I watched TBagger Wannabe Tom Emmer’s 1st ad, and thought: “Hey! I’ve seen THAT one, before!” So, let’s look!
OK, that was then; this is now – so, let’s look at Emmer’s 1st ad:
The theme GOPers are tryin’ to push in both? “aw, shucks – MakeoverMark/TBaggerTom is really a nice guy.”
And GOPers really have to push that message; it’s their only hope. Because when it comes to policy, GOPers (as pointed out by Joe Bodell) want to give you four more years just like the last eight – only worse.
(cross posted from MnProgressiveProject:, comments welcome there)
I got up to Duluth on Thursday, to play Enger Park Golf Course. Sure, it was in rough shape, what with Duluth being a couple of weeks behind the metro (greens were REALLY rough), but it was a great time with great weather and I really enjoyed playing with one of the Cadets from the Air Force ROTC at UMD.
Friday was a lot of fun; expectations were high and it was great seeing friends and meeting new ones. A highlight was hanging out at the booth for StopBachmann.com; a picture of their button, that a whole bunch of folk were wearing, is below the fold! Of course, Friday night was a blast; simply too many parties to attend but the ones attended were unforgettable. It was great to go to Ruk’s party, and hear John Marty give the intro to Ruk! Two old friends, competing, but still staying friends – that’s what it’s all about. Plus, Ruk had Paul Metsa playing!!!
Saturday brought the honor of attending the UMD Air Force ROTC Spring Awards Ceremony for luncheon. It’s always moving, watching the Cadets perform the POW/MIA Table Ceremony before dining; for the significance, link here.
Back at the Convention, State Senator Mee Moua called all the veterans on the floor to join her on stage – and the stage was soon packed with DFL Veterans!
And MAK won – congratulations to her and her team; they had a great plan, worked smart and worked hard, and locked up the convention in a lot fewer ballots than I expected.
Sunday brought breakfast at Uncle Loui’s Cafe (best hangover breakfast in town, according to college kids!) and the slow ride back to the cities – and strangely (appropriately?) enough, Pink Floyd’s “A Momentary Lack Of Reason” was bein’ played.
Sure, there were SNAFU’s at the Convention, some things were completely FUBAR (“hey, is the WIFI on yet?”), some folk said some incredibly stupid things (“activists are a dime a dozen” being one that particularly stood out), and some folk did some incredibly stupid things (is it really possible that Ole Savior was allowed to speak, but former Minnesota Department of Energy and Economic Development Commissioner; former Minnesota State Auditor; former US Senator Mark Dayton wasn’t even allowed on the floor??!?) but overall, it was a great convention and filled out the roster for the DFL team for November.
Well, except for that pesky little primary MAK has to survive, that is….
Here’s that StopBachmann.com button:
OK, I know the image is a little blurred, so: here’s what that button says: –
“When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” – Sinclair Lewis
Which, of course, is an appropriate quote to put on a Bachmann button.
And since we’re on quotes, and the GreedOverPrinciples party has their convention this weekend, here’s two more:
_ Tom Emmer quote: “I don’t think you can call yourself a freedom-loving American and be a Democrat.” Marshall Independent, Sept 2009
_ Tim Pawlenty quote: “Children who are victims of failed personal responsibility are not my problem, nor are they the problem for our government.” — Majority Leader Tim Pawlenty, April 2001 – as quoted in the Aitkin Independent Newspaper
(cross posted from MnProgressiveProject; comments welcome there)
“Here’s the answer: In 2009, they ran the first negative ad for the 2010 Minnesota elections.”
“Who are FEC Tony and MudSlingerMike?”
“You are correct!”
Smart money was betting that with the election of Tony Sutton and Michael Brodkorb, the GOP was going down and dirtier. So far, those bets look like winners. Over 15 months out, and Sutton and Broadkorb seem bound and determined to make the 2010 elections the nastiest ever.
