A goodbye to Cindy Kilkenny's Fairly Conservative blog

Today Brookfield blogger and friend, Cindy Kilkenny, posted her last piece on her blog Fairly Conservative. I will miss clicking in to see what has captured her attention but look forward to her next venture.

Blogs sometimes offer the only coverage of an issue, especially since the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel cut back on local news coverage. She will be missed.

But as if on cue, Cindy is going out with a bang. A Fox News producer from New York contacted HER this morning to see if she knew the woman who asked the question on constitutionality at the Feingold WCTC Listening Session!

So goodbye, Fairly Conservative, and Cindy, fare well!



Links: Practically Speaking, Fairly Conservative, Betterbrookfield, RandyMelchert, Jay Weber, Vicki McKenna, The Right View Wisconsin, CNS News, Mark Levin, Breitbart BigGovernment, The Heritage Foundation

Oh My! A Lib blog thanks and apologizes to Bush and Chaney?

It is amazing to me that President Obama's approval numbers are still around 47%, when so many supporters are showing signs of voter's remorse.

Obviously, the President has lost his invincible, I'll solve it all, image, and many people are quietly changing their minds about him. But rarely do we see a turn around such as this one from a Pro-Hillary Clinton blog written by some gay guys in Chicago!*

Read this amazing post from their HillBuzz blog. Thank you former President George W. Bush and former First Lady Laura Bush Here are some highlights:

"If you have been reading us for any length of time, you know that we used to make fun of 'Dubya' [Bush] nearly every day…

"Oh, how we RAILED against Bush in 2000…and how we RAILED against the surge in support Bush received post-9/11 when he went to Ground Zero and stood there with his bullhorn in the ruins on that hideous day."

"We were convinced that ANYONE who was president would have done what Bush did..."

"Well, we told you before how much the current president, Dr. Utopia [Obama], made us realize just how wrong we were about Bush. We shudder to think what Dr. Utopia would have done post-9/11. He would have not gone there with a bullhorn and struck that right tone. More likely than not, he would have been his usual fey, apologetic self and waxed professorially about how evil America is and how justified Muslims are for attacking us, with a sidebar on how good the attacks were because they would humble us. ...The world needed George W. Bush, his bullhorn, and his indomitable spirit that day…and we will forever be grateful to this man for that."

"As we will always be grateful for what George and Laura Bush did this week, with no media attention, when they very quietly went to Ft. Hood and met personally with the families of the victims of this terrorist attack."

The post brings up how the Obamas should have gone to Ft. Hood, but didn't. It took President Obama 5 days to go visit the victims, and it seems to me, that was only prompted because he was speaking at the memorial service.

"Thank goodness George W. is still on his watch, with wonderful Laura at his side."

"We are blessed as a nation to have these two out there…"

"And we are blessed to have Dick Cheney, wherever he is, keeping tabs on all that’s going on and speaking out when the current administration does anything too reckless and dangerous."

"Cheney’s someone else we villainized and maligned in the past who we were also wrong about....There has never been a Vice President more spot-on right about the dangers facing this country from Islamic terrorism."

"Thank you for your service, Mr. President. We’re sorry we didn’t appreciate you while you were in office, but we thank Heaven we’ve wised up and can see the good you are out there doing, under the radar, today."

Others are realizing You don't know what you've got 'till its gone! From the UK Telegraph, Bloodless President Barack Obama makes Americans wistful for George W Bush:

"In a sign that the Obama honeymoon truly is over, I began to hear this week the first stirrings of a wistfulness about Mr Bush. "I never thought I'd hear myself say it," one Democrat told me. 'But Obama makes you feel that at least with Bush you knew where he was on something.'"

If I have learned one thing blogging, it is that if you wait long enough, you will find common ground with those on the opposite side of the political spectrum. I just never expected I would find so much common ground on a Hillary blog. I think HillBuzz has found a new reader!

