The Catch Up

Well, as they say, don’t be sad that it’s over, be happy that it happened. If you had told me at mid-season that the Packers would finish their season standing toe-to-toe with the best team in the NFC until the final seconds I would have suggested that your relationship to reality needed to be worked on. And yet, there we were.

Let’s see what else happened last week.

DeSantis drops out. We know people love Coke. So, you’ve got a bright idea. Let’s sell them a product just like Coke, only not exactly Coke! That pretty much sums up the Ron DeSantis campaign. He tried to be Donald Trump, only not quite as crude (but still, pretty crude). Trump voters had Trump, so they’d switch to Trump Light because…? After spending about a trillion dollars and most of his life for the past year in Iowa, he lost to Trump by 30 points there. Now he’s gone.

Jail finally approved. It only took 20 years, but it now looks like Dane County might actually move ahead on a much-needed jail consolidation plan. Last week the county board approved another $28 million in funding for the project after the only construction bid came in that much over budget. Even with that, the total number of beds will be about 20% lower than the current amount and in the fastest growing county in the state. I would have gone bigger, but any decision at all is welcome.

Johnson looks good so far. Anybody else becoming impressed with new House Speaker Mike Johnson? He’s a low key guy not given to grandstanding who seems to find a way to stay the course and get things done. He’s worked out another agreement with the Democrats to avoid a government shutdown — the same kind of deal that spelled doom for Kevin McCarthy — and he seems to be negotiating seriously with Pres. Biden and the Democrats on an aid package for Ukraine and Israel linked to more border security. I don’t see any advantage for Republicans in defusing Biden’s ongoing political nightmare on the southern border, so while Johnson may be demanding tough concessions, the fact that he’s willing to come to an agreement at all is significant. Johnson appears to be a throwback to an era when serious politicians wanted to make government work.

August body. Speaking of Republicans who are willing to stand up to their hard-right flank, Assembly Majority Leader Tyler August put election conspiracy monger and fellow Republican Rep. Janel Brandtjen in her place last week when she tried to force a vote on a resolution to impeach Elections Commission director Megan Wolfe. Wolfe has been under attack from Donald Trump and his sychophants for simply carrying out policies established by the bipartisan commission. “Our caucus is focused on real things, not grifting and not making a big show for the cameras. And that’s all she’s interested in doing,” said August referring to Brandtjen.

Putting abortion on the ballot (or not). Given its potency as a Democratic issue, why on earth would Republicans want to put abortion on the ballot? I can’t imagine, but that’s exactly what they’re attempting to do in Wisconsin with a bill that would put a binding referendum on the April ballot which would ban abortions after 14 weeks. It’s likely to be an academic question as Gov. Tony Evers will surely veto it. So, knowing that, why are the Republicans even trying? Maybe it’s a sop intended for their pro-life base, but those folks want a total ban, so I don’t see how this plays very well to them. Maybe the intention is to highlight the fact that, while two-thirds of Americans are pro-choice, they’re not that pro-choice. Restrictions in the second trimester do have some public support. Only 25% of Americans support abortion without any restrictions. So, perhaps the whole exercise is to make Democrats look extreme on the issue, but it’s more likely to remind voters how out of step the GOP is on this big issue. I don’t know, but if I were a Republican it would seem like folly to me.