Commentary Update for February 10th, 2003: McCabe, Moon the Northwestern, More on the War Front, Academia and the War, Mental Health Parity

Our first show of the spring semester features Mike McCabe, Executive Director of the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign. Among other things, Mike discusses the WDC's "Graft Tax" report, the record spending in last year's race for governor, and the Ellis/Erpenbach campaign finance reform bill. We also talk about recent revelations of "pay to play" politics going on in former Governor Thompson's administration. University of Michigan researcher Roland Zullo used Wisconsin Democracy Campaign data in his study of "Campaign Donations and Public-Private Contracts in Wisconsin, 1991-2000." The findings ain't pretty, folks.

In other news:

Moon The Northwestern: Last week the Oshkosh Northwestern printed a front-page story on Jason Moon, the folk-singer, student, and soldier. In the story, Jason was quoted as expressing pacifist leanings and doubts about the current march toward war. The next day the editorial board geniuses wrote this dandy. I submitted this response, and today Jason forwarded me a copy of a response that he sent the geniuses the day after the editorial appeared. Here it is.

More on the War Front: While Secretary Powell received accolades from the American press for his speech at the UN, the European press was more skeptical. One of Powell's key claims--the link between Iraq and al-Qaeda, has come under serious scrutiny since the BBC got hold of a leaked British intelligence report denying such a link. For two contrasting views of Powell's speech, see Mary McGrory in the Washington Post and Robert Fisk in the UK Independent.

The Appleton Post-Crescent gave a THUMBS DOWN today "to First Lady Laura Bush, a former librarian, for attempting to muffle poetic expression. Mrs. Bush cancelled a White House 'Poetry and the American Voice' symposium on the poetry of Walt Whitman, Emily Dickinson and Langston Hughes because she feared the poets in attendance, including poet laureates emeritus, might express anti-war sentiments."

Academia and the War: The FBI has launched something known as the Iraqi Initiative. I guess the name speaks for itself. Meanwhile, the American Studies Association in its March newsletter presents a statement on "Intellectual Freedom in a Time of War." At the UW Oshkosh campus, student Frank McCandles has launched a new website, Frankly Speaking.

Mental Health Parity: Some of you may recall that I mentioned one legislator's actions in preventing mental health parity from becoming law in our state as one of the most censored stories of 2002. In this month's Valley Scene, Tom Breuer delved further into the issue in this excellent story.