Bluestem's world headquarters recently relocated to sunny Maynard in order to be closer to the upper Minnesota River, loveliest of prairie rivers.
The local watershed protectors, Clean Up the River Environment (CURE), will be hosting the Minnesota River History Weekend and Minnesota State Water Trails 50th Anniversary on Friday through Sunday. If you're a reader who wonders why the dirty hippies out here make such a fuss about threats to the upper valley's tranquility, consider checking this out:
Friday evening:
Grab some popcorn at Granite Falls' famous local Popcorn Stand and head over to watch a film and listen to great speakers!
with producers John Hickman and Jon Carlson (7 PM). This film tells
the story of people from all walks of life - academics, farmers,
natural resource professionals, anglers, homeowners, students, paddlers,
politicians, and citizen activists - who are working together to solve
the problems facing the Minnesota River. Read more about the film and speakers here.
with Erik Wrede, MN DNR Water Trails Coordinator and special guest Paul Ryberg (8 PM). Minnesota has the first and largest Water Trails system in the nation. Come
learn about the early years of the system, and the trip planning
resources and paddling opportunities that are now available. Plus, special guest Paul Ryberg will tell stories about growing up on the Minnesota River with his
family that will be honored for their efforts to "unleash the
recreational giant of canoeing." Read more about the presentation and
speakers here. Read more about the presentation and speakers here.
PRESENTATION. Reconnecting the Minnesota River by Luther Aadland, River Scientist, MN DNR (9:30 PM). His
work, research, and publications have included a wide variety of topics
that integrate physical and biological processes of rivers and the
design of river restoration, nature-like fish passage, dam removal,
erosion control, and flood damage reduction projects. Read more about Luther here.
Saturday's events include Paddling Theater, with options for riding on large fur-trading style canoes or on your own craft. Sunday is a self-organized paddling on the Chippewa River, Hawk Creek, Minnesota River and Yellow Medicine River meet at Memorial Park.
In a recent radio interview broadcast by KDIO, Ortonville mayor Steve Berkner inveighed against "intimidation tactics" that had supposedly by used by "special interest" opponents of the Strata Mining Corporation's plan to open a granite quarry in a cow pasture that contains some of Big Stone County's namesake granite outcroppings.
Those tactics? "Busing in" people, carrying signs, chanting, swearing, pounding on tables, grandstanding. For this, Berkner cautions that the city attorney and Ortonville police have been ordered to prevent "intimidation" at the next hearing about Stata, on May 7. Berkner encouraged citizens to submit written remarks, since apparently speaking in public at hearings can be confrontational.
Now, Bluestem attended a number of the zoning and county board hearings on the matter last year, and doesn't remember seeing anyone being "bused in." As for the signs, those carrying them in February 2012 did sing on their way from the Land Stewardship Project's office in Clinton to a zoning meeting about a block and a half away, but set them outside before entering the hearing.
Law enforcement officials were present at that meeting and others, but that's not unusual for large public meetings. Berkner was accusing outside "special interests" (apparently Land Stewardship Project, which maintains a local foods program in Western Minnesota and Clean Up the River Environment, an Upper Minnesota River Valley watershed restoration group based in Montevideo, MN) of using "intimidation tactics," although he doesn't name names.
Since the singing sign carriers and those speaking at the meetings all seemed rather decorous, Bluestem contacted Big Stone County Sheriff John Haukos to see if his department had received complaints or reports of bad behavior. After reviewing his records, Haukos returned our call. No complaints or reports had been filed, although the presence of deputies at meetings were duly recorded.
Indeed, Sheriff Haukos, who had attended many of the meetings, thought that they could be models of public discussion of an issue. He had not observed swearing, pounding of fists, or any such behavior that could be charactized as "intimidation," although he did watch one confrontational exchange after a zoning meeting in Clinton between a citizen and a county commissioner. He determined that the exchange wasn't going to escalate and moved on.
Since Bluestem was there, we too observed that verbal jousting between Dakota scholar Waziyata Win, who lives in the Yellow Medicine Dakota community near Granite Falls and Big Stone County Commissioner Brent Olson. In light of Minnesota history, Bluestem hesitates to call her or the two other Dakota scholars from Marshall and South Dakota who spoke at another meeting "outsiders," however outspoken Waz might be.
Clinton resident Rebecca Terk dropped by both the Ortonville Police department and Big Stone Sheriff's office with the same question. She was told that no complaints or reports of intimidation had been made to either office during the 2012 hearing process.
It's curious that the mayor is inclined to declare opposition to a project by a North Dakota corporation to somehow be a product of "outside special interests," when signs objecting to the annexation of the pasture--since the local township where it had been situated originally enacted a moratorium on the development after residents objected--still grace lawns in his fair community. (To circumvent the township moratorium, the landowner divided his property among relatives, who petitioned to become part of the City of Ortonville; an MPR report here includes remarks by Berkner. An OAH judge ruled that only one parcel could be annexed.).
Also curious in the interview: the host's declaration that if one side doesn't want to speak about a controversy, it's best not to cover an issue at all. Bluestem was under the impression that journalistic convention held that one reported that folks were given an opportunity to present their side, but declined comment.
Indeed, the edited remarks below are characterized by a barely contained hostility toward those who might object to Strata's designs--while insisting that the public has the right to make "respectful" comments. His bar for "respectful" appears to be quite high--with no singing or signs allowed. Indeed, if only people could just write their comments down. That would be so much nicer. Want to speak up in Ortonville? Better meet Mayor Berkner's guidelines for form, presentation and content.
And if Strata Corporation decides to never comment to the press, why the nice respectful radio lady simply wouldn't have to report on anything that happens at all.
Here's the selected audio about the idea of order in Ortonville, drawn from a longer 20-minute interview.. Short fades mark the edits and photo is of Berkner, then a city council member, at a public information hearing held in Ortonville by the Ortonville Township board of supervisors.
Photo: Signs wait outside a Big Stone County planning and zoning board hearing in Clinton, Minnesota in February 2012. Ortonville Mayor Steve Berkner has labeled these signs an "intimidation tactic." Bluestem doesn't find the message "Outcrops Mean Tourism $" to be all that scary, but perhaps the mayor has a much different comfort zone than Bluestem and local law enforcement. (Photo by Rebecca Terk) Below: an anti-annexation sign in an Ortonville lawn last fall.
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The tweets coming in from Dean's YouCanRunIntl ministry account are invaluable in understanding the discourse central to the ministry of Annandale's best known evangelist.
Readers may remember that Dean served as guest chaplain for the Minnesota House of Representatives in 2011, delivering an opening prayer that closed with doubts about President Obama's faith. Then-Speaker Kurt Zellers (R-Maple Grove), adjourned the session; when chamber reconvened a bit later, the prayer was stricken from the record.
Despite Barack Obama's reelection by a clear popular vote (as well as that pesky Eclectoral College), Dean doesn't think Americans support the President.
Apparently, the results in November are the consequence of Americans having been "dipped" by the POTUS:
He does not have the support of the American people friends. You've been dipped! - Bradlee Dean on Obama
Getting dipped by the President might be fun, but Bluestem can't foresee Mrs. Obama granting her approval. This isn't a BBC fictional Prime Minister, after all.
At an earlier presentation for the Tea Party Manatee at the Mixon Fruit Farms East Bradenton, Florida, Dean bragged about the Maddow lawsuit:
"Oh, by the way, I'm suing Rachel Maddow." -Bradlee Dean, crowd claps and yells "Amen!"
Hat tip:Bradlee Dean watcher and cartoonist, Ken Avidor. Avidor most recently caught a Dean radio broadcast bashing anglers inside of ice fishing houses. At least we'll never have to worry about Dean running for office in Minnesota. Bash a president as much as you wish, but slandering honest winter recreation will never be pardoned, especially for catch and release.
