It's one of those Mondays in which Bluestem's morning reading leaves us shaking our editorial head at the triumph of post-moronic constructs in Minnesota's public life.
Today's trigger is a letter to the editors of the Winona Daily News by a retired gent in sunny Zumbrota. Peter Doyle, who has given generously to the campaigns of Michele Bachmann and Tom Emmer, writes in DFL operative just milking his cows?:
Are readers really suppose to believe someone who only milks cows spends his time reading through 250 pages of health care policy information or that he is intimately familiar with at least the first 1,259 pages of the House Journal?
How many people read the House Journal every day?
I have never read the House Journal — and I don’t know anyone who has. Are we to believe that this is Mr. McMillin’s recreational reading while he milks cows? Or could it be that the local Kellogg, Minn., DFL operative talks regularly to St. Paul DFL headquarters to “find” his way to the House Journal pages cited?
Readers can be forgiven for concluding that for Doyle, not being informed is the gold standard for citizen engagement, and the more ignorant of the public record and proceedings of the Minnesota House of Representatives, the better. That being the case, it's not surprising that Doyle concludes his epistle with this:
Thanks to Rep. Steve Drazkowski for doing such a great job in his constituent services outreach. It is a strong statement to his integrity when he not only responds to any constituent who asks him for help – but he even offers the very same level of service to his known political opponents.
A curious distraction, but solely that. And given that McMillin (the "operative" that Doyle scolds) wrote about a town hall meeting, rather than constituent services, it's no wonder that Doyle is just as confused about the definition of the word "operative.
Having known many dairy farmers who are well-versed in politics, Bluestem also suspects that Doyle has spent little time consorting with the bovine brethren and cistern. After mastering the intricacies of federal dairy policy, dairy farmers are not afraid of the Journal of the Minnesota House. In fact, many farmers of my acquaintance read the thing.
As for McMillin being chair of the Wabasha County DFL, perhaps this is more evidence of Doyle's impaired reading skills,as well as his disdain for literate dairy farmers. The Kellogg dairy farmer is associate chair, a volunteer position.
But those who know dairy farming--and McMillin is one--know that it's unlikely that McMillan has time for a second career as an "operative."
On the other hand, Doyle appears to have time for name-calling. Perhaps he might also work reading the Journal of the House, so that he might discover what Drazkowski's record actually is.
Photo: A Holstein. And no, dairy farmers aren't stupid, so Doyle's notion of political ignorance on their part is pretty insulting.
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