The other day, the MN GOP got its undies in a bunch over some money Charlie Rangel (D-NY) gave to Minnesota Democrats Betty McCollum, Keith Ellison, Tim Walz, and Al Franken. According to MudSlingerMike's spokestool Luke Hellier at Minnesota Democrats Exposed, here's the breakdown:
Donations To Minnesota Democrats From Rangel's National Leadership PAC:
Tim Walz Received $15,000 In 2006 & 2008. (OpenSecrets.org, Accessed February 26, 2010)
Al Franken Received $10,000 In 2008. (OpenSecrets.org, Accessed February 26, 2010)
Keith Ellison Received $7,000 In 2006. (OpenSecrets.org, Accessed February 26, 2010)
Betty McCollum Received $5,000 In 2000. (OpenSecrets.org, Accessed February 26, 2010)
Now, there's a reason I always say "Hypocrisy, Thy Party Is GOP" - and here's today's example.
And here's a cut 'n paste about merely one example of some really, Really, REALLY tainted dough ol' Smokescreen, who was essentially court-certified as The Fourth Most Corrupt Senator, took:
Norm Coleman got dirty money from Alaska
The Big E's picture
Submitted by The Big E on October 5, 2007 - 11:40am.
Sen. Norm Coleman (R-MN) has received $6,000 from VECO Corp executives. Norm may complain about Al Franken getting Hollywood money, but Norm is flush with dirty Alaskan oil money.
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VECO founder Bill Allen and former company vice president Rick Smith have pleaded guilty to bribing public officials. They also admitted running a company "special bonus program" that steered money to favored candidates, violated federal tax laws and sent untold amounts of corporate money into political coffers.
...
Coleman's office said his campaign books were closed and the money was already spent. (MnBlue.com)
OK, "Coleman's office said..." Hmmm - I wonder who at Coleman's office said that? Thank God for google!
Coleman spokesman Mark Drake said the Minnesota senator is rejecting Democrats' calls that he donate to charity an amount equal to the $6,000 that his campaign got from Allen, Smith and two other Veco executives on July 9, 2002, because that money "has been spent and is not an issue." (AnchorageDailyNews.com)
Hmmm...hmmm...Mark Drake....Mark Drake.... Hey! Is that THIS "Mark Drake"??!?
Communications
Mark Drake
Communications Director
mhd@mngop.com
(MnGOP.com)
So, the same "Mark Drake" that defended Norm Coleman over campaign donations, is now the Communications Director for a GOP that is demanding that some Democrats do what Coleman wouldn't??!?
How can you tell when a Republican is lying? In new media terms it's when they type something on their keyboard. The Fightin' 101st keyboard wing of the Minnesota Republican Party, Minnesota Democrats Exposed, is at it again. This time they are spreading a lie that MN Secretary of State Mark Ritchie was Al Franken's guest at the State of the Union.
I personally know this to be a lie because I am going to be talking to Franni Franken about her experience at the SOTU. Aaron Landry has the scoop:
The Minnesota GOP has been shopping around the lie that Mark Ritchie was Al Franken's "guest" at the State of the Union last night. Of course, it's completely false. That doesn't stop Luke Hellier, however:
He links to this piece with the Politico which says:
Did Michael Brodkorb call someone at Politico trying to plant this lie? Was it Luke Hellier?
Politico is not known for it's responsible journalism. They are perfectly happy citing single anonymous sources if the news is breathless enough.
Will Luke Hellier have 2nd or 3rd degree burns from his pants catching on fire?
KSTP filmed and posted on their website parts of Mark Dayton's campaign kickoff speech. The film also shows the reaction of GOP Deputy Chair Michael Brodkorb to Dayton's speech. Brodkorb starts out by saying that Dayton has an inability to answer questions from the press. Good grief, he doesn't have an inability. He probably has a distrust of the press. Who could blame him for that? I wouldn't talk to them either. Besides, Dayton had to be in Duluth by noon to start his 87 counties in 87 days campaign tour. That's more important than the nasty questions some reporters have a propensity to ask.
Brodkorb then further shows us what an unpleasant character he has by saying Dayton displayed erratic behavior in Washington because he was the only senator to close his office during a terroristic threat. I suspect Brodkorb knows the true story about that but his Republican agenda insists that he not reveal the truth. So I'll do it.
