The Savage Republican

Minnesota "Nice"

Garrison Keillor has been called a Minnesota treasure, an iconic comedian whose creation "A Prairie Home Companion" is a throw back to a kinder, gentler time. To bad the creator is not as kind as his creation.

"Hard choices need to be made, and given the situation we're in, I think we must bite the bullet and say no more health care for card-carrying Republicans. It just doesn't make sense to invest in longevity for people who don't believe in the future. Let them try faith-based medicine, let them pray for their arteries to be reamed and their hips to be restored, and leave science to the rest of us. Cutting out health care to one-third of the population - the folks with Bush-Cheney bumper stickers, who still believe the man is doing a heckuva job - will save enough money to pay off the national debt, not a bad legacy for Republicans. As Scrooge said, let them die and reduce the surplus population. "

A prime example of "Minnesota Nice" doncha think?

Now in all fairness to Mr. Keillor, he does find one salient point, but he dances around and away from it so fast, you swear he must have gotten whiplash in the process.

"A society that pays for MRIs for headaches and can't pay teachers a decent wage has made a dreadful choice. But health care costs are ballooning, eating away at the economy. The boomers are getting to an age where their knees need replacing and their hearts need a quadruple bypass - which they feel entitled to - but our children aren't entitled to a damn thing."

Here he is correct - our politicians decry the "health care crisis" but ignore the education crisis. We do spend more money on health care (as a country) than we do on education, but the money spent is only PART of the equation. Until such time as we get away from indoctrinating children in acceptance of "alternative lifestyles" and we get back to teaching math and science and english (and not as a second language either!) will we get better educated children. However, Garrison didn't bother to touch on that.

At least Mr. Keillor is honest when he makes this statement:

"And we're stealing from them so that old gaffers like me, who want to live forever, can go in for an MRI if we have a headache."

Now I could stoop to his level and say that if he was all that concerned about the kids then he should quit being so selfish and just die, but I won't. For you see, unlike Mr. Keillor, I don't wish death on those that have the audacity to have an opinion different than my own. I thank them for their input and I wish them well. And THAT dear reader is what Minnesota Nice is all about.

Compare and contrast

Compare this to the Red Star's reaction to the Richard Armitage revelation.

"It follows that one of the most sensational charges leveled against the Bush White House -- that it orchestrated the leak of Ms. Plame's identity to ruin her career and thus punish Mr. Wilson -- is untrue. The partisan clamor that followed the raising of that allegation by Mr. Wilson in the summer of 2003 led to the appointment of a special prosecutor, a costly and prolonged investigation, and the indictment of Vice President Cheney's chief of staff, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, on charges of perjury. All of that might have been avoided had Mr. Armitage's identity been known three years ago...Nevertheless, it now appears that the person most responsible for the end of Ms. Plame's CIA career is Mr. Wilson. Mr. Wilson chose to go public with an explosive charge, claiming -- falsely, as it turned out -- that he had debunked reports of Iraqi uranium-shopping in Niger and that his report had circulated to senior administration officials. He ought to have expected that both those officials and journalists such as Mr. Novak would ask why a retired ambassador would have been sent on such a mission and that the answer would point to his wife. He diverted responsibility from himself and his false charges by claiming that President Bush's closest aides had engaged in an illegal conspiracy. It's unfortunate that so many people took him seriously." (emphasis mine)

Any doubt to the Red Star's bias was officially stripped away with their screed in today's paper (that I wrote about last night). The only ones guilty of "spin" in this matter is the Star Tribune editorial staff - not the President's defenders (as the Strib's editorial suggested). It is time for the editorial staff of the Star Tribune to either offer their apologies to the President, the Vice President, Mr. Rove and Mr. Libbey or step down. I'm not holding my breath waiting for either to happen.

MSM worth watching and taping

I keep hearing about the Clinton acolytes trying to squelch certain aspects of the ABC mini-series "The Path to 9-11". When the Clinton syncophants are nervous, well, my ears perk up! Front Page Magazine (David Horowitz's online magazine) has an excellent review here. Hugh Hewitt believes that the Clintonistas are going to fall short in their efforts to trim the series, as does Andy McCarthy of NRO. It appears that the mini-series documents in a fair and even handed way the bungling and PC mind set of the Clinton Administration that killed and injured thousands of Americans.
And Sandy "How DID Those Documents from the National Archives Get in My Knickers that I Subsequently Accidentally Shredded???" Berger is still out and free to roam rather than facing a hard time sentence in a federal prison.
Anyhow, I'll be setting my VCR for this one.

