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Evers salutes democracy in second-term inaugural
Gov. Tony Evers delivered a full-throated defense of democracy in his graceful second inaugural address this week. “Each time this oath is taken is a profound display of democracy,” he said. “One much like the fundamental right to cast a ballot; like the right to have fair and secure elections, free from interference by politicians; […]
How Wisconsin Supreme Court races became so partisan
Judicial races in Wisconsin are supposed to be nonpartisan. Technically, they still are. And ideally, that’s the way they should be. Our judges and justices should be above partisanship. They should be impartial arbiters of the law, not beholden to one party or another — or one ideology or another. But over the last 15 […]
Progressive issues are popular issues
When the latest Marquette Law School poll came out, everyone in the media was focusing on the gains that Ron DeSantis has been making versus Donald Trump in the Republican field. But far more interesting to me were the poll numbers on the issues that people rank as most important, nationwide. Here the startling thing […]
Spending in Wisconsin governor’s race smashes record
Candidate and smear group spending has already shattered the old record for spending in a Wisconsin governor’s race, topping $114.6 million, according to a Wisconsin Democracy Campaign preliminary review.The previous candidate and group spending record was $93.03 million in the 2018 Wisconsin governor’s race.Recently filed campaign finance reports by the 2022 candidates showed the seven […]
Outside spending on elections hits horrifying new high
Outside groups that explicitly tell people who to vote for have spent more than $52.3 million in Wisconsin, a new record. Groups backing Republican candidates have spent more than three times more than Democratic groups with a week to go before the Nov. 8 elections. As of Monday morning, express advocacy groups supporting Republicans have […]
Rational hope in a time of despair
OK, let’s face it head on: Many of us are in despair right now over the direction of our country. Part of the problem is our reactionary Supreme Court. The horrendous decision to overturn Roe v. Wade was the biggest kick in the teeth. But the Court’s decision on guns, despite the weekly mass shootings […]
GOP still riling up its base with the Big Lie
Indifferent to the revelations of the Jan. 6 hearings, the GOP in Wisconsin is riling up its base with the Big Lie even as those hearings are under way. This week, the Republican National Committee and the Wisconsin Republic Party launched a nine-city “election integrity” tour. That would be a laughable joke if it weren’t […]
Praise for Dean Knudson, decision time for Vos
Dean Knudson deserves praise for telling the truth about the November 2020 elections. One of the Republicans on the Wisconsin Elections Commission, Knudson announced his resignation on May 27, and he made no bones about the nonsense some Republicans have been peddling about Donald Trump’s loss to Joe Biden. “Trump lost the election in 2020, […]
The terrible toll of white nationalism
Revulsion is too tame a word for what I’ve been feeling ever since the heinous racist massacre in Buffalo on Saturday. But I can’t say that I’m surprised by it. Because this is the natural outcome when political leaders and media hotshots traffic in hatred and bigotry. This is what happens when Donald Trump blows […]
We’ve been warned! Authoritarianism can happen here
The other day, I went to the Great Hall at the University of Wisconsin’s Memorial Union to listen to a lecture about our democracy at risk. It was given by NYU history professor Ruth Ben-Ghiat, author of “Strongmen: From Mussolini to the Present.” You may have seen her on MSNBC or CNN. She really knows […]
Hagedorn blinks on Wisconsin redistricting maps
The horrendous ruling on redistricting maps by Wisconsin’s Supreme Court on Good Friday marks a new low for our state.The 4-3 decision by the conservatives on the court imposed the rigged maps that the Republican Legislature passed last fall, which Gov. Evers had vetoed. Those maps are even more tilted toward Republicans than the notorious ones the Republicans passed […]
Outside funders backed winner Lazar in Court of Appeals election
The conservative circuit court judge who won Tuesday’s election for a state Court of Appeals seat received $425,000 in support from outside electioneering groups. Documents filed with the Wisconsin Ethics Commission showed a group called Fair Courts America located in Downers Grove, Ill., spent $250,000 in March on television ads to support Waukesha County Circuit […]