Except Greg Gard’s basketball team!
The wine cellar at the Stately Manor was down to its last few bottles of screw-top plonk, necessitating a trip to HyVee supermarket for reinforcements. Right next door, a couple dozen (mostly) women of a certain age were chanting and waving signs at the Tesla charging station. Turns out these good Madison WI progressives condemn carbon and support electric vehicles but have turned against the man who popularized EVs, Elon Musk. Madison progressives who bought Teslas before November 5 had bragging rights over the Prius people. Now they affix “We Hate Musk” bumper stickers to avert vandalism. Right next to their Co-Exist stickers.
Way to go WI Badgers, 77 to 74 over Izzo State!
The Dane County GOP team of Brandon Maly, Chrissy Illgen, and Navin Jarugumilli won re-election at caucus today against the Election Deniers — but only with 55% of the vote. A lot of recrimination.
Waste, fraud, & DEI
Elon Musk is taking a chain saw to government waste, fraud, and corruption. Madison WI, being a government and university town, bleeds sawdust. Any reduction in the government remit strikes terror in the progressive soul. Trump and Musk, said the kind lady pictured above, “is dismantling our civilization,” electric cars not withstanding.
How inconvenient that the boss of the University of Wisconsin’s Department of Diversity, Equity, and Educational Achievement has been exposed as a grifter of the first rank. Starting with his salary: LaVar Charleston was pulling down $364,207 a year — thanks to a $50,000 raise. Charleston’s three (count ‘em) assistant vice chancellors are the highest paid of any holding that rank. A single employee reimbursed $45,000 for travel. Another program comped $32,000 for a trip to Maui. Wowie! Buying $22,000 worth of coats, Crocs, and beanie caps for a favored student group. Read the Wisconsin State Journal account, then medicate yourself with a generous pour.
We would not know any of this without the Republican Speaker of the Assembly. Robin Vos demanded this accounting. This preliminary, internal investigation will yield to what should be a more complete third-party probe.
Before Donald Trump picked it up — this blogge has been saying that DEI is, itself, a scam. Because what the UW’s internal audit does NOT show is what difference, if any, does its profligate DEI spending make in minority student recruitment, retention, or achievement. Indeed, electing Brittany Kinser our next state school marm might get more minority K-12 students literate to where they could succeed at university, given that only 9% of black eighth graders can read at grade.
The progressive boycott of Teslas inspired the President of the United States to wear a loud sport coat and string streamers around the White House as he hawked the vehicles. An object lesson of why the business community (looking at you, Madison Chamber of Commerce) plays possum. Except when it comes to diversity, equity, and inclusion. Christopher Rufo couldn’t do a better job than LaVar Charleston of deflating the tires of this ideological scam.
Blaska’s Bottom Line: To Blaska’s inquiry, one of the ladies waving signs at the Tesla station averred that her protest may change nothing except to relieve her frustration at the demise of civilization. Blaska sympathized, then went in the store for wine — tariff-free California wine! That’s how we relieve our frustration.
Who else thinks DEI is, itself, waste & fraud?
Is Musk’s chainsaw electric?
19 responses to “Audit all of the University of Wisconsin”
“Dismantling our civilization”
If Trump and Musk are unsuccessful at cost cutting I hope that lady lives long enough to see the effect of the US going bankrupt on our civilization.
Also David – You are loved.
Take a look at the pins she was wearing, then ask yourself who’s really responsible for the demise of civilization.
Maybe you should have offered her a bottle of wine for medicinal purposes. A cheap bottle of wine, not the good stuff. LOL
A little Mad Dog?
No more Ripple or Annie Green Springs?
How does the DEI guy still have a job?? Don’t these people have over site,auditing or accountability?.
Nobody gets fired at the UW except women’s basketball coaches.
Remember that time the uw cried broke and to justify huge tuition increases. A legislative audit found a 1 billion dollar slush fund and quickly acted to freeze tuition increases. Those were good times. Go Musk, go trump keep steamrolling.
Tell us more about the 55% vote Sir. That’s impressive. Usually they lose by 82%. Were they drinking before they voted?
Who be “they”?
Warren Spahn wrote, “Tell us more about the 55% vote Sir. That’s impressive. Usually they lose by 82%. Were they drinking before they voted?”
Usually people say that “there are no stupid questions” but not in this case.
Are you really this stupid or is your online persona a trolling imbecile?
Try rereading this Warren, “The Dane County GOP team of Brandon Maly, Chrissy Illgen, and Navin Jarugumilli won re-election at caucus today against the Election Deniers — but only with 55% of the vote.”. Now try applying some grey matter critical thinking to easily figure out what Blaska was talking about or remain being perceived as a complete imbecile.
Trump and Musk have saved western civilization, IMO. The real “fascists” are Democrats.
Dave wrote, “How inconvenient that the boss of the University of Wisconsin’s Department of Diversity, Equity, and Educational Achievement has been exposed as a grifter of the first rank. Starting with his salary: LaVar Charleston was pulling down $364,207 a year — thanks to a $50,000 raise. Charleston’s three (count ‘em) assistant vice chancellors are the highest paid of any holding that rank. A single employee reimbursed $45,000 for travel. Another program comped $32,000 for a trip to Maui. Wowie! Buying $22,000 worth of coats, Crocs, and beanie caps for a favored student group.”
That should be looked at; however, that’s a drop in the bucket compared other wasteful spending from the UW, like spending $75 million (MILLION) planning a UW facility, note that’s planning not building, $75 to plan, what a racket! I submitted a comment to that blog that he refused to post….
Cieslewicz clearly couldn’t see the obvious waste, instead he attacked the GOP.
Mayor Dave has also failed to publish some of my comments there. Not a good look for a blog that claims to value free speech, tolerance, and pluralism.
$75 Million for just planning for one building seems ridiculously exorbitant.
The UW has been trying to free itself from state constraints such as DOA supervision of major building projects and for the UW to have it’s own bonding authority. But $75 million for just a plan suggests more auditing of taxpayer funds, not less supervision, may be needed.
In my line of work, wasting an employer’s money like Charleston did is grounds for immediate termination. That the UW still has him on their payroll at all shows you where their priorities lie, and it’s certainly not with being good stewards of the taxpayers.
No matter how egregious the waste, fraud and abuse committed by UW-Madison, it will be met with a yawn by Madison progressives. In their eyes, the University can do no wrong, responsible as it is for thousands of (overpaid) jobs and contributing as it does to the glowing image of Madison itself. As for the Tesla protest, how delicious it is that so many of Madison’s liberal elites bought Teslas so they could stick their snoots a little higher in the air by virtue of driving an upscale EV. Now that Elon’s become Trump’s best buddy, they’re stuck with a vehicle that screams MAGA. The wheels of justice grind slow, but they grind exceedingly fine.
It would be good to have an independent 3rd party like audit the UW Madison and then the rest of the system. I doubt it will happen because too many people are misusing tax dollars. Go DOGE!
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