Author Archives: dave cieslewicz

One of the more intriguing — and one of the few positive — things to happen in the last few weeks is the announcement that Michael and Susan Dell will contribute $6.25 billion toward “Trump accounts” set up under the Big Beautiful Bill. Shameless self-promotion aside, this is one good thing that’s come out ofContinue reading “Give a Kid a House”

With Mandela Barnes’ unsurprising announcement that he’s joining the race for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination, that field appears to be pretty well set. The only potential, but not yet announced candidate, out there is former state Department of Administration Secretary Joel Brennan. I would expect him to get in before Christmas and I’d be surprisedContinue reading “Checking in on Dem Candidates”

Trump pardons a notorious drug dealer while he deports a bright college student. The college student didn’t flatter him and hire Roger Stone. Her bad. Any Lucia Lopez Belloza is a 19-year old student at Babson College near Boston who has been in this country since she was seven. She has no criminal record. InContinue reading “Two Tales of Honduras”

In what will compete for the least surprising story of 2025, Mandella Barnes officially entered the race for Wisconsin governor yesterday. There had been an effort to keep him out. The Black-owned Milwaukee Courier newspaper, which endorsed Barnes in his 2022 U.S. Senate bid, wrote an October editorial urging him against a gubernatorial run. “Mandela had hisContinue reading “Barnes’ Heavy Baggage”

Okay, so I understand that I am required to gush over everything Ken Burns does. I may not so much as even mention his Moe Howard hair cut. The man’s a genius and who am I to raise so much as a dust speck of dissent? And yet… if I could just offer one littleContinue reading “Burns Gets It Right”

Welcome to this week’s Quote & Quiz, which moves from its usual Saturday spot to today’s place of honor on Thanksgiving Day. This special quote comes to us from none other than Lanette Cook, education and engagement manager at the Luvin Arms Animal Sanctuary in Erie, Colorado. Cook asked this of Gus, a farm raisedContinue reading “The Quote & Quiz, Thanksgiving Edition”

Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly and a handful of Congressional colleagues, who are service veterans, issued a video last week directed at active service personnel. Their message was simple and true: officers and soldiers need not follow illegal orders. They pledged loyalty to the Constitution, not to Donald Trump. In fact, their message was consistent withContinue reading “Kelly’s a Hero”

This week’s quote comes to us from none other than Katie Wilson, mayor-elect of Seattle who said: “I will appoint a cabinet of exceptional leaders whose lived experiences reflect the diversity of Seattle’s Black, Indigenous, Asian and Pacific Islander, Latinx/Hispanic, and People of Color communities as well as that of women, immigrants and refugees, 2SLGBTQIA+Continue reading “The Quote & Quiz for 11/22/25”

Sharon owned a small store in Rockbridge. For a few decades her store served as a deer registration station during the nine-day gun deer season, which begins again on Saturday.  When you shot a deer in her neck of the woods you had to bring it to Sharon’s where she filled out some paper workContinue reading “What We Lost When We Lost Sharon’s Store”

At some point, when he’s long gone, people will look back on the Trump era and make a simple judgement: did you oppose or support the man who was the most corrupt president in history? A man who sought to destroy American democracy and replace it with an autocracy. A man who displayed nothing butContinue reading “The Tragedy of Tommy”