Wisconsin

I used to think the protesters in Wisconsin opposed to budget cuts (and union-weakening) might have a point. But my position has now changed because of two very firm rules I've stuck to all my life: 1) Never side with crazy people; 2) Never side with extremely stupid people.  I'm not sure which category the following protesters fall into, but it's one of the above.  As Sarah Palin was being introduced at a recent tea party rally, she was greeted with these insightful comments from the mob.  1)

A 31-year-old Severna Park man who said he is following directions from God to visit sites of tragedies in the United States was recently detained and interviewed by authorities after ammunition was found in his car outside the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin, where a gunman killed six worshippers and himself in August, police reported. According to an Oak Creek, Wis., police report, Joel Sinclair Corbett walked into the temple about 8:41 a.m. on Oct. 28 wearing a backpack with wires hanging out of it. Police in a nearby parking lot spotted him and drove to the temple.

Any way you slice it, the refusal of Wisconsin voters to recall Republican Gov. Scott Walker for limiting the collective-bargaining rights of unionized public-sector employees was a blow not only to organized labor but to the Democratic Party as a whole. On an issue that goes to the core of the American labor movement's ability to deliver for the party as its key constituency, big corporate and individual fat-cat money overwhelmed the traditional union muscle of political boots on the ground.

You can add Wisconsin to the list of nonconference opponents the Terps will face in future years. Maryland said today that it has agreed to a two-year, home-and-home football series with the Badgers -- but not until 2020. Maryland will play in Madison on Sept. 12, 2020. Wisconsin will come to College Park on Sept. 11, 2021. The teams have not met before in football. “These will be much anticipated games for both our future student-athletes and for our fans,” athletic director Kevin Anderson said.

The difference between the people of Egypt, Libya and Wisconsin is that the latter start protesting at the beginning of their suppression instead of after decades. In each place, a strong man is saying if you'd just do what I say, you wouldn't need rights. This is a basic flaw in the Republicans' approach to government. Arise, Wisconsin! Arise, Indiana! Theodore Carl Houk, Towson

Your editorial "Union badgering" (Feb. 22) conveniently omits the fact that Gov. Scott Walker campaigned to do exactly what he is doing, and that voters of Wisconsin elected him to do it. The public employees of Wisconsin and their paid-in-full senators in the state legislature apparently do not believe in elections. Their claim that they now support pension and health-care relief for taxpayers is belied by the fact that they tried to jam increases in those very same benefits through the legislature before the Republicans took over, but they didn't have the votes to do so. The fight in Wisconsin comes down to the basic proposition: Who controls the government — voters or public employee unions?

Jordan Taylor had a rocky start replacing Trevon Hughes. Wisconsin's backup point guard committed two turnovers and missed a jumper shortly after Hughes picked up two quick fouls, but he got better in a hurry to help the Badgers hand Purdue its first loss this season. Taylor scored a career-high 23 points, Jason Bohannon tied a career high with 20 and No. 17 Wisconsin beat No. 4 Purdue 73-66 Saturday in Madison, Wis. Purdue's 14-0 start tied the best in school history, but both the 1993-94 squad led by Glenn Robinson and this year's team saw their streaks end in Madison.

In reply to letter writer Theodore Carl Houk's observations in "The difference between Egypt and Wisconsin" (Feb. 24), it is not a strong man in Wisconsin saying "do what I say. " Rather it is the newly elected representative of the voters of Wisconsin. The voters, it is assumed, weighed the changes that might come before voting. The Democrats are poor losers. Look what happened when President Obama was elected. The Republicans were shut-out of many discussions on new legislation, especially Obamacare.

Democrat Tom Barrett's defeat in Wisconsin is also a loss for Gov. Martin O'Malley and his Democratic Governors Association which poured about $3.2 million into the attempt to topple Republican Gov. Scott Walker. O'Malley noted in a statement that Democrats were outspent "ten to one" in Wisconsin. He looked for the silver lining of last night's election results in Wisconsin, saying in a statement that "Republican governors across the country are on notice" and "The people of their states will not tolerate partisan overreach.

The Effort by the governor of Wisconsin to restrict collective bargaining by labor unions is an unacceptable infringement on the rights of its citizens ("Wisconsin's governor to senators: Come home" Feb. 22). But the sad truth is that it demonstrates a rare sober effort by any government official in the U.S. to act seriously to diminish gross budgetary problems. It is sad that our federal government buckled to political pressures to extend Bush's tax reductions for our wealthiest citizens and that we are now asking middle class union members in Wisconsin and other citizens to pay the price for irresponsible spending.

