Bachmann paraphrased

What she said...

“I find it interesting that it was back in the 1970s that the swine flu broke out then under another Democrat president Jimmy Carter,” said Bachmann. “And I’m not blaming this on President Obama, I just think it’s an interesting coincidence.”

What she meant...

"God is punishing America and the world for the election of a black socialist."

Nevermind the fact that Bachmann lied again...

And our answer to the Michele Bachmann pandemic was Elwyn Tinklenberg, and could well be the same answer in 2010.

Maybe I'll move to the 7th...

Tinklenberg's going to run in 2010

Call it a hunch.

Reading the tea leaves, it's pretty obvious that Elwyn Tinklenberg is going to take another shot at Congresswoman Bachmann.

No one's really leaping forward to take a shot at Congresswoman Bachmann. Heavy hitters in CD 6 won't blow any political capitol on this race, not with redistricting looming in 2012. Who would leave a cushy State House or Senate seat only to be redistricted out of Congress 2 years later?

Tinklenberg's gift of $250k to the DCCC smells like an investment in his political future more than mere generosity.

We all know it, Tinklenberg ran a horrible campaign in 2008. Whether it was a lack of presence in rural areas of the 6th, running "get to know me ads" days before the election, a lack of aggressiveness, and a faulty campaign finance plan that left Tinklenberg with a sizable war chest for 2010, he failed to defeat Bachmann after one of the most egregious campaign mistakes ever.

He still lost by nearly 4 percent.

So what does $250,000 buy you?

Will Nancy Pelosi come out and stump for Elwyn? That will go over well in the 6th!

Will the DCCC come out and run Elwyn's campaign just like they did for Ashwin Madia? We all know how that ended.

Awesome...

So beyond Tinklenberg, who can defeat Michele Bachmann? (I'm not certain he really can)

Tarryl Clark? No way she runs in 2010...
Kathy Saltzman? Julie Bunn? Marsha Swails?

Personally, I'd like to see Larry Hosch take a swing at it.

Anyone else have any thoughts on who should run against Bachmann in 2010?

I know of one dark horse at this time, someone not on our collective radar's who might take a shot at this...and I could definitely support him/her.

Startribune's half-assed attempt to correct Bachmann's remarks

Can't find it on line, but caught this at the bottom of OP 2 today in the Startribune

TO OUR READERS

In an April 7 opinion piece Rep. Michele Bachmann wrote that the average American household would see its annual energy bill increase by $3,128 if President Obama's cap-and-trade policies were adopted. Bachmann cited an analysis by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

In a letter and a follow up to Rep John Boehner, R-Ohio, MIT senior lecturer John Reilly said the figure, which was distributed by the National Republican Congressional Committee, is inaccurate.

To read the Bachmann commentary, Boehner's explanation of the $3,128 estimate and Reilly's letters addressing the topic go to startribune.com/opinion.

Actually, in Reilly's letter, he calls the Republican spin on cap-and-trade "misleading".

misleading

adjective
designed to deceive or mislead either deliberately or inadvertently;
"the deceptive calm in the eye of the storm"; "deliberately deceptive packaging"; "a misleading similarity"; "statistics can be presented in ways that are misleading"; "shoddy business practices"

Bachmann, Boehner, and the rest of the GOP clan have set out to deliberately distort the impact of Obama's energy policy by fear mongering.

Meanwhile, a more local paper has had enough of Bachmann's antics.

Witness comments she made to out-of-state media about a proposal to expand AmeriCorps: “The real concern is that there are provisions for what I would call re-education camps for young people, where young people have to go and get trained in a philosophy that the government puts forward ... It is a dream come true for people who want to transform our country from a free-market economy to a centralized, government-planned economy.”

Re-education camps? Really? This is vintage Bachmann. She provides no details, no proof, nothing of substance. At best, it’s extremism. Really, it’s more fear-mongering.

Making matters worse is that when confronted about her own words, she responds in themes ranging from “I misspoke” to “blame the media” or even silence. (Think “I know how the Iran war will end” and her four-day lag last fall between questioning the patriotism of her peers, only to explain it as “I was trapped” by those evil partisan talk shows. Never mind that it was her 20something appearance.)

This board has never been a supporter of Bachmann, but it was willing to treat her tactics and outlandish statements as errors in judgment and/or a need to get noticed. Sadly, we’ve had enough.

