantment-with-gop.html?pagewanted=all

According to this article, traditional Republican women express concern over the re-emergence of issues like contraception, etc. Women I know find the public discourse over female reproductive organs/processes distasteful.

If Romney/Rand loses in November it will be because the Silent Majority will vote in self-interest, not to satisfy an extremist fringe that is leaning away from democracy and into theocratic territory. Got wimple?

@Lyle: Actually it was a complement to them, as they have no problems with self-esteem. But since you insist, they also have bigger balls than you. How would you know Republican principles, anyway?

Gear, actually I think you were trying to "compliment" them, as in flatter. No woman I know is flattered by the suggestion that looks are more important than intellect, i.e., being objectified.

Lyle, come out of your Shorewood Stronghold and see what actual women like to talk about. They're not obsessed with abortions and breast feeding in public. You've been hanging around your village's femi-nazis too long.

@mau - Besides. Michelle doesn't go down all the way.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Sm8dPbv3po

WOW this coming from the oh so enlightened and impartial Lyle Ruble. I am glad this lowly weak pathetic mental-masturbator has finally showed his true colors.

I doubt it. I suspect there will be some interesting discussion. Plus, no one in their right mind would want to hear me sing.

@mau....I was a registered Republican back in the day when you could be a social moderate and support fiscal conservatism. I would be identified as a Progressive Republican as was "Fighting Bob". Reagan ruined the Republican Party for me with his unholy alliance with Christian fundamentalists.

Lyle loves throwing around his labels and affiliations as if his side didn't demonize us for such. He was only Republican back then because it was hip.

@Lyle, why didn't Clinton ruin the Democrat party for you when he had his Sunday morning photo op with Hillary, walking out of church, carrying their oversize bibles. And like I've said before I belong to no organized religion.

@mau...Never voted for Clinton, nor did I support him. I'm not a Democrat or a Republican.

@mau - re: Clinton - because he and Hillary didn't use their religion as the basis for a crusade to impose their religious beliefs on others, because they didn't post web sites with opponents in crosshairs, because they didn't try to ammend the constitution with zealous religious beliefs disguised as legislation; and for so many more "becauses". Religion is NOT the enemy, nor are people of faith. it is those who use the political process to forward personal religious/moral agendas who incurr weary mistrust from those of us who agree with the founders that faith and government must fundamentally be separate.

Keith's pulling pork for Cindy.

Hey Bob, does you douche nozzle have an off button?

That's about as highbrow as it gets with Keith. Should be a fascinating dinner. Bring plenty of Maalox and GasX.

@Keith Schmitz...Leave that kind of comment to ruffians on the other side.

Like those folks who showed up for those free Cousins subs handed out by Romney/Rand, right? ; )

Haha skinny d.... Good one. hey donskinny dudes pass up free lunches?

Especially free BBQs. Did you call Sandy Pasch yet?

@ Cindy... If you could post the recipes for the entire menu,please. I'm sure Bren would be willing to help you improve some of those items; especially the baked beans. Then we would all know how to cook, too

@Jay. I'm pretty sure we'd get along just fine.

And yes, I'll do that after the fact.

@ Cindy: Not only that, but Bren also possesses the omnisence (much like Lyle, except he won't actually admit it!) to know (ahem) what I'm thinking. What a dork she (he) is! No flattering going on here Bren, I've been around the block long enough to know how to shoot straight, too.

@ Cindy: Vegetarians? Those would be the liberal guys (oops, I mean women), right? Bren might correct me here, but I've never met a conservative vegatarian. We kill it and grill it, to borrow a quote from Uncle Ted.

No @gearhead. You aren't allowed to pigeonhole this group. You should remember the host, a Dem, is grilling a pig for our enjoyment.

I only eat meat a couple of times a week. Maybe food and politics only mix when there's barbecue involved?

@GearHead -- Don't stereotype. I eat meat and used to like it raw when it was still safe to eat.

@randy1949 Have you not heard about my love for Ney's Big Sky? http://neysbigsky.com/

No joke, the youngest came home from Europe proclaiming she will start a raw food diet. I argued she can eat steak tartare, egg and all.

Don't mess with a Mom who's a foodie.

I used to eat my ground steak without the egg -- just with a little salt. The raw egg is probably the most dangerous thing nowadays. I have a very healthy immune system.

Well Randy, do me a favor and try Ney's. They are at a number of farmer's markets including Brookfield on Saturday. We've enjoyed their beef for years. It's properly aged and has a flavor you'll be hard-pressed to find in today's restaurants.

My step-grandfather was a cattle rancher in Oklahoma. I've eaten my share of beef.

