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Friday, April 30, 2004
Pussy Footing When We Should Be Ass Kicking
Mackubin Thomas Owens at NRO, warns of the dangers of not acting decisively in Fallujah: If the Americans do not handle Fallujah, the impact will extend beyond the Sunni Triangle. It will send a message to the Shia that Sunni intransigence is being rewarded, and will strengthen the position of the troublemaker Moqtada al-Sadr, who may conclude that he and his Mahdi army have nothing to fear from the American "paper tigers." The war in Iraq is not yet won. It may still be lost, and, indeed, will be if Fallujah is not purged of insurgents. I hope I'm wrong, but this may be the decisive moment in our Iraq enterprise. During the Punic Wars between Carthage and the Roman Republic, Cato the Elder used to end his orations in the Senate with "delenda est Carthago" (Carthage must be destroyed). It may seem hard-hearted, but the same sentiment applies to Fallujah. How many times must we go down this same road before we learn the lesson that our enemies respect (and fear) our power, not our kindness? Sometimes it's not about winning hearts and minds, but about delivering a firm kick in the nuts.
David "Stormy" Strom has many admirable qualities. There are his intellectual accomplishments and academic credentials--including a teaching stint at Paul Wellstone U (aka Carleton College). Of course, there's his fine radio program, which runs from 9 - 11 AM on 1280 AM, The Patriot and functions as the opening act to the Saturday headliner Northern Alliance Radio. Perhaps most impressive has been his influence over public policy in Minnesota over the past few years. Dave and his organization, The Taxpayer's League, have been dogged advocates for the rights of those paying the bills for Minnesota?s deluxe, super sized, anything goes welfare state.
Most prominently, he convinced Governor Pawlenty and more than half of the House Republican Caucus to sign a "No New Taxes" pledge, which no doubt stiffened the spine of the GOP during the recent wailing and gnashing teeth by the Democrats and media to raise taxes in order to resolve last session's budget deficits. Looking back at how painlessly these deficits were overcome through spending cuts alone, it's clear Dave and the Taxpayer's League deserve much of the credit. His influence is best articulated ... by Dave himself: "There's been a sea change in the way Minnesotans look at government," said David Strom of the Taxpayers League of Minnesota, an anti-tax lobby that helped keep the lid on taxes despite unrelenting pressure for more revenue. "People just don't see their own lives, their fate, being tied to the fate of government." It's true, it's true. But even this accomplishment pales in contrast to another honor he received on Wednesday. Ladies and gentleman, with green eyes of envy, I'm here to announce that David Strom is the 2004 City Pages Villain of the Year. And all for the exact reasons I listed above, although the coffee house radicals at the CP have a slightly different interpretation: But something happened with the Republican takeover of the 2002 elections--call it hubris if you must--and suddenly Strom was starting culture wars at every turn. First, Strom was boasting that he had managed to get Pawlenty and a number of legislators to sign a "no new taxes" pledge. Then he was calling for the dismantling of any number of the state's social services. More recently, Strom weighed in on the Metro Transit bus strike, saying that buses weren't really needed after all. I saw Dave on Wednesday at the Michael Medved speech and, needless to say he, and his charming wife, were glowing with pride. Not only is he making sure our state government holds the line on profligate, wasteful spending, he's also making the 40-year-old teenagers at the City Pages squeal in discomfort. Now that's an accomplishment. So here's to Dave, the Villain of the Year. Long may he shine. Although he should watch his back, as there's a certain other media celebrity that could be gaining on him. A young, upstart broadcaster from 12-3 PM on the Patriot whose responsible for making "urine-caked drunks" the catch phrase for the new millenium. You people want a villain? This guy is a walking culture war. Labels: Media-Local (02-04)
Before heading off to the salt mine this morning, I checked my e-mail, listened to a local talk radio howler monkey, and dropped by the Strib's web site for a local news update. This produced two ideas for post worthy material. An update from the Spirit of America, and news of a drop in crime during the recent bus strike.
After cobbling them together and throwing them up on Fraters, I began my daily cruise through the Northern Alliance. All was well until I hit Mitch Berg's Shot In The Dark. Among eight subjects that Mitch posted on between 4:30am and 7:30am today (and you thought Lileks was a little manic at times?) were pieces on The Spirit of America and the bus strike/crime link. Hmmm....I thought, that's an odd coincidence isn't it? I mean what are the odds of Mitch and I covering the exact same topics. And then I started thinking about how much time I've spent with Mr. Berg of late. Trivia last Thursday at Keegan's. The radio show last Saturday. The Patriot Forum on Wednesday night. Three encounters in less than a week. We were joking around on Wednesday night that Saint Paul might spread some sort of infectious disease among the crowd at the Patriot Forum (especially the way he kept sneezing when he prepared the salad), and we'd have a replay of the Legionnaire's Disease outbreak. Now I'm worried that my recent contact with Mitch may have exposed me to a much more insidious contagion. The Berg assimilation may have begun. It's more than just the similar thought processes. Today I've had an almost overwhelming urge to bake bread and crank up some Iron City Houserockers. And that painting party is suddenly sounding like a can't miss event. Where will it end? I must resist this alien influence with all my strength and will. Failing that, I've left instructions with JB Doubtless to ensure that I will not become a Berg drone. If I start talking about my desire to take up the bag pipes, he is to exercise the Chief Bromden pillow option with extreme prejudice. Resistance is futile. Labels: Blogs-Local
Jim Hake, leader of Spirit of America, will appear on tomorrow's Northern Alliance Radio Show at 12:45pm to discuss the recent SAG effort to help U.S. Marines equip TV stations in Iraq. Here's an update from Jim on this remarkable effort:
Today we delivered the equipment that will be used to equip Iraqi-owned and operated television stations in Al Anbar province. On Saturday, May 1 the Marines will fly the equipment from March Air Force Base to Iraq. We try hard to provide rapid response to requests we receive. Here is the timeline of this project: April 8: SoA receives Marines request for television equipment. April 14: SoA posts the request on our Web site and begins fundraising. April 29: SoA delivers $82,687 of TV studio equipment to Camp Pendleton. April 29: Marines pack donated equipment and prepare for shipment to Iraq. May 1: Marines fly equipment to Iraq. This rapid turnaround makes a difference. We have received $1,532,931 in donations in the last two weeks. Contributions from 7,438 donors have been made to every request and every area of Spirit of America's operations. I can't begin to describe the effects this generosity will have on the ground in Iraq and Afghanistan - both in helping the people of those countries and in supporting the hard work of those serving there. In today's Wall St. Journal, Dan Henninger talks about Spirit of America as well in his column: The column describing Spirit of America's effort to raise $100,000 for the TV stations appeared in this space 14 days ago. Since then, the following has happened: Jim Hake, Spirit of America's entrepreneur founder, says they have received $1.52 million. Some 7,000 donations have come from every state, and one from . . . France. Mr. Hake purchased all the needed equipment and had suppliers ship directly to Camp Pendleton. Federal Express donated domestic shipping costs. Stanley Hubbard at Hubbard Broadcasting Inc. in Minnesota has offered several hundred thousand dollars in state of the art digital television equipment. That equipment would provide satellite uplink and downlink capability, allowing the Iraqis' TV stations to get program content from elsewhere in the world. Henniger thinks the reaction to SAG demonstrates the desire of Americans to get more involved in the war effort: The grand response to the Spirit of America request says to me that the public understands that we are there in Iraq and the job now isn't to debate its value but to get the job done. Most Americans don't want to be one of the partisan bobbleheads on television. They want to be part of a genuine homefront, helping. Tune in tomorrow to hear more from Jim Hake. Labels: Good Works
A story in today's Star Tribune explains that some crime ebbed during our recent bus strike:
The anecdotal stories that crime was decreasing in downtown Minneapolis, St. Paul and at the Mall of America started soon after the Metro Transit strike began in early March. Curious about what might be happening, police began discreetly monitoring crime figures and found some intriguing numbers. * Police calls at the Mall of America, especially on weekends, were down by as much as 21 percent. * Arrests in downtown Minneapolis had dropped. * In St. Paul, police calls for so-called 'quality of life' complaints, such as narcotics sales near bus stops, also had fallen. After the metro area's first transit strike in a decade, the possible relationship between the strike and crime has become a much-debated -- and politically touchy -- issue. Critics complain that the focus unnecessarily paints an unflattering portrait of bus riders. Painting an unflattering portrait of bus riders? For shame. Who would stoop to such lows? "I think it's a fair topic," Bob Gibbons, a Metro Transit spokesman, said of the crime comparisons. But he said that 75 percent of transit riders use the bus to simply go to and from work, and another 8 percent use buses to commute to school. "That is the foundation of our service. That's the vast majority of our clientele," he said. "I don't think the statistics [show] that somehow we are the conveyance of choice for the criminally minded." Jon Pratt, executive director of the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits, also said such comparisons are unsettling. "I wouldn't say it's a disservice to draw those connections. [But] there is kind of a sport in picking on the poor and trying to point out their foibles," he said. Is it foibles or criminal proclivities? "There was a lot of extreme generosity during the bus strike," he added. And apparently, a lot less crime. Leave it to a frothing at the mouth, rabid right wing radical to pour gas on the fire by bringing up those pesky things that cause so much consternation: But David Strom, president of the Taxpayers League of Minnesota, said that reviewing crime statistics during the strike is a valid exercise, though he said many people are "very skittish" because "there's race lines, there's class lines involved here." During the strike, Strom became a lightning rod for critics when he said that the region's bus system did little to ease congestion and ferried relatively few passengers. "If I were a business person, I'd be really concerned about it," Strom said of the potential link between the bus strike and crime. "There's no such thing as bad facts. The facts are important." The facts are out there. And when it comes to the Twin Cities bus service they're not pretty. Get on to the bus. And hold on to your wallet. Labels: Urine-caked Drunks
Thursday, April 29, 2004
Last week Chad "the Elder" wrote about the phenomena of media bias fatigue. That is, the tiring of your faithful Fraters Libertas correspondents in identifying and dissecting egregious examples of partisan political hackery coming from certain key voices in the local media. I must admit to being bitten by that bug myself of late. One of the unfortunate victims of my ennui has been the Newspaper Newlyweds. For those unaware, that's the name of the riveting, real life soap opera going on between the lines in the column of the Star Tribune's Nick Coleman and that of his second wife, Laura Billings of the Pioneer Press.
To catch up those who've fallen behind, previous episodes of this series included Part I - The Real Liberal World Part II - Tell Laura I Love her Part III - A Woman Scorned Part IV - Where Ever He Lays His Jug Is Home But then it all fell apart. I'm not sure why, but it lost its edge. I become bored with the Battling Bickersons of Grand Avenue and maybe felt no more needed to be said about this marriage made in Knight Ridder heaven. Ultimately, after weeks of exposing them for who they truly are, the outrage over this hide-in-plain-sight unholy alliance had been quieted. I couldn't summon the necessary passion to keep it going and it was put on indefinite hiatus. But, luckily for us, there is a man whose outrage will not be doused. A man whose need to chronicle the antics of the Newspaper Newlyweds burns white hot to this very day. A man so inspired by this perverse tale, he's been writing further episodes of the Newspaper Newlyweds in his spare time, just for his own amusement. One of which he did send to me about a month ago. Despite it's laugh out loud qualities, pending a thorough vetting by our crack slander avoidance department, it still hasn't seen the publication light of day. The man of whom I speak is Man from Silver Mountain. He just sent me his latest effort. The truths within demand instant publication and who knows, this may just resurrect the whole series. Afterall, I think this is exactly how AfterMASH got started and look how successful that was. So sit back and enjoy a very special episode of the Newspaper Newlyweds, entitled "No Jury Would Convict Him." ---------- After a troubling period, the newspaper newlyweds are at it again. I have spent a lot of time chronicling the ups and downs of Nick and Laura's relationship. The low point occurred in March when after a turbulent period Laura had to be rushed to the hospital twice (see her articles from March 11 and March 28 detailing these medical emergencies). Maybe some day the truth will come out about those episodes. Anyhow, after serious troubles, she is back together with her version of J. Howard Marshall. How are these limousine liberals celebrating their reunion? With a spending spree. From her latest column of April 27, entitled "No such thing as a free gift but a woman can always hope": My husband and I bought a new car recently, and as we drove off the lot, I started looking through the glove compartment for our free gift. Does a new luxury auto make our pampered little princess smile? Apparently not. Why could she possibly be unhappy? Answer: "Because we just spent way more than we had to on this model, and they're supposed to make us feel good about it by giving us a little something for free," I explained. At this point, I want to reiterate the fact that the big spender just happens to be one of the leading class warriors in the state. But not being a class warrior myself, I'm not going to tell Nick Coleman or his avaricious wife where they can spend his enormous fortune. I wonder what model car they bought. A clue comes from her next complaint, a pout regarding how she wanted to receive the car in the romantic manner of those Lexus commercials, where the car with the huge bow of ribbon on top awaits the unsuspecting spouse. "It has to be wrapped nicely." If expensive purchases leave you feeling equally unloved, blame Esteé Lauder, the cosmetics queen who passed away last weekend at the age of 97. Unloved! A shiny new Lexus and she complains of being unloved. I'm now beginning to understand what may have precipitated her trips to the hospital. She goes on to tell of her materialistic, spendthrift ways: I would not care to estimate the amount of money I have spent at department store cosmetics counters during "special purchase" events over the years simply to secure a goodie bag full of powders and creams I don't actually need. Though I know paying $30 for a moisturizer means there's nothing "free" about my gift, I still leave the cash register with the bloom on my cheeks that comes from feeling not only that I've indulged myself, but that I got a bargain, too. No wonder Nick despises his fellow rich so much. If they act like this, I'd despise them too. While the free gift is now an expected feature of the cosmetics world (and has a puzzling offshoot in the "free steaks with your new windshield" phenomena), it has yet to make its way into the rest of the retail world. But what a beautiful world it would be if it did. Imagine if the next time you bought an overpriced bottle of wine, the clerk tossed in a cute little box of crackers and some nice goat cheese. Wouldn't that make you feel good about the French again? And what if that new washing machine came with a wicker gift basket full of fabric softener? Wouldn't that be worth a few extra bucks? So let's see, a new Lexus, a mountain of expensive cosmetics, a bottle of Chateau Lafite Rothschild and a Whirlpool on this spending spree and this spoiled little gold digger still wants more! Maybe Nick Coleman could get a column out of that. Labels: Newspaper Newlyweds
What Would Osama Do?
If I was an Al Qaeda type I would look upon the upcoming Summer Olympic Games in Athens as a prime opportunity. A prime opportunity to strike... ...in London, Berlin, or maybe Paris. Think about it. Much of the world's (and especially much of Europe's) counter terrorism focus will be on Athens in the weeks leading up to to the Olympics, and during the Games. The Greeks have requested NATO assistance in providing security and you can bet that American, British, French, Italian, Spanish, and German (among many others) intelligence and police assets will be deployed to Greece as well. And the summer season means more travel and more tourists in Europe. Large crowds for the terrorist fish to swim in. While the world's eyes may be on Greece in mid-August, Islamist eyes (and weapons) may be trained elsewhere.
Not sure what to get dear ol' mum? How about Myrna Blyth's engrossing Spin Sisters : How the Women of the Media Sell Unhappiness --- and Liberalism --- to the Women of America. Myrna appeared as guest on the Northern Alliance Radio Network a few weeks to discuss her book, and Kate O'Beirne's review from National Review is now available on-line.
Flowers will wilt and die in a few days, but a good book like this one will live on. Labels: Books
The Greatest Nation On God's Green Earth
And how could it not be when you get to spend the evening listening to Michael Medved's lively discussion of the upcoming election, and meet fellow listeners (and even a few fans of the NARN) of AM-1280 The Patriot? 
The statuesque fella in the blue to the left of Michael is none other than Mitch Berg from Shot In The Dark, while I'm holding down Michael's other flank. My wife was in attendance as well, along with Captain Ed and his first mate, and Saint Paul, who miraculously rose from his death bed to attend the evening's festivities. He's actually looking and feeling much better and, once he's been thoroughly deloused, should resume his normal duties here at Fraters Libertas shortly. Of course a gala affair such as this just wouldn't be the same without an appearance by a surprise guest or two. 
L'il Ralphie Hewitt meet Michael Medved. I believe Michael's exact words were, "My God he does look like Hugh!" Upward and onward.
Wednesday, April 28, 2004
Drug Companies Are Like, Greedy And Stuff
Our Guv seems to not only have fired up yours truly with his nonsense about the prices that drug companies charge. In this morning's WSJ, Holman Jenkins chimes in with some basic business economics: ...OK, Ted Kennedy probably doesn't understand any of this (or care). His answer for the difference between U.S. and Canadian retail drug prices contains only one syllable: greed. So let's visit the greed argument, since it also possesses the minds of many journalists. What can it possibly mean to call an industry "greedy"? Drug companies are said to be an unconscionable exception because their profits are comparatively high, 15.4%, when measured as a percentage of sales. But here's a question: Grocery stores have a measly return on sales of 1.4%, and liquor stores an even measlier 1%. So why does anybody invest in these businesses rather than the drug business? Last time we looked, the grocery industry and liquor stores still existed. Such indictments of the drug industry overlook the fact that profits are a cost -- the cost of a company's capital. Nobody pays back their investors more than they are obligated to. By the same token, if your capital costs are 15.4% of your total costs, profits had better be 15.4% of your revenues or you won't be in business long. Measures of profitability, in short, tell you a lot more about an industry's need for capital than about its "greed."
Kibitzing With The Kultural Krusader
Off to see Michael Medved at tonight's sold out Patriot Forum. More tomorrow, maybe even including a pic or two.
Kiss Of Death For Kerry?
Rick alerts us to news that Al Gore is Giving Over $6 Million to Democrats: Al Gore, dipping into his 2000 campaign warchest, said Wednesday he will donate more than $6 million to five Democratic Party groups and help presumptive nominee John Kerry fight the "outrageous and misleading" Republican campaign. The former vice president pledged to donate $4 million to the Democratic National Committee. The party's Senate and House committees would each get $1 million, and the party from Gore's home state of Tennessee would receive $250,000. The Democratic Party in Florida, site of the divisive 2000 recount, would get $240,000 from a separate Gore campaign account. "The outcome of this election is extremely important for the future of our country and for all that America stands for," Gore said in a statement first obtained by The Associated Press. "I want to help John Kerry become president and I want to help Democrats retake control of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives. "John will be a great president for all Americans, and I want to do everything I can to help him fight against the outrageous and misleading campaign being waged by the Bush-Cheney campaign," Gore said. Yes, Al has the magic touch all right. Everything he touches turns to mold. Remember that guy named Dean?
They Ran it Up The Flagpole...
But nobody saluted. Protests Prompt New Iraqi Flag Color Change: In the new flag, the parallel blue lines represent the Tigris (search) and Euphrates (search) Rivers ? and by extension Iraq's Sunni and Shiite Arabs, since the river basin is their heartland. The yellow line represents the Kurds, while the crescent is a symbol of Islam. Many said the light blue stripes were reminiscent of the light blue bands on the Israeli flag. Hundreds of university students in Mosul (search) demonstrated against that version Wednesday. The last thing we need in Iraq is more protests, but when I look at the new Iraqi flag I don't blame these malcontents. The new flag is lame. Very lame. 
I know the Iraqis wish to get away from the past and hope to make Iraq a more peaceful, stable place, but does it really have to be so wussy? No one is going to look at that sorry excuse for a flag and feel anything but shame. It's a flag for losers. They waved the old Saddam (search)-era flag ? a red, black and green banner emblazoned with the words "God is great" ? and said it should not have been changed because it carries the name of God. Of course the old flag is not an option. Too much baggage attached to it. Although if they wanted to stick "God is great" on the new flag, I wouldn't have a problem with it. I believe that the words were added by Saddam later in his regime when he started playing the Islamic card. 
Thankfully, it sounds like all hope is not yet lost: Council spokesman Hameed al-Kafaei said the flag's colors were not changed, but rather "the copies you saw in newspapers were not accurate." But Governing Council president Massoud Barzani said the design was temporary. "This will be Iraq's flag for the coming months until a permanent flag is chosen," he said. He said of the former flag: "We cannot raise the flag of a party that committed many crimes against Iraqi people." Let's hope the next version is a bolder, more inspiring design. Something along the lines of say, American Samoa perhaps? 
Now THAT'S a flag.
Tuesday, April 27, 2004
24 Hour Abortion Party People
I watched the CSPAN coverage of the abortion march on Sunday and I must say the strangest aspect was its festival atmosphere. Hour after hour of people hootin? and hollerin? and dancing about as if they were celebrating something good, something to be happy about. Nearly all of them succeeded in avoiding talking about the reason they were there in the first place (the ?a? word). Instead, lots of smiles and talk of the universal goods of freedom and choice and womanhood. The movement?s success in its decades long use of Orwellian rhetoric is evident in the fact that many participants, particularly the younger ones, seemed not to understand why they were there in the first place. How else to explain a march in support of artificially terminating pregnancy featuring demonstrations such as these (from Monday?s New York Times): Juleah Swanson, 21, was one of roughly 80 students who arrived on two buses from Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Me. Ms. Swanson and several young women from the Bowdoin delegation were carrying a giant uterus made of red clothing and stuffing, bearing the slogan "My Body, My Choice." Then another NYT article, about the recruitment of third world immigrants into the abortion rights movement: "Loco! Loco!" Ms. Orellana squealed. Staring back at her was a woman inside a three-foot-long felt and satin vagina. The Bushwick group gathered around and snapped photos. "These people have no shame!" Ms. Orellana said. "But it's O.K.," Ms. Flores replied, almost to herself. Yes, that?s right senora, no shame there. Though it does seems like an exercise in childish provocation. Now, if those two groups could hook up with another crew toting a 6 foot long plastic cervix, we might have some real education going on here. At least in an anatomical chart sort of way. Even with its organic gaps, I?m sure Jeanine Garafolo, Hillary Clinton, and Gloria Steinem still got a hearty laugh out of it. That was the spirit of the day. But to someone not caught up in the hysteria of their movement, it?s an incongruity to say the least. We are still talking about abortion here, right? Even for those who willfully seek them out and receive them, I would imagine it?s not a laughing matter. Or even something to be proud of, as evidenced by the lack of any demonstrators holding signs saying ?Had an abortion and proud of it?. Even some of the leading advocates of abortion on demand still hang on the antiquated notion that it?s the least worst option for a woman who doesn?t want to give birth to her baby. This from no less an authority than John Kerry: ?Abortion should be rare, but it should be safe and legal -- and the government should stay out of the bedrooms of America," he said to cheers and applause. I?m not sure how many abortions are performed in the bedrooms of America, but that?s beside the point (except for Kerry, for whom misdirection on this issue IS the point). According to the great white presidential hope of the abortion movement, the procedure should be rare. Meaning, he doesn?t want it to happen, he finds it to be unfortunate, distasteful, abhorrent , maybe wrong? But transformed through a political/morally relative calculus, its somehow necessary. Even if you agree with him, does that sound like any reason to cheer and applaud? This horrible, destructive procedure is the government mandated right of all women to endure. (Wooo hooo!!!) Their words were different, but that was the tone of the event. Happy, happy, joy, joy. The other speakers and the crowd, all squealing and going hog wild over the fact a procedure, which because of its destructive nature should be rare, is performed 1.3 million times per year in the US (YR 2000 data). More than 44 million times since 1973. Yes, we know John Kerry thinks it should be safe and legal. But what are his plans to follow up on his other wish - making it rare? And how does he define rare? A million per year? Half a million? Ten thousand? To me "rare" is even fewer than that. How is he planning on getting us there? And why does he think it should be rare in the first place? Serious questions, which I encourage our mainstream media outlets to pursue. But I won?t hold my breath since these kinds of questions don?t yield answers conducive to eliciting cheers and obfuscating rhetoric about freedom and choice. They?re also questions which those in the abortion movement increasingly don?t care about. There was a time when they went through great pains to explain that an abortion had nothing to do with life, instead it was all about extracting inviable tissue masses and inert clumps of cells. But thirty years of government sanction for aborting any child at any time tends to break down moral impediments and help ease the stresses imposed by cognitive dissonance. This new free wheelin? attitude is best articulated by one of our newest citizens and new recruit for the abortion movement: "I think abortion is killing a life," said Ms. Flores, who left Ecuador 11 years ago. But, she added, "The person who is pregnant should decide whether to do it or not." Sure, it?s killing a life, but the government says we have the right to do it. Now do you understand why they were dancing in the streets of Washington DC on Sunday afternoon?
Last night I attended my senate district's Republican convention as a delegate (elected to that position at the March precinct caucus). I am also a vice chair of my precinct and, as usually happens when I show up for one of these affairs, I discovered that the leader of our senate district had "volunteered" me for other duties as well, in this case serving as Chair of Election Judges (yes, I can pile up meaningless titles too).