Photo: Bradlee Dean preached to this youthful crowd at the Tea Party Manatee at at the Mixon Fruit Farms in East Bradenton, Florida.
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Although two pistol-packing bills state representative Tony Cornish (R-Tombstone) promises to introduce in the Minnesota House have zero chance of becoming law, the retired lawman tells the Mankato Free Press that Public Safety Committee chair Michael Paymar has agreed to hear the bills.
So much for cutting waste by small-government conservatives, but the hearings should achieve Cornish's general agenda: headlines for Tony Cornish.
For all the demand by gun enthusiasts, public opinion polls show that most Americans support more restrictions on gun sales -- particularly the military-style weapons and the high-capacity clips. Cornish said he holds a "more guns, less crime" philosophy and believes gun control proposals would be counterproductive.
So he will be pushing forward with legislation to allow teachers -- and probably other staff -- to carry concealed weapons even if a school's principal or other school administrators don't approve. Teachers, presuming they meet all other state requirements for carrying a weapon, would only need to inform school administrators. Current law requires permission from the administrators before a teacher can bring a weapon to school.
Originally, Cornish had simply proposed letting teachers with permits carry--until it was discovered that state law already allowed the practice, so long as the teacher obtains an administrator's permission. Now, they'll just have to give notice.
But that's not all! Cornish will bring guns out of the parking lot and into the halls of ivy:
Cornish will also be making another attempt to require public colleges to allow students to carry handguns on campus if they have the applicable permits. He said Public Safety Committee Chairman Michael Paymar, DFL-St. Paul, promised him a hearing on both bills later this month.
Cornish doesn't expect either bill to pass the DFL-controlled Legislature (nor does he expect stricter gun-control legislation to be approved), but pushing the legislation will give him time to present his case for a more-guns approach to reducing gun violence. And he wants an opposing voice to be heard when Paymar presents his gun-control proposals.
"What I hope to accomplish is anti-venom for these bills Michael Paymar is going to bring up," Cornish said.
It's not as if he won't have a say as minority lead on the committee when those bills are heard, but leading the news is a lot less likely. The bills aren't in the hopper yet.
Cartoon: Anti-Venom. Cornish is Eddie Brooks to Representative Paymar's Peter Parker. Or whatever.
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You'd think that someone who literally parades around the metro with a pot-bellied pig--and who wants to chair an indebted and divided Republican Party of Minnesota--would have the sense of humor to understand that guests on Jon Stewart's Daily Show routinely get made the butt of jokes.
It's actually quite interesting that you started with a clip from the Jon Stewart Show. In April, they flew me out to actually be on the Jon Stewart show. Did anyone here watch it? Ok, one person did.
That was actually the most embarrassing thing I've ever done in my life. I applied to be a national delegate and I had to fill out on the forms "Is there anything I've ever done that could be used to embarrass the Republican Party?" and I had to put "Yes" (I lead a very boring life) but I did have to do that.
They went out of their way to make me look stupid. They invited me to come and they wanted to have a show, it was the young man in I don't remember which suburb it was but he invited a porn star to prom and they wanted somebody to say "You know what, high school kids shouldn't be dating porn stars and it seemed like I was the only woman--they wanted a woman to do it--I was the only woman in the nation willing to say, "Yah, that's not a good thing," and they made me look very stupid.
But at least I had fun, I had a good trip out there.
Perhaps more worrisome for the Republican Party? Third Congressional District Congressman Eric Paulsen's ability to get upstaged by a pig--and one that supported Rick Santorum for President, no less. Will this lack of star quality might end up factoring into power brokers decision making about whether Paulsen challenges Al Franken, who hasn't lost any of his talent for stand up comedy as he's gained a reputation for thoughtful policymaking (and Secret Santa parties) in the U.S. Senate.
Finally, Bluestem downgrading Holsten's perfect "Hat Tip" ranking, since she failed to get a laugh from September's Tea Party crowd when she joked about how the Supreme Court decision upholding "Obamacare" was all her fault. Holsten blamed herself, she said, because she had been praying for court swing vote Anthony Kennedy to make the "right" vote, but she neglected to pray for Chief Justice Roberts, since she thought he'd take the "right"decision.
Photo: Pot bellied pig "Taylor Swine" is fed a Cheerio by
its owner Marjorie Holsten of Maple Grove before the start of a rally
for Republican Rick Santorum in Blaine, Minn. Ben Garvin
/
Getty Images
Blog begathon: Bluestem is supported by reader
contributions. If you liked this post, consider throwing some coin to
the tip jar. If you don't like using PayPal, email at the address on
this page for a snail mail address. We'll be running our twice-yearly
"bleg" though Christmas.
One of the hazards of this new fortune? Sophomore state representative Kurt Daudt (R-Crown), an assistant minority leader in his freshman term, is now Minority Leader.
Daudtful of "compromise"
Daudt recently told Forum Communications political reporter Kurt Daudt that he knows his place--and given the size of their majority, House Democrats won't have much use for his caucus until bonding time, when approval requires more votes than the number of Democrats in the lower chamber.
After that 2010 election, some Minnesota Republican lawmakers thought
“compromise” was a dirty word, citing voters’ support of their economic
policies as a reason not to compromise with liberal Gov. Mark Dayton on
tax and spending policies.
The incoming GOP House leader avoids the word “compromise” for a different reason.
“I
don’t like to use the word ‘compromise’ because I think it is misused,”
Daudt said. “I like to use words like willing to work together, and I
am someone who is willing to take what I can get.”
Daudt added: “I have yet to see someone compromise here in St. Paul.”
How nice.
2011: Daudt "learned what compromise is"
Daudt seems to have compromised his definition of the word since a July 15, 2011 interview with Tom Crann on Minnesota Public Radio. MPR interview Daudt and veteran DFL state senator Sandy Pappas throughout the 2011 session.
Crann: On the start of the third week of Minnesota's government shutdown, it looks like there's an end in sight. Legislators are working with Governor Dayton's administration to hammer out details of the budget outline agreement announced yesterday.
They're working with a ten o'clock deadline tonight to hammer those details out. Republican leaders say it could take days to finish writing those bills but once they're done, the Governor is expected to call a special session to get them passed.
Throughout the regular session, we've been checking in with a couple of lawmakers on both sides of the aisle. We're checking back in with them now that there is a budget deal announced, on the table and now that the shutdown could end. First, freshman Republican state representative Kurt Daudt joins me in the studio. He's an Assistant Majority Leader from Isanti [County]. Good to have you to here. . . .
Crann: So, a lot of disappointment. It seems like yesterday's announcment of this--it was not a joyous toned event, so I'm wondering first what do you both think of the deal? And I'll start with Representative Daudt.
Daudt: Well, you know, this is obviously all new for me as a freshman, and I've learned what compromise is. It's not certainly the deal that I would have, if I could have dictated this from the beginning, it's not the deal I would have chosen.
ButI think the one thing we can all agree upon now is everybody wants to end the shutdown as soon as possible, so if this is the deal that gets us there, it certainly the direction we have to move.
Crann: Senator Pappas?
Pappas: I'm sorry, I don't know what the representative is talking about in terms of compromise because it seems to me the Republican leaders just kept saying the same thing over and over and calling it a compromise. That's not a compromise. Compromise is when you make an offer, when you respond to the other side's offers, and I felt like Governor Dayton kept trying to get an offer and in the end was just negotiating with himself.
Crann: But in the end, how do you feel about the deal?
Pappas: I think it's a terrible deal. I think it's terrible for the future of Minnesota. It's a terrible idea to borrow against the future, both from the schools and from the tobacco endowment. I don't think there's any--as we talk about long-term reform, I don't think there's any in it. I think a lot of people are going to be hurt.
We had short-term pain with the shutdown and now we're going to have longterm pain as people get laid-off permanently from their jobs.
Crann: Representative Daudt, what do you make of that charge that the Governor here and the Democrats compromised more than Republicans. Where was the compromise for Republicans?
