David Michael Miller
Hardly a day goes by that when I pick up my morning paper I don’t read some new, absolutely insane idea coming out of the legislative majority. Destroy historic preservation laws, make it easier to ruin effigy mounds, encourage people to carry firearms into crowded shopping malls, roll back all kinds of environmental protections and on and on and on.
So what do we need in this season of joy? Some reasons to be joyful. These may be thin branches on which to hang the tinsel of happiness, but if happiness were tinsel-light it could be supported by the weakest of limbs. So, here goes.
1. We’re proving that extreme conservative policies don’t work. Nobody in their right mind would have wanted this, but look on the bright side of the dark side for a moment. With no one to stand in the way, Wisconsin has become a laboratory for trying out unmitigated extreme-right-wing ideology. The report card has been consistently awful for almost five years now, and it just got worse. According to a report released last week, since the economic recovery began Wisconsin ranks 32nd in private-sector job growth with a 7.6% improvement versus 11.2% nationally. And we rank dead last in the Midwest. There is a clear case for a change in direction, if only the Democratic Party could figure out how to make it effectively.
2. Paul Ryan. I know my audience, and so I realize how unpopular it will be to say nice things about any Republican. But the truth is that House Speaker Paul Ryan may be saving this country right now. The man has actually figured out how to make Congress work again. In the few short weeks that he’s been speaker he’s worked out deals on a budget, a transportation plan and a makeover of the education bill. He did that through old-fashioned compromise and horse-trading and (gasp!) pork. “Member-directed spending” is the lard that helps the medicine go down. Those who don’t like it don’t want to confront the sausage-making that is effective legislating. And I have to appreciate the fact that, like me and a lot of other Wisconsin guys, he’s hanging onto his deer-hunting beard just as long as his wife will let him. Sure, Ryan’s really conservative, but unlike the tea party irregulars, he doesn’t want to destroy the government. I might disagree with his policy proposals, but I have to respect his abilities as a legislative craftsman. He’s making Wisconsin look good.
3. Reid Ribble. Now that I’ve committed the unpardonable sin of complimenting a Republican, I feel free to do it again. Wisconsin Congressman Reid Ribble is another pragmatic conservative more interested in making government work than in posing for far-right holy pictures. A member of the House Transportation Committee, he was instrumental in getting the five-year transportation bill cobbled together and passed. He has a good working relationship with our own liberal Congressman Mark Pocan and he’s been outspoken in his disdain for Donald Trump, to the chagrin of some of his most conservative constituents. Both his willingness to compromise and his criticism of Trump might invite a far-right primary challenger. Ribble doesn’t seem to care.
4. Wisconsinites don’t like fascists. Maybe Ribble is on to something. Only 36% of Wisconsin Republicans view Donald Trump favorably compared to 61% of Republicans nationally who like this blustering, racist idiot. Maybe it’s because we’re turned off by his East Coast swagger and arrogance, or maybe it’s because we’re generally better informed, but Wisconsinites — even conservative Republicans — can be proud of their relative coolness toward the worst demagogue to run for president since George Wallace.
5. The Packers look bad going into the playoffs. This is another example of that reverse-happiness thing you’ll find in #1 above. If we just look hard enough we can find the seeds of spring buried in the winter muck. Hopeful Packers fans went into the season unwilling to be happy with anything except the Lombardi Trophy coming back home to Lambeau Field. But the last two months have been hard on our dreams. Even Aaron Rodgers looks like just another quarterback. Now we’re just happy these guys are in the playoffs. Our expectations are grounded. In other words, we’re set up to be pleasantly surprised instead of keenly disappointed.
So there you have it. A handful of reasons to be cheerful going into the new year. It may be just a little bit of tinsel sprinkled on a sickly tree, but you gotta start somewhere.
