The Curmudgeon

Nestled amongst the news this morning is a piece about brain-eating amoeba lurking in warm water lakes. The amoeba normally eat algae and bacteria, but when afforded the chance to slip up a nose, they latch onto a nerve and eat their way into the brain. Then the amoeba eats the brain.

Initially, that story was just attributed to the "the coffee hasn't kicked in" phase of waking. While grinding towards full consciousness, it is often way too easy to misread headlines and articles. Some of the more bizarre stories just get automatically filed under "I must have mis-read that".

After the coffee kicked in, though, there it was again. Brain. Eating. Amoeba.

I'll forgo the usual vectors which could be taken here. Sure, it would be tempting to go the route of "Take a Republican swimming- starve this amoeba out", perhaps with a short sojourn about thwarting the menace by mouth-breathing. But really, though, that wouldn't really top the stark Whiskey Tango Foxtrot factor of the news about brain eating amoeba.

One thing that could possibly go over the top here? Speculating on the over-under as to when the Sci-Fi Channel will make a movie about it.

So, after many days of GOP crocodile tears, panty-twisted bawling, whining, bitching, and pissypants moaning from the Smirking Puppet on down over the damned moveon.org ad, after both houses of Congress got all twisted up in this fabricated outrage, Rush Fucking Limbaugh plops his splotchy boil-encrusted ass in front of a microphone and starts bloviating about "phony soldiers".

There's your Republican 'support' for the troops. Republicans don't give a damn about the troops, unless they can be used for photo-op props, or for securing corporate interests. There's only one thing Republicans care about, and that is the most myopic construction of themselves.

"...we need to make sure that the next President was right about Iraq, was right about the Patriot Act. You can have a President who was like that, who voted against Iraq from the beginning, and against the funding. You can have a President who is for a single-payer, not-for-profit health care system, one who will stop the Patriot Act, or you can have one who is tall."

The thought occurs to your loyal Curmudgeon that a progressive with a spine cannot help but stand taller than any other candidate without a spine. As I saw it last night, Dennis Kucinich remains the best candidate heard so far. He's the one with the ideas and the ideals, and the track record that backs it up.

As the primaries devolve into a process of getting the lesser evil, it must be noted that this is a self-damning process. Invariably, following that formula will result in a nominee both lesser and evil.

Fuck that. We've had decades of that, and we've gotten the sloppy, rough fucking that results from this infernal calculus. We need a President with ideas and ability.

Your loyal Curmudgeon has not yet really sounded off about the collapse of the Interstate 35W bridge in Minneapolis. However, this tragedy has begun its inevitable, sad transmogrification into a political football, and as the criminal republican regime plays with it in earnest, that silence must be broken.

There was a collective sinking feeling in the gut of the City of Lakes when the Smirking Puppet announced he was going to visit the site of the bridge collapse tragedy. Rescue crews were still trying to recover victims from the river, and residents of the area were still straining their necks to get even a glimpse of the tragic scene- and the news of Bunnypants coming to town just conjured images of the shameful neglect of New Orleans.

But ol Chucklenuts sent his wife Pickles out first, and then President Smirkus himself showed up. Remember how he spouted off about getting the bridge rebuilt, about recovery, and hope, and all that? Deep down, we all knew it was just more of his Republican bullshit, though we hoped that THIS time, it would be different. There was one sliver, a scant speck of reason which could have possibly grounded that hope- the GOP convention next year.

Now, if it were the dems to have their convention here, there would be absolutely zero chance of rebuilding, but the Block and Blame Republicans- no- they NEED to look like they can actually do something. Cynical, self-serving, hmmm, those are GOP long suits. That sliver of hope seemed to grow just a bit bigger, a bit closer to possible reality. Then the GOP convention logo was released, and whaddaya know, that sucker prominently features... A BRIDGE! HOLY SHIT! The regime just might get something good done yet!

But those federal funds for the replacement of the bridge- that fed money we were promised would be fast tracked right on out to us, it ain't here yet. Given that the Block and Blame Republicans have got those funds in a bill that the criminal Republican regime is looking to veto, that money might not get here for quite some time.

So that leaves it to the state to find the money to get the job done. It isn't an easy prospect, because the Republican Governor, Timmy Pawlenty doesn't believe in taking care of the infrastructure, and he definitely won't raise revenue by taxes. Hell no- because taxes- the price of admission to civilization- are bad bad bad. This means that as long as the GOP is allowed enough power to wreak their devastation, the state will literally have to rob from other infrastructure-care project to address the bridge.

All things financial are not as bleak for the GOP, though. By their own account, the fundraising for their convention is ahead of schedule. Republican priorities, writ large, right there.

The Supreme Court has decided to hear a case from Indiana concerning voter ID. The Indiana law is proposed to solve that great phantom menace of voter fraud, otherwise known as the Republican fear that too many people are daring to vote.

