Over at Ripple in Stillwater, Karl Bremer points out that Michele Bachmann is in Hawaii today--not her subzero district, as her staff claimed:
When Bloomberg reporter and former Time magazine White House correspondent Margaret Carlson called Michele Bachmann for a comment on the people’s uprising in Egypt, Carlson wrote that Bachmann’s office told her the Minnesota congresswoman “wouldn’t be giving any interviews this week while she concentrates on district work.”
But according to the Grassroot Institute Hawaii, Bachmann is scheduled to give a luncheon talk at the Ala Moana Hotel in Honolulu today—4,476 miles and 80 degrees F. from the subzero temperatures her constituents in Minnesota’s 6th District woke up to this morning.
According to the Grassroot Institute website, Bachmann’s $35-a-head luncheon is sold out. The Grassroot Institute Hawaii was founded in 2001 and says its mission is “to promote individual liberty, the free market and limited accountable government.” The Institute promises the speech from the “potential 2012 presidential candidate” will offer “great insight into the 2011 congressional session."
Bremer has updated the post:
Bachmann is speaking at the Lewis and Clark Lincoln/Reagan Dinner in Helena, M, later this week on Feb. 5--also a long way from her constituents. It's not clear whether she'll squeeze in a visit to the district between Honolulu and Helena.
Perhaps Congressman Tim Walz could give Bachmann a lesson in how to find one's own district. Walz is in Albert Lea today, visiting with students at the local high school. Contacted via email about the visit, Walz press secretary Sara Sever noted his activities:
He spoke in three government classes for seniors. He talks to them a little bit about what is going on in Washington, what he’s working on and then takes questions from students. Sometimes, it’s a larger assembly, but it was three specific classes that he attended today.
The Albert Lea Tribune now notes the temperature is -2 in the Freeborn County metropolis, where school started two hours late today because of the bad weather and multiple rollovers were caused by poor road conditions. It's what a rural Minnesota congressional district is like in early February; perhaps when the House reconvenes, Bachmann will ask Walz about congressional working conditions in Greater Minnesota.
Walz held a Congress on Your Corner day in Worthington on Tuesday, accompanied by double-digit below zero windchills, and will hold another in the Hyvee grocery store in Owatonna tomorrow. Severs told the Owatonna People's Press:
The congressman’s spokesperson Sara Severs said Walz has no set topic in mind.
“There is no specific agenda. We’re just asking people to come and chat with him and share concerns or ideas they have,” Sever said. . . .
It is the latest in a chain of grocery store appearances Walz has made in the last couple of weeks, a tour entitled “Congress on your Corner.” These meeting come close on the heels of the tragic shootings at a supermarket in Tucson on Jan. 8, where Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords was shot and six were killed, including a 9-year-old girl and a federal judge. Giffords was shot during a “Congress on your Corner” event.
Walz is apparently undeterred by the violence. Severs said the DFLer has made these appearances since he first took office in 2006.
So far, the tour has taken Walz to Mankato and Worthington, a meeting that occurred on Tuesday.
“A couple different topics came up. We chatted about immigration, the economy, veterans and transportation,” Sever said. “All of those came up in addition to constituent services.”
The meeting begins at noon Thursday and runs until 1:30. Walz will be located near the floral department in Hy-Vee, which is at 1620 S. Cedar Avenue.
Perhaps it's indicative of "Minnesota Nice" that some readers in the comment section are planning to greet Walz with a video camera rather than a Glock. A couple of commenters at the newspaper's website do seem to be troubled by the notion that seniors and veterans might get an opportunity to speak with their congressman at the local grocery store. But one writes:
Ac I'll take a video, could be worth the u tube hits. lol
In another comment, though, the same reader isn't happy about the Sixth's absentee representative, however:
and how about Bachman wanting to chop Vet benefits! need someone to protect the ones that protect your free speech!I'm a vet and I don't use any vet services. We have a lot of messed up War vets That need to be taken care of!!!
Illustrations: Hawaii for Bachmann, via Ripple in Stillwater (above). The streets of Worthington on Tuesday (below). Photo by Brian Korthals/ Daily Globe.
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