Justin Metz said the realization that he’ll be able to legal marry his partner, Richie DePaolis, finally hit him Tuesday night.
“I was all of a sudden like, it’s really happening now,” said Metz, a teacher with Fargo Public Schools.
It’s
been a whirlwind year for many of the 18 couples who were set to wed
just after midnight today in the Clay County Courthouse, minutes after
same-sex marriage became legal in Minnesota. . . .
It’s an even wilder ride for Metz and DePaolis, who will close on a home in Moorhead later this month.
Metz
said they want to move from West Fargo to Minnesota, where their new
marriage will be recognized in addition to other protections the state
now affords same-sex couples.
“If North Dakota has spent its
legislative session working to restrict our rights, and Minnesota spent
its legislative session working to expand them, our taxes would be
better spent in the state of Minnesota,” Metz said.
Bies reports a touching tale how the couple has been involved in the local schools--and how they're welcomed by parents in the high school:
Opening their home to several foreign exchange students, the two have
also gotten to be an active part of St. Peter’s school system.
With tears, Thomas recalled how one of the boys,
nominated for homecoming king, included the couple in a speech,
referring to them as his favorite pair of dads.
Strong said other parents in attendance during
the speech showed strong support for the two men’s commitment to the
foreign exchange program.
The speech convinced them they were having a
positive influence on the students that had lived with them. Many of
them have kept in contact with the men, sending emails and Facebook
messages, and one may even attend their wedding.
“We were able to certainly affect their lives in a
positive way and show that this type of relationship can be just as
loving as a conventional family,” Stong said.
Bluestem congratulation both couples.
Our friends at The Uptake are providing livestream of weddings in Minneapolis:
Minnesota's marriage equality law takes effect at tonight at midnight (July 31/August 1). At 12:01 AM
Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak will fufill his pledge to start marrying
couples at City Hall. The UpTake will provide live video coverage of
this starting at 8pm
when the wedding guests and those who brought about the change in
Minnesota's law celebrate at the Minneapolis Wilde Roast Cafe. Governor
Mark Dayton is scheduled to speak at City Hall around 11:15pm and will be followed by Mayor Rybak.
Bluestem will replace the video when we get the new code.
Love is the law!
Photo: Justin Metz and Richie DePaolis, via WDAY 6 (above); Rob Thomas and Joe Strong of St. Peter (below).
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Those who follow Minnesota politics know that a video camera can be a dangerous weapon when placed in the hands of New Ulm Journal reporter Josh Moniz.
Unfortunately, radical Islamophobe Brigitte Gabriel seemed to have taken the metaphor literally last night when she asked Moniz, 2013 Minnesota Newspaper Association "New Journalist of the Year," not to tape her presentation in Mankato, sponsored by the Southern Minnesota Tea Party.
Indeed, Moniz tweeted that "Tea Party organizers said CAIR reps had a good conversation w/ them at event, watched until Gabriel started accusing the org[anization]"
The journalist wasn't allowed to capture the event on videotape, however pleasant it might have been. Moniz tweeted:
Gabriel told me I cant shoot video. Said not cuz speech, but cuz she is @ risk somebody hiding gun in camera & "shoot me w/ laser" #stribpol
Given the fact that the ACLU sued TiZA, a charter school that was criticized for using public education dollars for religion instruction, Gabriel seems to want to have it both ways.
Bluestem looked in Nexis and online to see if ACT! or Gabriel had any significant role in the TiZA controversy. Doesn't look like it. Concerns about the charter school were first raised by conservative Star Tribune columnist Katherine Kersten; her concerns prompted an investigation and subsequent lawsuit on the part of the American Civil Liberties Union in Minnesota. Perhaps the most thorough examination of the lawsuit is found in the Powerline-praised City Pages article by Gregory Pratt, The Truth About TiZA. ACT! doesn't rate a mention, and given Pratt's characteristic doggedness as a reporter, it's unlikely that ACT! had any part in the lawsuit if it's not in his story.
Rather than an "expert" about anything, Gabriel seems like an opportunist, seizing on snippets of news to rile those who want to be riled.
The irony of Gabriel not wanting to be videotaped by a respected member of Minnesota's rural press corps is fairly entertaining. Bluestem looks forward to Moniz's coverage, because the enterprising young reporter tweeted that he may have gotten access to video of the event:
I might have a line on getting video of the Gabriel event despite being told I had to shut my video off. #stribpol
Like Pratt, Moniz tends to fact-check claims
made by those he's covering. We look forward to reading his report when it appears in the New Ulm Journal.
Photo: Brigitte Gabriel, Islamophobe and free speech warrior, except when it comes to that gun New Ulm Journal reporter Josh Moniz might have concealed in his video camera.
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Significant new laws go in effect in Minnesota on Thursday, and District 10 state senator Carrie Ruud (R-Breezy Point) so wants constituents to know about them.
Several new laws passed and signed into law this past legislative
session will take effect on Thursday, according to a statement issued by
Sen. Carrie Ruud, R-Breezy Point. Notable highlights include laws
related to childcare unionization, consumer protections, hunting license
fees, and business changes.
She's so not happy about the ability of workers to begin to organize, tax changes and clean energy mandates but she seems pleased with some fees for youth hunting and spear fishing licenses being reduced or eliminated.
Given the raging national debate about spear fishing license fees, Bluestem's happy that one's resolved. While PETA may be be saddened, deep-pocketed political contributors on both sides of the issue can close their wallets.
Other highlights:
• Beer Growlers: “Save the Growler” legislation takes effect as
breweries can sell 64-ounce bottles of beer known as “growlers” as they
expand their businesses.
• Bicycle lane parking prohibition: It is illegal for anyone to park
their vehicle in a designated bicycle lane, except when signs are posted
that permit parking. Locally a new law which also goes into effect on
Thursday, and was sponsored by Ruud, will allow school busses to be used
for one- or two-day special events without being required to register
as commercial buses.
“I was proud to carry the legislation which will allow our local
Jaycees to continue their annual ice fishing tournament. The tournament
raises so much money for charity and without this change in law the
tournament wouldn’t have been able to continue,” Ruud said.
Crow Wing County Auditor-Treasurer Laureen Borden on Tuesday announced that marriage license applications may be made by same-sex couples beginning Wednesday, July 17.
Licenses will not be valid for use until Aug. 1, as per Minnesota Statute 645.02. . . .
Apparently Ruud didn't get the memo from leadership.
Photo: Carrie Ruud. While Ruud's district supported the amendment to restrict the freedom to marry in November 2012, WCCO reported in April:
Ann Turnbull, a retired state worker with a lesbian partner of 36
years, brought a message to the Capitol Thursday for Minnesota lawmakers
who say it’s too soon to legalize gay marriage.
“I’m getting old. This needs to happen this year,” Turnbull told her
state senator, Republican Carrie Ruud, in a brief discussion just off
the Senate floor. She and her partner want the full legal protections of
marriage, Turnbull said, “and I want it to happen in my lifetime.” . . .
Ruud, who lives in the Brainerd-area town of Breezy Point, huddled
with about a dozen gay marriage supporters from her district. Many,
including Turnbull, spoke in very personal terms. “This is difficult for
a lot of us. I don’t do politics, I don’t like lobbying,” Turnbull
said.
But Ruud, who called her district “very socially conservative,” said she would vote no if the bill gets to the Senate floor.