Wherever there is a move to make it more difficult to vote, wherever there is a push to limit the vote, there you will find Republicans. Republicans just don't believe in free, fair, and fully accountable elections because as more people vote, Republicans lose elections.

It makes for an easy headline, when Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak calls for more police officers to be hired. It is an even easier move to make when nationally, violent crime is on the rise, and locally, a 12-yr old girl just got shot in the head.

To be sure, more police officers would help the City of Lakes. Your Curmudgeon won't even mention the pitifully few number of police assigned to his neighborhood- suffice it to say the police here are stretched thin, very thin. With too few cops assigned to handling too much, neither the neighborhood nor the officers are safe, and a bad situation gets that much worse for everyone.

As with most things in life, however, easy moves and easy headlines rarely get to the heart of the issues. It is easy, too easy, to simply think that throwing more cops at the problem will solve it. That line of thinking addresses the symptoms without treating the root causes. Until the root causes get attention the symptoms will persist, and will likely grow. Arresting and jailing criminals is one thing; removing the conditions which create criminals is another (and much more daunting).

R.T. Rybak seems to get that, at least partially. Along with the bolstering of the police roster, he is seeking funds for curfew/truancy prevention center, and to follow recommendations from a youth violence committee. These are more community-based approaches, aimed at long-term and lasting solutions involving the community in the process of securing their own, in partnership with police. The community becomes active in their own success, and the police are able to bridge the gap from simply being law enforcement to public service. A community not only actively disapproving of crime but offering resources and alternatives which in part feature positive interaction with police is an environment less likely to produce more criminals.

These programs aren't cheap, and they require commitment from all concerned parties. They also tend to come under derision by conservatives, who fixate on the easy and simple, the symptoms, at the expense and detriment of everything else. That derision also translates into lack of financial support, which ensures that the symptoms and causes will endure.

Well, MNSpeak is reporting that AFSCME won the strike, with a presser to be held in Dinkytown at 3 p.m.

Here's hoping the victory is a real win for the workers.

Edited to add:

AFSCME caved. Workers are returning to work, having taken one in the shorts from the U and a nastier bite in the back from the union itself.

Norwegianity pretty much sums it up (but goes on in detail):AFSCME, still a punk-assed loser union.

Eric Black has updated the MN US Attorney Rachael Paulose story. John Conyers (D-MI) and Keith Ellison (D-MN) are demanding documents concerning the situation, specifically, "all communications from the staff of the Minnesota U.S. attorneys office to the Justice Department about Rachel Paulose’s management of the office, documents relating to the evaluations of her predecessor, Tom Heffelfinger that might shed light on why he was on a list of U.S. attorneys to be fired, and all documents reflecting the search for Heffelfinger’s replacement, which led to the appointment of Paulose."

This Congressional interest could re-open House Judicial Committee investigations and hearings. It is a double-sure bet that the criminal Republican regime (as well as the Block and Blame Republicans in Congress) would much rather avoid that scenario. The departure of Torture King Gonzales is, no doubt, the regime-proposed atonement, which would leave the vast corpus of Gonzales' dirty work in place and in play throughout the regime's tenure.

The local media are, reluctantly, reporting the story of the investigation. Days after the story broke via Black's blog for the Minnesota Monitor, it got some summary coverage by the Star Tribune and local television stations. However, this coverage has not extended to the demands of Conyers and Ellison at this time.

With the Strib announcing a search for a new publisher, it looks like Par isn't just getting a year away from the newspaper. Nope, it looks like Par is getting his walking papers. Your Curmudgeon can only imagine that this elicited a cheer or two within the Strib. As far as readers of the Strib go, there may be more cheers than that.

It is an exercise in futility to attempt to calculate how best to manage Michele "The Breeder" Bachmann's little light of crazy. Let her roam freely, and she'll let loose with a steady stream of wingnut stupidity. Hide her light under a bushel basket, and that flame WILL burn through, igniting the basket and the barn. The one fortunate thing is that the shame of MN-6 is about as powerless as it gets in the 110th Congress- away from the bright and shiny things which could really fuck things up.

Breeder Bachmann managed to chew threw her tethers and sparked up a new bit of jaw-dropping embarrassment with another bit of Presidential smoochery, this time at the site of the 35W bridge collapse. Yeah- literally at the site of the disaster, where there were still victims being pulled out of the river, The Breeder and the Smirking Puppet were moved close to swapping more spit. Dump Bachmann has, of course, some great coverage of this incident, as does Wonkette, MNPublius, and Truth Surfer.

Damn, I bet this pisses off Kissyface Joe Lieberman to no end, though MNPublius does dub Bachmann Kissymonster to keep the distinction.

However, the news about Chucklenuts and Breeder Bachmann gives one pause to ponder (and shudder) if the Commander Guy has some sort of MILF fetish, one that Bachmann is all-too-willing to indulge. When the cameras are on, like with the State of the Union (where The Breeder's kung-fu death grip eventually got the reward of a Presidential Peck), it has to be awkward- but with no cameras around, who the hell knows what is really going on?