(crossposted from MnProgressiveProject)
It was just one year ago, June 2008, when GOPer Laura Brod was a nominee for that month’s “Hypocrite Of The Month”. It’s important to remember why Brod was singled out that month: she stood in front of a microphone, as a surrogate for ol’ Smokescreen, even though ol’ Smokescreen had done his best to cover for his pals Jack Abramoff, Tom DeLay, et al. And Laura earned that nomination; click here for a recap of her hypocrisy and the sordid treatment of women that Norm Coleman ignored as Chair of the Truman Committee.
Yet there Laura Brod was, a year ago, rippin’ Al Franken. Nothing demonstrates hypocrisy more than an indignant republiCon woman defending a guy like Norm Coleman’s inactions by criticizing someone else’s jokes.
And no one epitomizes a republiCon makin’ (stuff) up more than Laura Brod and her imaginary issue of “voter fraud.” Take, for instance, part of what Spot at The Cucking Stool wrote, in a piece entitled “A solution in search of a problem” back in February 2007:
In her little incitement to action, Rep. Brod mentions the increase in “identity theft and fraud.” What she doesn’t do, because she can’t, is tie the efforts of digital thieves to voter fraud. And frankly, you’d have to be a pretty stupid thief to try to steal a vote here and there. Now that he thinks about it, Spot has never gotten a Nigerian voter-fraud scheme email!
How many voter fraud cases in Minnesota have you read about in the paper recently, boys and girls? Spot certainly hasn’t seen any. If Rep. Brod’s proposals ever gets a committee hearing, Spot hopes that Rep. Brod and her sidekicks will get a good grilling on the evidence behind statements like those contained in her letter.
Rep. Brod says that she just wants to be sure that “only those who are legally eligible can participate.” Bull chips. What she really wants is to depress the turnout of the poor, the minorities, and the natives. (The Cucking Stool)
PhoenixWoman at Mercury Rising noted “right” around the same time:
Ever since they stopped being the Party of Lincoln and adopted the explicitly racist “Southern Strategy” in the 1960s, Republicans — nationally and locally, elected and in the media, traditional and online — have been attacking any and all efforts to enable more people, especially poor people and non-white people, to vote. Instead, they push various measures, under the pretext of “fighing voter fraud”, that put barriers between poor and non-white would-be voters and the voting booth because they know that these groups of people vote overwhelmingly for Democrats.
In the case of Minnesota, my home state, Republican legislators like Laura Brod (R-New Prague– she signed the letter the State Republican caucus is circulating to outstate Minnesota newspapers such as the St. Cloud Times) and their blogging buddies are savaging newly-minted Democratic State Attorney General Mark Ritchie for his eminently sensible proposal to automatically register anyone with a valid Minnesota driver’s license. Since getting a driver’s license — or even renewing one — is a complicated process with plenty of verification checks at each step, it makes sense that anyone who has achieved a license is almost certainly a legal resident.
Republicans like to pooh-pooh any suggestions that their legislation is intended to suppress voter turnout among minorities and the poor. But everyone knows better, and there’s yet another study showing that GOP-promoted measures concerning voter identification lead directly to depressed turnout among those populations. (Mercury Rising)
So, basically, with respect to Laura Brod, what we have is a hypocrite that doesn’t mind makin’ (stuff) up. In other words, the GreedOverPrinciples party, personified.
I watched the Oral Arguments in the recount case yesterday on the Uptake; I watched what was either the last or the latest whipping a Team Smokescreen attorney endured from Judge(s). And at the very end, I watched this:
“There is no evidence of fraud in this election. And maybe it’s the law out there; maybe it’s the character of the people in Minnesota. We don’t have any fraud.”
Joe Friedberg, arguing before the Minnesota Supreme Court, 01 June 2009
That quote began at the 1:06:10 mark. It bears repeating:
“There is no evidence of fraud in this election. “
And I, too, noted Christian Sande ask just a few minutes later: “Laura Brod, are you listening?”
Well, just in case Laura Brod wasn’t listening and/or keeps makin’ (stuff) up with regards to voter fraud, I thought it might be a good idea to have a way to remind her.
So, earlier today, I registered the domain name www.LauraBrodAreYouListening.com
Somehow, someway, I’m thinking that domain name will become a full-fledged website.
Stay tuned!
(crossposted from MnProgressiveProject)
