Author Archives: dave cieslewicz

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”

Now it’s getting serious. For the first couple weeks of the government shutdown it was almost a parlor game. Who would get the blame? Who would blink first? It was about strategy and maneuvering and messaging. Take your turn to roll the dice, move your piece on the board, pick a card. Sure, there haveContinue reading “Shutdown Showdown”

Today we’re not messing around. We’re taking on the big issues. Enough with the stupid football uniforms already. Last night we reached a new low in dumb uniforms with the Pittsburgh Steelers’ alleged throwback unis. I’m pretty sure that no Steeler from the 1930’s would have been caught dead in the get up that AaronContinue reading “Enough With the Stupid Uniforms”

Last week a student was beaten in a bathroom at Madison’s West High School. The school district would like you to know that there’s nothing to see here. Press reports of the incident were sketchy due to the standard lack of information provided by the district. Then a video of the incident, recorded on aContinue reading “What’s Going On at West High?”