dave cieslewicz

An Odd Angle

The Red Gym on the UW Madison campus is often photographed, but not from this angle. Last week’s photo was of the two birch trees at the end of the seldom-used walkway between the Red Gym and Alumni Park to the left. Odd Angles is a regular Sunday morning feature at YSDA. On my manyContinue reading “An Odd Angle”

The Q&Q For 7/6/24

This week’s quote comes to us from none other than Pres. Joe Biden, who, in response to a question from George Stephanopoulos about how things went so horribly wrong at his debate against Donald Trump, had this to say: “The whole way I prepared, nobody’s fault mine. Nobody’s fault but mine. I, uh, prepared whatContinue reading “The Q&Q For 7/6/24”

YSDA Special: Biden’s Interview

It was disastrous because it wasn’t disastrous enough. Joe Biden’s interview with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos this evening was okay. He looked and sounded better than he did at the debate on June 27th, but that’s a mighty low bar. He did even better earlier in the day at a rally in Madison, though that wasContinue reading “YSDA Special: Biden’s Interview”

Next!

It feels like the dam has burst. It started with virtually every liberal and center-left pundit minutes after the debate ended. Then it spread to major donors and then to a handful of low-profile House members. Then polling showed a modest widening lead for Donald Trump. Now the call for Joe Biden to step asideContinue reading “Next!”

The Center

Happy Independence Day. To celebrate I’m going to highlight one of my favorite essays of the past several years. It comes in the unlikely form of a Super Bowl commercial from Bruce Springsteen in 2021. Yeah, he’s selling a Jeep, but what he says is profound, if for no other reason than it doesn’t getContinue reading “The Center”

Forget Identity, Just Win

Let’s just say for the sake of argument (and my sanity) that Joe Biden does the right thing, or is forced to do the right thing, and steps aside. Who replaces him? If it’s Kamala Harris or Gavin Newsom we might as well stick with Joe. Harris has a minus 20 net approval rating. OnlyContinue reading “Forget Identity, Just Win”

We Will Be Biden

Americans are stuck with this decision: Do we want the guy who can’t tell right from wrong or the guy who can’t tell Monday from Tuesday? Pres. Joe Biden’s meltdown at last week’s debate was painful to watch. In the flood of news stories, social media posts and opinion pieces that followed, one comment stoodContinue reading “We Will Be Biden”

Death By Cheerleader

What will it take to get Joe Biden to step aside? Probably bad polling numbers. Really bad polling numbers. Right now Biden, his family, his campaign and the leadership of the Democratic Party are all rallying around him. Whistling past the graveyard seems like a weak analogy. It’s more like the grave has been dug,Continue reading “Death By Cheerleader”

An Odd Angle

There’s a narrow walkway between the Red Gym and Alumni Park on the UW campus. It ends in these birch trees set against Lake Mendota. Because Alumni Park, just to its left, attracts the interest of visitors and because there’s no real reason to be on this little sidewalk (I assume it’s only there becauseContinue reading “An Odd Angle”

The Q&Q For 6/29/24

This week’s quote comes to us from Pres. Joe Biden, who said at Thursday night’s debate: “We’d be able to right wipe out his debt. We’d be able to help make sure that all those things we need to do—childcare, elder care, making sure that we continue to strengthen our health care system, making sureContinue reading “The Q&Q For 6/29/24”