(Excellent interviews with Tarryl Clark and Jim Meffert. - promoted by TwoPuttTommy)
Today, Bill Prendergast launches a thoughtfully alarming perspective from a Michael Tomaski column on the fear that seems to be taming the Democratic mule; the glut of conservative and conservative crazy media and the nation's economic malaise.
I doubt that Plato Avenue DFL brass are scheming with a bunker mentality (I know number of Democrats who are) but their two most potent congressional challengers, Tarryl Clark (CD6) and Jim Meffert (CD3) show no fear at all.
They are strong, tell-it-like-it-is candidates. They are motivators who have shucked the "Minnesota Nice" political procedurals in their respective takes on Michelle Bachmann and Bachmann's buttoned-down soul mate Eric Paulsen. Meffert and Clark are impassioned and honest candidates with media appeal and moxie. In its small way, DFL Senate District 42 (Eden Prairie and Minnetonka) is getting that message out on cable television and the Democratic Visions Channel on YouTube - regional television has ignored these two. So, check out these YouTubes:
See them on MTN Channel 17 Sundays at 7 pm and on Comcast Channel 15 (Eden Prairie, Richfield, Hopkins, Edina and Mtka) Wednesdays at 5:30 pm and Sundays at 9 p.m. and Bloomington Cable Ch. 16 on Tues at 2:00 p.m. & 10:00 p.m. and Wed at 2:00 p.m.
Whenever I meet these two, the Democratic Mule in me starts bucking and kicking with gusto and purpose. Our timid local progressives need to join MPP and a few others in some loud snorting, braying and kicking -- Meffert and Clark have earned a stampede of media support to carry them to Washington.
Michele Bachmann is not concentrating on telling Minnesota's sixth district what she will do for Minnesota if she is (God forbid) re-elected. Instead she is concentrating on uniting the GOP and Tea Party. Bachmann suggests that the Tea Party is "looking to the GOP for leadership".
Last month, House Republicans officially embraced the Tea Party movement when Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) won approval from House leaders to form a Tea Party Caucus. Bachmann, who is caucus chair, said the group "will serve as an informal group of Members dedicated to promote American's call for fiscal responsibility, adherence to the Constitution, and limited government."
Despite the fact that the movement is overwhelmingly conservative, many Tea Party leaders have boasted that they do not adhere to a particular political party. But last night on Fox News, Bachmann not only said that the movement needs GOP leadership, but went a step further and called on the Tea Party to unite with the Republican Party:
SEAN HANNITY: Are you confident the Republican Party is adopting the Tea Party, you know, coalition, platform that you and other conservatives are advocating? Or is there going to be a divide or split in any way?
BACHMANN: Well, I think that unity is what we're all looking forward to this fall. But I think the patience of the American people is very thin. They are looking to the GOP right now for leadership quite frankly. ... We'd be foolish not to adopt the Tea Party mainstream America agenda.
I finally met Tarryl Clark in person a few weeks back in Eden Prairie for the taping of Demcratic Visions, the public issues cable and internet series that I produce for and through DFL Senate District 42 with a handful of other, unpaid volunteers from the southwest 'burbs.
Wow! Senator Clark has the heart of a progressive moderate and the smarts, moxie, confidence and drive to be the Sixth CD's next envoy to Congress. One feels comfortable and motivated in her presence. One can actually have an informed conversation with Clark. With Michelle Bachmann, one feels sequentially bemused, creeped-out and apprehensive. From a veteran TV guy's view, Taryll Clark can be the nation's next media phenom -- but one with staying power.
Tarryl Clark's segment with interviewer Tim'O'Brien is posted on Democratic Vision's YouTube Channel. Watch it after the fold ...
I'm Zach Rodvold, Campaign Manager for Tarryl Clark's campaign for Congress.
I have some exciting news to share - news that is only made possible by the strength of our grassroots support from people like you.
Today, our campaign announced that we have now raised over $2 million in our effort to defeat Congresswoman Michele Bachmann, including just over $910,000 in the 2nd quarter of 2010 alone - including over $190,000 raised online!
