Political Heat

Whether you've just started reading my work, or have been reading for years...thank you! This month marked the tenth year that I seriously began the hobby of writing my opinion on current events. I had dabbled in writing previously, but in November of 2005 I began writing guest columns for the UWM Post , the student-run newspaper at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. I’ve written on countless topics since 2005. I’ve been on the right side of history on many of them, missed the mark on some, but am proud of the stances I took and the ways that I defended them over the years, primarily through citation and diligent research. I started this blog site about six months after graduating in 2008. And I’ve written elsewhere as well -- Dane101.com, Wisconsin Daily Independent, Elite Daily, AMERICA Blog, and the Cap Times have all been home to my published work. I’m grateful to each of those publications for disseminating my ideas to their audiences. Overall, I’d say I’ve writ...

Conservative organization describes girl in school district as having a "mental disorder" The Mt. Horeb School District’s Early Learning and Primary Center had planned to discuss an important topic with students in its care -- that is, before a conservative organization threatened them with legal action . One of the students, born as a boy but who identifies as a girl, entered the district this year. In order to produce a hospitable environment for that child and others to learn in, officials in the school district determined it was imperative to explain to the children what that meant exactly. But the district also understood that some parents would object to their children being exposed to the discussion. So they sent home a letter to parents alerting them that a conversation between teachers and students would happen regarding gender identification in general. In the letter, they assured parents that they “respect[ed] the beliefs and convictions of all famili...

Law "would actually endanger women's health" according to court ruling The 7th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled on Monday that Wisconsin’s law requiring abortion clinics to have “admitting privileges” to area hospitals is unconstitutional . The law, which was signed by Gov. Scott Walker in 2013 , would have greatly limited the number of abortion providers in the state, including one in Milwaukee (PDF) that would had to have closed were it not for the 7th Circuit Court decision this week. Admitting privileges, which ( according to USLegal.com ) is “the right of a doctor, by virtue of membership as a hospital's medical staff, to admit patients to a particular hospital or medical center,” is the latest way for many conservative lawmakers to limit abortion services to women without outright banning the practice. Texas also sought to institute such a law, only to have federal courts strike it down as well. But before the courts could intervene, the state la...

Problems with racism exist nationally, but hit home hard in Wisconsin as well Frequently when Black Lives Matter protesters make their presence heard at any given event, it’s almost a guarantee that those who oppose them and their efforts will counter with the shrill line of “All Lives Matter.” They must feel clever in making that assertion. After all, all lives DO matter -- to say otherwise suggests that there is preference for one group over another. Therefore, in the minds of the All Lives Matter camp, they hold the erroneous opinion that the BLM movement is promoting itself over all other lives. But this misses the point entirely: it’s not that BLM supporters are saying only black lives matter, but rather that it’s time that black lives start to matter as equally as white lives. All lives ARE supposed to matter -- but it seems that in reality, black lives matter less than white lives do, and tragic events over the past few years seem to demonstrate such. In short, th...

GOP presidential contender produces imagery reminiscent of Nazi Germany It’s a cardinal rule in politics that, if you want an opinion to be respected, it better not involve a Nazi or Hitler analogy. But there’s really no other analogy that comes close to what Donald Trump has said about Muslims in America this week. Trump suggested that it might be necessary to create a national database on all known American Muslims in the country. He wouldn’t rule out the need to give out special IDs to Muslims either, saying that, “certain things will be done that we never thought would happen in this country” once he becomes president. Yikes. That to me conjures up images of Star of David emblems on the lapels of Jews in Germany. Only in Trump’s America, it might be a crescent moon on Muslims. Trump also suggested that we may have to close down mosques across the country. He’s not alone in that thinking – 27 percent of Republicans support shutting down ALL mosques in the U.S. Among Trum...

Sheriff suggests that events should be used strategically by GOP to win elections next fall The acts of terror that swept Paris are nothing less than shocking, despicable, cruel, and heartbreaking. This violence has resulted in more than a hundred deaths, countless injuries, and a nation in shock. The world stands behind France, and those held responsible will face justice by authorities. National leaders were quick to show their support for the people of France. Several prominent landmarks around the globe also displayed their heartfelt sorrow and sympathies for those affected by the attacks: Sympathies and feelings of unity weren't the only feelings being shared, however. Others were more quick to place blame on others -- some, on liberal policies. Shocking and unbelievable tweets were collected by Mother Jones, which compiled the worst reactions on social media following the attacks. Among them was a tweet from Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke, a pro-gun (an...