“I have to do what my district wants in the end, and I did campaign
for marriage as a man and a woman,” Ruud said. “I’ve been very out front
with where I stand, but it doesn’t mean I don’t empathize with their
stories and their hearts. It’s hard.”
But apparently not worth mentioning.
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According to the Mille Lacs Messenger article, Report: County attorney will not face charges, the paper first heard about the conclusions of an investigation of underage drinking on the Mille Lacs County Attorney's property in an email from Assistant Mille Lacs County Attorney Melissa Saterbak:
Saterbak's email reads as follows: "Since the county attorney 'party'
has been breaking news on the messenger for months and made many front
page headlines I expect the same will be true for the decline letter and
findings of no wrongdoing by Jan and Russ Jude issued by the attorney
reviewing the case. I look forward to reading about that shortly since
the decline letter was issued on Wednesday."
Oh, snap! The paper received the decline letter today.
As Andy Mannix reported in a feature story earlier this month, the party -- a
late-May graduation celebration for Jude's daughter -- ignited
controversy in the community surrounding the small town of Milaca.
Jude
herself is familiar with teenagers drinking at graduation parties. In
2010, she prosecuted another mother for providing alcohol to minors at
her house. Though a jury found the woman not guilty, Jude pointed to the
case as "a good reminder during this graduation season that we all have
to be mindful of underage drinking and take whatever precautions we
can."
But this time around, Andover City Prosecutor Scott
Baumgartner
-- who reviewed the case so that Jude wouldn't have to decide whether to
prosecute herself -- determined that "there just wasn't enough"
to charge Jude with either providing alcohol to a minor or misconduct of
a public official.
The evidence Baumgartner reviewed included 19
witness statement from people at the party. None of them said that the
Judes had provided any of the drinks.
"I couldn't find one
individual that said or acknowledged that any alcohol was provided by
the Judes," Baumgartner told City Pages on Monday morning. "In fact,
most of the statements that were taken indicated that the minors there
brought their own or got it from somebody else."
As for
misconduct of a public official, Baumgartner describes it as "kind of a
strange," niche charge. "This was a private matter on private property,"
Baumgartner explains, and less related to the obligations and
responsibilities of Jude's office. . . .
Read the seven-page decline letter here, via the City Pages:
Since last month, Bluestem has been following news of tonight's Central Minnesota Tea Party sponsored speech by Islamophobe Brigitte Gabriel, "one of the most visible personalities on a circuit of self-appointed
terrorism detectors who warn that Muslims pose an enormous danger within
United States borders," according to the New York Times.
I know we
would do better, but it has been requested that we not put this event in
newspapers or put up flyers - any advertising like that will be done by
Brigitte's organization if they choose to do so. I have contacted a few
law enforcement agencies, but if you have email addresses for me, I will send a
personal invitation to those in your areas. All law enforcement showing
their badges at the door get in free - we want them educated! [emphasis added]
Today, the executive director of the Committee on American-Islamic Relations--Minnesota (CAIR-MN) Lori Sayora sent us an email about her group's follow-up on that offer:
CAIR-MN
contacted 20 police departments near Little Falls today and asked them
to make an informed decision on an invitation to an event featuring
anti-Muslim activist Brigette
Gabriel. CAIR-MN has received a positive response and assurance from
law enforcement that they will not attend the anti-Muslim event.
In the July 29, 2013 letter, CAIR-MN wrote:
“As
your police department would not, and should not, get trained by a
racist or an anti-Semitic speaker, we kindly request that you apply
the same standard to an anti-Muslim speaker.”
“Terrorism is a real threat to our nation and law
enforcement needs to be educated about that threat. However, law
enforcement and other agencies must look at the credentials and
backgrounds of purported ‘experts’ before allowing their
officers to be trained by them.”
CAIR-MN also distributed an “Islamophobia Backgrounder” on Gabriel and other pertinent information to law enforcement. ...
The organization also sent out a separate press release, CAIR-MN Asks GOP to Repudiate Invite to Talk by Anti-Muslim Speaker:
(MINNEAPOLIS, MN, 7/29/13
-- The Minnesota chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations
(CAIR-MN) today called on Republican leaders in that state to repudiate a
GOP official who is promoting an event
tonight featuring the leader of an anti-Muslim hate group.
Seventh District GOP Congressional Chair Craig Bishop
distributed an email invitation to a talk at a Little Falls, Minn., high
school by "Brigitte Gabriel," head of the hate group ACT! for America.
In the email,
sent using Bishop’s official 7th District GOP email address, he stated:
“This is a must to attend.”
SEE: GOP Chair Distributes Central Minnesota Tea Party Email Invitation to Anti-Muslim Event
ACT! for America leader Hanah Kahwagi Tudor, who goes
by the pseudonym "Brigitte Gabriel," has said Arabs have “no soul” and
that Islam is the “real enemy.” The Southern Poverty Law Center lists
her as one of
the “Anti-Islam Inner Circle.” The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) says
Gabriel’s beliefs are extreme, while the New York Times described her as
an "Islamophobe.”
“The perceived endorsement by a Republican official of
hate speech sends the message that the Minnesota GOP is hostile to
minority voters,” said CAIR-MN Executive Director Lori Saroya. “We urge
state Republican
Party officials to repudiate this invitation to religious hatred and to
instead promote mutual respect and positive civic participation by
voters of all faiths and backgrounds.” . . .
There's more, mostly a digest of earlier press releases and coverage.
St. Cloud Times Editor: CMTP should "schedule CAIR-MN as their next featured speaker"
I’m a firm believer that public places are just that — public. They should be available to everyone. I also believe that what your message says generally trumps the importance of where it is delivered, especially in an era of 24/7 media coverage and with everyone seemingly armed with a smartphone.
Those
beliefs are why I’m disappointed in — and disagree with — CAIR-MN’s
effort to force the Central Minnesota Tea Party Patriots from renting a public space Monday where it can host a nationally known activist with whom CAIR-MN disagrees. . . .
And concluded with a twist:
Now before you start reading between these lines, please know that
based on what I have read about Gabriel, I see her tactics as causing
more problems than she solves. Look no further than her two New York
Times best-sellers, “Because They Hate: A Survivor of Islamic Terror
Warns America” and “They Must Be Stopped: Why we must defeat radical
Islam and how we can do it.”
Similarly, I question exactly what these Tea Party Patriots are trying to accomplish.
Of
course, they could answer that question for me — and you — by doing one
simple thing: After hearing from Gabriel, schedule CAIR-MN as their
next featured speaker at their next meeting in the Little Falls high
school.
Again, isn’t exposure to all sides of an issue what education is all about?
Curiously, despite Judd's claims in her email that no press releases will be sent out by the Tea Party, the Morrison County Record posted a press release that included her contact information online on July 28,2013 under the headline, Brigitte Gabriel to speak at LFCHS Monday.
Photo: CAIR-MN executive director Lori Saroya, via St. Katherine University's website. Saroya received the college's alumnae association's 2011 Rising Star Award that "recognizes a recent graduate who demonstrates vision and compassion,
action and insight necessary to rise to significant levels of
achievement in the future.
Asma Lori Saroya SP’07 received the award for her extensive advocacy work that embodies social justice values."
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Although a spokesperson for the Courage conference told New Ulm reporter Josh Moniz that the Catholic group doesn't advocate reparative therapy (the notion that gay people can be "cured"), those attending a therapist seminar that was part of the conference heard from Phil Sutton, a current board member and former president of the National Association for Research and Treatment of Homosexuality (NARTH).