Daudt: Well, Tom, as I've learned as I gotten down here, there's two sides to every story, and we see that much differently. Obviously, the compromise for us, we don't like the education shift, it's not something that is responsible, the Governor proposed a 50-50 shift, we thought that was very irresponsible. The compromise was, currently we're at 70-30, he proposed 50-50, we met him in the middle at a compromise of 60-40 and you know, I received hundreds of emails asking me to compromise and when we do it . . .
Here's the audio, where Daudt uses the word "compromise":
Daudt introduced the word, and defended its use.
Nor is this the only example of where Daudt talks about compromises. In response to a constituent's letter, Daudt wrote:
Brett,
I have participated directly in compromise and negotiations that have
helped move us extremely close to agreement on our budget, and I remain
willing to get together and continue the process toward a budget
agreement. However, Governor Dayton has not given his commissioners
permission to resume negotiations, and I am not sure when we will have
the next opportunity. There needs to be a greater sense of urgency to
get this done!
I encourage you to read the St. Paul Pioneer Press editorial from
Saturday. It contains important facts about our compromise and proposal:
http://www.twincities.com/opinion/ci_18442599.
It is hard to argue we have not met the Governor half way — at a time
when Minnesota’s financial and economic condition makes that extremely
difficult. . . .
Bluestem suspects that a communications staffer or consultant has recommended that Daudt avoid the word "compromise" and instead blither on about "working together with" the Democratic majorities.
Having learned the meaning and value of compromise in his first term, he does seem to have stricken the word as his second begins.
Blog begathon: Bluestem is supported by reader contributions. If you liked this post, consider throwing some coin to the tip jar.
If you don't like using PayPal, email at the address on this page for a
snail mail address. We'll be running our twice-yearly "bleg" though
Christmas.
Photo: Kurt Daudt via Peter Bartz-Gallagher at PIM.
There is strength in numbers, but in the past
election the numbers weren't on the side of those who care about
Christian values. The lack of unity in the church has caused us to lose
ground in the fight to keep the sanctity of marriage between a man and a
woman.
This election saw residents of Minnesota, Maryland, Maine and Washington all vote their approval of same-sex marriage.
Statistics suggest that even many self-identified Christians joined in
this approval, while other believers either didn't vote or chose to
remain silent on the issue in the run-up to the ballots. Where is the
wisdom in all of this? If the Bible says that the “fear of The Lord is
the beginning of wisdom” (Ps. 111:10), then it is clear that as a nation
we have lost the fear of God.
As the presence of Pastor Grant Stevensen, the Lutheran minister who headed Minnesotans United for All Families organizing in the faith communities, might suggest, maybe not.
But more importantly, we Minnesotans weren't voting to allow cute boys and strong women to marry; we were voting to stop folks like Boyne from hijacking our liberities by enshrining marriage inequality in the state constitution. Marriage freedom is next.
This issue is not about being black, white, Hispanic, Asian, or any
other race or ethnicity. This is about winning souls and discipling
those who come to Christ. Across the nation our churches are filled with
tens of thousand of Christians who are afraid to reach out to those who
are caught in the bondage of homosexuality, tell them there is hope and
healing in Christ, and then walk that road to wholeness alongside them.
Uh-huh. Bluestem doesn't inquire into the romantic practices of our queer friends, so we simply can't speculate whether bondage is involved or not. While the fetish of observing such things (especially if the boys are ripped) holds a certain amount of intellectual charm, friends know we're not really into spectator sports.
Dear believer, how are we going to deal with this issue in our churches, in our communities and in our nation? Will history say we fought the good fight to push back the forces of darkness? Or will we ultimately be condemned as cowards?
It's time that a united church body across the land stand up for righteousness and align ourselves with God's truth. We are called to love all, and we must never compromise on that command. But in loving the lost we must also not compromise on the rest of Scripture, which makes it clear that
while God is merciful, He is also just and will ultimately punish those who are living in sin.
Call it the Disciple and Punish movement, or salvation of docile bodies by the divine panopticon.
According to Dump Bachmann, which has been keeping an eye on Boyne for the last 10 million news cycles, the gay whisperer last surfaced during the national media's investigations into Marcus Bachmann's mental health clinic.
If there was even ONE self-declared "ex-gay"
who didn't marry their supposed "change" out of homosexuality with
their concurrent move away from things like drug abuse, past traumas,
promiscuity, and clubbing, then that movement wouldn't come across quite
as misguidedly. But that is NEVER the case. The standard "ex-gay"
script always details their "conversion" as being not only a move away
from simply their attractions to the same gender. Instead, their "godly
intervention" is presented as a move away from a whole host of
behaviors and traumas that they present as innately connected to
homosexuality, full well knowing that such a presentation will much more
fully stigmatize LGBT people (the primary goal of a movement that
identifies themselves not as what they currently claim to be, but as a
'former' member of the community they are now politically opposing). . . .
. . .. "Ex-gay" is not just a program of "helping" the "poor, immoral,
deviant" gay folk. This is a thoroughly political movement that is
meant to tell every aspect of society that while heterosexuality is
perfectly normal and in-born, homosexuality is a
choice/mistake/aberration in need of "changing." Why do you think the
anti-gay groups invest so much money in it? It's because they want it
need it to be successful in order to justify how they can, in good
evangelical conscience, discriminate against queer people. if it's a
"choice" to be gay, then they can keep the "love the sinner, hate the
sin" nonsense alive. And if they can marriage gay sex and its
associated orientation with far more universally relatable concepts like
drugs and partying, then they can keep the "gay lifestyle is evil" meme
alive in many social conservatives' heads. These folks don't need to
meet an actual living, breathing LGBT person: Focus on the Family has
already told them all that they think they need to know.
Boyne's personal story fits this pattern--and one thing Bluestem has noticed is that Boyne's ministry deploys the discourse of an abuser.
There's a whole lot from Boyne and her kindred about punishment and control, while the notion of love--like the Catholic preferential option for the poor-- among these communities seems to have fled to shelter in the mysterious Lacunae of the Blessed.
Who would have guessed?
More human sexuality theory from Charisma Magazine
Charisma Magazine, source of Boyne's recent column, also shares some rather curious theories about the origins of affectional orientation. In a recent article, Can You Be Raped by the Devil?, readers learn:
As bizarre as it sounds, those who minister to people in occult bondage say it's more common than you think.
For
nearly two decades, Contessa Adams felt as though she had no power
against the demonic violators of her body. She felt trapped in secrecy
and shame and knew that the demons tormenting her wanted things to stay
that way.
But God had another agenda for
Adams when she found Christ in 1979. The former stripper has a ministry
through which she exposes one of Satan's darkest secrets—sexual demons
. . .The two most identifiable sexual demons are the incubus, which is a male
sexual demon that traditionally assaults women, and the succubus, which
is a female sexual demon that assaults men. Sometimes they also lure
people into homosexual behavior. . . .
Adams says the succubus spirit that used to attack her confused her so much that she contemplated becoming a lesbian.
For ourselves, Bluestem will be sticking to the pleasures of zombie movies on Netflix, while keeping an eye out on the body of believers who read Charisma.
Blog begathon: Bluestem is supported by reader contributions. If you liked this post, consider throwing some coin to the tip jar below. If you don't like using PayPal, email at the address on this page for a snail mail address. We'll be running our twice-yearly "bleg" though Christmas.
Although Republican voters in Minnesota's First Congressional District primary cancelled Emo Senator, Southern Minnesota's most watched telenovela, the Belle of Waseca County gave a rare early morning appearance this morning St. Paul to bitch slap Minnesota Nice.
Legislative Republicans rejected a state employee contract Wednesday, led
by Waseca Sen. Mike Parry, who slammed union leaders as “dinosaurs,”
accused Gov. Mark Dayton of “erratic behavior” and cut off questions
from a Democratic lawmaker.
