In the endless winter of 2019, it’s not uncommon to see the line of idling cars at fast-food joints snaking all the way around the building, tailpipes spewing clouds of exhaust. The drive-thru is one way our car culture seduces us into choosing convenience in its most extreme form over our own best interest –... Continue Reading →
“Privatization” and Your Wisconsin State Parks (The Bold Grab of Kohler, Part 2)
A park ranger with the DNR patch on her uniform became impatient with me as we checked out the map of Kohler-Andrae state park. The ranger, who proved to be none other than Carolyn Morgan, the J.M. Kohler-Terry Andrae superintendent, raised a forefinger and said, “You’re not listening to me.” Morgan is the only park... Continue Reading →
Fake Triumph Part 3: McAdams Wins a Dubious Victory for the First Amendment
In the beige marble halls of the Wisconsin State Capitol, Ralph Weber waited for the doors of the Supreme Court hearing room to open. Weber, representing Marquette University in the well-publicized case of McAdams v. Marquette, was having a moment. Chin raised, an enigmatic smile on his face, Weber was surrounded by associates from his... Continue Reading →
Fake Triumph Part 2: How MU Professor John McAdams Became a Hero of Right-Wing Media
On April 19th, the Wisconsin State Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in the case of McAdams vs. Marquette University. Rick Esenberg, director of the conservative legal organization WILL, who represents McAdams, will claim that Marquette suspended McAdams (a suspension that has since become a permanent condition) because of his posts critical of the university... Continue Reading →
Fake Triumph: The McAdams Case Heads to the WI Supreme Court (Part 1)
March 15, 2018. Professor John McAdams may be suspended from Marquette University without pay, his tenure revoked, but he’s still writing his Marquette Warrior blog, vigorously defending himself and grabbing headlines. With the deep-pocketed conservative legal organization WILL fighting his battles to the end, McAdams will keep the university’s alleged infringement of his first amendment... Continue Reading →
Political Harassment: Who’s empowering the trolls?
“[Watch] the media’s hysterical coverage as they lie to you,” Hannity shouted, without explaining what exactly they were lying about. Then he complained about “the media’s” attention span. They stayed on North Korea “until Steve Bannon’s comments [on the Trump family’s treasonous Russia connections], and then the narrative shifts away.” That, said Hannity, “just shows you how pathetic these people [the media] are.”
What’s the Matter with Kansas? And Wisconsin, and Indiana, and Michigan, and Missouri, and Iowa?
The stuff that was the matter with Kansas in 2004, when Thomas Frank published What's the Matter with Kansas?, a trenchant analysis of the lunacy of American politics, is still the matter with it, only now it’s the matter with 32 out of 50 other states as well. Citizens in ever greater numbers have abandoned... Continue Reading →
Bending Over Backwards for Bad Company: Wisconsin Republicans Celebrate the Foxconn Deal
In 2010, there were eight suicides at Foxconn’s plant in Shenzhen, China, where the company makes electronic products for Dell, Apple, and HP. Two more workers injured themselves seriously in suicide attempts at plant, where most employees were housed in on-site dormitories and worked 16-hour shifts. Due to an international outcry and changes demanded by... Continue Reading →
Deregulation and Wisconsin’s Disappearing Lakes
It was a long-standing Wisconsin tradition. Every Friday afternoon during the summer, families packed up their cars, jammed the kids into the backseat, and left their southeastern Wisconsin homes behind, heading out of the city to private cottages and small fishing resorts to spend time on blue, spring-fed Wisconsin lakes. This tradition was enabled by... Continue Reading →
Freedom Fighters: Our Wisconsin Republicans Trample on Worker Rights
On March 21st, Wisconsin State Senator Leah Vukmir (R-5th District) held a “listening session” at the Brookfield Safety Building to get voter feedback on Governor Scott Walker’s latest budget. The session was held in a large auditorium. Town hall meetings have been crowded lately, and “woke” citizens are showing up, not just for meetings with... Continue Reading →
