Update on the woman in Pennsylvania claiming she was attacked by an Obama supporter

The police now believe Ashley Todd made up the story.

I don't begin to understand these hoaxes. West Bend just went through this with a young girl who made up a story about racism in the schools. I can't even begin to understand the motivation except to wonder at the attention-seeking hunger of these would-be martyrs. Is it because we celebrate fame and hype so much that everyone clamors, and will do almost anything, to be a part of the media noise? Is celebrity, even notoriety, that important?

Or is it because they feel their cause is so important, and they just want to do something, anything, that would be the spark for some terrific event?

Is it some combination?

But what really saddens me is how quickly, despite all of the examples now, many of us are ready to leap at a story because it fits whatever template we have. And despite a few voices saying wait until the facts are known, these fake martyrs are quickly made into banners for news organizations and partisans to wave at "the enemy" because the false report fits what we (all of us) want to believe.

The problem with the West Bend School District

Boots and Sabers has been blogging lately about the West Bend School District and the possibility that its school board will try to saddle its taxpayers with another huge tax increase referendum to replace the failed $119 million referendum from last fall.

What’s wrong with West Bend?

Mark Belling has often asked his callers to explain the contradiction of conservative cities that routinely elect tax-and-spend liberals to city councils and school boards. His callers always get it wrong. West Bend is a perfect example. Washington County, which includes West Bend, is the most Republican county in Wisconsin. A democrat has as much chance of winning a partisan office in West Bend that a Republican has in Madison. So why is their school board filled with tax-and-spend liberals?

The problem can be summed up in two words - Candidate Recruitment.

Face it. Conservative people aren't attracted to local elected office for a number of reasons. They have busy lives and by their nature prefer to spend their free time with their families or in money-making activities that pay more than a pittance. Conservatives are, well, conservative. They don’t have the time or patience to spend their free time fighting losing battles in long committee meetings. That’s the domain of liberals.

In New Berlin, we've been very fortunate to elect conservatives to our School Board, and to a lesser extent, our city council, because a few dedicated individuals invested a lot of time and effort in candidate recruitment. Recruits are told that if every conservative served just one three year term in local elected office, the liberals wouldn't stand a chance. With only a few exceptions, conservatives always win.

The Republican Party should spend more time on candidate recruitment at the local government level, which was the whole point of political parties in the first place. The real work should take place months before the filing deadlines. Angry taxpayers should spend their time recruiting candidates who won’t give them tax increase referendums.

So, does West Bend have any hope? The funny thing about democracy is that voters get exactly what they deserve.