Sutton wasn't the only "reparative therapy" advocate at the conference.
The National Association for Research & Therapy of Homosexuality
(NARTH) is a self described “non-profit, educational organization
dedicated to affirming a complementary, male-female model of gender and
sexuality”www.narth.com
NARTH explains in their mission statement “clients have the right to
claim a gay identity, or to diminish their homosexuality and to develop
their heterosexual potential.” They claim to attain this through years
of reparative therapy, (also used interchangeably with the terms
conversion therapy and sexual brokenness) a practice the American
Psychiatric Association says can “lead to depression, anxiety and self
destructive behavior, and may reinforce self hatred.”
Courage neither requires its members to change their same-sex
attractions nor encourages them to seek that change. Check said they do
not address the controversial practices of "reparative therapy" or
"conversion therapy," which seek to change a homosexual individual's
orientation to heterosexual, and their policy prohibits facilitating
members that seek these programs.[emphasis added] These therapies are widely rebuked by
gay rights organizations and by the American Psychological Association,
which calls them "harmful."
Check said they believe same-sex
attraction is not a sin, but acting on these feelings is a major sin. He
said they believe this inclination is a symptom of the individual's
disorder with nature.
Courage is controversial among gay rights
groups for believing homosexuality is a disorder and for being unwilling
to rebuke "reparative therapy." Courage's website lists these therapies
as likely counterproductive, but states they worked for some members.
The recommended books section contains "reparative therapy" books and
the Courage Reparational Group is listed as a group of men and women
"praying for the conversion and healing of those who struggle with
same-sex desires."
LeVoir is the Bishop of New Ulm; he helped establish Courage in the Archdiocese of Minneapolis and St. Paul and served as the group's chaplain before becoming a bishop.
But Michael Sherrard, executive director of Faithful America . . . contends “priests and therapists will be
trained in dangerous and debunked techniques that don’t cure
homosexuality but do contribute to suicide and depression.” . . .
. . .the forum includes Dr. Timothy Lock and
Dr. William Consiglio, who is described on the conference website as a
part-time “Christian Psychotherapist,” specializing in the area of
Sexual Orientation Resolution Therapy.
Consiglio also is the author of the book
“Homosexual No More.” Lock’s presence at the conference is being
highlighted on the website of the controversial organization National
Association for Research & Therapy of Homosexuality, which
identifies Lock as a member.
The association’s website says “clients
have the right to diminish their homosexuality and to develop their
heterosexual potential. The right to seek therapy to change one’s sexual
adaptation should be considered self-evident and inalienable.”
Friends who wonder how they got on the email list for the Seventh Congressional District Republican Party sent along this email from Craig Bishop the CD7 chair:
To
All Who Are Concerned About Our Freedoms and Liberties: This is a must to
attend:
[set in a different font in email] Just a
reminder of our special event with Brigitte Gabriel coming up tomorrow night ,
Monday, July 29. The event is located at the Little Falls Community High
School. 1001 5th Avenue SE. Little Falls. Doors open at 6 pm,
program starts at 7 pm. I hope you and your friends can make it.
Please
pass this information on to your conservative friend list and talk with your
local churches, Legions, and VFW's. Thank you for all you can do and I am
hoping you and your friends are able to attend this very special event hosted by
the Central Minnesota Tea Party Patriots. Please RSVP for yourself and for
anyone who does not have a computer - thanks for doing this and thanks for those
who have already done so. I am tracking our guestimated numbers as our goal is
to reach a minimum of 500 people in attendance. If we do not get that
many, we will have to pay Brigitte's traveling expenses.
I know we
would do better, but it has been requested that we not put this event in
newspapers or put up flyers - any advertising like that will be done by
Brigitte's organization if they choose to do so. I have contacted a few
law enforcement agencies, but if you have email addresses for me, I will send a
personal invitation to those in your areas. All law enforcement showing
their badges at the door get in free - we want them educated! [emphasis added]
Thanks
and hope to see you there,
Nancy Judd Central Minnesota Tea Party
Patriots -Browerville area
[contact information redacted.
One of the penalties
for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by
your inferiors. Plato
Bluestem wonders if Tea Party events are a good place for law enforcement personnel to receive anti-terrorism education. It's not likely that the free admission is prohibited under Minnesota's gift law, according to a handbook published by the League of Minnesota Cities, although local governments and law enforcement departments may have established their own policies about the sort of gifts officers and employees can accept.
If they are a peaceful loving American, why are they concerned? They
came here for our freedoms, but now they do not want us to have our
freedoms. Brigitte is the leading expert on global Islamic Terrorism -
if they are not terrorists, they have nothing to be afraid of [emphasis added]. I chose
an expert for a reason. There is strength in numbers, so I am hoping to
fill the auditorium on Monday night. Doors open at 6, program starts
at 7 pm. This is a must event to attend.
As we noted in an earlier post, the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Anti-Defamation League and others have pointed out that Gabriel's beliefs are considered extreme. The New York Times used the word "Islamophobe" to describe her.
CAIR-Minnesota has not objected to the Gabriel appearance the next night in Mankato, as it will be held in a private venue, not a public high school.
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It is a truth universally acknowledged, that party activists are more ideologically rigid than the common run of their fellow citizens. Those seeking party office, whether on the right or left, are well advised to recall this maxim.
However little known the feelings or views of such a man may be on his
first entering a BPOU or congressional district meeting, this truth is so well fixed in the minds of
the delegates, that he will hear little other than like minds.
Keith Downey thinks otherwise. In GOP fixing from within, the state chair of the Republican Party of Minnesota tells Marshall Independent editor Per Peterson that campaigning among the base for his party office put him in touch with "average Minnesotans":
"One of the most positive features on the campaign for chairman was I
got to visit with Minnesotans from all over the state," he said. "I came
away convinced that the average Minnesotans, while they are living
their lives, tending to their families and communities, their values are
fundamentally conservative. . . .
Facing a vote of conservative party activists must have been refreshing for Downey, who lost a state senate race to Melisa Franzen after both candidates had to visit with people in Edina, Bloomington and parts of Eden Prairie and Minnetonka.
Downey also observes that Minnesotans want jobs so they can using food stamps and welfare. Bluestem recommends that he check out this coalition, which so wants the same thing.
Photo: Via the Star Tribune, Keith Downey's fundamentally conservative people from around the state met while he was campaigning for party chair.
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Hansen has written that his job is to keep the public informed in "an ever-shrinking world":
My position at the Dispatch is to raise an awareness of issues
that are impacting our area on a city, county, state, national and
international level. In an ever-shrinking world, our readers must be
aware of news down the street and around the world to be informed
citizens.
ACORN and other community organizing groups will be in charge of
signing folks up for the Affordable Care Act. That’s right, community
organizing groups.
What’s wrong with that idea?
“Giving community organizers access to the Federal Data Hub is bad
policy and potentially a danger to civil liberties,” House Budget
Committee chairman Paul Ryan told me recently. “But it’s one of the most
underreported stories I’ve seen. If people only knew about this Data
Hub program, it would touch off a huge public outcry.” . . .
Oddly, Paul Ryan doesn't seem to have said that to Keith Hansen, but rather to John Fund at the National Review. In Obamacare’s Branch of the NSA, Fund wrote:
“Giving community organizers access to the Federal Data Hub is bad
policy and potentially a danger to civil liberties,” House Budget
Committee chairman Paul Ryan told me recently. “But it’s one of the most
underreported stories I’ve seen. If people only knew about this Data
Hub program, it would touch off a huge public outcry.”
