Last weekend, a politically motivated gunman shot two Minnesota state representatives and their spouses at their doorsteps —killing two. This tragedy is just one example of how dangerously overheated our nation’s political climate has become.

In the meantime, Congressmember Tony Wied (R–WI-8) has introduced a bill that would halt federal funding to cities and states with high crime rates. No doubt the intent of his bill is to punish “Democrat” jurisdictions, it’s actually red states that lead the nation in violent crime. But cutting off funding to any jurisdiction makes his proposal counterintuitive at best.

The name of the bill—Stop Anarchists from Endangering Cities Act—is equally troubling. It implies that entire local governments promote anarchy, stoking fear, propping up ignorance, further inflaming political rhetoric rather than encouraging reasoned debate.

Even more concerning is that the bill sidesteps root causes of crime, many of which have been exacerbated by policies championed by Wied’s own party. If the draconian cuts outlined in the so-called “Big, Beautiful Bill” pass, these problems only intensify.

Sociologists tell us that intensifying the products of poverty leads to jacking up crime.

It’s way past time for our leaders to call a rhetorical ceasefire and genuinely engage with solutions that serve the public good. 

You know. Making things work better in this country. Not grandstanding and raising the national temper.

Keith Schmitz GRNS Steering Committee

Dear Editor: In medicine, the term piecemeal necrosis refers to the death of vital tissue little by little. We are seeing the equivalent of this in Washington with the death of vital agencies, the legal system and our Constitution.

Our democratic system is based on checks and balances. All three branches of our government however, have fallen under the total dominance of a misguided, vindictive and cruel tyrant who has surrounded himself with lackey’s willing to do anything to curry favor. Fear of revenge by this administration has paralyzed the majority party in Congress to perform its basic functions.

There is a fundamental breakdown in our society when the rule of law and our own Constitution offer no protection for its citizens. Free speech and a free press are under constant attack. Censorship and threats of defunding are destroying our education system. Research based on science and evidence is suddenly no longer valid or supported. Enemies have become friends and allies enemies. The economy is in sudden turmoil. The abuse of power has become so extreme that gestapo tactics are now being used to abduct innocent civilians from the streets and taken to unknown sites.

Editorial Published in The Ozaukee Press:

As the farmers used to say, “you don’t eat your seed corn.”

Yet that’s exactly what the President and his sidekick, “Chain Saw” Musk, are doing — munching away at what people have built up over generations to keep our country strong.

For two people who claim to be business savvy, they’re setting us up to come out of the next four years weaker, poorer, and less competitive.

They’re slashing investments in technical research — the very engine that has kept America ahead of the world. Even worse, they’re gutting medical research, killing projects that were decades in the making before they’re finished.

The government covers about half of all drug research costs because Big Pharma often won’t risk funding early-stage work. Kill that pipeline, and we’re not just losing cures — we’re setting ourselves up to be a sicker, more fragile nation.

And for what?

A few headline-grabbing “savings” that won’t even begin to offset the trillion-dollar tax cuts handed to billionaires who don’t need them — and very little will end up in your pocket.

This is economic sabotage, plain and simple. If you think fighting back is class warfare, it is you who is under attack.

Think about your future — and the future your kids and grandkids will inherit.

Keith R. Schmitz

Milwaukee

Right now Congress is considering enacting the DOGE cuts. Especially if you live in a red district, contact your member of Congress and let them know you don’t want your future gutted. You can find contact information at ww.house.gov and click FIND YOUR REPRESENTATIVE.

A suggestion to you all.

What has the GOP done for this country? You'd have to go all the way back to, believe it or not, RICHARD NIXON!

Be totally honest with yourself.

Can you name any achievement that this party has pushed or enacted? And no, fat-cat tax cuts, stuffing the courts with unqualified corporatist judges, or a brutal border policy that ignores the suffering these people are fleeing do not count as anything that benefits us.

It's time we start calling the GOP the Party of Mediocrity to help wake up voters to what this tribe is doing to our country and this state.

Back in Wisconsin, the Party of Mediocrity failed to do anything to address the COVID crisis. And don't count on them passing anything beneficial -- including funding the police -- because, god forbid, that would mean taxing their wealthy donors.

The Judge Brown-Jackson hearings when it came to the GOP members of the judiciary committee was a Mediocrity Circus. It had everything from Lindsay Graham asking what the Judge's religion is from to Dixie Disaster Marsha Blackburn asking Brown-Jackson asking her to define what a woman was to the GOP's OANN obsession over seven cases around the sentencing of child pornographers.

