Minnesota’s Democratic governor candidate buffet was like a Swedish smorgasbord. Bland, white, arguably wholesome stuff. Notable absence of spice. Is that a bad thing? Dunno. We’ll see.
I’ve been largely ambivalent about the Minnesota governor primary. Two wealthy, self-financing white males who were bucking (with a “b”) the arcane DFL system. One kinda, sorta grass-rootsy female, immersed in and blessed by the DFL.
But now that chapter is closed. This morning, Mark Dayton emerged victorious over Margaret Anderson Kelliher and Matt Entenza. We know MD won, because the Associated Press told us so. Presumably Secretary of State Mark Ritchie – the only genuine authority on the results – has by now weighed in, having waited until all the votes are counted. Kinda flies in the face of instant gratification, doesn't it? Read more.
Something new is going down at my place. I’ve become a baseball kinda gal. But wait! There’s more.
My Facebook Friends (4,937 of those people nearest and dearest to me) already know that over the past year or so, I’ve morphed from a passive read-about-‘em-in-the-paper Twins fan to a raucous game-watching, game attending, Mauer jersey wearing, stats following, trade savvy, armchair coaching baseball babe. And because I rarely ever watched a game before that, and never in hi-def until now, I’m new to up-close and personal glimpses of the Boys of September.
I moseyed into the kitchen tonight to rinse dinner dishes, thinking about the ballgame just concluded. Sadly, my guys lost. To Cleveland. Go figure.
I stepped onto the small rug in front of the sink. Kicked around a petrified pea with the sides of my tennies. Back and forth, back and forth. Settled into my dish rinsing stance. Shrugged my shoulders, easing the tension.
I began scraping congealed pasta and peas down the disposal. And then I turned away and spit on the floor. An odd but strangely satisfying thing. Read on!
On July 7, the last of three independent British commissions exonerated prominent climate scientists at the University of East Anglia of any wrongdoing in the so-called "Climategate," in which mysterious (and still anonymous) hackers trashed their reputations and confused public understanding of important climate science.
Meanwhile, back in America, prominent climatologist Michael Mann, also reviled by critics for his "Climategate" e-mails (and for his solid climate science), was similarly exonerated by a full review panel at Penn State University, where he teaches. Most important, all review panels affirmed the underlying science, and thereby the established scientific consensus that human activity is warming the planet. "The rigor and honesty of the scientists in not in doubt," the British panel concluded.
This should put to rest any remaining public "skepticism" of the scientific facts of climate change. If it doesn't, two new books will. Read more.
barbara has been out of town again, in places with no signal. That said, this clip, sent to me by LeftyMN, seemed important enough to find a way to share it with you.
What follows is the deeply moving Republican anthem, as sung by Michele Bachmann, John Kline, Tim Pawlenty (our MN radical right contingent), Mitch McConnell, John Boehner, John McCain, Sarah Palin, Glenn Beck, et al.
I think it may tug at your heart and bring a tear to your eye.
Oh, people, here is a truly amazing world premiere. Do not be giving up after the brief Brahms. Continue through the remarkable Ravel that follows. Hint: “Bolero!”
Has it really been just five days since I left Minnesota for my uncle’s funeral in Illinois? I was relatively out of touch with folks back home while I was gone, and also with the news.
However, I did catch snippets over motel bagels and watery orange juice each morning. It amazed me that motels in southern Iowa and Illinois (fairly hard-core conservative-land), TVs were tuned to either CNN or MSNBC. Not a Fox to be seen. Yoicks!
Here are some things that emerged over the past five days:
• BP is getting very close to capping the well that caused the catastrophic “spill,” i.e., three-month gusher of monstrous proportions that has killed flora and fauna, jobs, spirits and whatever fragment of trust we might have had in the oil industry.
• Rod Blagojevich has an ego and a mouth at least as big as Michele Bachmann’s. Even so, Minnesota’s loud, hairy one finagled more air time than Rod the Badly Coiffured Wunderkind in his own state. I read this morning that MB wants to start a Tea Party Caucus in the U.S. House of Representatives. Pay attention, please. I said “in the U.S. House of Representatives,” not D.C. Middle School for Kewl Kids. It seems to me that Bachmann is all about posing and posturing, playing games (remember her hide and seek gig?), forming cliques, flipping hair and flapping gums. Harsh? Mebbe. But second only to Sarah Palin, Michele Bachmann is the most narcissistic nymph at the water’s edge.
• Bristol Palin and Levi Johnston. Oh, man. Will we ever be finished with that wretched family? Most interesting news surrounding the impending Read on.
Minnesota has an interesting dude running for governor under the Republican banner. His name is Tom Emmer (rhymes with, um, nothing). Given his penchant for making up “facts” (which seems to be a litmus test to qualify for the right), Emmer spews the most dazzlingly wacko stuff. I’m guessing he must have studied with Sarah Palin and Michele Bachmann at the Glenn Beck Fox Faux Factorium.
Case in point, Emmer recently declared that Minnesota needs to reduce the minimum wage for those who garner tips (mostly those who serve food in restaurants). And you know why? Because according to Emmer, some of those fat cat servers are sucking up $100,000 a year. Yup. The very folks at St. Paul’s Eagle Street Grille who serve your burgers and Bud lite. Read on
With apologies to Katherine Lee Bates, whose lyrics I intended to post. But something came over me, and I revised them. How's that for arrogant?! Also, no small amount cynical. Chalk it up to Sarah Palin, Michele Bachmann, Mitch McConnell, John Boehner et al. Make no mistake. I believe with my whole heart that as flawed as our country is (and it is deeply flawed), it's the best of the best.
Enough with disclaimers.
O beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!
America! America!
Exquisite land and vast.
But as our need morphs into greed,
The beauty cannot last.
O beautiful for open arms
Embracing others who
Seek safety in America
Where walls used to be few.
America! America!
I love you with whole heart.
Let not teabags and racist tags
Destroy your glorious start!
O beautiful for heroes who
Gave up their lives to war.
Who sacrificed believing that
It meant there’d be no more.
America! America!
We need more than one day
For taking pause for you, because
There're lifetimes to repay.
