Author Archives: dave cieslewicz

The New York Times writer David Brooks wrote an extraordinarily tin eared piece last weekend. It was about how hard it was to be young and privileged. His thesis was that kids who got into Ivy League schools now faced intense competition to get into the right clubs, get just the right summer internships andContinue reading “The Blindness of the Elites”

This week’s quote comes to us from none other than Jordan Hudson, the young woman who is famously dating the old man Bill Belichick. In an email to her cheerleading teammates thanking them for their support she wrote: “During this time, I have faced a slow, exterior erasure of my strong, individual identity.” A) She’sContinue reading “The Q&Q For 5/17/25”

Dale Schultz and Dave Mahoney have a good idea. Like a lot of good ideas it faces a hard road ahead.  Schultz, the former Republican state senator, and Mahoney, the former Democratic Dane County sheriff, have formed a third party they call United Wisconsin.  But it’s unlike other third parties, which come and go, andContinue reading “Breaking the Two Party Monopoly”

Joe Biden had shown signs of cognitive decline even when he was running for president back in 2020. For four years it only got worse. That’s the unsurprising conclusion in a new book set to come out next week. In “Original Sin,” journalists Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson interviewed some 200 people, most of whomContinue reading “Biden Gave Us Trump”

On the shaky assumption that Donald Trump won’t declare marshal law and cancel the 2028 elections, Republicans are already trying to figure out how to be the next Trump. Their problem is that, because there may be a God after all, there is only one Donald. And when he’s gone I don’t see anybody elseContinue reading “Watch Josh Hawley”

The rumor around the lake is that Gogebic County hates us. That’s why getting my boat in the water was such a disaster this year. Because I have an inkling that the connection may not be immediately obvious to you, let me offer something in the way of explanation. A man who knows something aboutContinue reading “Gogebic County Hates Me”

Next to the Friday before opening day of deer season, last Wednesday was my favorite day of the year. I made firewood. I love splitting firewood. Real men use an ax, of course. I rent a hydraulic splitter from the hardware store down in Conover. But still, it takes a whole day to split andContinue reading “Splitting Wood”

This week’s quote comes to us from none other than Donald Trump who said of his idea to reopen Alcatraz: “It will serve as a symbol of law, order, and justice.”  A) Frank Morris and John and Clarance Anglin. B) Al Capone, Machine Gun Kelly and John Dillinger. C) Clint Eastwood, Fred Ward and JackContinue reading “The Q&Q For 5/10/25”

The last thing the world needed was another hard-liner. Instead, we got a new world leader that appears to be someone who will push back against hard-right populism. In Robert Prevost the College of Cardinals hit all the right notes. The new Pope can be claimed by the developing world where Catholicism is strongest sinceContinue reading “The Cards Pick a Winner”

This week we’re going to do something a little different for the Quote and Quiz. Instead of providing you with a quote and questions related to it, we’re going to ask you to speculate on what was being said at one moment in time. Here’s the moment: Only one question this week. What might haveContinue reading “The Q&Q For 5/3/25”