Oh, I know about good beef. I had a friend with a fold of Highland cattle out in Grant County near the Mississippi. They were on pasture with a little grain. The bull was right with the herd, and you could walk right out among them. He'd give us some meat from time to time.

Cindy, I cited the article and also opinions of several traditional Republican women of my acquaintance. Please read more carefully. I will compliment you for producing a short but cogent article this go-round, well done.

Thank you for the compliment, Jay! I have been to the Cordon Bleu school in Paris but as an auditor only (sorry, encountered no baked beans!). Were I to attend your event Cindy, perhaps I would bring a favorite light and healthful dessert learned in France, pear sauce drizzled with fresh puree of raspberry. Refreshing and exquisite.

Gear, I have been accused of omniscience, clairvoyance, eidetic memory, etc. before, and I thank you for the backhanded compliment (but not the "dork" part!). Deductive reasoning/pattern recognition/extrapolation, high percentile EQ, reading ability about double the average, highly accurate reading comprehension and retention; highly accurate aural and visual memory, yes. I'm glad you know how to shoot straight; it doesn't seem a worthwhile hobby otherwise, does it?

Not only have I never met a conservative "vegatarian," in fact I've never met one at all! ; ) Actually I do know one, used to be vegan but now eats limited dairy, poultry, and fish. Has been that way since about age 9, I'm told. No one else in that family is vegan or vegetarian.

Steak tartare? I draw the line at maki sushi and sashimi.

Bren, you are one heck of a specimen.

You did remind me of a pineapple and basil sorbet that I make a couple of times a year, though. I think I'll do that.

"Specimen?" Cindy, speaking of bacteria, don't forget to use care in preparing and serving food, and also keep an eye on food temperature especially if you are serving outside. I caution you as, based on your behavior toward guests on your blog, your basic manners/hosting training has a few dusty corners. ; )

Yes, specimen, Bren. I love words. I am also fond of the occasional dusty corner. There. Now you know and will never, ever be tempted to show up at my house. (Whew.)

Did you also attend Fly Lady Academy as a white glove inspector?

(Why do you bring out the worst in me? I'm laughing at myself now.)

Sans name or contact information.

If you give such complete offerings at work, well, I guess I understand the disconnect.

Cindy.

"Sans name or contact information." On the internet? No, I won't ask the obvious question.

You come across as just the same on face value. Just looking for names and fights?

Plain speak please. Say what you mean without the metaphors.

I left an email in the post. You don't get off the hook like that. I guess it just made you feel good to be a snot. Or something.

Involved in a book store? The fact you stuck Shorewood with an unpaid loan and stiffed hundreds of folks of 'coop fees' when you weren't set up as a coop , Keif you are a crook, you lack all morals, you sir are a scum bag.

Good grief. Keith, you appear to have some real fans out there.

I have a couple of my own, but when they pop up they know it's time to get their meds adjusted.

So, neither of you leaving comments can recommend a Republican woman to invite to dinner, huh?

Keith Jackass (that's what he insists I call him), My screen name is my real name and it met all of Patch's requirements. I will be happy to add a last name when you release 10 years of your tax returns, so we can see how you used your business scam to avoid paying taxes.

Thanks Bob.

Warned about what? That elected community representatives were stupid enough to loan money to a loosely organized co-op?

I fail at a bunch of stuff. That's what makes my occasional success so much fun.

You must be from a branch of the conservative tree that I'm not familiar with if that was your takeaway from that article.

Polar opposites Cindy. You attempt to start a business, you get a real loan from a real bank...if you fail, you owe the money back to the real bank. Or you go the route of Schmitzy here, you pull some favors from your buds at the Village hall, your venture fails, and you don't pay back the deal. You don't see the difference?

Why isn't anyone blaming the buds at the village hall?

@Bob - and you must not be a conservative at all if you think pick-a-Solyndra-type behavior is good government.

People have blamed the Village Hall, but that doesn't make the money magically reappear does it?

What does Solyndra have to do with it? Are you a buzzword, talking point Conservative, or do you have principles you adhere to, regardless of who's offering you a free pulled pork dinner?

Oh, Bob McBride. "People" have blamed village hall, but you have not. At least not here. Nor did anyone specifically identify the village at fault in the article you linked.

Do you not see the comparison to Solyndra? Elected officials picked winners and losers to toss loans in both cases. Loans were defaulted in both cases. I sense you'd be quick to blame Obama in the Solyndra example, but here you choose to blame the business owner.

Is it personal? Did he take your $20? Is it because you aren't invited to dinner?

I don't understand your vitriol. Usually I can figure stuff like that out. You just seem mad. First your are mad at Keith, draw him out, and then you get mad at me for not being mad at Keith.

