Yellow Stripes & Dead Armadillos
A safe place for moderates in a polarized world
Latest from the blog
Lessons From John Fetterman
One big reason that Donald Trump won in 2016 and went on to take over the Republican Party is that he didn’t sound like a typical politician. In a counterintuitive way, the most demonstrably lying politician in history came off as genuine. Nobody would say things that offensive, that absurd, that nuts if he didn’tContinue reading “Lessons From John Fetterman”
Over the Mnookin
Heading back to the Emerald City this morning, so we’ll make this a quick one. The UW Regents hired Jennifer Mnookin to be the next UW Madison chancellor. She’s currently the dean of the UCLA law school and she went to Harvard, Yale and MIT. All fine schools, but she has no ties to Wisconsin.Continue reading “Over the Mnookin”
Rare
Whether or not the Democrats can ride what appears to be the impending overturning of Roe v. Wade to victories in November turns on one word: rare. When I wrote about this last week I said that I liked Bill Clinton’s formulation that abortion should be “safe, legal and rare.” I suspected when I wroteContinue reading “Rare”
Midwest: A New Voice
I admit it. I’ve got a chip on my shoulder when it comes to the Midwest. Virtually all of our national media and culture (movies, TV, radio shows, publishing houses, etc.) comes from the coasts. And their attitude toward the middle of the country? To paraphrase Rick played by Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca, “They’d despiseContinue reading “Midwest: A New Voice”
Keep Politics Out of Math
Florida rejected a bunch of math textbooks because they allegedly contained a liberal bias. The left went nuts. I tended to side with the left until I read the New York Times’ breathless take on the whole thing. Here’s one example of a math problem that was flagged as a problem by a Florida textbookContinue reading “Keep Politics Out of Math”
Light Blue Gets Good Review
Last week, Capital Times editor and publisher Paul Fanlund wrote a nice review of my book, Light Blue: How center-left moderates can build an enduring Democratic majority. With his permission we repost it here. By Paul Fanlund When you’ve been a journalist in Madison as long as I have, you’ve seen the gamut of personalityContinue reading “Light Blue Gets Good Review”
He Shoots! He Scores!
Tom Nelson has joined Alex Lasry and Sarah Godlewski with a television ad buy. The least-funded of the four major candidates vying to take on Sen. Ron Johnson in November will probably have the smallest reach, but the ad itself could pack a bigger punch. The fourth candidate, Mandela Barnes, has yet to hit theContinue reading “He Shoots! He Scores!”
Abortion Opponents Aren’t Evil
A few months ago we ended the practice of posting long opinion pieces by others verbatim. A reader and veteran journalist brought our attention to the concept of “fair usage.” That’s the principle (and law) that says it’s okay to quote bits and pieces from another writer but not to cut and paste their entireContinue reading “Abortion Opponents Aren’t Evil”
Midwest: Firewood
I’m late with my Midwest post this Sunday, but I’m still getting it in before Sunday ends — and I have a good excuse. It’s the firewood window up here in the U.P., and so I was using every daylight hour I could to put in my stock for the fall. I count the firewoodContinue reading “Midwest: Firewood”
Safe, Legal & Rare
For the third time in six years Democrats and liberals are being given an opportunity to turn tragedy into progress. Will they blow it again? What was surprising about the leak of the draft of a decision that would overturn Roe v. Wade was the leak itself, not its substance. From the moment the SupremeContinue reading “Safe, Legal & Rare”
Sorting Through the Leaked Roe Draft
Somebody violated protocol and leaked an early draft of a U.S. Supreme Court decision that would overturn Roe v. Wade. This has sent people off, as you might expect it would, but let’s try to sort through it as rationally as we can. The first thing to observe is that the leak itself was aContinue reading “Sorting Through the Leaked Roe Draft”
Pledge Wins; Prayer Loses
I’m headed north today, so we’ll just have a quick update on an issue we addressed a few weeks ago. As the new Dane County Board reorganizes itself after the spring elections, there was a move to eliminate the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance before the board meetings. There was also a proposal toContinue reading “Pledge Wins; Prayer Loses”
Midwest: Where Is It?
Now on week three of my promised Sunday morning series about the Midwest, some thoughtful readers have chimed in to ask: do you even know what you’re talking about? Now, in truth, that question is asked regularly on any number of topics I have addressed in this and other spaces. It’s not even limited toContinue reading “Midwest: Where Is It?”
Am I an Eisenhower Republican?
Fellow Madison blogger David Blaska has accused me of being an Eisenhower Republican. I think I’ll take that as a compliment. Dwight Eisenhower was my President when I was born in 1959. Consider these things about Eisenhower: His proudest accomplishment was the Interstate Highway System, the biggest single public works project in American history. (FDR’sContinue reading “Am I an Eisenhower Republican?”
Sifting Through the Latest Marquette Poll
One of the best things that has happened in Wisconsin over the last several years is the advent of the Marquette University Law School Poll. The detailed poll, run by Charles Franklin, never fails to provide interesting data, mostly on politics but also on the state of the state more broadly. For a political columnist,Continue reading “Sifting Through the Latest Marquette Poll”
$1000 For Dane County Employees? Bad Idea
Let’s say you’re a public official with $3 million burning a hole in your pocket. Pick the option that aligns with your values. Get it out to local small businesses contending with the lingering effects of the COVID-19 shutdown. Increase efforts to attack the homeless problem, which was made worse by COVID. Bolster food pantries,Continue reading “$1000 For Dane County Employees? Bad Idea”
Let’s Make a Virtue of Resilience
From time to time here at YSDA we consider creating a new weekly feature which would be called something like Oh, For Cryin’ Out Loud. In OFCOL we’d highlight the inanity of the week. Michael Gableman alone could provide fodder nonstop. The only challenge would be to decide which of Gableman’s stupid moves and dumbContinue reading “Let’s Make a Virtue of Resilience”
Midwest: Rust Belt No More
What other region would put up with a moniker like “The Rust Belt”? Would the West Coast be okay with “The Drought Belt”? How about “The Wildfire Belt” for the Mountain states? Or the “Flooded Cities Belt” for the East Coast? But virtually every news outlet, including local ones, uses “Rust Belt” without a secondContinue reading “Midwest: Rust Belt No More”
Purge the Activists
I’ve served as an aide to politicians and as a politician myself and here’s what I’ve learned: activists have no role in a public official’s office, and when they start pushing for their own agendas they should be shown the door as soon as possible. This comes up now as the Biden Administration is bleedingContinue reading “Purge the Activists”
Leave Mickey Alone
Anybody else tired of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis kicking Mickey Mouse around? Here’s the back story. A few weeks ago Florida passed a law, supported by DeSantis, which restricted formal teaching about gender identity (but not any discussion of it) in K-3 education. The left went ballistic, dubbing it the “don’t say gay bill.” UnderContinue reading “Leave Mickey Alone”
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