History will best remember Bernie Sanders for his role in helping elect Donald Trump. Happily for many (if not most) Democrats, Sanders is now fading big time.
The dueling budgets of Democratic Gov. Tony Evers and Republican legislators offer the most striking different visions of state government, what it should spend and its obligations to taxpayers in Wisconsin history.
This commencement season, I’m profiling a few extraordinary students who graduated from New York City’s Hunter College. Hunter began almost 150 years ago as a teaching college for women. It was already ahead of its time, admitting African American and Jewish students. (And it admits men now, too).
My father died with a smile on his face. But, of course, he would.
For Father’s Day, I’d like to offer some phrases from my dad. His good advice, once I was willing to accept it, helped me become a better person and a more productive member of the communities in which I’ve lived.
“Know what I was most proud of?” presidential candidate Joe Biden told a crowd on Wednesday. “For eight years, there wasn’t one single hint of a scandal or a lie.”
I am as straight as the crease in George Will’s slacks. It’s not something I’m particularly proud of.
Modern politics can be summed up this way: Republicans frequently refer to Ronald Reagan, while Democrats prefer to conjure memories of Franklin Roosevelt.
The selective outrage from the left surrounding foreign interference in U.S. elections is beyond hypocritical—it’s absurd.
This week, The New York Times ran a massive piece detailing the supposed radicalization of one Caleb Cain. Cain moved from political liberalism toward self-ascribed “tradcon” status from watching YouTube videos. The New York Times charted this nefarious move by following those videos. The su…
In Alabama, where a new law denies abortion to women even in cases of incest or rape, a rapist may still pursue custody rights of a child conceived during his assault.
A tiny French mountain village with a long name, L’Hospitalet-pres-l’Andorre, has lost half its population over three decades, according to the French newspaper Le Monde. Its name in English would be “The Hospital Near Andorra.” (Andorra is a small principality shoehorned between France and Spain.)
One of the largest obstacles to the defeat of Donald Trump in the 2020 election is the radicalism of the Democratic Party on the issue of abortion. By forcing Joe Biden to abandon his support for the Hyde Amendment -- which currently prevents the funding of abortions through Medicare -- the abortion lobby and activist liberals have taken the first, major step toward reelecting Donald Trump.
As a teacher who's been around to witness schools "go 1:1" -- meaning one laptop, iPad or Chromebook per student -- I can attest to the dystopian sight of classrooms full of young children with their eyes glued to glowing screens.
Then-Republican Lt. Gov. Scott McCallum had met with aides in his office and was ready to leave the Capitol for that day’s public appearances.
The abortion issue is more divisive than ever, thanks to extreme anti-abortion legislation recently passed in some states and, lately, to Democratic presidential candidates seemingly vying to be the most pro-choicest.
Our town is all abuzz after learning assessments for most Janesville properties will increase by about 30 percent on average.
“The will of the people is the law of the land.” This statement from Bob LaFollette is painted on the ceiling of the governor’s conference room, and when I saw it recently, I was immediately reminded of the 19th Amendment. The women who championed the 19th recognized that our democracy canno…
The last part of the Janesville General Motors plant facade is dropping as I write this column. It was a long process from 2008 to last spring, but the speed of the plant’s removal on Industrial Drive has been nothing short of fascinating. This process included Commercial Development Company…
The media adores stories that bolster prevailing narratives about the virtuousness of “bipartisanship” and the nefariousness of money in politics. Last week, they got both when socialist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and conservative Ted Cruz displayed some populist synergy by promising to work o…
The recent recall of the Fisher-Price Rock 'n Play -- a strange name for a device that was designed for babies to lie 'n nap -- has parents outraged, even when they are on opposite sides of the issue.
History has demonstrated that prohibition doesn’t work—and neither will the sweeping tobacco ban voted into effect this week in Beverly Hills.
Many pundits have this unfortunate habit of framing what they want as what the American people want. I’ve been guilty of this at times. After all, what is more gratifying than the idea that the American masses are marching behind your band?
This week, celebrities emerged from their Hollywood cocoon to sound off on abortion law ... in Georgia. If this sounds bizarre, that’s because it is: The people of Georgia don’t spend an awful lot of time trying to control the policies of New York or California. Yet the greatest and most mor…
Lost for 17 days in a Hawaiian jungle, all alone in only a tank top and capri yoga pans, I’m not sure what I would do. Would I work past my fractured leg, blistered wounds and terror to survive? Would I eat mystery fruit and moths and sleep in the mud or a wild boar’s den? Would I do the thi…
From ancient times, military professionals rightly regard amphibious invasions as especially challenging. We recognize and honor the 75th anniversary of the greatest such operation, the Allies’ invasion of France in World War II, on June 6, 1944—D-Day.
I read an essay the other day that caught me totally unprepared. It was written by a teacher in Charlotte, North Carolina, who stated that at a meeting about how to deal with an armed intruder, someone suggested giving teachers marbles to scatter in hallways to slow the gunman.
In the spring of 1995, I sat in a stuffy classroom studying "Literary History of England, from Beowulf to 1800," while overlooking Southern Illinois University's iconic Pulliam Clock Tower.
Climate isn’t the same as weather—unless, of course, weather happens to be politically useful. In that case, weather portends climate apocalypse.
Eulogies, it has always seemed to me, are best delivered while the subject is living and can enjoy hearing the best version of him- or herself.
The quintessential Ugly American arrived in England on Monday, where it didn’t take long for him to hurl insults at London’s mayor. But presumably his mood will be lightened by the absence of any American vessels bearing the name John McCain.
We are in the midst of commencement season, and of course, every graduate has a story. I attended Hunter College graduation in New York City this week—you might have seen that Hillary Clinton was the guest speaker—and Hunter President Jennifer Raab highlighted some stories that were so extra…
Eight years ago, more than 200 scientists, researchers, educators and environmentalists warned that climate change could affect Wisconsin in major ways.
I had been looking forward to the quiet.
In his news conference Wednesday, special counsel Robert Mueller explained why he would not testify before Congress. “Any testimony from this office would not go beyond our report,” he said. “It contains our findings and analysis and the reasons for the decisions we made. We chose those word…
The European Union Parliament elections this week provided a shock to the system for the center-right and center-left coalition in European politics: The big winners were nationalist movements. In France, Marine Le Pen’s immigration-restrictionist National Front defeated the party of the cur…
As the 2020 election gears up, it seems apparent that Mike Pence's days as vice president are numbered. Trump's preference is obvious: Kim Jong Un.
When Donald Trump invites historical comparisons, it is usually to his detriment. This is the risk of being even more corrupt than Warren Harding and even less articulate than, well, Warren Harding (whose rhetoric reminded H.L. Mencken of “a string of wet sponges” and “stale bean soup”).
Total births in the United States fell last year to about 3.79 million, the smallest number in 32 years. The fertility rate hit a record low of 59 childbirths per 1,000 women. Americans are not having enough children to replace themselves.
For the first time in eight years, there’s no Republican Gov. Scott Walker saying, “Read my lips: We will not raise any tax or fee to pay for highways.”
“I pray for the president of the United States. And I pray for the United States of America.” —House Speaker Nancy Pelosi
Being a woman frequently means not having much of a voice. Using it to protest or advance policy can mean bearing one's soul, detailing one's most intimate moments or divulging the most terrifying, violent or shameful events of life.
The American people are sending a pretty clear message to Washington: They are sick and tired of the investigations into President Trump and don't want Democrats in Congress to impeach him. But the Democrats aren't listening.
