Having studied the New Minnesota Politics of the Postmoronic in some depth, Bluestem begins to wonder if, since so many recent, real news reports seem at first glance to be Onion parodies, the state needs an imaginary county bearing that eponymous name.
Like Edgar Lee Master's Spoon River, or the Mississinewa County my Hoosier poet friend Jared Carter has more recently imagined, Onion County, Minnesota, could be the home of the delightful, the pastoral and the truly weird in the Gopher State.
To be placed in the final category of Onion County's chorus of voices? A lawsuit being filed by my neighbor in Minnesota's Senate District 18, scary home companion, Bradlee Dean, in which the gym suit preacher will be seeking $50 million in damages from Rachel Maddow, MSNBC, and others who repeated what he broadcast on his radio show.
Joe. My God writes in Bachmann-Affiliated Preacher/Radio Host Sues Rachel Maddow & MSNBC:
Right wing radio host and preacher Bradlee Dean has filed suit against Rachel Maddow and MSNBC for a report claiming that Dean had called for the execution of homosexuals. According to the suit, Dean did not and does not endorse executing gay people. Dean and his band have performed at fundraisers for Rep. Michele Bachmann and she has praised his ministry. . . .
Here's the Bradlee Dean quote in question:
"Muslims are calling for the executions of homosexuals in America. This just shows you they themselves are upholding the laws that are even in the Bible of the Judeo-Christian God, but they seem to be more moral than even the American Christians do, because these people are livid about enforcing their laws. They know homosexuality is an abomination."
Freedom Watch, a political advocacy group run by Larry Klayman, the one-man Tea Party who is repping for Dean, issued a media advisory about tomorrow's press conference in Manhattan about the lawsuit. The presser notes that "others" are being sued, but so far, none of our friends who first heard, recorded and posted his radio broadcast have been served, nor any of the others who write about the winsome Mr. Dean and his ministries.
Update: the City Pages reports that Bradlee Dean suing Andy Birkey of Minnesota Independent as well as Rachel Maddow. The Mn Independent, as well as Birkey, is named in the lawsuit.[end update].
Neither has Bluestem, even though Onion County is very close, situated as it is between McLeod, Wright, Meeker and Sibley Counties, just west of Cottonwood and north of Yellow Medicine, and the small part the blog played in making a local Walmart become his Waterloo.
A magical place, this Bluestem Prairie, indeed, with no spot more breathtaking than Onion County, where the sort of news breaks that --even with my advanced degree in imaginary writing from the Ozarks Famous Writers School--I could never dream of making up.
Photo: Bradlee Dean delivering the prayer in the Minnesota House of Representatives that brought a lot of attention to the chappie. See the Daily Beast's Uproar Over Evangelist Bradlee Dean's Obama Slur.
This is good news actually. It will only add to the image of 'fools' that the Tea Partiers have acquired...
Posted by: Steve | Jul 26, 2011 at 08:46 PM
Larry Klayman sued his own mother by the way: http://www.fastcompany.com/1744464/fact-fiction-and-the-new-1-billion-lawsuit-against-mark-zuckerberg
His current group is called Freedom Watch. His old group was Judicial Watch, which got taken over by Tom Fitton in 2003, which led to Klayman suing in 2006: http://www.rightwingwatch.org/category/individuals/tom-fitton
Posted by: Phoenix Woman | Jul 26, 2011 at 09:49 PM
Another pseudo moronic church with tax exempt status in search of money because heaven is going bankrupt.
God needs more money and so does Bradlee Dean.
Maybe Zellers and Bachmann can send Dean some TParty literature on living within your means... or better yet appear on Dean's radio show and spread the word on fiscal conservatism and how to pray away the gay. Marcus can pick the outfits.
Jeff Wilfahrt, Rosemount, MN
Posted by: Jeff Wilfahrt | Jul 27, 2011 at 03:55 AM