Given that Parry lost the primary to Allen Quist, a farmer and retired college professor who believes that dinosaurs and people lived together in Southeast Asia until the 11th century, perhaps the pizza man is broadening his material. Fischenich summarizes Parry's career in community theater and the senate stage:
Events surrounding the meeting of the Legislative Subcommittee on
Employee Relations served as a highlight film of Parry’s contentious
three-year tenure in the Senate. The former Waseca City Councilman and
Godfathers Pizza restaurant owner decided not to seek re-election this
year, making an unsuccessful congressional run instead.
The performance itself:
Serving as chairman of the subcommittee, Parry gaveled the meeting to a
close as state employees showered him with boos and catcalls. Moments
earlier, a Democratic lawmaker shouted at Parry in an attempt to ask
questions about the impending vote on the contract negotiated by the
Dayton administration for more than 27,000 state workers.
“Mr. Chair, Mr. Chairman, you like to shut down debate in the Senate?” the lawmaker yelled.
“The secretary will take the roll ...,” Parry responded.
Midway through the 67-minute hearing, Democratic Sen. Jim Metzen of
South St. Paul, attending the meeting despite recently undergoing eye
surgery, predicted the result of the vote in the Republican-dominated
panel and asked if the hearing had any purpose.
The Uptake put together some highlights of Parry's swan song:
Fischenish notes the consequences of the impromptu flouncing:
The rejection of the contracts means MAPE and AFSCME employees will
continue working under the provisions of a contract negotiated by the
administration of former Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty — at least until
the new Legislature convenes in January. All 201 seats in the state
House and Senate are on the ballot on Nov. 6.
At the Star Tribune, veteran political theater critic Jim Ragsdale writes in GOP legislators derail new state union deals that the audience in the senate committee room rejected Parry's performance:
"Shame on you!" union members in the audience chanted as the
committee left the Capitol hearing room following the rare rejection
vote.
"Today's union leadership are dinosaurs living in the past," said Sen. Mike Parry, R-Waseca, the panel's chairman.
The decision rekindled labor-management strife as a political issue,
but is not the final word on the contracts. Since the unions have
rejected the renegotiation Parry sought, the contracts are likely to go
before the 2013 Legislature, whose makeup will be determined in
November, when all 201 seats are on the ballot.
"See you at the polls, guys!" one union activist shouted as the meeting ended.
Democrats on the committee said this is the latest example of union
bashing at the hands of Republicans. State Rep. Ryan Winkler, DFL-Golden
Valley, issued the following statement after the vote:
"Today anti-union extremists chose to attack a fair and modest
contract for our hard-working employees. Unlike the legislators who
constantly attack them, state employes have sacrificed. State employees
lost $65 million in wages — nearly 6 percent pay cut — during the
Republican government shtudown last year."
Bluestem thinks that neither the union workers nor Winkler were Parry and Drazkowski audience, but a well-known and wealthy but fickle Minnesota stage door Johnny both men's caucuses hope is waiting in the wings, wallet in hand.
Who else could Bluestem mean except producer and moneybags, Bob Cummins? The attacks on workers and union leaders are pure political Viagra for the West Metro 1%er, who closed his checkbook to the Republican Party and the House and Senate caucuses when they failed to get his beloved "Right to Work" Amendment on the stage this fall along with his other protege, the marriage restriction amendment. Bluestem reviewed the episode in Republicans on the run: Cummins withholding cash, country editors scold GOP senate caucus lawsuit bills
Will the off-the-top theatrics thaw Cummins heart and open his checkbook? Tune in for the September 25 42nd Day Pre-general-election report to the campaign financre board by Republican candidates and caucuses alike!
Photoshop: Mike Parry reprised his role as Emo Senator today. Image by Tild.
Isn't this crazy? And yet you go online, do a "Bradlee Dean" Google search, you'll see me up on the top, you'll see all of these sick-minded bloggers, who are my opposition. Keep in mind they're all homosexuals. Homosexuals. And if they're not, they're advocating homosexuals, they have it it in them too.
As the long recovery from Saturday night's endorsement blowout continues in Southern Minnesota, the press, political science professors and party bosses in St. Paul smell an August primary in the unseasonably early spring air.
So now the Republican delegates will be asked to gather again at some point in the next few weeks. That's asking a lot, and we'd guess that the turnout for a second go-round won't be particularly good.
Even if that prediction proves inaccurate, however, we now believe that regardless of who ultimately receives the party endorsement, both Parry and Quist should appear on the ballot in the primary on Aug. 14. In a race that's this tight, we see no reason why all Republicans in the First District shouldn't have a opportunity to participate in the winnowing process.
Republican voters would have the entire summer to learn more about each of these men, and that's not a bad thing.
Bluestem will go further than that: it's a virtual blogger's heaven.
Those spoil sport editors at the New Ulm Journal think that a primary is a bad idea, since it will give Congressman Walz an unfair advantage. They opine in Political Battle:
It might seem that the First District delegates, deadlocked as they are, could decide to make no endorsement and let the candidate be selected in the First District primary election. That, however, would mean months of campaigning for Parry and Quist, time and money spent battling each other instead of Walz.
Walz already has a huge advantage in fundraising. Whoever challenges him will be hard pressed to finance a campaign. The challengers can't afford a primary battle.
A reader points out in a comment (see update at the bottom of this post):
Keep in mind that Representative Tim Walz has a huge advantage in fundraising because he has a lot of supporters. Most of his financial support comes $20 or $50 at a time, too.
I realize that many of you here don't like Mr. Walz's politics, but you can't deny that he has a tough grass-roots support that is hard to beat. To disagree with that would be fooling yourself.
A long, drawn-out battle between Republican candidates Sen. Mike Parry (R-Waseca) and former state legislator Allen Quist would be a windfall for their DFL opponent 1st District incumbent Rep. Tim Walz, according to area Republican and DFL political activists. . . .
What remains to be seen is whether a candidate will be endorsed at the next meeting or whether the parade of gridlock votes will continue. During the convention, many delegates expressed pessimism that enough votes would shift to determine a winner.
Brown County Republicans of Minnesota Chair Jim Hahn said there are equal benefits and risks to an extended endorsement process. However, he said he personally expects the convention to end with a No Endorsement motion because of how entrenched each side's supporters are.
"It would take something really big to change more than 25 delegates' minds," said Hahn, "Both sides seem pretty entrenched. Once they see there isn't much change, I think they'll move on. I don't think we'll go 23 ballots again."
Moniz interviewed Walz campaign manager Sara Severs, who expressed the campaign's essential indifference to the Republican duel:
Severs said she doesn't think Parry and Quist having to campaign into the primary would make messaging against either harder. She said that she believes neither represents a strong opponent for Walz and both would launch very similar campaigns.
The next battle facing 1st District Republicans isn't with DFL U.S. Rep. Tim Walz, it's whether to call another endorsing convention to pick his challenger, Mike Parry or Allen Quist. . . .
But critics of that idea say calling another convention will be a logistical nightmare and the district convention has no authority to tell the central committee what to do. . . .
Carlson chronicles the Quist/Parry split on reconvening:
Quist accused Parry supporters of being behind efforts to block a second convention.
“The Parry supporters are trying to find excuses rather than recognize that they consistently lost support during the convention. So why don’t they just own up to that fact?” Quist said.
Parry campaign spokesman Ben Golnik rejected Quist’s accusation.
“It is not possible for us to respond to every conspiracy theory and paranoia from the Quist campaign,” he said.
Perhaps some day, Republicans in Minnesota will be able to afford rent and different staff in different congressional races.
Carleton prof Steven Schier has words about the rumpus:
The more the Republicans are divided the better it is for Walz," he said, "and they couldn’t be much more divided than this.”
Read the whole thing at the PB.
Bluestem is investigating rumors that farmers through the district are responding to demands to "get the popcorn" by switching acres from beans and alfalfa to Orville Reddenbackers. We will let you know.
