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Politics

Small Groups Don’t All Fare the Same

I’m not sure if it should be true everywhere, but in Whitewater it seems as though small (apolitical) community groups fare better than small political groups. I’ve not made a study of this; the observation rests on impressions, here or there, only. There’s not enough to say as much with confidence. Many would note –…

The Weakness of Sugar Cubes

When conditions are dry, sugar cubes are fairly sturdy. When placed in coffee, they don’t last long. View image | gettyimages.com Cronyism is like this – it does well in the dry jar of municipal officials, insiders, press-toads, big-business lobbyists, and their lightheaded cheerleaders. In the bracing coffee of careful analysis, sound economics, and impartial…

Last Night’s GOP Debate

I’m not a major-party voter, but like millions I have watched the GOP presidential debates (and will watch the Democrats’ debates, too).  There’s a lot to learn from watching the candidates, for all the showiness, the pre-debate theatrics, etc. The key point about all these encounters is that they are intra-party affairs – it’s a debate…

The Desiccator

Over at National Review, conservative Peter Spiliakos writes in reply to conservative Washington Post blogger Jennifer Rubin on Scott Walker’s campaign. (Rubin thinks Walker has gone too far to the right, but Spiliakos thinks that Walker – and many Republicans leaders – have lost touch with huge parts of their own electorate.) For Rubin the matter…

Wisconsin Ill Serves Her Nationally-Ambitious Politicians 

Over the last generation, Wisconsin has had her share of politicians with national ambitions, to cabinet offices or elected executive office (Democrat Les Aspin, Republicans Tommy Thompson, Paul Ryan, Scott Walker among them). They’ve not fared so well; Gov. Walker’s effort is still ongoing.   All of those I’ve listed were regarded in Wisconsin as especially skilled before…

Language is Often a Necessary, But Seldom a Sufficient, Condition of Inclusion

The City of Whitewater hopes to improve communications with Spanish-language residents. That goal is, of itself, a good one.  It’s a practical, worthy ambition. Language, however, is not the cause of local government’s self-acknowledged problem of attracting plentiful participation on public boards and committees.  Greater facility with language, however admirable, is not the solution to government’s low participation…

The Four-Dog Defense

View image | gettyimages.com Readers familiar with organizational or political excuse-making are likely familiar with the four-dog defense.  The provenance of the defense is uncertain, but Acronym Required describes its four points nicely, citing a story from the St. Petersburg Times: First of all, I don’t have a dog. And if I had a dog, it doesn’t bite. And…

The Perimeter Fence

Historian Francis Bremer’s study of Puritanism, First Founders: American Puritans and Puritanism in an Atlantic World, offers insights for our own time, apart from early American history.  (I know that Whitewater’s founding had a Puritan influence, but that’s not my point, today.  Bremer’s observations on Puritanism are useful far from his particular study, and apart…

The (Welcome) End of ‘Big’ in a Small Town

I don’t think much of the term ‘movers and shakers’ (that a nearby newspaper used to describe supposedly influential people) or ‘big’ people, etc.  The terms almost always exaggerate actual influence.  I am sure, though, that a combination of diverse social media, the decline of print, the shifting demographics within Whitewater, and the next generation’s…

Friday Poll: The Fox GOP Debate

In the Fox GOP Debate from last night, who looked best to you? Apart from your own views, but simply as a matter of comparing the candidates on stage, which one seemed the best (most capable, impressive, etc.) of the group? Fox GOP Debate Poll: Who Looked Best? See, from Fox News, clips from the…

Message Frenzy

If one runs a business, and has a sale scheduled, advertising the time and place of the sale is vital: people won’t attend events of which they’ve no knowledge. Some news stories are like this: reporting on an approaching storm requires quick publication of the weather. It’s not true, however, that every story requires quick…

The State’s WEDC and Whitewater’s Facsimiles

Ongoing revelations about the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation are a double concern: they’re stories of statewide malfeasance, and those revelations beg the question of how local officials in Whitewater are managing their own pools of public money. First, the latest stories (it’s a steady stream) of state-level error, waste, and negligence: Madison— Failing to run…