Other passages--quoting sources that Fund used--are copied in the Hansen article. Hansen does attribute one quoted paragraph to the National Review, although he doesn't mention Fund or the title of the particular post and the pararaph before the quote closely resembles Fund's text. Hansen writes:
Navigators, as they will be called, will have access to sensitive
data. For example, Social Security numbers, tax returns and other
documents will be viewed by these community organizers. The big deal
comes into play when one realizes that there will be no criminal
background check required of these navigators. That’s correct, no
background checks.
“Both U.S. Census Bureau and IRS employees must meet those minimum
standards, if only because no one wants someone who has been convicted
of identity theft getting near Americans’ personal records. But HHS is
unconcerned,” National Review Online stated.
Compare that to Fund's text:
. . .navigators will have
access to sensitive data such as Social Security numbers and tax
returns, there will be no criminal background checks required for them.
Indeed, they won’t even have to have high-school diplomas. Both U.S.
Census Bureau and IRS employees must meet those minimum standards, if
only because no one wants someone who has been convicted of identity
theft getting near Americans’ personal records.
Given how much of Hansen's material is lifted from the Fund post, the Vice President of Audience Development at the Brainerd Dispatch shouldn't be worried about ACORN. He should worry about basic standards of attributing source material in the digital world into which Morris Media hired him.
. . . Little Falls School District Superintendent Stephen Jones said
Wednesday he reviewed the school district policies that were cited in
CAIR’s news release with a representative of the Tea Party group and
they “signed off in writing” that the presentation would adhere to them.
Jones gave no indication the district would cancel the speech at the
school. Little Falls School Board Chairperson Sharon Ballou had referred
a reporter to Jones for comment.
CAIR Executive Director Lori Saroya said Wednesday the school
district had been made aware of her organization’s objections and it had
not received a response from the district. Even though school is not in
session the fact that the speech is going to be given at that site,
Saroya said, sends a message to students.
In its news release, CAIR Executive Director Lori Saroya said: "As
Little Falls High School would not and should not allow a racist or
anti-Semitic speaker to use its facilities, we ask that school and
district officials apply the same standard to an anti-Muslim speaker."
She added that the speech would violate the district's harassment and
violence policy which seeks "to maintain learning and working
environment that is free from harassment and violence on the basis of
... religion ..." According to CAIR, the policy specifically states the
school district should avoid having an "intimidating, hostile or
offensive environment." The CAIR news release asserts Gabriel's speech
would violate the district's policy on religion which, according to the
organization, states: "The school district shall neither promote no
disparage any religious beliefs or nonbeliefs." . . .
An Islamic civil rights group said Thursday it wants the Little Falls
school district to clarify assurances that district policies
prohibiting harassment and religious disparagement will not be violated
during a Central Minnesota Tea Party event Monday at Little Falls High
School.The Minnesota chapter of the
Council on American-Islamic Relations said it will seek clarification
after a district official said a tea party group has “signed off in
writing” that a scheduled appearance by Brigitte Gabriel, head of the
group ACT! for America, will not violate those policies. CAIR-MN
describes Gabriel as having anti-Muslim views.
In
response to a question from the Times Editorial Board, Little Falls
Superintendent Stephen Jones confirmed that the [Central Minnesota Tea Party] group and school had
entered into the agreement.
. . . CAIR-MN
Executive Director Lori Saroya said the civil rights group will monitor
the event and will consider filing a federal complaint against the
school district if the policies are violated.
The Dispatch noted that the local tea party sponsors are kicking media inquiries to Gabriel's group:
Nancy Judd of the Tea Party group declined to comment on the event and
referred a reporter to an email for Guy Rodgers of ACT! for America.
Rodgers could not be reached Wednesday.
As of this posting, the Tea Party has made no mention of the Little Falls controversy on its website or blog.
Photo: Little Falls Community High School.
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In the war of words over property tax changes enacted in the 2011-2012 legislative session while the Republicans held the majority, the pachyderm party greets the claim that their actions led to raised property taxes with the notion that only local government can raise property taxes.
The city of Madelia has little debt, and pays what it has quickly. Its
conservative budgets create annual surpluses in both utility and general
government accounts. And it has plenty of money saved up.
Moody’s Investors Services, a firm that examines how well governments
and companies are able to pay their debts, heaped praise on the city
during a recent credit rating change. The only surprise was the
direction of the change — Moody’s lowered the city’s credit rating.
The agency cited residents’ relatively low incomes and steep declines in the city’s tax base.
Madelia is not alone. About 40 Minnesota cities, including six in
south- central Minnesota, have seen their credit ratings lowered in the
past 18 months, almost all by Moody’s. There was only one downgrade in
2011. . . .
Declines in tax base are cited as a reason for the downgrade in
nearly every case, though most of the downgraded cities have other
problems as well. Many or most Minnesota cities lost some tax base in
the recession as home prices fell, but a steeper decline took effect in
2012 after the Legislature changed how taxable value is calculated.
To give lower-valued homes a tax break, the Legislature decided to
exempt part of their value from taxes. This shifted the tax burden to
more- expensive houses and businesses, but it did not, by itself, affect
the amount of taxes cities collected. There was still a tax
consequence, though, as cities were forced to raise their tax rates to
compensate for the reduction in tax base.
The result, especially in rural cities with older houses, was that the
tax base fell dramatically. Madelia’s market value dropped by 23 percent
in 2012, to $62.8 million. Of that decline, about 84 percent was due to
the tax change, said Gary Carlson, government affairs director for the
League of Minnesota Cities.
Linehan notes Moody's response, which includes the following observation:
The statement noted that while cities can still increase their levies,
“political unwillingness to do so in some cases has led to fiscal
pressure.”
Moody’s cited North Mankato as an example: “ The city has also not
raised its property tax levy to increase revenue although it has the
ability to do so.”
Ah yes. Raise taxes as a consequence of the legislative changes--and be slammed by representatives of the party that enacted those changes. Don't raise taxes? Get slammed by Moody's--and scrutinized by a conservative media outlet funded by conservative dark money.
. . .The 2011-2012 Republican majority in both houses of the Legislature
and Gov. Mark Dayton approved a change in the way property was valued.
In essence, the mostly Republican plan that Dayton agreed to lowered
values on paper. The assessed value of the properties were lowered in
order to provide homeowners with property tax relief.
Most of the
value decline through the Legislation aimed to provide tax relief to
lower valued homes, and cities with a lot of lower valued homes took the
biggest hit as a result. . . .
The trend of downgrades especially in small-town, outstate Minnesota
should be cause for concern to legislators in those districts and
statewide. A change in the way property taxes are calculated appears to
be one of the main reasons taxes are rising. The legislation had an
impact opposite of what was intended.
This episode should be a
very cautionary tale for legislators who are prone to jigger with local
property tax law without understanding the full implications.
Small
cities in Minnesota continue to be at risk for fiscal pressure as they
continue to face dwindling tax bases and income levels. Moody’s has been
making this assessment for a few years and now has acted on it by
lowering credit ratings and forcing these small towns into even tougher
fiscal decisions.
But some of that fiscal pain comes from the unintended actions of the Legislature and governor.
While Dayton bears some responsibility for the change, it's worth remembering how the Republican legislature was hell-bent for their notion of "reform."