I mean, besides The Breeder's cougar-esque bragging about it.

Whichever way you wanna slice it, it was stupid. Stupid to talk about it, stupid to do it in the first place. Further, only some omega-level asshole would take the scene of a national tragedy and turn it into an impromptu make-out shot. When the sets of "ignorance" and "asshole" intersect so magnificently, ya gotta know that the Ignoranus Of The Moment title is gonna be bestowed.

It is also an exercise in futility to pretend that Breeder Bachmann is not a cut above the run-of-the-mill Ignoranus. If I were to just bestow the Ignoranus of the Moment title back to her this time around, it will be her fourth time in less than a year. She's actually managed to transcend the title- the essence of her combined ignorance and assholery is clearly not just a passing, momentary thing. The Breeder deserves more. Consequently, this will be the last time Michele "The Breeder" Bachmann gets the Ignoranus Of The Moment title.

However, this also marks the inaugural induction into the Ignoranus Hall of Shame. As the first such inductee, Breeder Bachmann also earns a more fitting title: Queen Mother Ignoranus For Life.

...yes, we're ALL very excited for you.

Your Curmudgeon is thinking that it is no coincidence that as the solidarity hunger strike saw 48 more sympathizers join the cause, the Bruinnik's administration decided to return to the bargaining table.

The U-M AFSCME workers are striking over pay raises which the University administrators were looking to skim. The administration's original stance of standing firm and hoping it would just go away seems to have cracked in light of the fact that the strike is growing awareness.

It is truly a shame that the U couldn't have just done the right thing, the decent thing, the human thing from the beginning, but it does point out the truth that given the opportunity, workers deemed vulnerable will be targeted.

Kudos to the strikers- and to those who joined the solidarity hunger strike, too. Their actions point out another truth- that collective action and unionization protects those who are vulnerable.

It really IS up to us. Congress can't- because the obstructionist Senate Republicans will filibuster and BLOCK legislation restoring habeus corpus, legislation that would clearly otherwise pass. For the record, the so-called 'leadership' of Harry "Overcooked Linguine" Reid is not really helping matters any whatsoever.

The above bit of news is troubling, to be sure. The Republicans love to destroy the bulwark of our nation, whether it be the liberties which heretofore characterized the nation or the public infrastructure which keeps the nation working, and it seems that the Democratic party leadership is at best not willing to fight enough to stop them. At worst, well, the word collaborateur sums it up pretty fairly.

So, when I see this afternoon the news that the Smirking Puppet wants to make that 'temporary' expansion of domestic spying quite permanent, there is a rapidly sinking feeling in my gut. I recall that when it passed this summer, we were told that it was just a temporary measure, and that they'd never let it become permanent.

Of course, we were told the same thing about the Iraq War debate would happen in September. If anyone was standing around waiting for that fight, I really hope they weren't too damn close to the dems, because there was some mighty fast rolling over.

In 2006, people all over the country voted massively to get at least a modicum of change, at least a hope of a bit of restraint on the bug-fuck full-tilt charge into Republican insanity. We ain't getting even that much. Even though your Curmudgeon is certain that next year, we'll be hearing about how the Democratic Party needs our support to fight for us, he has to note they aren't exactly instilling much confidence in their ability or desire to wage that fight.

Loyal Bushie Rachael Paulose got appointed as the MN US Attorney after Tom Heffelfinger (who was on the criminal Republican regime's hitlist of US Attorneys) stepped down. She's wasted little time in wreaking havoc, in that uniquely Republican way. And now, as reported by Eric Black, the US Attorney is under federal investigation.

Paulose allegedly "mishandled classified information, decided to fire the subordinate who called it to her attention, retaliated against others in the office who crossed her, and made racist remarks". Yup, uniquely Republican, especially so in the days of this current criminal Republican regime. Honestly, it is downright eerie how these loyal bushies all seem to operate in the exact same fashion.

One thing that especially stood out was this bit of business:

When Paulose took over the office, she told several of the career officials there that she demanded total personal loyalty. At least one replied that loyalty was owed to the Constitution, not to her. Many of the allegations raise the possibility that Paulose crossed the line while seeking to punish personal disloyalty.

...and THERE we have it- THE trademark of the regime: loyalty to the figurehead over fidelity to the Constitution. Loyalty to anything other than this cult of personality is to be punished, quickly, completely, and as severely as possible.

If we weren't living in some Bizarro-world, that alone would be cause for Paulose to be unceremoniously dumped on the curb. In these days of pax Republicana, however, this Curmudgeon doesn't expect her to be going anywhere. After all, more than a few Congressional seats are up for grabs next year, and the GOP desperately needs to spin Minnesota as a 'battleground' state- a place where elections can be portrayed as close... close enough to steal. Further, let us recall that it is within the US Attorney's purview to investigate and if need be, prosecute things like election fraud.

