Before Camp Randall was a football stadium. They worried people would forget. It might seem odd now, even 150 years after the Civil War, that anyone would not remember the terrible fight to preserve the United States. But that fear of losing the collective memory spurred veterans – both Confederate and Union – to construct monuments and memorials. So 100 years ago, a large arch of gray granite was rapidly built in a few months on property set aside for a memorial at a cost of $25,000 and dedicated at Camp Randall, Wisconsin’s largest Civil War training camp. It still … Continue reading The War is Never Over

They were standing by a lamp post, this middle-aged couple. They could have been my parents, in another life. They could have been yours. Sue and Kim. He retired after 33 years working for the state. She still worked for the state, on a temporary contract that kept getting extended. They’d had pay freezes for half a dozen years, when they didn’t have pay cuts. They weren’t getting wealthy on their pensions. They weren’t sporting $60 haircuts. They lived in a small town. They were trying to hold on to what they had. Behind them, around Madison’s beautiful Capitol, people … Continue reading The North Remembers

It was a small moment but a telling one, on the Capitol Square, when the one Walker supporter waving a lawn sign (stakes still attached) around got tired from holding the thing over his backwards-capped head and let it slip. It struck the union-t-shirted fellow standing beside him right in the head. “Whoa, sorry man,” said the Walkerite, as everyone around him went tense and silent. The union fellow smiled. “It’s all right,” he said, and people took deep breaths again. “I’m fine.” Once NBC and MSNBC called the election for Walker, the crowd of a thousand faded, people walking … Continue reading If I Can Last 30 Rounds There’s No Reason You Should Ever Have Your Head Down

They were standing by a lamp post, this middle-aged couple. They could have been my parents, in another life. They could have been yours. Sue and Kim. He retired after 33 years working for the state. She still worked for the state, on a temporary contract that kept getting extended. They’d had pay freezes for half a dozen years, when they didn’t have pay cuts. They weren’t getting wealthy on their pensions. They weren’t sporting $60 haircuts. They lived in a small town. They were trying to hold on to what they had. Behind them, around Madison’s beautiful Capitol, people … Continue reading The North Remembers

Quick takes: Shortly after noon tomorrow I’ll be heading up to Madison where Jude, Scout and Joanie will join me in presiding over one of the following: The wildest victory party in the history of cheese, a wee-hours recount-worthy scenario whereby nobody really wins, or a series of posts that will be just the word “fuck” and rehashings of things I wrote back in 2004, which is sort of how this feels right now. Doc will be running a Tuesday night crack van for you all starting probably around poll-closing-time, dependent on his schedule, and reporting in as well. You … Continue reading Tomorrow, Just Hours Away

Revolting: Have you every worked 16 hours in a row? Have you done 16 hour shifts every other day or every 3rd day? Would you like to keep that up for 7 months straight? That is life as some care staff know it at King Veterans Home located about 30 miles Southeast of Stevens Point near Waupaca. Twenty-five staff spoke-up about conditions at the King Veterans Home at a listening session for the public on July 26th at their union hall. This morning one of the staff members, Sara Goodhue, was put on a “disciplinary track” for speaking to WTDY … Continue reading Caring for Veterans for $500 a Week