Photo: Pop it!
Update, 11:00 a.m., April 24, 2012:
A reader correctly admonishes BSP's uncritical use of the comment at the NUJ:
Given your praiseworthy tradition of scrupulous attention to the hard numbers contained in FEC reports, I'm surprised you uncritically quoted a Journal reader's comment that "Most of [Walz's] financial support comes $20 or $50 at a time, too."
The FEC report for the election cycle to date (01/01/2011-03/31/3012) shows only $224,736 of Walz's fundraising being from unitemized individuals, i.e., those giving $200 or less. By contrast, he raised $499,356 from itemized individuals (those giving more) and $469,425 from other committees (i.e., PACs).
Admittedly, these financial realities don't undermine the reader's bottom-line conclusion that Walz has "grass-roots support that is hard to beat." Many of the itemized contributors may also be grass-roots supporters; the real question isn't whether they gave more than $200, but whether they live in the district and support Walz with more than just dollars. Also, even just the unitemized donations dwarf Quist and Parry's totals.
First District Republicans remain without a standard bearer after a bruising, 23-ballot fight between Mike Parry and Allen Quist.
Back when Mike Parry was running in the Senate District 26 special election, Bluestem spent an exciting day at the Waseca City Hall reading minutes of city council meetings, curious about the then-Private Citizen's attempt to sell the small Southern Minnesota city's Maplewood Park for development.
The citizens of Waseca voted him out of office for that one, among other things.
One peculiar issue that Parry also trying to take up at various times was the city's liquor ordinance, objecting to sanctions imposed on businesses whose employees served to minors or who bent other provisions. Parry argued that only the server should be punished, not the employer. It never went anywhere, perhaps because the incentive for businesses to turn a blind eye to wrong-doing while reaping the profits from such behavior is blatantly obvious.
Karma is a bitch, they say.
The AP reports (using material originally reported in the Mankato Free Press by Mark Fischenich) that municipal liquor ordinances stepped into Mike Parry's life once more:
As the exhausted delegates headed for the doors, both candidates said they would have been happy to keep going. But Kato Ballroom Manager Larry Bowers told The Free Press that city liquor ordinances required him to shut down at 2 a.m., even though he wasn't serving liquor.
"I can't afford to lose my liquor license," Bowers said. "... My bosses would fire me."
Bluestem is uncertain where that's karma embracing Parry or Quist as far as the endorsement goes. We're inclined to agree with Josh Moniz's analysis at the New Ulm Journal that Congressman Walz may be its darling.
Despite the delegates' focus on electing a leader, a common concern began to emerge among delegate speakers as the convention entered the early morning: the intensity and length of the endorsement battle was only helping Walz's congressional campaign.
"We've proven the definition of insanity by doing the same thing, over and over again, while expecting a different result," said one delegate who didn't identify himself.
Another delegate who argued in favor of an earlier vote for no endorsement begged the present delegates to end the proceedings before the candidates' challenges of each other made the race unwinnable.
Read Moniz's piece for details on the free-for-all at the Friday night debate and convention floor action.
Having gotten themselves into this hole, the Republicans intend to keep digging. And the lede for Mankato Free Press political writer Mark Fischenich report,Republicans to try again in May to endorse Parry or Quist, makes Bluestem wonder if he'd sign on as assistant scriptwriter for Emo Senator, Southern Minnesota's most watched telenovela:
The record-setting, exhausting, ultimately fruitless Republican congressional endorsement battle between state Sen. Mike Parry of Waseca and former state Rep. Allen Quist of St. Peter ended just before 2 a.m. Sunday with a television-drama tag-line: To be continued ... .
Mark, give us a call. Writing like this could punch up our ratings:
The mood in the historic ballroom underwent striking changes over the course of the 14-hour marathon. It was light but energized as the candidates made their opening speeches, both using cute-as-button granddaughters as visual aids in emphasizing their concern about how the federal debt will harm future generations.
Parry supporters seemed increasingly grim as his delegate lead shrunk to 142-140 by mid-afternoon. Then, after the Quist momentum stalled and Parry’s numbers climbed, Quist became much more aggressive in his attacks on Parry and the shouts and cheers from the delegates became noticeably more surly.
Quist portrayed Parry as wishy-washy on key issues like taxes and balancing the budget.
“It’s not going to be the mushy guy who’s going to win (in November),” he said. “It’s the consistent conservative who’s going to win.”
Shortly after 8 p.m., Quist brought up Parry’s overwhelming defeat when running for re-election to the Waseca City Council.
“He gets the booby prize for losing by the biggest margin,” Quist said.
But the energy level seemed to be dropping fast, and Parry — who stayed relentlessly on message (I’m the guy who can win in November) — got a tad bit goofy as he improvised in trying to fire up the crowd.
“This is so great!” he shouted. “I just had a sandwich! It was great! I’m ready!”
“I think I am certainly targeted,” Walz said, “because they know that I am resonating.”
Walz’s response to that pressure is to rely on a time-tested strategy.
“I always run like I’m ten points down,” he said, “We’ll just continue on. I think, if anything, I’ve always run the biggest grassroots campaign that’s ever been run in Southern Minnesota. We are now better at it.”
During his acceptance speech, Walz was interrupted three times by standing ovations from the enthusiastic assembly of delegates.
Tune in for the next exciting episode of Emo Senator, Southern Minnesota's most beloved telenovela.
image: Fiddle-dee-dee, The Emo Senaotr will try another day.
Currently, ALEC and other organizations that draft model bills are not require to be transparent about their spending and other activities, leading to charges against ALEC of undue and untraceable influence by the group's corporate backers.
In the state senate yesterday, Senator Scott Dibble offered an amendment that would have required that groups like ALEC (and to his credit, Dibble uses the hypothetical example of an environmental group that would promote model bills through practices identical to those used by ALEC).
The amendment was ruled ungermane, but Dibble challenged the Senate President's ruling, asking for a roll call vote. The president's ruling was upheld on a 34-31 vote, with Republican Senators Thompson and Nienow joining the DFLers in voting "No." Senator Koch did not vote, and the late Senator Kubly's seat remains empty.
Sen. Scott Dibble (DFL-Mpls) proposed shining the light on ALEC's activities at the State Capitol. Unsurprisingly, the MNGOP is opposed and his amendment failed.
"This was a common-sense amendment that would have added more transparency to our political system," Sen. Dibble said. "This is the type of information every Minnesotan deserves to have. Our state already has very strong campaign finance and lobbying laws that require lawmakers to disclose which lobbyists send them money; this amendment simply makes sure there's not a loophole that allows certain special interests to hide from public view."
Sen. Dibble's amendment would have required organizations such as ALEC that advocate "model legislation" to register as a lobbyist principal. In addition, organizations that distribute scholarship funds for lawmaker to attend conferences would need to disclose that information, and all legislators receiving scholarship funds from those organizations would be required to report them on annual statements of financial disclosure registered with the Campaign Finance Board.
Senator Dibble said it was disappointing to see the amendment rejected, but even more alarming to witness Local Government and Elections Committee Chair Ray Vandeveer, R-Stillwater, seeming to mislead the public in Senate Floor debate.
"Sen. Vandeveer suggested this measure should have been vetted during normal committee meetings," Sen. Dibble said. "That suggestion is frustrating, because I requested two separate committee hearings on this bill, Senate File 2249, and twice was ignored by Chair Vandeveer himself. It seems Republicans will go to any length needed to protect their special-interest influences."
Bluestem agrees with Senator Dibble's statements, released after the amendment was shot down. Perhaps more interesting, however, are those two rogue Republican votes from Nienow and Thompson. Fortunately for those who don't want to wade through the video archive of the Senate floor action, The Uptake has pulled the eight minutes when the Dibble amendment was under consideration--Bluestem embeds it at the end of this post
Watching the clip, I noticed something that Dibble would have been unable to see. Almost directly behind the earnest Minneapolis lawmaker, Senator Dave Thompson is typing something on a phone.