In the past I've kept my involvement with Fraters Libertas on the QT when it comes to my political activities. Many of the folks who show up and participate in the sausage making that is local politics aren't quite of the same demographic make up of the typical Fraters reader, and I doubt if most would know what a blog is. So they tend to think of me as a mild mannered, nice, quiet guy willing to help out rather than the Strib bashing, smart mouthed, caustic conservative that I really am. Until last night at least. Just before the convention got kicked off, I sat next to another man from my precinct and engaged him in the meaningless sort of banter that takes place between two people who know each other, but don't really know each other. I had probably participated in similar banal discourse with this particular gentleman on two or three other occasions in the last two years. That was the extent of our previous relationship. So it came as quite a surprise when, out of the blue, he asked me if I was a blogger. Hmmm....I thought to myself, this is suspicious but what the hell, "Yeah, I'm a blogger." "Hey Peeps!" I was stunned and a bit ashen faced. Talk about connecting the dots. This guy had heard me on the Northern Alliance Radio Show and recognized my voice and first name (Chad). He linked that to Fraters Libertas, that nutty Elder character that he heard about on Hugh Hewitt's show, and finally to the silly Peeps story spun by Hugh. We're through the looking glass here people. Thankfully he was a discrete chap and my secret remained safe with him. We proceeded to have a nice (and real) conversation about blogging and local radio. He even remembered the days when Mitch was producing the Don Vogel show. We also talked about Michael Medved's Patriot Forum here in town tomorrow, and the fact that the NARN will be representin' at the event (Can you believe that there's going to let me and Saint Paul tend bar? That's one for you, and one for me, one for you, and...). From there the convention proceeded along without incident. I spoke with a couple of women who work in Norm Coleman's office and tried to convince them that it would be "good for St. Paul" if Norm appeared on our radio show. Developing. I was also elected as a delegate to the congressional district and state party conventions, where I'll see if I can maintain my front as a soft spoken, normal, face in the crowd. This secret identity stuff can get a little tricky at times. Anybody see a phone booth around here? Labels: Politics-Local (04-05)
Two Things I Don't Like
Stupid 'What (fill in the blank) Are You?' on line quizzes and Bob Dylan.
Monday, April 26, 2004
Didn't I SAY That
Again, from this morning's WSJ (no, there isn't any dang link, go buy a copy ya cheapskate): The politicians and lobbyists in the U.S. who have been clamoring for drug-reimportation laws to lower the costs of prescription medicines would do well to look at the devastation price controls have brought to Europe's drug industry. By some estimates, the American market now accounts for 62% of the global profit pool in the pharmaceutical business. As attractive as lower drug prices may seem politically, supporters of reimportation might consider whether they want the U.S. to become France, desperately clinging to the surviving remnants of an industry in decline. Hey Pawlenty. Big Mouth. Populist. Fighter For The Little Guy. Listen up!
You Loved Liberty
From this morning's WSJ: A Ranger's Death April 26, 2004; Page A14 Army Ranger Pat Tillman died Thursday when his patrol was ambushed near the Afghan-Pakistani border. He was 27. Specialist Tillman never talked about it publicly, but all the world knew that he had given up a million-dollar career in the NFL for a chance to serve his country. Why did he fight? For an answer, we turn to President Reagan's June 6, 1984, speech in front of the U.S. Ranger Monument at Normandy, commemorating the Rangers' charge up Pointe du Hoc. Mr. Reagan's words apply equally to Pat Tillman, and all the other American men and women who have made the ultimate sacrifice in the war on terror: "Forty summers have passed since the battle that you fought here. You were young the day you took these cliffs; some of you were hardly more than boys, with the deepest joys of life before you. Yet, you risked everything here. Why? Why did you do it? What impelled you to put aside the instinct for self-preservation and risk your lives to take these cliffs? What inspired all the men of the armies that met here? We look at you, and somehow we know the answer. It was faith and belief; it was loyalty and love. "The men of Normandy had faith that what they were doing was right, faith that they fought for all humanity, faith that a just God would grant them mercy on this beachhead or on the next. It was the deep knowledge -- and pray God we have not lost it -- that there is a profound, moral difference between the use of force for liberation and the use of force for conquest. You were here to liberate, not to conquer, and so you and those others did not doubt your cause. And you were right not to doubt. "You all knew that some things are worth dying for. One's country is worth dying for, and democracy is worth dying for, because it's the most deeply honorable form of government ever devised by man. All of you loved liberty."
Saturday I was up bright and early for the first session of Saturday morning hockey. Commencing at 8:45am and lasting for an hour and a half, it's an informal pick up skate that starts in late April and lasts until September. I've probably been doing this for ten years now, and its kickoff has become one of the signs that summer will be shortly upon us.
Then I ran a few errands before heading to the sprawling Am-1280 The Patriot studios for this week's Northern Alliance Radio Show. Did I really hear Mitch describe John Kerry as "so bangable" while driving in? Consider the context people. Consider the context. It was a real pleasure to have a special guest in studio with us in the third hour.  Ralphie where have you been? And what happened to your glasses? Of course the real guest of honor was Michael J Nelson, who was gracious enough to share the stage with Ralphie.  The hour with Mike was a blast. He's witty, intelligent, friendly, and very down to earth. He's the real deal and a heckuva nice guy. Until it comes to Al Franken that is. Mike joins the illustrious list of men who have announced their willingness, on the NARN airwaves, to throw down with Franken, the left's resident bully. Previously our own JB Doubtless and Vox Day had challenged Franken to go anywhere, anytime. For more on Mike's appearance you can read Ed's as it happened rundown at Captain's Quarters. After the show it was Mass followed by a fine meal at Staccato in downtown Minneapolis and a little highbrow culture. The Minnesota Orchestra performing Nielsen's 3rd along with a variety of Sibelius, including Finlandia. Finally, the day concluded with a viewing of part of Rock Star on VH-1. Rock Star is a dreadful movie starring Mark Wahlberg and Jennifer Aniston and would be an excellent MST3K candidate if the show were still in existence. Every rock and roll cliche you can imagine is thrown in your face and the heavy metal wigs worn by the band members are the worst cosmetic props I've seen since the ridiculous beards from Gods and Generals. It might not reach the levels of Showgirls or Roadhouse, but it's in the same league. It turned out to be a perfectly appropriate way to end what was almost a perfect day. Labels: NARN (04-05)
I Have Seen The Future Of Classical Music...
And it is Finland. I gotta give credit where it is due, and yesterday's Minneapolis Star Tribune (registration required) had a fascinating piece on how music education permeates Finnish society: Helsinki alone is home to five symphony orchestras. Nationwide, there are 21 more, as well as 12 regional opera companies. At least eight world-class conductors, including the Minnesota Orchestra's Osmo Vanska and the Los Angeles Philharmonic's Esa-Pekka Salonen, were raised and trained in Finland. More than 30 full-time classical composers live and work there. How has a nation of 5.2 million people -- a population only slighter greater than the state of Minnesota's -- produced such a surplus of talent? Outstanding music education is the primary reason. But at its source is a national attitude that music is not dessert, but an essential food group for personal, cultural and civic sustenance, and as deserving of government subsidy as health care and schools. Before the advent of the euro, an image of Jean Sibelius, the country's most famous composer, adorned Finland's currency.
Sunday, April 25, 2004
I Used To Be Disgusted,
And Now I Try To Be Amused An editorial entitled "Many Women/Marching To Choose, And To Live" in today's Minneapolis Star and Sickle further bolsters our effort to encourage a mass exodus from their rolls of subscribers. Consider this choice passage: Choice. Liberty. Privacy. That's what today's March for Women's Lives is actually about. A scornful few may insist it's about abortion, but they're very much mistaken. That's clever. A pro-abortion march has been foisted upon Washington and our local "newspaper" treats it as a women's empowerment rally. Brilliant! Remove that whole dead fetus thing from the equation and you've got yourself something that the entire world can support. I guess I am just one of those "scornful few" who sees this march for what it is. It's a pro-abortion rally, plain and simple. Reading on, we find that: ...the current occupant of the White House couldn't be more hostile to the notion of reproductive freedom. He favors virtually every proposal ever offered to make the right to choose meaningless -- and has audaciously snubbed the world's women by breaking a U.S. promise to give the United Nations Population Fund $34 million in international family-planning money. The cut-off has spurred millions of unwanted pregnancies and abortions -- and untold numbers of maternal deaths. So I'm to believe that President Bush is responsible for "millions of unwanted pregnancies" and "untold" numbers of deaths because he supposedly withheld $34 million dollars from the U.N. I don't remember much from my high school biology class, but I DO remember that lack of funding does not make a baby. I think we should spend our time trying to prevent these "unwanted pregnancies" rather than bickering and arguing about what to do after we've sucked their brains out through their collapsed skulls. The editorial ends thusly: The Land of the Free has become a strange sort of place. These days, it seems, women cannot gather to celebrate what they have already won. They must march in hope that the most basic of rights is not stripped away. They must march to remind their own government what the promise of America -- the promise of freedom -- really means. I'm sorry, but I was under the impression that American women (and men) could gather to celebrate anything that they wanted to. The March For Women's Lives proves that fact. Yesterday, women from all walks of life marched on Washington celebrating their right to kill their children. Who will march for the dead unborn?
Paul Westerberg co-directed his concert documentary "Come Feel Me Tremble" under the pseudonym Otto Zithromax. I knew that last name was some sort of drug, and knowing Westerberg's mental health reputation, I reasonably figured it was a high octane anti-depressant or anti-psychotic of some sort.
So it came as some surprise to me at the doctor's office on Friday when I emerged from the examination with a prescription for a large bottle of Zithromax. A single complaint of high fever, dizziness, and severe sore throat yielding a negative strept test and suddenly I'm a raging, hallucinating lunatic needing to be bombed out of my gourd to prevent me from being a threat to myself and others? Or maybe they were just afraid I was going to write a song like "Hillbilly Junk?" Turns out, Zithromax is merely an antibiotic. And it's the first line silver bullet intended to break the fiery grasp non-strept something something tonsillitis has on my throat and head and which has put me flat on my back (for all the wrong reasons) for the better part of a week. Zithromax and intensive bed rest, that's the state of Saint Paul these days. Under normal circumstances that would be paradise. But this week my rebelling useless organs have cost me hugely. A certain highly valued social interaction on Thursday, then on Saturday a chance to met MST3K's Mike Nelson who appeared on this week's Northern Alliance Radio. I did get off a call to the show, but in my fevered, delusional state I fear I came off more as a typical caller to Rabuse on the Right than the smooth, honey dripping radio pro you've come to know and love. Also this week I missed National Review's Rich Lowry, who was kibitzing with his admirers not four blocks from my house at the Green Mill on Grand Ave. A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, to be sure. Although not quite as rare as Powerline's Scott Johnson picking up the tab (which allegedly happened there as well). Not that this week is without personal accomplishments. For example, on Friday I finished reading last week's Sunday New York Times. That's a personal record of only five days to get through it, one unlikely to be broken, at least until I come down with malaria or dengue fever or something. I also finished Mark Steyn's "The Face of the Tiger." It's the column compilation of Mark Steyn for the year post 9/11/01. As I've written previously, it's terrific, provocative stuff. Funny as hell too. One thing I didn't realize until seeing all of his columns together is that Steyn makes a small penis joke or gay joke every time he brings up Osama bin Laden. By themselves, none are all that funny. But as a continuing gag, when you?re just waiting for him to lower the boom in the midst of some straight forward reporting or analysis, it's hilarious. Especially as he continues to escalate the brazenness of his accusations. As an amusing sideshow (to the amusing main event), it's a value added benefit to watch for as you read Steyn's future columns. I also watched a lot of CSPAN, including a bravura performance by Christopher Hitchens today, in a live debate over the Iraq war with the LA Times' Robert Scheer and some other whiny, sneering liberals (really, is there any other kind?). The crowd was packed with these types too, and after Scheer would finish some laughably crude and cliche-ridden diatribe, the applause would cascade down to the stage. At one point, as Hitchens' patiently waited for it to end, he looked over his glasses and said "you people are awfully easy to please, aren't you?" The non-Hitchens portions are long and unenlightening, but there are some small fireworks during the question and answer period. These include more Hitchens' attacks on the mewling crowd, including calling them "despicable, gloating fools" in regard to their obvious hopes for US failure in the Iraq rebuilding efforts. For those interested, at this very hour (8 PM central), CSPAN-2 is replaying the Hitchens-Scheer debate. You'll be able to find the video on the CSPAN Web site as well. I'd recommend checking it out, even for those folks not currently taking Zithromax. Which reminds me, it's time for another dose. Labels: Media-National (02-06)
For The Record...
Readers weigh in on whether Kerry's military records are relevant. Matt thinks not: Here, here. Well stated, it is practically the only thing me and some of my L friends can agree on, "who cares what happened 35 years ago," it's not like either guy left their sweetheart to suffocate in a submerged car. Really, are any of the swing votes going to come from a guy in the booth thinking, "Well, Bush may have missed some weekends in the Nat Guard; but Kerry may not have gotten good grades on a physical exam?" Adrianna concurs: I've noticed through the years that Hugh gets on a tangent and stays put until his vent is used up. Chiding him doesn't work. But, I do agree with you about the WAR RECORD crap. In the words of one of the best anti-liberal songs ever written, "Get Over It" Hell Freezes Over - Eagles. Personally, I can't stand the Eagles, but the point is well stated. Gary has a different view on the matter: I agree largely with your ZZZZZ about Kerry's military record. And I agree that it bears little (but some) relevance to today.But look a little closer, please? What were the natures of those three wounds leading to the Purple Hearts and thus, his ticket out, after just four months? (Gee, most of us got to stay in RVN 12 months. The three-wound "rule" was well-known to us, and one wound would suffice, of course, if "serious." But who'd ever want to hazard the three-and-out ticket? No one I knew.) Details on the Purple Hearts, from Kerry's treatment records, we do NOT get from Kerry's campaign, after initial flip-flopping on his answer to Russert about reviewing his military records. Why is that? Did Kerry know that three wound deal would get him outta there? He had to, as it was part of every in-country briefing that I myself help to conduct, about hometown news releases, along with the medics' spiel about VD, and that obligatory customs and culture lecture from anyone who knew a lick about Vietnam. In-country orientation we call it. Kerry's first Purple Heart-triggering wound came quickly, and rather fortuitiously as it turned out, within twenty four hours after he steps into the Mekong. Slight, too, sounds like a what, a scratch? But then, I am in a put-down mode right now. No brush with any war is to be slighted. Please note the fact that, after that first wound, and the subsequent two, he returns to duty each time, without missing a single day. Humm. Guy must lead a charmed life. Diplomatic with fellow officers, too. They apparently love the guy. Why, he even gets appointed to be an admiral's aide in the safety of Boston harbor, plush duty indeed. So who wrote him up for the Silver Star? Well, it had to be an officer. Who was the only officer among enlisted men on the Navy switf boat? Kerry. Hummm. Verrry interesting. Details, please? Contrary to misrepresentations in Strib's fawning AP report on 4/22, "Kerry's military record glowing," Kerry was NOT uniformly praised by his crewmen. After all, he put 'em in danger in what might've been court martial-rendering decisions in other circumstances. (Catch that Strib headline--"glowing." Why, that one could've come directly from Kerry campaign headquarters, or DNC. Did mere ANG fighter jock "W" get this slavish treatment on release of his records? Nah. Double standard time, again, in liberal media. And they wonder why we call 'em biased?) My own biggest, forever unresolved gripe about Kerry, is his libel and slander of GIs, giving comfort to the enemy, a la Hanoi Jane, and his smearing us to our own families and friends "back home." Kerry and his VAW minions (funded by Jane Fonda, btw) made me and about 2.5 million other GIs who served there into faux "war criminals." All this to what, serve his headline-grabbing initial run for Congress? Tawdry. Never will forget that slander, nor likely forgive it. Old wound, you might say. I rallied once with Viet vets in front of the Metrodome, before a World Series game with Ted Turner's team (joining a bunch of chanting Indians there, interestingly enough) to protest Hanoi Jane's GI-defaming remarks. All we got was a sort of half-way apology, but that was later taken back. No such apology from Kerry to Tim Russert Sunday, or at any time, for how he helped besmirch the good reputations of his fellow Vietnam vets. Ergo, it's unforgiveable, especially after all these years, and redemption, well, it's still possible, but it must be taken up, and in good faith, something this JFK might not be capable of. Kerry's association anti-war vet group, his largely unreported attendance at a KC meeting at which the assassination of U.S. Senators is raised as a protest possibility (truly!), frankly sicken me. So his record does make a difference, notwithsanding your ZZZZZZs, for those who served, and did not throw back our own or anyone else's medals, in sheer contempt for our nation. And we took the brunt of antiwar, anti-GI sentiments upon our returns, like to back to school on the GI Bill forever "branded" as 'Nam vets and "baby killers." Until Kerry apologizes, I'm inalterably opposed to the slandering, libelous opportunistic creep because, well, character counts. That's just the way it is with me. And it doesn't bother me a bit. Off the soapbox now. I agree that Kerry's trashing of his fellow vets in 1971 and his refusal to recant those remarks to this day is despicable, and he should be held to account for it. So let's focus on that and let the records brouhaha go. There's more than enough dirt to bury this guy as is. The records are just loose pebbles that aren't worth the time or the effort to scoop up.
Saturday, April 24, 2004
Skyrockets Not Yet In Flight
The Elder made a quip a few weeks back about the Starland vocal band's Afternoon Delight and was implying that it sucked. As well, Homer dissed said song a few months ago on the Simpsons. I have to say that I picked up the Sounds Of the 70's the other day and Afternoon Delight is a great freaking pop song. The harmonies are fantastic--how often do you hear four part girl/guy harmony done to perfection? Abba perhaps, and I love Abba. I challenge anyone to listen to last "Afternoon delight" they sing at the end of the song--an amazingly complex and beautiful melody with distinct harmony--and not tell me it's a gem. I also think the Sammy Johns song "Chevy Van" is an amazing piece of music. Yeah, I know, it's funny and all with the 70's references, but it tells a concise story of a time and captures the zeitgeist while delivering a hooky chorus. What more do you people want? I plan to review all of the songs on the compilation in the next few days. Good lord, there are some seriously dreadful pieces in this collection, but also a few lost gems that deserve more recognition. And I plan on belting out both Chevy Van and Skyrockets tonight at karoake with the Doubtlessette. She has yet to hear me sing, so it should be interesting...
Pat Tillman's America
James e-mails to add a little different perspective on Pat Tillman: Hearing about the death of Pat Tillman today, at 27 years old, I was struck by the contrast with another "27 year old kid." John Kerry recently dismissed his post-Vietnam service slander of his countrymen as murderers, rapists, etc, by saying he was just "a 27 year old kid" when he said those malicious things. Pat Tillman, at 27 years old, sacrificed a professional football career, millions of dollars, a life of luxury, and his life, to defend his country. A 27 year old kid. Yes, John Kerry served honorably, but I just couldn't get over the contrast between these 27 year olds. I want to live in Pat Tillman's America. God Bless him.
Friday, April 23, 2004
A Real Gridiron Hero
Ex-NFL player Tillman killed in Afghanistan: Pat Tillman, who gave up a lucrative NFL contract with the Arizona Cardinals to join the Army Rangers, was killed in action in Afghanistan, military officials said Friday. Rush spoke quite eloquently on this in his first hour today, and I don't really know what I could possibly add. I don't subscribe to the notion that there is always something good to be found in bad news. However, in this case there may be. Tillman died fighting for his country, so his death was obviously not meaningless, but perhaps, because of his status, it can have an even greater impact. It seems that there is a disconnect in the minds of many Americans when it comes to the war. They might watch the news and hear about battles in Iraq or see that someone from their town was killed in action if they happen to glance at a paper. But, unless they have a family member or close friend serving overseas, their daily lives continue on as normal. The war doesn't seem real to them. And, other than Jessica Lynch, how many personal stories have we had about the heroic men and women fighting and dying in Iraq and Afghanistan? All we hear is that two soldiers were killed in a roadside blast. We might get their names and a quick shot of their faces, but that's it. We don't know who they were before they joined the military. Why they were motivated to serve their country. What they might have done leading up to their deaths. Of course if you want to dig deep enough you can find this information. You can read the more detailed coverage of the lives of those killed in local newspapers. You can discover the accounts of bravery by the Marines in Fallujah if you scour the internet. But I don't believe that many Americans are doing that. They either don't have the time or the inclination. However, they will hear Tillman's story. It will be all over the various news outlets. ESPN will be talking about it tonight. You will not be able to avoid this one. Hopefully, it will cause some of those who have tuned the war out to pause and contemplate the sacrifices that men and women like Pat Tillman are making every day on their behalf. They might even be moved to ask what they could do to ease the burden on those giving up so much to keep them safe and free. And that would be a good thing. Pat Tillman R.I.P.
Thursday, April 22, 2004
So our little Activist Governor has "concerns" with Pfizer's drug prices? Would somebody please remind Pawlenty that he is a Republican and not some goofed-out Dem?
I heard on NPR this morning that he is going to attend Pfizer's shareholder's meeting and air his concerns about the cost of its drugs. Naturally, NPR only mentioned that this would be problematic because it could affect the price of their stock, failing to note the true problem with this lame-brained idea: if you try to curtail the prices drug companies charge, there will be less new, life-saving drugs available. The FDA approved 23 new drugs last year. That's it. How many drugs were attempted, that may have died in clinical trials? Thousands. And the average price for a drug to get developed is $800 million. What that means is the drugs that DO make it to market must be priced high enough to cover the majority of the ones that did not make it. Yes, drugs are expensive. But it's not because the fat cats at the drug companies are lining their pockets. If you want affective, safe, life-enhancing drugs you have to let the market do its thing. Pawlenty--knowing that going against the free market is not considered terribly cool amongst Repubs--is attempting a sneaky political move: instead of just trying to enact legislation saying Pfizer can only charge so much for drugs, he is acting like he's a simple shareholder who is going to tell them big businessmen what he thinks of 'em. Of course, being a governor he gets a little more coverage than the average Sally Housegoat that might try this, but... Pawlenty's main beef seems to be that the United States maintains a (relatively) free market system with regard to drug prices and since other countries don't, the maker of the drugs should change how they do things. Not anyone else. Pfizer charges Americans what it would charge every other person in the world were they not living under socialist governments who protect them from high prices from the big bad drug companies. The reason Minnesotans can get drugs in Canada cheaper is that the Canadian government subsidizes the cost of the drugs and makes Pfizer charge them less. Pfizer agrees to these anti-free market conditions because it knows that the Americans will cover more than their fair share of the drug's costs since they don't benefit from price controls. So is this unfair? To Pawlenty it is. But his debate should be either with Pfizer for agreeing to sell drugs to Canadians at below market prices, with the Canadians themselves for being socialist, or with the US for not being socialist. Since the second and third options are ridiculous and he wouldn't get any populist bang for his buck with the first, instead he is telling Pfizer he is "concerned" with their prices. Well cram it with walnuts governor. We didn't elect no lefty and while we'd all like lower prices on stuff we really need, this ain't the way to do it. Labels: Health care, Politics-Local (04-05)
Sorry Hugh, I ain't buying it:
The Elder is bored by the Purple Heart story. Tsk, tsk. It is not about the Purple Heart, it is about Kerry's wanting the world to play by his rules, the rules of, as Time Magazine called him, "the Swiss-educated son of a foreign service diplomat," of the Yalie gone to war and back again in a few months to denounce as "war criminals" everyone who ever served in Vietnam, of the long-serving pompous blowhard suffering from what James calls "Senatitus," where no one tells you to shut up and sit down because you are scaring the kids and blocking the views. It is about the fellow who wants to rush the U.N. with apologies, who wants to "literally, formally rejoin the community of nations" even as the battle for Fallujah rages. Who wants his incoherence on the economy and Social Security to be overlooked because, after all, he is damn serious about both, and who doesn't want anyone to see his wife's wealth or question the completeness of his lobbyist contacts. The disclosure battles are over whether Kerry gets to parade in the Emperor's clothes without anyone shouting naked. I hope we don't get bored, because that's what Kerry's team is counting on. It worked on Russert, on whom Kerry's repeated absurdities were largely lost or abandoned. Tim Russert and The Elder --I should have known. So let me get this straight. Kerry tells Russert that his military records are available. A reporter from the Boston Globe (or Glob) tries to get the records from Kerry headquarters, but is denied. A couple of days later the records are released (granted not all of them yet) and they reveal... Nothing. Kerry was a well regarded officer who received high marks for his service. Yesterday on Hugh's show, a number of callers desperately attempted to make something out of Kerry's records by trying to read between the lines and find negatives. It was a silly exercise in lame partisan hackery which convinced no one. No one who wasn't already down on Kerry anyway that is. Read what Phil Carter at Intel Dump has to say on the records of both Kerry and Bush. Now Phil's not a big fan of the President, but I think overall he's pretty fair in his appraisal of both men. And as an ex-serviceman Phil is certainly qualified to judge. Over thirty years ago John Kerry served in Vietnam and got some medals. George W. Bush served in the Air National Guard and flew jets. What either has to do with their worthiness to be president today is beyond me. As Mitch Berg has said many times, being a combat hero does not qualify one to be a national leader. And not having served in combat does not disqualify one from being a leader in a time of war either. What matters is not what they did or didn't do in the military thirty years ago. It's what they will or won't do in the next four years. Yeah, I know. It's not the Purple Hearts, it's the fact that he lied about releasing the records. But Kerry's lied about other things much more substantive than this. And if you want to get excited about someone's reluctance to release records, you might want to put that stone down and consider the glassy nature of the Bush administration's house in regard to that subject. Not that there's anything wrong with that. In fact I support many of the administration's calls in locking down sensitive information. The last thing I want now is for a wave of "complete openness" spurred on by the media to sweep over the campaign and have both sides required to bare all. John Kerry's promise to rush to the U.N. after his inauguration, prostrate himself before the world body, and buff Kofi's happy lamp is disgusting and should be talked about today. His flip flops on Iraq, his lack of understanding of the basics of Social Security reform, his ties to lobbyists, his calls to repeal tax cuts, his vague positions on free trade, his views on whether we're really at war and whether there is a terrorist threat, his ridiculous claims that the environment is getting worse under Bush, are ALL subjects (among others) that should be talked about today. What shouldn't be talked about is whether getting an "excellent" on a fitness evaluation really means average because of the inflated nature of the grading. Or whether John Kerry flossed and brushed every day on his swift boat. Because the truth is no one cares. I shouldn't say no one because there's always the hard core political wonks who live and breathe this level of minutia. But I suspect even some of them are getting tired of the military records blahbering. Heck, even the Beltway Boyz, the wonkiest of the wonks, are probably ready to move on. By no means do I want to give Kerry a free pass. I just want to focus on what really matters. Because wasting our time on frivolous stories like this is the definition of distraction. Over the years Hugh has tarred my good name many a time calling me a homeless drunk, a figure skater, a dateless loser, a bloated powdered donut, and a Monkees loving geek living in my mom's basement (there's actually a lot more-this is all I can recall at the moment, you know repressed memories and all). But to compare me with Tim Russert? Ouch. That one stings Mr. Hewitt. And after all I've done for you? Tsk, tsk.
