True North

Jack Kelly looks at the same passage in Obama's North Carolina victory speech that we touched on in "Obama's improbable history." Obama said:

I trust the American people to understand that it is not weakness, but wisdom to talk not just to our friends, but to our enemies, like Roosevelt did, and Kennedy did, and Truman did.

Our enemies in World War II were Nazi Germany, headed by Adolf Hitler; fascist Italy, headed by Benito Mussolini, and militarist Japan, headed by Hideki Tojo. FDR talked directly with none of them before the outbreak of hostilities, and his policy once war began was unconditional surrender.

I don't know what's worse — progressives thinking Minnesotans are too dumb to make an obvious connection between cause and effect or Republicans who think the way to Minnesotans' hearts is through the bile duct. Case in point: the controversy surrounding DFL Senate candidate Al Franken's failure to pay $53,000 in taxes in 17 states.

"This man is not fit to become a United States senator," said state Republican Party Chairman Ron Carey, according to the Pioneer Press. "Al Franken's credibility is really suspect at this point."

For the record, Ron is a friend of mine. We serve together on the board of a nonprofit organization. I'll have to ask him if he considers my credibility suspect: I've filed an amended tax return each of the past two years — once because I owed the government more than I thought I did, and this year because I discovered I owed less than I actually paid. And I guarantee my income is not nearly as high as Franken's, and my tax returns are not nearly as complicated.

Mike Huckabee offered a strange analysis of national priorities at a conference on diabetes in Washington. He told the audience that diabetes presents a bigger threat to Americans than terrorism, which is both true and utterly pointless at the same time. He also underscored the suspicion which Republican primary voters had about his nanny-state tendencies (via JWF):

An advocate for better health since his diabetes diagnosis five years ago, Mike Huckabee warned Wednesday that the illness may pose a greater threat than terrorism to the United States.

I’m already on record saying I believe Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty will be John McCain’s choice to share the ticket — even if the notion doesn’t quicken the pulse of conservatives.  I base this on Senator McCain’s penchant to reward loyalty (T-Paw has been nothing if not loyal) and the fact that many beltway establishment Republican types like Vin Weber, pollster Tony Fabrizio and fmr. RNC chairman Ken Mehlman seem to be grooming the Governor for the national stage.

The problem is that the GOP has a a dearth of talent in both our gubernatorial and congressional ranks. I couldn’t help but read this Redstate roundtable on possible veep choices and feel discouraged — much like those who participated in the discussion.  The most likely choices all have significant electoral or ideological shortcomings.  Meanwhile, two of the more exciting prospects, Bobby Jindal and Sarah Palin, are long on vision but short on experience.

My reptilian brain stem has been working on finding someone who meets the following seemingly impossible criteria: 1) palatable (if not exciting) to conservatives; 2) satisfactory name recognition; 3) geographic advantages; 4) able to reaffirm McCain’s maverick creds; 5) able to assume the presidency should tragedy strike; 6) not necessarily currently in politics.

Mai Thor’s post at Minnesota Daily would be utterly laughable if it weren’t so dangerous. Thor’s post concludes that requiring photo ID’s before voting is racist. Here’s the scariest part of Thor’s post:

Our Constitution affords us several rights, including the right to vote. It is unfortunate that many people, especially those who run our courts and make our laws, feel that voting is not a right, but minimize it to some sort of privilege, like having a bank account or going to the liquor store, where conditions and technicalities have to be met in order to participate.

There is no denying the race factor in the history of photo ID requirements. After the Civil War, the black vote was suppressed by poll taxes and literacy tests as well as other heinous laws known as Jim Crow. Proponents of photo IDs say it prevents voter fraud, when, in reality, voter fraud is an illusion which originated from an era of racism.

Since the GOP nomination’s been wrapped up for almost three months, now, the question “Who’ll Mac pick for VP” has been gurgling about the place.

Governor Pawlenty, of course, has been a key contender for a long, long time; young, great approval, decent if not invincible record of success as governor and legislator, conservative enough to not spark a rebellion in the provinces, and he supported Mac when it wasn’t cool to be in the McCain camp.