The legislature was not in session. It was in recess. All the other senators left their staff behind to finish things up before the next session. There was a very serious terroristic threat. The question is not why Dayton closed his Washington office and sent his staff to carry on in Minnesota. The question is why none of the other senators thought that highly of their staff. Did they think their staff was expendable? The parents of Dayton's young staffers were grateful to him for keeping their kids safe. Perhaps Mr. Brodkorb would like to send his kids into the middle of a threatening situation. Of course we already know that Brodkorb is neither compassionate nor caring and only wishes to degrade his betters.
Let's look further into Brodkorb's hateful statements. He's certainly not a person to display random acts of kindness. He next states that Dayton called himself a failure as a senator. Wrong again, Brodkorb. He didn't just give himself an F. He gave all the senators an F because they didn't accomplish anything. There's a big difference there if you get the story right. Right, Brodkorb?
So, Brodkorb, you need to read a few things so that you can be better informed before you go shooting horrible words off your hateful tongue. Read what Senator Byrd had to say about Dayton closing his office.
Byrd Backs Dayton's Decision to Close Office
AP | Oct 15 2004
WASHINGTON - The Senate's most senior member on Thursday defended Sen. Mark Dayton's decision to close his Washington office over concerns about a terrorist attack.
"Senator Dayton took this precautionary step based on his conscience and his responsibility to his staff," said Sen. Robert Byrd, an eight-term Democratic senator from West Virginia. "I commend him."
Byrd, 86, said in a statement that law enforcement and intelligence experts have warned senators about increased threats to the Capitol in recent weeks. "They have urged senators to be prepared to have their staffs work from alternate locations," Byrd said. "Senators ought not take these warnings lightly. And those senators who put in place prudent security measures should not be mocked."
Mark Dayton is once again seen as a conscientious man with a deep integrity while you, Brodkorb, are now seen as a gossip-monger who either doesn't bother to research the true story or knows the story but won't reveal it because you'd rather attempt to destroy a kind and compassionate man for the sake of the misguided GOP.
Perhaps we should look at your own history, Mr. Brodkorb. I found that you previously engaged in an irrational personal vendetta against Mark Ritchie. Apparently you had an obsession with him to the point of exhibiting bizarre behavior. You are the pot attempting to call the kettle black. Except in this case the kettle is made of pure gold.
Jeff Rosenberg, writing at MNpublius, stated:
Now that he's Deputy Chairman of the GOP, Brodkorb is bringing his irrational hatred with him, in the form of a senseless attack on Ritchie a full 16 months before the election. This is just another in a series of bizarre attacks. After all, 16 months before the election, who cares? The only reason for the attack is because Brodkorb seems unable to control his rage; it certainly doesn't make political sense.
Ed Kohler has been doing some research on some of the things that the Republican lie machine, Minnesota Democrats Exposed, has been disseminating. He's been writing about it at his blog, The Deets. It's pretty funny and it's gotta suck for them when they're exposed (pardon the pun) for what they are. Aaron Landry has a nice roundup and interview with Kohler:
Lately, however, Kohler has been writing a lot about the MN GOP and their unofficially associated whisper site, Minnesota Democrats Exposed. Here's a few posts if you need to be caught up:
OK, maybe you went duck hunting, or to the gun show, or even followed a DFL Candidate to an event - at any rate, you missed all the fun stuff the GOPers were doing at The River Center in St. Paul last Saturday during their GOPer Convention. Well, today's your lucky day; not only was the ol' TwoPutter down there covering the event, I captured the best of it in the manner today's technologically "hip" folk get their info: tweets!!!!
Yes, if you missed the opportunity to toss a ten-spot (plus parking) to the GOP to see veterans protesting the GOP at a GOP Event; missed seeing Gov. T-Bag actually in-state at the Civic River Center; if you missed the rare opportunity to see Bachmann MotorMouth Overdrive give a speech and NOT rip ACORN; well, I got your back - I went through an' used the tried 'n true method of cut 'n paste to same some o' the best tweets from the festivities!
So, go beyond the fold, and read the tweets from #rpm09 and those covering it (that haven't blocked the ol' TwoPutter), and you, too, will be "in the know"!!!!
And, hey! With today's technology, you, too, can cut 'n paste and retweet the best from last Saturday, in St. Paul!!! I didn't comment on 'em; we'll do that in the comments section!!!