Randy Edsallsaid he isn't looking back on what happened last season at Maryland, so I won't either. But that doesn't mean I won't be watching what Danny O'Brien is doing at Wisconsin this season, and I'm sure a few Terps fans were checking out the internet Saturday while Maryland was struggling to beat William & Mary at Byrd Stadium behind freshman quarterback Perry Hills. For those who hadn't heard what the former Maryland quarterback had done in his debut with the Badgers, it certainly had to make you think what O'Brien might have done in Mike Locksley's new offense in College Park rather than Matt Canada's new offense in Madison.

Danny O'Brien  received some startling news last Tuesday. After finishing up practice with the Wisconsin football team, the former Maryland quarterback heard from a few of his old teammates. C.J. Brown, the man who took O'Brien's starting job 10 months ago, had torn his ACL during a noncontact drill and would miss the 2012 season. O'Brien was heartbroken. Brown is one of his close friends, someone he's talked with regularly since deciding to transfer last winter. So he did what all people do during a friend's time of need.

Sunday's mass shooting at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin carried a depressing familiarity. Every few weeks in America, people somewhere are shot en masse, a gunman is captured or killed, and the debate over gun control flourishes on opinion pages. But this shooting was different. It posed a question to the core American values: do we stand up for the safety of our religious minorities with the same vigor as we do for the mainstream population? The question was valiantly answered by the heroic act of the two police officers who did not hesitate to risk their own lives in order to save the lives of others - in this case Sikhs, who are often mistaken for Muslims.

It won't be long before racing fans in Baltimore and television viewers from around the world will once again enjoy IndyCar racing with your beautiful waterfront skyline as a backdrop. And as we experienced here last month with Milwaukee IndyFest, I'm confident Michael Andretti and the Andretti Sports Marketing team will get the job done and produce a first-class international event on Labor Day weekend. Milwaukee has a long and storied tradition in auto racing. The Milwaukee Mile is the oldest active racetrack in the world, having hosted races dating back to 1903.

  The Wisconsin-style fried cheese curds are back at Artscape . You can find them at Stella Jeanne's Festival Foods booth, which is near the Lyric theater on Mount Royal Avenue but facing the Mount Royal Station stage. Above is the Baltimore Sun cheese-curd finder. Curds are a by-product of the cheese-making process. They have a consistency most people describe as squeaky. And the perfect thing to do with them -- fry them. The folks that make them are based in Philadelphia but the wife, who is expecting a child any day now, is from the Midwest, where cheese curds are huge.

The Sun has concluded Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's victory in Tuesday's recall election was not predictive of a Barack Obama loss in November based on exit polling which showed many of those who voted for Governor Walker would also vote for President Obama ("The lesson of Wisconsin," June 7). Really? The Sun conveniently forgot to mention that exit polling on Tuesday night also showed, incorrectly, that it was a virtual tie between Mr. Walker and his opponent, Tom Barrett, but we all know that was not the case at all. Mr. Walker had a landslide victory over Mr. Barrett, just as Mitt Romney will have over Mr. Obama in November, especially if the economy and unemployment figures remain as dismal then as they do now. Gail Householder, Marriottsville

Randy Edsallsaid he isn't looking back on what happened last season at Maryland, so I won't either. But that doesn't mean I won't be watching what Danny O'Brien is doing at Wisconsin this season, and I'm sure a few Terps fans were checking out the internet Saturday while Maryland was struggling to beat William & Mary at Byrd Stadium behind freshman quarterback Perry Hills. For those who hadn't heard what the former Maryland quarterback had done in his debut with the Badgers, it certainly had to make you think what O'Brien might have done in Mike Locksley's new offense in College Park rather than Matt Canada's new offense in Madison.

Any way you slice it, the refusal of Wisconsin voters to recall Republican Gov. Scott Walker for limiting the collective-bargaining rights of unionized public-sector employees was a blow not only to organized labor but to the Democratic Party as a whole. On an issue that goes to the core of the American labor movement's ability to deliver for the party as its key constituency, big corporate and individual fat-cat money overwhelmed the traditional union muscle of political boots on the ground.

Gov. Scott Walker's victory in the recall election is a microcosm of the upcoming presidential election in November ("The lesson of Wisconsin: OK for Obama, terrible for unions," June 6). The people of Wisconsin showed that they are sick and tired of bullying unions. The unions claim to represent workers but in reality they are just interested in keeping their power. They massage the big-spending liberals and keep them in office, and the liberals massage the unions to curry their money and favor.