July 18, 2023

We don’t expect politicians to like each other. However, in a demographic society, we do expect them to be able to negotiate, find common ground, and compromise with each other.

Those are things you can do with someone you consider to be an opponent or an adversary. Those are not things you can do with an enemy, which is apparently exactly what Milwaukee Alderman Russell Stamper considers all republicans to be.

Stamper declared that Republican state lawmakers “are not our friends, and if they are not our friends, then they are our enemies. Make no mistake about this. They are our enemies.”

It would probably be a good idea for stamper to apologize or for his colleagues on the Milwaukee common council to condemn his comments.

That is if they ever hope to negotiate with republicans again the next time the city is hard up for cash.

And knowing Milwaukee, that won’t take long.