On several measures, the current governor fares much worse than his Democratic predecessor In 2010 while campaigning for governor, Scott Walker claimed that he could do a much better job than what the current officeholder, former Gov. Jim Doyle, was doing. In no way was Doyle a perfect governor. He had his own set of challenges, and on many issues I disagree with how he handled things. But if we’re looking strictly at how Walker’s time in office compares to Doyle’s, it’s clear that the better of the two was the Democrat. Walker ran on being able to create more than 250,000 jobs in his first term in office, a promise he has failed to deliver more than three-quarters into his second term. But Walker has failed in other arenas as well, and in several ways he’s worse than his predecessor. Reducing Unemployment On unemployment, Walker talks a huge game on how Wisconsin is now seeing significantly lower numbers. But it’s mostly talk, and doesn’t take into consideration th...

Looking beyond Kraft Heinz, Walker has failed to stimulate economic prosperity in the state Gov. Scott Walker doesn’t want to politicize the loss of 1,200 jobs at the Oscar Mayer plant in Madison. And he doesn’t appreciate critics that are “[looking] for someone to blame” for the losses casting their eyes in his direction. But here’s the thing: recent criticism of the governor isn’t just about the most recent loss of jobs in the state’s capital city . Sure, a case could be made that Walker and his associates at the failing Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation should have seen the writing on the wall , and that early efforts to appease Kraft Heinz with offers to stay in Madison should have been made. Beyond that, however, is a disturbing trend that the governor has failed to address : in this year alone, more than 10,000 layoff notices have been made to workers across the state. The 1,200 jobs lost at Kraft Heinz merely serve as a exclamation point on a larger problem, o...

Walker errantly blamed POTUS for anti-police rhetoric, but won't acknowledge evidence that shows he's wrong During his ill-fated run for the Republican nomination for president, Gov. Scott Walker wrote a scathing op-ed piece that derided the number of police officers seemingly targeted by a growing number of anti-police criminals. Walker blamed recent occurrences of these “assassinations” (as he called it) in part on the lack of support for law enforcement from President Barack Obama. “In the last six years under President Obama, we’ve seen a rise in anti-police rhetoric,” Walker wrote. “Instead of hope and change, we’ve seen racial tensions worsen and a tendency to use law enforcement as a scapegoat.” Those are very strong allegations for the governor to make against the sitting president. They’re especially strong because they stand against the reasonable evidence : Obama has expressed his support for law enforcement on numerous occasions, and in fact violence agai...

GOP transformed WI with unprecedented jobs reforms, and all workers got back were Kohl’s Cash rewards It was announced this week that the Oscar Mayer plant in Madison would be shutting its doors down for good over the next year or so. The closure means 1,200 employees will be out of a job, with the corporate arm of Oscar Mayer moving to Chicago and its blue collar jobs most likely heading to Davenport, Iowa. Naturally, many are upset about losing a historical Madisonian landmark that has been around for as long as anyone living in the community can remember. Political leaders were not exempt from this sense of loss , and expressed their outrage, sadness, and bewilderment at the proposed move. Democratic State Sen. Jon Erpenbach expressed himself through his Twitter account : And Cap Times reporter Jessie Opoien quoted Erpenbach’s additional statements in another tweet : But one other lawmaker chose to stand up for Oscar Mayer, and expressed disgust at Erpenbach’s chara...

GOP leadership won't disclose where secret talks are occurring outside of the Capitol Senate Republican leaders, hoping to sway wayward members of their caucus to support a bill that would dismantle the Government Accountability Board (which oversees elections and political ethics complaints), have scheduled a meeting outside of the Capitol building. From WEAU : The Senate was expected to convene Tuesday to vote on the bills but GOP Senate leaders canceled the floor period. They instead scheduled a private meeting where Republican senators can hash out their differences. One has to question why the meeting was scheduled outside of the rotunda. Perhaps Wisconsin residents, concerned with the partisan nature of what would replace the GAB, are voicing their worries to wary Senate Republicans who have yet to step in-line with other hardline conservatives. And perhaps Senate leaders hope to isolate these rebellious Republicans in order to prevent even more constituents fro...

Elections oversight deserves to be in nonpartisan board's hands The Government Accountability Board is on life support...for now. Though a bill meant to dismantle the GAB (replacing it with two partisan-derived commissions) passed the Assembly, the Senate has yet to take the matter up -- and for good reason. The votes just aren’t there for Republicans . Several members of the GOP Senate caucus are signaling their distaste for the proposed changes, which would remove nonpartisan judges from overseeing the elections processes in the state. Hardline conservatives have lambasted the GAB as a failed experiment. But the board is consistently lauded nationally for being a prime example of what statewide elections commissions should look like. Editorial boards across the state (even those that haven’t always seen eye-to-eye with the GAB ) have also expressed their support for keeping the Government Accountability Board intact, and have questioned the real motivations behind ...