Two straight years of her consistently spewing misleading snippets about important issues yet never stepping beyond those statements to find realistic solutions make it clear she is all about extremism and cares nothing about crafting viable public policy.

Kudos to the St Cloud Times for taking on Bachmann and her lies!

CIA waterboarded Al Qaeda suspect 183 times in 1 month

A real effective tool heh? Why in the hell did we have to waterboard this person 183 times in a month if it was so effective?

Video deleted...

More Wonkette and Bachmann

Caught this early this morning during my bout with insomnia!

Surely it's a photoshop job, but funny nonetheless.

$100 that Bachmann didn't use Scotch tape from 3M on it! She bought some cheap Wal-Mart stuff or tape she stole from church.

From the comments section at the Wonkette post.

No shit there’s a dog inside. A bad, crazy dog. Bad dog!

And what kind of canine would she have? Something loud, scary, and constantly yapping.
Also stupid. Suggestions?

Enjoy the day of teabagging...

Why Journalism Is Dying: Bachmann lies go untold in Startribune

In case you missed it, Congresswoman Bachmann had her first townhall forums since she was first elected in 2006, some 27 months ago. We can debate later on whether or not these were actual forums or just fact free taxpayer paid re-education events.

The Big E over at MPP contacted the Startribune writer for the Bachmann "coverage".

"This was a breaking story," he told me. "This was not the place of analysis of the scholarship of what they said or lack thereof. We don't have the space to do that kind of analysis."

"Analysis of the truth of what they are saying would make a tedious article," he continued.

So the Startribune doesn't have the time nor the space to report the truth?

They have plenty of time and space to talk about cleaning cabins, ridding them of mice and getting them ready for the upcoming cabin season but no time or space to expose a member of Congress with a fetish for lying?

What's the role of a newspaper then? What should a real journalist be doing?

Fortunately, Google gave me a few ideas on what the role of a newspaper is.

Newspapers keep the people informed about the political activities of their government. They give in detail the statements of speeches made by the rulers at public meetings of on the radio of television. They also report the activities of political parties and leaders. Standard newspapers criticize the policies and statements of the government or of the political parties in a fair (just) way.

But according to Bill McAuliffe, the coverage of Bachmann's first townhall forum in 27 months in office, was not worthy of the time or the space to actually fact check her and her taxpayer funded speakers statements. It would be too tedious?

I'd expect a journalist like Bill McAuliffe to expose a lie by any member of our Congressional delegation, Democrat or Republican.

It's not like were asking him to fact check a city council budget discussion in Maple Lake. This is a member of Congress, one of 435 elected leaders in the House. What these people say carries a lot of weight, people listen to members of Congress.

Honestly, I'm more ticked off about what Big E reported than the fact that Bill McAuliffe failed the readers of the Startribune. It's the nonchalant attitude of it all that really pisses me off.

Consider my dead tree subscription to the Startribune cancelled.

Bachmann Event Photo Captions

From the SC Times.


"The power of Christ compels you!"

"These aren't the droids you're looking for."

Can anyone name the blogger in this Startribune photo? BTW, I know who you are!

Congratulations Congresswoman Bachmann

Congratulations on your first town hall meeting as Congresswoman of our 6th Congressional District.

Having been our Congressional representative for some 27 months now, we're happy that you've finally blessed us with your presence.

Unfortunately, you're holding your meetings during the middle of my workday. However, I think I know what's going to happen today and just want to post my response to your town hall meetings before I head off to work.



By the way, perhaps you should give Congressman Walz a call down in the first. He's been at this just as long as you have and has surely had over 100 such meetings in his district...

Cast of West Wing on the Employee Free Choice Act

Tarryl Clark's Midsession Update

Tarryl Clark on Reverse Mortgages

I like that the Senate is putting this stuff up on You Tube!



As we know, Bachmann and her 6th Congressional District have had some pretty significant foreclosure problems. Those of us who actually live in the 6th, knew this before the "breaking news" earlier this week.

We were talking about this more than a year ago...

The foreclosure problems in Wright County are mostly in the northeast portion of the county, up in Otsego and other areas that have experienced significant migration from the Twin Cities.

On a side note, the rumor mill is notably silent on potential opponents for Congresswoman Bachmann in 2010. Any thoughts? Ideas?

