Pledge isn't the answer
"TAA Challenges Labor-Democrat Pact" (3/23/2012) ignores a crucial point. Until we have a majority in the Legislature who support collective bargaining rights for state workers, vetoing a budget that doesn't restore those rights, as Kathleen Falk suggests, will only: (1) force us to continue under the Walker budget (unlike the federal government, which is forced to shut down if a budget is not passed, Wisconsin law requires the state to continue operating under the existing state budget); (2) fuel the divisiveness in the state by playing brinkmanship with the budget process; (3) reveal the hypocrisy of those who last year protested that the union bill should not be part of a budget bill.
While Kathleen Vinehout, the state senator running for governor, supports union workers as strongly as Kathleen Falk does, she doesn't support the political gamesmanship we've grown weary of. The question we should be asking of the candidates is not "would you sign a pledge?" but "how would you garner support for union rights?"
Allen Pincus, Barneveld
Hey, putter putter!
I read with some amusement Kenneth Burns' paean to golf on TV, especially the part about the game being played in meditative silence ("Why I Watch Golf on TV," 3/23/2012).
By contrast, if you're a basketballer on the visiting team lining up a free throw, absolutely everybody in your field of vision is jumping up and down, shouting, shrieking, flashing their breasts, and waving those long plastic pool noodles, all to play with your mind. If you miss, you're greeted with hoots of derision and loud allegations of incompetence.
Man, if they did that to a guy who was lining up a putt, I'd be tempted to tune in myself!
Richard S. Russell
I don't get to the city all that often, but when I do I pick up an Isthmus. I was on the east end to get a copy of the Hank Haney book about Tiger Woods, and when I got home I read Kenneth Burns' piece on watching golf on TV.
I watch golf on TV, a lot. I also enjoy the announcers like David Feherty and am a huge fan of Johnny Miller on NBC. I like the easy way Ernie Els and Fred Couples swing, and watching Phil Mickelson play from the "wrong side" of the ball and how he attacks a course and, at times, blows a lead.
Masters week is always a highlight of spring. I've been to tournaments in Milwaukee where you can yank the glove from the back pocket of a pro while he putts. I went to the PGA at Kohler several years back. That was cool but TV is better.
Anyway, thanks for the piece. I enjoyed it a great deal.
Steve Madsen, Portage
