Good morning.
Wednesday in Whitewater will be sunny with a high of 80. Sunrise is 5:59 and sunset is 7:59, for 14 hours, 0 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waning gibbous with 78.6 percent of its visible disk illuminated.
Whitewater’s Equal Opportunities Commission meets at 5 PM.
On this day in 1961, East Germany closes the border between the eastern and western sectors of Berlin to thwart its inhabitants’ attempts to escape to the West, and construction of the Berlin Wall is started. The day is known as Barbed Wire Sunday.
The formula from FREE WHITEWATER to gauge far-right populist success in Wisconsin is a simple, predictive one:
(SOME MONEY) + (PLENTIFUL EXTREMISM) + (MR. TRUMP’S ENDORSEMENT) = WISGOP GUBERNATORIAL NOMINATION
WISGOP candidate Bill Berrien’s remarks on a right-wing radio program reveal that Berrien understands the importance of maximizing PLENTIFUL EXTREMISM within the equation:
Whitefish Bay manufacturing CEO Bill Berrien says he supports eliminating state permit requirements for firearm owners who want to carry guns in a concealed fashion, a policy known to supporters as constitutional carry.
“I believe that every American is granted a carry permit and that’s in the form of the Second Amendment and I think we need to get back to personal responsibility, freedom and this focus on constitutional carry is one of those examples,” Berrien told conservative radio host Jay Weber on Aug. 5. “I’ve shot tens of thousands of rounds during my time in the SEAL teams and a gun safe full of guns and all that. We should not have government assuming that everyone is incompetent until they prove otherwise. It is their right under the Second Amendment.”
….
Berrien’s support of the change comes as most Wisconsinites — 69% — support the state’s current law of requiring licenses and training. An overwhelming 82% of voters polled said they opposed the idea of removing concealed carry permits, according to 2022 polling by the Marquette University Law
School.
See Molly Beck, Bill Berrien says he supports eliminating concealed firearm licenses that require training, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, August 13, 2025.
It’s possible to support Second Amendment rights, as I do, without believing that those rights negate concealed carry requirements (they don’t, and that’s why Berrien’s plan would require a change in Wisconsin law).
Berrien is almost certainly where the WISGOP primary voter wants the party to be on this issue. His positions will force other candidates (so far, only Washington County Executive Josh Schoemann) to move as far right as Berrien on most issues Berrien supports.
He may seem like a long shot, and as a candidate, he still is. As the coordinator of the WISGOP platform committee, however, Berrien’s already five weeks into the job.
A palate cleanser — Eagle Eye Farm brings alpaca farm magic to River Falls: