ScaifeNet because we can't let Soros have all the fun...

The latest MPR/Humphrey Institute poll is showing a tossup Tom Emmer and Democrat Mark Dayton are running are running even in the 2010 race for governor according to a new MPR News-Humphrey Institute Poll… …Among likely voters, Mark Dayton and Tom Emmer are even at 34 percent support each. Independence Party candidate Tom Horner received 13 percent [...]

HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius might want to hit the rewind button on this one:


“Unfortunately, there still is a great deal of confusion about what is in [the reform law] and what isn’t,” Sebelius told ABC News Radio in an interview Monday.

“So, we have a lot of reeducation to do,” Sebelius said.

I believe they call that inartful phrasing.

Alaska’s Libertarians freeze the state’s U.S. Senate race. With the GOP primary between Sen. Lisa Murkowski and Joe Miller headed into overtime, Alaska’s Libertarian Party suddenly found their own Senate prospects switching from irrelevant to relevant.  Between D.C. rumors of Murkowski courting the LP for ballot access and the willingness of the party’s own Senate nominee to step [...]

I’d like to thank Hugh Hewitt and Duane Patterson for inviting me on the Hewitt Show at the Fair this evening. For those of you who might be new to the blog, here are some of the stories I referred to when talking with Hugh: Here’s my takedown of a half-witted Star Tribune hit piece on Tom [...]

One of the highlights of my social season (such as it is) is the Northern Alliance Radio Network’s broadcasts from the MN State Fair.  We always do two Saturdays (in and among a few weeknights here and there), and it’s always a blast. And this year, I have a camera (sorta)! Walking onto the fairgrounds this year [...]

Watching this piece from “UN Watch” – in which a retired British army officer defends the IDF’s relentlessly-scrupulous efforts to avoid civilian casualties during their last counter-terror assaults against Hamas in Gaza… …I’m reminded of my conversation with Keith Ellison last year on Marty Owings’ “Radio Free Nation”. ME:  (after reading the part of the Hamas Charter [...]

Rally Funnels Anger Toward Washington (WSJ-sub req):Attendees on Saturday packed nearly a mile of the Mall at the foot of the Lincoln Memorial, in an event that carried the tone of a religious revival. Many at the event said in interviews that they were drawn by a sense of deep disenchantment over the country's direction, alarm over government spending and a sense that the country's political Chadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03781053410876242483noreply@blogger.com

Getting ready to go on the Rob Port show on AM1100 The Flag in Fargo.  Tune in! UPDATE:  Talked about the Tracker story, and the rumors about Mike Hatch’s interest in the gubernatorial race. UPDATE 2:  Here’s the audio:

Count the references to the crowd at the Beck/Palin rally being “overwhelmingly white“.  Why, it’s almost as if there’s a back-channel discussion group for the liberal/mainstream media to coordinate chanting points and narrative peaks or something. Although slipups happen.  Heads will no doubt roll. How desperate was the leftymedia to find some evidence – any evidence at [...]

It occurred to me this morning. The key thing about the scurrilous ads that Mark Dayton has subcontracted Alliance for a Better Minnesota is this: the attacks on Emmer have more to do with Dayton's flaws than Emmer's. The two best examples:

• If you keep hammering Emmer about drunk driving arrests from 20 and 30 years ago, it makes it more difficult for Emmer's campaign to mention that Dayton's problems with the bottle are far more extensive, and far more recent, than anything Emmer has faced.
• If you hammer Emmer about missing votes in the Legislature (side note: how many votes did Barack Obama miss while he was running for president?), it makes it far more difficult for Emmer's campaign to mention that Dayton shut down his offices in 2004.

You have to give the Dayton people credit for figuring that out.

The word’s been knocking around the blogosphere:  The “Socialist Party of America” had named seventy “socialist” US Senators and Representatives. The problem?: Quote: The Socialist Party of America announced in their October 2009 newsletter that 70 Congressional democrats currently belong to their caucus. The problem here is the Socialist Party of America does not exist. The second problem is [...]

It’s interesting; while the Dayton campaign is jumping up and down like a mountain baboon about Emmer’s supposed lack of specifics on the budget (so far), Dayton is being pretty vague on another wedge-y issue: In direct conflict with FOCA, a Dayton spokesperson said in a WNMT Radio story Thursday that Dayton supports parental notification for [...]

…is that while he can use his family money to smear Tom Emmer (with, inevitably, lies)… …all the money in the world isn’t going to make him anything other than a one-term flop as a governor. (Unless, of course, the entire plan is for him to be a potemkin prop, fluffed up by medication and serving as [...]

We refer to August as the Month of Ghosts around here, because August is the month that both of my parents died. Monday marks the 20th anniversary of my father's death.

I wrote extensively about Dad's death last year and doubt that I can improve upon what I wrote then. Mrs. D and I have done a fair amount of the work involved in raising our own family in the 20 years since my father passed away and that has been the most important thing that we have done. While it's sad that Benster and Fearless Maria never knew their grandfather, I see facets of his personality in them nearly every day.

My dad was a very funny man, but he was quite serious about the things he believed. He was probably the most generous guy I've ever seen. And he was always honest about what he believed, sometimes in inadvertently hilarious ways.

A favorite family story: while I was in college, he had taken my younger siblings to Mass with him, but he fell asleep during the homily. The homilist was a missionary who was a bit of a Liberation Theologian and his presentation was riddled with leftist bromides. At some point during the homily, Dad stirred but apparently forgot where he was. In a half-awake way, he said out loud, quite loud enough for the congregation to hear, "that's the biggest bunch of bullshit I ever heard." I'm guessing it was a little awkward.

Breaches of decorum pass. The many positive examples that Dad gave us in his all-too-brief life remain.

