by Dave Zweifel ¦ The Capital Times ¦ 28 May 2008

Tommy Thompson and I seldom agreed on anything when he was governor.

Indeed, he would chide me, often in public forums, for being the editor of the only newspaper in Wisconsin that had not endorsed him in any of his many campaigns for office. Nevertheless, we got along just fine, despite our different takes on public policy. I even have a picture on my office wall of Tommy and me with his facetious inscription, "Thanks for all the support."

So I wasn't a bit surprised a few days after we switched from our daily afternoon print edition to seven-days-a-week news and commentary on the Web when the phone rang and a voice said, "Please hang on for Tommy Thompson."

The former governor and secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services came on the line to see how I was handling the change. He said he felt sad that the daily printed paper was no more and was sure it was sad for me. But he wanted to offer support as we headed off in a new direction. First, however, he wanted to make sure I was OK with it all.

We talked for about 10 minutes, reminiscing a bit about days past and our many disagreements during his years in the Legislature and later during his terms as governor. We both agreed, though, that despite our different takes on how government ought to operate, we could be friends.

I mention all this because of some news we reported out of the Legislature last week.

Longtime Republican state Rep. Terry Musser, who I've also known personally for a long time, announced he's stepping down after serving his west central Wisconsin Assembly district for 24 years because he's fed up with how nasty politics have become in our state.

The last straw for Musser, who has been one of the state's leading advocates for our war veterans, was the pillorying he took from some of his fellow Republicans and the doctrinaire right-to-lifers because he co-sponsored a bill that requires hospitals to provide the morning-after pill to rape victims in Wisconsin. Gov. Jim Doyle commended Musser for his work on the bill as he signed it into law earlier this year.

One would think that even the most strident anti-abortionists could see fit to making sure a rape victim doesn't have to carry a criminal's child, but that's not the case. It's an all or nothing proposition for some anti-abortionists and anyone who strays from what they consider the straight and narrow needs to be condemned and ostracized.

And it's not just them. There are other special interests that behave in the same way. And those who carry water for them in the Legislature are sometimes worse.

The art of politics, where there's give and take and where contrary opinions, even if personally abhorrent, are at least respected, has become a quaint footnote in history. Although a Terry Musser may have voted "correctly" 95 percent of the time, deviate once and the swords are unsheathed.

It's this attitude that has made politics so repugnant to so many. Unyielding special interests have contributed to the decline of civility. Where once political foes socialized and shared concerns, today they're expected to consider their opponents evil enemies, not just on issues, but personally.

It's sad and bodes ill for the future of our democracy. It makes me appreciate that once there were politicians like Tommy Thompson and others who reached across the aisle without fear of retaliation.

Dave Zweifel is editor emeritus of The Capital Times.