Perhaps the best we can hope for here in Minnesota is that the investigations keep enough of a spotlight on Paulose to prevent more of the same loyal bushie conduct on her part. It would be nice and comforting to think that a new Attorney General would restore accountability and responsibility, but I am not buying that. At all. No, the track record of the criminal Republican regime has been well-established, and even though personnel might change, the regime slogs onward with its agenda as best it can. With enough media attention, Paulose might be less effective in her pursuit of the agenda.

That's a big caveat. Eric Black is following the story, and I am sure that folks out her in the blogosphere will be on top of it. A quick search of the Strib and the PiPress, however, do not show even a hint of it at this time.

The local AFSCME workers at the University of Minnesota have been on strike for two weeks now, and they are getting some support in the way of some U of M students going on a hunger strike. While University management seems to be employing a strategy of ignoring the strike and hoping the strike will just fade, it is good to see the students doing their part to keep awareness of the strike up.

For my part, your Curmudgeon avers he will keep a focus on the strike as well. The decline of the influence of unions has been a shameful mark over the last few decades, and it is no coincidence that as the unions have diminished, the middle- and working-classes in the nation have also diminished. The United States need unions. By organizing labor into unions, the people who do the actual work to keep things functioning get to collectively protect and bargain for their own interests.

In the current instance here, the cause for the strike is inarguably just. All state workers got a 3.25% pay raise this summer, and are due another 3.25% raise under a deal struck with the Tim "A Deal's a Deal" Pawlenty administration. However, the University is only offering their workers only a 2.25% pay raise, effectively skimming 1% from the workers. It is the equivalent of getting a raise from the company boss, but the local manager decides to keep a cut for himself.

One of the hunger-striking students, Lauren Siegel, an undergraduate, read part of the group’s collective statement: “Our hunger strike is intended to draw attention to the workers’ struggle. Currently the administration has failed to offer a contract that keeps up with inflation, despite the fact that the legislature explicitly allocated money for that purpose.” She continued, “To have justice in our community would mean that nobody would go hungry. However, according to a recent survey, 25% of AFSCME workers have trouble feeding their families. We are making a conscientious choice to hunger strike, just as the Bruininks administration has made a choice to deny the workers a fair contract. They could choose otherwise. They could choose to give themselves lower salaries and give that money to the workers.”

Star-Tribune readers get a year-long reprieve from the stark decline which has marked Par Ridder's tenure as publisher. Former Ignoranus of the Moment Ridder got the legal boot for taking confidential documents from his former employer, the Pioneer Press.

Let us hope that in the coming Par-free year, the folks in the Twin Cities take note that papers not under his tender mercies are better papers, and that in a year's time, Ridder won't get a warm welcome back. Let us hope that in a year, neither Strib nor Pi-Press will want anything to do with him altogether.

The Pi-Press is rebounding, slowly, (and really, their website needs some serious rethinking, too) from the Ridder touch. The Strib, whose decline and twist to the right was rather marked, might come back more quickly, though the newsroom was savaged.

And as for Par? Well, he still has his swanky new mansion in which he can putter.

The Strib is reporting that Jim Ramstad (R) won't be seeking another term next year. Ramstad defeated DFL challenger Wendy Wilde in 2006.

This will definitely put that seat in play. Another worry for the Republicans?

It continues to confound me that Her Royal Clintonness is presented ad nauseum as some sort of leftist politician. No doubt, the Drool and Crayon crowd will continue to do this, but for proof that this claim is yet another rightwing fevered fabrication we need to only look so far as her proposed health care solution.

The highlight of the plan? The people in the U.S. will get health care coverage, all right, because it will be mandatory to buy insurance. Never mind that the skyrocketing cost of health insurance is prohibitive to many of us. Never mind that the insurance companies are indeed way more part of the problem. Her Royal Clintonness wants to see to it that everyone funnels more money to the insurance companies, so that we can enjoy the luxury of arguing with them to get health care procedures covered.

Oh sure, for the folks who cannot afford insurance, Her Royal Clintonness will create a federal funding mechanism to help defray the costs. This will not help stem the costs of healthcare, it will compound the problem. Once the insurance companies get to tap a federal money vein, they'll do whatever it takes to make sure that flow into their coffers gets bigger and stronger. Will that flow trickle down to the cover the insured? Not if they can help it- paying out money like that doesn't do much to improve the insurance company's bottom line.

No, this plan reeks of something a Republican would dream up. It identifies a problem, does nothing to make it better, it increases expenses for those seeking relief, and increases wealth for those profiting from a broken system.

Over at Norwegianity, Mark asks, among other things:

Not a topic of interest for many, but the winningest team in pro football has been exposed as a bunch of cheaters.

Is there any way in which the NFL doesn't mirror America?

That is a pretty easy one to answer. In the NFL, when cheaters are caught, they are penalized harshly. In America, they claim executive privilege, push laws through to legalize the cheating, and generally just get away with it.