Senator Clark on the State Budget and Public Safety

A rational, reasoned response.

From the comments on the Ward 1 race over at MPP.

When does someone become a member of the DFL Party? (0.00 / 0)

At DFL precinct caucuses participants are asked to sign in and attest that that they are eligible to vote in the upcoming election, they agree with the principles & platform the DFL, & are not a current active member of any other political party. Once someone signs up and votes at a DFL precinct caucus they are considered a Democrat and a member of the DFL Party. We need to welcome and engage anyone that comes to the party not shun them for not coming to their senses sooner.
With that said:

I've known Doron since 2002 (as a neighbor) and have only ever experienced him as a member of the DFL. He's been a strong party activist who has helped DFL candidates like Jill Davis get elected to school board. I've volunteered side by side with Doron as we knocked on doors & at phone banks for Keith Ellison in 2006. We've marched in neighborhood parades for DFL candidates together and I've been to Klobuchar events at his house. We've sat next to each other at lengthy DFL meetings, including the marathon 2005 city and park board convention. I've seen Doron organize and empower participants on progressive issues from the level of our precinct caucuses all the way to the DFL State Convention. If Doron isn't an example of an active, engaged, & progressive DFL party member, I'm not sure what is.

If you are looking for "progressive street cred" it should also be noted that Doron is a member of TakeAction Minnesota and the only candidate in this race who is a graduate of Camp Wellstone's candidate track. He's also an 8 year volunteer with the Big Brothers Big Sisters program and led Hurricane Katrina Relief trip with his church youth group. I've planted neighborhood trees with Doron and fought for pedestrian friendly locally owned businesses with him too. To me Doron is a neighborhood progressive leader because he worked to help get our first ever LEED house in NE Minneapolis as well as a community bike path.

The other candidates in this race also have progressive and party experiences but I don't see their qualifications being questioned in this same negative manner. If such things were being said about any of them I'd come right to their defense too because they are my neighbors!

All of these candidates have much to contribute to our party and our neighborhoods. I urge people to look at who these candidates are today and what they want to do for the community they wish to represent. All of these candidates are neighbors and members of our party and will remain so after the race is over.

Let's keep the conversation positive rather than judging people solely based on how long they have lived in the area or how long they have been a member of the party. The party deserves better representation and so does Ward 1.

Awesome KARE 11 Story: A Real Guitar Hero!

Caught this last night on KARE 11, it is an amazing and cool story!

Check out the video pn the left side...you won't regret it!

Shocking News: Ward 1 City Council Race

Joe over at MPP has a post up tonight talking about the Minneapolis City Council race in Ward 1, with the convention coming up in Saturday.

The earth shattering news was that Doron Clark was conservative when he was in college and was quoted in a Washington Post live Q&A more than 11 years ago.

Hamline University student: Doron Clark: As a conservative, I find it difficult to not question what Clinton says, but I have learned that we must take our time when evaluating the statements of the press and the president. I feel that in time we will learn the truth, but until then we are unfortunately stuck with whatever is fed to us.

And what about our DFL endorsed Congressional Candidate Ashwin Madia. In the 2000 presidential race, Madia volunteered for Senator John McCain.

Madia was a moderate Republican until 2002, when his positions on social issues and Iraq led him to the Democratic Party.

The ability to take a reasoned approach based on our collective experiences is important.

Let's be clear. Being "conservative" in 1998 is vastly different than being "conservative" in 2009. Do I need to go through the last 8 years under Bush?

Had Doron stated his in 2006, we'd have a problem.

2009...not so much.

Here's what Doron and the campaign had to say about this shocking revelation:

"I was raised by Minnesota Independent Republican parents who valued responsive government that cared for people. After my father died when I was 9, my family relied on the government for help, public school education, food stamps, reduced cost school lunches, and social security to make ends meet and survive. My family and I recognized the need for strong community and government organizations to provide help in difficult times. At the same time as my father's death, my mother was purged from the Republican Party for her views on choice. Still, much of my family remained in the party and it was not until after I graduated from college (during the sprint to war after the 9-11 attacks) that I re-examined my party affiliation and recognized what my friends had known for years: Doron Clark is a progressive DFLer."

Political espionage days before the convention?

Perhaps.

I sure hope our attentive alternative and main stream media hounds are also doing their due diligence and checking out the public record on all our candidates...