Photo: Little Madelia may be the pride of the prairie, but Moody's was not impressed. The Mankato Free Press looked into the issue.
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While happy same-sex couples put the final touches on finally-legal nuptials, New Ulm Bishop John LeVoir will be speaking at the annual conference in Mundelein, Ill. for the Catholic ministry organization Courage Apostolate.
Bishop John LeVoir of the Diocese of New Ulm will be a guest speaker
Friday at the annual conference in Mundelein, Ill. for the Catholic
ministry organization Courage Apostolate.
Started in the 1980s,
Courage Apostolate argues that people with same-sex attraction must lead
"chaste lives," or lifetime abstinence in terms of same-sex
interactions, in order to lead a life following the Catholic Church's
teachings. Support group meetings use a slightly modified version of the
12-step program from Alcoholics Anonymous, with the goal of same-sex
abstinence. The group is open to all denominations.
LeVoir's
speech is entitled "What Does it Mean to be a Human Image of God?" He
said it focuses on man and women being "in God's image" and that Jesus
revealed "sexual love should be expressed only between a man and a woman
who are married to one another."
"[Jesus] taught that any sexual act outside of marriage is not an act of authentic human love," said LeVoir in an e-mail. . . .
Levoir helped establish Courage's Minnesota chapter, Moniz writes, and acted as its first chaplain from 1997 until 2007 through the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, shortly before he became bishop.
According to Moniz's article, Courage members may may asked to "chaste away the gay" but they're not required to submit to "pray away the gay" therapy:
Courage neither requires its members to change their same-sex
attractions nor encourages them to seek that change. Check said they do
not address the controversial practices of "reparative therapy" or
"conversion therapy," which seek to change a homosexual individual's
orientation to heterosexual, and their policy prohibits facilitating
members that seek these programs. These therapies are widely rebuked by
gay rights organizations and by the American Psychological Association,
which calls them "harmful."
As a "gay activist" Kevin fought for many causes including a radical
redefinition of marriage called “gay marriage.” Well, thanks in no small
part to Outpost – the local chapter of Exodus – and Father John Harvey's Courage group, Kevin left that whole lifestyle by the mid 90’s. With the wonderful help of Bishop John LeVoir (then pastor of Holy Trinity in South Saint Paul) Kevin worked with Archbishop Flynn in getting a Courage group formed in the St. Paul/Minneapolis archdiocese!
There's nothing online in which the Bishop returns the admiration or the credit.
Photo: The conference will take place at University of
Saint Mary of the Lake, also called Mundelein Seminary, the principal
seminary and school of theology for the formation of priests in the
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago, governed from Chicago, Illinois
in the United States.
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Montevideo real estate and insurance agent Scott Van Binsbergen believes he belongs in public office.
He thought so in Republican bumper-year 1994 when he challenged Doug Peterson, now president of the Minnesota Farmers Union, for his seat in the Minnesota House.
He thought so in 2006, when he challenged Clara City's quiet state representative, Lyle Koenen, who now serves as a socially conservative DFL senator.
Scott Van Binsbergen, a Minnesota businessman
and former staffer for retired Rep. Vin Weber, R-Minn., confirmed to CQ
Roll Call on Wednesday that he is eyeing a bid against Rep. Collin C.
Peterson, D-Minn., in the 7th District.
Van Binsbergen said in a phone interview that he didn’t have a
timeline for his decision but said he has met with the National
Republican Congressional Committee, as well as delegates from the Minnesota Republican Party, as he considers the race.
“I’m extremely interested,” said Van Binsbergen, who in 2006 ran an
unsuccessful bid for state House in Minnesota. “I’ve been out meeting
with delegates and political people from around the district and around
the state, but I haven’t put a timeline on [an announcement].” . . .
Roll Call missed the earlier unsuccessful race against Doug Peterson and Van Binsbergen's work for Rudy Boschwitz. On November 3, 1994, the Star Tribune reported that Arne Carlson promoted Van Binsbergen's candidacy in a campaign stop:
Carlson promoted Scott Van Binsbergen,
a 25-year-old insurance agent in Montevideo, in the western part of the
state. Van Binsbergen is trying to knock off Rep. Doug Peterson, a
second-term DFLer from Madison.
"Having the ratings
[Carlson] has going into the election, I'm really pleased [with] the
top of the ticket," Van Binsbergen said.
Carlson
was almost a political pariah in his own party when he lost the
endorsing contest to Allen Quist. Since his strong primary win, however,
he's become sought-after by other IR candidates, and has maintained his
lead over Marty in public opinion polls. (Robert Whereatt, Carlson reconsiders death penalty stance, Nexis All-News, accessed July 24, 2013)
Peterson defeated the then-young businessman in 1994 (page 15) with a 7848 to 6742 split, with the challenger winning Chippewa County.
This wasn't repeated on his second bid slightly more than a decade later Koenen defeated Van Binsbergen in 2006 by taking 57.07 percent of the vote; the Republican businessman lost in his hometown of Montevideo, taking only one township in Chippewa County and a handful of precincts in the entire district. The vote was closest in Renville County, where Van Binsbergen still lost.
Searching the Minnesota Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure records, Bluestem found that Van Binsbergen gave $447.94 to his own campaign in 2006 and $137.50 to former Minnesota House Minority Leader Marty Seifert's unsuccessful gubernatorial campaign in 2009. No large contributions are listed for federal candidates in the Federal Election Commission's database.
In April, the Star Tribune reported in Republicans make U.S. Rep. Collin Peterson an early target that Van Binsbergen had formed an exploratory committee for the race but hadn't committed yet to running. No paperwork for Binsbergen is yet online with the FEC.
Will Van Binsbergen's emergence in this decade prove the trick and launch him into public office? Or will we wait in Chippewa County for him to crawl out again in 2022?
Photo: Scott Van Binsbergen, via his Facebook page.
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Early this month, Bluestem posted about radical Islamophobe Brigitte Gabriel's coming appearances at two tea party-sponsored events in Little Falls and Mankato.
An Islamic civil rights group is calling for the Little Falls school
district to not host a speaking event with a woman who they call an
anti-Muslim speaker.
Brigitte Gabriel is
scheduled to speak Monday at Little Falls Community High School at a
Central Minnesota Tea Party event. Gabriel is a member of ACT! for
America.
The
Minnesota chapter of the Council on American Islamic Relations issued a
press release asking the school district to consider the negative impact
Gabriel will have on the students.
“By
allowing the school to host this event, the perception is that the
school is endorsing hate speech and anti-Muslim views,” said CAIR-MN
Executive Director Lori Saroya in a news release. “This perception could
have a negative impact on the learning environment for Muslim
students.”
Messages
left with Little Falls school district Superintendent Stephen Jones and
the Central Minnesota Tea Party Patriots, which is sponsoring the
event, were not immediately returned Wednesday.
Hosting
an anti-Muslim speaker would also violate the district’s harassment and
violence policy, Saroya said. The policy seeks “to maintain learning
and working environment that is free from harassment and violence on the
basis of... religion.”
Saroya
said the speech would also contradict the school district’s policy on
religion, which states: “The school district shall neither promote nor
disparage any religious beliefs or nonbeliefs.”
Gabriel has said that an American Muslim cannot be a loyal citizen and that Islam is the real enemy, according to CAIR-MN.
Are off-hours uses of building governed by public schools' student & staff policy?
And yet, CAIR-MN's press release seems to mix policy for students and staff while school is in session with a community group's use of the building in the off-hours.