Some folks have been wondering about by nom de net, Ganesha. I am not trying to insinuate that I am in any way, shape, or form to be conflated with the Hindu god. Seriously. And, as today is Ganesh Chaturthi, the beginning of the festival of Ganesha, I'd like to set the record straight.

My moniker is an homage to Ganesha, the Lord of Obstacles. I have always had an affinity for Ganesha, and through studying up on him, it turns out that there's plenty of good reason for that affinity. His sphere is that of wisdom, philosophy, and laughter. Called the Lord of Obstacles because he can remove or overcome any obstacle set in his path, Ganesha also is strongly associated with the protect of women and children.

So, that's the extended explanation. A more immediate, succinct explanation is the elbow-to shoulder tattoo of Ganesha adorning my right arm.

Your Curmudgeon notes (with unrestrained, unmitigated glee) that today marks the departure of Foxy the Snowjob and Alberto 'Torture King' Gonzalez. The damage that these Republican scum have wrought upon our nation will neither be soon repaired nor forgotten.

We gots rankings, we gots polls... a whole bunch of them today.

For some reason, Forbes has a bunch of various rankings out. I guess it is important for business leaders to have everything ranked and quantified somehow.

Anyway, Minneapolis-St. Paul comes in sixth for coolness (I am assuming this is the 'hip, trendy' sense of the word), which seems a bit surprising. Not that hotdish and lutefisk-on-a-stick isn't trendy, I guess, nor an infrastructure left to crumble by a Republican Governor. As a balding, middle-aged, fat guy, I had to turn over any possible claim to knowledge about coolness right about the time I fully embraced my affinity for polka...

Less surprising is that we came in second to Milwaukee for the drunkest city. Milwaukee, yeah, that does make sense- even if one were to go on reputation alone. Still, I can think of a few places that seem a bit more serious about drinking than MSP.

We're eighth in young professionals, ninth in culture, and 15th in singles. Nearly a full third of the people are not married. I suppose that number could come down a bit if the nightlife and online dating rankings- 20th and 25th, respectively- improved.

But happily, Trojan (the condom company) has determined that when it comes to promoting safe sex, the University of Minnesota is tops.

Now, for those polls. The AP-Ipsos poll shows (in pdf format) the President is hovering at 33% support, and Congress at 26%. Congress could double that rating if the Democratic contingent would end their complicity in the ass-and-elephant political handjob theatre that's been stinking up the joint as of late. As for the Smirking Puppet- well, he'll have his mumbling, bumbling say tonight. (Luckily, your Curmudgeon will be at Drinking Liberally, drinking, um, liberally...)

And in one of the more laughable polls released today, the Minnesota Campaign Report gave a meager showing demonstrating that of the 42 respondents, Rollover Al Franken got 22 votes for being the DFL nominee for the U.S. Senate seat... Geez, I don't know that I'd put up the results of a poll that only got 42 responses.

Ah, but what do all these digits really mean? I'd say that in the end, the answer is somewhere between jack and squat.

Election reform is not equivalent to voting reform. It certainly seems easy to conflate the two; the concepts of 'voting' and 'election' intersect almost entirely. The distinction is critical, and it also illustrates a key difference between Republicans and progressives.

Election reform is about making sure that everyone's vote is counted accurately. It is about making sure that everyone who can and wants to vote gets to vote. It is about increasing the voice of the people, making it easier to vote. Election reform is about ending black box voting- the sort of vote which has no possible recounts. Election reform proponents want elections to be free, fair, and fully accountable. Though this would seem to be one of those non-partisan issues (Who doesn't want to know that their vote counts?), it has fallen on the more progressive voices to champion this cause.

Voting reform, on the other hand, is about decreasing the vote. The voting reform claim is that too many damn people are voting, and they're out to make sure that it is damn difficult to vote. Voting reform proponents love to do stuff like purging the voting rolls, as quietly as possible, and as close to the elections as possible. Republicans love the voting reform issue, because they know that when fewer people have their votes counted, the results invariably benefit them.

I've said, and illustrated, as much before. It is an issue that bears repeating, often. When even a shadow of a spectre of doubt is allowed to be cast over our elections, the vitality of our nation withers. Our government is only as authentic as the consent it is given by the governed. The last two presidential elections have had more than just that shadow, they have had the fingerprints of manipulation all over them.

It is a sad indictment of these bizarro times that wanting one of the lode-bearing columns of our nation to be as openly strong as possible is spun into a tinfoil hat issue, while the virtually non-existent issue of voter fraud retains even an iota of credibility. The criminal Republican regime which has wrought devastation upon our nation in this decade has certainly helped bolstered the voting reform contingent. When an official investigation into alleged voter fraud turned up little to no evidence, the regime swooped in on that report, and after some arm twisting, got language in the report changed to something that could be parsed to their benefit.