To put this in perspective, no previous Minnesota congressional challenger has ever topped the million dollar mark by this point in the campaign. We matched and then doubled that record - and we did it with a grassroots fundraising base now over 24,000 individual donors strong. These are amazing numbers.
So what was wrong with the story of the billion dollar fence? Let me put it this way: we need a word for the sort of deception where conservatives take the cost of something they disapprove of, pick one part of it, and pretend the whole cost is for the one part. They did it to oppose the bonding bill in the last legislative session by dividing the cost by the projected number of jobs and coming up with a ridiculous cost per job, hoping no one would ask whether construction projects might also have materials costs. They did it to attack the stimulus bill, like when they denounced $200 million for re-sodding the Capitol Mall. They didn't mention "re-sodding" included shoring up foundations of national monuments before they slid into the Potomac.
They did it again here. The most correct answer (I neglected to set the poll to multiple-select instead of single-select, even though three answers were correct) was the billion dollars paid for the whole summit, not just the fence. It is the case that, according to that linked CBC story, most of the cost was security, but even at that, only a part of the security was the fence. Moreover, the cost was controversial, since it was twice the security cost of the Vancouver Olympics, and MPs from the New Democratic Party and Liberal Party objected. Given how much PM Stephen Harper reminds me of Bush, I'd suggest they look for pricey outsourcing to connected contractors.
Bill recently posted a clip of an interview Michele Bachmann did with Laura Ingraham on Fox News where they talked about the demonstrations at the G20. About 2:20 into the clip, I heard Ingraham say, "A billion dollars it cost Toronto to build that fence. I'm hoping they understand why Israel has its own fence now, because they had to build their fence in Toronto."
Beyond the dismissive attitude toward demonstrators and utter disinterest in knowing why anyone demonstrated --- though ironically, as Bill pointed out, Bachmann used the G20 to foment global government paranoia --- something smelled in a factual error sort of way.
Not that such a smell is a strange thing when a "fact" sounds hard to believe, and I'm hearing it for the first time from Fox, but just what exactly was wrong with Ingraham's statement? And why, with her well known penchant for factual precision, didn't Bachmann correct her?
Rep. Michele Bachmann can talk, but she cannot make up her mind. She complains about big Government, but is now complaining that Government is not responding fast enough to the Gulf oil spill disaster.
Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN), a darling of the tea party movement and a loyal ally to House Republican leadership, is known for decrying almost every form of government action as socialism. Bachmann has denounced emergency loans to banks, student lending programs, health reform, and regulations as examples of "gangster" government and onerous government takeovers. "People don't want the federal government to either own or control the private economy," she said. But despite her opposition to government, Bachmann took to the floor of the House of Representatives on Friday afternoon to slam President Obama for lacking "competence" because he did not use the government to seize ships to deal with BP's oil spill. "Where were the boats that could have been commandeered to be sent into this region to deal with the oil plume,"
I could not believe it, but today I heard a radio ad about Tarryl Clark's voting record for higher taxes. What radio station was this AD on? AM 950 the Voice of Minnesota. Minnesota's Progressive Talk radio had an ad on there by Michele Bachmann attacking of all things, Tarryl Clark's record in the Minnesota Senate for raising taxes.
Michele Bachmann, we know that you are a hard line, conservative, tea party gal, but do you really think those of us on the progressive side of politics in Minnesota do not know you? Do you really think the rest of us have forgotten about all the times that you introduced a Constitutional Amendment that marriage will only be between one man and one woman? Do you really think we do not know or remember your trying to pull the bill out of committee while Outfront Minnesota was holding their LGBT Lobby Day in 2005? Do you really think that we have all forgotten about your hiding in the bushes for our Lobby Day Rally? Do you, Michele Bachmann, think that those without health care in your Congressional District do not remember that it was you who not only voted against Health Care Reform this past March, but have started a campaign to have it repealed? Do you think Minnesotan's in the 6th Congressional District will forget that their Representative has continued to vote for and with the big corporations, against Wall Street Reform and as of last night against the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell?
