Gas Pains

Tom grew up in Milwaukee, bartended in Wauwatosa in the '70s and moved here in 1984.

Commentary, observations and musings about the outdoors, life in general and maybe Tosa politics and personalities will be the order of the day. He savors a lively debate as much as terrific cooking.

Eating Your Young

Scott Walker, Trek Bicycle, Politics, Lame Ideas, Eating Your Own Young

Filial cannibalism is the practice of animals eating their own young.   As off-putting as it sounds there is some evolutionary science behind this - including forcing offspring to develop at a faster pace than predators thus increasing their chances of survival.

Just the other evening I saw the second Scott Walker advertisement attacking Trek Bicycle.  I don't know about you but this Man Bites Dog moment really put me off my feed.  I figured after the first round of denigrating a wildly successful Wisconsin business that would be the end of it.

I guess not.  Apparently dining-upon a home-grown Dairyland business is good politics.  The political equivalent of eating your own. 

In today's business reality manufacturers and most of the companies in their supply chain outsource overseas.  Trek bicycle is a Wisconsin company with a global reach so this shouldn't come as a sudden surprise.  That they accepted state funds for retraining employees shouldn't come as a surprise either.  It is a common and accepted business practice.  Perfectly fine inasmuch as Wisconsin wrote the rules.  Now that the guv has stepped in this I have to wonder who's the next Wisconsin manufacturer in line for a pillorying outside the statehouse.

Sure, I know that Walker's base doesn't give a flip about this.  But I have three Trek bikes in my household and this sort of advertising doesn't grab me.  I'd be willing to speculate that other individuals with a business background are also scratching their heads in bewilderment.  Successful businesses should be lauded and embraced.  As for outsourcing - if you're reading this on your tablet, PC or smartphone your device likely wasn't manufactured here.  So get over it and spare me your righteous indignation.

This nonsense leaves me cold.  And Walker should knock it off already.

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