Well, we have already come to the last issue of The Hues for 2023. While we used to publish right through the Christmas season, a few years ago, we decided to give ourselves a two-week break. And it is so welcome this year.

We are also looking at who has been naughty and nice this year. On top of the Naughty list is the Republican-controlled legislature — who have tried to keep themselves permanently in power no matter what society needs or how it changes — for their dictatorial pressure on the UW Board of Regents to eliminate Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) positions on UW campuses. They basically held UW pay raises — that had already been approved — and funding for a UW-Madison Engineering Building hostage to force their will on UW Systems. Like Donald Trump, the Wisconsin Republicans are exerting their control on all public state institutions to preserve — as is there ultra-conservative tendency — and hold dear a vision of Wisconsin that began to fade away a decade ago. They cling to a past that is falling out of their grip like sand through a person’s fingers. And as they clutch ever more desperately, Wisconsin will be ill-prepared to meet tomorrow’s challenges because of the Republican’s futile efforts to cling to the past.