Hippie Town Returns to State Capitol.

Mike Nichols of the St. Paul Pioneer Press, using Madison police reports, gives us a behind-the-scenes look at what kind of representative democracy was recently being served up at the State Capitol, while the hippie protestors had run of the place 24/7:

They say Wisconsin hasn't seen the sort of protests we had in Madison of late since at least the 1960s. Turns out some folks thought it actually was the 1960s.
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It was - right up there on the third floor of the South Wing directly above the Senate chambers - the "overwhelming smell of burnt marijuana" emanating from an orange tent. There was so much smoke inside our esteemed Capitol that it was literally "coming out of cracks" in the tent, according to the report. One cop was concerned there was an active fire inside.

Nope. Just two dudes lying on a sleeping bag in their underwear with a "roach," rolling papers, a bag of what looked like pot, a glass "bong" and enough smoke to make Cheech and Chong jealous. Both dudes were issued citations, and one - a juvenile - was turned over to his mom.
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You had to walk through the Capitol during the protests to really get the flavor of things. What's surprising, the reports indicate, is how much of the flavor tasted like alcohol.

On Feb. 18, for instance, somebody called the police to say there were "a couple people in the basement rotunda that have a bottle of vodka and are ready for detox." That same night, state troopers caught two kids - one only 14 - on the second floor at 11 p.m. standing next to a crate containing a 1.75-liter bottle of vodka, a 1.75-liter bottle of whiskey, bottles of Squirt and ginger ale and a quart of orange juice.

It's not clear if the orange juice was a mixer or for breakfast as, it seems, the kids' parents had given them permission to spend the night and make some sort of statement. Of course, the statement turned out to be to police and included the claim they'd gotten the booze from a man they didn't know wearing a fedora.

Yes, I know there were a lot of serious people at the Capitol as well.

In other news, wiser heads prevailed: Justice Prosser retains his seat, despite the best efforts of the liberal crowd to politicize the process and elect a Madison attorney, previously rejected for judgeships, in there.

No thanks, Madison. We might not be chanting and holding sleepovers in public buildings, but our votes count too. It's a good lesson though: being loud and demanding people pay attention (and pay for your toilet paper too) doesn't convince.

(Been saying that for years about the more flamboyant Gay pride parades, but you know how some folks like to spectate...)