Sadder still, the voting fraud contingent not only enjoy an undeserved credibility, they're rolling on with their agenda. There's a new push for voter roll purges in at least ten states underway right now.

It would also do us good to remember that the people who could bring oversight and accountability to these bogus voter purges are the US Attorneys. In the past, US Attorneys were hired and expected to hold to a loyalty to the Constitution. But with the current criminal regime, the US Attorneys were hired to be loyal Bushies.

So there it is. The same bastards who cling ferociously to power now are setting up the path to continue their illegitimate reign. First, by creating a bullshit claim aimed to decrease the vote, then working to effect that decrease, and by ensuring that the guard post which oversees this dirty business won't be inclined to do anything about it.

It was a one-night stand. An extra-special last-minute legislative booty call from Governor Pawlenty to the Minnesota Legislature. The Legislature had been waiting up at night by the phone for a while now, hoping to get a call from the Gov. The state had gone through some hard times, and to help get through it, some folks were in need of a check, signed by the Gov but cut by the Legislature.

That call came on Monday night. Pawlenty was leaving town early Wednesday, and so he wanted a little bon voyage session Tuesday night to get some things right. By leaving the time intentionally short, the Gov hoped to get the action he wanted, without having to linger around with the Legislature. Pawlenty wanted a quickie, with none of that hanging around afterwards.

And that, folks, is what we got. It remains a job half-done, though. Those hit by the flood will get much-needed relief. Those hit by the collapsed bridge, well, they get to wait for the Legislature to get another call if the Governor finds himself in a hard spot.

It will have to be one hell of a hard spot, though, because the next time around, Pawlenty might actually have to pay for that Legislative love.

In looking around the blogosphere and various sites today, I really think The Rude Pundit got the most honest, albeit brutally so, take on today.

Whereas I went for the "9/11 is the time for the fear-based community to recharge their irrationality" thing, The Rude Pundit took the route of metaphor:

... But, no, 9/11 has to be out all the time, the favorite whore of politicians and pundits.

9/11 doesn't know who's gonna call on her. Every day, it seems, yes, that someone else rings her up and tells her to meet them at a speech or after an appearance. She knows the routine. She knows her job. 9/11 dresses in her mourning duds, the ones that look like she's paying respects to the dead, but with enough of a slit up the leg to let whoever her suitor is that night know that she is always available for them.

She's got her regulars, Giuliani and Bush and Cheney...

The thing is, take a quick looksee around the right blogosphere, and the rude truth will be pointed up ad nauseum.

The first of several FEMA trailers has arrived in southeastern Minnesota has arrived, the Strib reports. While this is no doubt welcome news for those left without a home due to last month's floods, one bit of the story stood out:

Roger Oldham's lungs seemed to be irritated by the trailer's "new" smell, but after airing it out the family planned to sleep in it. Still, Bonnie was concerned.

She said Roger has from heart problems and woke up Sunday morning unable to breathe. "I don't care if I lose everything here, I don't want to lose him," she said.

Yeah, about that smell... Formaldehyde-intensive FEMA trailers isn't exactly breaking news, but leave it to the Strib to not even look into connecting those dots, not even bothering to ask the question.

Let's hope today's special session manages to do better by the people.

It was a horrible day, and a day that did change everything for the worse for us all.

Well, worse for the vast most of us. The war-profiteers have done pretty damn well, as have oil-men both here and in the house of Saud. The neocon PNAC crowd were on cloud nine- living the flesh, blood and gore of their vision of the best of all possible worlds. And the failed oil-man and flailing President and his war-profiteer Vice President, well, they hit the trifecta, getting the green light to roll their meat grinder without question nor consideration.

The day now serves as a touchstone. It has been marketed by those with a vested interest (see above) as a time to refresh the fear, and return the consciousness to that state, where decisions become little more than knee-jerk instinct, predictable, and easy to manipulate.

It is no coincidence, then, that we're getting the news that the surge in Iraq will continue until the military can no longer support it. No coincidence that the Smirking Puppet will inflict himself on us again, to promote his criminal regime and its atrocious agenda. No coincidence that the main stream media replay their coverage of that horrible day to underscore the message of Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid, Do NOT Question Your Leaders.

I guess the pressure finally got a little too much for the Gov. A special session will start Tuesday afternoon to address emergency relief for the flood and bridge disasters. The needs of the state outweighed the ideology of loyalism.

We can expect a massive wail and whine from the drool in crayon crowd in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1...

And yeah, once the session starts, it can only be ended by the Legislature.

I have to admit, the first time I saw the blog called Norwegianity, I suspected on the name alone that it was about genealogy. Holy crap, was I ever wrong, and rarely ever am I as delighted to be so wrong. He doesn't like Monday, either- and he dissects it brutally.

After meeting the esteemed proprietor of the blog at the local Drinking Liberally, we've noted that our paths overlapped in the time-space continuum that was Iowa City in the 80's. It says something- a profoundly unkind something- about the current times and world that the fucking REAGAN years would be an object of fond remininsce, but there ya have it.

