Author Archives: maplesdave

Phil Mickelson won the PGA Championship yesterday. At age 50, he’s now the oldest person to ever win one of golf’s major tournaments. That got me to thinking about how powerful old people are these days. So, I looked up some numbers. Here are the ages of the most powerful people in our country. JoeContinue reading “Old People Rule (Literally)”

It’s Sunday, so let’s lighten up and talk baseball… as in baseballs slamming into the faces of batters. Getting hit by a pitch has always been part of the game, but this season has seen hitters get struck at a rate not seen since the 1890’s. When you add in the fact that pitchers areContinue reading “Hard Hits”

Not surprisingly, former Vice President Mike Pence is writing a book. Also not surprisingly these days, the staff at Simon & Schuster are in an uproar about it. But here’s something that really is a surprise: the publishing house’s management is staying the course. Good for them. It has become more or less routine. TheContinue reading “My Right Not to Read Pence’s Book”

Madison is experiencing a record number of shots-fired incidents. City streets and parking lots are littered with shell casings. The Madison City Council is responding with almost a quarter million dollars of poorly targeted programs that will likely do nothing to stem the violence. This week the council voted to spend $225,000 on a bunchContinue reading “Fighting Crime With Jello”

Republicans want to end the supplemental $300 per week unemployment benefits. Democrats say it’s not what’s keeping workers from going back to a job. I think they’re both wrong. In Wisconsin, the maximum $370 per-week benefit plus the additional Federal money brings the payment to $670 a week. That’s the equivalent of $16.75 an hourContinue reading “Work Only Brings Dignity When It Pays Enough”

A dozen or so Wisconsin Democrats voted for a really stupid bill. They did the right thing. Last week the Wisconsin State Assembly voted 74-22 to require that the national anthem be played before every sporting event at every venue supported by tax dollars. About a dozen Democrats joined the Republicans in voting for itContinue reading “Oh Say, Can You See the Pandering?”

This month marks 10 years since I’ve been writing a blog. That one, called “Citizen Dave,” is on the Isthmus website. Isthmus is Madison’s feisty alternative weekly and it’s only thanks to the determination of its editor, Judy Davidoff, and its veteran staff that it lives to fight on today. Like all alt weeklies, IsthmusContinue reading “Why Am I Doing This?”

Hard-left Democrats are apoplectic about Israeli attacks on Hamas, but they don’t have a thing to say when Islamic militants murder school girls. Last week in Afghanistan, dozens of school girls were killed in an attack that targeted them for the offense of getting an education. You could hear crickets on the left. Later inContinue reading “The Hypocrisy of the Hard-Left”

The intolerance of the hard-left will go out of fashion soon enough. Identity politics is not as bad as insurrection and it’s not as bad as undermining faith in our entire electoral system by telling lies about it. So, let me stipulate upfront that the transgressions of the hard-left are not nearly as bad asContinue reading “How Woke Might End”

Tom Nelson led the fight to save a paper mill in his home county. By Spencer Black The cities and regions of Wisconsin go by various monikers. Some are geographic: Minocqua is the Island City and southwestern Wisconsin is Coulee Country. Many are known for their agricultural products (cheese, rutabagas, sausage, etc.). Milwaukee is CreamContinue reading “No Paper Lion”