Did Barack Obama send a subtle message to Hillary Clinton about the potential for her to join him on the Democratic ticket last night on CNN? The Guardian picked up on the nuance in Obama’s generous description of Hillary to Wolf Blitzer, all the way across the pond. The Obama campaign wants an end to the internecine battling and may have sent up the biggest signal yet that they’re prepared to cut a deal — or it could just be a gracious way out of a routine question:

Barack Obama yesterday gave the clearest hint yet that he may consider Hillary Clinton as his vice-presidential running mate in the November election for the White House. With the campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination close to finished as a contest, Obama began looking beyond his battles with Clinton to the one with the Republican John McCain.

There is an old saying admonishing people who live in glass houses not to throw stones. MNGOP Chairman Ron Carey should have remembered that prior to beating the Al Franken tax story into the ground. You see, in his zeal to encourage Al Franken to "come clean" on his tax problems, the MNGOP (under Ron Carey's leadership) still has not come clean on their finances, as several papers reminded readers yesterday. The FEC, you see, had issues with how certain expendatures were reported and Chairman Carey promised an immediate and speedy audit. The results of that audit, that Chairman Carey promised was forthcoming, is still - one year later - yet to be released.

The mayor says he only learned of the suspended license late Thursday afternoon. He was confronted by cameras when he slid into his car parked outside the Minneapolis City Hall Thursday evening. Rybak said he did not intend to drive, and that he was only getting in the car to pick up some paperwork.

Pat Toomey, former conservative Republican rep from Pennsylvania and current president of the Club for Growth, writes an excellent post on the GOP’s reflexive defense of RINOs (Republicans in Name Only). 

You need to read the whole thing for its background.  The story is, of course, an important one in Minnesota, as the GOP grassroots in many districts have taken action to shun RINOs - including some sitting incumbents.

So about 600 or so of my closest friends joined us at the Northland Inn in Brooklyn Park last night for the first ever  debate, anywhere in the world, between nationally-syndicated conservative and liberal talk show hosts.  Michael Medved took on Ed Schultz in the two-hour “Donnybrook in Brooklyn Park”.  The event was jointly sponsored - this may be a national first - by AM950 Air America Minnesota and AM1280 The Patriot.

I co-MCed the event with former Minnesota state representative Matt Entenza.  We did a point-counterpoint format, switching off between me questioning Schultz and Entenza querying Medved.  Each response got two minutes; the other party got a minute’s rebuttal; if needed the original respondant got a minute worth of redirect.

Well, officially, anyway.  There were a few times it was hard to control the flow of things - but we did our best.

Mike Huckabee offered a strange analysis of national priorities at a conference on diabetes in Washington. He told the audience that diabetes presents a bigger threat to Americans than terrorism, which is both true and utterly pointless at the same time. He also underscored the suspicion which Republican primary voters had about his nanny-state tendencies (via JWF):

An advocate for better health since his diabetes diagnosis five years ago, Mike Huckabee warned Wednesday that the illness may pose a greater threat than terrorism to the United States.

A SuperAmerica worker helped a fellow employee in the midst of a robbery and assault. He may have saved a life. His "speedy reward" from his employer, SA? A pink slip. KSTP-TV has the story and video.

Mark Beverly was one of two employees inside a Roseville Super America when a robber came into the store on March 26.

Beverly was cleaning the bathroom when he heard the store clerk cry out. He came out to find a robber attacking the female employee.

Shouldn’t the gas-tax holiday idea have died with Hillary Clinton’s campaign hopes last Tuesday? Not according to economist Bryan Caplan, who explains in the New York Times that it might have limited value in keeping Congress from doing something even more stupid in response to rising gas prices. The problem that Caplan’s explanation creates is that stupid policies are not necessarily exclusive to one another:

The main causes of high gas prices are probably factors beyond our control, like rapid growth in China and India and low real interest rates. But voters don’t want to hear this; they want politicians to “do something!”

During our last big energy crisis, in the 1970s, “something” turned out to be a salad of populist nonsense: price controls, rationing, windfall profits taxes, arcane loopholes and lots of lawsuits. That political response turned an inconvenience into a disaster.