Speaking of Iowa City, a place which will always be near and dear to my heart (and never moreso than in autumn), it seems that the city has a serial sexual predator problem. 31 attacks in the last year on women walking around the city. It also is getting worse, not better. This does truly piss me off. Iowa City used to be much more effective at taking care of its own.

Thanks to the sucktastic Comcast cretins, the Big Ten Network is pretty much not available here, in a Big Ten Town. If you dare to navigate through their website trying to find info about getting the Big Ten Network (they've already set aside channel 155 and labeled it), you might find your way to this particular coiled pile of shit. It is supposed to be a site 'on the side of the fan', but no, only if the fan in question is for Comcast. Yeah, they break it down for you- "I am a fan, and I want to pay whatever Comcast tells me I have to pay" or "Hell no, I don't want another sports channel when you could have an all Oprah shopping network". Because really, those are the only two ways a person could feel about the issue.

How about trying this one, Comcast- you are granted a near monopoly on the market, and you get to pretty much charge whatever the hell you want because of it. The only thing about that monopoly is that your service must bend to the public's will. Comcast is already making money hand over fist with the cable and isp thing- so how's about you Comcast bitches pony up and just include the Big Ten Network? Think of it as the duty part of the privilege of having a fucking monopoly.

This issue meant that Saturday found your Curmudgeon and fellow Pubhouse blogger E.C. Fish in St Paul's Gabe's (an odd juxtaposition, because the bar formerly known as Gabe's in Iowa City would not be such a magnet spot for sports fans) to catch the Iowa-Syracuse football game. It was great to catch the game with Fish, but odd to do so in a bar full of the Bumblebee variety of Hawk-fans.

There are two sorts of Hawk fans. The town-resident version will follow the game, even rabidly, but does not look like a freaking bumblebee while doing so. The bumblebee fan, well, looks like this:

But they're a lot more drunk, a lot less funny, and way more prone to puke than to sting. And sadly, the puking doesn't kill them like the stinging kills a real bee.

Finally, the Log Cabin Chronicles' sadly infrequent columnist Jim Austin offers his Vermont-assessment of the GOP field of dreamers. Austin pulled his punches here, to be honest. I guess he felt like shooting the fish in the barrel just really didn't deserve a full effort.

Well, yours truly spent the better part of last night and early morning updating the software for this site, addressing some of the the other nagging glitches, and fixing problems (the trackback spam issue). Then I felt the yen to update the look of the Dialogues blog and the Curmudgeon blog. If you are counting, another blog (The Iconoclast) and blogger are getting ready to come on board here.

I pretty much dread doing these updates, because a little piddling oversight can result in hours of fussing and cussing to fix the problem, and I hate that feeling. It may prove to be a wiser approach to hold onto the feeling of accomplishment for getting the stuff done.

That being said, the next upgrade will be a major one, like from version 1 to version 2 major. Looking at what b2evolution is shaping up for that step is still in alpha, but what they've got so far is impressive.

The big news here is that the Vikings game will be on the teevee. A last moment ticket-buying arrangement with the local Fox station has allowed the station to avoid a Minnesotapocolypse- a blackout of the Vikings' season opener.

Whew! That was close! Especially since they haven't been mathematically eliminated from the playoffs yet.

The four hopefuls for the DFL nod in the upcoming race to replace Norm Windsock Coleman met for a debate last night. The Minnesota Monitor has the most comprehensive coverage of the event.

I have to admit- I was leaning pretty strongly toward Mike Ciresi. Note the past tense. In the two meetings of the candidates, Ciresi has stubbed his toe hard in each event. In the first event on Almanac a couple of weeks ago, Ciresi couldn't just say he favoured gay marriage; instead, he offered a parse-able platitude about equal rights and privileges. In last night's event, Ciresi offered a less-than-promising answer to the unacceptable state of health care, taking a stance of 'revising the system'.

It's too bad, really, because Ciresi was (again, past tense) looking to be the most capable candidate to really challenge Rollover Al Franken.

For his part, Franken demonstrated further to me that he is clearly not the one for the job. In what was a jaw-dropping moment (for me, at least) Franken outlined his intention to take on Coleman over fundraising differences. The very best possible outcome for that tack is a Pyrrhic victory, given the amount of out-of-state funds netted by the Franken campaign. To make matters worse, that out-of-state money was then turned over to an out-of-state company to create a structure which would give the appearance of grassroots financing and support for Rollover Al.

That leaves Jim Cohen and the not-yet-officially in it Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer. As it stands right now, they stand as longshots. It would be good if one or both of them could gain some better traction and close in for a strong finish, because Franken's campaign is longing to don the 'Inevitable Nominee' mantle. Both Cohen and Nelson-Pallmeyer seem have something to offer, and again both hit the progressive and populist chords without hesitation.

