dave cieslewicz

The Catchup: Bradley’s Graceful Exit

Lovely weekend. I got out and enjoyed it, but I did catch most of the final round of sports’ most pretentious event, the Masters, where the fans are “patrons” and the course is “the property” and elevator music suffuses the broadcast. The best thing about this year’s tournament was Tiger Woods. A guy who shouldn’tContinue reading “The Catchup: Bradley’s Graceful Exit”

The Q&Q For 4/12/24

This week’s quote comes to us from NPR editor Uri Berliner, a 26-year veteran of the NPR newsroom. In a piece for The Free Press, Berliner wrote: “It’s true NPR has always had a liberal bent, but during most of my tenure here, an open-minded, curious culture prevailed. We were nerdy, but not knee-jerk, activist,Continue reading “The Q&Q For 4/12/24”

What’s the Deal With NPR?

Give Uri Berliner credit for courage. The NPR veteran business editor wrote a long, scathing and accurate piece about what’s become of his employer. It appeared yesterday on the site The Free Press. NPR bigwigs wasted no time in dismissing it out of hand, as opposed to maybe looking within to see if some ofContinue reading “What’s the Deal With NPR?”

What’s a Moderate To Do?

Last week the centrist, bipartisan organization No Labels labelled its attempt to find a unity ticket a failure. No Labels had hoped to push the two major parties to the center by threatening to launch a third party campaign if they gave us another round of Biden v. Trump. But the parties did just thatContinue reading “What’s a Moderate To Do?”

Biden Shows Up to Push Me Away

Pres. Joe Biden campaigned in Madison yesterday. He showed up in my town to give me reason to want to vote against him. Biden’s message was about how hard he’s trying to get around a Supreme Court that has told him that a president — any president — doesn’t have the power to do whatContinue reading “Biden Shows Up to Push Me Away”

The Catchup: NPR’s Bias

Wisconsin will get 89% of an eclipse today, if it isn’t cloudy. Eh. I can’t get excited about it, but if you still have doubts about Einstein, you could use this event to prove to yourself that he was right. On the other hand, the ending of “Curb Your Enthusiasm” represents the total eclipse ofContinue reading “The Catchup: NPR’s Bias”

The Q&Q For 4/5/24

This week’s quote comes to us from New York State Rep. Charles Levine, who introduced a bill to repeal New York’s law making adultery a crime. Referring to what he called a handful of “religious nuts” who oppose his bill, he said: “This is not the first time that I will have been called aContinue reading “The Q&Q For 4/5/24”

Spring in Wisconsin

I was worried that Wisconsin would give her the wrong impression. My wife’s niece, a high school junior, is visiting this weekend to have a look at the UW. She’s from California. In fact, she lives a stone’s throw from Stanford. In Menlo Park, 45 degrees counts as “cold” and a day of rain registersContinue reading “Spring in Wisconsin”

A Good Day For Moderation

Yesterday’s elections weren’t going to be earth-shattering, but the results were still encouraging. Let’s review. Biden out-polled Trump. While it was a foregone conclusion that Joe Biden and Donald Trump would win their primaries, Biden got about 20,000 more votes than Trump. In a state where the last two elections have come down to 20,000Continue reading “A Good Day For Moderation”

Poison Ivy

All of the churn over the Supreme Court’s overturning of race as a consideration in college admissions is really only about a handful of schools. The vast majority of colleges admit pretty much all comers. But a degree from Harvard, Yale, Princeton and a few other selective schools punches your ticket to the higher echelonsContinue reading “Poison Ivy”