February 25, 2010 by barbara 
Alan Anderson writes
In 2000, Al Gore won the presidency by more than 500,000 votes. Due to a technicality in Florida, conservative U.S. Supreme Court justices overturned the will of the people and failed to allow a recount to proceed, even though that was the directive of the Florida supreme court. Democracy was damaged.
Now, the Governor of Minnesota, Tim Pawlenty, is making a further mockery of our democratic system. He chose last year to exercise “unallotment,” and in so doing, he alone dictated the entire budget for the people of Minnesota. He disregarded the will of the legislature—the representatives of the people—and refused to negotiate. He didn’t have to. Pawlenty chose to misuse his power, completely disregarding the will of the majority….the same majority that voted for members of the House and Senate to represent them.
But wait. It gets worse. Read on.
February 19, 2010 by barbara 
barbara writes
For as long as this has been playing out in public, I've resisted writing about Tiger Woods et al. So I’m not absolutely sure why I decided to watch him deliver his public statement this morning about his epic infidelity. And as I clicked CNN’s online link, I felt pretty much like a voyeur. Why the hell was I doing this? And why did it bring me to real, true, heart-tears? Rhetorical.
By the time you read here, you’ll have seen clips and transcripts of Tiger’s remarks, likely countless times. You'll read about the evident discomfort of those assembled in the room where he delivered his first public remarks. And you’ll have seen those remarks sliced, diced, dissected, inspected, corrected, critiqued and otherwise examined. I have chosen to disregard the aftermath and focus on what I saw, what I felt as I watched. I am entirely too susceptible to aftermath, I’ve learned. Read on.
February 02, 2010 by barbara Alan Anderson writes:
Sarah Palin warned us she is going “rogue.” Her book describes her roadmap: In order to progress, “we must return to our founding principles of limited government, fiscal responsibility, and strong national defense.” To that end, SarahPAC is devoted to supporting “fresh ideas and candidates who share our vision for reform and innovation.”
This week, we learned that her PAC has raised $1.3 million dollars. According FEC filings highlighted by the National Journal’s Hotline, Palin’s PAC spent more money on her Going Rogue book than on conservative candidates. She spent almost $48,000 buying books from Harper Collins to give to donors (hoping they will give to her), and $43,000 on conservative candidates seeking federal office. So much for supporting candidates.
This certainly places her in the rogue category, but I’m not sure that’s exactly where she wants to be. I find it interesting that she insists on being rogue, since I’m not sure she really knows what that means. Suffice it to say I wouldn’t want to be labeled rogue if I wanted to be President of the United States.
The dictionary reveals several meanings for rogue. Few of them are flattering. For example: a rogue is an unprincipled person; a scoundrel. Rogue also refers to being mischievous and a rogue’s gallery is a “collection of pictures of criminals maintained in police files used for making identification.”
For a Republican, rogue is especially unbecoming, because it references a “lone, violently aggressive wild elephant, separated from the rest of the herd.” Read on.
January 26, 2010 by barbara 
Guest post by Alan Anderson
(cross-posted at the mnpACT web site.)
Obama’s first year is complete. He gives his State of the Union address tomorrow night. And so it’s time to consider how well he has done, especially given that he inherited world-wide mistrust of the United States, the worst economy since the Great Depression and two wars that are killing us in both financial and human costs.
What happened in President Bush’s first year? Not much. He lowered taxes on the rich by an astronomical amount (which has helped to increase our deficit). He failed to prevent the 9/11 attack, even though he had many warnings about Osama Bin Laden’s plans. He took a month’s vacation on the heels of warnings about potential air strikes. The stock market plummeted 3,000 points and we fell into a few years of recession. Bush’s policies set in the first two years are largely responsible for the economic crash of this nation in 2008, with much of the $5.9 trillion dollars he added to the national debt initiated in the first year of his presidency. All in all, a pretty awful first year for the American people.
For President Obama, things seem better.
Having inherited a terrible economic situation, he enacted policies that prevented the U.S. economy from collapsing. The stock market rose 3,300 points, restoring retirement money lost by millions of people. He stabilized the banking industry. He followed through on Bush’s bailout by adding more economic stimulus money to help salvage many businesses, banks, and assist most states in reducing their deficits. The stimulus helped many keep their jobs and created new opportunity for others. He signed a long awaited Credit Card Holders Bill of Rights, helping millions to avoid usurious credit card rates.
He provided a stimulus to the auto industry through the Cash for Clunkers program. Nearly a million cars were sold and the auto industry bounced back from the edge of disaster. He signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, helping to ensure that women are paid a fair wage. He also lifted President Bush’s ban on federal funding for stem cell research, providing hope for millions with diseases that potentially will benefit from the research.
President Obama has restored a balance between security and liberty in his handling of terrorists and alleged terrorists. He ended the abusive treatment of detainees by reversing the Bush/Cheney policy on torture. He sent a clear message to other nations that the United States is committed to its values and its self-defense, and he's gone a long way toward backing up both with his actions. He has helped to keep us safe with beefed-up security and acted to reduce troops in Iraq and begin the withdrawal process. Read on.
January 25, 2010 by barbara 
barbara writes
(Cranky alert: barbara is somewhat riled.)
Tomorrow (Tuesday), for the first time in a very long time, I’m heading out to do an activist gig.
MoveOn leaned on its members to show up at Al Franken’s office to underscore the fact that the time for Dems’ backpedaling needs to come to a halt. (10:00 a.m., 60 East Plato Blvd., Suite 220, St. Paul.)
Particular focus this time around is on health care reform. Signals from the White House (and what’s up with the signals thingie anyway? One if by land, two if by Drone?) and elsewhere apparently suggest they’re prepared to back off even farther from the once-lofty heights this legislation was supposed to represent.
Here's a question. Did we or did we not learn something – anything? – in Massachusetts last week? Did we not finally and for all time come face to face with the absolute futility of attempting civil discourse and collegial legislating with Republicans? I mean, really, did we? This transcends just askin’. Read on.