Other HillBuzz posts I found of interest: Thursday Open Thread, advocates lower taxes, smaller govt. and abolishing ACORN, among other things.
The latest ridiculous attack on Sarah Palin in Chicago: Oprah's audience complains they didn't get any free books
Why can't Jill Biden take Mrs. Utopia [Obama] shopping sometime? "...one of the biggest breaks Mrs. Utopia caught in 2008 is when Mr. Blackwell died. That man could have filled one of his Worst Ever lists with things the current First Lady has worn this week, alone. "
Republicans would be smart to blame Dr. Utopia on the media - and in particular, Oprah

* Thanks, Jay Weber, for bringing this to my attention

Links: Practically Speaking, Fairly Conservative, Betterbrookfield, RandyMelchert, Jay Weber, Vicki McKenna, The Right View Wisconsin, CNS News, Mark Levin, Breitbart BigGovernment, The Heritage Foundation

Congress in recess; I'm taking a mini recess too

My computer is acting up a bit; I'm having great difficulty copying and pasting. That might not seem so bad to you but it makes blogging a rather frustrating experience for me. So I am thinking, if our Representatives are in recess, maybe I will take it a bit easy too for the remainder of August? (Hopefully I will get to the bottom of my copy/paste issue in the next week or so.)

I can probably manage a recipe or two or something else on the lighter side, just not much with links and quoted text for a while.

At least while our Senators and Representatives are in their home states they can't be voting for health care reform or Cap and Trade in the Senate. Somehow I feel more at ease knowing they can't be spending money we don't have or legislating more restrictions while they are taking a break.

Saving the Siepmann Farm House just jumped another hurdle

If you have been following the save the Siepmann Farm House issue at Brookfield's Stonewood Village, you know that back in May, it looked like it would join the scrap heap of Brookfield's historic buildings. In my May 18th post, Stonewood Village's Siepmann farm on chopping block at Tuesday's Common Council meeting, I asked, "...can't we find some way to save the Siepmann farmstead and still do the wedding center?" and then urged that readers contact their aldermen.

The Siepmann Farm Homestead is a good example of a reader suggested blog topic. The morning of May 18th, someone sent me an email regarding moving or razing the Siepmann home. Since I thought it a worthy topic and blogged about it.

Shortly after that, I took some pictures of Stonewood Village and the house in question and blogged about it again on May 21st : How much to raze Siepmann Home? asking the question is it cheaper for the developer to give the building and $10,000 or raze it? That post prompted a lot of comments--some not too complimentary to me.

But as I chewed on how could the house be saved and still do the wedding center as the developer desired, a thought came to me while replying to a comment: put the connector road in front of the Siepmann home. (Pictured) If I had not been out to the site, I doubt I would have thought about it. (No doubt, the city staff and aldermen who were familiar with Stonewood thought about this too.)

I commented, "...When I was there, it seemed there would be room for the connector road to be built in front of the home? Possibly that could be the solution to saving the home (in place) and still connecting the parking lots? If that frontage road is a violation of set backs, maybe this is where the Common Council could grant a variance?"

I think my exchange with Im Thinkin in the comments was constructive. (Showing that constructive comments can be helpful!) Excerpt from Im Thinkin:

"...The owner can do what he wants with his property. I think the best way to save the farmhouse is by convincing the owner that the house is what makes Stonewood Village unique, not just another strip mall. If the house qualifies for historic registry, the owner could probably get some tax breaks too. The Council vote will give Brookfield residents a little time to speak up about historic preservation. I plan to contact the mayor and my alderman and insist that they approve a plan that doesn't include tearing down an important piece of our history. Maybe a variance, as Kyle suggests, is in order here. Once this farmhouse is torn down, it's lost forever. Let's speak up before it's too late."

I contacted my alderwomen on May 21st, asking if there could be a compromise.

My alderwoman Lisa Mellone made some phone calls and further nudged the Siepmann into the saving direction rather than the razing. Along with a combination of publicity, the Elmbrook Historical Society, and city staff, Dan Ertl I am told in particular, and of course, developer 4S worked together to get us to this point. Brookfieldnow also made it the topic of a comment poll.

Saving the Siepmann, by allowing a variance for the connector road to run in front of the home, just won unanimous approval by the Brookfield Board of Appeals on July 10th.

Yesterday, July 13th, Brookfield's Plan Commission recommended approval of the new frontage road placement by a vote of 5-2. Brookfield's Common Council will vote on the new design on July 21st at City Hall. The meeting starts at 7:45pm.

I know some Stonewood Village neighbors are concerned that saving the Siepmann will lead to increased density at the Wedding Center. I don't blame them. They are still licking their wounds over Capitol Heights. So far, increased density is not an issue with developer 4S.

Ultimately, I hope the council will approve the new design and keep the Siepmann home in place. Again, I urge you to contact your alderman regarding the Siepmann decision.

Links:
Practically Speaking, Fairly Conservative, Betterbrookfield, RandyMelchert, CNS News, Jay Weber, Mark Levin, Vicki McKenna Jay Weber, The Right View Wisconsin, The Heritage Foundation