And don't forget. The Party of Mediocrity got us into this recession and let the pandemic rage, which Joe Biden is struggling against the Party of Mediocracy's obstruction. Yet, yesterday's unemployment numbers show this to be the lowest since Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid was on the screen.

We have to ask voters: Do you want this country to not only be what it can be but put into power a party so mediocre that they have to engineer their one-party rule to stay in control?

In advance of the September 19th Zoom Townhall on Gun Violence, an article by David Kyle Johnson bats back the myths cherished by the pro-gun side. Johnson ran this around the time of the Parkland shootings, but because this issue hasn’t gone away, his points still have relevance.

As with so many issues in this country, what the majority wants doesn’t seem to count. The people for whom guns seem to validate their lives prevail too often with a whole bucket of misconceptions. These myths glue together their forces and usually have some appeal to those on the fence.

But essentially, all of the arguments for gun violence in America don’t hold up when you get out of America.

Atheism? The US has one of the most churched populations in the western world, yet the highest rate of gun violence.

Violent Video Games? Ever see what Japanese kids play on their screens? Yet, Japan had 17 deaths from gun violence in 2020.

Immorality? Try measuring what exactly that is.

There’s more in Johnson’s piece on pro-gun arguments that are like balloons – all shape but only air inside.

So, of course, for the gun fetish crowd, the causes of gun violence are everything except the always available gun in American society.

At the time Johnson wrote this article in 2018, violent gun deaths were going down, and as we all know, gun crimes (but not a lot of other crimes) have been rising in this country.

So what has led to the increase? Try the instability from the pandemic in 2020 and stress from a collapsing economy, for starters. And who was president in 2020? A man who is the very model of impulsive behavior.

The loosened gun laws passed over the last few years – including in Wisconsin – haven’t helped. It’s no accident that our freeways in Metro Milwaukee have been closed down because of road rage shoot-outs.

Thanks to our conceal and carry law, many people have their weapon right at hand in the glove compartment, available when the impulse strikes. Because the guns are now being carried around in cars, they are targets for break-ins, with the stolen guns going right out into criminal world.

But Johnson does not, as Wolf Blitzer would say, leave it there. Check out the list of common-sense gun measures that even members of the NRA can get behind.

The solution is to be as willing to push back as the weapon worships are to flood our neighborhoods with guns. The first step starts with attending our Zoom meeting on gun violence on September 19th.

Warnings and predictions about the dire future of the planet due to the impacts of climate change have swirled for over half a century now, and yet we have not taken definitive action. Joining the Paris Accord during President Obama’s tenure was a first step that stalled when he left office; now we are scrambling to undo the damage of the last administration.

People often turn away from climate change discussion because they feel powerless to change the situation. Aside from electing politicians who care, “what can we do?” is the common response.

This forum by Grassroots North Shore will help us answer that question, not from a national perspective or political stage, but from where we live – our homes and communities.

Forum participants will give us the starter steps we need to formulate our paths to a cleaner, sustainable future. In one approach, Lisa Geason Bauer at Evolution Marketing describes how businesses can approach sustainability: “When thinking about sustainability – specifically how to talk about it and implement it, we use the lens of the triple bottom line (TBL). Triple bottom line means that we consider whether our management decisions are going to have an impact on the environment (i.e. environmental stewardship), people, or the community of stakeholders (i.e. corporate social responsibility), and the overall economic viability (profit) of the business. One of the goals at Evolution Marketing is to create change within our clients’ organizations and implement sustainable business strategies.”

Our moderator and a speaker on homeowner options, Kevin Kane, will discuss energy audits, economic analysis of what is cost-effective regarding home improvements, and ways to make those improvements affordable.

Find out what you can do, and what we can all do together. Grassroots North Shore hosts “Green is Good” at 7 pm on Sunday, June 13^th, featuring experts who will come together to guide the ordinary person in navigating the possibilities of environmental change. Featured speakers include: Lieutenant Governor Mandela Barnes; Mayor of Glendale Bryan Kennedy; Chief Economist of Green Homeowners United, Kevin Kane; and Lisa Geason Bauer, President of Evolution Marketing, LLC. RSVP on the Events Page and then ask at least one other friend, colleague, or family member to sign up as well. 

We appreciate support by co-sponsors Citizen Action of Wisconsin, Wisconsin Jewish Democrats, and Wisconsin Conservation Voters. (NOTE: Registration system requires an initial rsvp to get on our list; a link will be sent to you so you can register on Zoom-also required).