Three words to remember in regard to this Saturday's Northern Alliance Radio Show.
Michael J. Nelson Okay it's actually a name and not words, but that name alone should be enough to get you to tune in. He's a former star of Mystery Science Theater 3000, author, and arch enemy of leaf blowers everywhere. The complete package. Visit his web site. Read his books. Listen to him in the third hour on Saturday. Labels: NARN (04-05)
Wednesday, April 21, 2004
So THIS Is What Ma Did With The Trash
Those who are interested in the greatest band to never come out of Minneapolis should go here now.
Where Dreams Become Reality
David responds with more details on Scott's dream girl: Scott was on the right path when he guessed at the name "Lola" -- it is actually Rosa. The rest of his description is frighteningly close to reality. She married a pasty-skinned American of German-Scandinavian ancestry, and YES does she love to cook. She fell in love with her husband when she spotted the Antonio Gramsci tattoo on his shoulder (this sounds like it was made up, but I swear to you that it is true) and was thus inspired to have Che drawn on her back. She even managed to steer him (the husband, not Che) from vegetarianism to a diet that included such tasty morsels as squirrels imported from Italy. Sadly, she no longer works in my building anymore. The last couple of times that I saw her, she had grown rather thin from some Atkins-type diet that a doctor had given her. No more pasta and pizza? That was almost her entire diet. And those carbs managed to accumulate in just the right places, too. She always wore glasses, and once when she took them off I almost started to levitate. Those gorgeous eyes, hiding behind those wire-thin frames for so long! Tell Scott to move over, I'm taking back my daydream... Did anyone just hear the sound of a heart breaking? I think it came from Oklahoma.
It's Not As If There's Nothing Else To Talk About
My reaction to the Kerry military records "story"? Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.......... Wake me when the next news cycle breaks.
Apparently giving up the Coleman beat is going to be easier said than done. At least if our readers have any say in the matter (memo to readers: you don't).
Jim says there's no walking away : It occurs to me that while you can promote the idea that others should let their subscriptions to the Strib lapse, you can't. I don't want to cause any marital strife or a debilitating medical condition, but one of the reasons for visiting Fraters is to read the Strib rants. Coleman, Grow, the editorial page, they're all grist for a humming mill that makes everyone happy. Once your subscription lapses in N days, it's all over... (sigh). Of course, there's always City Pages, The Rake, even the (MN) Daily, but, you know, they're far too easy. Nobody's parents, friends, co-workers read those things - unless they're looking for a show to see or perhaps a wonderfully depraved partner of indeterminate sexuality for afternoon fun when one's domestic associate is otherwise occupied. So. It comes down to you and them. The Elder, as played by Gary Cooper, in the middle of the street, waiting for The Strib Gang, no help from the enfeebled townsfolk wracked by their concerns over the (urine-caked) homeless, the lies of George Bush, the gazillions of unemployed and underemployed, and, let's not forget, The Children. And you're simply throwing your badge in the dust... that won't do. And Tom concurs: I beg you not to stop writing about Nicky Coleman. Reading and laughing out loud at your Coleman rants is one of the few things that keeps me sane during the day. Yes, his incessant, self-righteous, condescending blather over life's downtrodden gets old at times. But you would miss not having such a pathetic person constantly serving as inspiration for your writing material. You should view Coleman the way late-night comedian's like Letterman and Leno viewed Clinton--'yeah, he's an arrogant, smug SOB who thinks he's above the law, but boy does he make it easy on our writers.' So take some Advil, look forward to Nick's next column, and get your pen ready (or mouse and keyboard in today's society). I am already in eager anticipation over what witty and well-reasoned Coleman Column you will come up with next....... Knowing that a man's sanity rests in the balance is indeed a heavy burden. Instead of calling it a retirement, let's just call it a break. We're putting the pen down, not hanging it up. UPDATE: Lest anyone be confused as to my intentions, I am not putting THE pen down. I'm just putting the poison pen that I've been jabbing in Star Tribune columnist Nick Coleman's neck down. For the time being. Labels: Media-Local (02-04)
Spirit of America Soars
Here's an update on the Spirit of America efforts to help the Marines provide an alternative to Al Jazeera in Iraq: Here are the results. Overwhelming. Incredible. In the last five days we have received $764,408 from 4,088 donors. Most of these funds are earmarked for the request made by the Marines for equipment needed to establish Iraqi-owned television stations in Al Anbar Province Iraq. Our initial goal for this request was $100,000. The Marines are as stunned as I am. I'll remove the expletives of joyful surprise and forward some of their comments to you next week. They are also developing ideas for the expansion of this initiative. More on that soon. We are pressing ahead with fundraising. We understand we're at the very beginning of the effort needed to achieve peace and stability in Iraq. The Marines and others serving in Iraq have made clear that all the support we can muster will greatly assist their efforts to win the peace. Rest assured we do not confuse success in donor support with the real results we all seek to achieve. The real work lies ahead. But the funding makes the results possible and we now have a great foundation to build upon. We are now focused on delivering the basic equipment requested for the first seven stations. Thanks to you we will have everything at Camp Pendleton by next Thursday (April 29). That delivery will make it 21 days from receiving the Marines request to fulfilling it. You can imagine what a response like this means to those on the front lines whose lives are at risk. That's incredible news. Over $750K in five days? Next stop $1M. You can help make it happen here.
F-Harmony
Dave's e-mail in regard to my post on Nick Coleman and the bus strike stirred imaginations (among other things) with his description of a coworker: This particular colleague of mine is an Italian-born beauty who could certainly give Monica Bellucci a run for her money. Very disturbing, then, to find that she has a tattoo on her lower back. Scott's in head over heels: There has always been an undertone of brunette bias from this red-head. I lost total focus from the point of the e-mail after the guy in Pittsburgh describes that bad, bad woman in his office! I'm sure she's stunning. I don't mind me some tattoo (if the truth were known). Small of the back even seems sexier because I've never dated "one of them". I'll bet her name is Lola. Lola loves fat, sarcastic, red-heads with pasty white skin too. Since I'm having this mid-morning dream... She loves my overbearing Mom and my general lack of social skills. Her hobbies include; listening to Van Halen CDs on my living room floor, telling me how the batting cage machine "is pitching too low and nobody could hit those", and cooking. Man, this woman LOVES to cook! Of course, she loves college football, baseball, and a man that "really knows how to drink beer on the couch". I love you, Lola. I really do.
Why We Write
After my latest lengthy lambasting of Nick Coleman yesterday, I was left in a bit of a funk. What was the point anyway? How many times have I pounded on this worthless bastard in the last few months (please don't remind me)? How many hours have I spent dissecting his pompous pontificating? As Saint Paul likes to say, that's time we're not getting back. Shouldn't I be doing something more productive? Something worthwhile? Something that would mark my all too short time here on earth for the good? Is this really all there is? And then this morning I checked my e-mail. From Tom: I read poverty pimp Nick Coleman today before I went to work (by myself) in my V-8 SUV. It was not a normal day for this "office job" person, but then it never is when you are responsible for incomes beyond your own. The day begins early and ends when the work is done and not when the whistle blows or the bus is scheduled to come by, but I digress. Part of the day, okay a very small part of the day, I worry that The Elder has cancelled his subscription to the Stribune (Star & Sickle, Heh) and didn't read poverty pimp Nick Coleman's piece and won't be giving Nick a good, well deserved Fisking. Arriving at my home in suburbia, I check the web...newsites, Drudge, the Lord of the Lazy Link Dump (HH). I check fraters...RELIEF. My man Elder has gotten out the hammer, and is nailing Nick to the post in no uncertain terms. Poverty pimp Nick Coleman is the most shameless, prejudiced, judgemental person this side of a paper you have to pay for. My first reaction...Hey, Nick...you're making 6-figures (by pimping poor people), why don't you come from YOUR hip and BUY these poor folks a paper. You probably get a discount, you work for the paper, #%*#@**it! Second reaction...Yeah, Nick, you're right. We're all just trying get by here in George Bushes' Amerika, but the big cheeses (does anyone really talk this way still?) are just keepin us down. Thank goodness you are here to bear witness to the awfulness of our plight. Third reaction...Is Nick Coleman as prejudiced in other areas as well? Does he think Scottish people are thrifty? Does he think only Jewish people make good lawyers and accountants? That Irish people are drunks and British men are effeminate? His column alleging that our Gopher girls use their superior Northern European genes to be harder working than the other players on teams in the final four like that Eye-talian girl from UConn or those shiftless black girls from Tenn. told me how he thinks about those groups. But, what do I know? Well, I know this much. I may not boycott the paper for their editorial page silliness, but for damn sure I'm boycotting the bigot named Nick Coleman. It's time for the white liberal to stop getting over with his prejudice. It's the not so soft bigotry of low expectations and a white liberal getting away with making judgements based on looks. He'll pay no penalty and probably win an award (like Kent Brockman) for pimping someone elses pathetic life for a living. You make me sick, Nick. (sniff) Thanks Tom, you made my day. But wait, there's more. David adds: We had something of an uproar here in Pittsburgh a few months ago. For several years now, bus fares have gone up and ridership has gone down. You might think that the Port Authority of Allegheny County would have spotted the obvious cause-and-effect relationship between what people have to pay and how many people are actually paying to take the ride (and I mean that both literally and metaphorically). But of course, the municipal and transit authorities are blind to the reality of the situation. Rather than lower fares, the Port Authority began reducing the number of runs per day on nearly every route. Eventually, they began eliminating some routes entirely. (At this point, one might imagine some Colemanesque journalist to hang out at the bus stop until someone who was unaware of the route elimination came along to provide him with a full column's worth of material.) The last time a public meeting was held for riders to express their concern over the proposed service cuts, a nice big color photo appeared in the paper showing who attended the meeting. It was just what you would expect: people in wheelchairs, "minorities", and the elderly (if you'll pardon the expression). One of my co-workers took a gander at the picture and commented on how terrible it was that these people were going to have "a basic human right" taken away from them -- after all, they need to get to work somehow. I just about tore out my hair when she said that -- what sort of document, I wondered, exists that posits a ride on the bus as a "basic human right"? Is that in the US Constitution, or the Declaration of Independence? Perhaps the Magna Carta? Does it come from the Sermon on the Mount, or go back to the laws of Moses and Hammurabi? I decided not to ask out loud, as it would only make things worse. My place of employment, you see, is the University of Pittsburgh. Like most universities, it is a repository of unreconstructed Marxists of the sort who hang Soviet flags and pictures of Marx and Lenin. This particular colleague of mine is an Italian-born beauty who could certainly give Monica Bellucci a run for her money. Very disturbing, then, to find that she has a tattoo on her lower back. I'm not too fond of tattoos in general, but hers is worse than most -- it was the face of Che Guevara. Kind of telling when you learn more about a person's worldview from their backside than from their face. Not that cuts in bus service would be much of a bother for anyone who works at Pitt. For about ten years now, the University has funneled loads of money into the Port Authority so that anyone with a Pitt ID can enjoy unlimited bus rides on any route in the system. Of course I take advantage of this benefit every day that I go to work, and will continue to do so as long as it exists. After all, this is an annual deal and there was talk two years ago that the contract would not be renewed. When that happens, a lot of unhappy people are going to have to buy a bus pass, perhaps for the first time ever. Will that bother me? Of course it will, for a while. Until I can get another job to which I can drive, and that pays more money. Gainful employment is no more a "basic human right" than the means to get to work, regardless of what Marxist academia or elitist journalism might think. Sorry to go on for so long -- I am a frustrated blogger-wannabe with a full-time day job and four times as many kids as James Lileks -- but I just want to call attention to one line in Nick Coleman's extended whine that puts me in mind of one of your Fraters colleagues: "The sidewalk in front of the bus shelter was splotched with vomit and sprinkled with cigarette butts." Based on what I have been reading over the last few months, it sounds like Nick Coleman missed running into Atomizer by just a few hours. Positive reinforcement of my Coleman bashing and a zing at Atomizer? It really doesn't get any better. Thanks guys. You are the wind beneath my wings.
Tuesday, April 20, 2004
Yes, the transit strike is finally over here in the Twin Cities and we can all get back to normal. The 1.6% of the population that actually felt any noticeable impact from the bus drivers leaving their posts of duty can that is. The rest of us would likely have not even known that there was a strike were in not for the frantic efforts of the local media to top each other in delivering the schmaltziest, most guilt inducing stories of people coping with the bus strike. We've covered these shameless attempts to tug at our heartstrings previously in great detail, both here and on the Northern Alliance Radio show (where JB's memorial "urine caked drunks" line originated). And with the end of the strike, it seemed natural that we would also see the end of the wailing and gnashing of teeth from the media.
But, we didn't count on the Star Tribune's Nick Coleman. Where all others see a story completely played and milked of juicy material, Nick sees opportunity. Where others see the door closing, Nick jams his foot in and says, "Not so fast". Where others pack up and move on, Nick gets on the bus in a column titled Here's How It Really Was the Day the Buses Rolled: The No. 69 bus was running for the first time in 47 days, and it was going to be clean and shiny and there would be free newspapers and a party atmosphere all the way from the Sun Ray Transit Center on St. Paul's East Side to downtown. In your dreams. Here's how it really was, at 8:04 Monday morning on the day the buses returned. The sidewalk in front of the bus shelter was splotched with vomit and sprinkled with cigarette butts. The creaky bus, driven by Shirley Walker, had 350,000 miles on the odometer. The floor was still strewn with street sand tracked in during a February snowstorm and, behind a seat, above the right rear wheel well, a weird white foam was oozing through a crack. Welcome aboard reality. Anyone who has ever ridden a city bus before can attest that vomit, trash, and weird white substances are par for the course. So the question is what did Coleman expect? Apparently the Metro Transit Commission's modest efforts (free newspapers, allowing riders to bring coffee with them) to lure riders back after the strike left Nick with the impression that riding the bus was going to be like Carnival in Rio. By the way, when Coleman was busy chatting up the bus driver to learn her name and the mileage of the bus, why didn't he ask her if it would have been so hard to take a fargin' broom and sweep out her bus? Or is that not in the new contract? Maybe there were free papers, free back rubs and hot drinks on other buses. Maybe there were express buses full of well-dressed people on the way to the office, people who left the Lexus in the garage Monday and who were laughing and standing in the aisles singing the "Hey Ya" song and catching up on how one another's portfolios have performed since Metro Transit drivers walked off the job March 4. Feel the love people. Nothing like a little sneering class envy to bring us all together now is there? Maybe if Nick had decided to leave his beloved urban core and journey out to the far sprawling suburbs of say Wayzata or Chanhassen he would have indeed discovered busloads of well-attired business people heading downtown (and elsewhere). There's a transit station close to my workplace in Eden Prairie with a four level parking garage that's jammed full every day. They don't all own a Lexus, but they do okay. And they ride the bus. Something that Nick should be happy about. Isn't it good that these suburbanites are partaking of the glories of mass transit? When the strike was going on they had alternatives. And they used them. They don't need the bus, but they choose it as a matter or convenience or economics. If Nick really wants the transit system to survive and thrive (and help the "less fortunate" that he supposedly cares so much about) he needs these kind of people opting in. But that doesn't fit his story template so he chooses to ignore it and focus on the "powerless": But if you want to know how a metro area with pretensions to greatness could allow its rudimentary transit system to sit idle for six weeks before the big cheeses got interested enough to settle it, take a spin on the 69 bus. The people on the No. 69 don't have clout or friends in power. They don't have a Lexus in the garage. They have the bus, and they are glad it's back. People like a 46-year-old woman named Soong Sook, who rode from the East Side to a charity store on West Seventh to pick up some clothes for her grandkids. Who exactly does have clout or friends in power? I don't. I don't have a Lexus in my garage either. Can I be one of Nick's people? One of the most irritating aspects of the media coverage of the bus strike was the tendency, which Coleman of course follows to a tee, to always blame the strike on the MTC commissioners and the governor, apparently the "big cheeses" here. Never blame the drivers who actually engaged in the strike which left the buses idle. Three hours on the No. 69 -- from the East Side through downtown, then along West Seventh through the West End on out to Fort Snelling and the Veterans Affairs hospital and back again -- and I saw only one person going to an office job. He only saw one person going to an "office job"? Was this based on his notion of "well-dressed"? Talk about hypocritical. Liberals like Coleman love to preach that we shouldn't judge based on appearance alone and yet that is exactly what he does here. Unless he actually interviewed everyone on the bus, there's no way he make this claim. And what the hell is an "office job" anyway? Maybe there are more. Maybe they will come back when the parking deals they made during the strike run out. But many No. 69 regulars don't make parking deals. They just make do: Only Coleman can turn the act of paying a monthly contract rate or "making parking deals" sound like entering into a real estate development agreement with the Donald. Hey Nick, I made an "electric deal" with X-cel energy this month. Wanna write about it? Coleman goes on to chronicle the tales of no less than seven people riding the bus that day and why bus service is important to them. I'm not going to make fun of those who have to use public transit (I'll leave that to JB), but Coleman's efforts to elicit pity for them didn't exactly leave me fighting back the tears: Augustine Cortez, 48, said that he was taking the bag of clothes on his lap to wash them at the coin laundry. I have just enough Spanish and he just enough English for us to communicate, but Lunes is washday everywhere, I guess. And the point of that is what exactly? This guy takes the bus to a laundry mat. I bet it happens on buses all over the Twin Cities every day. Is this a revelation to Nick? ? And a woman named Lisa Bailey, who has a learning disability and whose left arm was in a cast. She got on the bus with a bag of plastic juice bottles that she was going to drop off at a recycling center because her apartment building doesn't recycle plastic. "Where's all the free newspapers at?" she asked as she made her way down the aisle, looking for evidence that a disastrous transit strike was finally over and that she was on board a party bus. That thing I said about not making fun of people who ride the bus? It's getting really hard to stick to. Must resist... Wasn't the simple fact that she was RIDING ON A BUS evidence enough that a "disastrous" transit strike was over? Oh wait, she did have a learning disability didn't she? No doubt she was hoping to find a free Star Tribune so she could catch up on all her favorite Metro section columnists. I told her what I had heard: The free newspapers are supposed to be on the bus next week. But that might be too late. The party's already over. Earth to pretentious, out of touch, newspaper guy. Riding the bus was NEVER a party. And it NEVER will be. Understand? All of these people who were riding the bus yesterday were probably riding the bus forty eight days ago before the strike and they'll likely be riding the bus two months from now. And the bus they ride will be dirty, smell of exhaust fumes, and creak along. So what? That's life Nick. It ain't always pretty but it's life. Finally someone with an insider view of the Star Tribune e-mails to make an interesting comparison: Coming back from vacation I find the buses are running but the illuminati here are oddly unhappy. Settling into my desk and looking out the window at the tracks of the biggest electric train set I've ever seen, once again I feel the big wheels of journalism turning in smooth, silent rotation, utterly without friction because they're completely disengaged from reality. With that I promise that this will be our last word on the bus strike and hopefully my last word on Nick Coleman for some time. My head just can't take it anymore. Labels: Media-Local (02-04)
How Do You Say "D'oh!" In Arabic?
Mortar attack kills 22 prisoners in Baghdad jail: Insurgents fired 12 mortars into Baghdad's Abu Ghraib prison Tuesday, killing 22 detainees and injuring 92, U.S. military officials said. All of those killed or injured in the mortar attack on the U.S.-run prison were security detainees, said Col. Jill Morgenthaler, meaning they were held for suspected involvement in the anti-U.S. insurgency or remnants of Saddam Hussein's ousted Baathist regime.
To Serve and Resent
A local bus driver comes to terms with his new contract. Read on and wonder no longer why Tim Pawlenty and Peter Bell had such a difficult time trying to negotiate with these people: In any case, Tim Pawlenty, Peter Bell, David Strom, and basically the Republican Party will never be forgiven. And I?m going to have a hard time thinking about Minnesota as a good place to live. Hopefully we can get someone to try and undo Pawlenty?s twof reign of terror, but I doubt that?s possible. After all he completely undid a hundred years of progress in Minnesota in only two years. I don?t even want to think about what he?ll be up to next. Is there anything more charming than a government employee with an axe to grind? Sure, they have to accept the taxpayers continuing to fund their healthcare at levels far beyond that offered in the private sector, but they don?t have to like it! Actually, he doesn?t have to accept it. He could quit his job and save all of us forced to pay his salary the ego driven drama and simmering resentment. Because, I have good news for him, this isn?t slavery! He can seek employment elsewhere and fly as high as his people skills and knowledge of history will take him. If he does choose to stick around, I just hope he doesn?t let his violated sense of entitlement affect his customer service. I think all the poor and needy abandoned by the Amalgamated Transit Union over the past 45 days deserve at least a smile and a harangue free commute. At least for this week.
The Homeless Network Responds To JB
Being outspokenly anti-homeless for many years now, I've learned to deal with the slings and arrows shot my way from various lefties as I've made my positions on the pathetic dregs known. "Heartless" is the one I probably hear the most from the there-but-for-the-grace-of-God-go-I crowd. "Hateful" is another one of their faves for expressing the belief that human beings should not live like beasts. Yup, middle class lefty loons have called me many things, but I had never been verbally assaulted by a homeless. Until this weekend. As I made my way through the streets of San Francisco, they were hard to ignore. On every street corner there were dozens of the urine-reeking creatures with palms outstretched, eyes half closed and souls ripe for Satan's pickings. And these are not your polite homeless. Nope, these homeless will bite back if they feel you COULD have given them a dime, but just didn't want to. Personally, I like to rattle the change in my pocket as I pass, often inciting obscenities, which are also often racially tinged. Based on the amount of the abuse I was experiencing, I began to wonder if word had gotten out of my appearance in town and if it was payback time for ol' JB. My theory was proven correct when I saw a homeless lying on a tarp on the sidewalk actually using a cell phone (true story, true story).
I'm A Dedicated Follower Of Fashion
Moscow based men's wear company Enton has unveiled their new "suicide bomber" line of clothing. The simulated explosive vest and belt combo are optional.
Monday, April 19, 2004
Anyway, I Ain't Got No Place Else To Go
Well, the Great Bus Strike of 2004 has ended. Today, the Twin Cities' Metro Transit buses were back on the road belching black exhaust, clogging up traffic and generally being a nuisance to the 90% of the population that has never and will never ride one anywhere. I'd like to commemorate the blessed event with just one more of the many "Rider Stories" featured in last week's City Pages. John, a 42 year old "salesperson", waxes poetic about the joys of riding the bus: It's safer than driving, especially in winter/rain, or when I'm drunk. There you have it. Metro Transit...the Twin Cities' leader in transporting drunks since 1925.
Worst Review Ever
As heard tonight on the sidewalk in front of the Best Steak House on University and Snelling, shouted with incredulity by a young woman in response to something said by the young man accompanying her out the door: "You do NOT make $30,000 a year managing this sh*t hole restaurant!" Connoisseurs of the cuisine of the Midway - bon appetit!
It Just Doesn't Get Any Better...
Stanley Cup Playoffs. Boston and Montreal. Game Seven. Scored tied 0-0 headed to the third. How's that whole no cable thing working out for you again JB?
Will Richie Crack Corn?
National Review's Rich Lowry, who wussily ducked a challenge to fight Al Franken, has apparently found an opponent more to his liking in David Corn from The Nation. The two will square off this Thursday in a political debate at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul at 7:30pm. Two political commentators who have no qualms about telling you what?s on their minds will square off in a liberal vs. conservative debate. Addressing a host of hot-button topics will be David Corn, Washington editor of The Nation, and conservative journalist Richard Lowry, a syndicated columnist and editor of National Review. Titled ''Face-Off: David Corn and Rich Lowry,'' the debate will cover some of today?s most contentious topics: U.S. involvement in Iraq; energy and the environment; employment, Social Security and the economy; affirmative action in higher education; and same-sex marriage. Moderating the debate will be Dave Nimmer, a former journalist with the Minneapolis Star and WCCO television, and a member of the Journalism and Mass Communication Department at St. Thomas. It promises to be a no holds barred verbal barroom browel, as Hugh might say. We strongly encourage readers in the Twin Cities to attend the event and cheer Lowry on as he takes Corn out behind the woodshed and delivers a rhetorical thrashing he won't soon forget. Now if he only had the stones to throw down with Al... UPDATE: Eagle eyed Darryl e-mails to point out that the debate announcement is not exactly fair and balanced: "Addressing a host of hot-button topics will be David Corn, Washington editor of The Nation, and conservative journalist Richard Lowry, a syndicated columnist and editor of National Review." Liberals are never "liberal", they's just reg'lar folks! Not like them nasty c-o-n-s-e-r-v-a-t-i-v-e-s!