A REAL inconventient truth

This article tells us what the drive by media refuses to:

"In just over three months, the United Nations mandat under which the US-led multinational force is present in Iraq will end. This means that the 130,000 troops provided by the US, Britain and 32 other countries would have either to go home or see their stay extended under a new arrangement.

Because Iraq has regained full sovereignty and has a government of its own, the United Nations alone can no longer take the decision whether or not foreign troops should remain on Iraqi soil. The final word on the subject must come from the government of Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki with the consent of the Iraqi National Assembly (Parliament) . "(emphasis mine)

The final word on the subject must come frm the government of Iraq - not the US Government, not the EU, not Jack Murtha, not Coleen Rowley or Patty Wetterling! Iraq is our friend and our ally. It is not in the US best interests to abandon them if they request that we stay. Something that the Dems ignore in their rhetoric. Just one more thing to remember in November!

Delusional

That is what the editorial staff - the admittedly LIBERAL editorial staff of the Minneapolis Star Tribune (aka Red Star) is. Why, you may ask, do I say that? THIS editorial (in tomorrow's paper) shows the depths of the liberal delusions at the Red Star.

"Armitage's error doesn't excuse others
He made a mistake, but Cheney, Rove, Libby have no excuse"

Richard Armitage made the initial "leak" and yet it's a mistake. Karl Rove, when asked "did you hear this?" made the mistake of saying yeah I heard something like that and he is STILL the one who needs to be flayed alive!

Just when you think that they can not possibly get any worse......

Acceptable discrimination

This story confirms what many people have long suspected. That it is perfectly ok (according to liberals) to discriminate against Christians.

" The Minneapolis Police Department has temporarily suspended the use of a well-known psychologist who has been screening potential officers for more than a year after community members questioned his affiliation with a group that opposes civil rights for gays.

The issue of Michael A. Campion's affiliation with a conservative Illinois group that says it opposes the "gay lifestyle" was brought to interim Chief Tim Dolan's attention on Wednesday during a meeting with the Police Community Relations Council.
Although he said there's no indication of any bias in Campion's work, Dolan decided the next day to stop using him until an independent review could take place." (emphasis added)

There you have it dear reader. There was no indication of bias, but that didn't stop the city machinery from chewing him up and spitting him out.

Front Page Magazine dug up what the Red Star refused to print - that this was done at the behest of gay rights and pro abortion activists.

"If you’re a Christian working for the City of Minneapolis, watch your step – your job may already be in jeopardy. In what may be one of the most blatant acts of anti-Christian bigotry and discrimination by an American government agency, the Minneapolis Police Department has suspended a Police Psychologist, Dr. Michael Campion of Campion, Barrow & Associates, at the behest of leftist activists."

The Red Star never said WHO told them about Campion's affiliation with IFI. Just that that accusations of bias (because of his faith) were made!

Christians working for the City of Minneapolis should be very afraid, should this be allowed to stand. Just because Mr. Campion was a consultant, doesn't mean you couldn't be next. Your First Amendment rights, along with those of Mr. Campion, are apparently not as guaranteed as others.

The last of the "moderates"?

Much has been said about this Lori Sturdevant column in Sunday's Star Tribune. However, none of the posts picked up on this:

"For Minnesotans, both books serve up some juicy passages. None tops Eilperin's account of Seventh District Rep. Collin Peterson's exchange with the Democratic Steering and Policy Committee in late 2004 or early 2005.
It seems that the eight-termer's penchant for voting with Republicans called into question his Democratic caucus' willingness to make him the ranking minority member of the House Agriculture Committee.

Let me get this straight," Peterson is quoted as telling the caucus leaders who had summoned him for a grilling (not of the barbecue kind). "You're telling me I should vote against my conscience and vote against my constituents so I can become a marginal member, and you can spend two million bucks to save my ass? You guys have to understand, you're not in the majority ... . If you didn't have guys like me you're going to be in the minority for a long time." (emphasis mine)

That speaks volumes about the Democratic leadership. That explains why the DCCC is pushing forward candidates like Coleen Rowley and Patty Wetterling - candidates that do what the DCCC handlers tell them...that toe the party leadership line - no questions asked!

"It details how Republican leaders have denied a meaningful lawmaking role to minority Democrats and their own moderate members. "

Gee Lori - I must have slept through the portion of Poli-Sci that said that the majority was supposed to guarantee the minority a "meaningful" lawmaking role. I know I certainly did not see anything like that in the years that the Democrats controlled the House and the Senate.

