Wineke: Naughton sisters shine at MSO
MADISON, Wis. -- There's a real temptation to describe Christina and Michelle Naughton -- professional pianists who grew up in Madison and received their musical start playing with our youth concerts -- as local kids doing well for themselves. That…
Wineke: Evers is an underestimated winner
MADISON, Wis. -- If Tuesday's election showed nothing else, it demonstrated that Gov. Tony Evers is one of the most underestimated politicians in the state. I think the reason is that he looks and acts like a school superintendent. Maybe…
Wineke: Severed head stars in Madison Opera
MADISON, Wis. -- The severed head of John the Baptist turned out to be the star of Madison Opera's performance of “Salome” last weekend. Which is quite a feat since, once severed, the head doesn't sing a word. Salome, sung…
Wineke: What makes an organ entertainment?
MADISON, Wis. -- Attending this week’s Madison Symphony Orchestra’s Overture organ concert taught me something unique about classical music as entertainment. Guest artist Christopher Houlihan played brilliantly. He is the Distinguished Chair of Chapel Music at Trinity College in Hartford,…
Wineke: Madison Symphony Orchestra is more Than music
There are things about the Madison Symphony Orchestra concerts that make me happy but don't directly involve listening to music. For example: At the opening of Friday night's concert, Conductor John DeMain came on stage to explain the absence of…
Wineke: It was Marc Fink weekend at the Madison Symphony Orchestra
Madison Symphony Orchestra conductor John DeMain has been trying to present Beethoven's Ninth Symphony for three years – the first two tries were canceled by COVID – and finally led the MSO in a spectacular rendition during weekend concerts. But…
It's hard being an imitation Trump
I sometimes wonder if Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is having second thoughts about branding himself as an imitation Trump. If not, he ought to be. The governor's latest stunt was to send two plane loads of Venezuelan refugees to Martha's…
Florida imports refugees to export
Well, you might think that would be embarrassing. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis staged an expensive publicity stunt, flying two plane loads of cross-border refugees to Martha's Vineyard, the Massachusetts island playground for the super-rich. Then he and his staff went…
Wineke: student loan relief is a good thing
It is easy to make a case against President Biden's decision to provide debt relief to millions of (mostly) young Americans who took out student loans. The basic opposition argument is that “I paid back my loans and so should…
Wineke: Biden is precisely right about MAGA
MADISON, Wis. -- It is long past the time that our national leaders should take on the authoritarian wing of the Republican Party, and President Joe Biden was right to do so. If you doubt that, just look at what…
Wineke: Riots in the streets? Don’t cross Trump
Now we have South Carolina Senator Lindsay Graham going on television and threatening riots in the streets should the Department of Justice prosecute former President Trump. And why would the government want to prosecute the former president? I suppose we…
Is Donald Trump Our Nigerian Prince?
I’m beginning to wonder if Donald Trump may turn out to be our version of the Nigerian Prince. If you have email, you are probably are familiar with what I’m talking about. We periodically get messages from someone who purports…
Wineke: It's not about Trump; it's about you?
MADISON, Wis. -- The semi-official Republican response to the FBI search of former President Donald Trump’s Florida property on Monday seems to be that if the government can do that to Trump, what’s to keep the government from doing that…
Wineke: Let’s not make Social Security discretionary
Well, that’s a campaign theme I thought I would never see. Senator Ron Johnson said during a radio interview Tuesday that he would like to remove Social Security and Medicare from their present status as an entitlement and, instead, make…
The insurrection remains in effect
We keep talking about the 2020 election “insurrection” as if it were a thing of the past, an event isolated to January 6, 2021. It's not. It is an ongoing event and it continues to pose a threat to American…
'Right to Life' can mean 'Forced to Die'
Most of the people I know personally who oppose abortion are decent, loving human beings who have a sincere belief that ending a pregnancy is taking a human life. No one I know personally who opposes abortion believes that a…
