Saturday Clips

Something In The Cheese

Something is definitely in the cheese in Wisconsin; Between the mass rallies and the Texas-style Legislators on the Lam, I haven't seen them this excited since the last time the Packers won the Super Bowl. I would have loved to have seen this much base excitement BEFORE the election, but maybe sometimes you just have to see how bad it can get first.

Wisconsin has recall, but you have to be at least a quarter through the term before it can happen, unlike California when Gray Davis was terminated just nine months in. I have mixed feelings about recall. It's good for extreme situations (like this) but if we had it, we'd never see an Iowa City council finish a term.

On the redistricting front, the Press-Citizen re-runs my piece about Boswell, the Patriot Act vote and where Christie Vilsack runs. Linn County Supervisor Brent Oleson shares his map, whicf pairs Braley and Latham in a fair-fight seat, keeps Linn and Johnson together and adds Scott to include the entire 1990s Leach district, preserves the present Steve King seat by shoring it up with Dallas, and gives Boswell Ottumwa. Is that paging Dr. MMM, stat?

Finally, as I continue to rationalize my life choices from circa 1992, there's always room for a good Why You Should Quit Your Ph.D. post.