Basic Composition
Amid the controversy of the nomination of Cheri Pierson Yecke as MN Education Commissioner, the Pioneer Press delves into her background and digs up some 12 year old essays, uncovering the shocking truth: To this day, those writings provide a telling glimpse into Yecke's philosophy and her style in dealing with school issues. She mixes personal anecdotes with selective references to research favorable to her side. She takes an extreme example from her opponent's argument and hammers it hard. Wait a minute here. In an attempt to persuade, she selectively references research favorable to her side? Then criticizes ?extreme? examples from her opponents arguments as invalid? With a style like that, you?d almost think Ms. Yecke was a political appointee or something and not the divinely ordained grand oracle of objective truth and balance in social science research. Well, if the MN Senate rejects her candidacy, I must say she at least has a bright future in blogging. Or perhaps newspaper reporting? I think the above style would work well in, for example, doing a news article with the agenda of trying to discredit a political appointee as unfit for service by selectively excerpting from three essays she wrote 12 years ago and hammering them hard as extreme and then generalizing them as indicative of her entire career while at the same time as not putting her alleged transgressions in context with the styles of political appointees from previous administrations. At least that should be good enough to work for the Pioneer Press. But folks, you may want to think twice before blindly agreeing with me on this issue. As Ms Yecke wrote 12 years ago about the South Washington County School District ... ?Hard work and self-discipline are looked down upon, and status is often achieved by non-performance,'' Yecke wrote. "The prevailing attitude among many students is 'Why study? They can't fail me so who cares?' '' At this point I?m forced to admit that I am a graduate of that school system (the formerly prestigious Neil A. Armstrong Elementary in Cottage Grove, class of ?81). Although my years there predate Ms. Yecke?s experience and the district?s outcome based education experiment, if she ever needs me to testify on her behalf, I?d be happy to come. I promise to be as lazy and undisciplined as she needs me to be to prove her case. Yes, I think I can fake that for a few hours.
Sunday, April 18, 2004
A Sunday Stroll Through The Star Tribune
Just in case there were any second thoughts about my decision to dump the Minneapolis Star Tribune, this Sunday?s edition went a long way to dispelling them. Let?s take a walk through the pages shall we? Our first stop is the Metro section. Doug Grow kicks things off with the story on a vacant lot in north Minneapolis. What had once been a crack house was razed by the city. Neighbors started a community garden in the empty lot in 1993 and have tended it since then. Now the county wants to sell the property off in hopes that it an affordable house will be built on the lot. Sounds like a good idea right? Not to the gardeners. They want the city to leave the lot as is so they can keep ?their? garden, affordable housing be damned. Instead of NIMBY we have NIMG (not in my garden). Thankfully the authorities aren?t buying the sob song that these botanical squatters are selling and the property will be sold. Which allows Grow to end his column with a tug at the heartstrings that shows just how much he cares about Doug?s People: "Why don't they understand?" Leathers asked, a tear in her eye. Staying in the Metro neighborhood beat, we come across the latest offering by Nick Coleman: Minnesota might as well be Kansas for many of us. We may still have 10,000 lakes, but they are off limits to a lot of us. Any innocent out there still harboring nostalgic notions about the affordability of lakeshore living here is stuck in the '80s. From Brainerd, where cabins are being gobbled up three and four at a time to make way for huge new homes, to the shores of White Bear and Minnetonka, the squire-ification of Minnesota is speeding up. Modern-day barons with new fortunes are putting together parcels of lakeshore to forge big estates and build humongous palaces worthy of a sultan. I have no agenda here: I just think we ought to recognize what's happening. No agenda here? Come on Nick don?t sell yourself short. You have an agenda. It?s called fanning the flames of class envy. His entire column is nothing but jealous carping about how much lake homes cost in Minnesota. Some of us might view the news of raising prices in lake homes as a positive. After all in order to afford these pricey waterside abodes people must be taking home some decent ching. If people can buy cabins up North in addition to their homes here, it?s a sign of affluence. Which means that the local economy might not be on the verge of a Depression, as many of those who share Nick? political viewpoint seem to believe. Would Nick be happier if the real estate bubble burst and we were witnessing a rapid deflation of lakeside (and all other) realty prices? I wouldn?t bet against it. One final point has to be made. I grew up in a middle class neighborhood not too far from the shores of Lake Minnetonka. If Nick seriously believes that property on Lake Minnetonka was ?affordable? back in the 80?s he?s delusional. The premium that such property currently commands is higher today than in the past, but there always been a such a premium. Let?s check out the Opinion/Editorial pages next. Where we find not one, not two, but THREE pieces singing the praises of higher taxes. Eric Dregni gets the ball rolling with a paean to the glories of Norway called Where taxes are high and the citizens love it: 'Welfare state' may be dirty words in English, but the equivalent Velferdsstaten inspires nationalist pride in Norway. "It's the system we have chosen," a teacher of Norwegian in Trondheim told me, "and I'm happy to pay the taxes for it.'' I'd never met anyone who was happy for taxes, but the benefits are soon clear. Death and taxes may be unavoidable, but in Norway at least you get your health care, higher education and pension provided by the government, and you won't be out on the street if you lose your job. Norway's system offers its citizens a degree of stability and certainty unheard of in the United States. Plus, families receive a monthly allotment for each child of 972 kroner (about $145), almost-free day care, and mothers are allowed 42 weeks of paid maternity leave -- or a whole year at 80 percent of wages. Because of these social services and redistribution of wealth, Norway can boast the highest quality of life of any nation for the last few years. The highest cost of living paired with the highest quality of life hardly makes for an extravagant lifestyle, however. An American friend living in Oslo put it this way: "It's not that we buy more things or have more things, it's that we are guaranteed a high standard of living. We don't have two cars, we take the bus, and we can probably count the number of times that we go out to eat." Here we go again. If we could only be more like ______(insert name of some European socialist paradise) life would be perfect. At least this is an honest look at what many on the left wish for us. No one has too much, but everyone gets something, whether earned or not. Again it?s the old trade off: freedom vs. security, in this case economic. If you like the Norwegian system, I suggest you move to Norway. As for me, I like buying more things, having two cars, and going out to eat countless times. Eric obviously hasn?t been reading the Strib much if he says he never met anyone who is happy for taxes. Why just today the paper features Dave Hage and Lori Sturdevant beating the drum, and arguing that the state is headed to hell in a hand basket if we don?t come to our senses and agree pay more. Tax me please. Tax me again. More, more, yes, yes, ohhhhh? Our stroll ends in the Strib?s Variety section. The Variety title refers to the variety of methods the paper uses to hammer home political messages in a section of the paper one would not typically associate with such views. Today the whole front page of the Variety section is dedicated to the first in a five part series called Immigrants The New Activists. It?s a profile of how some recent immigrants (no distinction is usually made between illegal and legal) have bought in to the notion of victim hood being peddled by the left. It favorably compares the actions of these activists with the women?s suffrage and civil rights movements of the past. The words ?racism? and ?social justice? are ubiquitous, and of course we hear about cases of poor immigrants whose rights about trampled: In many ways, Armando Blas-Garcia is a typical suburban father. He works as a shipping clerk for the Instant Web Cos., a direct-mail operation in Chanhassen. His wife, Maria Luisa German-Flores, is a cook at Mystic Lake Casino. They live with their children -- Maria, 17; Areli, 15, and George, 12 -- in a $279,000 home they own in Chanhassen. Last Monday, Blas-Garcia spent his morning delivering two urgent packages to the Minnesota offices of U.S. Senators Mark Dayton and Norm Coleman. They contained a desperate plea to the senators to intervene on his behalf with immigration officals who in February ordered the family to leave the country when Blas-Garcia's work permit runs out May 12. Although he has worked legally in Minnesota for the past six years and taken the appropriate steps to apply for citizenship, his request was denied. (Yes, that is how the word ?official? was spelled in the Strib story. The error appeared in both in the print and online editions. Nice editing eh?) In reality of course Bals-Garcia is not a typical suburban father. He has broken the law and is now being held responsible: "Mr. Blas-Garcia is not a bad person," said Tim Counts, a spokesman for the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) office in Bloomington. "He overstayed his visa, and that's illegal. He had full access to the process, and both a judge and the board of appeals said he can't stay." And he should not stay. He had his day(s) in court and he lost. I?m sure that the sale of his $279,000 home will go a long way to easing his return to wherever he came from. I can?t wait for four more days of having to wade through these stories to get to the comics. The end can?t come soon enough. The end of my subscription that is.
Saturday, April 17, 2004
Andrew Sullivan is Over
Never heard of the guy until shortly after 9/11/01. Via Lileks I think, I started to read Andrew Sullivan and found him to be among the most articulate advocates of what I felt about the experience my self. Horror, outrage, sadness, determination to settle the score and make sure it never happens again. Plus he said he was a Democrat leaner now understanding the importance of Republican governance in a time of foreign policy crisis. It seemed like he might be a useful example for those appeasement oriented types slow to learn the lessons of the smoking ruins in lower Manhattan and Washington DC. Because of his writing skills on this topic, you could over look his other proclivities. Of which, most ridiculously, was his wrapping his sexual preferences in the American flag. To be clear, NOBODY cares what he does in his private life. It?s not on the radar of those reading the Internet for political analysis. But he sure cares about telling us about it. And that?s fine, blogging is an informal medium and personal insights are part of its appeal. Yes, George Will is a brilliant political analyst as well and he gets by just fine without inviting his readers into his bedroom. But if Sullivan feels the need to do that occasionally, as long as he?s reasonably discreet, who cares? Of course the gay marriage issue has changed Sullivan?s approach from discreet to complete lunacy. Even before judges in Massachusetts and the mayor of San Francisco forced the issue on us, Sullivan was telling us that our approval of his lifestyle was a prerequisite for the health of his self esteem and a necessary human right. But the President?s remarkably mainstream and moderate stance on this issue (advocating a Constitutional Amendment for the protection of traditionally defined marriage) sent Sullivan into Rosie O?Donnel level hysterics, such as: The president launched a war today against the civil rights of gay citizens and their families. And just as importantly, he launched a war to defile the most sacred document in the land. And then threats to withhold his electoral support of a party he?s never supported in his life anyway: We have no alternative but to defend ourselves and our families from this attack. And we will. Let?s be clear on one thing. Despite his ephemeral, rhetorical support of GW Bush and the war on terror, and despite his claims of independence of mind, this is a behavioral Democrat (electorally speaking and otherwise). One who is now self righteously threatening to vote for the Democratic party in 2004 unless we accept his theory that the Constitution insists we allow gays to marry each other. That?s right, this movement is not just saying it?s a good idea for gays to marry each other. They?re saying the Constitution demands it. Just like others say it demands that children be prevented from saying the Pledge of Allegiance in public schools. No ifs, and, or buts, (or representative legislation) about it. So Sullivan is gone from the political right, perhaps revealing that despite his September eloquence of three years ago, he never really evolved in his political philosophy at all. You may think that?s a harsh judgment, but taken in context with, for example, his comments on The Passion of the Christ, I think it?s accurate. Read below and try to imagine anyone to the Right of Larry Flynt or Michael Moore saying it: At the same time, the movie was to me deeply disturbing. In a word, it is pornography. ..... Toward the end, unsatisfied with showing a man flayed alive, nailed gruesomely to a cross, one eye shut from being smashed in, blood covering his entire body, Gibson has a large crow perch on the neighboring cross and peck another man's eyes out. Why? Because the porn needed yet another money shot. Absolutely ridiculous, intentionally alienating language. Using pornographic imagery in regard to a movie much of the Church hierarchy, including our man Pope John Paul himself, embraces as a deeply spiritual experience. It?s nothing more than a vindictive hit piece by Sullivan. As if he?s attempting to crudely and gratuitously slash back at the institution at the forefront of refusing to accept his lifestyle. And remember, his hyperbolic, vile prose is aimed at a cinematic depiction of a man who many believe died for our sins. I?d hate to see the rage Sullivan would summon up over a Mel Gibson movie depicting the fate of Sodom and Gomorra. Naively, I thought likening the suffering of Christ to a porn ?money shot? was as low as someone like him could go. Turns out I was wrong, as now Andrew Sullivan shares with us his inner most thoughts about Jesse Ventura. BEAR WATCH: Jesse Ventura just got even sexier with that beard. If that were possible. Thanks for sharing Andrew and bringing us all into your own personal hell. Now where do I go to get my memory erased?
Friday, April 16, 2004
I Thought You Wanted To Express Yourself...
Yet another Fraters inspired blog appears on the horizon. Yes, it's Pieces of Flair featuring Brian Hipp and a host of others. Despite the fact that Brian is a Royals fan and another contributor is a Notre Dame alum, we encourage you to check it out. With a title like that how can it fail?
The Democratization of Taste in Everyday Life
My wife loves IKEA. She is counting down the days until the first IKEA store in Minneapolis-St. Paul opens near the Mall of America and is actually considering taking time off work to spend a full day there shopping once it's up and running. Like I said, she loves IKEA. Eric Gibson has a piece on the megastore at OpinionJournal.com, where he discusses the controversy surrounding a planned IKEA store in Brooklyn and explains why IKEA is good for consumers, good for democracy, and good for America: IKEA does for the home what Julia Child did for the kitchen--and what Martha Stewart, later, did for home crafts. It's possible to walk into an IKEA store thinking that interior decoration is little more than cinder blocks and orange crates and leave with a bedroom, living room or kitchen worthy of the toniest shelter magazine. Goodbye college dorm, hello Museum of Modern Art--an instant upgrade. In part, IKEA does this by marrying two seemingly irreconcilable worlds: economy and high design. The consumer no longer has to choose between the unattractive and cheap, on the one hand, and the good-looking and dear. You can buy a sofa for as little as $200, but it looks as good as the top-of-the-line model that retails for just under $1,000. That you have to assemble everything when you get home doesn't seem to deter people, perhaps because it helps keep prices down. IKEA's other secret is to take the mystery out of home decoration by walking you through it step-by-step, like Julia Child with a recipe. The catalogs have pictures of products and ensembles, but to really understand the genius of IKEA you have to go to one of their stores. The showroom is on one floor, the purchasing area on another. You follow a winding pathway through the showroom, passing all manner of installations--bedroom, kitchen, living room, office--each aimed at helping you determine what best meets your needs and, more important, what seems to go with what. It is a series of seminar rooms for those of us who did not grow up with Mies van der Rohe or Alvar Aalto in the family.
Say What?!
Frankly, I'm stunned by the news that bouts of The Gout have now been linked to alcohol consumption. I was certain that my particular struggle with this condition was due to my gluttonous appetite for exotic organ meats. Meh...I'll fix myself another martini anyway. I do believe I'll pass on the stoat kidney garnish this time, however.
We Report (bad news only) You Decide (to quit reading)
Last week I decided that I could no longer subscribe to the Minneapolis Star Tribune. My decision was heavily influenced by an atrocious editorial that appeared in the paper on Condi Rice's testimony before the 9/11 Commission. I called it the last straw. Earlier in that week another straw was the bold faced headline that the paper ran over the fold after the fighting in Ramadi: TWELVE MARINES SLAIN As others have already noted, the headline said nothing about the results of the fighting or the casualties that the Marines inflicted on the insurgents. And the word slain seemed like a grossly inappropriate way to describe the combat deaths of the Marines. Slain would indicate that they were helpless victims rather than combatants who had fallen on the field of battle. This week the situation in Iraq seems to have stabilized. Coalition forces have retaken control of most of the areas that were lost last week, and as this New York Times story on fighting in Falluja on Tuesday spells out, the Marines are cleaning house there: American forces killed more than 100 insurgents on Tuesday in close combat in a small village in central Iraq, Marine commanders said Wednesday. The battle, classic urban combat that raged for 14 hours, was one of the heaviest engagements since the invasion of Iraq last year. It showed not only the intensity of the resistance but an acute willingness among insurgents to die. "A lot of these guys were souped up on jihad," said Lt. Col. B. P. McCoy, commander of the Fourth Battalion, Third Marines. "They might as well been suicide fighters." Marines fought house to house, roof to roof, doorway to doorway. They repelled attacks of machine-gun fire, volleys of rockets and repeated charges by masked fighters, Colonel McCoy said. Two marines were shot but their injuries were not life-threatening. Anyone with even a bare knowledge of military history would recognize just how impressive this is. The idea that you could undertake offensive urban combat on the other guy's turf, kill one hundred of the bad guys, and suffer two wounded is almost unbelievable. Recall that when the Russians were fighting the Chechens in Groznyy they suffered thousands of casualties. And they were not shy about using whatever firepower they had available. While the Marines have been getting some support from helicopter gunships and AC-130s, for the most part they have not taken advantage of the overwhelming U.S. airpower available in order to avoid civilian casualties. The fighting is mostly small squad action using machine guns, mortars, and snipers. The Marines are not blowing the insurgents away with shock and awe, they're systematically and methodically shrinking their area of control and killing many of them in the process. While suffering very few casualties of their own. This is a tremendous story and is good news. Which is probably why the story never graced the pages of the Star Tribune. Last night at Keegan's, after yet another trivia victory, we were discussing this subject and I declared that I was waiting for the Strib headline that blared: One Hundred Insurgents Killed A friend said it was much more likely that the headline would be: Two Marines Wounded And he's undoubtedly correct. Yet another reason to cancel the paper. And while we're on the subject lets take a few more e-mails on it. From Steve in Newbury Park, CA: I moved to CA from MN years ago and I read the Pioneer Press on the Web, mostly for the sports. In general, I avoid the Red Star but I'll occasionally gander at the oped page if there's a news item that I suspect has got the editorial board all worked up and I'm curious to see the spin and talking points. I can't imagine being a subscriber if I still lived there, especially after 9/11. The same is true out here. I know lots of people who have dropped the LA Times because of its slanted coverage - my cancellation predates 9/11. The LA Times is a much superior paper to the Strib - they've got the resources - but they just refuse to do the news straight. And Mark in St. Paul: I never take the local papers -- I do all my newspaper reading online -- but I cancelled the remainder of my 2 year Newsweek subscription last fall when they basically started factually misrepresenting and spinning Iraq in every possible negative way. I was so disgusted by the tone of the magazine -- self-righteous, 'I-told-you-so' defeatism. Ending my subscription to Newsweek instantly made my life better. I'll take the more balanced, and frankly, better written editorial and news tone of the Economist any day of the week. As a fellow subscriber to the Economist I could not agree more. Craig weighs in: i dropped the star and sickle years ago after they ran an article, front page above the fold, "mortgage interest deductions are a tax break for the rich". i guess only rich people own houses here in MN. which makes one wonder why some don't build bigger houses since they are rich? not only should mainstream media not be patronized, the current advertisers need to hear that you won't buy their products because they facilitate propaganda campaigns of the left. it is the only way to overhaul the system. And don't forget patronizing those advertisers who support the voices of the right. You do want to make sure your sidewalls are turned up right don't you?
How One Gets The Gout
From today's Star Tribune (registration required) we learn that a study confirms gout-alcohol link: For the first time, scientists have documented the age-old belief that alcohol intake strongly increases the risk of developing gout, and that the risk is related to the type of alcoholic beverage consumed. When asked for comment on the news Atomizer simply replied, "Duh."
I Say, A Sporting Event? Sounds Delightful!
What's that line from when Seinfeld is watching a Mets game--"Ya gotta love sports." It's true. Even if you don't love sports, to be a man, you GOTTA love sports. Why? One reason is conversation. I'm in San Francisco attending an interminably boring training and when I got a chance to get out last night I hit a cigar bar I happened along. The place was called the Occidental (471 Pine St. if you care) and was staffed by the owner only. I like that. It was a small, cozy, out-of-the-way jernt and offered a vast array of Scotches and cigars. As I started in on a fine smoke and an Oban 10, a guy next to me muttered something about the Giants and how this might be their year, etc. I threw in my two cents, basically aping some garbage I heard on Sportscenter (I'm an AL guy afterall) but it lead to an interesting night of conversation with the guy and the bartender about all sorts of interesting topics like: whiskey, dames, San Diego, the place to get the best Ahi tuna in town--traditional man conversation. Now imagine two strangers sitting down at the bar and discussing women's college basketball: Learned Sensitive Male: "I just thought that was so great what the Gophers did this year." Browbeaten Wuss: "Absolutely. My daughter and I have really enjoyed watching the games together." What I'm saying is that if you aint a sports fan, you're limiting your enjoyment of life as a man. It's that simple. Sports is the common language men share. The ice breaker. It aint the sociological implications of women's college basketball or the 9-11 commission and the "Wall"--I'll tell you that much.
Clock Cleaning and Toy Giving
A few months ago we had a post on efforts sponsored by the Spirit of America to raise money for the 1st Marine Division to bring supplies to the people of Iraq. Here's an update on how things are going for the Marines in Iraq: As you know from the news, the 1st Marine Division that Spirit of America and our donors have been supporting is in a very difficult and dangerous situation in Iraq. One of the messages I frequently get from them is that it's a very small number of people that are causing the problems we see. In other words, they don't want us to give up on the Iraqi people or on the Marines' mission in Iraq. One LtCol emailed, "The only thing I would ask is that you get the word out to your friends not to let the drama created in the media reporting drive them to lose heart with regards to our mission here. Sure we have taken some casualties, but the people we are fighting are criminals, terrorists, and punks and we are cleaning their clock. The best thing we can do is to keep fighting and clean house. If we don't take care of business now, these hoods will be around to cause problems in the future." Things with distribution of goods we donated to support the Marines "No Better Friend" plan have been understandably delayed by increased the conflict. The Marines had great plans and intentions to demonstrate to the Iraqi people they were there to help rebuild the country. Their intentions remain the same, the plans have changed of necessity. Despite the conflict, the Marines' distribution of Frisbees and soccer balls has begun. The WSJ's Daniel Henninger also has a piece on Spirit of America's latest effort: The First Marine Expeditionary Force and U.S. Army in Iraq want to equip and upgrade seven defunct Iraqi-owned TV stations in Al Anbar province--west of Baghdad--so that average Iraqis have better televised information than the propaganda they get from the notorious Al-Jazeera. If Jim Hake can raise $100,000, his Spirit of America will buy the equipment in the U.S., ship it to the Marines in Iraq and get Iraqi-run TV on the air before the June 30 handover. Donate to the SOA television effort here.
Thursday, April 15, 2004
Taking a spin at the wheel of the Hugh Hewitt Show last night was a rollicking good ride. I shared the studio in the first hour with The Big Trunk (Scott Johnson) from Power Line, James Lileks , and Mitch 'Marconi' Berg from Shot In The Dark.
Despite my passionate pleading that we devote all three hours to throwing down on Hugh, we carried on for the most part with the normal show schedule. Wednesday's usual lead off hitter Mark Steyn was unavailable which was disappointing to all of us, in particular James. We did have Steven Hayward on to discuss his new book on Jimmy Carter, and the incomparable Claudia Rosett, who wasn't on a cell phone in the back of a cab for a change. With four hosts in the studio and the guests only on for one segment, it was tough to get a word in edgewise. So I was perfectly content to sit back and let my esteemed colleagues let fly with the questions. In the second hour Ed from Captain's Quarters took my place at the round table, and I relaxed in the luxurious Patriot Green Room while listening to the broadcast. The facilities are first class with a fully stocked bar, hors d'oeuvres table, leather recliners, a bank of flat screen TVs, and even a vintage 1984 Tempest video arcade game (Mitch insisted on it). And the full time massage therapist on call ain't bad either. Take it from me, Inga's got hands of gold. My only complaint? No Skittlebrau. Sure, they had a bag of Skittles and a six pack, but it just wasn't the same. My rider specifically calls for Skittlebrau and not having it available could have thrown me off my game. Fortunately I am a professional and was able to overcome it. But don't think you've heard the last of this one Jay Larson. James headed home after the second hour (I think he's got a kid) and I was back in the saddle with Ed, Mitch, and Scott. The third hour was fun and fast paced. At least it was in the studio. We spoke with noted lefty blogger Matthew Yglesias, and engaged in what Scott aptly described as "inside blogball" conversation with him over his recent dust up with Charles Johnson from Little Green Footballs. It may not have been a topic of interest for 90% of Hugh's audience, but it did spur us into a wider discussion on the notion of Islam as a "religion of peace" and stirred things up a bit. Which ain't a bad thing. John Podhoretz appeared as a guest as well, and he is shaping up to be one of Hugh's best regulars. After John we only had one segment left, and a couple of phone calls later we were done. It was amazing how fast the hour went by. Time does indeed fly when you're having fun. And it was a helluva lot of fun. Working with Generalissimo Duane was a pleasure. He is a true radio professional and knows his craft well. He also has a tremendous sense of humor and, as often happens on our Saturday show, many of the best lines and much of the best conversation took place off the air during breaks. Best of all Duane played his own bumps, not the musical flotsam and jetsam that Hugh usually subjects his listeners to. Thank you Generalissimo. Thanks also to Joe Hanson, local producer extraordinaire, to Patrick Campion and Jay Larson from the Patriot who allowed us to use the studio, and to my fellow Northern Alliance brethren, especially Mitch who did a stellar job guiding us through the rocky shoals of radio once again. And thanks to the listeners and callers (BTW where were the Monkeys?) who put up with us for two days. Those of you who live in the Twin Cities area and can't get enough of the Northern Alliance Radio Network should seek counseling immediately. And then tune in to AM-1280 The Patriot on Saturdays from noon until three. I suppose I should thank the big guy who made it all possible as well. Thanks God. Oh, you mean Hugh? Well, okay. Thanks Hugh for allowing us to host your show in spite of the risks and peril involved. You can now rest easy again. Here are your keys back Dad. Thanks for letting us drive. That scratch in the passenger side door was already there remember? By the way... ...when are you going out of town again? Labels: NARN (04-05)
Another Fine Mess You've Gotten Me Into
Thanks to J.D. for the new Laurel and Hardy.  What? You thought it was going to be another Hugh and Duane photo?
