Category Archives: Uncategorized

Madison takes enough incoming from the hard-right. We don’t need the left to pile on. I’m referring to the liberal law firm Law Forward’s civil suit against the city and its former clerks over the mishandling of 193 ballots in the November, 2024 election. These were absentee ballots that were misplaced and not counted. TheyContinue reading “Law Forward Could Take Us Backward”

In the wake of the Supreme Court ruling disallowing the use of race in admissions something surprising (although it should have been predictable) is happening. While admissions of Black students to Ivy League schools is down, admissions to state schools is up. The New York Times reported this week that Black admissions to the nation’sContinue reading “A New Kind of Diversity”

Let’s start with the photo below. These are, of course, ICE agents training their loaded weapons on a driver in the Twin Cities. But why? Have they tracked down a dangerous criminal? Is this a drug dealer? Has the person brandished a weapon or tried to impede their work? No. None of the above. TheContinue reading “Trump in Retreat”

Last June UW-Madison Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin received $150,000 just for hanging around. She was scheduled to get another $250,000 had she stayed into June of this year, but instead she’s leaving for Columbia University. Her last day at the UW will be sometime around commencement in May. By most accounts Mnookin did a good job.Continue reading “Link Pay to Performance”

After a couple of false starts, Senate Democrats seem to have figured out how to work a potential government shutdown. House Dems should go along. Last fall Democrats forced a 43-day partial shutdown. They did so over the price of health care. While they didn’t get the extension of Obamacare tax subsidies that they wanted,Continue reading “Senate Dems Know How to De-ICE”

I go back and forth on this one. Sometimes I think I’m being paranoid. Other times I believe I’m right. Today I believe I’ve got a justified concern. My worry is that Donald Trump will try to steal the mid-term elections in November and then try to run again and stay in power after 2028.Continue reading “Does Paranoia Strike This Deep?”

I know, it’s becoming tiresome. But when you have a quote factory like Donald J. Trump it gets hard not to go there, especially during slow weeks when nobody else is saying things that are more stupid, crude, outrageous or all three at once. This week Trump picked Kevin Warsh to be the new FedContinue reading “The Quote & Quiz For 1/31/26”

It’s morning and I’m in mourning. One of my favorite columnists of all time, David Brooks, is leaving the New York Times after 22 years. He’ll move over full time to the Atlantic and he’ll do something vague at Yale. So, I can still find his writing if I look for it, but I’ll missContinue reading “Stability”

Looks like we’re entering the middle innings now. A couple of weeks ago I wrote that the race for Wisconsin governor was in the third inning. The first three frames were the preliminary moves: putting together a campaign, carving out an identity, choosing issues to emphasize and, crucially, raising money. The campaign finance reports, whichContinue reading “Guv Race Hits the Drop Out Phase”

Alex Pretti may not have died in vain. While the videos of Renee Good’s death were open to interpretation, Pretti’s killing looks like a flat out murder. It was so clear that even MAGA and Republican-leaning news outlets, like Fox News and the Wall Street Journal, are decrying it and calling for a real investigationContinue reading “Pretti’s Death Creates a Chance for Sanity”