We got into a little back-and-forth recently with Pete Kennedy, a former Waukesha Freeman editor, who wrote a column for that newpaper which began and ended by saying, "Milwaukee sucks."

My response, in a slightly different version, appeared in the Freeman a week later.

Now comes Waukesha Mayor Larry Nelson, a good guy (and even a Democrat) to defend his fair city.

You can read his entire column below.

He makes some good points about the interdependence of Milwaukee and its surrounding counties, and of the need for cooperation.

But he's in denial if he thinks Waukesha isn't a suburb, or that it would be a free-standing city of 70,000 if it weren't for its proximity to Milwaukee.

Unlike Kennedy, I didn't say Waukesha sucks, simply that it is dependent on Milwaukee, which offers far more social, cultural, and economic advantages than a city little more than 10% its size.

Disclosure: I love city living, and Milwaukee, and I wouldn’t live in a suburb if they paid me.

So I was stunned by the “Milwaukee sucks” column written by a former editor of the Waukesha Freeman, and run by that newspaper on its editorial page this week.

(The paper will no doubt say it does not share his opinion but does not censor its columnists, but it shares the responsibility for the drivel it publishes. If the Freeman doesn’t agree, it should say so in an editorial.)

It’s ironic that the vitriolic column comes at a time when surrounding suburban counties are making nice with Milwaukee County and even referring to themselves as Milwaukee 7, and running a Choose Milwaukee campaign.

It makes sense to do that. People outside of Wisconsin have actually heard of Milwaukee, for one thing.