Paul Krugman has an analogy to explain why fixing the economy is both very simple and impossible. There was a woman whose car had a dead battery. It wasn't a complicated repair, just a matter of replacing the battery. Her husband, apparently being the traditional sort who thinks men make the decisions about cars and money, refused to believe the battery was the problem and insisted she get by without a car. His wife does have a serious problem ... but her problem isn't the car.
That link is the audio of a speech, and the analogy is about eight and half minutes in.
Former Minnesota Governor and failed presidential candidate Tim Pawlenty is still hitting the news channels trying to position himself for something. Maybe Vice Presidential campaign slot? Anyway, he tries to defend the Republican Party on MSNBC. And he's quite funny, but not intentionally, of course.
Pawlenty's unintentional comedy routine begins at 2:45.
Jeb Bush ripped into the GOP for being a Tea Party, far right monolith that wouldn't nominate Ronald Reagan and Pawlenty was asked to respond. After brown-nosing Jeb for a while, Pawlenty did his best to pretend it was otherwise.
While Republicans like Tim Pawlenty think it's absolutely outrageous for anyone to blame anyone but Obama for the state of the economy (see above), 68 percent of his fellow citizens disagree.
Americans continue to place more blame for the nation's economic problems on George W. Bush than on Barack Obama, even though Bush left office more than three years ago. The relative economic blame given to Bush versus Obama today is virtually the same as it was last September.
Gallup first asked this "blame assessment" question in July 2009, six months after Obama became president. At that point, 80% of Americans gave Bush a great deal or a moderate amount of blame, compared with 32% who ascribed the same level of blame for the bad economy to Obama. The percentage blaming Bush dropped to about 70% in August 2010, and has stayed roughly in that range since.
Unfortunately for Republicans, most Americans are frustrated that the economy hasn't recovered enough, but they have no illusions about how we got into the mess we're in. And because Mitt Romney endorses exactly the same economic policies as George W. Bush, it's going to be almost impossible for him to make an affirmative case for his presidency. Instead, he'll do what Pawlenty is doing: simply blame everything on Obama.
Because Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) sits on the House Intelligence Committe, she was allowed to view secret documents on the FBI's counter-terror training. Obviously, we're going to have to take Bachmann's word about what she read and remember that she's just a wee bit unreliable and crazed.
It certainly seems that what she read is only going to fuel her inflammatory, islamophobic conspiracy theories.
While the Minnesota representative is barred by the FBI's confidentiality agreement from revealing what she saw in the documents, she said the briefings she received "raise even more alarm bells" that the agency is going too far to appease Muslim-American groups.
"This is truly censorship by our government, the government purging itself of documents," Bachmann said. "We are not only seeing documents purged. We are seeing trainers purged and we are seeing the FBI library purged."
The FBI began reviewing all of its counter-terror training materials last September in response to media reports describing controversial statements in documents and lectures, allegedly including the assertion that devout Muslims are more likely to become terrorists.
Islamic and Arab-American groups protested and demanded removal of all references they deemed to be anti-Islamic. Within days, the bureau launched a review to ensure all FBI training materials are factual and do not rely on stereotypes.
(Washington Examiner)
When former Senate Republican Caucus Communications Director Michael Brodkorb started the process of suing the Minnesota Senate, Senate leadership hired the law firm of Hoffman Larkin to represent them. Brodkorb was fired within a day of news of a sex scandal with then Senate Majority Leader Amy Koch (his boss). In his suit Brodkorb claims that female staffer who had affairs were treated differently.
He's threatening two things. First, asking for punitive damages from MNGOP Senate Leadership. Secondly, to put female staffers on the stand to testify about how their affairs were handled.
The main attorney, Dayle Nolan, charges $330 per hour and when support staff and other associated fees pile up, it gets expensive.
To get around Senate rules that require public hearings over legal expenditures over $50,000, MNGOP Senate Leadership asked Hoffman Larkin to submit for just under $50K. This turned out to be the first three months worth of fees.
The fees in the current bill covered only the period ending in the middle of March. They do not cover the hours Nolan sat in a Senate ethics hearing involving Sen. Geoff Michel's handling of the Brodkorb dismissal. It later was revealed that Brodkorb was the unnamed staffer who was involved in a personal relationship with his supervisor, then Republican Majority Leader Amy Koch.
The Michel hearings in late March and April ended without a decision. They incurred a minimum of 10 hours of legal time, followed by subsequent legal work. Nolan's hourly rate is $330.
