Author Archives: dave cieslewicz

Three weeks ago in this space we urged Democrats to do the responsible thing, be the adults in the room, and vote to end the government shutdown. Now, thanks to the sensible moderate Democrats in the Senate, that’s exactly what’s happening. Moreover, it’ll pay off politically for their party. Our argument back in October wasContinue reading “Moderates Act Like Adults”

The Edmund Fitzgerald began to sink in June, 1958. Today, November 10th, only marks the 50th anniversary of the actual sinking in 1975. That’s one conclusion you could reach after reading a new recounting of the tragedy, Wrecked: the Edmund Fitzgerald and the Sinking of the American Economy, by Tom Nelson with Jerald Podair. NelsonContinue reading “The Fitz Was Sunk From the Start”

If you can just step back, take your heart out of it for a moment, and analyze it as a management exercise, the whole controversy over the future of the Wisconsin football program and, indeed, the whole Athletic Department is fascinating. The latest news, as of this morning, is that Luke Fickell will be backContinue reading “Badgers Buck the Trend”

It’s possible to be both frustrated with the Beltway consultants and pols in the Democratic Party and not take positions on the issues that are out of the mainstream. But a recent column in the New York Times by Michelle Goldberg about the troubled candidacy of Maine U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner posits it asContinue reading “The Anti-Establishment Moderate”

There was one clear message from yesterday’s elections: it’s all about the cost of living. The Democrats got creamed a year ago not because most voters loved Donald Trump or embraced his full agenda. They were pushed toward him by a Democratic Party whose image was too far to the left on social issues andContinue reading “It’s About Prices”

Say what you want about YSDA, but we go there. We go to places sensible people fear to tread. And that has never been more true than it is today, when we dare to take on the feminization of America. We go there now because there’s an essay out there causing a mild stir. It’sContinue reading “My Most Ill-Advised Blog Ever”

There are four elections of note tomorrow. The pundits will over analyze the bejesus out of them. And YSDA will not be left behind in this regard. Instead of trying to predict the results or to pick apart their meaning, what we’ll do today is analyze the analysis. What do the predictable talking points fromContinue reading “Tuesday’s Just Tuesday”

It’s Halloween, so I thought I’d tell the scariest story I could come up with. The twenty-second amendment is pretty clear: “No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice,” And yet there’s no reason to think that’ll stop Donald Trump from seeking a third term. After all, in hisContinue reading “Boo! Trump in ’28?”

Why won’t the UW fire athletic director Chris McIntosh and football coach Luke Fickell? I have my theories. One of them, as expressed over in my Isthmus blog this week, was that Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin, who could fire McIntosh outright and Fickell by extension, had not yet heard enough from big donors, both those whoContinue reading “Is Fickell Too Big To Fire?”

Yesterday, in a piece on the government shutdown, I noted in passing an interesting trend in the Republican Party: Trump devotees who are breaking with him over a more traditional form of populism. I’d like to explore that a little more today. Trump practices a form of huckster populism. He’s a demagogue playing to people’sContinue reading “A Glimmer of Hope in the GOP”