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Commentary Update for April 22, 2003:Open Letter to Feingold, Gannett misses em all, Nina Simone, Parkview Politics, A Second Opinion, Looting, Commentary Photos

This week's Commentary guest is Jay Heck, Executive Director of Common Cause Wisconsin. Jay's expose of political corruption at the state level as well as his reform efforts have gained much attention in the state press and have been invaluable for activists all over Wisconsin. Assembly speaker John Gard, reacting to Heck's criticism of the speaker appointing the indicted and discredited Scott Jensen as chair of two important committees, said, "When Jay Heck is speaker, he can do whatever the hell he wants."

In Other News:

*An Open Letter To Russ Feingold: Wisconsin US Senator Russ Feingold held a "Listening Session" at UW Oshkosh last week. Everything was going smoothly, with most audience members expressing gratitude and admiration for the Senator's stands on a variety of issues, until it was my turn to speak. I asked the Senator why, especially since he is directly linked to the great Fightin' Bob LaFollette (who spoke out against World War I while it raged on), he was not willing to question the legality of Operation Iraqi Freedom from the floor of the Senate. Feingold answered that he wasn't really sure the war was illegal. I then said that in the future he should link himself to Bill Proxmire (good guy, but no LaFollette) in the future instead of LaFollette. At that point the Senator "went ballistic," I guess, saying that he has never linked himself to LaFollette and that only people like me waste time on comparisons. He said that to speak against the war while it was going on would "undercut the troops." I asked him how speaking for peace would undercut the troops. Feingold seemed very agitated at that point and expressed what I think were meant to be patriotic sounding platitudes about support for the troops, and he closed by looking directly at me and saying that "you won't find anyone in the US Senate more progressive than I am."

I ended up writing Feingold an Open Letter, which will appear in the May Valley Scene as a Media Rant column. For me this really is less about the war and more about LaFollette's legacy. As much as I like Russ Feingold--he is one of the only true Democrats in the modern Democratic Party--I have always felt uncomfortable comparing him to LaFollette because there was a "revolutionary" side to Fightin' Bob that is missing in just about everyone who attempts to link to his legacy. LaFollette always shaped public opinion rather than allow himself to be shaped by it, placing his faith in the ability of average, everyday people to support rational public policy if politicians would just have the political courage to defend and explain such policy.

*Gannett misses 'em all: The Oshkosh Northwestern didn't send a reporter to the Feingold listening session. Nor did they send anyone to cover journalist Reese Erlich's presentation on Iraq (Erlich is a guy who spent months in Baghdad shortly before the war started). Nor did they send anyone to cover a major union protest against Wal-Mart on April 19th. Looks like the newspaper has already guaranteed itself a spot on Palmeri's list of the 10 worst corporations of 2003.

* Nina Simone, RIP: The jazz great died yesterday at the age of 70. She was a great voice in the Civil Rights Movement. I actually became familiar with her work after reading an interview with John Lennon in which he said that the Beatles' "Michelle" (especially the line "I love you, I love you, I love yoooouuu...") was directly inspired by her. Somewhat like Eartha Kitt, whose career was seriously hurt when she told off Lady Bird Johnson at a White House function, Simone never carried the favor of the music industry establishment after she became an activist.

*Parkview Politics: Last week the Northwestern reported that Winnebago County has for months been considering a plan to close the Parkview Nursing Home. They also reported on how upset citizens are at even the suggestion of a closing. The Editorial Brigade chided county officials for holding deliberations about Parkview in secret. County Executive Jane Van De Hey wrote a letter to Commentary assuring everyone that Parkview's future is "bright and safe." Perhaps a good way for Parkview to get more support from the County would be to use Experimental Aircraft Association attendance calculation methods. That is, each nursing home resident could count as 7 people. That would allow Parkview to claim that they are serving thousands of people each day, have an incredible economic impact, and need more support from the County. Hey, it works for EAA.

*A Second Opinion: The April 7th edition of John Lemberger's A Second Opinion is a special "Peace Edition."

*Looting as American as Apple Pie?: John Fiore says so.

*Commentary Photos:

**Palmeri at the Malcolm X Birth Site

**The Wisconsin Democracy Campaign's Mike McCabe

**Common Council Candidate Steve Bender

**Oshkosh Common Councilor Mark Harris

**Oshkosh Common Councilor Shirley Mattox

**Former School Board member Mike Stratz

**Former School Board member Karen Bowen

**New School Board member Amy Weinsheim

**New School Board member Dan Becker