Yellow Stripes & Dead Armadillos
A safe place for moderates in a polarized world
Latest from the blog
The Q&Q For 5/11/24
This week’s quote comes to us from none other than Stormy Daniels, who in testimony this week at Donald Trump’s hush money trial, responded to his lawyer’s allegations that she had profited from her association with Trump by hawking merchandise, including a Patron Saint of Indictments votive candle. Daniels shot back: “Not unlike Mr. Trump.”…
Biden Needs to Stand Up to the Hard-Left
In politics it’s usually a good idea to pick a lane and stay there. But on Gaza, Pres. Joe Biden is trying to thread a needle and that will not redound to his benefit. Biden has been supporting Israel in its war on Hamas, but he keeps looking over his shoulder at the tiny hard-left…
Let’s Understand DEI
What are the Democrats afraid of? Yesterday, the Legislative Audit Committee ordered up something we’ve been asking for here at YSDA for a long time: a comprehensive audit of diversity, equity and inclusion programs in Wisconsin state government. Our point is that Speaker Robin Vos’ broadside attacks on DEI lack enough specific evidence. We don’t…
University or Day Care?
In this morning’s Wisconsin State Journal story about the ongoing drama on the UW Madison campus I thought there were a couple of especially revealing quotes. The first comes from Samer Alatout, a professor of community and environmental sociology who claims to have been injured on Wednesday when police removed the encampment of pro-Palestinian protesters…
Baldwin’s Sizzling Campaign
I think Tammy Baldwin will win in November. There. I said it. Now, if I were Baldwin, and given my record of predicting political outcomes, I’d demand an immediate retraction. Nonetheless, I will soldier on. In the latest Marquette Law School poll, Baldwin holds a five point lead over her Republican opponent for the U.S.…
The Q&Q For 5/4/24
This week’s quote comes to us from Joan Payton, of the German Wirehaired Pointer Club of America. Payton was commenting on South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem’s revelation in a new book that she took a misbehaving puppy into a gravel pit and shot it to death. “I’m not sure which thing she did was stupider:…
Mnookin Messes Up
Yesterday I wrote that I sympathized with UW Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin’s plight. Today I’m not so sympathetic. On Wednesday morning Mnookin made a tough call. She ordered that the small encampment of pro-Palestinian protesters on Library Mall be removed. The police showed up and did their jobs, taking down the tents with minimum trouble, though…
The UW’s Tents Situation
UW Madison Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin made a tough call. I think it was probably the wrong one. Yesterday, Mnookin ordered that the relative handful of tents on Library Mall be removed by force. I get it. The encampment violated campus rules. The protesters had been warned repeatedly. This should not have come as a surprise.…
The End of Marjorie Taylor Greene
Good for the Democrats and their House leader Hakeem Jeffries. Their announcement yesterday that they would not allow Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene to take down Speaker Mike Johnson is good for the country and there’s even some chance that it might help their own prospects this fall. Taylor Greene and a handful of other hard-right…
At Columbia, Cut Off the Oxygen
At Columbia University and on other campuses roiled by pro-Palestinian (some would say pro-Hamas) protests, administrators are in a tough spot. If they allow protesters to camp out on their malls, occupy their buildings, disrupt normal campus operations and, in their worst moments, intimidate Jewish students, they’ll be criticized for their inaction. They may take…
How to Keep the Next AJ Storr: Contracts
It has been a tough month for Badgers men’s basketball fans. And the team isn’t even playing games right now. Last week Bucky buckets lost AJ Storr, its leading scorer and only genuine NBA-caliber player, to Kansas, and it lost its veteran point guard and team leader, Chucky Hepburn, to Louisville. And one-time top prospect…
The Q&Q For 4/27/24
The Quote and Quiz has moved to Saturdays to give you more time to ponder your answers as well as the deeper meaning of the probing questions. This week’s quote comes to us from Eugene Roddenberry, son of Gene Roddenberry, the man who launched Star Trek. “After a long journey, she’s home,” Mr. Roddenberry wrote on social…
The Spring of Reason
It’s springtime and it’s starting to feel like the American middle is having a rebirth. Let us review. Speaker Mike Johnson is turning out to be just what the doctor ordered. When the Freedom Caucus took down Kevin McCarthy I argued that Democrats should have saved him, not because I liked McCarthy but because it…
Do Protests Work?
I’m a free speech advocate. So, as campus protests over Gaza heat up, I sympathize with college administrators who have to balance the right to protest with the necessity of keeping their campuses safe and allowing normal campus life to continue. But, when push comes to shove (and there’s been way too much of both…
Showtime Messes With Moscow
I loved “A Gentleman in Moscow” by Amor Towles. I both read it and listened to it as read by Jim Flemming on Wisconsin Public Radio. So, I was excited when I learned that Showtime/Paramount had turned the novel into a short series. And, in fact, it’s pretty good. Ewan McGregor is a perfect fit…
Save the Planet, Support Line 5
It’s Earth Day, so let’s celebrate by hugging a pipeline. For those readers not familiar with the controversy, here’s a quick recap. Line 5 is a 70-year old oil pipeline stretching from Superior through northern Wisconsin and Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and down to Detroit. (I’ve got a place in the U.P. and I probably get…
The Q&Q For 4/19/24
This week’s quote comes to us from none other than our former President, the much indicted Donald J. Trump, who said: “I was PRAYING not sleeping!!!” A) At a prayer breakfast. B) At a Yankees games. C) In his golf cart on the 18th tee. D) During jury selection at his hush money trial. 2.…
Reading the MU Poll Tea Leaves
There’s a new Marquette Law School poll just out and, like always, there’s lots of good stuff in there. Let’s check it out. Still a dead heat. The race between Joe Biden and Donald Trump remains, as expected, neck and neck. Trump has a two point lead which is the same as what he had…
How to Fix NPR
Imagine what would have happened if a Muslim editor at NPR had accused the network of a pro-Israel bias. Imagine what would have happened if a transgender editor had accused it of being insensitive to transgender issues. Imagine how the network would have reacted if a female editor had charged that it was biased toward…
Biden And Black Voters
The warning signs for Joe Biden just keep piling up. Poll after poll for the last three years has shown Biden’s weakness in swing states and among groups that should back him strongly, including women and young people. Now comes a poll from the Wall Street Journal that shows him losing ground among Black voters…
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