All Michele Bachmann can do is attack the record of Tarryl Clark because she cannot talk about what she can do for the people of the 6th Congressional District. Michele Bachmann has to talk about how Tarryl Clark voted to raise taxes which would have helped many Minnesota's public schools stay afloat while Gov. Tim Pawlenty was busy taking those dollars away. Bachmann attacks Clark, because Bachmann cannot talk about anything she really has accomplished for Minnesota or the United States, so her only weapon of choice is to attack Clark's voting record.
If I sound angry, I am. I am so angry that someone who votes against my equal rights as a gay man, can create a radio message against Clark's voting record and use it to smear the hopes of people who can really use some.
May the progressives and democrats and everyone who believes that Government can do better than Michele Bachmann either in the 6th Congressional District OR who cares about the future of the 6th Congressional District, rise and tell their stories. Let them rise and tell how Michele Bachmann talks about "family values" except for LGBT families, individuals and couples. Talk about how Bachmann has been standing in the way of your health care, jobs, financial and personal progress. Make your best voice and reason heard. Because this woman should not be given any further opportunities to further damage individuals and communities as she has done since the day she was elected into the Minnesota Government.
According to Professor Harry G. Frankfurt, liars lie deliberately; BSers simply don't care. Professor Frankfurt wrote a book on this; it's called "On Bullsh*t." There's a great discussion of this going in a post entitled "On (CowPuckey)" over at Barataria; Erik Hare starts out by asking:
Is it really a lie when the person making an outrageous statement doesn't actually care if it's the truth or not?
Simply not caring explains Michele Bachmann, a Finalist for Politifact.com's 2009 Lie Of The Year. In fact, Politifact.com has examined 9 - NINE - statements from Bacnmann, and found all - ALL - of them "False" (four of those claims were actually rated "Pants On Fire" - as in "Liar, Liar, Pants On Fire").
Bachmann still doesn't care; just last month, as noted here, Bachmann went on a Sunday TV show and said some (stuff) that prompted a Pat Kessler "Reality Check".
As noted:
And in Kessler's "Reality Check" - on Bachmann's outrageous fabrications concerning the economy - Kessler found Bachmann's claims, and I quote: "That's factually WRONG" and "This is FALSE" and "This starts with a kernel of truth, but is OUT OF CONTEXT" and "This is NOT TRUE." (emphasis NOT added) (MnProgressiveProject.com)
So, what did Bachmann do, after getting Reality Checked by Pat Kessler? Went on stage at a GOPer rally with Sarah Palin, and repeated that same (stuff) Pat Kessler had found to be: "WRONG", "FALSE", "OUT OF CONTEXT", and "NOT TRUE".
That's what BSers do, because they simply don't care if something is true or not - they only care that the listener (in Bachmann's case, "voter") thinks it's true.
Erik Hare will be joing The Big E and yours truly, the ol' TwoPutter, this Saturday (May 15th) as I Guest Host "Radio Cafe with Cathy Hauser" from 2:00 to 3:00 pm on AM950 - KTNF. We'll be talking about Professor Frankfurt's book ("On Bullsh*t"), Erik's post over at Barataria, this post (and any subsequent comments!), the media's role in propagating/covering BS, and how BS seems to be the modus operandi of today's Republican Party.
There's a video interview of Professor Frankfurt discussing his book below the fold, plus an added bonus - a link to Jon Stewart interviewing Professor Frankfurt on "The Daily Show"!
Professor Frankfurt's Book, "On Bullsh*t", is available locally through Common Good Books in St. Paul; if you can't make it in to the shop, you can order on line and they'll ship.
At a closed-press fundraiser for the anti-abortion rights Susan B. Anthony List last night, our own Michelle Bachmann had this to say: "I said I had very serious concerns that Barack Obama had anti-American views," she said. "And now I look like Nostradamus."
Well friends, that got me to thinking about the many things that Bachmann and Nostradamus have in common.
1 Most academic sources maintain that the associations made between world events and Nostradamus's quatrains so tenuous as to render them useless. Most academic sources say the same thing about Bachmann.
