Every year around Halloween, Patch, a network of news websites specializing in local coverage around the country, publishes maps that show where sex offenders live. Patch claims this is some kind of public service, even though a thorough study of 67,000 cases of child molestation found zero …
Tony Evers, the Democratic candidate for governor, taught science before he became a principal, school district administrator, deputy state superintendent of public instruction and, in 2009, was elected state superintendent.
For many years, right before Thanksgiving, I wrote about children caught in the crossfire between divorced and separated parents in the holiday season.
If, as appears increasingly likely, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ordered the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, then he has joined Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un among the ranks of rogue leaders who assassinate their critics on foreign soil. The only difference is that the Russian president and North Korean leader weren't reckless and stupid enough to kill their opponents inside their own consulates.
Imagine that the federal government received all the money it was destined to collect for the entire year on Jan. 1. This year, that pile of cash would total $3.3 trillion. Now imagine that the government spent all the money it was destined to spend for the year at a constant daily rate. It …
A word for young people, people of color and, in particular, young people of color:
This week, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., in preparation for a 2020 presidential run, decided to fight back against President Trump’s brutal nickname for her: Pocahontas. Trump, you’ll recall, labeled her Pocahontas because for years, she has claimed Native American ancestry. Not only that,…
Now that the DNA is out of the bag, Sen. Elizabeth Warren can put her Native American heritage down for a nap -- maybe.
As America emerged from World War II, the public generally agreed that the ordinary people who had endured the sacrifice should share in the good times ahead. A golden age for the American worker commenced as business, labor and government stood together on the stage.
These are the best of times, and the worst of times, for being well informed.
A move to create a state “czar” who would regulate Wisconsin’s $7.92 billion in annual alcohol sales resulted in a special study committee so bogged down in controversies that it may be unable to make any recommendations.
What if the end of the world came and nobody noticed?
Amid hurricanes, a vanished journalist, the recent Supreme Court hearings, midterms and "mobs," it is little wonder that Americans are drinking more than ever.
So, it has happened again. Leaders of our country have declared “war” within our borders. Like all bits of history that repeat themselves, the events are not perfect mirror images but rather a recurrence of circumstances. In 1861, the war was over one major ideological division within the co…
One measure of the effectiveness of a political movement is how it changes its opposition. And Donald Trump is in the process of driving portions of his Democratic opposition insane.
Seated next to President Trump in the Oval Office Tuesday, Nikki Haley did not look like a woman who had tortured herself over whether to resign as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.
Americans are hurting as their country descends into dysfunction, polarization and widespread anger. Democrats are feeling an extra dose of despair with the elevation of the intemperate and partisan Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court.
Let’s solve a mystery: Who gave Democratic candidates for governor the idea that, with a new emphasis on rehabilitation, the number of Wisconsin prison inmates could be eventually cut in half?
The other day, a woman confessed to me that she’s a Republican.
Anybody remotely interested in Janesville’s future is hanging on to every word spoken regarding what will replace the former General Motors plant.
The notion that certain Americans are pre-emptively guilty of wrongdoing, whether there’s any corroborating evidence to back up an accusation or not, isn’t reserved for conservatives who happen to be in contention for a Supreme Court seat. In the hierarchy of progressive values, due process …
It seems that in the age of abbreviated communication, where “r u ok?” passes for a sentence, and KFC is a place that used to be called Kentucky Fried Chicken, the name Dunkin’ Donuts is simply too big a mouthful.
The decision by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Grassley to have Arizona sex crimes prosecutor Rachel Mitchell question Christine Blasey Ford may well be remembered as a brilliant -- and quite possibly pivotal -- choice.
As we continue examining Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh's high school and college life, it has been easy to forget what this was originally all about.
Last week, I listened and read about the back-and-forth between the Janesville city administration and firefighters. I did so with a bit of a scrunched forehead and head shake because my personal interactions with both groups have been nothing short of professional and informative.
One-third of Wisconsin’s 2020 vote for president could come from absentee ballots as more and more voters make their choices early.
Give the Republicans credit: they worked hard to create the appearance of enlightened compassion.
Republican Sen. Jeff Flake may have become a momentary hero for Democrats hoping to block Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, but Sen. Lindsey Graham has cinched the role as Jiminy Cricket of the U.S. Senate.
If you like exploring the great outdoors, as I do, you probably enjoy shopping (or at least looking) in those high-end stores serving campers, hikers and the like. There, the wilderness fantasy rides high: Neat displays of specialized tents, headlamps and fleece jackets. Often a stone-and-wo…
In the end, everything -- every blasted thing -- gets sucked into the polarization black hole, never to emerge again.
This week, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, was eating at a restaurant with his wife, Heidi Cruz, when he was suddenly accosted by a group of “anti-racism activists.” These activists grilled Sen. Cruz on whether he believed the three-decade-old sexual abuse allegations against Judge Brett Kavanaugh, …
Senate Democrats seeking to derail Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh's Supreme Court nomination knew they had a problem. In other prominent cases of the #MeToo era, multiple victims had come forward to corroborate each other's stories and present a pattern of predatory behavior. But in Kavanaugh's case, not only was there no corroboration for Christine Blasey Ford's accusations, no other women had come forward to accuse him of misconduct.
If the Brett Kavanaugh confirmation process has revealed anything, it is that there's an antidote for disaffection toward Republicans: Give Democrats the upper hand for about five minutes.
One of the dubious advantages of a Supreme Court nomination battle is how it brings into the open some of the vicious, ideological arguments that are normally hidden by shame and discretion. That has certainly been true on the right, with some figures demonstrating a callousness toward the charge of attempted rape that would presumably change if their own children were even remotely threatened.
“The worst financial crisis since the Great Depression” has become standard shorthand for the 2008 global financial crash and resulting severe recession. This fall, we mark the 10th anniversary of the 2008 benchmark bankruptcy of investment house Lehman Brothers.
Two remarkably different articles on dressing for business appeared in The Wall Street Journal on the same day. Both purported to offer advice.
It’s not a secret weapon of Wisconsin Democrats, but the party’s Emerge program gives women wondering about politics the tools to decide whether to run for local or state office, how to campaign and—often—win.
Giving mice a rethink: That’s what I’m doing, having just watched an amazing new 3D film, “Backyard Wilderness,” now playing hourly at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City.
“Judge not, and ye shall not be judged.” Jesus preaches that in the book of Luke.
This is a difficult column to write. Some readers will incorrectly view it as critical of an institution I have the highest regard for.
