Tony Evers, by his nature, avoids initiating a confrontation. He seems to have found a political and legal strategy to match his natural disposition. Patrick Marley reports Tony Evers says it will take a lawsuit to get him to go along with lame-duck legislation: Incoming Gov. Tony Evers said Wednesday he would not go along…
Politics
Politics, Religion
Who Said It Better: Falwell or Christ?
by JOHN ADAMS •
Assault Awareness & Prevention, CDA, Charity, City, Corporate Welfare, Culture, Dogs, Economy, Education, Federal Government, Foxconn, Free Markets, Government Spending, Innovation Center/Tech Park, Local Government, Police, Politics, School District, State Capitalism, State Government, University, UW System, WEDC, Wisconsin
The Broad Outlines of 2019
by JOHN ADAMS •
For many years, I would begin the year with predictions for the twelve months ahead. Events since 2016 have made predictions harder, but one can still discern some short-term developments for the city. These prospects, of course, form an online of topics to ponder, and about which to write (often requiring that one return to the…
Elections, Gov. Walker, Politics, Tony Evers, Wisconsin
Beyond Milwaukee and Madison: Walker’s ‘erosion of support in diverse set of cities and suburbs’
by JOHN ADAMS •
The WISGOP, under Speaker Vos and Majority Leader Fitzgerald, falsely contends that Scott Walker lost only because of the Dane County & City of Milwaukee vote. A claim like this is myopic, of course: the close election turned as much on where Walker underperformed as where Evers performed well. Craig Gilbert looks at the election data…
Bad Ideas, City, Politics
The Myth of the Adult in the Room
by JOHN ADAMS •
National stories – about national principles – apply to places big and small, including Whitewater, Wisconsin. Monica Hesse’s John Kelly and the myth of the ‘adult in the room’ summarizes about a national figure a myth that’s common locally, too: If you can remember back to Kelly’s appointment, six thousand years ago in 2017, the…
Politics, State Government, Television, Tony Evers, Wisconsin
Governor-Elect Evers on 12.9.18 Meet The Press
by JOHN ADAMS •
Gov. Walker, Politics, Wisconsin
The Incredible Shrinking Man
by JOHN ADAMS •
How very odd, truly, that even now Gov. Walker feels compelled to retweet a story from the MacIver Institute praising his tenure. (That organization’s motto – ‘the free market voice for Wisconsin’ – is incredible: they’ve spent years boosting Walker’s corporate welfare and crony capitalism. Walker’s shown no understanding of, or respect for, free-market economics.)…
Babbittry, Blogging, New Media, Newspapers, Politics
The New Version of Old
by JOHN ADAMS •
Babbittry, City, Culture, Local Government, Politics, School District, University
The Beauty & Opportunity of Ordinary Time
by JOHN ADAMS •
In the calendar of the Church, Ordinary Time is that part of the year between the seasons of Advent, Lent, Easter, and Pentecost. Perhaps it seems less momentous to some, but Ordinary Time is no less important, offering as it does “time for growth and maturation.” Far from being a lesser time, I find it beautiful…
Bad Ideas, Mendacity, New Media, Politics, That Which Paved the Way
A Site on Facebook: ‘Nothing on this page is real’
by JOHN ADAMS •
Standards have fallen so low that, whether of right or left, trolls take advantage of gullible and ignorant people on Facebook each day. Eli Saslow reports how a liberal troll tricks impressionable conservatives. The people tricking, and the people being tricked, are evidence of (respectively) ethical or educational decline. First the unethical tricksters: He [forty-something Christopher Blair] had…
Elections, Politics, Wisconsin
Wisconsin 2020
by JOHN ADAMS •
Craig Gilbert writes Wisconsin already expected to be a war zone for the 2020 presidential race: Almost everything about the Nov. 6 midterm election bolstered Wisconsin’s status as a top presidential target in 2020, when this state has no race for governor or U.S. Senate but can expect an all-out war over its 10 electoral votes.…
43rd Assembly District, Elections, Politics, Trump
Then Why Run as a Republican?
by JOHN ADAMS •
What the Daily Union lacks in journalism it supplies in comedy. Consider a recent story about a 43rd district assembly candidate: Republican Szerlong says he will work for people, not party. Oh, brother. If he’s focused on people over party, then why is he Republican Szerlong? Why not Citizen Szerlong, or Independent Szerlong, or Write-in…
Babbittry, Bad Ideas, CDA, City, Corporate Welfare, Development, Economy, Foxconn, Free Markets, Government Spending, Local Government, Mendacity, Open Government, Politics, State Capitalism, State Government, That Which Paved the Way, Tony Evers, WEDC, Wisconsin
The Walker Cabinet Officers’ Open Letter
by JOHN ADAMS •
Four cabinet secretaries of the Walker Administration have come forward to criticize the governor, and three of them have co-written an open letter against Walker’s relentless emphasis on political gain over sound policies. One of the signatories of the letter is Paul Jadin, who was Walker’s first Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation leader. It says all…
America, Elections, Freedom of Speech, Good Ideas, Law, Libertarians, Liberty, Never Trump, Politics, Trump
Jennifer Rubin on ‘Three big ideas to bolster democracy’
by JOHN ADAMS •
Jennifer Rubin writes of three ideas to bolster democracy (enhanced voting rights, independent and non-partisan justice, and robust speech rights): First, Republicans, in an effort to hang on to their declining electoral advantage based on white voters, have tried every trick in the book to limit voting by those they suspect will favor Democrats. Hence,…