2 Nostradamus saw Hitler in a dream and Bachmann sees Hitler when she looks at Obama.
3 Both see visions and are not embarrassed to repeat them in public.
4 Neither has managed to author or co-sponsor a piece of legislation that has made it into law.
5 Marcus is attracted to both.
6 Nostradamus's education was limited to the science of the 15th century and Bachmann was educated at Oral Roberts which is also limited to the science of the 15th century.
7 Nostradamus thought the pandemic sweeping his country was caused by Satan and Bachmann thinks Jimmy Carter caused the swine flu. (it was Gerald Ford)
8 Both think they can see into the future and neither have any idea what to do about it.
9 Both are figureheads of cults.
10 Neither of them has any idea of what's in the Constitution.
What has happened to the Democratic Party of Paul Wellstone? Where have all of the truly bold and visionary progressives gone? Are they hiding under a rock or does the Party Machine not let their voices be heard via the corporate media lest they piss off the corporate sponsors of the Democratic Party? Yes, that is correct, I said Corporate Sponsors of the Democratic Party. After reading the following article, http://www.salon.com/news/opin... I must say it only reinforces the beliefs I have had for the last 12 months.
The Democrats don't care about their base unless it is 9 months before the next election. Then, on cue, they start up with the populist and "working families" rhetoric. After the election is over and they have won, it is right back to "business as usual". They slide up to the lobbyists and continue to do the work of Big Business all the while giving us patronizing quips, gentle pats on the head, and nice, warm fuzzies.
Take, for example, the recent Al Franken rally in Minneapolis. The room was packed and people were cheering for a bill that FORCES PEOPLE TO BUY A PRODUCT THAT IS SO BAD, THE GOVERNMENT HAS TO FORCE PEOPLE TO BUY IT. Unfortunately, it is sadly ironic and masochistic. I am sure there were quite a few people who were questioning the bill, as am I, but you could tell the MoveOn.org, SEIU, HealthCareForAmericaNOW, TakeActionMN, and OFA people were all boldly and vigorously cheering for not only Al Franken but also the bill that the President and Congress will eventually pass.
How is that possible? Why have we, the people of the Democratic Party, become so gullible and misinformed that we are willing to become slaves to the medical insurance industry. If you question that statement, I ask you; what other option is there in the president's plan? How else do I obtain medical insurance except through a private medical insurance company?
I truly believe that if President Bush was offering this very plan the Democratic faithful would be up in arms and frothing at the mouth. However, since someone from our party is in power and is offering the plan, we sit back quietly and say while nodding our head, they must know better.
Bullshit! They don't know better because the facts show that they have sold us out for the campaign contributions by the medical insurance industry, the pharmaceutical industry, the medical device industry, and almost every other sector of health care. I can't believe I just said that. The Democratic Party has sold out the working people for Big Business. Disgusting and pathetic!
Therefore, I forewarn you with great respect and remorse before this legislation becomes law. KILL THE HEALTHCARE REFORM BILL!! KILL THE BILL!! Otherwise, the Democratic Party will no longer be the party of the People. Instead, they will join with the Republicans and be the party for the Power.
First blogged at Outstate Politics. Eric is in MN CD6 (Bachmann's district) and allows people to post. To become an author, e-mail him. Details here.
When's the last time a popular politician "went rogue," flew to China and promptly criticized our President? The answer is in September of 2009, and the politician is Sarah Palin. It worried me since it seemed she was garnering political allies, rather than trying to sell a book.
"...The Alaskan Independence Party's goal is the vote we were entitled to in 1958, one choice from among the following four choices:
1. Remain a Territory.
2. Become a separate and Independent country.
3. Accept Commonwealth status.
4. Become a State.
The call for this vote is in furtherance of the dream of the Alaskan Independence Party's founding father, Joe Vogler, which was for Alaskans to achieve independence under a minimal government (emphasis mine).
