President Truman said, “There is nothing new in the world except the history you do not”. Walking into a used bookstore late this afternoon, James and I were greeted by an employee befo…

The angst I felt over the past few weeks as the UPS truck rumbled by our home and down the street is the reason I write this column tonight. It is a small thing in life. A truck with boxes, sometim…

A lesson in genuinely meaningful ethics. Two very different American stories are in focus this week: rich people and what they do with their wealth. One belongs to Dolly Parton, an iconic superstar…

Dolly Parton took the stage at the Dane County Coliseum on October 29, 2005. It was the first major concert that my husband, James, had ever attended. Walking down an onstage staircase, she held th…

Here we are again with a story about the unseemly side of the NFL. Just in time for the start of a new season, when many Americans will opt to sit inside on beautiful fall Sunday afternoons to watc…

I noticed a few Canadian flags flying in Madison this weekend.

Madison’s latest flirtation with banning right‑on‑red turns is the kind of well‑intentioned civic tinkering that sounds good in a mayoral campaign literature piece. But this idea misunderstands how…

Last week we witnessed two examples of tin-ear politics when Donald Trump commented on sailors aboard the U.S.S. Lincoln and the pain of higher gas prices in America. When he was asked about being …

YouTube video by The Elvis Factory

We pause on the anniversary of Elvis’s passing because his presence never really left us: the power of his music, the immensity of his stage command, and the quiet moral fiber that shaped him as a …

You likely found the same annoying thing when watching the Election Night returns on CNN and MS Now on Tuesday as I did. When we should have had more analysis of what was happening in Minnesota or …

Donald Trump’s acknowledgment that he was secretly moved off Air Force One in a catering truck at a NATO summit in Turkey last month revealed far more about presidential responsibility than many at…

It has been a dramatic week in Wisconsin, and now it is time for the weekend. Everyone needs a few days to unwind. Family is coming by our home Friday night, and rain is slated for much of Saturday…

You likely found the same annoying thing when watching the Election Night returns on CNN and MS Now on Tuesday as I did. When we should have had more analysis of what was happening in Minnesota or …

(I posted this column as the flash drives in Milwaukee were being transported back to the central count location before being returned to the county courthouse to have results announced.) Close ele…

Historical nuggets about two people you know from over the years come alive again with stories you will long remember.

Wisconsin Democrats face a hard truth on August 11th when they cast ballots for the gubernatorial nominee in November. The resounding fact is that not every candidate who wins a spirited intraparty…

For many months, I have had a photo from a 1934 Saturday Evening Post in my ‘to do’ pile, as I wanted to add some commentary on the painting’s innocence and place it in context wi…

I am quite sure that Francesca Hong has cracked a history book. But I must wonder what parts of world history failed to resonate with her. I write that line as it is concerning to me that the leadi…

Former Supreme Court Chief Justice Earl Warren would have had a field day with the spectacle of Senator Rand Paul’s interrogation of Dr. Anthony Fauci. Warren was known for his polite discourse and…

The way independent voters align in Wisconsin’s August 11th primary and in the fall’s midterm election will make or break many a candidate. All we had to do this week was look at Michig…

There’s a particular kind of state legislative candidate who strikes my fancy. Someone who is serious about policymaking. Someone who knows the inside ropes and pulleys that make the machinery of t…

Let’s be honest, there is only so much that any Wisconsinite should be forced to endure during campaign season. (I am thinking that, and I love politics.) Today we are reminded of the travesty of F…

At the risk of ruffling a few patriotic feathers, I need to say something plainly and to the point. When a nation behaves badly on the world stage, there should be consequences on the world stage. …

There are stories that drift across the Wisconsin newswire and barely register, and then there are the ones that make you stop mid‑sip of morning coffee and mutter, “Oh, for crying out loud.” The b…

“Somehow the letters-to-the-editor page, strange and wonderful as it always is, is one of the chief adornments of the society we love and seek to clarify for the world. The privilege of writi…

The Waushara Argus, my home county newspaper when I was growing up, continues to be delivered to my mailbox each week, these decades later. Like newspapers across the nation, these publications fac…

Over the past couple of years, there has been a dearth of positive news benefiting the public from the Waushara County Sheriff’s Department. Instead, there has been a bevy of truly dishearten…

YouTube video by Parody Project

Podcast Episode · Doty Land · May 23 · 9m

Pip: Welcome to Caffeinated Politics, where the coffee is strong and the school boards are occasionally doing their best impression of a cautionary tale. Mara: Gregory Humphrey has been busy this w…

Quick and memorable historical stories with high production values. Bipartisanship comes alive with Harry Truman and Arthur Vandenberg; Thomas Jefferson wants Italian musicians in our military band…