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

Gary Gross at Let Freedom Ring notes that the Strib is participating in the effort to whitewash Mark Dayton’s record; an op-ed  by one Alison Rosholt tries to slip the reader dog poo and call it brownies in trying to sanitize Dayton’s most infamous crackup, the closing of his Senate office in 2005. Gary exhumes some [...]

During the campaign, two of the lefty memes that irritated me the most were “Obama’s smart“, and “Obama was an Ivy Leaguer” and, its close cousin, “Obama was a constitutional law professor”. None of them is especially a qualifier for the office of President. The “ConLaw professor” is the easiest disposed of; the President will never need [...]

Another edition of Beer of the Week brought to you by the sugary folks at Glen Lake Wine & Spirits who can you help you satisfy your drinking sweet tooth. The fourth beer in Summit Brewing's "Unchained" series is Summit Belgian Style Golden Ale: What's in a name?This beer could have been called just about a million different things. The famous beer and whiskey writer, Michael Jackson, refers to Chadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03781053410876242483noreply@blogger.com

I am hosting a debate in five minutes. I’m calling Mark Dayton’s office to invite him. HAH! He declined! What is he hiding? Nothing, of course; I threw a debate with five minutes’ warning, on a day when Mr. Dayton is likely out preening for his donors campaigning somewhere. Pretty stupid, huh? Not much different than the tempest in a Kombucha-bottle [...]

Writing over at Culpable Stew, Aaron Klemz read my piece earlier this week, and flew into a violent, petulant rage, throwing things and losing control of his bodily functions and making bystanders wonder if he had some serious medical condition. (I figured I’d shut down the left’s “so and so had a cow…” “argument” once and [...]

Congrats to the Flash family; Nick has graduated from USAF Basic Training at Lackland AFB in Texas: I’ve known Nick since he was four or five or so.  He’s off to learn how to run drones.

To:  Madames and Sirs From:  Mitch Re: Huge Mistake To whom it may concern, Get  ”Mike’s Hard Limeade” back on your shelves immediately or face the consequences. That is all. Mitch Berg

As you may know, Fearless Maria is a candidate for the Mayor of the MOB race. Fearless Maria is here tonight and she would like to make the following statement:

Excuse me, Mr. Dilettante -- this is the Blogger Police. You have been notified for a suspension for a false title: the girl known as Fearless Maria did not throw her hat into the ring. Reason A: you nominated her. Reason B: her hats are very important to her and therefore she never throws them into any sort of ring. Rather, she places all her hats neatly on a hook when not in use. Finally, Reason C, which is not exactly a reason: please don't get mad at this anonymous voice that you are hearing that is coming down from the heavens and start sliding out of an emergency exit of a plane like that JetBlue dude did, because then you will face a $500 fine for not setting a good example for the youth of America and will have to take remedial lessons from Gino, who runs the fine blog Shreds and never, ever sets a bad example.

Excuse me. Ma'am?

Yes?

What did you do with my daughter?

She went out for coffee with Miley Cyrus, I think. Nice try, dude!

I think I know what's going on here -- you don't want to run for Mayor of the MOB, Maria?

I do, but I don't want any false titles on blogs and I intend to be a law and order candidate. So the best place to start is by laying the law down right here. And in music!

So Maria, what are your qualifications for the office?

Well, I have served two terms in the student council at Valentine Hills Elementary School, and I always get really good grades in spelling, unlike a former mayor we could identify, but won't. And I am returning as a safety patrol this year at Valentine Hills and will keep those kindergarteners in line on the bus. And I was also Star of the Week at Salem Pre-School!

Uh, Maria?

Yes, Dad?

Doesn't everyone get to be Star of the Week at Salem Pre-School?

Well, yeah, but some of those kids were more like polygons than stars, but we'll let that be. And a star is a polygon, of course.

Of course. But you were talking about music, right?

That's right, Dad. Every campaign needs a theme song and I don't think I should use "Smokin' In the Boys Room," because that would be a bad influence on the youth of America and I don't want to disappoint Gino. So do you have any suggestions, Dad?

Well, you could try this one, performed by Roger McGuinn of the Byrds:

I Want to Grow Up to Be a Politician

Yes! Finally someone knows why it's important to have a force field, even in the olden days! If I get to be the Mayor of the MOB, do I get a force field, Dad?

I'll have to check the compensation package, Maria.

Compensation? Do you mean I'll get paid?

No, I don't think so. But I'll give you a few bucks if you clean your room.