R-A-W-K In the USA
Charles Johnson at Little Green Footballs was kind enough to mention that we would be filling in for Hugh last night, and as a result a number of his readers tuned in to the show. Not surprisingly, they weren't shy about sharing their thoughts. There are currently 224 comments in the the post thread. I've picked a few of my favorites to share here. Not all of them were positive of course: Whose voice is that? Awful. He must be referring to Hugh's recorded lead in to the show. The rest were more charitable: Pretty freakin' awesome. I wish I could stike around to catch the rest. Is this a one day deal? Actually it was a two day deal. And who knows what the future holds? Undoubtedly it will be brighter than Air America's: Listening to these guys, does anyone remember listening to Air America? How can those puny whiners think they have a chance next to existing talk radio? Loved their take on the 9/11 widows. Chris Matthews treating them like they're experts on intelligence agencies is absurd. James of course has his fans: Wow, Lileks has a great radio voice. The whole rich bell-shaped tones thing. Lileks on Soros was freakin hilarious. Hilarity was apparently a theme: A bald cat!?! These guys are hilarious! On our interview with Matthew Yglesias: I think Matthew was a little out of his depth with these guys. Don't worry. He'll do better next week when he's back on with Hugh. And at least one of them does know Hugh's MO: Hugh always refers to his buddies at Fraters Libertas as nutcases, as well as the others who pitch hit for him when he's off somewhere. That's his way of letting us feel the love... Finally my personal favorite: Those Fraters guys RAWK!
Fraters reader the Warrior Princess has had enough of the 9/11 commission and proceeds to go Xena on their political charade of an investigation with this email:
The incredible inconsistency in the current Democratic mantra on terrorism is astonishing to me. President Bush went into Iraq based on the actual and probable threat of attack on the United States. He did so preemptively after the national catastrophe we experienced on Sept. 11. For this action, President Bush has been condemned for acting without enough evidence, and not getting the approval of the U.N. But yet, the President is being blamed for not taking action prior to Sept. 11 to stop the terrorist attacks?!? Exactly what does the left think he should have done? Let's say, for the sake of argument, that the August PDB did provide even a tiny shred of information that would have given the executive branch a small clue as to what was going to happen. To prevent the attacks on Sept. 11, the action would have had to have been drastic, pre-emptive, based on an incredibly limited amount of information, and certainly taken without the approval of the U.N. If the left doesn't support the presuppositions that the President built his case to invade Iraq on, it's absolutely ludicrous to think they would have supported any action he would have taken to prevent the terrorist attacks in the month prior to Sept. 11. And does anyone else wonder where the entire civil libertarian viewpoint of the Democratic Party has disappeared to? For the last two years I have had to endure the whining of my lefty friends that Big Brother John Ashcroft wielding the blunt instrument known as the USA Patriot Act was totally massacring our civil liberties. Any scenario that the President could have conceived to make an impact on the terrorist plot in the one month prior to Sept. 11 would have had to involve racial profiling, and illegal surveillance. If you're going to Monday morning quarterback, could you at least attempt to be consistent? The answer of course, is no. The Left doesn't have to be consistent, because no one in the mainstream media is interested in holding them accountable. Charges and accusations are made week after week, and preposterous and contradictory as they may be, it all gets superficially reported as credible. Suddenly the cynical ,hard bitten press corps is transformed into a group of wide eyed innocents, accepting anything they're told. You say Condoleeza Rice never heard of Al Quaeda before Richard Clarke casually mentioned it while cleaning out his desk? Gosh. You say some vague information tangentially related to terrorism in the United States appeared in one of thousands of briefing documents presented to the White House--and Bush didn't do anything to stop the 9/11 attacks? Gasp! But luckily for us, there are media types still engaged in casting a cold eye on such nonsense. Including the pride of Mounds View, Minnesota, Mr. Vox Day. In a recent World Net Daily column, Vox comes to terms with the subtle charms of liberal argument: I have finally been convinced that I will be healthier, happier and wealthier if I join the large-brained ranks of the morally superior elite. I have therefore decided to become a liberal. Already I have benefited greatly from my decision--whereas many previous discussions ended in a frustrating impasse, now, being inestimably more clever and better-looking than before, I am able to win any argument with the greatest of ease. Let me share with you the secret of my success. 1) Make an untrue statement, preferably on the subject of something about which you know nothing. 2) Express astonishment that your source could possibly be inaccurate. 3) Demand what motivation your source would have to lie. 4) Assert that the other party's inability to articulate this motivation is tantamount to proof that your source is not lying. 5) Question the motivation of the contrary source. 6) Argue that all sources are equal and that therefore the contrary source is irrelevant. 7) Change the subject. Alternatively ... 1) Make an untrue statement. 2) Deny that you said what you said. 3) Deny that the other party understood what you said. 4) Deny that the words you used mean what the other party claims they mean. 5) Redefine your definition and hope the other person forgets the previous one. Repeat as needed. 6) Assert that since definitions are irrelevant and subjective, the other person is mean-spirited, racist, sexist, intolerant and obsessive. 7) Change the subject. FYI - Vox Day will be a special guest on Northern Alliance Radio this Saturday, in the 2:00 hour. Tune in, but liberal callers be warned, Vox has your number. (That's right, it's standard Patriot AM1280 policy to forward our guests the names, addresses and phone numbers of those who disagree with them. It makes the crushing of dissent so much easier that way.) Labels: 9/11
Don't Forget What Day It Is Today
That's right Thursday April 15th is of course... Buy A Gun Day. What are you waiting for? Get out there and get packing.
Wednesday, April 14, 2004
Tonight I will be appearing, along with other Northern Alliance colleagues, as a guest host on the Hugh Hewitt radio show. Last week Hugh concocted a ridiculous story about me on the air. He claimed that my nickname was Peeps and that I had acquired the moniker in high school. His silly tale is of course completely untrue. It has about as much validity as the claim that Bush is responsible for 9/11. In fact it's exactly the kind of reckless disregard for the truth that we've seen from Bob Kerrey and Richard ben Veniste lately. So if you happen to hear Hugh mention Peeps later in the week, or if one of his underlings brings it up this evening, please keep in mind whose behavior they are mimicking. Do they really want to be like ben Veniste?
The official reason for Hugh's absence is that he is attending the Naval Academy's 44th annual Foreign Affairs Conference. Obviously this is just a front to disguise yet another shameless, ego-gratifying attempt by Hugh to garner a title. It's almost pathetic the way he slavishly pursues these meaningless honorariums in a futile effort to satisfy his megalomaniac fantasies. To each his own I guess. And so Hugh will shortly be prostrating himself in the office of Vice Admiral Rodney P. Rempt (the Superintendent of the Naval Academy) to beg for yet another imaginary feather to place in his oversized cap. When the Vice Admiral sizes up the middle-aged, gray haired, uncoordinated, paunchy, Dockers wearing man with a goofy smile in front of him, he will face a dilemma. What sort of nautical title is appropriate for such an individual? After a few moments the answer will be clear. No, no, not Rear Admiral. Skipper. And if Hugh is the Skipper, then it naturally would follow that his producer Generalissimo Duane would be...  ...his little buddy Gilligan. Tune in weekdays to an AM station near you for their daily three hour cruise. Labels: Ralphie
Dayton At the Bat
Senator Mark Dayton, commenting on the accomplishments of his Senate career: "I stand ready to be used in whatever constructive way I can to get this matter resolved, while recognizing I have a limited ability to do that." Well, it?s good for a man to recognize and admit his limitations. Especially one as accomplishment limited as Mark Dayton. And the MN GOP needs to get that sound bite ready for the 2006 campaign. To be fair, that quote is in specific reference to Dayton?s mediation efforts among the Minnesota Twins and the cable/satellite providers, who have thus fair refused to air their games. As any sentient Minnesotan not living under a rock is painfully aware, Victory Sports (which is owned by the Twins) owns the broadcast rights to the games and has been demanding an exorbitantly high fee from the broadcasters (on the order of $2.25 per subscriber per month) in order to secure the rights. The broadcasters have rightly objected to this de facto forced rate increase for subscribers, the Twins haven?t budged in their demands in six months, and a stalemate has settled. This star crossed tale of big sports money mongering has been a hot topic in the newspapers, on the news, and on the talk shows for months. A time period which included the broadcast denial of an entire Minnesota Gophers basketball season (another Victory Sports property). We all know the story. We all know the issues at hand (money!) and we?re just waiting for one of the parties to blink. Enter Mark Dayton, with his prestigious US Senate tie clip, to save the day. The Senator called a high level meeting yesterday with all the interested parties and emerged with this news: The good news is the differences seem to be entirely about money," said Dayton, referring to the fact operators have balked at Victory's per-subscriber asking price. "It is not a matter of principle or technological impediments. The bad news is they don't seem to be close to an agreement. So, the good news is that someone explained to Dayton the reason why he called the meeting in the first place. (I can imagine Dayton?s opening question was ?Why are you people in my office again??). And yes, that is good news. For him. The bad news is a little more broadly felt. He doesn?t know what to do about a solution. Well Senator Dayton, thanks for holding a meeting anyway, I?m sure the catered lunch was delicious. But, that is Mark Dayton?s style. Throughout his tenure in office, we?ve been tantalized with several media predictions of a new, invigorated Mark Dayton, sounding his barbarous yawp o?er the political landscape. Back in January of 2003, there was a Star Tribune article, including this quote "I'm no shrinking violet," Dayton said. "I wouldn't have got here if I didn't have something to say. I'm just getting started." Then 8 long months later we get this from the City Pages: There is evidence though, that Dayton, heretofore known as a quiet legislator, has finally decided to make some noise in and outside of the Senate chambers.? Now 5 long months later again, are there finally signs the man might be starting to rev things up? I don?t want to get hopes up too high here, but it appears he now understands the specifics of an issue. And given Dayton?s past performance, that?s like 90% of the battle. Now that Mark Dayton is involved in the negotiations, don?t be surprised if we?re all watching Twins baseball by the All Star Game. Of 2007.
The Hits They Keep On A Comin'
To the Star Tribune subscription numbers that is. We start with Dan: I am not the only one. I gave up the Sickle for New Years and have not seriously read it in over four months. My doctor is impressed with my blood pressure readings! I now subscribe to the Wall Street Journal, I miss out on some metro news and local sports but do not care. The paper gives me all I need to know as a supplement to Fraters Libertas . The Wall Street Journal as a supplement to Fraters Libertas? Sounds about right. Next up is Dave: I used to get the Red Star everyday by subscription. Mostly for the sports page for my fantasy football team, and since it was pre 9/11, their dubious headlines and editorials of spin did not bother me all that much. I remember thinking from time to time they were a tad off kilter, but was able to ignore it. Since 9/11 and for that matter George Bush, the front page has taken on new importance. I canceled them after one of their editorials on Iraq, I just couldn't take it anymore. One of the most liberating experiences in my life has been finding blogs like yours and the NA, as well as Fox News, all in the last year. I'm your typical 9/11 Republican, and let me tell you, the shrieking and hysteria from the Tribune and the Left will forever keep me from saying I'm an "independent" who could vote either way. Fraters Libertas as liberators? Makes sense. Last but certainly not least is long time Strib critic and writer (not cartoonist) Gary Larson: Had it. With Strib. Canceling our sub. Too much over the edge, out of the American mainstream you might say. Beyond amusing, it's evolved into a hateful, vile, fact-altering far-left party organ editorially, if not the news slants. Hell, it's hard even to parody it's so far out. Making "Condi" into a criminal, blaming Bush (not Clinton, not even al-Queda) for 9/11, parsing the PDB. It's Too Much. "Star & Sickle," that's a good one. Best I've heard since someone in Hot Springs called it "Izvestia North" and TCF's Bill Cooper's called it "Red Star." (Got one Strib writer's undies in a bundle once by calling it that myself. He wrote saying, seriously I think, he never had been a communist. I kid you not!) Oh I'll be sneaking a peak at its editorial smear jobs, like on the Internet, or in a neighbors' paper, to rise my chronically low blood pressure (I'm with pacemaker to jump-start a tardy heartbeat) and just see what the far left is up to without reading The Nation. But do we support it by our sub dollars? No more. Just also cancelled Newsweek (getting SERIOUS here!) for misrepresenting (factually, tonally, in all ways) the Bush tax cuts in a recent issue. Told them why in a cranky letter which might amuse a few in its Circulation Dept. Well, I feel better anyhow. You could dismiss the stories that we've cited over the last few days of people bailing on the Star Tribune as merely anecdotal evidence. And we don't have hard statistics to show that large numbers of people are canceling their subscriptions because of the the perceived liberal bias of the paper, but these examples that we've sited should at least give the powers that be at the Star Tribune pause. These folks are serious news consumers (as evidenced by the fact that they read Fraters Libertas) who want a daily local paper, but aren't willing to put up with what they feel is biased reporting and a heavily slanted editorial page. From everything that I've heard on the matter, young people aren't reading newspapers anymore. So the question for the Strib is; where are they going find readers to replace the ones they're losing on an almost daily basis? How will they stop the bleeding? And by the time they do, will anyone even care?
The Norwegians get it right:
A Norwegian county has declared smoking to be a basic human right in a dispute over a ban imposed on one town's workers. Bravo! Birger Meinhardt and Steinar Holten, two of the politicians who lodged the complaint, celebrated the ruling on the steps of the Levanger town hall by lighting up the biggest cigars they could find. Meanwhile, Brendan MacGowan and Sean Hughes must hide in the bathroom of The Brazen Head in Dublin and furtively sneak puffs off a shared Silk Cut. Labels: Nanny State
Democracy Around the World
As any reasonably competent dictator will tell you, self governance by the people is a messy, distasteful proposition. I think it was Winston Churchill who famously said "Democracy is the worst form of government .........." and no doubt he had the types of stories listed below in mind. Each is from the Sunday April 4 edition of the New York Times. Yes, I'm still reading a 2 week old copy of the news. Sorry about my methodical pace folks, but I got caught up reading "Sexual Stories as Resistance Narratives in Women?s Sports: Reconceptualizing Identity Performance? and the days and weeks just started to blur together. First, from Brazil, the government of left wing President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is embroiled in a widening corruption scandal surrounding campaign contributions from illegal gambling interests. A government investigation into irregularities produced a perfunctory, dismissive report supposedly exonerating high government officials. But as more and more damning evidence is uncovered, the press and people are becoming increasingly skeptical and bold in their accusations. It all culminated in a press conference this week with Jose Dirceau, a key aid to President da Silva: Mr. Dirceu said recently that as far as he was concerned, the [corruption] matter was "a closed case," because the investigation concluded that "this government doesn't steal or allow stealing." When reporters were not satisfied with that answer and continued to press him, he lashed out, calling them "an ill-bred and uncivilized pack of bad actors." So it appears Mr. Dirceu isn?t used to facing an independent, antagonistic, frothing press corps. Either that or perhaps the leading Brazilian dailies have actually hired the entire cast of Dharma & Greg. Then way over in South Korea, more scandal. President Roh Moo Hyun was recently impeached by the National Assembly for charges of illegal campaigning (not sure what tricks he was up to, but I think it had something to do with Willie Horton). As a result, the rule of the liberal Uri party has been suspended until the Korean version of the Supreme Court decides whether or not to ratify the impeachment. It all sounds very somber and officious. However, it appears the proceedings didn?t go exactly how the the Korean civics textbooks describe (which I?m planning to start reading after I get through last week?s Sunday NYT): Park Kwan Yong, the conservative speaker of the National Assembly, who ducked flying shoes to conduct the impeachment vote on March 12, conceded in an interview on Wednesday in Seoul that "the Uri Party could become the largest party in the next National Assembly." There's only one way to describe a culture that accepts throwing one's shoes in rage as acceptable political discourse. Perfect. And I think we can now offer our diplomats some advice for talking a certain North Korean dictator out of his nukes. Throw your damn shoes at him, then maybe he'll take you seriously.
Tuesday, April 13, 2004
A Question After The President's News Conference
Doesn't he practice for these things? Yes, I know he does. But it was painful to listen to at times. I was also reminded once again of the differences in medium between radio and television, as I caught some of the news conference on radio, some on the tele. On the radio you hang on every word and syllable and Bush's verbal struggles are magnified. On television he projects more of an image of strength and confidence, which helps you get past the less than stellar responses he was dishing out. My advice would have been to keep to it simple. His tendency to veer off into long rambling answers diluted the powerful underlying messages he was trying to get across.
"Sir, Did You See That Document Contemporaneously, Or Was It..."
I just drove up to the Patriot studios and listened to the Commission for about an hour. My God, we need some perspective on how basically nothing happened today. I get the feeling that most bloggers and media-types have completely lost the ability to decide if anything INTERESTING EVER happens in the news. Did any normal people (I exclude bloggers from this group) listen to this boring garbage today? If you didn't, I can sum it up for you: nothing happened, it was really dull and you may return to your normally scheduled life. I'd lost track of Andrew McCarthy after his role in Mannequin, so it was good to hear he landed on his feet with the new lawyer gig and I thought Gorelick sounded like a women's basketball coach, but other than that, nothing happened.
Making A Silk Purse Out Of A Sow's Ear
I have refused to subscribe to the Minneapolis Star Tribune (or as I like to call it, the "Star and Sickle") since I moved back into the Twin Cities area in 1998. The reason was the same as reader Jim gave below. It was quite simply a heart attack waiting to happen. However, I am now beginning to regret my decision. The lovely Atomizerette and I have just bought a house and I am now in the midst of packing up my belongings. As I prepared to get the kitchen stuff properly packed away the other day I realized that I had no stack of old newspapers, which have always been my preferred method of protecting my fragile glassware. Perhaps I'll just use toilet paper. That sounds like an appropriate substitute.
Short But Sweet Goodbye To The Strib
Eric from Right of Center adds to the chorus: I dropped my subscription the the Strib about a year ago. When they asked why I honestly told them that I didn't agree with their overall left leaning bias. The phone call ended there, and I have not recieved one telemarketing call from them since... I think that's what you call a "clean break".
Keep The Stribless Stories Coming!
Was the title of an e-mail I just received. And we shall. Here's Avonelle's tale: I?m really enjoying the stories about people who have given up the Minneapolis Star Tribune. I gave up the paper about a year ago. I?ve also refused to subscribe or register or whatever to the online version. I continue to read the online version of the Pioneer Press, which is almost as bad, but at least I?m not paying for it, and they don?t have personal information about me. Whenever a telemarketer tries to sell me the paper, I always tell them I think they have horrible reporting and I?ll never buy their paper again. Of course, at one point in my life (millions of years ago), I was a telemarketer and sold newspaper over the phone. I KNOW that information isn?t going anywhere, but at least it shuts them up. Although I do like the ?medical reasons? suggestion. Do you have a story on ditching the Strib? We'd love to hear it.
Stribless In St. Louis Park
Jim drops an e-mail to explain how he learned to quit worrying and love not subscribing to the Minneapolis Star Tribune: Interesting. I know more and more people who are saying the same thing. My brother, a "reasonable" right of center guy expressed a completely unexpected contempt for the Strib. Said he wouldn't even look at it. I have to wonder if my experience is being repeated? I mean, isn't this affecting their bottom line? I gave up the Strib a few years ago. Apparently I was more cranky then because I was so happy to call and tell them that I was not re-subscribing. I still don't subscribe but nowadays I can actually read the darn thing (at work) and smirk. Sort of on the order of Elvis Costello's line "I used to be disgusted, and now I try to be amused". You get over the "loss". The first few Sundays were a bit of a bother - especially for my wife who really only looked at the ads anyway. But that goes away; what you don't know you're missing, you don't miss. Every so often, like for the monster ad orgy in the Thanksgiving issue, I might pick up a copy. But then maybe not. The Strib has no place in the household anymore. Sidebar: back when I was cranky and we used to get calls from the Strib to re-subscribe, my wife hit on a great idea. She simply tells the Nice Person that we can't subscribe to the Strib for medical reasons: my husband's blood pressure gets dangerously high. The script used by the Nice Person has no option for this response and they simply pause and say goodbye. That's a great point. I wonder how many readers have ended up in an early grave due to the cumulative effects of the daily stress of reading the Star Tribune. The secret to a longer, happier life? Take it from me, this ain't no fib Eliminate the source of stress and strife Make the call today, drop the Strib (With apologies to all those with a hint of actual poetic talent)
Over the weekend my wife and discussed the possible termination of our subscription to the Minneapolis Star Tribune. For me, an editorial that appeared last Friday was the final nail in a coffin that's been under construction for several years. I thought that I might have to do a bit of persuading in order to convince my wife that the time had come to dump the Strib, but she also has reached the point where the daily aggravations brought about by the paper are not worth its benefits. We haven't decided to completely do away with it quite yet, as we shall continue to subscribe to the Sunday edition. But I have a hunch that it's only a matter of time before our household becomes a Strib free zone.
My post on this topic last Friday elicited some excellent e-mail. From Tom: Today I contemplated writing my first letter to the editor of the Star Tribune. (I gave up writing letters to the editor back in Cincy, I like the immediacy of talk radio). I was to start the letter with..."The hardest working people in the Twin Cities are the typesetters at the Star Tribune printing plant. Somehow, these people are able to translate the crayon scribblings emanating from the editorial page play pen into the printed editorial I read in today's Strib...". You caught the essence of the editorial. Since you couldn't go much further without retching, did you see the part about the Bush Administrations "criminal lack of interest". Ponder this for a moment-a major metropolitan daily has just accused the President of the United States with acting criminally. Where is the vaunted chilling effect the Patriot Act has on the other side? The Clintons had meetings, they were "interested" and they were in high dungeon when people were murdered: 1. World Trade Center I; 2. Khobar Towers; 3. Two different attacks on embassy's (official US grounds) in Africa; 4. The attack on the USS Cole. Last week at my company, a manager famous for having lots of meetings produced yet another dismal year results wise. He was fired. That's what grown ups do when individuals fail to take action and have lots of meetings rather than getting their hands dirty fixing the problem. Peg advises that giving up the paper has its downsides: read your post about the strib - and let me announce, about 4 weeks ago, i decided i could NOT take it any longer, and i canceled my subscription. i've been reading a daily newspaper since i was 5 (i'm 52 now) .... but i could NOT take it a day longer. why should i give TEN CENTS to this rag of an excuse for a newspaper, i asked myself. not getting it, from a theoretical standpoint, is fabulous. nevertheless, i should tell you that i miss the obits, i miss bits of the local news, and i miss the advertising! (i never know now when bloomingdale's is gonna have a sale.) i'm wavering about going back (i actually do need to look at the paper on occasion for my work.) and it makes me REALLY sad that there is not a local paper with some decent writing & level headed reporting/op eding for us out there. sigh. Hmmm....A local paper with decent writing, solid reporting, and a balanced editorial page? A wish that I'm sure many of us share Peg. But with the advent of the internet at least you have alternative sources out there. Without the availability of my daily paper I know that I'm going to be relying on Spitbull even more than usual. I'm also heartened by the fact that I'm not the only one who's reached the end of their rope with the liberal bias that they have been forced to put up with on a daily basis. Deacon of Power Line renown, also says that Enough is enough: My family has been subscribing to the Post since my parents moved to D.C. in the late 1930s. I have been reading the paper for almost 50 years. My earliest recollection of reading is sounding out the word "morning" that appeared above the column of legendary Post sportswriter Shirley Povich, called "This Morning." But I'm going to cancel my subscription. I should be able to grab the sports section in the morning without first seeing a ridiculous headline that causes me to start my day angry. With the Post, that's no longer possible. Amen brother. Labels: Media-Local (02-04)
Monday, April 12, 2004
Yes, it's true. I will not be appearing with the other gents when they make their national radio debut hosting Hugh Hewitt's show this week. Anyone who has heard my two brief appearances on the award winning* Northern Alliance Radio Show knows that I do an excellent impression of a mute when in front of a hot microphone. It's a brilliant impression (think Cindy Brady when she froze on a televised quiz show), but not a very useful one when the goal is engaging discussion.
My on-air ineptitude is bad enough on a locally broadcast program so I have no desire to recreate it for Hugh's vast national audience. Instead, I will leave the wordsmithery in the very capable hands (or is it mouths?) of Mitch Berg, Captain Ed, King Banaian, Lileks, The Big Trunk and my cohorts here at Fraters Libertas. Besides, if the show blows I can honestly claim that I had nothing to do with it. And, just for the record Elder, my Ned Braden imitation included a pair of black dress socks and a single jewel encrusted white glove. I'm not a freak. Go get 'em, boys! (*no actual awards have been won) Labels: NARN (04-05)
Talk radio diva Hugh Hewitt is on a top secret mission from God at the U.S. Naval Academy this week, and will not return to the airwaves until Thursday. In what must have been a Cheeto/Diet Dr. Pepper induced stupor, he asked the Northern Alliance Radio hosts to fill his gargantuan, orthopedic shoes on Tuesday and Wednesday. Never being ones to look a gift horse in the mouth (despite the reputation for chicanery of the giver) we have gladly accepted Hugh's offer. Ours not to reason why, ours but to do or die.