Furthermore, the Senate is only authorized to cover legal fees of up to $50,000. The rules committee, an 11-member panel chaired by Senjem, would need to authorize another appropriation to cover the second bill, which the Senate expects to receive shortly.
Why should Minnesota taxpayers pay for Senate Republicans to defend themselves from the disgraced former sleaze blogger, former Deputy Party Chair and former Senate MNGOP Caucus Communications Director?
Shouldn't the MNGOP pay for this? Oh ... sorry. I forgot that they're broke.
Are you trying to figure out whether Michele Bachmann really believes the crazy conspiracy cr*p and pseudo-religious bigotry she spouts? If so, you probably want to read a piece in this week's New Yorker magazine about longtime Bachmann ally Bryan Fischer.
Fischer claimed that homosexuals are "more prone to domestic violence than straight people." He routinely denies that "that H.I.V. causes AIDS." He believes (as do millions of conservative evangelicals) that the Mormon religion is not a Christian religion.
And then there's Fischer's paranoid right wing conspiracy theory stuff:
(Fischer) has spread doubts about the authenticity of Obama's American birth certificate and Christian faith, and has claimed that the President's aim is to "destroy capitalism." Obama, he has said, "despises the Constitution" and "nurtures a hatred for the white man." Fischer recently accused the Administration's Department of Homeland Security of buying so much ammunition that it was causing a shortage. His source on this, he said, was a law-enforcement officer. "Who are they going to turn that ammunition on?" he asked his listeners. "They're going to turn it on us!"
That's all part Bryan Fischer's paranoid political style, broadcast to the nation. And below there's a link to a 2011 video of Fischer interviewing Minnesota Representative Michele Bachmann: she says it's "an honor" to be on his program. And why shouldn't she? Fischer's gospel of craziness and hatred echoes Bachmann's own.
What does it matter that two wingnuts are echoing and complimenting each other's right wing hate and lunacy? It's disturbing to many Christians all over America that Bachmann and Fischer have been trying to identify their faith and the dictates of the Bible with nuthouse conspiracy theories and ultraright politics. But why should you worry about them if "not really into that stuff?"
Well--Bachmann and Fischer wouldn't matter much if they weren't influential. But they are influential, and their influence is conditioning political outcomes in the United States. (The hard part is getting liberals and progressives to acknowledge and act on the real degree of their impact on elections and lawmaking.)
Fischer, for example. You won't like to hear this, but the probability is that ultra right wing nut Bryan Fischer is now more influential in American politics than you or I will ever be.
The American Family Association's radio network comprises two hundred stations in thirty-five states, and Fischer's program reaches more than a million listeners a day. That's a fraction of Rush Limbaugh's audience, but as large as that of Rachel Maddow or Chris Matthews, on MSNBC. Until recently, Fischer's rising popularity escaped notice in the mainstream media, in part because his show is broadcast primarily on stations in the Southeast and the Midwest, including small cities such as Tullahoma, Tennessee, and Piggott, Arkansas. But his program is part of a parallel media universe that provides news and commentary, on everything from science to American history, from a perspective that is far to the right of Fox News.
That's the important part, that part in bold about the existence of "a parallel media universe far to the right of Fox." That part, is actually far more important than Bryan Fischer or Michele Bachmann (even though the personal political influence of these two extremist kooks dwarfs that of most sane elected officials.)
I've been writing and publishing about the "parallel media universe" of conservative evangelical broadcasting since 2003, but I still can't get my liberal and progressive allies to listen to it regularly. I'm not asking them to listen to the pre-recorded sermons; I'm asking them to listen to the political and current affairs broadcasting that goes out on the radio. That's the stuff that instructs conservative Christian audiences on how to vote in local and national elections; which politicians and policies to support and which to fear and loathe.
You'll learn a lot about why the GOP got so crazy over the past ten years or so, if you listen to that. (That's how I first learned about Michele Bachmann; listening to her appear on local evangelical radio as a local school board candidate back in the year 2000.)
How big is this "parallel media universe," run by national conservative evangelical leadership?
(CONTINUED)
- There hasn't been much in the news about the solid rejection on Tuesday of North Dakota Measure 3, a screwy ballot initiative that ostensibly was about preventing government from interfering with the free exercise of religion. Supporters targeted Planned Parenthood, and got creamed.
