Category Archives: Uncategorized

When a game is put out of reach in the fourth quarter, Packers football broadcaster Wayne Larrivee likes to close it out with, “And there’s your dagger!” Unfortunately, too often this season the Pack has been on the pointed end of the knife. But, to borrow Larrivee’s phrase, was last night the dagger for DonaldContinue reading “Was That Your Dagger?”

There has been lots of news out of the Madison School District lately. I’d like to focus on three stories that are interrelated. The first is the reinstatement of Sennett Middle School Principal Jeffrey Copeland. I’ve written about that extensively, so I won’t go over the details here, but his return is a good thing.Continue reading “Why is MMSD Losing Students?”

You may not have noticed this as it has received scant coverage in the Madison media, but the UW has a new football coach. No, really, it does. You thought Paul Chryst had the job for life? Where were you in October? Okay then, surely the beloved Jim Leonhard was hired to replace him? No,Continue reading “Fickell Helps Sell Madison”

The Democrats have abandoned Iowa. The party leadership, at the urging of Pres. Joe Biden, has kicked the Hawkeyes to the curb, replacing their caucus with South Carolina’s primary as their first contest in the race for the party’s presidential nomination. Strictly speaking, this is probably just symbolic. In the 10 meaningful caucuses since 1972,Continue reading “Midwest: So Long, Iowa”

Let’s start by giving the Madison School Board credit for voting unanimously to reinstate Sennett Middle School Principal Jeffrey Copeland in a special meeting last night. Copeland, in his brief tenure at the school in September, had quickly won the respect of teachers and parents and probably students for setting high standards, backing up teachersContinue reading “Copeland is Back, But Where’s Jenkins?”

This week I wrote a couple of posts that prompted responses that made me rethink what I wrote. I’m not changing my position in either case, but the responses were thoughtful and deserve consideration. The first case involved a post from Wednesday in which I praised Madison School Board President Ali Muldrow for indicating sheContinue reading “Going Deeper”

Amy Walter of the Cook Political Report made a cogent observation in her weekly appearance on the PBS News Hours this past Monday. She noted that the House majority that Nancy Pelosi led when she first became Speaker in 2007 was far more diverse than the group of Democrats, now in a slim minority, thatContinue reading “Dems Keep Moving Coastal”

All kinds of interesting things going on, so let’s cover some ground this morning. Muldrow Makes Sense Last night the Madison School Board was its usual opaque self. The Board was supposed to rule on the appeal of his dismissal by former Sennett Middle School Principal Jeffrey Copeland. After a brief closed session meeting, theContinue reading “Lots To Cover”

When the child tax credit program expired at the end of last year I thought there would be a political outcry. There was a shrug. Last December, just as the expanded credit was about to expire, a poll found that 51% of Americans were okay with that and, it seems, the other half weren’t allContinue reading “The Ideology of Entitlement”

Yesterday Madison mayoral candidate Gloria Reyes made her first detailed pitch to voters in a Sunday oped in the Wisconsin State Journal. It left a whole lot to be desired. Reyes focussed her entire column on public safety. On one level that makes some sense as she’s a former cop, she oversaw the Police DepartmentContinue reading “Weak Start For Reyes”