Local school facilities are often used by faith-based and political community groups in off-hours in small towns. In Hutchinson, for example, a "mission" church congregation uses one of the public schools on Sunday for services, presumably renting the space. In Little Falls, Faith Lutheran Church worships in the middle school commons on Sunday, according to the Morrison County Record's online church directory. Political parties hold their caucuses at public schools, and many county and district political conventions use the spaces across the state. Often, the buildings are the only inexpensive handicapped-accessible spaces in small towns that can handle a large turn-out.
While Gabriel's message is--as the publicist for her book said--"extreme," it's not being presented to school children during school hours during the school year. If the Little Falls school district has no record or policy of refusing off-hour rental or use to a community group based on the school policies on religion, harassment or violence, CAIR-MN's request is off the mark. Better to organize an educational program to counter Gabriel's hateful clap-trap.
Little Falls' earlier free speech battle now in federal court
The larger Little Falls community has been engaged in a free speech battle that's unrelated to the Tea Party or the public schools. Robin Hensel, who was asked to take down yard signs supportive of the Occupy Wall Street movement, is suing the town. In its latest coverage, the Morrison County Record reports in Federal judge rules to allow deposition of LF Council in Hensel’s lawsuit:
Frost filed Hensel’s initial lawsuit in May 2012, in federal court. Hensel’s lawsuit against the city alleges the city violated Hensel’s Constitutional rights to free speech, among other reasons, by requiring her to remove signs placed in her yard saying they were against city ordinance, while failing to request other unlawful signs in the city be removed.
Hensel was removed for disorderly conduct at a recent City Council meeting and her lawyer asks:
Regarding Hensel’s hearing on the disorderly conduct charge, Monday, Frost said having Hensel removed from Council Chambers before the June 7 rescheduled City Council meeting, constitutes discrimination based on viewpoint “and maybe some other constitutional violations,” he said.
“Could the city be sued for that too? We think so,” said Frost. “We think that even going there is a vivid demonstration on how far Little Falls will go to keep Robin’s viewpoint, however unpopular, from being presented. In short, evidence for the existing lawsuit.”
One would think that the same principle would apply to Gabriel's Tea Party speaking engagement in space rented at a public school. If community groups are able to obtain the space in off-hours without regard to their viewpoint, then Gabriel and the Tea Party, like Republicans, DFLers and Lutherans (and hypothetically, CAIR-MN), should have access to the space.
Public officials shouldn't censor, and there's a difference between criticism (our take Gabriel's views) and prior censorship based solely on the views. However, if the school district has refused space in the past based on community standards (say the Black Snake Militia or the Ku Klux Klan), there might be a case to be made.
UPDATE
Bluestem was just about to post the material above when we received CAIR-MN's press release. Here it is:
CAIR-MN Asks School to Drop Anti-Islam Tea Party Speaker
Brigitte Gabriel says Arabs have ‘no soul,’ Islam is the ‘real enemy’
(MINNEAPOLIS, MN, 7/24/13) – The Minnesota chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-MN) today called on Independent School District #482 and Little Falls Community High School to consider the negative impact a scheduled speech by an anti-Muslim speaker will have on district students and to rescind approval to hold the event in a school facility.
On July 29, 2013, the Central Minnesota Tea Party will feature anti-Muslim speaker “Brigitte Gabriel” from the hate group ACT! For America at an event in Little Falls Community High Schoo
“As Little Falls High School would not, and should not allow a racist or an anti-Semitic speaker to use its facilities, we ask that school and district officials apply the same standard to an anti-Muslim speaker,” said CAIR-MN Executive Director Lori Saroya. “By allowing the school to host this event, the perception is that the school is endorsing hate speech and anti-Muslim views. This perception could have a negative impact on the learning environment for Muslim students.”
Saroya added that hosting an anti-Muslim speaker would also violate the district’s Harassment and Violence Policy. The Harassment and Violence Policy seeks “to maintain learning and working environment that is free from harassment and violence on the basis of . . . religion . . .” The policy specifically states that the school district should avoid having an “intimidating, hostile or offensive environment.
Gabriel’s speech would also contradict the School District’s policy on Religion, which states: “The school district shall neither promote nor disparage any religious beliefs or nonbeliefs.” This policy encourages “tolerance” and this event is a clear contradiction to the policy as it clearly promotes intolerance.
ACTION REQUESTED: (As always, be POLITE and respectful.)
Contact: Independent School District # 482 Superintendent Stephen Jones: 320-632-2001, [email protected]; Little Falls Community High School Principal Tim Bjorge: 320-616-2201, [email protected]
ACT! for America leader Hanah Kahwagi Tudor, who goes by the pseudonym “Brigitte Gabriel,” claims an American Muslim "cannot be a loyal citizen" and that Islam is the "real enemy." She once told the Australian Jewish News: "Every practicing Muslim is a radical Muslim." She also claimed that "Islamo-fascism is a politically-correct word. . .it's the vehicle for Islam. . .Islam is the problem.
According to an exposé of the group by the Tennessean newspaper, “ACT members see themselves as warriors in a clash between Western civilization and Islam.”
The Southern Poverty Law Center lists Gabriel as one of the “Anti-Islam Inner Circle” and says, “She is prone to sweeping generalizations and exaggerations as she describes a grand, sophisticated Muslim conspiracy bent on world domination.”
When asked whether Americans should "resist Muslims who want to seek political office in this nation," Gabriel said: "Absolutely. If a Muslim who has -- who is -- a practicing Muslim who believes the word of the Koran to be the word of Allah, who abides by Islam, who goes to mosque and prays every Friday, who prays five times a day -- this practicing Muslim, who believes in the teachings of the Koran, cannot be a loyal citizen to the United States of America."
Gabriel stated: "America and the West are doomed to failure in this war unless they stand up and identify the real enemy: Islam."
Along with her stated desire to have Muslims barred from public office, Gabriel has also claimed that Arabs "have no soul" and that Muslims worship "something they call 'Allah,' which is very different from the God we believe [in]."
A person staffing an ACT! for America information table in Florida was caught on video bragging that he desecrated the Quran, Islam's revealed text, and urinates in the washing stations Muslims use to perform their ritual ablutions (wudu) for prayer.
That person states: “Their foot baths, I love pissing in them. . .The Quran makes worthless toilet paper. It just kind of scratches my a** a little bit. . .To me, I like desecrating their [Muslims’] holy stuff.”
According to an exposé of Gabriel and her group published in the New York Times:
“Through her books, media appearances and speeches, and her organization, ACT! for America, Ms. Gabriel has become one of the most visible personalities on a circuit of self-appointed terrorism detectors who warn that Muslims pose an enormous danger within United States borders.”
The New York Times also stated: “[Gabriel] presents a portrait of Islam so thoroughly bent on destruction and domination that it is unrecognizable to those who study or practice the religion.
Another exposé of Gabriel’s hate group published on Politico.com quoted an Arab-American activist who said: “The idea that congressional staffers would agree to meet an organization led by a woman whose agenda is pure unadulterated hatred and whose purported life story is a laughable fiction -- it’s sad.”
CAIR is America's largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization. Its mission is to enhance the understanding of Islam, encourage dialogue, protect civil liberties, empower American Muslims, and build coalitions that promote justice and mutual understanding.
Photo: Little Falls High School.
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Tom Emmer, a Republican candidate for U.S. Congress in the district that includes the St. Cloud area, will speak at a local tea party event Tuesday night.