Sarah Stoerz, president of Planned Parenthood of Minnesota and the Dakotas, said the group did not get involved in the effort to defeat the religious freedom amendment -- known as Measure 3 -- so that the organization would become a target in the debate, but that supporters of the measure tried to turn the vote into a referendum on the women's health group. Measure 3, which was backed by the North Dakota Family Alliance and the North Dakota Catholic Conference, was defeated, 65 percent to 35 percent, in a statewide referendum Tuesday.
"Proponents thought that Planned Parenthood could scare people in North Dakota," Stoerz told HuffPost. "It did not. I feel good that Planned Parenthood became an issue at the end of the campaign and voters sided with us clearly."
- Most every Saturday, at Daily Kos, there's a comprehensive roundup of the week's developments in the War on Women. That's been happening for a while, but recently, the author has also been crankin' on some seriously righteous rants. This, from a couple of weeks ago, is my favorite so far.
Yes, yes, as the lady haters are quick to point out, we've come a long way, baby. But we're still underrepresented in our government, in boardrooms across America, in the economic recovery hecovery, and in the national meta conversations about why all of that might be. It's a shameful stain on traditional media that even conversations about women are still being held mostly by men. We can't possibly hope to eradicate institutional discrimination, not to mention cultural misogyny, if we can't even get our voices heard. But that's the lesson from this week's reports: Shut up, little ladies, and stick to not-of-general-interest pink subjects, so Very Serious Men can tell us what we should think about ourselves.
Rep. Chip Cravaack (R-MN/NH) was actually back in Minnesota this weekend. I've discovered rare proof (at least if your willing to believe a conservative blogger) that the beleagured first-term Tea Party Republican visited our fair state to march in a parade. It almost feels like a Big Foot sighting its so rare.
The early part of each summer in Minnesota is known for backyard BBQ's, spotty weather, the start of construction season. And its parades.
Yesterday, Chip Cravaack attended the big parade in Bigfork, MN. Chip's trip to Bigfork, a town only 75 miles from the Canadian border, is proof of Chip's desire to stay in touch with his constituents.
The only problem is that the picture associated with the post doesn't appear to have Chip Cravaack in it. Check it out for yourselves.
So maybe Cravaack didn't visit from New Hampshire after all?
Minnesota-based Fortune 500 company General Mills came out today against the marriage amendment. The amendment would prohibit LGBT couples from marrying and deny them other rights like participating in end-of-life decisions for their partners. General Mills believes this amendment negatively affects their employees.
"The business case against this amendment is straightforward and powerful. General Mills' decision to publicly oppose this hurtful, freedom-limiting amendment sends a clear message that neutrality on this amendment is simply not in Minnesota's best interest. In order to keep our state a thriving and competitive place to live and do business, we must maintain our status as a national leader in attracting top talent. Doing so begins in November with the defeat of this amendment, and we're proud to stand with General Mills and other Minnesota businesses - both big and small - in refusing to limit the freedom to marry for some committed couples in our state."
(MN United)
Minnesota journalists will return to ignoring her lies, bigotry, gaffes and conspiracy theories
Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) has slipped out of the national spotlight after her run for President failed in Iowa. But Bachmann hasn't stopped pushing the latest conspiracy theories. She hasn't stopped telling outright lies. And I'm sure she'll soon make a gaffe like the ones that have made her infamous.
But Minnesotans, and especially Minnesotans in her district, won't find out about what she says and does because of the journalists in this state. Its now up to Minnesota journalists to cover Bachmann. And they won't.
Its not as if Bachmann has slowed down, its just that the journalists who were willing to publish what she said or analyze her statements have switched to other national political topics.
Last weekend, Bachmann spoke at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Chicago. Here's her latest conspiracy theory:
Former Minnesota governor and also-ran GOP presidential candidate Tim Pawlenty has scored another corporate gig. This one's of a particularly odious sort.
Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty has joined the board of directors of Smart Sand, a Pennsylvania company that is building a large frac sand plant in Oakdale, Wis.
The plant expects to process more than 1 million tons of sand annually when it begins operating later this month. The special silica sand, sought for its uniform size, strength and round shape, will be supplied to hydraulic fracturing operations elsewhere in the nation, where it's pumped with water and chemicals at high pressures deep into the ground to extract natural gas and oil from rock.
Frac sand mining is happening in Minnesota, too. Check this out.
