If you're not a RightWingNutJob, you should never, Never, NEVER...

what a shame (4.00 / 1)

I used to like Baja Sol. There's one by work. When their CEO became state GOP chair, I had no intention of boycotting because people have a right to their political preferences. I wouldn't want conservatives boycotting a business just because it was run by a professed Democrat.

However, that attitude slipped whe Tony accused Al Franken and Mark Ritchie of election theft with not even a claim of evidence. Tony did more damage when it appeared he was going to try to win the governor recount through bullying. Now, not only do the Suttons behave like jerks, they obviously have complete contempt for me. I'm sure not giving them my money.

Business owners have a right to their political opinions, but they attack customers at their own risk.

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by: ericf @ Fri Feb 25, 2011 at 16:38:56 PM UTC

It is a shame ... (4.00 / 1)

Because Baja Sol is a tastier fast food place for the food they serve. But Sutton is so angry and outrageous that the food doesn't take quite as good anymore.  

The Original Gordon

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by: Gordon @ Fri Feb 25, 2011 at 17:28:31 PM UTC

Ginni Thomas Light (0.00 / 0)

I considered it strange that a "conservative Catholic" business-owning mom would "follow" someone like me who has devoted the lion's share of his Twitter time bashing neoconservatives and teabaggers. I never followed back. And this follower never communicated with me until last night, when I tweeted the following: "MN is entering its 3rd straight yr w/ pay/hiring freeze for state employees. Still have $6.2 B deficit. Problem is revenue, not spending."

This Bridget Sutton individual took offense to that tweet, responding by blaming the entirety of our state's $6.2 billion biennial deficit on inflated projections. Yes, you heard me right. Bridget Sutton doesn't think the deficit is real. She thinks it's merely an erroneous figure from an overly-cautious budget forecast. Not knowing who she was, I replied:

"What's yer point there, Connie Culdesac?"

Bridget Sutton then replied with a series of messages that were as weak in style as they were substance. She characterized my tweets as "usual drivel." When I asked why she was following me, she said it was for the "challenge."

I was so proud!

Like many of you out there, I peruse a new follower's recent tweets simply to get a sense of who an individual is before deciding whether to follow back. On occasion, we'll get the followers who follow simply to agitate, troll, and spam. I quickly figured out that this person was a professional troll.

I would say 9 out of every 10 tweets this person had were targeted at people who didn't share her political philosophy. In her tweets she was hostile and rude. And moreover, these tweet messages were in rapid-order succession, seemingly one every minute. And in these tweets, this individual would very aggressively defended and advanced the cause of powerful corporate interests, bashing taxes and industry regulation left and right. After a seven- to eight-tweet exchange in which we debated the issues, I tweeted the following (still not knowing who she was):

"Your Twitter activity in defense & furtherance of powerful corp interests tells me U R up to your armpits in GOP. Lobbyist?"

After she didn't respond to that question, I looked her up on Google. For whatever reason, I wasn't shocked to learn who she was -- Bridget Sutton, owner of Baja Sol and wife of Minnesota's GOP Chair. I couldn't help but instantly compare her to Washington D.C.'s favorite political dilettante and drunk caller, Ginni Thomas. She hadn't responded to my most recent tweet regarding corporate tax, so I made a preemptive attack:

"I figured you'd back down you spamming POS! Next time don't bring Kool Aid to a wop party. Come heavy or not at all!"

I have to say there's a certain satisfaction in calling the millionaire spouse of the Republican Party Chair a "POS." You should try it sometime.

Then, after hearing nothing in response, I had to make myself clear:

"Back off and don't spam me ever again!"

I did become agitated. Why? Because for someone who owns a chain of restaurants and makes a reported $25 million in revenue, I have a hard time understanding the petty and selfish spite and vindictiveness towards taxes that go to addressing public works, our military, and the truly needy. Why is it that someone as fortune as Bridget Sutton devotes as much time and energy trolling on Twitter for the sake of spamming people who strive to be Nick Carraway rather than Tom Buchanan? She clearly has personal issues. However, she represents a much more significant problem in America.

Today we live in an America in which a couple like the Suttons can own and operate two businesses, make millions, yet pay little if any taxes. Those who own businesses are able to deduct as business expenses practically everything. Ever wonder why a business owning friend needs receipts for meals, gas, lodging...? After deductions, wealthy business owners pay a smaller percent in taxes than the rest of us middle class chumps do. But what do they do? They wage a war on fiscal responsibility. And as much as they'd have you believe otherwise, their hatred for paying taxes isn't about "financial freedom" or economic growth. It's about keeping what's theirs. It's about a $25-million-a-year couple fighting, say, a 1% tax hike in order to avoid $250,000 in taxes.

That, folks, is today's definition of conservatism. Today's neoconservative and teabagger lot accuses our president of being a socialist by carrying a 35% highest marginal tax rate, even though his conservative predecessors like Eisenhower (90%), Nixon (77%), Ford (70%), and even Reagan (50%) carried much higher taxes on the rich. And their rhetoric is working. Even democrats are accepting the premise that our government spends too much money. How exactly? Neo-cons refer to our expenditures without alluding to demographics and the baby boomer retirees, or for that matter two wars. And with a near $14 trillion debt, the answer isn't to upwardly adjust taxes, but to cut already record low taxes.

Therefore, be on the lookout for Burrito Bridget. She'll be trolling and spamming your Twitter account soon. Try not to vomit.

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by: MattTorgerson @ Fri Feb 25, 2011 at 22:01:35 PM UTC

The Suttons (0.00 / 0)

I'm astonished that anyone owning 10 restaurants has the time to tweet so obsessively even with good managers handling the operations. Most restaurant owners I know are hands on owners working ridiculously long hours.
Tony Sutton was responsible for dreaming up the disgusting campaign flier for the GOP candidate, Jacobson, running against Carly Melin, DFL, in the recent special election, 5B. The flier punched all the frightened right wing voters' buttons on gun rights. The front had a photo of a hunter aiming a rifle and the first words were, "Take Your Best Shot". Oddly, no photos of deer or birds, just one of Melin inside with the usual she's going to take your guns away spin. Tony then outrageously told all of us who were offended and appalled by the flier that we were shameful to make an issue of the violent tone.
Fortunately, it didn't work with enough voters and Melin won by a very healthy margin.  

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by: lweaver @ Sat Feb 26, 2011 at 15:35:50 PM UTC

Update: Suttons No Longer Own Baja Sol (0.00 / 0)

It was reported in the Strib a week or two ago that the Suttons sold their minority share in Baja Sol restaurant to their business partner. The story painted a pretty ugly picture of a failing business whose owners (i.e., Bridget Sutton) failed to "stick to their knitting" by trying to turn some into sports bars thereby losing any continuity among the franchises. One such franchise had to close doors. Bridget Sutton still has "business owner" on her Twitter bio. And by all indications, she's still trolling.

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by: MattTorgerson @ Thu Mar 24, 2011 at 18:35:31 PM UTC

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