To be sure, more digging will be needed, and the candidates do need to have more debates. The lesser-known candidates have to get their names and views more visible, and quick.

Wow, this event has unfortunately gone under the radar, it seems. This Saturday in Baraboo, Wisconsin, the sixth Fighting Bob Fest is set to happen, with a great list of progressive speakers lined up to rock the Dells. Cindy Sheehan, Laura Flanders, Jim Hightower... looks like your Curmudgeon will be going, too.

The Fighting Bob Fest honors the legacy of Robert La Follette, a progressive populist Senator from the early 20th century. Here's a pic of Fighting Bob:

Looks like a hell-raiser to me. Just the sort of spirit we need right about now.

It has to be more than just a bit troubling to be Governor Tim Pawlenty right about now. He is caught at a particularly dicey intersection of his duty to the state of Minnesota and his allegiance to a party and ideology whose failure is becoming crystal clear. His standard maneuver of feigning one way and functionally keeping to the party loyalist line isn't gonna work here. Though, jebus knows he is trying to do just that.

The thing is, Pawlenty will either call for the special session the state desperately needs or he won't; there is no 'quasi-session' here. If a special session does get called, it will be a move which will get the drool and crayon set all cranky. If Pawlenty forgoes the session, it would paint his commitment to the needs of the state as subservient to party. The Governor is the only one who can call a special session, and the Legislature is the only entity to close the session. Them's the rules, and no matter how much Pawlenty would love to dictate the agenda and outcome to the Legislature- once the session starts, the ball is out of his court. The Gov would retain the right to veto any passed measures, but those vetoes would be far more concrete and on-the-record than rhetorical shadow-dancing and mollifying speeches.

At the base of all the wrangling about between the legislative and executive here in Minnesota is a fundamental issue of trust. One gets the sense that deep down- Pawlenty doesn't trust the Legislature here. My curmudgeonly suspicion is that this is a classic case of projection. Pawlenty doesn't trust the Legislature because Pawlenty knows that given a reversal of the situation, he himself couldn't be trusted. After all, one of the big lessons to take away from last year's session was that Pawlenty talked a nice conciliatory game at the beginning, but on the bottom line, it was the same old loyalist ideologue which held sway.

For now, though, Pawlenty will do what he can without having to deal with the Legislature, and pray hard that it will be enough. The RNC Convention next year may be enough of an incentive to shake some action from Washington- certainly that will be the hope for the Governor. But as weeks pass by without the big save from the Federal level, the pressure on Pawlenty will only increase.
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Congress returned to session this week, and hit the ground spinning. Today's bluster in Transportation Committee hearings is instructional only in that it is so spectacularly un-instructional. There's a job which needs to be done, and the current crowd of politicians are continuing to demonstrate their inability to do that job.

In the investigation of the crumbling national infrastructure, spawned by the collapse of the 35W bridge into the Mississippi River, was a showcase of the standard Republican non mea culpas lies, and Democratic pulled punches. In short, it was the same old political theatre sideshow; it served a purpose, but it did not further the pursuit of an authentic solution to the problem.

If one cared to wade deeper into the morass, the usual self-serving canards and false dichotomies emerged. The Republicans insist that the money to take care of the infrastructure is there, and discussion of a hike in gas taxes just further evidence of a 'tax and spend' Democrat agenda. The Democratic counter-assertion of 'holding bake sales to fund bridges' is no less duplicitous.

In between all this staged rhetorical dance, though, the problem of a crumbling infrastructure remains. And as it remains, it deteriorates. The politicians- Republican and Democratic alike- seem intent on missing the point and further seem even more intent on giving the impression working towards a solution. Lots of light... no heat.

Read more! »

The State Fair is over. Labor Day, celebrated. The calendar tells us we are back in those 'R' months- so it is back to school, back to work, back to the slog of life.
Yeah- can we get back to the discussion of a special session of the state legislature? The state needs it- we gotta a bridge in the river, courtesy of Republican neglect. We got the south-east corner of the state digging out from floods. We gotta a Lt Governor who has been two-timing as Transportation Secretary (complete with Republican blinders to avoid the issue off mass public transit) for too damn long. We gotta Governor who continues to adhere to the failed Republican ideology of destroying to take care of the state, continues to refuse to acknowledge that taxes are the dues we pay to have a social contract.

Happy Labor Day, everyone.

Just remember, we have Labor Day today because there was a time when workers couldn't get a two day weekend, let alone a three day weekend.
A 40 hour workweek, overtime, minimum wage, workman's comp... yeah, that didn't exist either.
Until the workers unionized, and fought (and died) for them.
Today, though, the greedhead troglodytes that inhabit the Republican party would demonize anything Union, and hell, they are doing their damndest to bring the nation back to the time prior to Unions, back to the Gilded Age.
So, yeah, enjoy your Labor Day today. If you do have the misfortune of happening upon a Republican (especially a Republican wanting your vote), please keep in mind that your best interests are not theirs.