john maddente | midwestern clarity

C ontrast two recent cases that received national media focus: the arrest of Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. and video tape of ACORN employees giving advice to individuals posing as operators of an under-aged prostitution business. In the first case, the President declares that law enforcement officers in the Gates case, " acted stupidly " then he hosts an awkward reconciliation meeting over beers on the White House lawn.  In the second case, the President demurs when asked to share his opinion about the ACORN workers and Congressional action to stop federal funding for their organization. President Obama did say that actions he viewed on the ACORN videotape were " inappropriate " and deserved to be investigated, but then he added... " This is not the biggest issue facing the country. It is not something I'm paying a lot of attention to ." Nor should he have paid much attention to a civil disturbance involving one man in Cambridge, Mas...

 John Maddente photo Ever attend a tea party? They don't serve tea at this kind, but visitors do receive a generous helping of speeches and opportunities to express themselves. Yesterday on a sunny afternoon at Milwaukee's Veterans Park, thousands of attendees were treated to a litany of views on issues including our federal and state tax climate and sweeping health care and environmental proposals. This was an audience that is passionate about their country and freedoms, but also well behaved and well informed. Nationally-acclaimed author Michelle Malkin roused the crowd with criticisms of left-leaning figures including Carol Browner, Director of the White House Office of Energy and Climate Change Policy whom Malkin referred to as a "Beltway Swamp Creature" (ouch), Attorney General Eric Holder "Chief Endangerment Officer" and "union thugs" (in particular she cited Andy Stern and the S.E.I.U. ). A number of speeches sounded out a...

H ere are two current examples of how the Fourth Estate still serves the public interest. 1.  Locally, in my home town of Milwaukee, readers were shocked and angry to learn how their tax dollars are squandered (again) by a $350 million state child care program that is routinely plundered by a number of providers, including one -- who as a result of Journal Sentinel investigations -- turned herself in to state authorities.  Fine reporting indeed, by Ms. Raquel Rutledge and others at the Journal Sentinel. Read more about the scams they uncovered at www.jsonline.com/cashinginonkids 2.  Ninety miles south of me, another series by the Chicago Tribune exposes corrupt admission practices at the University of Illinois, as well as other cheats and cronyism throughout the Land of Lincoln. Here's the spot to read, "State of Corruption" . I'm not sure how we'd learn about these issues if old fashioned, gumshoe reporting didn't occur.