"Countercultural in these times means conservative."

"Fred is off the central planner’s grid; the antipode of the collective, an unroped stray escaped from the herd. Milverstedt is a freelance freedom fighter battling the steady encroachment of Bloomberg’s nanny state. From this remove, the man’s two major vices are power and speed. He expresses those vices through the language of two powerful machines: semi-automatic firearms and overpowered motorcycles. Who else would email JPEGs of his tight target grouping? Or extol the virtues of his AR-15?! That, my friends, is the difference between liberals and us conservatives. We brag on our vices; the progs apologize for theirs, then legislate reparations."

Excerpt from David Blaska's post about Fred Milverstedt, one of the co-founders of the Madison alternative newspapers, Isthmus, which I used to link to more than I do these days (now that Meade never comments there anymore). Milverstedt left Isthmus long ago, and one thing he's done since then is write a book: "One More Ride: Fred and the Craft of Motorcycle Meditations."

Sample book text:

If there ever was a time on the bike when I really thought I might need a gun, it was a day when Barbi and I were out on the Shadow on a high ridge in western Wisconsin overlooking a series of lesser hills rolling away to the south. We’d stopped, parked the bike on the shoulder and got off to admire the view.

We were on State 33, not an untraveled road but a good piece from the New York Thruway. On this stretch, there was no other traffic, no other people, no houses or barns except those dotting the valleys below.

Around the curve comes a pick-up truck, slowing as it moves into sight. It stops next to us, not on the shoulder but the middle of the road. There’s two young guys inside.

Seldom one to make snap judgments, give or take now and then, I make one here.

These guys are crackers....

"Conservatives are nearly extinct in Dane County government. Those who do remain face a bleak future with no likelihood of regaining power."

Headline and subtitle in my local newspaper this morning.

Here's the article.

Former Supervisor David Blaska (brother of former board chair Michael) remembers thinking the county was making a permanent turn to the right in 1994, when he was first elected. Conservatives had a three-seat majority on the board, Dane County was represented by Republican Congressman Scott Klug and that November, then-Gov. Tommy Thompson would carry Dane County (along with 70 of the other 71 counties) in a landslide re-election....

What does the firm progressive control mean for Dane County residents? The major difference is that county government will be free to spend on capital projects to improve services and stimulate the economy....

However, progressive power won’t bring nearly the changes it might have in the pre-Walker era. The property tax limits that Republicans have put in place limit the ability of local governments to engage in ambitious spending programs.

So, with the check on taxing imposed from the state level, we feel free to indulge our liberal fantasies as we vote locally. Is that what happened?

"Madison’s communities of color are constantly told by white progressives that people like Governor Scott Walker, radio talk show host Vicki McKenna and blogger Dave Blaska are the enemy."

"While some may agree, they haven’t been the ones silencing, patronizing and marginalizing folks of color in Madison. That distinction belongs to the liberal establishment in this community."

Race, education, and conspiracy theories swirling around a Madison School Board election.

This is complicated. Too complicated to begin to read as I'd originally presented the material. So I've changed the post title and written this paragraph to try to ease you into something that will seem very intra-Madison, but it has some big, general themes that outsiders should relate to.

The Cap Times tries to untangle things.

You don’t have to be a conspiracy theorist to figure out that the Bradley Foundation’s supposed functionary allegedly behind [Ananda] Mirilli’s candidacy is Kaleem Caire, CEO of the Urban League of Greater Madison and architect of 2011’s controversial Madison Preparatory Academy proposal for a charter school aimed at African-American children.



Caire proudly claims his stint of more than a decade ago as CEO of the Bradley-funded Black Alliance for Educational Options, which supports greater parental choice options to improve education, especially for students of color.

Mirilli told me her campaign [for a seat on the Madison school board] was haunted by the idea that she was pro-voucher and anti-union, even though she says she is doubtful of the efficacy of vouchers and was not recruited by Caire as the local grapevine seemed to have everyone convinced....

Mirilli, a Latina, adds that she was encouraged in her run by a trio of former School Board members who filled her in on what it requires. She was not convinced that Madison Prep was the answer to the district’s woes, she says, but stresses that Caire’s putting the achievement gap issue on the public agenda has been incredibly valuable.

“We have to talk about a racial analysis; when we are looking at a curriculum or a strategy or a program, we need to look at whether it is culturally specific to the group we are targeting,” Mirilli says.

So... a conspiracy theory was used to defeat Mirilli... or is this a conspiracy theory about a conspiracy theory? I'm glad the Cap Times is getting into the act — along with David Blaska — trying to figure out what is going on. Mirilli was defeated in the primary, and one of the 2 winners — Sarah Manski — withdrew 2 days later, leaving us with only one live candidate on the ballot. Mirilli's name can still be written in.

Mirilli says she's not going to do a write-in campaign, but she hasn't said she won't serve if elected. I'm voting in that election, which is the same one with the Wisconsin Supreme Court race, and I can't figure out anything to do other than to write in Mirilli.

I'm sorry if this is a little too intra-Madison for most of my readers, but perhaps you will take some interest in the topics of school vouchers (which Governor Walker has proposed expanding to include Madison) and charter schools (you may remember my posts about Kaleem Caire's Madison Prep, which was voted down by the Madison school board in 2011).

Did the Manskis target Ananda Mirilli?

This is very intra-Madison, but worth paying attention to. David Blaska reports, based on talking to Mirilli, that Sarah Manski was recruited to run against Mirilli and "the Manskis spread a rumor that [Mirilli] was recruited by the Great Right Conspiracy to run as a stalking horse for school vouchers."

Forty-eight hours after taking out the troublesome minority candidate – her job accomplished – Sarah Manski withdrew from the race, assured that the school board would appoint “somebody good” if it came to that....

The Manski campaign was fueled by plenty of big-name Democrats, including the Democrat(ic) leaders in the Wisconsin State Assembly and Senate, Peter Barca and Chris Larson, even though they’re from Kenosha and Milwaukee, respectively....