I've heard Sarah say she loves America, but I'd like to hear exactly why. I value my government and what it does for me. I understand that we are the government, even when the Republicans have the majority. I value my freedom of speech. I'm for responsible gun ownership (and keeping guns out of the hands of terrorists). I'm not happy about having to wear my seat belt, but I love America.
Recently, Sarah spoke about revolution at a Tea Party gathering and I'm wondering who was listening. Are the majority of Tea Party members patriots, or separatists? The original Boston Tea Party members did, indeed, turn out to be separatists. Are the 21st century Tea Party members only concerned about "no new taxes" (Taxed Enough Already) rather than separation from our Union? (And BTW, Tea Party people, here in Minnesota "no new taxes" resulted in IOU's to our schools, which is a disgrace.)
What's the saying... birds of a feather flock together? Soon Palin is coming to Minnesota's Congressional District 6 to campaign for Republican Michele Bachmann. The very same Michele Bachmann who has been saying we should be armed and dangerous, not pay our taxes, and not complete the census.
It's for certain. If the Palins and Michele Bachmann lived on my street, I'd be wondering, "Just what the heck is going on over there?"
Michele Bachmann's opponents are Tarryl Clark and Maureen Reed, if you'd like to make a donation.
Last night, on AM950 Radio's "Minnesota Matters - Friday Edition" show, we had State Senator Jim Carlson, DFL, SD-38 on, to discuss how Minnesota, under the "fiscally (non)conservative" Gov. Tim Pawlenty got the state into it's latest budgetary mess.
Well, we also talked about The Sons Of Nixon's Plumbers, a story that's not going away, and we played "False or False Witness!" too - Bachmann MotorMouth Overdrive's quote is below the fold, at the very end. But, the bulk of the show was how Gov. TBag deliberately put the State into an unbalanced budget, so TBag could exercise Unitary Executive Power (Nixon would be so proud!).
When the podcast/download becomes available, I'll update and link to it.
In the meantime, Senator Carlson's sheet explaining what we talked about is below the fold.
In a nutshell, here's what happened:
The February 2009 Forecast predicted revenues of $31.1 Billion (rounded). Knowing that number, Gov. TBag proceeded signed Spending Bills of $33.8 Billion (rounded) anyway.
This created a deficit from Governor-approved spending (remember, when TBag signed those spending bills, they were now law) and the Feb 2009 Forecast of $2.7 Billion (rounded). A bill to balance that deficit, HF-2323, was passed and presented to Gov. TBag to sign. Except, TBag didn't sign that revenue bill to balance the budget; he vetoed it.
Upon creating an unbalanced budget, TBag immediately claimed unilateral power to fix the problem he created, and then hit the campaign trail. As to TBag's actions creating an anticipated budget problem, then using powers to deal with unanticipated budget problems? The Court was not amused.
So what was wrong with the claim the stimulus produced no jobs? If you guessed the right answer is jobs are growing, sorry, that's the one that's wrong. Well, the "communist Wall Street" answer is wrong too, but if I have to explain to you what's wrong with that concept, I hope your tea party went well. If you picked one or more of the other answers, well done.
Even before we get to evidence or lack thereof, think for a moment: some stimulus money has been spent already. States and cities have plugged budget holes, construction projects got done, and to assert there weren't jobs created or saved means maybe you do think invisible unicorns did the work and didn't demand any pay. That bit of logic says nothing about how many jobs were created or saved, but it should indicate there were more than zero. Maybe you refuse to believe the tax cuts (yes conservatives, your taxes have actually been cut) and unemployment extensions have saved any jobs, but to drive on a fixed road and think there were no jobs --- maybe you shouldn't be allowed to drive.
And do some math. If one employer uses stimulus funds to hire 50 employees, but another employer lays off 60, you are down 10 jobs, but that doesn't mean no jobs were created. If the first employer didn't hire anyone, but would have laid off 50 without the stimulus funds, that's still 50 jobs saved. Though we're likely to say 60 jobs were lost, the fact is whether a new employee is hired, or a layoff is stopped, the effect is the same: one more person is working who otherwise wouldn't have.