The financial problems of the Minneapolis Star Tribune made the news over the weekend when the New York Post reported that the paper was on the verge of bankruptcy. Star Tribune publisher and chairman Chris Harte has denied that report, but acknowledged that management has retained the Blackstone Group to restructure its balance sheet.

Avista Partners purchased the Star Tribune for $530 million only two years ago. The purchase price represented a 50 percent markdown over the price paid for the paper by the McClatchy Co. eight years earlier. Since Avista purchased the paper in 2006, it has continued to shed readers and advertisers. Avista has now written down the value of its $100 million investment in the Star Tribune by 75 percent, and the debt that accounted for most of the remainder of the purchase price paid by Avista is valued like junk:

To finance its acquisition of the Star Tribune, Avista borrowed $340 million that was valued recently at 56 cents on the dollar, according to bid prices for "institutional leveraged loans." A subordinate loan of $96 million trades for 10 cents on the dollar.

It was sixty years ago today that Israel declared its independence.

If MS-NBC wants to wring its hands over media bias, they need look no further than their own anchorman and highest-profile pundit. Instead of talking about Keith Olbermann and Chris “Thrill Up My Leg” Matthews and their obvious tilt towards Barack Obama, the cable channel gathered a few talking heads to discuss whether pundits have committed bias by declaring Hillary Clinton’s campaign over after her big loss in North Carolina. The verdict? Her campaign is only mostly dead:

Baby DNA Warehouse bill - ACT NOW!

There's been a delay! Worries about the bill are growing. The Health Department's Baby DNA Warehouse and Genetic Research bill, S.F. 3138, was supposed to be heard tonight (Wed, 5/7), but it wasn't.

However, the bill will probably come up tomorrow (Thur, May 8), so take action as soon as you read this!

In a 10 hour 23 minute session, debate on the final amended bill began at the 9 hour 35 minute mark. The first speaker (Rep. Simpson) got up and reminded members of all of the provisions that the DFL's new "friends", the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce, were against - raising taxes on specific businesses, raising utility rates, reducing R&D tax credits among other things. Rep. Garafalo spoke about how this was the wrong time and the wrong economy to raise property taxes as this bill does. With record foreclosures, he said, increasing property taxes is just plain wrong he said. Rep. Seifert asked for another call of the house, which could mean that they want a vote soon and (as Anonymous corrected me the other night) he wants to make sure that all members vote on this bill - get them on the record. After 5 minutes, Rep. Sertich asked that the clerk close the rolls and that the Sgt At Arms be instructed to bring the missing members in. As that was happening Rep. Lanning got up and spoke against the bill. He brought up that there was a NEW formula for distribution of Local Government Aid that would actually REDUCE aid to most cities! Even Minneapolis, Duluth, St. Cloud, the regional centers AND small cities will all get less under a new formula that is being developed by Democrats! This is a huge thing as the DFL candidatess hammered Republican legislators over the last two election cycles because of reductions in LGA. He also mentioned that this bill is taking away the real estate tax deduction from state income taxes! (Ed: Yet Rep. Lenczewski insists this bill is "revenue neutral"? Maybe to the government but certainly NOT to the taxpayers!) Rep Lanning also brought up that the Dept of Revenue does not know how they are going to implement this bill. Rep. Marquardt got up and insisted that this is a property tax relief bill. The voters need to keep this in mind. He insists that a bill that will only give tax relief to a small portion of Minnesotans but will leave the rest of us high and dry.

I just happened to turn on the Legislative session today and I see that they are debating the Conference Report on SF 100 which is the Embryonic Stem Cell research bill. I think I will have to follow this one for a while.

Rep. Dean has an amendment on the floor and he is in a rather heated debate with Rep. Phyllis Kahn on the amendment. One of the things that his amendment apparently wants to do is to put a restriction on embryonic stem cell research and would rather focus on pluripotent stem cells. I found it interesting that a Ph.D. had a hard time wrapping herself around the concept of pluripotent stem cell. I also find it interesting to see all of the contortions that she is going through, on the house floor to defend the experimentation on human life. Rep. Severson said that Minnesota Statute already has a prohibition on using embryonic stem cells. He said that the statute includes "movement" as an indication of "life" and that cell division is considered MOVEMENT!