Mayor Dave uses taxpayer funds to campaign

Austin King must be pleased. It appears we do have taxpayer financing for the Mayoral race in Madison. (pls. see link above). Today's mail brought to me a full color 8 1/2 by 11" mailer with Mayor Dave and four good looking firefighters and Local 311 members in full gear on duty (drawing pay?) inside a fire station and ready to roll! While writing this, I hear on the radio George Dreckman - the head Garbage (Not the band, the stinky stuff) and Madison's Recycling Czar) doing the voice over for a taxpayer paid (public service?) ad about how Madison's water is drinkable and by implication, don't even think about our Water Utilities' bridge over murky waters, even though it is a campaign issue for both candidates for Mayor. Is the fact that the head garbage man is doing the ad mean that maybe he holds a lower standard for our drinking water? Rejoice Austin! You won! We do have one candidate for Mayor who has financed his campaign using our tax dollars!

Sean Penn: The apple falls close to the rotten tree

Just read an article http://wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=54887#about Sean Penn's statement a few days ago comparing the U.S. with Iran in terms of both being morally equivalent 'evil empires'. Turns out his Dad did something wierdly similar in 1939 (and he was Jewish) saying Hitler/Germany was no different than FDR and U.S. society and defending the Nazi's - since at that time Germany had signed a mutual defense pact with the USSR and Leo Penn was a very committed Communist, supporter of all things Commie. Yeah, many forget that Stalin helped build Hitler's air force in Russia in the 30's as they orginally planned to be war buddies and conquer the free world. Hmmm. Today we have radical Islamofacists who have written, screamed, videotaped the same message. As 9/11 survivor Earl Johnson, author of "Stairway to Heaven" his homage to the firefighters who were ascending the stairway of the North Tower of the Twin Towers as Mr. Johnson was escaping said on the UW campus last week, "Have the terrorists who murdered over 3,000 people on 9/11 given up?" What is your answer?

Supreme Court case: HS Student flag;"Bong Hits 4 Jesus"

Wisconsin State Journal Sunday 3/25/07. Forum Section. " First Amendment Case sparks unexpected alliances." (ACLU and Center for Individual Rights) http://www.madison.com/wsj/home/forum/index.php?ntid=125702&ntpid=1 On 1/24/02, a HS student in Juneau, AK was dismissed (as was the entire school) from HS specifically to attend a rally Honoring the Olympic torch passing the HS. Joeseph Frederick made a huge flag and waved it during the parade past the school that said, "BONG HITS 4 JESUS". A teacher and the principal took away the flag, the kid sued and it has gone all the way to the Supreme Court. This is my response which was published on Sunday April first. The issue of free speech will turn out to be a tertiary consideration when the court decides. The primary ones, “were the students still in school" under the custodial/educational care, control of the teachers and administration, and “did the ‘Bong’ flag disrupt learning?” will be the deciding issues. Based on what Romero/Pell wrote, (in the Wis. St Jrnal article) students were dismissed from regular classes solely to attend a rally for the Olympic Torch parade the school had deemed to be their educational experience for that day. The school still had custody of the students during the parade, its message and theme fully school supported. Had the rally been inside the school the "Bong hits for Jesus" flag would have been confiscated since it obviously would "disrupt the message, theme" (from an earlier Supreme Court ruling) the school was teaching that day. The fact that it was across the street from the school is irrelevant. The school was still in charge of the students and the “Bong” flag clearly disrupted learning. If a student wore a shirt or brought a flag to a school sponsored learning activity that said, “Allah smokes Hash” or “Budda hits the Bong” would the reaction be any different?

STICKER SHOCK PHOTO

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Traditional GOP values will Triumph

Forum Question: What's the state of the GOP? Sunday 3/3/2007 Wis ST. Journal Traditional GOP values will triumph Sunday Forum columnist Curt Gielow nailed what the GOP needs to do: Stay focused on important issues; reconfirm our convictions about a strong national defense; protect innocent lives; increase the flow of qualified, non-felon immigrants who accept assimilation of American values while closing the borders to illegal aliens; deal with the reality of the millions of illegal immigrants already here while stopping their exploitative employers with fines and jail time. Be realistic, positive and constructive. Cooperate with those across the aisle who are willing to do the same. Confront or ignore the negative, anti-American whiners whose defeatism brings all progress to a halt. Recall the necessity of American businesses downsizing in the 1980s and '90s to become leaner, more efficient, effective and productive to compete in a global market. Apply those painful principles to local government units -- police, fire, public schools -- which have successfully resisted structural changes or consolidation of services. Nationally, for over four years we maintained a modest growth rate, shrank the deficit in the last three years while maintaining low unemployment and interest rates and creating millions of new jobs, all due to cuts in tax rates that increased total tax revenue. It works. Keep it up. -- Bill Richardson, Madison