Thompson finishes and sits back.
A couple of seconds later, Gretchen Hoffman appears in the frame, holding her phone.
Their eyes lock, and she kneels at Thompson's desk, resting her head on her hands on the surface.
She says something, he laughs, takes off his glasses and leans back.
After a few seconds of conversation, they both get up and leave the screen.
At the 3:51 mark, Hoffman walks through the screen again, followed by Thompson, who doesn't return to his desk, but continues off screen behind her. Presumably, they're headed toward her desk.
The business of the senate in considering the amendment continues--it's dry stuff--and Hoffman is among the first of the chamber to vote. She votes along party lines, to sustain the president's ruling.
But Thompson is second to the last of the senators to vote, and in a surprise move, votes"No" --votes which would overturn the senate president's ruling that the amendment was not germane. Sean Nienow follows his lead, and the vote is closed.
Was Thompson distracted by Hoffman? Was Nienow following his lead? Or was Thompson simply so impressed by ALEC member Gretchen Hoffman that he voted to consider transparency for the group, once he scurried back to his desk?
Bluestem applauds Thompson and Nienow for their bravery in crossing party lines to vote for transparency. It's quite the feat for Thompson, who's offering a "right to work" constitutional amendment that's based on an ALEC model bill.
Whatever the case, snapshots of behavior more worthy of high school freshman than freshman senators can't be good for Hoffman's congressional campaign, however to the right she may be to Blue Dog Democrat Collin Peterson.
Screenshots: Dibble takes care of business while Hoffman and Thompson chat behind him (above); the roll call vote just before Nienow cast the final vote(below).
Sen. Mike Parry says he does not think the state government budget bill will be wrapped up by 10 p.m. tonight after a budget meeting this morning erupted over a policy dispute.
Parry, chair of the state government committee, said he and other lawmakers walked out of the meeting because MMB Jim Schowalter said "policy and reform" provisions were off the table.
“My understanding is leadership agreed that we would take the social policy out," Parry said. "But we would still have reforms.”
Those include non-social policy items like consolidating a variety of state government agencies.
"I just took my tablet, put it in my folder," Parry said. "And Commissioner Showalter looked at me and said, ‘Senator, please don’t leave.’ And I said, 'Commissioner, I’m not here to waste my time. We have a serious situation, it needs to be resolved, and you have no clue what the governor wants in this bill.'"
Will the gardener ever get back to work? Will Parry volunteer to mow the lawn at the Summit Avenue mansion, proving once and for all he's the man when it comes to fescue?
Meanwhile, after reading a tweet by Minnpost's media critic commenting "Emo Senator strikes again." this poor country blogger has contacted her agent about putting Bluestem's telenovela, "Ugly Parry," inspired by the Waseca senator, back on the market.
And then the truth about Minnesota's own shutdown hit me. Glenn Gruenhagen is right about the undisciplined sex drive being the most destructive force in the world, though he's wrong to restrict his fear to that possessed by just one gender. Consider, for instance, the role of the Republican social agenda in shutting down the State of Minnesota.
Though elected on promises of jobs, jobs, jobs, and cutting government spending, the new majorities in the senate and the house simply could not control their collective obsession with sex. Rather than hammer out a budget in May, they wasted time fetishizing marriage, passing a bill to chisel inequality into the state constitution, first in the Senate, then--on the final weekend before adjournment--in the House, where four Republicans had the good sense to be rational. (For the headline, I take the number of Republicans in both chambers who voted for the marriage amendment and who supported the no-compromise stance).
The other 105 Republicans couldn't stop thinking, or at least listening to those who spend a lot of time thinking, about dudes kissing. And marrying. And-What-That -Might-Do-To-The-Children.
Ditto with bringing abortion restrictions to the table. Though it made many uncomfortable, Gruenhagen put his finger more or less on the money of what troubled the caucuses. Someone, somewhere, was having some perverted fun, and one could blot out those thoughts by appealing to the consequences.
And then there was the phantom terror over clones, which would have shut down promising stem cell research at the University of Minnesota.
And so in this week's sweltering heat, could the Republican caucuses focus on constructing a working budget to fund the state's government?
Talks may have also broken down because an earlier GOP offer asked Dayton to accept controversial policy positions the Republicans pushed for this year, including photo ID requirements at the polls and abortion restrictions. An offer sheet provided to the Star Tribune said the policy adoptions were in exchange for "new revenue in a compromise offer."
The document, dated June 29 at 8 p.m., spells out terms of a compromise from the GOP majorities. New revenue in a deal would have been contingent on a special session Thursday to pass most of the budget bills and continue health and human services payments at current levels until a final bill could be drafted and passed by July 8, the document reads.
It also calls for various policy provisions to be included in the budget bills, including collective bargaining reforms and mandate relief in the education bill, cloning language and tuition caps in the higher education bill, a ban on taxpayer funds for abortions in the health and human services bill and photo identification at the polls in the state government budget bill. . . .
So demands on policy-- including non-budget policy items rooted in an obsession with sex--trumped even keeping the lights on and the parks open this Independence Day weekend. When the end-of-session time devoted to committing the entire state engaged in a months-long battle over amending its constitution to discriminate against LGBTQ citizens is figured in, yes, sex-crazed Republicans closed down Minnesota.
Perhaps, like turtles, they simply can't help heeding the call of the reptilian brain centers nestled deep in their gray matter.
Watching Matt Dean and the House caucus pivot away from their original anti-arts and MPR message on Wednesday (based on a committee hearing and Dean interview on Tuesday) to a lazer-focused tiny library cut on Friday's coverage is fascinating.
On Wednesday, the Strib reported that the bill Dean Urdahl submitted and discussed in committee on Tuesday had to do with making grant programs for the arts and public radio competitive. In GOP targets Legacy funds for MPR, arts, readers learned:
Republicans made an abrupt move with a new bill to end earmarks and require competition for money.
House Republicans are reexamining state funding for some key arts and cultural heritage groups -- a move that may take political aim at Minnesota Public Radio, the Minnesota Zoo and other entities that have gotten special appropriations.
In an unusual move on Tuesday, Rep. Dean Urdahl, who chairs the House Legacy Funding Division panel, introduced a new version of a Legacy amendment funding bill that would remove specific money recommendations for the state's influential public radio network and other cultural organizations and said they would instead compete for grants.
Urdahl, who struggled at times during a hearing to explain the sudden move, said it was partly the suggestion of Republican legislative leaders.
Legislation that Urdahl's panel adopted less than a week ago recommended that Minnesota Public Radio receive $2 million in Legacy money over the next two years, that public television get $7.8 million and that an assortment of minority groups, including the Council on Black Minnesotans, share $1 million.
In the new version, most of the groups that previously were to get specific appropriations would now have to compete for the money.
House Majority Leader Matt Dean said he reminded Urdahl of the "importance of making sure he has [Republican] caucus support" for Legacy funding for arts and cultural heritage projects, an area of spending that Dean acknowledged had rankled some Republicans. "MPR, it's safe to say, has been a concern in the past," said Dean.
Dean also singled out a $45,000 payment of Legacy money that was made last year to science fiction writer Neil Gaiman for a four-hour speaking appearance. Dean said that Gaiman, "who I hate," was a "pencil-necked little weasel who stole $45,000 from the state of Minnesota."
Were either Urdahl or Dean articulating one word about the fund from which Gaiman was paid? Why, no.
But by Friday, the Strib reports the House Republican Caucus has pivoted so that the major changes in the bill are ignored--and the "furor" over the library's payment to Gaiman led to a focused, indeed petty, cut to the total library appropriation.
In Furor keeps building over author's $45,000 speech fee, it's as if Dean's original junior high taunt never hopped out of the Majority Leader's mouth to justify changes to the way in which grants to the arts and radio are distributed. It wasn't about the libraries on Tuesday.