Hey! My room is already clean! Except for that, uh, corner, that's about as big as I am. And trust me, I'm only about 4-7 right now.

Even at that height, I suspect you'll tower over a number of the other candidates, Maria. Anyway, what do you feel are the issues of the campaign?

Well, I heard that people are talking about raising taxes, maybe even to blog! It's an outrage, I tell you! Listen to the voice of reason, shouting somewhere in the Midwest, but you should be able to hear me because my neighbors can! And the Beatles made a cartoon about it!

Taxman

Robin Hood? He never happened! Dad, that's pretty funny, but I don't think the Mayor of the MOB gets to impose taxes on anyone. And if the mayor does, when I'm Mayor I won't.

That's a stirring promise, Maria! But how do we know you're not just another one of those politicians who makes promises she doesn't intend to keep?

Well, Dad -- why would I make people pay taxes? Then I'd have to pay taxes and I don't have much money left after vacation!

So what are the other issues, Maria?

Well, if you've ever seen Benster in action, I think we need to be concerned about this:

The Politics of Dancing

Actually, I take that back, Dad. Benster dances a lot better than the people in that video! If that video was any more random, it would be just as random as if Sesame Street, Tom Petty, Tom Cruise and Mitch Berg were all on the radio at the same time, maybe on WKRP in Cincinnati!

Well, I'm sure Mitch will appreciate the plug of his show, Maria. But aren't you planning to be a crusading politician, Maria? Don't you have a transformative agenda of Hope and Change!

Dad, you told me that the Mayor of the MOB doesn't have to do anything at all! Besides,

I'd Love to Change the World

But you know what, Dad? I wouldn't change the world too much or else everything would be all messed up. I think sometimes the real politicians forget that!

That's right, Maria. And when they promise that stuff, you know what happens?

Won't Get Fooled Again

Speaking of Mitch, doesn't he use that song as the intro to his radio show? You know, the one you make me listen to when we're driving around on Saturday afternoon?

Well, we like Mitch and he's running the election, so maybe you might consider being a little nicer to him about that....

Good point, Dad! I think Mitch's show is the best thing on the radio. At least when there isn't a Miley Cyrus song on or something, or maybe a Twins game. Sorry, Dad -- I'm trying not to be biased but I don't want to lie, either. And it's true -- you do make Benster and I listen to Mitch when you're out driving around on Saturday.

Well, we'll call that part of your education, Maria.

Okay -- maybe Mitch can work on getting a few Miley Cyrus references into his show next time, just for something different. Or maybe Ed Morrissey can do that!

I heard Ed is a big Miley Cyrus fan, Maria. Huge, even. We'll talk to him about it.

Great -- now let's talk about voting! You have two jobs. First, you should vote for your favorite song in the comments section of this post. Then, make sure you vote for me, Fearless Maria, in the MOB Mayor's election! Why? Because I'm fearless, of course. And how many 10-year old girls make jokes about Ed Morrissey?

Not nearly enough, Maria. Not nearly enough.

There’s going to be a public hearing on “saving the Internet” tonight.  It’ll be at the auditorium at South High (3131 19th Avenue South in Minneapolis). No, that’s really what they’re calling it; here’s the email: From: Josh Silver, FreePress.net [mailto:info@freepress.net] Sent: Wednesday, August 18, 2010 11:01 AM To: [redacted] Subject: Why you should join me and Al Franken on Thursday Dear [...]

I was thinking about long lost loves the other day. And I walked into a grocery store – and from half a store away, I saw a familiar profile – one I’d not seen for…years?  Decades?  A generation? I walked over there, telling myself “there’s just no way”, setting expectations nice and low. But is was true; it [...]

There's a front page article in today's WSJ called Mexico Under Siege: MONTERREY, Mexico--A surge of drug violence in Mexico's business capital and richest city has prompted an outcry from business leaders who on Wednesday took out full-page ads asking President Felipe Calderón to send in more soldiers to stem the violence. The growing violence in Monterrey, long one of Mexico's most modern and Chadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03781053410876242483noreply@blogger.com

I ask my DFLer friends why they plan on voting for Mark Dayton. “Because Tom Emmer is an angry extremist white man!” “Because Target is anti-gay!” “Because Emmer will cut the budget”… …and so on. But none of those responses answers my question; why are you voting for Mark Dayton? Open thread for liberal commenters:  Why are you voting for Mark [...]

