Andhere’s the bad news: Women’s reproductive rights are under attack bypoliticians who are more extreme than their predecessors. For example,Republican gubernatorial candidates Scott Walker and Mark Neumann have bothaccepted the endorsement of the extremist Pro-Life Wisconsin. That means thatthey have promised to oppose abortion in all casesincluding when a woman hasbeen raped or is a victim of incest, or if her life is in dangerand alsooppose all forms of birth control, including condoms.
Incontrast, Pro-Life Wisconsin did not endorse the Republicans’ gubernatorialcandidate in 2006, Mark Green. And former governor Tommy Thompson, whilereliably anti-abortion, also supported family planning programs andcontraception.
Walkerand Neumann are more radically right-wing than their Republican predecessors onreproductive rights and, if elected, would have the power to undo hard-wonvictories, such as the Compassionate Care for Rape Victims Act, prescriptionprotection measures, and family planning coverage for men. The attack onreproductive freedom may be a stealth one right now, but it should be on everyvoter’s radar before the Nov. 2 election.
Event of the Week
Dryhootch Open House andGrand Opening Celebration
Dryhootch,a nonprofit peer-to-peer counseling organization for returned veteranstransitioning to civilian life, is launching its very own coffeehouse.Celebrate the grand opening of the Dryhootch coffeehouse, at 1030 E. Brady St., and support combatveterans and their families. On Saturday, Aug. 28, at 10:30 a.m., the grandopening ceremony begins with greetings from Congresswoman Gwen Moore, WisconsinDepartment of Veterans Affairs Secretary Ken Black, Brig. Gen. Donald Dunbar,Milwaukee Veterans Affairs Director Robert Beller and Dryhootch members. Fromnoon to 11 p.m., there will be free Palermo’sPizza for Dryhootch members (while supplies last) and music by Guitars forVets. On Sunday, Aug. 29, at 10:30 a.m., Chaplain Ray Stubbe will preside overan ecumenical prayer service/blessing; later, Guitars for Vets will return. Formore information, go to dryhootch.org.
Hero of the Week
Jim Fiste
When Jim Fiste retiredfrom his career as an engineer, he never envisioned the role he would play forchildren worldwide. But his post-retirement plans changed once he learned of“Operation Christmas Child,” which collects and distributes toys andnecessities to children in need.
Fiste, the program’sMilwaukee-area coordinator, organizes a year-round volunteer effort to getitems into the hands of children living in the world’s most adverse locations:war zones, refugee camps and areas of natural disaster or extreme poverty.Donors are asked to fill and decorate a standard-sized shoe box with gifts forboys and girls in three different age brackets. Though the collection period isthe week before Thanksgiving, Fiste notes that the logistics require long-termplanning because gifts are shipped to often-volatile areas via oceangoingvessels.%uFFFD
To see recommended itemsfor sharing and a list of collection points, visit www.occmilw.org.
Jerk of the Week
GOP Senate Candidate RonJohnson
Doyou like your home mortgage tax deduction? Then you may not like whatRepublican Senate candidate Ron Johnson wants to do with it. In an interviewwith a Madison TV station, Johnson said he’d consider “horse trading” it tosimplify the tax code. According to the nonpartisan Tax Foundation, roughly athird of Wisconsin taxpayers claim thisdeduction; the average deduction is about $8,700, a significant chunk of changefor a homeowner. Johnson may want to reconsider his radical tax plan if hedoesn’t want to raise taxes on Wisconsinresidents.
Thecomments come on the heels of other Johnson gaffes that have drawn nationalattention, such as claiming that sunspots cause global warming (they don’t),trees “suck down” carbon dioxide (pollution is good!), that Greenland was oncegreen (it wasn’t) and that he didn’t want to “second-guess” Bush administrationclaims that Saddam Hussein had “nuclear weapons capabilities” (Saddam didn’t,but Bush invaded anyway).%uFFFD%uFFFD
