The joke was in Sunday’s Wisconsin State Journal:
Today it is easy to see why Wisconsin’s capital city was named for James Madison, father of the U.S. Constitution and our fourth president, who guided the country through its second war for independence. He was a national hero.
But we have the luxury of looking backward through history. Had we lived 200 years ago, as the War of 1812 was unfolding, our view would have been dramatically different. In fact, on Aug. 24, 1814, as British troops laid waste to Washington, D.C., we likely would have been prepared to condemn Madison for causing the death of the United States before it reached its 40th birthday.
What happened next changed U.S. history and Madison’s legacy. Throughout, Madison and his wife, Dolley, displayed the grit and leadership their country needed to rise up from humiliating defeat. Our community, as Madison’s namesake, should learn from the Madisons’ example as we face the challenges of the future. …
In 1814 Britain defeated Napoleon and turned more attention to America. In mid-August a British fleet landed 35 miles from Washington, D.C. Madison left the capital, not to flee but to face the moment head on. He met with his generals in Maryland, where American forces would make their stand. He remained there the next day as the British routed the Americans.
In Washington, Dolley Madison’s evacuation of the Executive Mansion became an iconic tale of bravery and patriotism. Just before leaving, she grabbed a copy of the Declaration of Independence and supervised the rescue of a copy of Gilbert Stuart’s portrait of George Washington, to save them from British hands.
Three days after the British burned most of the government buildings in Washington, the Madisons returned to the capital, moving into a private home. The public rallied behind the first couple, who personified America’s courage.
Whatever his missteps, Madison — though only 5 feet, 4 inches in height — stood tall through perilous times. Then, when it looked as if the war would end in a lopsided British victory, the tide turned. On Sept. 11 American forces defeated the British at Lake Champlain. Two days later a British attack on Baltimore’s Fort McHenry failed, inspiring Francis Scott Key to write the poem that became our national anthem.
The British, still concerned about France, now wanted to end the fighting with the United States. The two sides signed a treaty in Belgium, restoring the pre-war status quo. Neither side won, befitting a war that both should have avoided.
But before news of the treaty reached America, Major General Andrew Jackson defeated an attacking British force at New Orleans. Jackson’s conclusive victory made it appear that the United States won the war. Madison became the president who won the second war for independence.
Leap ahead to 1836. James Doty, a politician and profiteer, was successfully lobbying to have Wisconsin’s territorial capital moved to a city he planned around four lakes. He named the city Madison, after the former president, who died that year. He could hardly have made a better choice.
That editorial prompted this response …
I find this a very inspiring message about pulling victory out of the claws of defeat.
As I look at the massive messes We The People face (many still denied), I can easily get distraught and discouraged.I see this namesake city of Madison having the potential to birth an inspiring NEW leap in freedom, democracy, and consciousness… whether through a new Declaration of Independence, a new Constitution, or a co-created evolution of life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness.
… which makes me think that either someone was doing the wacky weed early on Sunday, or has no idea what the Declaration of Independence or Constitution is about. (Both are possible.)
The issue here is not the State Journal’s history. The issue is that there is anything about Madison the People’s Republic that compares to Madison the president, or for that matter any of the Founding Fathers.
To fall prey to every stupid, though popular, left-wing impulse does not demonstrate “grit and leadership.” To rely on government for your economy (which is like turning on a faucet and announcing that you’ve discovered water) isn’t either. And, of course, “bravery and patriotism” describes no one in city government, at least not since about 1973.
Besides that, I thought Madison changed its name to Ho Chi Minh City in 1975. To that slander came this response:
Moscow on the Yahara.
At least one other person gets it. Maybe the State Journal ought to take off the rose-colored glasses and look at Madison as what it really is … grossly overrated.
Steve Prestegard.com: The Presteblog 
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