Les Enfants Terrible

WISCONSIN REPRESENTATIVE MARK PETTIS wants a lower drinking age for soldiers.

"We're treating these young men and women as adults when they're at war. But we treat them like teenagers when they're here in the states," he said.

Pettis admits his proposal will be a tough sell unless Wisconsin gets the federal government's approval - or at least permission to start a pilot program to prove it will not cause more accidents or other problems opponents associate with a younger drinking age.

The proposal hinges on the fed's commitment to highway funds for Wisconsin, which are tied to higher drnking ages. Pettis would like the lower the age, but only if the fed's agree not to pull those funds.

It's hard to tell where Pettis is coming from on this issue. I met with him on a number of occasions in my old job and one thing that I do know about him is, like him or not, he knows how to create publicity for himself. I always considered him a "float on the breeze" kind of guy, one who knows how to tailor a speech to the crowd in front of him. It has, on occasion, created trouble for him, as today's speech contradicts yestereday's speech.

Trailer Boy and I were talking about Pettis just the other day, and the rumor is that he could face a challenge from a popular local Democrat in his next bid for re-election. This latest cause could be Pettis' "kick-off" to that campaign.

Or, it could be an entirely sincere effort to recognize the sacrifice of our younger soldiers. The point is, with Pettis you just can't be sure.

I did happen to catch his mug on Fox News last week and he looked pretty happy to be there. So...who knows? My cynical side tells me that Pettis found a way to get some national face-time just before a big campaign. If her were truly serious and passionate about lowering the drinking age for Wisconsin's underage soldiers, he would be willing to kiss off the federal highway money.