Author Archives: dave cieslewicz

Hey, folks, it’s Sunday. So, let’s lay off the serious stuff for a day and think about beer. Well, it’s Wisconsin, so maybe this is serious stuff. Anyway, I was inspired this morning to think about my favorite beers by a column by the Wisconsin State Journal’s “Beer Baron,” Chris Drosner. Drosner’s been writing hisContinue reading “My Ten Favorite Beers”

The other day one of my favorite columnists, David Brooks, wrote a depressing piece about the state of the Republican Party, of which he used to be a member. His premise was that the party is spiraling downward, becoming ever more obsessed with the grievances of its disgruntled base. “The level of Republican pessimism isContinue reading “It’s a Big, Beautiful Dangerous World”

Do you like Wall Street? Then you’ll love Alex Lasry. Earlier this week, Urban Milwaukee Editor Bruce Murphy wrote a perceptive piece on the race for the Democratic nomination to take on Sen. Ron Johnson, should he decide to go for a third term. (I found it perceptive because he mostly agreed with my ownContinue reading “The Wall Street Candidate”

From the start it was clear to anyone who knew Foxconn’s record that former Gov. Scott Walker’s $4 billion taxpayer give away to the company was, well, a con. Now, after four years of broken promises, false starts and a lot of just plain bizarreness, Gov. Tony Evers’ administration has crafted a much more sensibleContinue reading “Foxconn Still a Con”

Much of America breathed a sigh of relief when the jury delivered guilty verdicts in the Derek Chauvin trial. As I wrote yesterday, the opposite verdict would have further eroded Americans’ confidence in their own institutions. But there’s a special meaning in it for Madison. Interviewed on this morning’s Today Show, George Floyd’s brother, Philonise,Continue reading “Verdict More Evidence For Cop Cams”

It may be only a matter of hours, at most days, before the jury in the Derek Chauvin trial delivers a verdict. Whatever it is, I’ll accept it. When we demand justice in a given case we cannot possibly be saying that we demand a conviction. If that were true, then why bother with theContinue reading “Accept the Verdict”

Oops. He did it again. Last week Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Brian Hagedorn sided with liberals on an important case.  The case was Zignego v. WEC, and what was at stake was the potential disenfranchisement of some 70,000 voters. (Earlier estimates were closer to 200,000.) The conserviitve law firm Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty claimedContinue reading “A Chance for Fair Maps”

The Taliban are a bunch or psychopaths. And now we’re going to give them a country back. Under Taliban rule girls can’t go to school and women can’t hold most jobs. They are essentially prisoners in their own homes. And it only gets worse from there. Women are sometimes publicly flogged for transgressions like notContinue reading “Stay in Afghanistan”

What is infrastructure? It’s whatever Joe Manchin says it is. There is a truly ridiculous debate going on right now about the definition of a single word. Pres. Joe Biden has outlined an ambitious set of investments that he defines as infrastructure. Republicans say it includes things that aren’t infrastructure. The hard-left says that itContinue reading “The Hard Stuff”

The Democratic primary for the right to take on Sen. Ron Johnson (should he decide to run for a third term — see below) is starting to fill up. There are now three announced candidates and at least as many waiting in the wings. Here’s a quick review of the field as it starts toContinue reading “Handicapping the Senate Race”