Blame the media
In “Lost in Wisconsin” (2/9/2017), Dave Cieslewicz found no space to mention what is arguably the top reason for the Republican takeover of Wisconsin and America: the complicit, complacent media with its fear of being seen as liberal for speaking truth to power. Instead we get false equivalencies and “both sides do it, he said she said” reporting with little or no analysis; just grab a quick quote from the other side. No mention either of dark money’s influence.
Bill Dunn (via email)
Please, please continue “Lost in Wisconsin” as a series. Clearly, as the author suggests, there is much more material here and many discussions to have. I’m mailing copies of the article to family and friends. It is the kind of incisive and dissecting conversation that we need to have to begin to reboot and reset. Give us more!!
Teresa Mahoney (via email)
Two of the main themes of “Lost in Wisconsin” were that Democrats need to listen more and have a more emotional message. On both counts I think Dems do a better job than the Republicans. Where we fall flat is in the actual messaging. For eight years President Obama did good work with great results, but rarely took credit for it. Dems also like to skirt around the issues they care most about, like pro-choice, welfare and government spending. We need to start proudly owning these important stances. Finally, the Democrats should be able to stand up and agree that the government is too big at times and that the federal government should be less intrusive. State power is very important as long as no one is left behind. Eliminating inefficiency, corruption and graft while supporting good programs that help promote a standard of laws and expectations across this country are all wonderful and should be talked about openly. Democrats only lost by a few percentage points, so we don’t need to change direction dramatically to be successful, but we do need to get our thoughts out there in every village, township, city, county, state and federal elected office. No race should go uncontested.
Jason Dorgan, Blue Mounds (via email)
Correction
An article in the Feb. 9 issue, “Less Talk, More Action,” incorrectly reported that the Common Council will consider a resolution on Feb. 21 to hire a consultant to evaluate the possibility of running the city on 100 percent renewable energy. The date of that consideration has been postponed. Also, the city uses 51.3 million kilowatt-hours of electricity each year, not including natural gas. It is set to build a 100-kilowatt solar system, not a kilowatt-hour system.