Update: A reader commented that since the fee wasn't $45,000, this reduction makes the Republicans look even more petty. From an interview in the City Pages:
The entire controversy from last year consisted of a Republican blog drawing attention to this speaking gig, using the $45,000, which actually wasn't the true number, but it got picked up.
I received a grand total of $33,600, and I know because I checked this morning. That went to charity. I'd been doing a bunch of library-based events. It was at the end of a week where I'd done a huge pro bono Comic Book Legal Defense fund event, then I'd gone to Indianapolis to receive the Kurt Vonnegut award for literature, and then I was coming home.[end update]
Now the story is simply about $45,000 being cut from the regional libraries--but nothing about the larger change in Legacy appropriations that formed the heart of Wednesday's coverage.
Readers learn now:
The feud between celebrity author Neil Gaiman and House Majority Leader Matt Dean took several bizarre twists Thursday, when lawmakers threatened retaliation against local libraries, Gaiman threatened retaliation against Dean, and the cast of characters expanded to include Snooki from MTV's "Jersey Shore.''
The action started when a House Republican committee chair said he is recommending a $45,000 cut in the Twin Cites' regional library system budget to make up for the state Legacy money it paid last year to Gaiman for a speaking appearance.
Gaiman quickly defended his speaking fees, saying they are comparable to those charged by Snooki, the reality TV star.
Way to cover for the boss, Mr. Urdahl. Funny how that wasn't important enough to bring up Tuesday in the Legacy bill discussion in your committee.
And indeed, there's only a summary about the "concerns" that Republicans had that are leading to bigger changes:
Dean' comments, however, underscored the ongoing concerns of the Republican majority about Legacy money being spent on arts and cultural projects as the Legislature struggles to solve a $5.1 billion budget deficit. The Legacy amendment, passed in 2008 with considerable financial support from arts groups in Minnesota, raised the state sales tax for 25 years to fund outdoors, clean water, parks and trails and arts and cultural heritage projects.
And Urdahl says his concern are leading him to cut a sliver from the regional library funds:
Urdahl, himself an author, said, "I simply subtracted out $45,000 -- just making a point," in explaining why he cut the library system's proposed Legacy budget to $3.45 million. The Legacy funding proposal, including the reduced budget for the regional library system, is being reviewed by legislators.
That wasn't the point Urdahl and Dean made in their respective committee hearing and interview on Tuesday.
So--Bluestem returns to its original point: if Gaiman's fee is all they've got--and it came from a fund in which the basic formula isn't changed--why are grants to public broadcasting and arts board projects to be made competitive?
Why the "fix" on programs for which neither Matt Dean nor Dean Urdahl has been able to offer any evidence--however juvenilely expressed--as to the nature of their "concerns" that is at the core of the major changes offered in Urdal's bill?
What "concerns" and what evidence do the Republicans have that something is amiss in other cultural programs? Or do they simply disagree with the will of the voters who passed the Legacy amendment? Do they have more than a shout out to stereotypes about individual artists to justify changes?
Are the Legacy funds to become like local funds for the Range? Do these cats have any real (or legal) plan at all to fix the state's revenue crisis?
Photo: Majority Leader Rep.Matt Dean. Why the wrinkles?
On the sidewalks along high school grounds, hundreds of people lined up Sunday afternoon with signs and voices to send a message: Hastings and Minnesota do not tolerate hate. . . .
. . .Wendy Leigh of Impact-Twin Cities was one of the organizers of the counter-protest. A national and global activist, Leigh and others sent out more than 3,500 invitations though Facebook to people, asking them to stand up against WBC. A couple hundred people confirmed their attendance, she said.
One of the counter-protesters had seen a WBC van in Hastings Saturday, Leigh said. It was described as a van with Kansas plates and phrases of WBCs message written on the sides. WBCs protest was scheduled from 1:15 p.m. to 2 p.m. By 2 p.m. there still had been no sign of the organization at the high school.
Not surprising. The facebook group notes that no one from the Kansas group showed up, and that those supporting the students had a great time.
Visit the Post Gazette to see a photo of Minnesota Nice in action.
Westboro Baptist officials were supposed to appear at 6:15 p.m. before the 7 p.m. performance. They didn't show.
So instead Neenah High got a demonstration they weren't expecting. The only protest was that of people in support of the play.
“If the Phelps family is coming here to preach that message to our community, I want to let them know that they're not welcome,” Tyler Baeten told FOX 11.
Tyler Baeten rallied some people to start a protest against the protesters.
“I have a bunch of friends in the play tonight who were concerned that these people were gonna come and ruin it,” said Glenn Anderson, a former Neenah High student.
“I'm really astounded that so many people came,” said Baeten.
It's not know why the group from Westboro didn't show up. School officials say they didn't receive any other complaints about the play.
Also not surprising.
Photo: Publicity shot from the HHS production of the Laramie Project.
Hastings High School’s drama club is about ready to produce its winter play. “The Laramie Project” will be on stage Thursday, Friday and Sunday, Feb. 10, 11 and 13.
Unfortunately, the high school drama club's winter production captured the attention of Kansas's best known public nuisances, the blue-nosed, crusading membership of Fred Phelps' Westboro Baptist Church.
Fred Phelps of the Westboro Baptist Church and God Hates Fags fame is headed to Hastings this weekend and Fargo next weekend to protest showings of the Laramie Project. Counter-protests are already being organized in both cities. . . .
Here’s the Westboro Baptist Church schedule and its comment about each protest:
Hastings High School in Hastings, MN February 13, 2011 1:15 PM – 2:00 PM
WBC to picket yet another showing of The Laramie Project. A fag propaganda play about Matt Shepard. He has been in hell for 12 years now. Judy Shepard raised her son to be a disobedient drug using pervert, and God cut that child off. His blood is on her hands! From that day to this Judy Shepard has spent all her resources on teaching the young people of this nation the same rebellion that caused God to cut off her own son – and makes a hefty profit off of it! Shame on her for making money off of a child who is dead at her hands! Run from the lies told in this play – your never dying soul depends upon it! You will join Matt in hell if you follow/believe in these lies. Your destruction is imminent! Obey or Perish! . . .
If only bothering high school kids were the worst thing Phelps' brood has done. But nope: these are the thimblewits who picket the funerals of American service members killed in Iraq or Afghanistan, deaths that the church members say are God's wrath on a nation that is nice to gay and lesbian people.
In addition to the Facebook event in Birkey's post, other groups are rallying to support the student actors. The director of the Minnesota Coalition Against Sexual Assault (MNCASA) sent out the following email:
Hastings High School students are currently presenting the very powerful and moving play “The Laramie Project.” Unfortunately, the extremist group led by Fred Phelps, is planning to protest Sunday's show at 2:00.
These students have worked hard to launch this powerful show AGAINST hate so supporters of the students and of the theater project are asking for additional supporters to come out, enjoy the performance and let the protesters know that they are not effective. (These are the same people who have sent protesters to the burials of soldiers who have died in Iraq and Afghanistan.)
If you are able, please attend the performance and show your support to these incredible High School kids who are trying to make a difference.
Donna Dunn Executive Director MNCASA
Please consider taking some time to let the kids know they're alright. The Patriot Guard motorcycle club shields mourners at military funerals from the pickets; perhaps the Twin Cities theater community can provide an equally creative sidewalk performance in support of the students.
Photo: The spot where Matt Shepard was mortally injured; the slight young man later died in the hospital. Via the Hastings Theater website.
You have to hand it to Minnesota Republican Party Chair Tony Sutton, whose conspiratorial rants failed the Smell Check during last year's gubernatorial recount. Now, only a few short months after drawing attention to himself in a way that made Tom Emmer look classy, he's started 2011 out with some remarkable whimpers.