...well, could be filed in the ol' republiCon "Do As We Say (Not As We Do)" Department, too...
Yesterday, over on Brodkorb's Blog, Michael's newest pseudonym "Contributor" tried - TRIED - to rip Tarryl Clark for the ghastly deed of "holding a fundraiser outside of the 6th District." Now, this is funny for two reasons: 1) Michael's newest pseudonym "Contributor" - Luke Hellier - used to work for Bachmann, so he surely knows about the many fundraisers Bachmann MotorMouth Overdrive has held outside the 6th District, such as the infamous fundraiser D*ck (cheney)in' Cheney held for Michele on Lake Minnetonka, and 2) Brodkorb knows - KNOWS - that GOPer Eva Ng recently held a fundraiser outside of the district bounaries where she's running, 'cause not only did MudSlingerMike tweet about it, it's on the official Mn GOP website, where the ol' MudSlinger is the State Party Deputy Chair!!!
And Tony Sutton had to know about the fundraiser; it was held at FEC Tony's taco shop.
That, gentle readers, certainly qualifies as "stupid is as stupid does."
It's things like this, and more, why I say - often - "Hypocrisy, Thy Party Is GOP."
Richard Glasgow is an American Patriot that has taken honoring Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines to a higher level. At this moment, I'm looking at a business-sized card that on one side says:
Dear American Hero,
I am not certain as to how to express my gratitude for all you have done to secure my freedoms. Please accept this simple card as a small token of my appreciation.
A grateful American citizen.
It was handed to me by someone while shopping; he noticed the hat I usually wear. I keep the card on my desk, where I'm writing this.
Richard's website is called Dear American Hero, have your speakers turned down before you link. I talked to Richard earlier this week after receiving this Press Release:
How did THAT Happen? The short story: Colonel Joe Repya has been a long-standing critic of republiCon Ron - and, by extension, FEC Tony and MudSlingerMike - over (among other things) the MN GOP's apparent financial mismanagement. For said criticism, and mounting a challenge to Carey for the MN GOP party Chair position, Colonel Repya was essentially labeled an "enemy of the party" by republiCon Ron. After republiCon Ron stepped aside, and FEC Tony and MudSlingerMike were elected Chair and Deputy Chair, Colonel Repya had had enough: The Good Colonel announced in a PiPress Op/ed on 6/23/09 that he was leaving the Minnesota GOP - and why.
Here's where it gets really, Really, REALLY interesting: in the comments section of said Op/Ed, Nathan Hansen, GOP Deputy Chair of CD-4, wrote, and I quote:
I am Deputy Chair of the Fourth Congressional District and one of the newer anti-war Republican activists. It's difficult for words to describe how happy I am that you are leaving our Party. The roots of your "neconservative" philosophy lie in Straussian Trotzkyite Communism. "Corporate money" influencing our Party? Nothing compared to the damage your military industrial complex (that Eisenhower warned us about) has wreaked on our Party and our Country.
I hope you will find a happy home among your fellow communists. Your days of endless illegal wars and military industrial complex domination of our party are over.
Obama is ramping up his War in Afghanistan and continues to illegally bomb Pakistan. Perhaps you can join him to satiate your bloodlust. (emphasis added) (PiPress)
So, what was the MN GOP's response to Nathan Hansen, speaking as GOP Deputy Chair of CD-4, calling The Good Colonel a commie? Why, a plum Committee assignment in the MN GOP!!!
There's so many examples of republiCon hypocrisy, that it's becoming hard to keep track of them all. As Congress readies to go back to W.D.C. without John Kline nor Erik Paulsen holding a Town Hall, it's important to remember that this summer, in the Great State Of Minnesota, one of the most amazing acts of hypocrisy ever - EVER - was performed, and Michael Brodkorb performed that feat in a mere 9 seconds! Let's look!!!
Now, when Congress convenes after the August recess, be ready and waiting for more republiCon hypocrisy! Here's Rachel Maddow, explaining the hypocrisy of republiCon Judd Gregg, R=Hypocrite, with Gregg's amazing hypocrisy concerning the fillibuster - let's look!
