Yellow Stripes & Dead Armadillos
A safe place for moderates in a polarized world
Latest from the blog
The Proper Uses of Alcohol
Several years ago I recognized that I had a drinking problem. To be specific my problem was that I was an average Wisconsinite. From what I could tell from my observations of family, friends and the Badger nation at large, I was actually on the light side of local consumption. But it’s all relative and…
More of the Same Coming to Supreme Court
I have amazing powers of prediction. I can tell you who the next two Wisconsin Supreme Court justices will be. Next month Chris Taylor will defeat Maria Lazar by about ten points. Then a year from now Clark County Circuit Court Judge Lyndsey Brunette will replace Annette Ziegler, who announced her retirement yesterday. Here’s how…
This is How Democrats Win
As a center-left Democrat, I don’t often look to Texas for good news. Mostly what we get out of the Lone Star State are hard-right gun and God (in that order) worshiping cowboys. But even the Democrats aren’t often my cup of tea. Rep. Al Green, who has made it his signature move to yell…
The Wrong Investigation
Maia Pearson, the chair of Madison’s police oversight board and a Madison school board member, has been charged with criminal misdemeanors related to her resisting arrest in an incident in downtown Madison in December. In a criminal complaint, it is alleged that she and her friend, Urban Triage executive director Brandi Grayson, verbally abused staff…
Evers’ Good Idea is DOA
The other day Gov. Tony Evers introduced a state constitutional amendment that would ban partisan gerrymandering. That was a curious thing in a variety of ways. First off, why now? The Assembly has already gone home to campaign for reelection and the Senate has only one more day of session planned. This isn’t going anywhere.…
Why Not Ignore Social Media?
The other day I heard from a reader who noted that he had been abused on Facebook for writing things similar to a recent blog of mine about the antics of a Madison school board member and nonprofit director. I suppose I may have taken some of the same criticism, but I wouldn’t know. I…
The Waste of the Line 5 Fight
It’s pretty much over now. After seven years of legal battles, the Enbridge pipeline, known as Line 5, is finally under construction. It’s a tragedy, but not for the reasons those who fought it think it is. In fact, it’s an environmental tragedy created by environmentalists. This is an issue that at least tangentially connects…
The Disease of Tribalism
In my view, Alex Pretti should not have brought a gun to a protest. But if you disagree and believe Pretti was well within his right to bring a loaded concealed firearm to that fateful protest in Minneapolis where he was killed by ICE agents, then do you also think that the January 6th insurrectionists…
Bucky’s Dark Money
The University of Wisconsin Athletic Department wants taxpayer money while keeping the public in the dark on how they’ll spend it. And the Legislature is rushing to give them both the money and the cover of darkness. In the 2023 state budget the Republicans cut the UW system’s budget by $32 million. To get the…
Could Tiffany Win?
I asked an influential Democrat up here in the north woods (where the skiing has been amazing, by the way) who he liked for governor. Before he answered he told me something I hadn’t even thought to ask: he said he thought Tom Tiffany, the Republican Congressman from this part of the state, could win…
Dems Stoop to Trump’s Level
I watched as much of Donald Trump’s State of the Union address as I could stomach, which is to say about 20 minutes of it. I caught up by reading about it this morning. My overall take is that Trump was Trump, which is to say that he revealed yet again what a — to…
A Strange Silence
Paul Skidmore was a long-time Madison alder from the west side. At an online City Council meeting in September, 2020 somebody mutttered an ugly word directed at a Black woman who was speaking before the Council. It was so muted and subtle that nobody even noticed it in the moment, but it came to light…
More Sleaze in Wis Supremes Race
I got a helpful mailer the other day. It’s my “Nonpartisan Voter Guide for the Wisconsin Supreme Court.” This even-handed, strictly fact-based document provided me with valuable, nonpartisan and unbiased data on candidates Chris Taylor and Maira Lazar. It pointed out, for example, that Taylor had worked for Planned Parenthood and was a long-time supporter…
Let’s Nix Newsom and Pritzker
It’s astonishing to me that governors Gavin Newsom and JB Pritzker are presumptive front runners for the Democratic nomination in 2028. Their records in California and Illinois are horrible and they’d be easy prey for whoever the Republican nominee is post-Trump. The other day in the Wall Street Journal, Karl Rove, an old-fashioned center-right Republican…
Dems: Take the Money and Run
I guess the Democrats just want an issue for the fall. That’s the only way I can explain their opposition to a Republican bill that would keep the Stewardship Fund land acquisition and management program alive for another couple of years. To be sure the Republican bill is inadequate. It would reauthorize the program at…
The Souter Society
Chances are I did something yesterday that you didn’t. I voted in the spring primary. Only about one-in-ten eligible voters bothered to show up and I can’t really blame those that stayed home. There was only one race on my ballot, a quiet affair to eliminate one of three candidates for a Dane County circuit…
More Reason to Appoint Justices
This one won’t be as awful as the last two, but it’s still pretty bad. I refer to the latest contest for a seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Because the previous contests in 2024 and 2025 were battles for ideological control of the Court, they attracted national attention and truckloads of money from outside…
Why Are We Subsidizing Data Centers?
Wisconsin taxpayers have spent $70 million in the last couple of years to subsidize the construction and operation of data centers. That’s because a provision in the 2023-2025 state budget created a sales and use tax exemption for these things. The exemption is broad, covering everything from computer hardware and software to office furniture. And…
Warning Signs From Jersey
This week Analilia Mejia won an upset victory in the Democratic primary to fill the U.S. House seat vacated by New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill. She defeated former moderate Democratic Congressman Tom Malinowski and nine other candidates. She ran well to the left of the field, gaining the endorsements of Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and…
Social Issues Can’t Save the GOP This Time
Republicans want to change the subject. So, the other day they passed a series of bills in the Wisconsin Legislature aimed at reviving transgender issues where they hold mostly popular positions. The bills would ban the participation of transgender females in girl’s and women’s sports, prevent minors from getting gender-affirming treatments and require parents to…
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