A last minute work conflict means that I will not be able to participate on Tuesday, but I should be able to join the circus for Wednesday's offering. Fraters own JB Doubtless will be joining Mitch Berg from Shot in the Dark, Ed from Captain's Quarters, and King from St. Cloud State Scholars tomorrow. In addition to regulars K-Lo from NRO and Frank Gaffney, Myrna Blyth author of Spin Sisters : How the Women of the Media Sell Unhappiness --- and Liberalism --- to the Women of America will be appearing as well. We had Myrna on the Northern Alliance Radio Show on Saturday and she was incredible. Her book is informative and entertaining. A must read. Wednesday's lineup will include all of Hugh's normal stable, plus a couple of very special additions. Big Trunk from Powerline, Ed, Mitch, and I will all be on hand and we may be joined by another well known local quipster. If you get a chance tune in. Better yet call in. Just mention Bartolo Colon to get to the front of the line. Those of you clamoring for a chance to hear Atomizer on the national airwaves will be sorely disappointed to learn that he will not be available. After hearing of our opportunity to fill in for Hugh, he began wheezing, and hyperventilating uncontrollably, before falling to the floor in a fetal position. He was last spotted furiously peddling a bike towards the Canadian border, clad only in a jock strap, swigging liberally from a bottle of Bombay Sapphire, and singing the lyrics to 'Afternoon Delight' at the top of his lungs. Labels: NARN (04-05)
The West Is The Best
 Congratulations to the 2004 NCAA hockey champions from Denver University. Minnesota native Adam Berkhoel led the Pioneers to a 1-0 victory over hated Maine on Saturday night with his excellent play between the pipes. Denver's national title makes it three straight years for WCHA schools and four of the last five. Those of you who doubt the dominance of the West should check out this look at the best college hockey programs of all time. Finally someone has found a good use for spreadsheets.
Sunday, April 11, 2004
An Easter Flashback
The following was penned by yours truly when I was all of of seven years old. It was a creative writing story for my second grade class. All of the kids in my class wrote on Easter related themes. The stories were then collected and presented to our parents. When you read my tale notice that, even at such a tender age, I already had a grasp of the fundamental elements of a good story. Or at least of a good movie. I now present the unedited adventures of Jumpy and Thumpy: Once there was a bunny and his name was Jumpy. He jumped at every noise he heard. One day he was jumping along when he saw a girl bunny and they fell in love. The girl bunny's name was Thumpy and they got married and on Easter they delivered eggs to all the nice children and they had fun. They went everywhere in the world. One day Jumpy ate some pills and grew into a giant and on Easter this time he ate the children, but not the boys. He loved to eat girls. He loved big ones best, but Thumpy knew about this and she ran away and then she found some pills and she grew big, but on Easter she ate boys. And then one day Jumpy saw Thumpy and they fell in love again and they got married and delivered eggs again and lived happily ever after. Sex (implied), drugs, and violence? I obviously missed my calling as a Hollywood screenwriter. And how about the cliched romance plot? They meet, fall in love, have a falling out, separate, but get reunited for a happy ending. That's the romantic comedy formula to a tee baby. Right now a few studios are reviewing my revised treatment. If it gets green-lighted, production can begin by early summer, and you can look for an Easter 2005 release of 'Jumpy & Thumpy: White Rabbit II' at a theater near you.
Saturday, April 10, 2004
Local law student and standout athlete Karin writes in with the last word on women's basketball. Is it compelling as an athletic event? Is the media hype justified? Are the gender roles confused and bizarre? Is support for the sport also tacit support for radical feminism? How many more times can Saint Paul use other people's writing to fill space on Fraters Libertas instead of coming up with his own ideas?
All these questions and more are answered in Karin's insider's account and brilliant dissertation upon women's athletics. Take it away my dear: I wish I had heard the third hour (of Northern Alliance Radio) on Women's basketball last Saturday, but I enjoyed the recap on the site. I was on scholarship (I graduated 3 years ago) in a D-1 women's basketball program, so I've got some authority to speak on the subject. As far as the general slowness and lethargy of the women's game, you're right. The women's game does not produce the display of athleticism you'll see in the NBA or men's college ball. The women's game is for purists. For those who love the art of the game. The women's game is bedrocked on fundamentals, discipline, and teamwork. The reason the women's brackets in the tourney were so less tumultuous than the men is because success in the women's game is founded upon much more predictable factors than the men. The women's game rewards great coaching, and team cohesiveness. The men's tournament is most certainly more exciting. Before I started law school and actually had time to watch television, you couldn't pull me away from ESPN in early March. I love the upsets, the underdogs, and the uncertainty of it all. And there are some men's coaches who I can always count on as putting together great team basketball rather than just herding phenomenal athletes (Mike K. at Duke and Rick Majerus at Utah come to mind). But if I want to appreciate the finer points of the intellectual pursuit of basketball, give me the women's game any day. Whether there's enough of an audience of weirdoes like me who think basketball is an intellectual pursuit to warrant giving the women's game as much time as it gets, I don't know. I don't necessarily contest your conclusion, just thought I'd provide another perspective on the debate. The other point I thought I'd comment on, is your observations about women's players acting like men on the court. I completely concur with your assessments. From my perspective this side of women's athletics is just another outgrowth of the radical feminist left's disdain for femininity. Throughout high school, I bought into the feminist agenda. I'm not sure where I picked it up, but somewhere along the line early in my educational career I heard, and started subscribing to the belief that women and men were the same. I whole heartedly believed the feminist line that gender didn't make me any different than men, other than the fact that they could stand to pee and I had to sit. I was taught by my peers, my teachers, the media, and the overwhelming majority of women in power during the 80's and 90's that my job as a progressive woman was to throw off the old stereotypes that had chained the women of previous generations. I was taught making it in a "man's world" required I live, act, and interact like a man. The great irony of the feminist movement is that it hasn't empowered women to embrace and utilize the inherent differences that come from being a woman. It has taught women those inherent differences need to be beaten down at there every appearance because they are not a product of our gender, but a product of a male dominated society that has sought to keep women in an oppressive state. It has taught women that the mark of a real woman is that they act, think, dress, speak, and interact, like men. This erroneous belief is reinforced and propagated by the culture of women's athletics. Female athletes are conditioned to have a victim's mentality. The constant undercurrent of women's sports is that the patriarchal male establishment actively seeks to discriminate against capable women athletes, and that it is our job as female athletes to prove to those men we are just the same. This widely held belief both overstates the problem, and provides a harmful remedy. Now that I'm out of college, I play with mostly guys. And maybe I just happen to find guys to play with that happen to be considerably less chauvinistic than their male brethren, but no matter where I have joined a game I have not found this male contempt for me as a female athlete. And even in those rare circumstances where there has been a chauvinistic attitude displayed, once I proved my abilities on the floor they backed down. None of this required I swear, beat my chest, hit guys on the butt, or trash talk. I do not have to become a man to be accepted in a man's game, I just have to be a lady that happens to play that man's game as well as any man on the floor. The rituals you found so distasteful displayed by women in the NCAA tournament are just one example of the larger feminist myth that gender identity is cultural rather than genetic, and that making it in a "man's world" requires that women become men. Just thought I might provide a different perspective on the subject that you might enjoy. If you have read this entire e-mail I commend you. I did enjoy the perspective and found the trip enjoyable, as I'm sure the broader FL readership does as well. No need to commend me for reading it. Remember, I get five or six emails per day from the pride of Folsom, CA, James Phillips. Reading those, that's an experience in opportunity cost. Labels: Basketball, Culture
Friday, April 09, 2004
If you live in the Twin Cities, be sure to turn in tomorrow for another electric edition of the Northern Alliance Radio Network. We're very excited to have Myrna Blyth, author of Spin Sisters : How the Women of the Media Sell Unhappiness --- and Liberalism --- to the Women of America on as guest in the third hour. Noon to three. AM-1280 The Patriot.
Labels: NARN (04-05)
Just For The Record...
I am not now, nor ever have been nicknamed 'Peeps'.
I Don't Want To Cause No Fuss
But Can I Cry 'Cause There Ain't No Bus Yesterday, I told you that the current issue of City Pages has an inordinate amount of material on the transit workers strike in Minneapolis. Today, I present to you one of the many "Rider Stories" contained within. I'll start with 31 year old temporary employee Jill. She complains: I could've had a good-paying job commensurate with my experience, but instead I have a temporary, lesser-paying job without benefits because I couldn't get to the job interview, let alone the job. I believe the state's trying to gut mass transit so it can be eliminated. That's just sad. A city without mass transit is not a city. Fairly soon, we'll be a suburb of Milwaukee. Just you wait. Let me get this straight. This woman passed on a full-time job, I presume, that would have provided her with both good pay and benefits simply because she could not find a way to get herself to the interview? What a maroon! Any person can find a ride to any place in this city on any day for any single appointment bus strike or not. The options are out there if you take the time and the effort to look. First of all, I?m sure Jill has friends and/or family in the area and that at least one of these people would have been more than happy to take her to something as important and possibly life-changing as a job interview. Pick up the phone and beg if you have to, but ask around. Unless you?re a total wanker, friends don?t mind lending you a helping hand now and again. If Jill is indeed a total wanker, she then could have tried Dial-a-Ride which operates in most areas of the Twin Cities with fares ?generally under $3?. Several communities also still have full bus service including Southwest Metro Transit, Minnesota Valley Transit Authority, Plymouth Metrolink and Maple Grove Transit. While the entirety of the metropolitan area is not covered by these services, a good portion is. Check out the maps and walk or bike to the nearest stop and hop on. It ain?t ideal, but it?s an alternative to whining. And finally, taxis are still available. I know that the ride may be a bit expensive but I would certainly consider it to be a feasible option for getting one's self to a job interview. Now, you may be asking ?How would Jill have commuted to work if she were to get the job, you unfeeling, uncaring bastard??. The answer is simple. This strike is not going to last forever. No strike does. One day soon, the drivers will be back and the buses will be running, there will be much rejoicing and the local newspapers will find something else to blame on Governor Pawlenty. Until then, she could have used one of the options listed above or tried out Metro Commuter Service's ridesharing. This is your career we?re talking about, Jill. Make the effort to make something positive happen rather than letting the opportunity pass you by and then wallowing in self-pity.
Winning Isn't Everything, It's The Only Thing
And there is nothing like a string of painful losses to remind you just how true that statement is. Last night we broke our veil of tears (mostly Saint Paul's) and once again assumed our rightful place as trivia champions at Keegan's Pub. I'd like to say that losing made us more humble, better people, and all that sort of good loser happy talk. But in reality it simply made us more bitter and more desperate for the sweet fruits of victory. Like a junkie in need of a fix, we had been Jonesing for the past few weeks. We were nervous, irritable, edgy, and on the verge of a complete breakdown. Actually Atomizer is like that most of the time, but for the rest of us it was extremely uncomfortable. We didn't want to win last night, we HAD to win. And damn did it feel good. When the results were announced it was if the plunger had been pushed in, and we were once again dancing with Mr. Brownstone. The air was purer, the beer tasted better, the waitresses looked hotter, hell-even the conversation was better. The world was our oyster. Victory: Once you've tried it you will accept no substitute.
The Straw That Broke The Elder's Back?
Over the years that I've subscribed to the Minneapolis Star Tribune I've put with a lot. Lazy reporting, sloppy writing, a liberal bias that has seeped into every section of the paper, and an editorial page that makes Ted Kennedy look fair and balanced. But I've always hung in there. Call me old fashioned, but I still enjoy spreading my morning paper out on the breakfast table, knocking back a couple of cups of java and reading about local news, business, entertainment, and sports. And of course the Backfence. Frankly the St. Paul Pioneer Press is not on the same playing field (as rocky and poorly kept as it might be) as the Star Tribune in these areas. And so, despite many misgivings and moments of utter disbelief, I have soldiered on and continued to subscribe to the paper. But an editorial in today's Strib has pushed me to the brink. Titled Connecting dots/Bush's culpability for 9/11, it is without a doubt the most outrageous, arrogant, misleading, truth challenged, distorted, piece of shi... Aaaaaaaaaaarghhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Sorry. Couldn't help myself. Just thinking about it gets me worked up into a chair smashing rage. The opening line left me shocked, chagrined, mortified and stupefied. National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice's testimony to the 9/11 commission Thursday allows for only one conclusion: The Bush administration was outrageously derelict in its duty to protect the American people as the Al-Qaida threat developed. Got that? Only one conclusion is allowed. That's it. Just one. The other conclusions drawn by the 80% of Americans not on the Left's fantasy world fringe are wrong. Plain and simple. What is it with the this childish absolutism that infects these people? It reminds me of Janeane Garofalo's claim that: There is no way any rational, reasonable person can say that the Bush Administration has been good for America. Do they think that merely using such language invariably makes what they say so? If I said, "Today's editorial in the Star Tribune allows for only one conclusion: The editorial writers are outrageously cracked", does that invalidate all other viewpoints? Is it then a matter a who says it first? Like when we were kids and we "called" things? "I call that I'm quarterback. Period. Period. Period. Infinity. Infinity. Infinity." "I call that only one conclusion is allowed. Period. Period. Period." If you must, read the whole editorial. I can't even bring myself to rehash any more of its vile, putrid, prevarications. The Strib has wallowed in the mire on many occasions in the past, but this sinks to a whole new depth of muck. I don't know how much longer I can allow such insipid filth to cross my threshold on a daily basis. This might just be the last straw.
Courageous, Appalling ...... and Wrong?
Apparently there are others out there who are enamored with the variant of basketball played by the fairer sex. The following commentary trends toward the peach baskets and two handed set shot adoration espoused by the Power Line guys last Saturday. But in the interest of balanced coverage (and because I was referred to by one of these sites as an American Legend), here are excerpts of the other side?s view of women?s hoops: Cold Spring Shops: In a pig's eye. What St. Paul is describing is the defensive breakdown that men's basketball has degenerated into. For "slow and deliberate," substitute "moving without the ball and hitting the cutter," or "freeing the shooting guard for an open shot." Very few men's teams (unless they are coached by a Bennett) understand what these things mean. For "low standards of athleticism," substitute "presence of transition defense, precluding breakaway dunks by a bucket-hanger." Very few men's teams (same disclaimer) get this either. That leaves as "drama and excitement" the typical men's game (including in the NBA), characterized as 36 (or 44) minutes of no defense and individual improvisation, followed by 30 minutes to play the remaining four minutes, in which the leading team plays no defense and the trailing team commits fouls. To repeat, in a pig's eye. The American Mind: On one point, he's correct: women athletes shouldn't act as barbarian-like as men. But he disparaged the women's b-ball game too harshly. I rarely watch women's basketball, but I watched this year's Final Four with much enjoyment. These players were really good. The movement away from the ball was as good as the men's college game and far better than the NBA. The cuts to the basket were precise and effective even if they weren't as fast for Saint Paul's ("it actually appears as if they?re all playing under water") taste.
Courageous, Appalling ..... and Right!
Regarding my controversial comments yesterday on women?s sports and confused gender roles, Barbara from Golden Valley emails in with an endorsement of my views. Since she?s a former college athlete and a woman (and it sounds like a kind of a babe), I think this may be the definitive account about what?s wrong with women?s sports: I've been reading your comments on women's basketball, and I couldn't agree with you more. I'm a woman, and my husband swears I'm a feminine woman (you'll have to take his word for it). But I played softball in college, full scholarship, at UCLA in the '80's. Won two NCAA championships, came in third twice. I loved my teammates (not like THAT!! Yuck!!) but even the gals who weren't gay were, well, mannish. And intentionally so. Not to the degree that you see now, where the girls have tattoos on their biceps for heaven's sake, but still pretty butch. It's not right. For me, I just wanted to play a sport I was good at, get a good education for free (thank you tax payers of California) and get a date with the good looking surfer guy from the water polo team. Small achievable goals. But, once undergrad was over, it was time to get out, rather than continue as some of my teammates did to 1996 and the first woman's softball competition in the Olympics. Do I wish I had their gold medals? Of course. Was I willing to continue living with girls that never owned a skirt or mascara and knew nothing of politics unless it was left-feminist-manhating? Nope. Women's sports should be about women, playing against women, having their dads and boyfriends cheering in the stands, and then getting off the field and wiping the dirt off of their lip gloss stained mouths (editor?s note - yagada yagada yagada yagada) and going off and doing the other things that girls do. Not strutting around like men, burping and scratching and generally acting like men act only when they're on the field or around other men. And what's wrong with that? Yesterday I also addressed the politicized media hype over the Lady Gophers basketball run. King from SCSU Scholars provides further insightful commentary on this issue. No, King isn?t a woman, or an athlete or a fabulous babe. He?s an economics professor, and for this purpose, that may be good enough: But let's be clear as to why it is on the air and why it is getting coverage. The NCAA pumps up women's basketball because it's the closest thing to a female revenue-sport, and Title IX is forcing schools to create these programs. SCSU has a women's hockey team not because we're competitive -- so far, we're not -- but so that there are thirty or so more female athletes that can balance against the men. Not all schools can do that. The University of South Dakota, which doesn't have women's hockey, now has to cut its baseball program to allow it to fund women's sports to meet Title IX. And as Sid Hartman pointed out a few days ago, Minnesota has had its ADs fighting to force broadcasters to show women's sports on air as part of a package for men's sports. This is not uncommon. The NCAA has made Title IX a cause celebre. It instructs its presidents, ADs and coaches to promote women's sports. It should come as little surprise then that it gets coverage beyond the merits of the sport, and even less surprise that some people exposed to it end up embracing it. As to fans here loving the Lady Gophers, it's Hartmanism -- the support of all things Minnesota, the desire for relevance in a world that passes by in silver tubes in the air, particularly for those of us outside the Twin Cities.
You Failed, I Failed, We All Failed
Some years ago the recreational hockey team that I was playing on was getting pasted badly. Deep seated animosities and hidden grudges among teammates were coming to the surface, and the squabbling and finger pointing threatened to boil over into intra-squad fisticuffs. Suddenly one of the more reserved, soft spoken members of the team stood up on the bench and screamed, "Everybody shut up! You suck! I suck! We all suck!" The unexpected outburst brought some much needed perspective to the situation and instantly defused the tension. I still play with some of the guys from that team today, and at least once a year we end up fondly retelling the tale. So now Condi has testified. Clarke's book is out there and Woodward's is to follow shortly. I expect between now and November there will be no shortage of former Bush staffers coming forward with revelations about the administration not taking terrorism seriously enough before 9/11. If only they had listened to me, or done this, or not done that, then... Shut up! To steal the catch phrase from my favorite lefty organization, can we please just MOVE ON? Almost two years ago I opined that to blame any one president or administration for 9/11 was silly. It wasn't because of what Bush did or didn't do. It wasn't because of what Clinton did or didn't do. The failure is a collective one, stretching back to at least Jimmy Carter and including every administration from his until the present. You can quibble about who should bear a larger share of responsibility (eight years vs. eight months, etc.), but at the end of the day, does it really matter? The truth is that no president in the last twenty five years did enough to fight terrorism before 9/11. No president understood the threat. No president foresaw the consequences of the chain of inaction that each of them added at least a link to. They all failed in some way manner or another. So we can get an across the board "mea culpa" and get on with the business at hand? After all there is a war that still needs to be won.
Thursday, April 08, 2004
On The Bus, That's Where We Were Ridin'
This week's edition of City Pages is what we at Fraters Libertas World Headquarters call "the blogger's jackpot". After picking up a copy yesterday, the Elder was seen running through the halls of our sprawling suburban complex yelling "This is gold, people! Gold!". He was so excited that he eventually had to be sedated. The current issue features several articles that focus on the Metro Transit workers strike that has halted public bus operations here in Minneapolis for over a month (regular visitors to this site will no doubt recall several posts on the topic) and it contains so much blogging material that we may have to sub-title this site "Everything You Need To Know...About The Transit Strike" so we can cover it all. The first of these sob stories that caught my eye was the one heart-wrenchingly entitled "Moms Can't Go On Strike". In this piece, we are introduced to a (presumably) single mother named Sondra Nolan who dealt with her sudden lack of transportation by buying a bicycle and "kid trailer" to haul her twins to daycare and herself to work. Renowned human suffering expert Jim Walsh writes: As the strike drew near, a panicky Nolan had called her mother-in-law and convinced her to drive Nolan to a Target store, where Sondra put a $240 mountain bike and kid trailer on her charge card with no real idea how or when she'd be able to pay it back. She makes $7.45 an hour at her part-time job as a Cub Foods cashier in Richfield. Okay, I'll admit, shelling out 240 bucks for a bike would make a dent in my monthly budget as well and I don't begrudge anyone's desire to get their kids to daycare so they can make an honest wage and yada, yada, yada... Then I read this: ...Sondra's piecemeal transit system got her to day care and therapy. That night, after putting the kids to bed, she did what she usually does to relax: a little time in front of the TV watching the Sci-Fi Channel or the home improvement show Trading Spaces... I have a "real idea" how AND when you can pay for that bike, Sondra. Drop the basic plus standard cable package that is costing you $50 a month (including fees) and you'll have that thing paid off by September! Despite all of the quality programming that exists on cable TV (like "Queer Eye For The Straight Guy" and women's college basketball), it should not take priority over your day to day transit needs. You need to bite the bullet, sweetheart, and disable the cable. THEN you can complain to me about how you can't afford to get yourself to work. Walsh goes on to close the article in true Nick Coleman fashion with this bit of teary prose: Her dreams are modest these days. She's thankful for her job at Cub, and for the welfare assistance she receives, but she'd like a better job. She'd like her kids to have a better life. She'd like tickets to the Prince concert. She'd like the buses to start running again. That's gold, people! Gold!
They Might Just Take This Take This One To Their Graves...
I left work shortly after 1pm today for an extended lunch at a local watering hole in order to catch the last period of the University of Minnesota Duluth-Denver national semifinal hockey game. When I walked out the door, the Bulldogs were ahead 3-1 and twenty minutes away from Saturday's national championship contest. Five minutes later, when I bellied up to the bar (coffee only-unlike Atomizer I don't like mixing business with liquid pleasure) the score was knotted at three, only three and a half minutes into the period. The bartender informed me that the Pioneers had tallied twice in thirty four seconds. Damn. Denver then proceeded to grab the lead with around ten minutes left. With their keeper pulled for an extra skater, it looked like the Dogs got the equalizer with only thirty two ticks left on the clock. But upon further review, the goal was waved off and so were UMD's hopes. An empty netter by the Pioneers with eight seconds to go capped the scoring. Denver 5 UMD 3. So the Pioneers move on to face the winner of this evening's Maine-Boston College game for the national title. And as much it pains me to say it now, I will be rooting for the Pioneers. Gotta keep it in the family. The WCHA family that is. Once Jonathan awakens from his snowboarding induced stupor (he's a master of the half pipe if you get my drift), and realizes that DU won today's contest (dude noon eastern time is like soooo early), I'm sure he'll be gloating over winning our wager. I will of course honor my bet. Once the book is available to ship, a copy will be forthcoming. Although Jonathan may yet come to regard it a Pyrrhic victory given the reputation of the author.
No Justice, No Problem
Local blogger Flash (from Centrisity) emailed me with some commiseration on my recent encounter with a speed trap on St. Clair Ave. He also tipped me off to the one the SPPD has frequently set up on Concordia Ave, between Hamline and Lexington: The speed limit there is only 30, but it is so FN easy to kiss that long skinny pedal just a little too much, then it is down hill to Lex. The Cop sits on the side street by Dunlap field with his Radar gun and BANG, You're it! I?ve often heard the urban legend that if you chose to show up and contest a speeding ticket, the judicial system will buckle like an alternative country hipster's shoes. You can get the ticket dismissed or at least reduced to a non-record besmirching offense. Flash passes along a real life story that shows it might be true: I wasn't convinced that I was speeding, so I checked in at the 'window' at the court house (I think it was someplace on Lex) and asked to speak with a court officer, as I was considering pleading innocent. Within a few moments, I was called into this typical bureaucrats office. You know what I am talking about. Cluttered desk, dirty coffee cup, a look in his face that was clearly indicating he would rather be somewhere else. Anyway, I told him I wasn?t all the convinced that 'I' was the one the officer captured on Radar, that he must have gotten something in the periphery by mistake. The pencil pusher went on to share that all the officers are trained and certified on the Laser. The laser is infallible, if you want to fight it, go ahead, but you'll lose. BUT, here is what we can do. Since you have a clean record, we can have you "plea to dismissal" (or some other fancy term that he used." if you agree to pay court costs and not have another moving violation within 12 months. You have to sign a form accepting guilt, pay on the spot, and they rubber stamp it. The violation sits in some kind of 'perjury' and as long as you don?t get nailed again, it goes away like it never happened. If you DO get nailed again, then BANG, you have two now on your record. So, I sucked it up, and placed my principled belief aside (easier for us liberals to do, you know, then the morally correct Right *grin*) that I did not speed for the sure thing of not having it show up on my record. I had no problem surviving the 12 months, my Insurance still doesn't know, and my rates are as low as they can be. And regarding the minor detail that I am probably guilty of the violation I?m charged with ... As far as your possible guilt, I never got the impression it mattered if one thought they were guilty or not, it was more to keep the clean man clean. So if you have no priors currently on your record, it is worth a shot to keep it off your record. It is worth a shot. But first I need to establish if getting busted shouting ?yagada yagada yagada yagada? at waitresses on Grand Avenue is considered a ?prior.? Developing hot, as they say.
A Quick And Dirty Take On Condi
Don't bother watching the cable news babble tonight, or reading the whole transcript. Everything you need to know about Condoleezza Rice's testimony can be found in Hindrocket's "as it happens" recap at Powerline.
