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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 […]
Clarence Thomas, recusal, and Wisconsin
If he doesn’t resign, as Rep. Alexander Ocasio Cortez has properly asked him to, Justice Clarence Thomas at least needs to recuse himself from any cases dealing with the Jan. 6 uprising. And he sure should have recused himself when he was the lone dissenter in a case earlier this year about the release of […]
U.S. Supreme Court hands Wisconsin GOP a victory on maps
The rightwingers on the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday hastily and recklessly interjected themselves into the Wisconsin redistricting process and handed the Republicans in the State Legislature a victory. The justices threw out the legislative maps that Gov. Evers had drawn, and that the Wisconsin Supreme Court had approved. Instead, they threw the task of […]
Surprise victory on fair maps
The Wisconsin Supreme Court on Thursday delivered a surprise, if partial, victory on the issue of fair maps. In a 4-3 ruling written by Justice Brian Hagedorn, the Court chose the maps drawn by Gov. Tony Evers as the maps the state will use in our elections starting in August. This means that our maps, […]
Republicans in Wisconsin try to curb our freedom to vote
Almost all of the bills that Republicans in the Wisconsin Legislature rammed through in the last week would have the effect of curbing our freedom to vote.Two bills would make voting by absentee ballot more difficult for all voters in Wisconsin. SB 939 would prohibit the Wisconsin Elections Commission or any local clerk from sending out […]
GOP lawmakers had 4x more cash than Dems entering 2022
Republican lawmakers who control the legislature had four times more campaign cash than Democrats entering the 2022 election year, a Wisconsin Democracy Campaign review found. Year-end campaign finance reports showed the 132 Assembly and Senate lawmakers and their four legislative campaign committees had $10.3 million in their campaign accounts as of Dec. 31. Republican lawmakers and their […]