Author Archives: dave cieslewicz

When I was in first or second grade at St. Ignatius school what I could have told you about George Washington was that when his father confronted him with a fallen cherry tree he told the truth and accepted the consequences. What I could have told you about Abraham Lincoln was that he walked milesContinue reading “The Past Isn’t Past”

One of the things that has brought us to the present awful state of affairs is tribalism. It’s corrosive to support our own team even if we know what they’re doing is wrong and to oppose the other guys even if we think they’re right. We should have left that stuff back in the cave.Continue reading “The Curse of Tribalism”

With Josh Kaul now out of the race for Wisconsin governor (he’s decided to seek a third term as AG), let’s take a look at where we’re at. On the Republican side it looks like the nominee will be Tom Tiffany, an ultra-conservative Trump acolyte whose congressional district spans northeast Wisconsin, the most conservative placeContinue reading “Latest Handicap for Wis Guv”

Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul announced yesterday that he won’t run for governor after all. This makes him the best qualified candidate. Kaul had been widely expected to be the heir apparent to Gov. Tony Evers who is not seeking a third term. Now, it’s true that his heirness wasn’t all that apparent as KaulContinue reading “Kaul’s Catch 22”

CBS has taken an important move toward reestablishing public faith in legacy media by hiring Bari Weiss as its news director. Weiss is cofounder of The Free Press, an online news source that I’ve found to be as objective and even-handed as any out there. Before that she worked for Tablet, an excellent centrist website,Continue reading “A Good Move by CBS”

Let’s be clear about what Donald Trump did this week. He took the next big step in overthrowing American democracy. In an unprecedented move, he ordered the 800 top U.S. military leaders to Washington for a reason he didn’t specify. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth blathered on about the “warrior ethos” and hit the usual cultureContinue reading “The Coup Started This Week”

One of the enduring themes here at YSDA is that everything in this world is not about race and gender. My biggest concern, among many, with the Madison school board is that they seem to believe just the opposite. Case in point is their comments when they awarded themselves a big pay increase the otherContinue reading “Madison School Board Rewards Itself For Failure”

As expected, Missy Hughes, Wisconsin’s economic development director, joined the growing Democratic primary field looking to succeed Gov. Tony Evers. I like her profile: 17 years as an executive at Organic Valley and then six years heading up Evers’ development department. I also like the lane she’s chosen, which suggests she leans moderate. “Right nowContinue reading “Missy Hughes, A Politician, Joins the Race”

I’m told I’m supposed to hate Amazon and its founder Jeff Bezos. The most recent reason is that Bezos, who also owns the Washington Post, spiked an editorial that would have endorsed Kamala Harris for president. In fact, there was a day last fall when I was supposed to boycott Amazon in protest. Liberals wereContinue reading “Why I Love Amazon, And What the Dems Can Learn From It”

Kamala Harris is under the impression that anybody still cares. In her account of the 2024 presidential contest she bites the hand that fed her while Biden still apparently believes that he could have won in 2024. But here’s the thing: Democrats — and everybody else — have moved on. Harris writes many dumb thingsContinue reading “Harris & Biden Are So 2024”