Hour 3 of last Saturday's Northern Alliance Radio show included a discussion of the University of Minnesota women's basketball team. The first 30 minutes of conversation inspired successive callers to refer to us as "courageous" and "appalling" and provoked two Ivy League lawyers to get off their pool side lounge chairs for the expressed purpose of telling us "you suck." In other words, the hour was a radio success. However, much more controversial than I would have guessed.
In my mind, our points were simple and not in the least extreme. In honor of the University of Connecticut's victory yesterday in the Women's Final Four, I'll reiterate them. Taken objectively as a big time sporting event, women's college basketball is not compelling. And it's a little bizarre, in terms of confused gender roles. First, the sporting event aspect. The game action, as it were, is painfully slow and deliberate. Compared to the men's game, it actually appears as if they're all playing under water. And while the scores are often competitive and some of the fundamentals of the game are being executed to a reasonable degree of skill, due to the overall low standards of athleticism, any potential drama or excitement is negated, for the objective viewer. For example, take Lady Gopher Janel "Big Momma" McCarville. Yes, she can score in the low post, even when closely guarded and that is ... interesting, I suppose. But even in her best moments, when she fakes one way, spins another, and drives for an easy lay up, she moves like she's wearing Cement Jordans. And I'm supposed to be enthralled at this, just because her opponent is not only wearing concrete sneakers, but also has 50 lb. barbells tied around each ankle? Same with Lindsey Whalen, who is, admittedly, a good ball player. But her alleged eye popping, electrifying play is a product of context. She's only amazing because her opponents all play like they're under water, while she appears to have at least climbed up on the pool deck (which may explain the admiration given to her by the Power Line guys). To restate my conclusion, as a sporting event, women's basketball is not compelling and on it's own certainly not deserving of the Pearl Harbor sized headlines, loving editorials, and special sections printed in the local papers. Which makes one wonder why the general public is subjected to such things. After much deliberation, I'm left with the suspicion that the only reason to get behind women's basketball this enthusiastically, dare I say fanatically, is for its usefulness as a social statement. It's a tool for those advocating a certain radical vision of equal rights among the sexes. More bluntly, it's a advance for the cause of mainstreaming feminism in American culture. Understand, my conclusion has nothing to do with the simple fact that women are playing sports functionally designed to be played by men or that they're getting equal opportunities for athletic scholarships. The former I accept without caring, the latter I endorse. But where the creeping, creepy feminism reveals itself is in the issue I mentioned earlier. The bizarre, confused gender roles on display and indeed embraced. That was my very first impression after watching 5 minutes of Lady Gophers basketball. The women act like men. Like crazy, wild men of Borneo, at that. The players (and the coaches), snorting and barking and strutting and stomping. Lady Gopher icon Lindsey Whalen is an example of this. After their victory in the regional final last week she was literally pounding her chest with her forearm and roaring like some gorilla who'd just bashed open the skull of an opponent with the jawbone of an ass--after touching a black gleaming obelisk of knowledge sent from outer space (approximation of Ms. Whalen's behavior shown here). Behavior like this is absurd from an adult man, but coming from a woman, it's freak show level antics. Yet it's precisely this hyper masculine behavior that seems to be endorsed by the women's sports establishment. Celebrating behavior that is contrary to traditional, and I'd argue biologically mandated gender roles. All to advance the political belief that there is no difference between men and women. And any differences we think we see are the product not of biology, but of a patriarchal culture. I'd go further in suggesting that the desire to forward the belief supersedes even the universally agreed upon good of equal access of opportunity for girls. As an example, take an article appearing in this past Sunday's New York Times, entitled "Thanks to Title IX: Cheerleading Is a Sport at Maryland." In order to match the number of scholarships offered to men and women (a traditional disparity in favor of men, because of football), the University of Maryland has raised competitive cheerleading to the level of a varsity sport, giving all the girls involved (the team is 100% female), athletic scholarships. A move that on its face appears to be entirely reasonable. Cheerleading itself is among the most athletically rigorous exercises one can engage in, as Maryland's coach attests: People have to get past the idea that cheerleading is shaking pompoms and kicking your legs in the air," said Lura Fleece, Maryland's coach, whose team completed its first official season yesterday by finishing seventh in the National Cheerleading Association championships in Daytona, Fla. "Because that isn't cheerleading anymore. It's about strength and gymnastics and teamwork. We're athletes and now we compete. Just because cheerleading is all female and we're not mimicking some recognized men's sport, that means we're not a sport?" Not it my eyes. Cheerleading is unquestionably a genuine sport. And one which women are naturally designed to be better at that men, because of their sublime femininity (sorry Trent Lott). And if the point of women's collegiate athletics is to allow women to pursue their physical interests and follow their talents, while at the same getting their educations for free, who could possible be against giving cheerleaders scholarships? The presumptive leadership of the women's sports movement, that's who. "Maryland had other existing alternatives with demonstrated student interest," Donna Lopiano, executive director of the Women's Sports Foundation, said. "To try and manufacture a sport and put a round peg in a square hole is disingenuous. I am not demeaning cheerleading skills, but is it a bona fide athletic opportunity for women or a convenient one for the athletic department?" I suppose Ms. Lopiano's personal aversion to putting a round peg in a square whole may be understandable, but the idea that cheerleading is illegitimate as a sport because it's "manufactured" is absurd. Especially when you consider the NCAA currently recognizes synchronized swimming, bowling, crew, and rugby as women's sports. According to Donna Lopiano, cheerleading should not be supported as a women's sport, but no argument against women playing rugby. Could that have anything to do with the fact that women playing rugby is consistent with a political agenda, one which includes the blurring of traditional gender roles, while cheerleading tends to reinforce them? (Hint--yes.) Then there's this from Mary Jo Kane, a professor of sports sociology and advanced feminism from the University of Minnesota (yes, she's one of us). She's also the author of such page turners as ?Sexual Stories as Resistance Narratives in Women's Sports: Reconceptualizing identity performance? and director of the Tucker Center for Research on Girls and Women in Sport: "Advocates of Title IX have every right to be suspicious of this. We've had to fight and claw for every women's tennis or golf scholarship, but now all of a sudden there's been a conversion and people think cheerleading is the answer? Come on now." Come on--what? Women want to be cheerleaders, lots of them. Yes, these women happen to be generally attractive and feminine and probably very popular in their social circles. (And people like Kane and Lopiano may have a natural disdain for these qualities.) But these cheerleaders are still women engaged in athletics, right? And advancing their interests should be the point of the Women's Sports Foundation and the Center for Girls and Women in Sports, right? Or is it only those women and sports that conform to a political agenda that count? More from Kane, on cheerleading as a sport: In principle, it's great," [Kane] said. "But I worry if it's done at the expense of other more traditional sporting opportunities for women, and what is the fallout of that? Ah yes, she's worried about maintaining more traditional sporting opportunities for women. Like ice hockey and rugby. Here's further insight into the mind of Mary Jo Kane and her agenda for women's sports, from an article about golfer Annika Sorenstam appearing on the men's PGA tour: "What's interesting is what will happen if you start raising girls to believe from the minute they are born that their competitors are not confined to the same gender. People tend to rise to the level of our expectations.'' Yes, they do. And maybe if you tell women they're physically the same as men from the minute they're born, they just might start to act like that too. And wouldn't that be a wonderful world? If people want to spend their spare time watching women's basketball or ice hockey or ruby instead of cheerleaders, that's fine by me. A 29 share rating for the Gophers Final Four tells me that a lot of people do. However, most of the core fan base for those "traditional" sports consist of politically radical women and the men who love them (yes, that's around 29% of the population in the Twin Cities). These folks, including the media, are generally aware of the feminist cause they're really supporting. But there's that other supposedly blossoming constituency I wonder about. The average folks of middle America, the Ivy League pool side lawyers, and young fathers who don't know how to relate to their daughters. The type who might be vulnerable to latching on to the hype of "girl empowerment" as an excuse to substitute their own interests (sports) for their little daughters' real interests (princesses, ponies, EZ Bake ovens). Are they really aware of the atmosphere they're choosing to subject their precious little families to? Well if they weren't before, they are now. Thanks to the courageous, appalling editorial stance of Fraters Libertas. To conclude, I present... a tribute ... to some ... of the finest ... athletes ... in America. Now that's empowerment. And entertainment. Labels: Basketball, Culture, NARN (04-05)
Wednesday, April 07, 2004
Betting On Bennett
After listening to snippets of the first three days of Bill Bennett's Morning in America, I am cautiously optimistic about its prospects for success. No one is going to confuse Bennett with Rush Limbaugh when it comes to being entertaining, nor with Michael Savage when it comes to heated hyperbole, but his sober, serious style has its own appeal. His steadily pitched voice and understated tone are a welcome reprieve from the screeching and bombastic blasting that are common on many morning shows. It's almost like listening to NPR, without the omnipresent liberal political undercurrent. And then there are the guests. Bennett is a well connected man, and he used those connections to land some big fish this week. Donald Rumsfeld Rush Limbaugh Bill Cowher Mario Cuomo Tim Russert Pat Sajak Naomi Judd Robert Bennett And that was all on Monday! Yesterday he had Joseph Lieberman and this morning he had Jack Kemp. My only complaint is that he sometimes didn't spend enough time with the guests. It's probably because of scheduling conflicts and lack of time, but it would be nice to hear him get a little more in depth with the big names. I am also impressed with Bennett's choice of guests. Make no mistake about it, he is a partisan conservative. But he also understands the need for real discussion and debate across political lines. By having the likes of Cuomo, Robert Bennett, Lieberman, and Russert (he certainly ain't no con) on to constructively engage in arguments, he is attempting to bring a measure of civility and respect back into politics. Don't get me wrong. I'm not one of those who whines about the "vicious tone of politics" and decries the lack of bipartisanship today. I don't think that the Democrats and Republicans need to be feeling each other up like a couple of Ecstasy fueled ravers. There are real and serious disagreements between the parties and politics is about winning, not making pals. But just because someone isn't on the same political plane as you doesn't mean they're one of Satan's minions. It's easy to forget when you've got irresponsible soaks like Ted Kennedy running around blathering nonsense about Iraq being Bush's Vietnam, but there are good people on both sides of the aisle who are dedicated to working for a safe and prosperous future for our country. As Le Monde famously (and rather disingenuously it turned out) said, "Nous sommes tous Américains." If Bennett accomplishes nothing more than reinforcing that idea to his listeners, his show can be deemed a success.
Tuesday, April 06, 2004
The Will To Win
Days like today in Iraq test our resolve. There have been similar days in the past, and there likely will be more in the future. It's easy to succumb to the negativity, especially if you watch too much television news (Why does Bill O'Reilly bother to open his yap and spout off on military matters of which he knows little?). Our troops in Iraq can get it done. They need our support. They need our prayers. It's time to be steadfast. As J.B. Doubtless likes to say, it's time to sack up. It's time, once again, to Deserve Victory!
The Weather Report
Spring has arrived in Minnesota and I?m being reacquainted with the perils of good weather. Take yesterday, for example, a perfect storm of pleasant conditions. It was sunny, warm (around 65 degrees), I had the day off, it was my birthday, and it was opening day of baseball season. A sublime set of circumstances which demanded one course of action - going to McDonalds for breakfast. I slept in late, then dragged my unwashed, unshaven self into the car and proceeded to the Golden Arches on West 7th. On the way there, the mouthwatering, exquisite combination of a Sausage McMuffin with Egg, three hashbrowns, a carton of milk was much on my mind and I was feeling like a million bucks. Which was promptly reduced to $999,895 as soon as the cause of the flashing lights in my rearview mirror was properly explained to me. I got a $105 speeding ticket, not three blocks from my very own home. St. Paul's finest had a speed trap set up on St. Clair and I got ensnared. The grim little man who gave me the ticket claimed the neighborhood had been complaining about high speeds in this area. To which, I responded: "Lies! I am the neighborhood! We love speeders! Lies! Lies!" Actually I said something like "Really? That's interesting. But do you have to give me a ticket on my birthday?" He said "Really, I do." And that, as they say, was that. I blame it all on the weather, because if it would have been icy and snowy and miserable out, I wouldn?t have been accused of going 45 MPH in a 30 zone. It would have been more like 43 MPH. (Although I admit to nothing, before the disposition of my case is settled). Then today, another weather related mishap. Coming home from work, cruising down Grand Avenue on an even warmer, sunnier day than yesterday. An Elvis CD crooning from the speakers and on my mind the thought of my forthcoming dinner (a grilled ball tip sirloin from Kowalski?s). Again, life was perfect. Then it got a little better as I passed the Purple Onion and spied a beautiful blonde coming down the sidewalk, bathed in sunlight, and wearing black high heeled boots, knee high black stockings and a short, short black miniskirt. No, Grand Avenue hasn?t suddenly become the red light district (that's still somewhere over by Mitch Berg's house). That outfit is, in fact, the required waitress uniform at the Purple Onion. I of course responded to her in the only civilized, reasonable manner possible. By saying to myself ?yagada yagada yagada yagada!? But the thing is, I really said that to myself, out loud and loudly. Which is all well and fine when it?s 20 degrees outside and the vehicle is hermetically sealed. But today it was 70 degrees and as all heads turned my way I remembered that, although my windows were up, my sunroof was DOWN. And she and the other 6 people on the sidewalk heard my editorial remarks. If it were still the dead of winter, the roof would have been closed, I would still be known as that cool cat and smooth operator everyone reading Fraters Libertas knows and loves. But now I?m marked as some sort of babbling, lascivious jerk and I may not be able to show my face in the Purple Onion for months. Spring, who needs it.
Jim S. picks up the Minneapolis Star Tribune's lack of Pulitzer Prizes ball, carries it into the end zone, and triumphantly spikes it with this e-mail detailing a little research he did:
I noticed the Star-Tribune's lack of Pulitzers a couple of years ago, and went to the Pulitzer web site to confirm this. Yes, the Star-Tribune has won only one Pulitzer, in 1990. I went through and compiled a list of newspapers that have won more. I eliminated the seventeen newspapers with more circulation than the Star-Tribune, and eliminated newspapers that hadn't won at least one of their Pulitzers since the Star-Tribune's 1990 award. Philadelphia Inquirer (18) Miami Herald (17) St. Louis Post-Dispatch (16) Baltimore Sun (13) Seattle Times (7) St. Petersburg Times (6) Christian Science Monitor (6) Atlanta Constitution (6) Kansas City Star (6) Portland Oregonian (5) Des Moines Register (5) Denver Post (4) Lexington (KY) Herald Leader (3) Sacramento Bee (3) Akron Beacon Journal (3) Detroit News (3) St. Paul Pioneer Press (3) Village Voice (3) Denver Rocky Mountain News (2) Hartford Courant (2) Seattle Post-Intelligencer (2) New Orleans Times-Picayune (2) Albuquerque Journal (2) Dayton (OH) News (2) Indianapolis Star (2) Lawrence (MA) Eagle-Tribune (2) Memphis Commercial Appeal (2) Raleigh (NC) News and Observer (2) Orange County Register (2) Philadelphia Daily News (2) Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (2) Providence Journal-Bulletin (2) The Star-Tribune's Pulitzer Peers: (However, all of these newspapers have won their Pulitzer more recently) Asbury Park Press, Neptune NJ Birmingham (AL) News Block Newspapers, Toledo OH Boston Phoenix Cincinnati Enquirer Daily Tribune, Ames IA Grand Forks (ND) Herald Great Falls (MT) Tribune Santa Rosa (CA) Press Democrat Riverdale (NY) Press Rutland (VT) Herald Toledo Blade Toronto Star Virgin Island Daily News (St. Thomas) White Plains (NY) Journal News P.S. To be fair, I suppose I should note that two newspapers with more circulation than the Star-Tribune have won no Pulitzers: USA Today and Houston Chronicle. Outstanding work Jim. At least the Strib is still ahead of The Springfield Shopper. And the next time I'm ready to hurl my paper across the room in an exasperated pique of rage (probably tomorrow morning), I can at least take solace in the fact that it could be worse. I could be reading the Houston Chronicle. Those poor bastards in Houston. UPDATE: Joel e-mails some information which seems to tarnish the Strib's lone major award: Regarding your posting about the Star Tribune's sole Pulitzer, I think even that award is suspect. As I recall, after the Star Tribune's article was published alleging that the St. Paul Fire Chief (Steve Conroy) was part of an arson-for-profit ring, the US District Attorney at the time (Thomas Haefflefinger) investigated and declined to prosecute on the basis of lack of evidence. Later Conroy sued the Star Tribune for libel and there was an out-of-court settlement, with a condition prohibiting either party from disclosing any details of the agreement. I think this means in all likelihood the Strib paid some financial damages to Conroy (whether major or minor we'll never know). Perhaps they paid out some money so Conroy would just go away. All in all, a not-very-impressive outcome. I think the journalists who won the Pulitzer (Lou Kilzer and Chris Ison) went to excessive lengths to link Conroy to the arson ring, and that this story was a put-up job. Say it ain't true Lou. Labels: Media-Local (02-04)
A Texas Size Thirst
In response to my post on where the binge drinkers are, J.P. drops an e-mail to help explain the Texas connection: Maybe I can throw some illumination on the San Antonio/Austin components of the binge drinking list. San Antonio has a little tourist attraction called "The Riverwalk", which is chock full of hotels, retaurants, and bars, all willing to sell alcohol at the drop of a dime (or $5, whichever). I believe, though I haven't looked recently, that the Riverwalk and therefore San Antonio, is one of the most popular tourist destinations in America. Every time I've been there, the place has always been jammed packed, topping out at shoulder-to-shoulder congestion in the evenings. Lots of people = lots of drinking! Austin-San Marcos is another interesting area. Austin is home to The University of Texas at Austin, which boasts 50,000+ college students. I don't have to tell you what that means! San Marcos is roughly a 20 minutes drive south from Austin, and boasts a well known Texas party school, Southwest Texas State University. Two universities in close proximity to each other = binge drinkers passed out on the dorm room floors! And yes, I did attend UT Austin, and no, I wasn't one of the binge drinkers.... Since J.P. is a reader of this site, I have to question the veracity of his last claim. As a certain local talk radio show might say,"Uh, we don't know that". Scott also e-mails to weigh in on San Antonio: An unlimited supply of Mexican beer on the Riverwalk brought to you by those brunette Mexican honeys? Uh, hmmmm. What was your question? I can't seem to recall. But I do know that San Antonio has just moved to the top of the list as the host city for our annual Fraters Libertas corporate planning conference. The Riverwalk sounds like an excellent location to conduct meetings.
Los Angeles Times Wins 5 Pulitzer Prizes:
The Los Angeles Times won five Pulitzer Prizes yesterday, dominating this year's competition with writing that included editorials, automobile reviews and breaking news coverage of the wildfires that devastated Southern California last fall. The five prizes were the second-highest number of awards won by a newspaper since the awards were first given in 1917. The New York Times won seven in 2002, mostly on the strength of its reporting of the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Aside from that unusual year, the most Pulitzer Prizes any paper has won in a single year is three. Hugh must be so pleased. Surprisingly, our own beloved Minneapolis Star Tribune was shut out this year, although they did have the appropriately named Steve Sack nominated for his editorial cartoons. Oh well, there's always next year. Labels: Media-National (02-06)
Monday, April 05, 2004
It Is War, Not Entertainment
Wretchard from Belmont Club speculates on what might unfold in Fallujah: Yet the defenders will be operating on a steadily diminishing energy budget: less and less sleep, ammo and equipment. Because the Marines hold the initiative, they can drain the defensive energies to a monstrous degree by precipitating one crisis after the other to which the enemy must respond or concede. Gradually, the Marines will infiltrate Fallujah until the enemy is paralyzed. More than likely the press will interpret these indirect tactics as proof that Americans are afraid to advance or declare that the Marines have been pinned down. Never mind. The job at hand is to win an overwhelming victory at the lowest cost whatever its impact may be on the ratings. It is war, not entertainment. Read it all.
He Ain't Buying What Clarke Is Selling
Phil Carter at Intel Dump, hardly a big fan of the Bush administration, is unimpressed and unconvinced after reading Richard Clarke's book Against All Enemies: In general, I was somewhat disappointed with the book after all the hype that has surrounded it. The most valuable part of the book, for me, was the look that it gave me into the inner workings of the National Security Council and the national security process generally. The extent to which personality affected policy and process really surprised me; so did the power of professional public servants in relation to their political masters. But as for the final chapters, which supposedly damn the Bush Administration's for its terrorism policy and policy towards Iraq, I was unconvinced by Mr. Clarke's writing. I have immersed myself in the world of anti-terrorism and the law during the past two years, and I was not convinced by a lot of what he said with respect to the legal and financial strategies against terrorism. My experience and research has showed me that these fights have been quite aggressive indeed -- perhaps too aggressive in some quarters. As for Mr. Clarke's argument regarding Iraq, I closed his book without having been persuaded by his argument. He did not marshal enough evidence to persuade me that the Bush Administration had deceived the American public to march towards war, or that it had considered (and disregarded) all of the strategic costs of the war. That's not to say that these things aren't true -- only that Mr. Clarke's book didn't do a good job of making these arguments. Similarly, I was unimpressed by Mr. Clarke's argument that the war in Iraq has been a distraction from the war on terrorism. With his knowledge of this issue, I expected a detailed breakdown of all the ways that the war in Iraq took away resources, political capital, and focus from the domestic and foreign war on terrorism. I found that argument to be lacking as well. He did not, for example, discuss how intelligence assets devoted to finding Iraqi WMD might have been devoted to finding Al Qaeda personnel and equipment. Nor did look at the resource-allocation problem with his NSC-trained eye, in order to make the argument the billions spent on Iraq might have been otherwise programmed for homeland security. Ultimately, I recommend this book for anyone interested in terrorism and national security policy. It does contain a great deal of background information on the way things get done on the National Security Council, and those parts of the book are quite valuable. However, Mr. Clarke's larger point really comes back to himself. ...what Mr. Clarke describes in his book is a breakdown in leadership. And this breakdown is common to both the Clinton and Bush Administrations, because the faults that Mr. Clarke describes start in the 1990s and continue through the election of 2000, all the way to the present day. Mr. Clarke's book may be best known to the public as a criticism of the Bush Administration's war with Iraq. But to me, it was more about allocating blame to other people in Washington. Ironically, by pointing fingers at so many different agencies, Mr. Clarke is really pointing the finger back at himself, because it was his job to coordinate those agencies on the critical issue of terrorism. Ultimately, such blame belongs to the men who sit in the Oval Office, not to any political or professional public servant on the National Security Council. Nonetheless, I got the sense from Against All Enemies that the NSC deserved at least part of the blame here for not managing and coordinating U.S. policy on this issue during the ascendance of Al Qaeda.
How Dry We Ain't
According to an article in USA Today, binge drinking is most common in upper Midwest, least in South: Measured as percentage of those 18 and older who had five or more drinks within a few hours in the past month. 1. San Antonio 23.9 2. Grand Forks, N.D.-Minn. 23.4 3. Milwaukee-Waukesha, Wis. 22.7 4. Austin-San Marcos, Texas 22.6 5. Sioux Falls, S.D. 21.4 6. Davenport-Moline-Rock Island, Iowa-Ill. 21.1 7. Cedar Rapids, Iowa 20.6 8. Duluth-Superior, Minn.-Wis. 20.3 9. Lincoln, Neb. 20.1 10. Springfield, Mass. 20.1 Source: American Journal of Public Health The study, based on data from 1997 and 1999 that was collected by the CDC and state health departments, did not look specifically into causes, and there is no simple explanation for the regional differences, Naimi says. "I think the best one can say is that a combination of factors" influences the rates, he says. Those include the age of people (younger people tend to binge-drink more often than older); their gender (men binge-drink more often than women); their religious affiliation (some religious denominations frown upon alcohol consumption); local laws and policies that would regulate the availability of alcohol; local customs and culture; and the presence or absence of universities. One factor not mentioned is weather. It doesn't explain San Antonio or Austin of course, but having spent five years in Grand Forks and having visited Duluth on a number of occasions, I know that when you live in a city with colder climes and scant cultural attractions, you tend to spend a lot of your time indoors. Indoors with nothing to do and nowhere to go. The siren song of the bottle is much more alluring when you're adrift in a sea of boredom. Which also explains why Iowa is so well represented on the list.
Guess Who's Coming To Dinner?
John Hawkins at Right Wing News asked a group of racist, sexist right wing bloggers, including yours truly, to submit our choices for a living person to invite to dinner. Ten of my fifteen selections made the top twenty list including numero uno.
Sunday, April 04, 2004
Sports Short
Tonight I watched the Baltimore Orioles beat the Boston Red Sox 7-2 in the season's first prime time telecast of a major league baseball game. Baseball is back, baby, and I couldn't be happier. The grass is green, the air is crisp and the smell of hot dogs beckons. How could you not love this time of year? I understand that there was another game going on tonight. Meh...not interested.
John Kerry For President of the World
J.M. e-mails to notify us of a poll to determine who the citizens of the world want as our next president. Not surprisingly, the group running this little exercise in global democracy does appear to have a political agenda, as J.M. describes it: A far-left group feels that the entire world population ought to participate in our presidential election, since "it is not an exaggeration to say that the U.S. election is almost as important to citizens of other nations as it is to Americans." This is being pushed by, among others, a hyperfeminist leftist who's a notorious dissident former nun. Americans who so little value their citizenship ought not go unchallenged. The results of this exercise are a foregone conclusion since it's being promoted heavily in far-left circles, and undoubtedly the numbers will be picked up and echoed endlessly in the coming months as "evidence" of the President's supposed foreign policy "failure." Perhaps Bush supporters (and those on the other side who value the quaint notion of sovereignty) could take a moment to balance the scales a tad. I could not agree more. Go to AllVote.org and vote. It's a bit of pain in the arse, but it's well worth your time to try to upset this latest leftist applecart. Remember, the whole world is watching.
