Madison, Wisconsin is well for many things, but among college students, it may be best known for its Halloween parties. Sports Illustrated even listed as one of the "100 Things You Gotta Do Before You Graduate". Every year, students, townies and visitors from other colleges converge on State Street to check out the creative costumes, drink and, unfortunately, riot. The last few years, bar time was like a green light for idiots to start smashing things and setting stuff on fire.

Naturally, Madison's Mayor Dave and the Police Dept. aren't too happy with this development. Mayor Dave even toyed with instituting martial law on Halloween weekend (not that I think he could even legally do that), The latest solution is to require downtown bars to close early for Halloween. This is a terrible idea and shows an absolute lack of creative policy-making ability on the part of Madison's so-called "progressive" government.

All closing bars early will do is make a riot, if it happens, happen earlier in the evening. Riots happen when large numbers of people spill onto the streets at the same time. By making bars close early, the city simply increases the size of the crowd and gives them longer to do damage before they pass out. If the city did the opposite, and allowed bars to stay open later, then they might actually have something. People would trickle out, rather than pour out. Some people would leave at 1. Some would leave at 2. Some hard core folks would stay in and drink until 4.

Why not try some creative solutions? College kids are going to drink on Halloween. It's a fact. You can't solve that "problem". But you can be creative in trying to minimize it.

I'm surprised at the way Madison liberals are handling this problem. It makes no sense considering how they tackle other issues. For example, Madison liberals take it as a fact that illegal immigrants will come into America. Instead of trying to stop that, they want to help them integrate themselves into the community by giving them low interest home loans. Liberals are among the most vocal proponents of the legalization of recreational drugs. You can't stop people from doing drugs, so you might as well clear up the court system, right?

So, why not take that same approach with Halloween? You can't really stop students from partying on Halloween, so why not just take a more laissez-faire apprach rather than taking an approach that bar owners, downtown businesses and students will all find antagonist (and, may even be seen as egging them on to riot)?

The only answer I can come up with is that Madison liberals have a very specific vision of the city. They don't want to be known as a beer-guzzling college town. They want to be a sophisticated, coastal oasis in the vast wasteland of flyover country. Students have no place in this vision. I really feel sorry for them. They are what make Madison special and too often the city treats them like an inconvenience. Then, they wonder why we have a brain drain. In the end, Madison is hardly a shining example of progressive politics, is it?