Author Archives: dave cieslewicz

A Tale of Two Parties

The New York Times would tell us that their city’s mayoral race will indicate the direction of the Democratic Party. Try Buffalo and Virginia instead. It appears that Eric Adams may be the next Mayor of New York. We won’t be sure for about a month because this is the city’s first election under it’sContinue reading “A Tale of Two Parties”

Massive Power Line May Go Down

In baseball they say you win some, you lose some and sometimes it rains. But if your business is building massive power lines through the Midwest countryside you only win.  At least that has been the experience of the American Transmission Company. ATC has never been denied permission to build a power line from Wisconsin’sContinue reading “Massive Power Line May Go Down”

The Trouble With Nonprofits

A few days ago, I wrote about “progressophobia,” a term coined by Harvard linguistics Prof. Steven Pinker to describe the left’s reluctance to acknowledge its own successes. I thought that Bill Maher had done a brilliant job of explaining how that was playing out in politics and popular culture. But, to be fair, it’s notContinue reading “The Trouble With Nonprofits”

It’s Time to Drop the Masks, Madison

I am the furthest thing from a COVID denier, but continued mask wearing in Madison is just another form of liberal virtue signaling. I split my time between our place in the North Woods and our condo on the Near West Side. For virtually all of the pandemic I was frustrated with my Upper PeninsulaContinue reading “It’s Time to Drop the Masks, Madison”

The Anti-Tribalist

I am a member of a very large congregation: The Church of Fallen Away Catholics. I wish Joe Biden would join me here. I grew up in an observant Catholic family in a heavily Catholic part of the country and attended Catholic schools for my first 12 years of education. During the school year atContinue reading “The Anti-Tribalist”

Progressophobia

I have mixed feelings about comedian Bill Maher. But he got it dead right about the way the hard-left refuses to deal with the reality of progress on social issues. On the one hand, Maher almost perfectly captures my own politics: liberal, but willing to take on political correctness when it’s called for. On theContinue reading “Progressophobia”

What Biden Can Get Done

Democrats are growing anxious over their stalled agenda. There’s actually a lot they can still accomplish. If you had told me a year ago that Joe Biden would be President, that the Democrats would control Congress and that, in his first year, Biden would reduce child poverty by half, I would have been giddy. That’sContinue reading “What Biden Can Get Done”