Two takes on the question of honor:

First, Doctor Zero, over at Hot Air:

We dishonor ourselves when we create massive obligations with unsustainable financing. This shows disrespect to the future, and a craven refusal to face the realities of today. If time is money, then madcap deficit spending steals the time of the future… draining it away like so much sand down the neck of a broken hourglass. As parents love their children, we should be mindful of the future, and eager to shoulder our current burdens instead of passing them along, with interest. We cannot know the shape of tomorrow, or what hardships they may be facing when the bills for our indulgences come due.

Both political parties own that one, no doubt about it. And he also says this:

We reclaim our honor by turning away from those who believe the great mass of us are beneath their contempt, and compassion is best expressed through domination. They have no power we didn’t give them, which means they have no power we cannot take away. Let us begin.

Meanwhile, consider these comments from David Zuwarik, writing in the Baltimore Sun:

The brand of American history taught by Glenn Beck Saturday at his rally would not pass muster in a mediocre middle school. And in terms of what came across on TV, there were no moments of great emotional resonance or release until perhaps the finale of bagpipes playing "Amazing Grace" and a closing prayer.

And yet, beyond the huge crowd that attended the event in Washington, something important and even profound was taking place at Beck's "Restoring Honor" rally: The Fox News host was attempting to seize a mantle of moral authority earned and ultimately paid for with his life by the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King. And, sadly, I think in the eyes of some viewers, Beck might have succeeded.

But how might Beck have succeeded in doing that? Because nature abhors a vacuum. Zuwarik:

As I watched this specatcle Saturday, I started thinking how much recent American history has been about the struggle for moral authority since the death of King and Robert Kennedy. When LBJ lost his moral authority over Vietnam, he lost his ability to govern -- and he knew it. Richard Nixon never had moral authority, and Gerald Ford lost his when he pardoned Nixon. And so on and so on to Monica Lewinsky and Bill Clinton and then the election that many feel was stolen in the so-called Florida recount by the friends of George W. Bush.

That's what what was so powerful about November 2008 in Grant Park when Barack Obama took the stage on election night: Millions of Americans thought they were finally watching someone who brought moral authority to the White House and the land. I know I did. Sadly, millions now feel Obama has since lost it with too many morning-after flip-flops on moral issues, entertainment TV show appearances, and days on the golf course as the economy struggles.

We are a saner, more focused and calmer nation when we feel as if we have someone we can look to for moral authority. Glenn Beck understands that, and that is what makes what happened in Washington Saturday worth thinking about long and hard.

A couple of points:

• It's easy to get a little nervous when you start to hear the rhetoric get ratcheted up, especially the blood of patriots evocation that Doc Zero provides in his piece. We aren't at that point, really -- while I fully agree that many of those who would govern us would prefer to rule instead, there is still a rule of law in this country and it's built on a strong foundation. We aren't at the point where we need to start thinking about a revolution. Yet.
• Zuwarik is on to something, but he's missing the point. King's moral authority didn't come from his own personality; rather, it came from the evident rightness of his cause and because he ground his message in both the ideals of the Founders and his own faith tradition. Because he was consistent in his approach, he was able to reach people.
• It's easy to laugh at the idea that a Chicago politician would have any moral authority, but I take Zuwarik at his word about his belief. During the 2008 election cycle I wrote more than once about the notion that people were looking for a reason to believe. There were clearly more people than Zuwarik who wanted to believe a new day was dawning. I knew that there would be great disappointment about Obama for that reason. Some of those people are in the Tea Party movement now. I'd be willing to wager that some of the people in Grant Park on that night in November, 2008 were in Washington yesterday.
• But here's the thing: it never goes well when we see an individual as a source of moral authority. Individuals are fallible. We are all sinners. King's moral authority didn't come from who he was -- the historical record provides ample evidence that he was prone to sin in myriad ways. King's moral authority came from his willingness, at the most important times, set aside his own appetites for a cause that was greater than his own self-interest. Very few people do that. There was never any reason to believe that Barack Obama would do that. But there were a lot of people who were prepared to believe otherwise.

We aren't going to be able to impose honor from an address at the Lincoln Memorial. If we are to restore the honor we have lost, and the moral authority that comes with it, it's a job that has to start a lot closer to home than Washington, D.C.

I've managed to get to this point without actually watching an entire episode of a Glenn Beck show, although I've seen some excerpts here and there. Apparently he has an audience, though, based on the image of the crowd that gathered to hear him, Sarah Palin and a few other speakers yesterday.

When times are tough, people are looking for an answer and Beck appears to supply an answer for a lot of people. He spoke about things that we all think are important, especially the idea of honor. We're in an interesting place right now, because there doesn't seem to be much agreement about what constitutes honor and, for that matter, what is honorable behavior. I would like it very much if Beck's detractors would tell us what they believe honor is. It would be helpful to know that now.

Have you noticed that a lot of people who are angry about anti-mosque protests are equally angry about whatever the hell Glenn Beck has planned for this weekend? Wonder what that's all about....

Today, the Northern Alliance Radio Network brings you the best in Minnesota conservatism from 9AM-3PM, live (mostly) from the Minnesota State Fair! Volume I “The First Team” -  Brian and John or some combination thereof kick off from 11-1.  They’ll be doing their usual combination of eating contests and guest interviews; tune in! Volume II “The Headliner” [...]

The Northern Alliance Radio Network goes LIVE, and in your FACE, Saturday morning at 11 AM. It's the openining of our State Fair broadcasts and John Hinderaker and I will be LIVE from The Patriot Plaza, just off the main Snelling Ave. entrance, near the corner of Dan Patch and Cosgrove. If you're coming out to the State Fair today, be sure to stop on by and say 'que pasa'. We love to meet the Saint Paulnoreply@blogger.com