The event will be at Michael’s Restaurant, 510 U.S. Highway 10 S in St. Cloud, according to a news release from the Central MN TEA Party.
Emmer, a candidate for Congress in Minnesota’s 6th District and the Minnesota GOP’s 2010 gubernatorial nominee, will discuss the Affordable Care Act, immigration, the IRS, the NSA and privacy, according to the release.
The information is also up on the Central Minnesota Tea Party events page, which adds the "America on the Brink" found in our headline, and a request that readers "Come and meet Mr. Emmer and ask questions!"
For ourselves, Bluestem's hoping that someone in the blue-helmet-obsessed chapter asks Tom about Agenda 21--perhaps about conservation grazing--that someone other than a progressive organization or party tracker gets video of that for us to share with you.
On the other hand, when the DCCC/DFL/ABM shares theirs with MnPublius, we will so give you a link to that.
In other news, the St. Cloud Times' Mark Sommerhauser reports in the Political Quarry blog that a serious DFL candidate may be entering the race. In Perske appears ready to take step, Sommerhauser writes:
Sartell Mayor Joe Perske, who’s pondering running as a DFLer to succeed U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann, says a final announcement on his plans could come as soon as this week.
Based on his comments to the Times in interviews last week, Perske sounds almost ready to join the fray. . . .
Perske says he considers himself a “Blue Dog,” or centrist, Democrat because he says he’s against abortion rights and supports Second Amendment rights. Still, he says he’s not a Republican because they aren’t offering solutions to create livable wage jobs or improve education or health care access.
As Sommerhauser notes, the district is considered Republican-leaning.
Photo: Enter Tom Emmer, laughing. We laugh too.
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Bluestem's editor can understand the desire to appeal to the presumed authority of dead Presidents, but after spending some years toiling in Franklin's Library Company, we also prize Ronald Reagan's maxim about verifying information.
Fake quotes have a whiff about them, an odor of present-ist convenience, and thus when we read America’s future depends upon being ‘one nation under God," a column by Nate Bjorge, pastor of Little Falls' Faith Luthern Church (LCMC), in the Morrison County Record, we paused on the first paragraph:
James Madison (our fourth President), the primary author of the
Constitution, said, “We have staked the whole future of our new nation
not upon the power of government; far from it. We have staked the future
of all political constitutions upon the capacity of each of ourselves
to govern ourselves according to the moral principles of the Ten
Commandments.
The inaccurate Madison Ten Commandments quote was circulated among the Religious Right chiefly by David Barton, a Texas man who peddles a revisionist history arguing that the United States was founded as a "Christian nation." In 1996, Barton admitted that the quote is bogus and recommended that people stop using it.
In 1993, the curators of the Madison Papers at the University of Virginia were asked if they could verify the quote. They replied that they could not. Wrote Curators John Stagg and David Mattern, "We did not find anything in our files remotely like the sentiment expressed in the extract you sent us. In addition, the idea is inconsistent with everything we know about Madison's views on religion and government, views which he expressed time and time again in public and in private."
It's 2013, and yet this fake quote still walks among us.
Bjorge's second paragraph is a cut-and-paste of an oft-cited-on-the-internet passage on sites attempting to establish the "Christian" origins of the Constitution (usually in proximity to the bogus 10 Commandments fake Madison quote) that claims Madison took the notion of separation of powers from a passage in Isaiah (which actually suggests quite the opposite--that the three powers are all in one divine person). Until there's an more authoritative source about Madison's supposed inspiration at the Constitutional Convention, Bluestem will take his word for it in the Federalist Papers that the idea came from Montesquieu.
But even the passage from Isaish doesn't quite say when Bjorge's online source takes it to say. Bjorge cuts and pastes:
He Madison] discovered this model of government from the “Perfect Governor,”
as he read Isaiah 33:22; “For the Lord is our judge, [judicial] the Lord
is our lawgiver, [legislative] the Lord is our king; [executive] he
will save us.”
In the Morrison County Record column, Bjorge sees the branches of government slipping away from "the Biblical
principles upon which they were established" or that Borge imagines they were established:
If you have been following the news, it appears with each passing day
our branches of government are moving further away from the Biblical
principles upon which they were established. It is hard to keep up with
all the scandals such as the Benghazi scandal, the A.P. scandal and the
IRS scandals. Are we “one nation under God” or have we, as St. Paul
claims, “exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshipped and
served the creature rather than the Creator.” (Romans 1:25)
Heaven alone can answer that question.
Whatever the answer, Bjorge seems quite content to exchange rigorous scholarship and attribution for bogus quotes that confirm a truth he imagines he knows. If one knows Scripture, it seems a sly dog whistle to blame those scandals on the behavior described in the next verse Romans 1:26. Who knew cute boys and strong women could take the blame for every keruffle of the Obama administration?
As for "one nation under God," that's not a phrase slipped into the national discourse by the founding fathers, but into the originally secular 1892 "Pledge of Allegiance" by Congress in 1954.
Bjorge's faith is protected by the Bill of Rights, of course--as is Bluestem's freedom to post a review of sourcing. We do have to wonder, though, why one man's Truth contains such a run of historical bogosity.
Image: A miniature of the young Madison.
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U.S. industrial giant 3M Co. plans to invest $400 million over the
next three years in three research centers in Mexico, Mexican President
Enrique Peña Nieto said.
"This investment, made today in this research and development center,
comes as part of an investment project shared with us by 3M for the
next two-and-a-half years, three (years), of $400 million to open two
more manufacturing centers," the president said during the inauguration
Tuesday of a research center in San Luis Potosi state.
3M, the diversified maker of
reflective road markings, office goods such as Scotch tape and Post-it
notes, dental filling material and thousands of other products, gets
about two-thirds of its revenue from outside the U.S.
Was ALEC member Draz subtweeting against globalization? Against NAFTA and other trade agreements? Against reading comprehension?
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The St. Cloud Times and other media are reporting that Taxpayers League honcho and former Minnesota state representative Phil Krinkie has entered the scrum for Republican nomination for the congressional seat left open by the pending departure of Michele Bachmann.
With Bachmann gone, the seat is considered safe Republican, but if past is prologue, Krinkie's entry should racket up the silly factor in the pachyderm party's quest for a candidate. Krinkie's nod for the endorsement in 2006 (eventually secured by Bachmann) brought some high notes into the silly season.
Krinkie served in the Minnesota House from 1991 to 2006 and served as
chair of the powerful House Taxes Committee. He now is president of the
Taxpayers League of Minnesota and serves on the board of trustees for
the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system.Krinkie
says his first formal campaign event will be Saturday in Elk River at
the Sherburne County Fair. He says he’ll tell voters and GOP delegates
that he’s the most experienced, qualified candidate to tackle the
nation’s fiscal woes. . . .
Krinkie said he will seek the GOP endorsement again this time around. But at this point, he’s not pledging to abide by it.
“I would never want to commit to something I couldn’t keep,” he said.
Krinkie
said he now lives in Shoreview, just outside of the 6th District. He
said he plans to relocate into the district at some point during the
campaign.
With those margins, Quist has certainly earned the right to say when he's embarrassed, and he's circulating a letter to local newspapers in which he shares his feelings. The New Ulm Journal was first to post Walz embarrasses us on the Farm Bill:
We should all be embarrassed by the behavior of Tim Walz regarding the farm bill.