As Rachel explained: "It's O K When A Republican Does It" - although I personally prefer:
Some call it disinformation, some call it lying, but what ever it's called, it certainly isn't the truth. Keep in mind republiCon John Kline had to be pressured into holding his one and only "Town Hall" - and I use that term loosely, Erik Paulsen has shown no inclination to do any "Town Halls" despite his predecessor's record of doing multiple - and legitimate - Town Hall meetings twice a year. As far as the ol' MotorMouth herself, as far as I can tell Bachmann has never held a "Town Hall." She did "host" a "Forum" earlier this year, but: she let a paid shill lawyer do the talking.
Fast forward to last night: wanting to see how long it took Sean insHanitty to say something stupid, I tuned to Faux News at the top of the hour and was not disappointed. Especially since he had Bachmann MotorMouth Overdrive on, "right" away! Let's look!
Everybody catch that? Let's review:
(3:15) Hannity: "What do you make, I'm watching Barney Frank and it doesn't really really surprise me, he's got a very safe district, but you know, the arrogance, the condescention, you know, the battling with the voters - something's changed and I can't quite pinpoint what it is. I've never seen voters attacked this way, have you?"
Bachmann MotorMouth Overdrive: "Well, the great thing is that Members of Congress are at home this August - they're having an opportunity to be actually able to hear from normal Americans about how they feel about this health care proposal rather than the lobbyists that have been swirling through the halls of Congress. This is a wonderful thing - we're actually seeing Democracy in action and it'll be very difficult for members of congress to go back to Washington DC in September and clearly vote against their constituent's interests. None of them can say now that they didn't realize where the heartbeat of the American public is and we'll soon see if the liberals in Congress are listening to regular Americans."
So, here we have Bachmann MotorMouth Overdrive talking about how "wonderful" Town Halls are, and she's never had one. And lest we not forget, Kline had to be pressured into holding his one and only "Town Hall" and Paulsen shows no inclination to ever holding one.
Let's watch what Minnesota GOP Deputy Chair Michael Brodkorb said, concerning Town Halls:
Which brings us back to what I said, up at the top:
Some call it disinformation, some call it lying, but what ever it's called, it certainly isn't the truth.
Given my role in carping about the DFL's money issues (among others) I would be extremely remiss if I didn't cover some good news from the state party.
Remember the potential FEC fine the party was facing for the alleged commingling of state and federal committee funds? Yeah, turns out that's not happening -- and MinnPost's Doug Grow is left holding the bag. Check out the current text of his original piece:
Update: Neil Reiff, the Washington-based attorney who represents the DFL in matters relating to the FEC, issued a strong denial this afternoon that the party has troubles with the under-staffed commission. "I can categorically say there are no pending FEC enforcement actions with the Minnesota Democratic Party,'' Reiff said. "What I find ironic is that it's a violation of federal law to reveal this kind of information. If they had this information and were leaking it, they'd be breaking the law.''
While refusing to answer specific questions about DFL financial issues, party officials are claiming any money woes they're running into are simply the result of the cycles of politics. In non-election years - such as this year, they say - contributions fall and books are harder to balance.
...
Update: Upon reading the first version of the MinnPost story about the DFL's financial problems, a version that did not include a strong denial of FEC action from attorney Reiff, Melendez said he had filed a complaint with the Minnesota News Council. The complaint states:
"On 5 August 2009, in a story titled 'DFL's money woes: IRS problems and possible election fines,' Doug Grow wrote that 'there are reports, from unnamed sources within the party, that the DFL is on the verge of being fined $50,000 by the Federal Elections Commission for illegally co-mingling funds. That would mean the party, which has several different bank accounts which are used for different purposes, had switched money that was donated for one purpose to an account used for a different purpose.'
"Mr. Grow's statement is false. There is no pending investigation 'by the Federal Elections Commission for illegally co-mingling funds,' let alone any impending fine. Mr. Grow spoke personally with DFL Executive Director Andrew J. O'Leary, who told Mr. Grow that this anonymous source was giving him false information. Mr. Grow did not give that side of the story, nor, evidently, did he contact the Federal Election Commission, before which there are no pending actions relating to the Minnesota DFL Party."
Update: A spokeswoman for the FEC said this morning that "if there was a pending complaint, we couldn't comment on it." A chart on the FEC's website shows that the DFL frequently has received requests for more information on its monthly reports to the FEC, but that is not unusual, the spokeswoman said.