And then there is this little gem:

"Both books argue for change in the way congressional districts are drawn. Gerrymandering -- the practice of drawing political maps for partisan advantage -- is out of control, and should be reined in, the authors argue. One possibility: Take the task out of state legislators' hands, and give it to independent commissions. "

Typical leftist - take the power away from the people and their elected representatives and hand it over to the Judiciary. Wait you say - she didn't say judges.....well yes she did:

"In Minnesota, legislative gridlock and/or lawsuits have given the state something akin to that, by default. Panels of judges have drawn this state's political lines for the past 40 years. That may be why Minnesota is still sending moderates to Congress while much of the rest of the nation is not."

Handing redistricting over to judges - just like they handed over drawing up legislation to judges (in Roe v Wade) and took away property owners rights (Kelo v New London). Just like they keep trying to hand over deciding election results (Gore v Bush) to judges. Judges are being handed more and more power at the behest of the elitist left - because they know better than the proletariat (that's you and me dear readers). It's time to resist the elitist push to hand our lives over to the judiciary.

Coleen Rowley on WCCO

I haven't gotten an chance to post on this as I have been busy with my own fair related business. Coleen Rowley and Congressman John Kline engaged in a couple of debates at the Great Minnesota Get Together (aka the State Fair) on Friday. The first was an interview that melded into the debate on WCCO's Jack Rice show. Below are some notes and comments from that interview/debate.

When introduced as a "whistleblower" by Mr. Rice, Ms. Rowley said that she prefered being called a "stickler for the truth" (ed holy cow - talk about hubris!) She said that the word "policy" (in describing this country's Iraq policy) is "too good of a term" - stating that what we are doing now is not a working policy. She said that she agreed with Congressman Murtha's plan to "re-deploy" our troops out of Iraq. She said that the current "lack of a plan" in Iraq is not working and she also accused the President of "not leveling" with the American people when it comes to Iraq and our lack of progress over there.

She was asked if she found herself having to figure out who her opponent was. She said that she was the "true Conservative" in the race and that she is seeing more and more "reformed Republicans - like those that Nick Coleman wrote about in his screed last week. My question to her is this - would a true Conservative quote Common Cause (see below)?

She was the asked if they (the Republicans) are the party of "small government", what are you? She didn't answer the question directly - she just went on to attack the special interests that seeem to "control" the Republican party (Mr. Rice interjected here that the Democrats have their own special interest groups "). Coleen answered that yeah that is true but because the Republicans are in power, it is "their problem" (HUH?????) When asked how SHE would fix the problem, she said that she pledged to propose much stronger ethic reform. She admitted that she needed a lot more Dems to sign on to it with her in order to get it passed. She said that we needed "good, common sense reform" such as proposed by Common Cause.

Jumping to National Defense (and the actual debate portion of the program) Ms. Rowley and Congressman Kline was asked about the sectarian violence in Iraq. Ms. Rowley started off slamming the troops by saying "I look at the insurgency as it continues to grow and what I see is them (the troops) doing everything they can but is it enough? How can you stay the course and say it is a good course?" OK - in Ms. Rowley's defense she will say she was slamming the Administration, but in all honestly given the context of the question and her answer, the troops were the ones to get the broadside - in typical Democratic fashion. Congressman Kline's response was much better. He said "The troops are doing a terrific job and morale is high. They are doing a great job. When you say 'stay the course' you imply that there are no tactical changes being made and that is incorrect! The sectarian violence is a problem - this hatred has been building for centuries. The answer to that problem lies in the hands of the new Iraqi government. The key is the Iraqi Army and they have made great progress. The Iraqi Police is not developing as fast, but the Iraqi Army putting a greater presence in these troubled areas will make things better.

Question - "Coleen Rowley, what is the Democratic Party specifically proposing we do? Answer - "I am in the majority now of the people in the country who say that there is no progress in Iraq - that is a no brainer (ed - she has used that phrase a lot in this campaign) One vote did not get us security. Regarding redeployment - I can't go into details that would tke an hour. We need responsible redeployment..." At this point Congressman Kline interjected with "We have seen Marines redeploy to Baghdad and they are making progress. If you sare saying we pull out of the country...you thin it is the wild west now???" Ms. Rowley continued "No one knows how effective this Administration has been in negotiating with the insurgents (ed - more on that little nugget in a separate post). Redeployment is part of the plan." Congressman Kline countered with a question of his own - "You mean redeploy to a neighboring country like Okinawa Japan?" Ms. Rowley answered "I am hoping to get Mr. Murtha here to explain the plan to Mr. Kline so that he can understand it...." Congressman Kline said "that is fine, but I am not running against Congressman Murtha."