Foolish, Trivial Matters
Darryl e-mails to suggest an addition to our list of possible April's Fools titles: Fraters Libertas: There's So Much More to Life Than Useless Trivia Our poor performance in trivia in recent weeks only adds to the sting.
Saturday, April 03, 2004
The Exaggerated Life Of O'Reilly
Last night Bill O'Reilly was discussing the abduction hoax perpetrated by one of Minnesota's own, Audrey Seiler . He was outraged that her little ploy was going to end up costing the taxpayers "millions of dollars". Yes, he said millions of dollars. I nearly fell of my bar stool laughing. Millions of dollars? For a search that lasted four days? I don't think so Bill. Not five minutes later, during a Fox news break on O'Reilly's show, the anchorette announced that authorities in Madison were considering whether to charge Seiler for the costs of the search effort. Which they estimated to be $70,000. No word on whether O'Reilly is planning on suing his own network for making him look like a complete jackass.
The Unbearable Lightness Of Being Light
Just when I thought my annoyance with the media's fawning over the Gopher Womyn's basketball team could not be any greater, I see this in today's Strib: Gopher Women: Their Body Of Work Is Inspiring As a man who has been truly inspired by more than a few women's bodies over the years, I was intrigued. But surely they weren't talking about the actual players, right? I thought the piece must have been about the cheerleaders or the Dancin' Gopher Gals that entertain during breaks or something. Nope, the article was informing us that not only are the players the best and most important athletes since Billie Jean King, they are also teaching our young women "positive body images". Ask Jennifer Bourbonais, 12, and her sister Cora, 7, of Maple Grove, why they idolize the Gophers women's basketball team, and it's all about the game and the players they've come to love. Their dad, Jeff Bourbonais, said there's another reason he left work early to bring the girls to the send-off pep rally on Thursday. The players' make-up-free faces and strong bodies, he said, teach his girls that it's what you do, not how you look. "I love it!" he said. "As a parent, these are the type of role models you want your kids looking up to. These girls impress people by being themselves, not by getting all dolled up." In other words, my girls are acting like boys. Finally I can relate to them! At a time when unnaturally thin models predominate and bottle-blonde teen idols are valued for looks, Gophers stars such as 235-pound center Janel McCarville, who is nicknamed Shaq, and muscular guard Lindsay Whalen are a much-needed boost, said Kari Nonn, a University of Minnesota junior who works with Twin Cities school kids and is majoring in elementary education. "It's really good for the girls to see that you don't have to be the skinny, Britney Spears-esque girl," Nonn said. "The Gophers show them that you can be anything you want to be. 235 freaking pounds! Talk about unsafe at any speed. Now, I'm no doctor, but any dame weighing 235 pounds is unhealthy. Period. And I thought the idea was promoting HEALTHY body images. But of course that isn't the point. The point is to continue blurring the distinctions between men and women until we both morph into some type of bizarre, androgynous ONE that is kinda male, kinda female and really confused. The proponents of this healthy body image nonsense love to set up the false choice: either the young gals dress like Brittney tramps or they dress like butchy aparatchiks. Now given the prevalence of STDs amongst youts, I guess I can see why parents might prefer their daughters to be androgynous and completely non-sexual. But being non-sexual is as weird and troubling as being overly sexual. Why can't they just be normal?
Excuse me waitress, what is the Vox Day?
Sir, that?s the voice of the day. Hmmm, that does sound good, I?ll have that. The above tribute to the comedy classic Dumb and Dumber notwithstanding, for those that don?t know, Vox Day is a Universal Press Syndicated columnist and contributor to World Net Daily, where he?s described thusly: Vox Day is a novelist and Christian libertarian. He is a member of the SFWA, Mensa and the Southern Baptist Convention, and has been down with Madden since 1992. I?m not sure what all if that means (although I think SFWA is the Southern Florida Wrestling Alliance), but this description from Glenn Reynolds tells me, it must be good: "I suspect Vox Day is the love child of William F. Buckley and Ayn Rand." Speaking as a guy described as ?a crazy commanded from the grave by Ayn Rand to Fisk a Star Tribune column about an empty bus stop?, I have to respect that lineage. And request that Vox channel his ma and tell her to call off the noctural visits to my subconscience for a while. All that chain rattling and shreiking and wailing about Doug Grow is starting to interfere with my REM sleep. And if I want to have nightmares about Doug Grow, I?ll start reading his column again. Vox Day is also the proprietor of Vox Popoli, an excellent blog concerning all things political, historical, financial, technological, and Al Franken-related. Commentary on Franken and the other Air America hosts has been comprehensive this week. So while you wait for Show 5 of the Northern Alliance Radio Network to begin (12 - 3 CST, 1280 AM) link on over and scroll around a while. Examples of his work are below (an analysis of the structure of the Dow Jones Industrial Average and a video game review). I dare say you won?t find the combination of commentary like this anywhere else on the Inernet: So, if you get rid of the worst-performing ten percent of the index and replace them with fast-growing new companies every five years, you can keep things moving onward and upward forever. It's almost the opposite of the management of the Consumer Price Index, which excludes, through hedonics interpretation, "substitution" or simple exclusion, all the prices that are going up. Are you noticing a pattern here? Mutating metrics. Interesting times. Star Wars: Battlefront lets you witness and/or participate in the mass genocide of Ewoks and Gungans. That alone is easily worth $50. If it allowed me to lop off Wicket's and Jar Jar's heads, impale them on a stick, and go gleefully parading around the galaxy, then I -- and many other moviegoers -- would gladly pay $500. Labels: Media-National (02-06)
Friday, April 02, 2004
Now We're Talking!
This is what I call a good disaster prediction: ...the chances of at least one intense hurricane making landfall in the United States is 71 percent, much higher than the long-term average of 52 percent. Those folks at Colorado State really know how to incite doom related panic. Take note, you UCLA "scientists".
No Mas Kos
The vile, disgusting comments from the lefty Daily Kos on the atrocities in Fallujah have received a great deal of attention, but no one has nailed it as well as fellow Minnesotan, Jay Reding.
Everything is Counterfactual
The last few evenings my pre slumber reading material has been ?The Face of the Tiger?, Mark Steyn?s excellent collection of essays surrounding the 9/11 attacks and the war on terrorism. It?s riveting, brilliant stuff, so much so I?m not even holding a grudge against Mark Steyn for costing me several hours of shut eye this week. My reading enjoyment has been enhanced by the fact that I acquired this book free of charge. It was the prize awarded for being the Letter of the Week to Mark?s email address, which I was lucky enough to be a few weeks ago. I?m just glad I got my correspondence into the winners circle when I did, because the quality of letters has been impressive over the past few weeks. Take the example below, from this week?s edition of Mark?s Mailbag. It?s an excellent counterfactual exercise in what might have happened had the Bush Administration aggressively acted on Islamic terrorism in advance of 9/11: It's 2001, and John Ashcroft, acting on some lucky breaks by the FBI and an unusual amount of interagency cooperation by the CIA, arrests Mohammed Atta and his merry band in several states. Acting on information gained in interrogations of the suspects and ignoring outraged clamor from Europe, the United States puts boots on the ground in Afghanistan, toppling the Taliban. At home, Bush is derided as a Nazi and an imperialist, with his religious zealot of an attack-dog Ashcroft trampling the Bill of Rights. An editorial cartoon of Bush, Cheney, and Ashcroft as a three-headed Satan right out of Dante's Inferno chewing Human Rights, World Opinion, and Islamic Relations in their bloodstained maws wins a Pulitzer. Doonesbury depicts Bush as Queen Victoria's tiara, trying to deflect public attention from a bad economy with a "War on Terror." The Washington Post notes that no guns, no bombs, nothing more threatening than boxcutters and Swiss army knives were found in the homes of Atta & Co., and demands to know "where are the weapons of terrorism?" The New York Times editorial page dryly observes that Atta & Co. visited strip clubs and Vegas as part of their "attack preparations" and sniffs "hardly the behavior of Islamic fundamentalists hell-bent on self-immolation" as the administration "farcically" claims. Editorial pages list a series of Jewish sounding names in the administration and the world "cabal" is used. It's 2004. Congress holds hearings. Johnelle Bryant, an official with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, fights tears as she describes Atta as a "man of the American dream" trying to start a crop dusting company, so in love with his adopted country that he tried to buy an aerial picture of Washington with all its famous landmarks right off her wall. The highlight of the hearings come when Richard Clark, Clinton's counterterrorism chief and victim of the new administration's housecleaning, testifies to Congress the same week as the release of his media-hyped blockbuster. His testimony, and his book, is greeted by the New York Times editorial page with noisy delight that verges on the orgasmic. In his testimony, he depicts the Bush Presidency as a fundamentalist-Christian group of hatemongers who have diverted American attention from serious secular national security issues such as Korea and China, but particularly one he's warned administration after administration about both in public and privately. According to British and French Intelligence, this threat is on the verge of acquiring nuclear weapons, "if they haven't already" thanks to Pakistani technology and African yellowcake uranium. This threat has attacked its own citizens, its neighbors, and unlike the impoverished pile of rubble known as Afghanistan is a real sponsor of terrorism with the money and the training facilities to do "real damage" with "real weapons." The name of the threat? Saddam Hussein's Iraq. Eric E Frisch Oak Park, Illinois This scenario seems entirely plausible. In some ways even more believable than how events actually transpired. Just goes to show you, in politics, there is no satisfying the opposition - ever. Allegations of scandal and malfeasance will be created no matter what you do. Lesson learned: don?t worry about satisfying the political opposition - ever. Just do what?s right. And if you're a Republican, get a good PR person. Because it?s a damn site harder to get electorally rewarded for doing the right thing when the political opposition includes the New York Times, Washington Post, the Star Tribune, the Pioneer Press, NBC, ABC, CBS, CNN, NPR, Hollywood, and all of academia.
Matt Stone, Trey Parker, and JB Doubtless...
Who are three people who didn't like Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ because they found it to be simply a bad movie? Wednesday's South Park episode titled The Passion of the Jew, revolved around the popular movie with various subplots. Kyle felt guilty for being Jewish. Cartman starting worshipping Mel Gibson and became a mini Hitler. And Kenny and Stan went all the way out to Malibu to demand a refund for their movie tickets from Mel Gibson himself. They described the movie as awful. As Stan said, "When I go to a movie I want to be entertained. If I wanted this, I would have gone to church." Of course it was done in the typical over the top style that the show is famous for. Yes, even more over the top than JB Doubtless. Gibson was portrayed as a raving fanatic, clad in Braveheart war paint, who chases the boys back from Malibu with a semi-trailer truck, a la Mad Max. I have yet to see the movie so I can't judge the accuracy of the satire. But I can say it was damn funny.
Free Your Mind
Dennis Prager on Who's brainwashed in America?: This is one reason it has become more and more apparent that the most closed-minded people in American and European society today are not the religious but the secular, not the Right but the Left. The majority of even fundamentalist Christians and Orthodox Jews are exposed to far more secular thought and behavior than the secular are exposed to religious thought and behavior. Virtually all religious Christians and Jews study secular subjects, have been taught by secular teachers, read secular books, and watch secular films and secular television. Virtually no secular people have studied religious subjects, been taught by religious teachers, or read religious books, let alone watched religious films or television, neither of which exists in any number. The same holds true for liberals and conservatives. Virtually every conservative reads a liberal newspaper, watches liberal newscasts, reads liberal magazines, and has been taught in liberal schools by liberal professors. Few liberals have read a conservative newspaper (there are almost none anyway), read a conservative magazine, studied in conservative schools or been taught by a conservative professor (of whom there are also almost none).
Frothing Mob Update
Two days ago on this fine Internet site, I speculated that Nick Coleman was probably at the forefront of the frothing media mob condemning Rudy Boschwitz for questioning Paul Wellstone?s religiosity in the 1990 Senate campaign. And I decried my lack of LexisNexis access. For if I had it, I was sure I could prove his complicity in this foul act of democratic subterfuge and thus expose Coleman?s hypocrisy in now questioning the religiosity of Governor Pawlenty. Yes, regarding that unsubstantiated charge. Never mind. Local blogger Steve Gigl is embedded in academia and therefore does have LexisNexis access. He was good enough to spend his lunch hour yesterday taking up the cause of finding out just what Coleman was writing about back in early November of 1990. While it ain?t pretty, it also ain?t as damning as I suspected. ... I started searching during my lunch hour, but came up mostly empty. And yes, I was (and am) still shocked. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like Coleman was writing about that subject at the time the story broke (11/4/1990, in both papers). His column on the 3rd ripped the Strib editorial board for allowing their publisher to (allegedly, I suppose) make them endorse Perpich even though they preferred Carlson. On the 4th he had a fake Q&A round-up on the elections (his shot at Boschwitz in that column was over an apparent implication that the Vice Lords supported Wellstone). On the 6th, he tried to use smelly hunting boots as a metaphor for dirty campaigns, but without specifics. So it looks like Coleman may not have been leading the Boschwitz lynch mob back in 1990 after all. At least not from the pages of the Pioneer Press. (What he does in the privacy of his own bedroom is his business - at least when his wife chooses not to publish the accounts in her column). Although his lack of public commentary might be due to pure laziness. The story ?broke? right before the election, and Nick probably had several columns about smelly hunting boots in the can ready to go for weeks, so why bother to rewrite anything? That?s not his job. I encourage you to read all of Steve Gigl?s post. It?s a fascinating account of some recent Minnesota political/journalism history. And his journey into the past yielded another interesting post, regarding Rep. Jim Oberstar (who is still entrenched in his Congressional seat) and his comments in 1986 about Libyan terrorism and European inaction: But [Oberstar] said U.S. patience has worn thin and warned his hosts that nice-sounding resolutions will deter neither Khadafy nor Reagan. If Europe wants a peaceful resolution to terrorism, then it better work jointly with the U.S., he said. Reagan will act with - or without - Europe, he predicted. If he strikes again, Europe will become irrelevant in the fight against terrorism - "And being irrelevant," he said, "Is worse than being wrong." The names change (except for Oberstar), but the song remains the same (except for Democrats advocating America's interests when speaking in Europe).
Danger's A-Comin'
Visitors to The Drudge Report late Thursday evening couldn?t have missed the banner headline stating: Scientists Predict Major SoCal Quake Within Five Months My interest was piqued as my landlord currently resides in ?SoCal? (I feel ridiculous even typing that abbreviation) and I was curious to know whether I should even bother sending him next month's rent check. No offense, Scott, but if L.A. is about to become gigantic sink hole that swallows you and half the state whole, I?d just as soon spend my money on more important things than the roof over my head ?gin and cigarettes come to mind. I gave the story a quick read and it begins thusly: A state earthquake council has given a qualified endorsement to a prediction by a group of scientists who believe that a temblor of magnitude-6.4 or greater will occur in the Southern California desert sometime in the next five months. Egads! That does sound ominous. Nothing screams certainty like a qualified endorsement. The endorsing council (formally known as the California Earthquake Prediction Evaluation Council) further bolsters the scientific claim of impending plate tectonic doom by labeling their efforts as: ...a legitimate approach in earthquake prediction research... but then goes on to note that: ...the physical basis for the prediction has not been substantiated. How does a guy get to be part of a ?group of scientists? that gets credit for having a legitimate approach to their research despite the fact that physics behind it is deemed unsubstantiated? Sign me up, baby! I could really use that government grant money (you know?for gin and cigarettes). Then I read this: ? the council noted in its report that the chances of an earthquake of at least magnitude-6.4 occurring randomly in the area sometime before the Sept. 5 deadline is about 10 percent. Ten freaking percent?! A ten percent chance of a major earthquake in the next five months in southern California warrants a September 11 size panic headline?! When the weatherbabe on the box tells me that there?s a ten percent chance of rain I ruthlessly mock my umbrella and dropkick it into the closet. Talk to me when the chances are about 90 percent. Until then, spare me the doom and gloom nonsense and, if you wouldn't mind, send a wildfire my way. I'm all out of matches.
Thursday, April 01, 2004
Possible April Fool's Post Titles From Some Of Our Favorite Bloggers
LILEKS (assuming he had titles): I Have Absolutely Nothing To Say Power Line: Once Again George Will Is Dead Wrong Shot In The Dark: I'm Dating A Liberal & I Love It! SCSUScholars: The SCSU Administration: Best In The Land SPITBULL: Why I Unquestioningly Support George W. Bush Captain's Quarters: For All I Care Glenn Reynolds Can Go To Hell Hugh Hewitt: Titles Are Not Important To Me Exiled on Blog Street: Tear Down First Avenue Tim Blair: My Decision To Quit Drinking & Embrace Pacifism the evangelical outpost: Indisputable Proof That There Is No God Infinite Monkeys: Dr. Monkeystein's Weight Loss Program: Polka, Polka, Polka ProfessorBainbridge.com: Franzia White Zinfandel 2004: Good Enough To Drink Straight From The Box! ArtsJournal: About Last Night: My Big Fat Obnoxious Fiancé Kicks Ass Little Green Footballs: Why Allah Is The Only True God Andrew Sullivan: Sexuality Is Not Important To Me
Ben at Infinite Monkeys points us to the Majority Report Radio blog. Majority Report being the Air America show hosted by Jeneane Garofalo and Sam Seder. There isn't much to read so far, but some of the comments are entertaining:
Man, oh, man...has this been an awesome stretch of days of late! It could very well be the 'perfect storm' -- Clarke, gas prices rising, and Air America Radio! Now if only there was a terrorist attack on the US, I'd be in hog heaven! I've dreamed your show for 30 years. I thought I would never live long enough to hear it. You know the old saying about there being no such thing as a foolish dream? Props to Sam for speaking out against deoderant. Ann Coulter had a column about how getting rid of deoderant was a French plot and I heard Rush talking about how pointy-headed academics were opposed to it as well. It's a weird but valid liberal cause...people smell like people, and that's okay. We shall overcome. Well, at least our body odor will. THANK GOD AND AMERICA SOMEONE HAS FINALLY BROUGHT THE USA SOME STRAIGHT TALK. I SICK OF HEARING OLD WHITE MEN BITCH!!! C'mon now Hugh's not really that old... it's SUCH a fucking relief to have normal, thinking people doing talk radio, for a change. KICK ASS and NEVER STOP until we knock these fucking fascists OUT. Normal, thinking people like Janeane Garofalo? ...new drinking game: everytime janeane says "uh" take one drink. each time sam says "um"... forget it. nobody could last more than two segments. The Northern Alliance Radio Show has been on the air for four weeks (four shows). We're far from being professionals (very, very far) yet we have had very few problems with the "uhs" and "ums". Air America is just starting up, and I know it takes some time to work out the kinks, but to have such noticeable stammering and stumbling is not an auspicious way to begin. One last thing that should go out as like a memo to everyone on the network: Embrace hip-hop. You all want to win this election, you want to beat Bush, you must embrace the hip-hop generation. And you thought John Kerry looked ridiculous on MTV last night? Clever like a fox he is. They've got Ann and Laura, we've got Janeane. Game set and match: Liberals! Coulter and Ingraham ain't my personal favorites, but compared to Garofalo they look like the Barbi Twins. Super stuff. This is the first time my wife and I have sat and watched the radio since, well, since never. Why, it reminded me of the fireside chats that FDR used to give. We'd all gather 'round the and watch the Victrola for hours on end... I especially enjoyed randi rhodes today, it was like listening to my biker aunts & her friends drink beers on the back porch. Now, THAT is what I call entertainment. Randi Rhodes: the drunk biker broad of talk radio. But not everyone was pleased: Randi Rhodes ruled the day. But that's because Randi knows what she's doing--she knows how to kick right-wing ass. The rest of you people pretty well sucked. Sorry to tell you. Constructive criticism at its best. LIstened in, got severely bored after the first ten minunte's, wishing you succes with your new enterprise but am severely doubtfull it will be a succes. Even intelligent, informed left wingers have their doubts? That can't be a good sign. Labels: Media-National (02-06)
Why Franken Isn?t Funny
Looks like Al Franken?s ridiculous comments on race weren?t just a slip of the lip. He?s been preparing them for weeks. This from the New York Times Magazine article on Franken, appearing on March 21: [Franken] and his team of writers have been compiling files on a range of topics that is utterly Frankenesque. The Bush tax policy will be ''a huge story for us,'' says Ben Wikler, Franken's producer. Then, too, Franken unleashes a hilarious, X-rated Strom Thurmond impersonation that has been playing in his head and that he desperately wants to make work: ''I want to do Thurmond a lot, from the grave or wherever he is. And I want him to be more honest in death than in life. I mean, here's a guy who basically said, 'I'll fight to the death for segregation' and had a daughter who was black.'' I think this tells us exactly why Franken?s show hasn?t been funny so far (besides the content, I mean) It?s not spontaneous. Nor is it timely. This is a daily talk show about politics, material needing to be ripped from the day?s headlines. And Franken is working with a ?team of writers? to create his punch lines, weeks in advance of him delivering them. Plus he?s ?desperate? to make certain political points work. And after all of that, all he can come up with is: ?I screwed colored girls! I screwed Puerto Rican girls! I screwed them all! The pecker don?t know no color!? You have to think executives at Progress Media might be starting to think they placed their bets on the wrong horse.
No Rumor of Humor
Over the past 2 days I?ve listened to about 30 minutes of the O?Franken Factor. Verdict: an unqualified disaster. It?s an audio car accident, broadcast live everyday on your radio. A Chevy Chase Show level embarrassment. Perhaps rivaling only ?The Magic Hour? for uncomfortable broadcasting moments per hour. As an example, take the Strom Thurmond impression Franken did about 30 minutes ago. After taking about 5 minutes to outline the premise with his side kick (Cacklin? Katherine Lanpher), it consisted of these words, in a gravel voiced, LOUD, angry, southern drawl: ?I screwed colored girls! I screwed Puerto Rican girls! I screwed them all! The pecker don?t know no color!? And he said it over and over and over again. I actually had a shudder of embarrassment run down my spine and I considered crawling under the car seat to somehow distance myself from what was coming out of my speakers. The bit didn?t contain even a rumor of humor, just a guy shouting hateful nonsense in an attempt to be irreverent and edgy. Even Cacklin? Katherine could only manage a few bursts of uncomfortable, embarrassed courtesy laughter. Which is more than she wanted to give, I?m sure. Can you imagine her reaction to someone saying those words on her old MPR program? Or imagine her and Franken?s reaction if Rush Limbaugh had said those words (even under the guise of it being satire)? More wincingly uncomfortable yet, within 5 minutes Franken was talking about how unqualified and unprepared Condi Rice is to be National Security Advisor. Alleged satire or not, the combination of Al Franken shouting about ?screwing colored girls? then savaging the credibility of the most powerful African American woman in the country was jaw droppingly offensive. Even for me, a guy who generally can?t be offended. I have no doubt the childish and vengeful MoveOn.org crowd would claim the Thurmond impression was the height of hilarity. But recall, the point of Liberal Air America was to be centrist and to persuade and influence-independent minded average Americans to support John Kerry. After two days of listening to Franken?s rhetoric, I doubt he?s doing Kerry any favors. But if I?m wrong and this is exactly what those folks in the middle want to hear, then I say good riddance to them. I don?t want to belong to any political movement that has people who think Al Franken is funny as members.
Beggin' Strips
I have a clear and distinguished public record of being anti-homeless. I've probably been ranting about the drunken sots for at minimum 15 years, including at least 15 minutes of which was actually broadcast on the debut of the NARN show. The left loves the fact that some people chose to live on the streets because to them it is prima facie evidence of the evil of Capitalism. I mean, if a guy in Minnetonka can have a house BOAT why can't some soak on Cedar Avenue at least have an apartment? Right. Well, not so shockingly enough, a judge in Minneapolis has decided that these urine-soaked dregs have a RIGHT to beg like mangy animals for table scraps: A homeless Minneapolis man has successfully challenged a Minneapolis ordinance that prohibits begging in public or private areas. Hennepin County District Judge Beryl Nord ruled Tuesday that begging is free speech protected by the First Amendment and that the ordinance offers no alternatives for beggars to express themselves. Nord wrote: "When a beggar takes up the cause of informing his fellow citizens in a traditional public forum of his plight by begging for assistance from them, it is difficult to see how it can be said with a straight face that this is somehow a fundamentally different message from that of a state registered charity worker who takes up a beggar's cause on his behalf," she wrote. "While a beggar may or may not utter words to convey his message, his mere presence accompanied by an outstretched hand or donation cup communicates to his fellow citizens that he, for any number of social or political reasons, requests money to support himself." God help us one and all. Were two more pretentious, high-falutin' and just downright ridiculous paragraphs of bs ever written? "Informing his fellow citizens" I love that phrase. Ahem, dear fellow citizens. I do not want to work a regular job--it is just not my nature. For you see I drink alcohol heavily and have found that it impairs my ability to keep gainful employ. Therefore, I beseech thee to dig into thy deep pockets of hard and honestly earned money and hand it to me for the purchase of said alcoholic beverages. And "any number of social or political reasons". Political? Were they Dean fans? The loss in the primary was too much for them to bear and it drove them to drink? What about plain old-fashioned sin as an explanation? Living on the streets as a drunk probably violates MOST of the Seven Deadly Sins and probably a few more that we don't even know about. I know you may be thinking I'm being a little hard on the homeless. But what am I going to do, take away their dignity? The inherent dignity in begging for beer that leftists like Judge Nord believe in?
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TALK O' THE TOWN 
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