Last summer, Bluestem was critical of the Star Tribune's unrelentingly boosterish reporting of what it dubbed "the new gold rush" of frac sand mining in southeastern Minnesota's bluff country. For many residents of the area, comparing the move to strip the bluffs and fields of green, dig up and process silica sand, then haul it away to distant shale oil and gas fields to a "gold rush" isn't a strong analogy.
It's not a gold rush. It's fool's gold.
Here's a primer about the methods and environmental consequences of fracking itself.
Timmy won't be out in the field working a backhoe, of course; his purpose will be to convince lawmakers not to regulate, much less ban, fracking. He'll presumably have a lot more time for that, after Mitt Romney, in whose campaign Pawlenty is currently a key figure, is soundly defeated in November. As the environmental consequences - including, in all likelihood, contaminated tap water - become more manifest, we'll see how that all works out.
This popped up on City Pages earlier this week, but bears more attention:
Two leaders in the McLeod County Republican Party have resigned in response to Rep. Mary Franson's "stalker" allegations against chairman Eric Harpel.
The McLeod County GOP held a meeting this past Thursday where vice chair Marie Thurn and secretary Linda Senst quit their leadership positions. Both questioned Harpel's integrity, according to a local media report.
"We have lost something very, very vital," Thurn told the Hutchinson Leader in a story not available online. "We have lost who we are... It's been very disheartening on my part. This isn't what I got into politics for."
Senst's letter of resignation "cited issues of integrity," according to the paper, which quoted Senst saying she disagreed "with how leadership issues have been handled."
Their reaction to Franson's allegations contrasts sharply with former McLeod County GOP chairman Craig Hoel's, who brushed off Franson's side of the story.
Harpel is apparently a big ally of Republican Rep. Glenn Gruenhagen, who is now running in a big part of McLeod County. He frequently talks about the destructiveness of the male sex drive, and one has to wonder what Gruenhagen thinks about the McLeod County chair's dalliance with his colleague. Or about his colleague's extra/post-marital dalliances with his ally.
Or what color the sky really is; these people's mindsets can't really be described in a rational way. But it still might be interesting to see where Gruenhagen's loyalties fall when the rubber really hits Highway 15.
Last Sunday, Catholic Priest Bob Pierson took a brave stand for marriage equality and against the Catholic Bishops and the Catholic Church. The Bishops are using the might of the Church to try and help pass the so-called "Sanctity of Marriage" constitutional amendment which would bar gays and lesbians from marrying as well as deny LGBT couples all end-of-life rights that heterosexual couples enjoy.
To a crowd of 200 Catholics in the Minneapolis suburb of Edina, Pierson--who is gay himself--delivered a passionate speech in favor of marriage equality. He rightly argued that marriage equality will have no bearing on Church policy and that the Church therefore has no business pushing for the amendment. He also cited Paragraph 1782 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, which affirms Catholics' right to make decisions based on conscience. He even cited Pope Benedict himself:
Our holy father taught in 1967 that we must obey our own conscience, even if it puts us at odds with the Pope. I doubt that he knew that he was going to be Pope when he said that.
And here's the kicker:
As Catholics we must follow our own conscience in making decisions such as how to vote. My conscience tells me to vote no on the amendment because I have yet to hear a convincing reason why we need such an amendment to our state constitution. In fact, I believe the church does not have the right to force its moral teaching on others outside the fold.
Because Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) sits on the House Intelligence Committe, she was allowed to view secret documents on the FBI's counter-terror training. Obviously, we're going to have to take Bachmann's word about what she read and remember that she's 
When former Senate Republican Caucus Communications Director Michael Brodkorb started the process of suing the Minnesota Senate, Senate leadership hired the law firm of Hoffman Larkin to represent them. Brodkorb was fired within a day of news of a sex scandal with then Senate Majority Leader Amy Koch (his boss). In his suit Brodkorb claims that female staffer who had affairs were treated differently.
- There hasn't been much in the news about the solid rejection on Tuesday of North Dakota Measure 3, a screwy ballot initiative that ostensibly was about preventing government from interfering with the free exercise of religion. Supporters 
Rep. Chip Cravaack (R-MN/NH) was actually back in Minnesota this weekend. I've discovered rare proof (
Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) has slipped out of the national spotlight after her run for President failed in Iowa. But Bachmann hasn't stopped pushing the latest conspiracy theories. She hasn't stopped telling outright lies. And I'm sure she'll soon make a gaffe like the ones that have made her infamous.
Former Minnesota governor and also-ran GOP presidential candidate Tim Pawlenty 