The accusations were merely that, a distant political will o' the wisp lingering at the edges of the Carly Melin campaign. The Duluth New Tribune succinctly dispatches Sutton's bluster in a single paragraph today:
Last week, Republicans questioned Melin’s residency, saying she had lived in St. Paul last summer and may not have been a resident of the district for the required six months before the election. Melin, who grew up in Hibbing and went away to college and law school, said she returned to her hometown to take a job with the state judicial system last August, in ample time to meet the state rules. No official complaint has been filed on the issue.[emphasis added]
Had there been substance to Sutton's ravings, readers can bet the Republican Party would be have moved to have Melin removed from the ballot, just as Sue Ek, its own candidate, was removed from contention in another special election back in 2005.
Now the Republican Party of Minnesota--led by Sutton--has compounded the smear in a tone-deaf move.
Seeking to cement the notion that the local kid who came back home to work after going to school in the Cities is actually an alien landed from Mars, the MNGOP sent out a gun rights mail piece that's utterly lacking in common sense in the aftermath of post-Gifford calls for civility. The Duluth Tribune describes the piece in Gun ad for Republican candidate on Iron Range has DFLers up in arms:
A campaign brochure for Republican state legislative candidate Paul Jacobson depicting a hunter looking down a shotgun and urging voters to “take your best shot’’ while criticizing opponent Carly Melin has sparked outrage from some supporters of the DFL candidate.
The brochure, mailed this week to residents of Minnesota House District 5B, shows a person looking down the barrel and urges people to vote in the Feb. 15 special election to fill the open seat.
While the gun is not pointed at anything or anyone in particular, Melin’s photo is on the next page. The ad also calls Melin “a fake’’ and states that her campaign is “full of holes.’’
The brochure also inveighs against "St. Paul Politicians." The Tribune reports that the lit piece is an independent expenditure sent out by the Republican Party of Minnesota. Charming.
The piece misses the mark in a multiple ways. Former Hibbing native Sutton and his writers draw a blank on one of the most compelling narratives for Range and Greater Minnesota communities. One of our biggest exports are our most talented young people. Families love and nurture them, schools educate them--and then they head off to college if their ambitions exceed the opportunities offered by the local community college.
Carly Melin is the exception to that general rule. She finished law school, passed the bar, and got a job back home. By trashing her, the GOP indirectly bashes the hopes of many families who'd love to see their kids come home, as well as the longing of many young people to return home after college and grad school.
Second, it's plain tomfoolery--and subtly sexist--about Melin and gun rights thmselves. The Duluth paper reports:
The brochure also goes on to imply that Melin is part of a Twin Cities liberal elite bent on gun-control measures. Melin says that’s a lie, noting she’s an avid hunter.
“As someone who hunts and has a firearms certificate since I was 14, and whose dad teaches firearms (safety) classes, it is outrageous to question my stand on gun ownership. But this piece goes beyond that. It sends a chilling message to any young person who gets involved in public service and runs for office. (Neither) I, nor any candidate for public office, should be subject to such an assault,’’ Melin said in a statement to the News Tribune.
This isn't the first time in Minnesota politics where an attractive Democratic woman candidate has been accused of being anti-gun. The most high-profile case is drawn from early in the career of former state senator Becky Lourey, a crack shot who challenged her rivals to a target shooting contest. (Really, I'd think by now we'd be over this sort of thing).
In fact, were this election being conducted on a regular calendar, rather than the hectic pace pace of a special election, Melin could offer a good-natured Lourey-esque challenge to her two rivals. Time being what it is, with only a few days for all candidates to connect with the voters, umbrage at a moronic mailer will have to do.
With Special Guests: Bradlee Dean & Jake McMillian
Son's of Liberty Radio (Saturdays 3-5pm on am1280 The Patriot)
This will be a night for the entire family! "My War" is an all-encompassing look at the country today. This documentary will give you insight into topics such as: * Our Founding Fathers * The Constitution * * What kids are being taught in public schools * * The myth of alcoholism * Drug abuse * * Hollywood and the moral decline of our nation * * The spiritual heritage and foundation of the United States * * The lies in the media * & much more *
HELP SPREAD THE WORD & Be Sure To **BRING A FRIEND** Trust Us -- You will not want to miss this Showing!
Politico, like the mainstream media in general, may say that in the popular mind the Tea Party "movement draws on populist sentiments and pushes an agenda focused on reducing taxes, government spending and the national debt." In 2010, for instance, the New York Times reported that the Tea Party Avoids Divisive Social Issues. Other stories have suggested a Tea Party/social conservative split.
A recent poll found that Americans want Republicans to listen to the Tea Party, and given the earlier reportage about the Tea Party and social conservative ideas, those polled might readily be forgiven for assuming those ideas aren't a socially conservative agenda.
But the pollsters didn't actually define what Tea Party ideas are, so the coast is clear for the SW Metro Tea Party to fill in the blanks.
No interference in private life, business, health, assembly, speech or possessions.
That "personal liberty" only goes so far, and certainly not to include a woman's right to make decisions about her own health or treating queer folk as equals. One principle is traditional marriage:
The union between a man and a woman, has been the foundation of every civilization in human history. It is incorporated into the fabric of our culture and civic life. It is the platform on which children, families and communities are nurtured. The institution of marriage is far too precious to surrender to the whims of a handful of unelected, activist judges. Males and females are born with profoundly sacred and contrasting, yet complementary characteristics and responsibilities.
So much for the notion of "private life." Not to mention butch and femme. Read all of the Principles of the Southwest Metro Tea Party here in all their glorious pretzel logic.
But such paradoxes seem easily bridged by this set and their fellow travelers. Most recently, Bremer reported about YCRBYCH's commitment to the fiscal responsibility that the SW Metro Tea Party endorses.
Bradley Dean Smith, aka “Bradlee Dean,” and his Annandale-based anti-gay hate “ministry” found out that you can run, but you cannot hide—from the landlord. In 2007, Smith’s Old Paths Church Ministries, dba You Can Run But You Cannot Hide, was evicted under court order from its offices in the Bass Lake Business Centre II in Plymouth for nonpayment of rent.
The eviction was the result of a complaint filed against Old Paths Church Ministries in Hennepin County Housing Court on June 7, 2007, by its landlord, Bass Lake Realty LLC of Minneapolis. . . .
Given the road conditions out here today on the wind-swept prairie, I'll have to forgo the splendors of Dean's cinematic masterpiece in Chanhassen--surely a case of weather-induced cultural deprivation second only to missing a Katherine Kersten-led tour of Yale Sex Week.
Please remove my following email addresses from your database immediately I am proud on the English language, and believe America – [sic] s strength is in unity not in division - this decision by Heritage Foundation DOES NOT garner my support and I will have no further involvement with your organization – [sic] including the forwarding of your educational material etc.
In 2006, Hendrycks told a Star Tribune reporter that a traumatic shopping event helped spur her to founding MinnSIR:
There were little things, too, such as when she went to the store to buy her hair coloring and the writing on the box was in Spanish.
"I think our sovereignty in the U.S. is at risk,'' she charged. [Jean Hopfensperger,"Standing firm in opposition to illegals. . .," Mpls. Star Tribune, April 28, 2006, Nexis All News database, accessed January 30, 2011]
That section of Preference and Excellence by L'Oréal Paris in the local Target always causes me to have the fantods, too--mostly because the store never seems to stock enough Dark Auburn, in whatever language.
I'm equally disturbed by preposition choice errors like being "proud on the English language" on the part of people whose first language is English. One wonders what Hendrycks learned about English composition while studying at LaCrosse University. Or maybe not.
All of the statements, opinions, and views expressed on this site by Sally Jo Sorensen are solely her own, save when she attributes them to other sources.
The opinions, statements, and views of contributing writers are their own.
Sorensen, editor and proprietor of Bluestem Prairie, served as a New Media training and strategy consultant for the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party from October 2009 through mid-April 2010. She now serves clients in the business and nonprofit sectors.
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