It's kind of a big deal for an MNC complaint to be filed in a matter like this. For Grow to have essentially reprinted a Brodkorb-quality press release and essentially ignored a direct refutation of that attack -- which, apparently, he obtained but did not print -- is a very, very bad thing to have done.
Ladies and gentlemen, your liberal-bias media. This is kind of a tough thing in the "new media" however -- how exactly does one "print" an addendum or correction like this? Updating the original story doesn't tell Google oh, hey, there's an update over here! Perhaps that's another discussion, and I digress.
So as a person who's offered considerable criticism of the DFL leadership in recent weeks, it's my responsibility to offer credit where credit is due to Brian Melendez for sticking up for himself and his party in the face of attacks from the GOP and a complicit media source. Good job, Chairman.
As for the other issues that have been going on, I'm hearing that positive things are happening, but I'm working on getting some folks in the know on the record before I write something that opens me up to a hailstorm of vile insults and criticism. Lesson learned, I suppose.
That's a question that should be asked, if - IF - Kline and Paulsen actually schedule, and Bachmann actually follows through, with Town Hall Meetings.
The question should also be asked of GOP State Chair Tony Sutton, and GOP State Deputy Chair Michael Brodkorb.
There's a powder keg out there, with a short fuse. And today's GOP leadership is sending out sparks. If one of those sparks catches, well......you can be sure, the GOP will blame it on anybody and everybody but themselves.
Here's Rachel Maddow:
And speaking of the "MOB" - I noted this:
Moving The MOB
August 13th, 2009 by Mitch Berg
Well, the verdict (throwing out all the votest for "crashing Drinking Liberally") was pretty decisive. People want the MOB Summer Party moved to September 12.
On June 4th - over at Michael Brodkorb's "Minnesota Democrats Exposed" - I noticed a reprehensible smear of GOP State Representative Laura Brod. While the comment making the smear, by an anonymous poster named "J" was taken down, subsequent comments acknowledging the smear were not - and I captured those comments on a screen shot. Now, regular readers here know I've taken shots at Laura Brod before, from nominating Laura Brod as Hypocrite Of The Month to her asinine voter fraud comments to, most recently, a complete debunking of a Canadian health care comment she twitted.
Those posts I made concerning Laura Brod are NOT about her or her private life - they are about her political activities and shots like I took are completely within the realm of acceptable politics: she ripped Al Franken while ignoring ol' Smokescreen's indefensible inaction during The Abramoff Scandal; she alleges voter fraud without making her case; and she made a claim about Canadian health care that simply wasn't true.
Fair game, each and every one of 'em. The smear campaign targeting Laura Brod? Completely unacceptable.
And it's interesting to note that the smear campaign targeting Laura Brod, according to rightwing blogger Andy Aplikowski, was orchestrated not only from within the GOP, but at the highest levels within the GOP. Here's what Andy Aplikowski posted:
The alleged culprits of the attack are Seifert supporters with speculation of the ringleader being the candidate himself. (ChangeWeMust.org)
Last Monday, August 10th, blogger Brian Falldin, who broke and is covering this story, posted the following breaking news:
MINNEAPOLIS (CWM) - We've received an e-mail confirmation from Residual Forces author Andy Aplikowski that Andy Gildea was the Republican Staffer referred to in his accusatory article. (CWM.org)
Tuesday, I confirmed Andy Gildea was on GOP Rep. Marty Seifert's staff when this smear campaign was being orchestrated; Andy Gildea left Rep. Siefert's staff when Seifert stepped down as Minority Leader. Andy Gildea is now employed as a Research Consultant by the GOP House Caucus.
Stay tuned as this CommentGate story of dirty GOP politics (are there any other?) continues....
Yesterday, a blogpost topic was That Old GOP Double-Standard, Once Again and it dealt with the typical and usual double-standard at the somewhat local level by noted GOPer and Professor King Banaian. Last night, CrooksAndLiars.com found a great example of that old GOP Double-Standard at the national level. Let's look!
Oh, the irony! Frank Freakin' Luntz, the man so amoral, he actually got censured by his trade association, lecturing Democrats about right and wrong for using "misleading" poll-driven language? I think my heart's about to seize from me laughing so hard. Republicans are such flaming hypocrites, aren't they?
Did Michael Brodkorb call someone at Politico trying to plant this lie? Was it Luke Hellier?