You kind of remind me of why I never liked middle school.

I've rarely even discussed the issue, Cindy. In fact I've suggested to others in the past that they knock it off. The only reason I weighed in is because, frankly, your take is a disingenuous one for anyone who considers themselves a Conservative.

As for Keith, if he wasn't a race-baiting, hypocritical curmudgeon with a chip on his shoulder, I'd probably not pay any attention to him at all. Even if it was just that, I'd probably have gotten bored with him by now. But he has a knack for stepping in it around here so frequently that he's practically irresistible.

Thanks Mr. McBride. I've been warned. I'll hide my wallet. Oh, and according to Bren, I should also take my own can of Lysol.

It's nice to have people who care.

@Whitey -- Erm, you either get a loan from a bank or you deal with the Town/City/Village and set up a TIF as is happening with Von Maur in the Town of Brookfield. We have yet to see if that one will pay off or be a big bust. That's just life in modern times. Keith is small potatoes compared to that.

Keeping a famous local bookshop going was a laudable enterprise, and the Village must have thought so too. Too bad things don/'t always go well in this economy.

Please let's put this bookstore thing to bed. As Randy1949 writes, things weren't going well in the economy. How many businesses, nonprofits, even major corporations have tumbled because of the recession? A depressing number of empty storefronts desolate the urban landscape. No one wanted that bookstore to fail. The timing was just wrong.

A wonderful local business in Greendale, a pet supply store, expanded in 2008. When the economy crashed, the last thing people wanted to buy were boutique pet items and their business failed. We also lost one of most exciting new nonprofit performing arts groups in town, Milwaukee Shakespeare Company, due to the recession. All good people, trying to do good things.

Please, enough with the bookstore already.

I'm sure Keith is paying back the money he borrowed, out of respect for the community. Surely he is doing that.

He is not doing that, and don't call me Shirley.

Businesses fail and succeed all of the time. Difference here is that a loan with a bank has to be paid back, or suffer the consequences. Mr Schmitz did not pay back loan and he has suffered no consequences.

Whose fault is it for structuring a loan without consequences?

(BTW, if it was TIF money, was it even a loan, or was it a subsidy?)

Cindy, if you read the article you'd know it was a loan.

The reason this keeps coming up is simple. Using your Solyndra example, if the owners of Solyndra, post failure, decided to go out and attempt to weasel their way into the field of politics by constantly referring to others who got sweetheart deals, whether monetary or legislative in nature, from the Government and succeeded as "vulture capitalists", you can bet they'd be reminded repeatedly of their past business foibles.

@Bob McBride. Do you really think I believe everything I read? I asked again for a reason.

For not talking about it much, you do seem to have a very detailed history at your fingertips. What's the purpose of your continued dissatisfaction? I know Keith is a Democrat. I'm familiar with his writings and opinions.

It's a problem to you that he doesn't have to wear a big blue D on his tshirt?

I honestly don't know what you believe, besides what you want to believe, Cindy, but the article plainly states it's a loan. What would make you think anyone else would have better information than that? And pretty much all the information one needs to know is in that article as well - doesn't take a lot of research to figure it out. As for Keith himself, he's around here enough so that anyone could draw the inference. And many do, apparently.

Why would he need a big "D" on his shirt? Is there anything about him that doesn't scream "D" in the first place?

Bob M - as to what information I might have, that would stem from being elected and knowing TIF districts. I went back and read the Shorewood minutes. Indeed the group asked for a grant (which would have been my assumption, rather than a loan) but in the end they were granted a loan.

Minute links:

http://www.villageofshorewood.org/vertical/sites/%7B5230848F-4209-4497-9E80-89EC90BA64AE%7D/uploads/%7B8849CEDE-D22D-4744-91E5-B624859A691A%7D.PDF

http://www.villageofshorewood.org/vertical/sites/%7B5230848F-4209-4497-9E80-89EC90BA64AE%7D/uploads/%7B66A5BBF5-F682-4660-B594-65F6227D08F0%7D.PDF

Keith's name is not listed on either set of minutes. There are three trustees from the village minutes, and there's someone from the CDA minutes, but not Keith.

It also said the loans were secured, but it doesn't not say by whom. If they were secured they should be redeemed in some way.

Do you have other specifics? Are you willing to spend the time finding more specifics? Or is it more fun for you to blather on uncontrollably in hope of swaying opinion with nothing more than you read an online article?

Man up. Put some work behind your accusation or let it go.

What accusation have I made Cindy? Point it out, specifically?

