The Catch Up: The Racist, Colonialist Poinsettia

It’s Boxing Day in Britain, so-called because it’s the day of the traditional bout between the English monarch and the Archbishop of Canterbury. Queen Elizabeth held a 55-15 lifetime record, but Vegas oddsmakers have King Charles a two-to-one underdog. Actually, nobody knows for sure why its called Boxing Day, but if you care you can read more about it here.

This week between Christmas and New Years has always been one of my favorites. Back when I was a student and then through my decades of gainful employment, it was a time to relax when pretty much nothing was expected of me. I’d watch movies and football games, read, see friends and do a lot of sitting around. These days that pretty much defines my entire year, so the week isn’t as special as it used to be, but it’s still nice.

Let’s catch up on the news.

It’s not a poinsettia, it’s a cuetaxochitl. Want to know why Democrats lose elections? Consider that festive red holiday plant on your table. Like your poinsettias? Of course you do and that’s because you’re a racist, colonialist! Somebody went to a lot of lengths to unearth the extremely obscure fact that the poinsettia was named for early 19th century American diplomat Joel Poinsett. Poinsett owned slaves and he was enthusiastic about American expansionism, known as Manifest Destiny. So, the politically correct must now refer to the plant by its Mexican name “cuetaxochitl.” Americans of good will hear this kind of thing and think to themselves that maybe all the effort put into sussing out the slightest and most obscure forms of offense from deep in our history might be better expended on doing something worthwhile in the present. Whether they deserve it or not, the Democrats get tagged as the party that cares about the offensive name of your favorite holiday plant, among other inanities.

Scary decisis. One of our founding principles here at YSDA is that we’ve never seen a parade we can’t rain on, even when it’s our own. So, now that the Wisconsin Supreme Court has done the inevitable and ordered new legislative district maps, we have concerns. Don’t get me wrong, this is a good thing. The current maps are demonstrably the most heavily gerrymandered in the country. But here’s the thing to consider. These maps were just okayed by the Court in the last year or so. Now, the new liberal majority has overturned them, as expected. Yet, it’s entirely possible that in a little over a year and a half conservative challenger Brad Schimel will defeat and replace liberal incumbent Ann Walsh Bradley. And then you can bet that conservatives will be back before the Court asking it to reinstate these current maps. This points up the value of stare decisis, which is the legal principle of a respect for precedent. If our high court becomes a tennis match in which major issues get batted back and forth across the net depending on the partisan swing of the last election, that seriously degrades the stability that the courts are supposed to provide in our system. These maps should have never been upheld in the first place, so the fault is really in the first decision made by the conservatives. We’re just pointing out that, in the bigger picture and the long-run, all of this could wind up weakening another of our democratic institutions.

Vos’ odd gambit. Occasionally, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos likes to toss a curveball. Earlier this year, he raised the specter of impeaching new liberal Justice Janet Protasiewicz, only to back off in recent days. Then, out of the blue, Vos suddenly pushed through adoption of a nonpartisan redistricting process long sought by Democrats. (That’s stalled in the Senate presumably pending the outcome of the redistricting case.) Now he’s floating a binding referendum to establish restrictions on abortion after 12 weeks or so of pregnancy. It’s probably DOA as Gov. Tony Evers has vowed to veto any such proposal, but why Vos would even propose it is a mystery to me. Even Julaine Appling, the leader of the state’s leading anti-abortion group, is against Vos’ idea. It’s true that Americans generally support restrictions on abortion earlier than Roe had allowed, but putting abortion on a ballot in any form is only likely to drive liberal turnout as it has in every other state, and here in Wisconsin during last year’s Supreme Court race. Since he proposed it for the April ballot, maybe he’s trying to create some kind of turbulence in the GOP presidential primary. It’s no secret that he hates Donald Trump, one of Vos’ more endearing qualities. But exactly what effect mixing abortion into the primary would have isn’t clear. It remains a mystery, but one that’s likely to be academic.

The UW’s hypocrisy. Last week UW Madison Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin celebrated a senseless program that provides free tuition and pays other expenses for members of Wisconsin’s indigenous tribes. It’s senseless because the upshot of the new program is that high income families who are tribal members can get much more benefit from this than low-income members. A few days later Mnookin gave an interview in which she said she was “worried” that college athletes might someday be treated like the employees they are and get paid a real wage. So, Mnookin supports a program that provides benefits to those who don’t need it while she opposes simply paying players what they deserve out of the billion dollar college sports industry. How is this social justice?

School board needs challengers. Dane County Board needs candidates. Incumbent Madison School Board members Savion Castro and Maia Pearson have announced that they’re running for reelection in April. I have deep concerns about the direction of this Board. So, I hope candidates will step forward to challenge them with a fresh and practical vision. You need only 100 signatures to get on the ballot and nomination papers can be circulated now through January 3rd.

As for the Dane County Board, all 37 seats are up this spring, but only a handful have contested races so far. I served on the Board myself for five years and it was a deeply rewarding experience. You get to participate in important issues like the county jail debate, social services, the zoo, the airport, land use, water and natural resource issues and more. And, in this case, you only need 50 signatures to get on the ballot. Same deadline of January 3rd.