Question - just recently 2500 Individual Ready Reserve troops were recalled - a shakey number because it changes. Do we need more troops (in the form of a draft) in order to relieve those that are there now. Congressman Kline "there is no doubt that our military has fewer members. In the 1990's the Army was cut from 16 divisions to 10 (ed - under President Clinton) however, I do not think that a draft is necessary." Ms. Rowley "I think a draft is something we should look at!"

That was the end of the debate time. After that it went into an interview of Congressman Kline (and I got a phone call). I would like to add a couple of thoughts here. First is that Coleen is much more comfortable addressing the issues now (as compared to February when I first heard her speak) however neither the interview nor the debate got off of National Security which is by far the subject she feels most comfortable speaking about. Second was anger - every single one of Ms. Rowley's answers came from anger. She genuinely seemed to be pi$$ed. Congressman Kline, on the other hand, was cordial to both Mr. Rice and Ms. Rowley during the whole debate - no shouting, no harsh words....none of that.

Which leads to one last observation. Mr. Rice asked both candidates what they liked about being on the campaign trail was it "fun". Congressman Kline talked about the parades and how fun it was to get out and meet the people and shake hands and talk to everyone. He admitted that come October, it tends to drag, but it (campaigning) was still fun because he did get to meet so many people. Ms. Rowley's answer was telling. When asked if she found any part of campaigning fun she simply said "No". She went on to add that when she signed on to the FBI she took a vow to protect the country and the Constitution (so did Congressman Kline when he took his Marine oath) and she sees this as an extension of that vow, but there was nothing "fun" about this.

Therein lies the core difference between the two.

Politician on a stick

That is what Fox 9 News is calling their daily interviews with all of the politicians that are running for state wide office this year. Today's interviewee was Michele Bachmann who is running for Mark Kennedy's seat in the 6th Congressional District. Everything you could ever want to know about this race (one of the top 5 highest profile contests in the country) can be found at BachmannvWetterling (another Andy Aplikowski publication). The interview was unremarkable except for one thing. Three times during the interview, Alix Kendall (one of the two morning anchors) mentioned "gay marriage" three times including in a question that was designed to attempt to designate Michele as a divisive candidate. The question was " Given some of the issues you have campaigned on (tax cuts, gay marriage) do you find your support to be cohesive?" Of course, was Michele's answer.

This kind of question has been normal during the campaign. The local drive by media is not fond of Michele's advocacy for allowing Minnesotans to vote on a state wide Defense of Marriage Act.

If you want to keep an eye on this targeted seat, stop by BVW often. If you want to help Michele, contact the campaign at her website. I know that they would love the help.

Ethanol, flush toilets and Katrina

A few times a week I get an email brief from The Foundation for Economic Freedom (FEE). They've got great comments on stories of the day. Today, I received the brief and there was a story on gas price projections from the Detroit auto-makers. The follow up at FEE was an a rticle from Michael Heberling from the Mackinac Center (there is an absolutely excellent article on what everything you thought you knew about the Great Depression is wrong. It was a government caused and extended disaster).The article was about one more huge government disaster called Reformulated Gasoline (RFG). RFG flows from the amended Clean Air Act of 1990 and the EPA dictates that followed. It details quite nicely how government interference and mandates hurts the environment, business, health and citizens:
As a result of the government's overzealousness in helping the environment, people pay more per gallon of gas, get fewer miles per gallon, and get sick. The biggest irony, however, is that the environment is worse off thanks to this environmental program. So far, the misguided policy has cost consumers untold billions of dollars. Unfortunately, the environmental and economic nightmare caused by government gas is not over. Be prepared to cough up another $30 billion or more to deal with the clean-up and phase-out costs of MTBE.

This is what always happens when we hear those evil and dangerous nine words "I'm from the government and I'm here to help!" As I said yesterday, if these people in Congress can't even get a flush toilet right, why are they trusted with anything? And this morning I made a comment on KTLK that when it comes to Katrina, the left wing idiots and a significant number of Republicans, scream when they want the huge bull elephant bureaucracy called FEMA to dance Swan Lake, get angry when the elephant doesn't and then blame the elephant. And try as they might, an elephant will never dance Swan Lake. But, the voters, both left and right, will keep thinking that the perfect government elephant can and will be designed if we just send the right person or their people to Congress or allow to live in the White House.
As Earnie Larson told me years ago "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results."
And voters on both sides keep thinking inside the same paradigm that government is the answer, has the answer or will be the answer. That we just need to send the right people to whatever capitol, spend more money, paint the same idea a different color and call it a different idea.
And the insanity continues.And if you, after reading just the few articles listed here, still believe that government is the answer or can be made responsive, well, you need to ask if you live inside or outside the asylum.