Walz
used the label "extremist" to describe anyone who wants to trim back
the excessive price tag of $1 trillion over ten years. Name calling
instead of giving information is unbecoming a Congressman. . . .
Congressmen like Walz are the
reason government spending is out of control. They are the reason
Congress has an all time low approval rate.
Name calling,
falsehoods, unwillingness to be part of good government procedure and
out of control spending - that is what we have in Tim Walz.
Quist whined about Walz name calling during the congressional race as well. Read the entire letter at the Journal. A local Republican from North Mankato writes to agree with Quist.
I read the recent letter to the editor by Allen Quist. I found his
attack on Tim Walz the epitome of what is wrong in Washington.
Mr.
Quist seemed to forget that just a few weeks ago Congressman Walz voted
for the bipartisan Farm Bill, passed out of the Republican controlled
committee. This would reduce spending and give much needed reform.
This was a bill that included cuts to the SNAP program that Mr. Quist
has so desperately desired and then forgets to even mention it.
This
country was built on compromise. (This means give and take, not just
one way!!) And rather than have common sense reforms, Allen Quist would
rather take an extreme - yes, extreme - position on one of the most
bi-partisan bills to come before Congress and create more gridlock in
Washington.
I think Mr. Quist isn't interested in what is right
for southern Minnesotans, he'd rather shut down Congress than have a
bipartisan, common-sense bills pass.
Tim Walz iz one of the only people working for us.
I went on youtube video and watched his talk before Congress and was so proud of him and so proud he was our representative.
Nelson's earlier letters to the Journal suggest that she's a Democrat. Others have used the word "embarrassment" discussing current Farm Bill politics, like MSNBC's UP in What you get for embarrassing the Speaker of the House:
Boehner and the GOP leadership pushed
the Farm bill even farther to the right, using a party-line vote on to
pass a bill that doesn't include food stamps. It's the first time in 40
years that the program has been stripped out of a farm bill. Steve
Kornacki’s panelists discuss.
Walz doesn't seem central to the discourse of chagrin, however outraged his defeated opponent may become. Here's the YouTube of Walz that so upset Mr. Quist:
Cartoon: Quist continues to rise from a political grave and Ken Avidor's drawing suggests the means.Via City Page/Avidor Brodkorb Files.
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I read many papers and magazines. Recently I read about three past
presidents of the U.S.A. and how they dealt with a problem which still
creates turmoil in our nation.
Did you know that at the beginning of the Great Depression in the
1930s, President Hoover ordered the deportation of all illegal aliens to
make jobs available for the American citizens who were desperate to
find jobs?
President Harry Truman deported more than two million illegal aliens to free up jobs for veterans returning from World War II.
President Eisenhower began the deportation of illegal aliens in 1954.
His intent was to free up jobs for veterans returning from World War II
and the Korean war. The program led to approximately 13 million
illegals being deported. We currently have at least that many illegals
here today, taking jobs from millions of unemployed Americans.
So, if Presidents could deport illegal aliens in those past times,
our current President could do so today. It is fair to ask, why can’t
this be done today?
And, the answer is simply that Hoover, Truman, and Eisenhower were men of honor, not dishonest politicians looking for votes.
Today’s untrustworthy politicians instead want us to pay our recently
increased taxes so they can fund the many benefit giveaways to the 13
to 24 million illegals here today. So, don’t forget to pay your taxes
cheerfully.
Most of the wording isn't even original to Peterson, who so fears the dishonest and untrustworthy or at least, plagiarizes from those who claim to so so when they distort history.
This distortion of history has been going around for some time, but
has picked up momentum as the immigration debate has heated up again. So
we contacted researchers at the Hoover, Truman and Eisenhower libraries
to ask if the historical record backs up the claims that these
presidents ordered mass deportations. It doesn’t. We also consulted the
Office of the Historian of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration
Services, and a leading academic historian as well. We got the same
answer. This e-mail message is bogus.
The true history of presidential policy toward illegal immigration,
and of deportations, is neither as simple nor as successful as claimed.
Hoover did not use immigration policy to "create jobs" and never
"ordered the deportation of all illegal aliens." During his four-year
presidency, roughly 121,000 persons were officially deported or induced
to leave through threat of deportation, according to our analysis of
official statistics. (We explain our sources and analytical methods
fully in the "Where We Got The Numbers" section below.)
Truman did not try to "create jobs for returning veterans" by
ordering deportations. In fact, he signed legislation protecting the
rights of Mexican migrant laborers recruited legally to help harvest
U.S. crops, and was unable to win congressional approval of measures to
crack down on employers of illegal immigrants. During his nearly eight
years in office, about 3.4 million were deported or left "voluntarily"
under threat of deportation.
Eisenhower did not deport 13 million Mexicans. Only one-tenth that
number was ever claimed by the federal officials in charge of
"Operation Wetback," and even that figure is criticized as inflated by
guesswork. Officially, just over 2.1 million were recorded as having
been deported or having departed under threat of deportation.
Historian Mae M. Ngai calls the message "a
most interesting distortion of history," and our research backs that
up. Ngai, now at Columbia University, told us that "none of these
presidents presided over any general deportation campaign."
So this e-mail’s claim that a president could "sure do it today" — that is, easily deport all the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants
now in the U.S. — is a conclusion based on false evidence. No
relocation effort nearly so large has ever been attempted, let alone
accomplished "in two years" as this e-mail states. . . .
Read the rest at FactCheck.
People commenting online at the Journal finding the same fact checks, although one reader adds a slightly different perspective to the dogpile:
It’s common knowledge there were a record number of deportations
in 2012 and that they have been at all time highs for almost all of the
Obama administration. Mandy could be ill-informed but, if you look
closely at her comment, she might be suggesting the efforts of President
Obama, his admistration, the Justice Department under the control of
Eric Holder should continue. (Why is it so hard for conservatives to
give credit where credit is due?) On the other hand, if her comments are
as they appear at first glance I hope the MN Department of Education
looks closely at the kind of “education” some children receive. Society
does have a right to protect itself.
According to current figures
from Immigration and Customs Enforcement -- the federal agency
responsible for deportations -- Obama has removed 1.4 million people
during his 42 months in office so far. Technically, that's fewer than
under George W. Bush, whose cumulative total was 2 million. But Bush’s number covers eight full years, which doesn’t allow an apples-to-apples comparison.
If you instead compare the two presidents’ monthly averages, it works
out to 32,886 for Obama and 20,964 for Bush, putting Obama clearly in
the lead. Bill Clinton is far behind with 869,676 total and 9,059 per
month. All previous occupants of the White House going back to 1892 fell
well short of the level of the three most recent presidents.
We wondered whether there might have been a surge of undocumented
immigrants that explained the increase, but there wasn’t. During the
first two years of Obama’s tenure, the Pew Hispanic Center estimated the
illegal immigrant population nationwide at 11.2 million, compared to an
average during Bush’s eight-year tenure of 10.6 million. And illegal
immigration actually peaked late in Bush’s second term, at which point
the recession hit and the numbers declined under Obama. Such patterns do
not explain the 57 percent bump in monthly deportations that we found
under Obama. . . .
Perhaps Peterson will start touting the records of Clinton, Bush and Obama, instead of Hoover, Truman and Ike, but Bluestem isn't holding our breath.
Image: Herbert Hoover may look tough enough in this photo to have single-handedly deported all undocumented residents during the beginning of the Great Depression. But he did no such thing.
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