The Stately Manor will enhance your reality
whether you like it or not

The white lab coats trekked out to the garden shed to attach jumper cables to Ol’ Sparky, the Eisenhower-era mainframe computer here at the Policy Werkes, for some election prognostication duty. Yep, next Tuesday, August 14, is the partisan primary. Place yer bets at the window.

We fed Ol’ Sparky a carton of gluten-free, recycled paper punch cards, then stood well back holding fire extinguishers at the ready. The ancient tabulator shuddered and groaned before putting on a light show rivaling July 4 Rhythm and Booms.

The marquee race on the Democrat(ic) side is for governor.

The clinking, clanking, clattering, collection of caliginous junk spit out a single sheet of dot matrix predictions. Guess what? The polls aren’t lying: Tony Evers will face Scott Walker in November. At the finish line, in order: Evers, Kelda Roys, Mahlon Mitchell, Kathleen Vinehout, Mike McCabe, Matt Flynn, Paul Soglin, and (last and very least) Josh Pade. Unless the track is muddy, then flip Flynn and McCabe. 

On the Republican side for the right to challenge U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin it’s Leah Vukmir 56% to Kevin Nicholson 44% — well beyond the Marquette Law School polling. Everyone at Stately Blaska Manor — the indentured servants, the unlettered field hands, the white lab coats at the Policy Werkes, the Lovely Lisa and the Squire his own self proudly support Leah Vukmir.

Which of the four Democrats wins the 77th Assembly District and thus a seat in the Assembly? A few weeks ago we would have said Shelia Stubbs: county board supervisor, African-American, endorsed by scads of office-holders including the incumbent, Terese Berceau, who is retiring. But now Ol Sparky is blinking the name of Shabnam Lofti. (Who? Shabnam. Oh!)

 

Platinum Subscriber Bonus Pick for lieutenant governor: It’s the Democrat(ic) primary, folks. Mandela Barnes, D-Milwaukee, over some white guy from Sheboygan.

Quick update on Cops in Schools: That infernal committee concedes that they’re not going to get police out of Madison’s four high schools but they were busy Wednesday evening applying handcuffs, one of which would forbid police from enforcing city ordinances. Whiskey, Tango, Foxtrot!

Folks, in most cases, city ordinances mimic statutory criminal misdemeanors with the major difference: fines only, no jail time. Ask yourselves this: Why oh why would a Madison school board want to prohibit city police from enforcing city ordinance? Broken Windows: ignore the small stuff and you will harvest the big stuff soon enough. Mark 6 p.m. Monday, August 27 for the full Madison Board of Education meeting.

Belated congratulations to the WI State Journal for a wonderful series on the Yahara Lakes: Giants Among Us series. Love the photography and the graphics and some of the best writing we’ve seen. Special credit to Steven Verburg. Interesting that Kegonsa holds much more water than Waubesa although the surface area is nearly identical. And the proportion of muck, gravel, sand and stone comprising each lake bed. The sunken treasures, the underground/over ground paths precipitation takes to find the lakes.

Anyone notice how the national news media seized on the shooting at WORT radio last weekend and speculated whether Donald Trump had caused his crazed supporters to fire upon America’s worst enemy, the news media? Notice how quickly they dropped the story when it turned out to be yet another casualty of hip hop “music” and its culture of violence?  

Former Madison Isthmus artist Mike Baron is making a name for himself from his aerie in Denver. Frontpage is up with the thought-provoking “Comics, Culture and Conservatives,” an interview with Mr. Baron. Mike Baron is going to be at the Mighty Con show at Monona Terrace from 10 to 5 this Sunday, 8-12-18. 

Blaska’s Bottom Line: Remember, you can only vote in one party’s primary. That should limit the mischief, Tuesday. Dammit!