I remember meeting my first “tracker”.  It was at the “Patriot Picnic” at Boom Island Park in 2006.  We had then-House-candidate Michele Bachmann and Senate candidate Mark Kennedy on the show.  The “tracker” was a surly, scrawny little guy whose demeanor screamed “latté-drinking, Ben Folds-listening, someday-Smart-Car-buying Macalester Anthropology major who needs a crap job [...]

Okay, let's suss this one out:

There's a new argument emerging among supporters of the Ground Zero mosque. Distressed by President Obama's waffling on the issue, they're calling on former President George W. Bush to announce his support for the project, because in this case Bush understands better than Obama the connection between the war on terror and the larger question of America's relationship with Islam. It's an extraordinary change of position for commentators who long argued that Bush had done grievous harm to America's image in the Muslim world and that Obama represented a fresh start for the United States. Nevertheless, they are now seeing a different side of the former president.

That can't be right, can it? George W. Bush, former president, a/k/a Chimpy McHitlerburton, scourge of all that is good and just, needs to get in the game? Must be a delusion. Still, Byron York marshals the evidence:

"It's time for W. to weigh in," writes the New York Times' Maureen Dowd. Bush, Dowd explains, understands that "you can't have an effective war against the terrorists if it is a war on Islam." Dowd finds it "odd" that Obama seems less sure on that matter. But to set things back on the right course, she says, "W. needs to get his bullhorn back out" -- a reference to Bush's famous "the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon!" speech at Ground Zero on September 14, 2001.
York also quotes Eugene Robinson of the Washington Post and onetime New Republic writer Peter Beinart, both longing for Bush's help on setting things right. Beinart in particular seems to be shining the W. equivalent of the Bat Signal over the lonely city:

"Words I never thought I'd write: I pine for George W. Bush," Beinart wrote Tuesday in The Daily Beast. "Whatever his flaws, the man respected religion, all religion." Beinart longs for the days when Bush "used to say that the 'war on terror' was a struggle on behalf of Muslims, decent folks who wanted nothing more than to live free like you and me…"
Help us, Obi W. Kebushi -- you're our only hope!

One thing has been remarkably consistent about the post-presidential period of George W. Bush -- unlike his immediate predecessor, W. has maintained a very discreet silence about the work of the man who succeeded him. I'm confused why now he would should heed the calls of his detractors and get back into the arena. After hearing how stupid the man was for all these years, I would have thought his malaprop-strewn opinions were worthless and his duty was to slink away in shame, never to return. Instead, the bien pensants want him back in the game?

As a bright former New Yorker once said: strange days indeed. Most peculiar, mama.

It’s 8PM, and I’m out on the patio at Keegans again, at “Meet Tom Emmer” night.  Not that there’s going to be a lot to liveblog – I’ve met Tom Emmer! – but I’m here with a computer, so why not?  About 21 people out here so far, and I expect more.  Emmer isn’t here [...]

It’s been a solid two years since the Minnesota Organization of Bloggers last elected a Mayor.  Since Joe “Learned Foot” Tucci pulled the plug on Kool Aid Report, the lights at the MOB Secretary of State’s office have been off, the power bill’s gone unpaid, and the screen door is banging in the breeze – [...]

What if a group calling itself “Free Press” threw a public meeting to evangelize the idea of nationalizing the internet… …and it turned out that the leadership of the group “Free Press” was on record favoring the complete squelching of economic and personal freedom? That’d be…ironic, wouldn’t it? As PJ O’Rourke said, life is full of ironies, if [...]

As we began the march toward the primaries, and I saw that Mark Dayton had (according to the KSTP poll) a 13 point lead in the race over DFL-endorsed Margaret Anderson Kelliher, I sat back in my seat and wondered “Why?” Why Mark Dayton – a superannuated playboy with a 30-year habit of treating electoral office [...]

When he played for the Packers, I despised Brett Favre. And no, it wasn't solely because he often found a way to beat the Purple--often in dramatic fashion and almost always at Lambeau Field. It was the constant chorus of hosannas about how "nobody has more fun than Brett," "nobody loves the game more than Brett," "nobody is tougher than Brett," that not only flowed freely from the puckered lips Chadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03781053410876242483noreply@blogger.com

Remember all those shootings in Obama’s Chicago?  The gang warfare that’s made Chicago just about the most dangerous city between Juarez and Kandahar? Maybe not – the national media has been pretty hands-off on “gun violence” in Chicago since The One’s ascenscion. And it turns out that it’s even worse than the shooting figures indicate; in the [...]