Uh oh. The next set of CDA minutes do have Keith's name:

http://www.villageofshorewood.org/vertical/sites/%7B5230848F-4209-4497-9E80-89EC90BA64AE%7D/uploads/%7B0ADC0AA9-495E-4B58-8B9C-EA197DAB29E1%7D.PDF

Still nothing about the loan being secured. Maybe it's in the SEWRPC memo?

(Look how civil a discussion can be with real information.)

Bob M - that Keith is a "race-baiting, hypocritical curmudgeon with a chip on his shoulder."

I confess I was confused because it was another Bob - Bob S. that "warned" me before you jumped in.

His entire body of work here on Patch. Feel free to research that, in depth, as well.

Bobs, Cindy, prickly et al--this is an entertainment board. Why are you harassing a poster here by dredging up past dealings that have nothing to do with the purpose of this site?

As one who has had individuals here try to learn my identity, for what purpose only they know, and seeing how Keith S. and Mr. Ruble are disrespected by some here, I re-state my position that anonymity is best here and on the web.

Bren,

Keith S. entered this thread by making insults and calling people names, but no one had done anything to him. So why do you ask why he is getting negative attention?

He wants it.

Filth? Really, Steve? We need a beat down? That attitude is why I've drifted from Independent to Democrat.

There is room for compromise. I know this because I'm old enough to remember when we had it.

You already are receiving your beat down and punishment for believing in socialism. And it will continue. There is no compromising with socialist democrats, as it is un-American to start with.

Just what is this "filth" that I and others supposedly believe in, Steve the Job Creator? That I resist well funded special interests trying to defund one of the two major political parties in this country? I regard that as patriotic, as trying to preserve our republic and Constitution. If you "beat me down," that's what you're beating down. Is that what you want to "beat down?"

Liberal filth front and center

http://menomoneefalls.patch.com/articles/battling-bias-conservative-women-say-theyll-keep-on-fighting-0f2365cf

A freakin Democracy is UN-American ..We have a Republic. It is UN-American to Force me via Income tax to pay for others stupidity PERIOD

Johnny - just keep this post in mind the next time we tax payers have to bail out a Wall Street Bank because any type of regulation is "job killing."

Wall Street is continuing their bad behavior with no regard for thier past mistakes - which we had to bail them out of - I believe the first round of bail outs was under a Conservative Exective, Legislative and Judicial branch

Socialism is unamerican thus compromise with socialist democrats is unamerican. There can not be compromise with a person that does not hold values and ideals that most American still believe and believed during our founding.

Troy - Nancy Pelosi was queen been in 2008.

@Steve...Wow! I didn't know you cared so much. As far as Bren, Randy and others who don't agree with your vision, that's the way it should be in a republican democracy. As far as our founding, it was founded on compromise. I know you have stated in the past that you don't read books. maybe it's time to start reading and get the truth and not some contrived myth.

Socialism, recalls, temper tantrums, lies, elitism and conspiracy theories are not examples of compromise. The beat down will continue in 2012 and we will continue to celebrate victory.

Steve, I've lived in a Socialist country (benign). I support our democratic republic. I have stated this numerous times ad nauseum.

I do think that you don't truly understand what socialism is. The former USSR was the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. The government owned everything. The government decided who received higher education, assigned jobs, etc. That is most definitely not the situation in the U.S. If anything, a shrinking number of corporations and their special interest groups are having an increasing impact on our economy. Business-friendly legislation is passed that negatively impacts wages and jobs. Business-friendly legislators are trying to privatize Medicare and Social Security, de-fund one of the major political parties of this country, cut taxes for the wealthiest, etc. There is no way the two situations can be compared, unless you consider the extreme influence that corporate lobbyists have on elected officials. But that's an indirect influence. If anything, our country is moving toward an oligarchic plutocracy.

Bren,

Having lived in a socialist country does not make you an authority on the subject. I have lived in two Asian communist countries, but when discussing the topic I don't think of myself as an an authority.

That said, what Steve is alluding to is a "planned economy," which is a form of socialism. If you look up the term you will find socialism discussed. You could also look up "socialism" and find planned economies discussed.

For many, the fact that the government is picking winners and loosers in certain industries is evidence enough that we are moving in that direction.

I was taught American stands as a representative republic. (Poli Sci degree.) A democracy would indicate direct votes on all issues. We don't do that. We elect people and then try to sway them to act like we would act. The whole mess is much more interesting that way.

Can we say Bill Clinton and any number of other rich democrats. John Kerry buys a yacht in Europe so he doesn't have to pay US taxes. Go figure. But again the media chooses to report on Republicans who put money in tax free accounts.

@Cindy, Constitutional Republic. Not a democracy. This is the way the founding father's wanted it.

Good pork pulling advice, Jay.