Differentiation...and the lack thereof

I began my college career in microbiology for pre-med. Unfortunately a chronic illness forestalled that idea. I changed to marketing and business finance. In marketing, there is a term called differentiation. Even if you don't know exactly what the term means, you can easily infer it. How are you, in the customers eyes, different than your competition? Is it a real or perceived difference? Is it significant and/or meaningful to the customer (if not, you're dead in the market)? And it's all about the customer. In politics, the customer is the voter. And he buys your product by voting for you. And differentiation exists in politics also. And remember, perception is reality.

I blogged about Mark Kennedy and his lack of differentiation from Amy Klobuchar regarding oil. With the exception of just one point, he completely agrees with Amy Klobuchar's policy on oil and energy. And so, with great anticipation, I was waiting for my friend and Congressman John Kline to debate his opponent for the Second Congressional District Coleen Rowley on the Jason Lewis Show at the State Fair. And I was crushed in what I heard!
Here was Congressman Kline arguing for ethanol! Supporting ethanol subsidies. Telling us how it was proper to have heavy tariffs on imported ethanol. That the tariffs were to protect the "emerging ethanol market". Despite myriad studies (for over 30 years) showing ethanol is a failure, is an energy sink that gives us a net energy deficit (it takes more energy to produce than we get out of it), that producing ethanol raises food prices for you and me, and that all those subsidies go to support large ethanol producers like Archer Daniels Midland. (And a BTW: ethanol producers do not use ethanol in their ethanol producing plants. Why? Because it's inefficient and too costly). And I thought "where on earth is the differentiation between John and his opponent?"
And in marketing, if there is no differentiation between you and your competition, well...
If ethanol is viable, the free market will bring it to the public, not Congress.
After all , why would we trust Congress on energy when they can't even get a flush toilet or a washing machine right?

Diabetes cure promised in a Hatch Administration

You read me right! Mike Hatch was just on with Alix Kendall of Fox 9 Morning news. Most of the interview focused on health care. AG Hatch came out in support of Universal Health Care stating that "we have universal care in that if you are sick you can go to a hospital and they HAVE to treat you whether you can pay or not". More on that later.

What really got to me was the AG's hyping of stem cell research. The AG claimed that there would be a "cure for diabetes in 5 years" if we would only fund stem cell research. Now let's first start with the fact that it is only EMBRYONIC stem cell research that doesn't get federal funding. Then let's start with the fact that the other types of stem cell research (adult and umbilical cord) are federally funded and are showing more promise. Let's also talk about the fact that the Ag not only promised a cure for diabetes, but also heart disease and spinal cord damage! All we need is to do is federally fund embryonic stem cell research!

What the AG refuses to take into account (aside from the facts listed above) is that the most recent advances in embryonic stem cell research - the one JUST ANNOUNCED LAST WEEK came from privately funded research!

Regarding the comment on Universal Health Care....while the AG is totally correct in that if you are ill and you show up at a hospital, the hospital must treat you regardless of your ability to pay. He is absolutely correct that we all pay for that anyway - we pay for it in the high rates we pay for our health care! My mother, for many years, worked at a very affluent hospital in suburban Chicago. Even the hospital she worked at had to "give" away their services to people who refused to pay. She saw, first hand, how these costs are passed on to insurance companies and the self insured. Getting rid of the abuse of this will help bring down medical costs for all of us. One way to bring this down is to crack down on illegal immigration! Many Southern California hospitals have CLOSED because they got swampped with people who jump the border just to go to treated for illness and then they go back to Mexico! Hospitals can not afford to be "forced" to give services away. Closing these hospitals affected more than just the employees. When the hopitals closed, the businesses around the hopitals lost business and closed. Utilities laid off employees because of these business closures. The state loses tax dollars. The employees of the hospital (and the surrounding businesses that closed or laid off folks) were spending less since they had less income....like a stone tossed into a still pool - the economic ripples move outward!

I honestly don't know which I dispise more. The absolute pandering that the Dems do to those that are sick, their total distortion of the facts that they choose to cite or their ignoring of the facts that don't suit their predetermined talking points. Either way, I find their stand on the issue of stem cell research reeks of desperation - desperation to regain power.

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Saturday, September 02, 2006