Commentary Update for March 4, 2002: Bloechl Little Spender Award, Mather v. McCormick on Concealed Weapons, Marshall Michigan on Logo
Oshkosh Common Councilor Melanie Bloechl, one of the more outspoken
members of that august body for the last 12 years, appears on Commentary this
week to talk about her legacy and a variety of issues. Bloechl has been very
critical of Governor McCallum's plan to end the state's shared revenue program.
McCallum has called local government officials "big spenders." During
our taping, Dan Rylance made a surprise visit and satirically handed Bloechl
a "Little Spender" award on behalf of McCallum. Here's the text of
the award certificate:
http://www.uwosh.edu/faculty_staff/palmeri/schedule.htm#littlespender
In other web site news, many of you are aware that the Wisconsin State legislature
(those 132 courageous and principled statespeople who cannot reform campaign
finances, figure out how to plug the huge deficit, or bring clean government
back to the state) in its lower chamber (very low) passed a concealed weapons
bill last week at 3:55 a.m. on a 58-40 vote. Employing a wretched pun, State
Senator Brian Burke (D-Milwaukee) said the bill is "dead" on arrival
in the Senate. Regardless of the merits of concealed weapons, somehow the legislature
doesn't see how much of a national embarrassment it has become when one looks
at its priorities in relation to the problems the state is facing. Jim Mather
ended up getting into a bit of an email spat with State Representative Terri
McCormick (R-Appleton) over her vote in favor of the concealed weapons bill:
http://www.uwosh.edu/faculty_staff/palmeri/mvm.htm
Finally, I have received feedback on the Indian logo issue from literally
all over the country. Of particular interest is a situation in Marshall,
Michigan. The school board there recently, by a 5-2 vote, retired the high school
"Redskins" nickname and logo. The 5 yes votes are now facing a recall
being pushed by the "Save the Redskins" committee. Significantly,
the School Board did not act until they received a report from task force representing
a variety of views. The task force ended up with a 50 page report, which I personally
think is very well written. Copies can be found online here:
http://www.socialmarketing.org/MPS.html
Best,
-Tony