I Don’t Hate America!

Excellent weather today, eh? I was able to sneak out of work a little early to enjoy some time outside.

Yesterday I missed Matt and Sean over at MNPublius on the air on AM950. I had not heard of them appearing before they were on the air, so instead I listened to KTLK 100.3 the other side of the dial.

Unfortunately, instead of hearing the heartwarming and inspiring voice of Jason Lewis (..sarcasm…yeah..), who happened to be on vacation, the show was guest hosted by none other than state House Minority leader Marty Seifert.

Yes, Marty Seifert hosting a radio show for three full hours. Three hours of right wing rhetoric straight from the leader of the tribe. Three hours of nasal-voiced goodness.

In all fairness, he didn’t do too poorly for someone whom I assume has little experience in broadcasting behind the mic. For instance, his transitions were poor and he forgot to give out the phone number the first half hour but he did much better than Michele Bachmann in the same role a few months ago, which Hal Kimball describes as “the worst three hours in the history of radio.” He had somewhat interacted with the traffic, weather and news people and actually took phone calls.

There is another story here though beyond Marty Seifert simply hosting a radio show.

Overall it seemed like a three hour radio infomercial for the House GOP Caucus! You see, those folks are hosting a Republican Straw Poll for the presidential race. I thought all should be able to take part in the democratic process, but apparently in GOP land you can only participate for $100 and a trip to the Rivercenter in St. Paul. A few callers complained about this fact but Seifert gave the excuse that “renting the Rivercenter costs money.”

I can’t remember the date advertised and apparently the GOP doesn’t want people to find out anymore. The official website for the House GOP Caucus is down. The parked page offers links to information on how to start a hot dog franchise, Republican ringtones, the Minnesota Independence Party and information on John McCain for president but unfortunately nothing about a straw poll.

If Seifert had mentioned this event once or maybe even twice I would see no issue, but he brought it up constantly throughout the program. After breaks, after comments from callers and seemingly all other points of the program he continued to mention this $100 event, which can only be assumed to be a fundraiser. It seemed like one of those infomercials for a Ron Popeil product disguised as a talk show. Is this or should this be considered legitimate advertising or open game? I am no expert in state campaign finance law, and I am not making accusations here, but it seems to raise a couple of questions from me:

Did the Minnesota House Republicans pay KTLK for this time? Is there a monetary value to the time given to the Minnesota House Republicans on this program that should be listed as an “in-kind” contribution on campaign finance statements? Since I know so little about this specific subject, I’d love to hear from someone with some knowledge of it.

I may be on to something. Then again, I may be on something.

And no, I’m not calling for a return to the fairness doctrine or anything. Simply put, while my observations may end up being completely baseless, this just came across as quite fishy to me.

(Sidenote: KTLK doesn’t podcast shows with guest hosts. I would like to revisit this show, but I guess that can’t happen.)

[Update] The House GOP site is back up and running.  Get those checkbooks out; the site is advertising the date of the straw poll as August 22.  And no, I did not record the show because while I thought Seifert hosting a radio show for three full hours had the potential to be funny, I didn’t (perhaps naively) think it had much potential to be controversial.[/Update]

Apparently, I wasn’t the only one concerned when the Savage City Council via consensus decided to continue with plans to raze a rare Maple Basswood forest.

A letter to the editor from Christina Henning in the Prior Lake American shows perplexion as well:

Let me get this straight:

First, the Met Council, the Minnesota DNR, a local expert and an Environmental Assessment study together point out that a rare forested area known as SS-9 exists in south Savage and that it should be protected at all costs.

Second, the decision is made to build a new high school that will be filled to capacity within two years on land adjacent to SS-9.

Third, supposedly to everyone’s surprise, Prior Lake Aggregates decides its use of the gravel pit on the exact opposite side of SS-9 is at the end of its life, so it decides to develop the land for housing.

Lastly, the Savage City Council meets to discuss the demise of SS-9 and collectively pretend that they had no idea SS-9 was going to be bulldozed right from the start.

Hasn’t anyone any sense on our [Savage] City Council these days? Is there no one who has enough decency to stand up to big-money developers?

Apparently the high school kids will get a front-row seat in higher learning when the chain saws and bulldozers move in and the wildlife moves out.

Today’s lesson in suburban values?

It’s all nice and chummy to talk about protecting the environment for the future, but as benevolent Savage Mayor Tom Brennan says, “People want to see and use their natural resources.”

I’d like to thank the mayor for thinking and speaking for me, by the way. Never mind the ludicrous, idealistic folly inherent in the notion that a rare, forested wild land carries value.

Bring on the bulldozers! There’s money in that there forest!

Now that’s ethical leadership in action.

Comments to the original story on the Savage Pacer website show more citizens less than gung-ho about the proposal:

I personally will not be voting for any member that chooses development over preserving this resource. When the school site was developed, the adjacent woodland was described as a resource that would be used by the school to teach the importance of preserving our natural resources and the forest would prove to be a valuable teaching tool. The school district understood that this land would not be developed. If the school district needs more fields, let them build a second high school. The last thing that we need is another mega high school more devoted to athletics than education.

One council member stated if he was still in high school he would jump off the steep embankment needed to preserve the forest. Lets just hope that our children have a lot more common sense then him. If there are any water tower garfetti cases open from forty years ago, I think we have a suspect.

Terry O’Connell

<blockquote>

Indeed, the concern over jumping off the steep embankment seems far fetched, but you never know with those rascals in high school.

In my opinion, this is another statement from our politicians that do not have a clue what is best for its inhabitants. What can change in six short years. If a forest area is rated excellent, why change that? There was a reason it was preserved during previous development, keep the same.

Another one shows Mayor Brennan’s disconnect with the folks:

As Mayor Tom Brennan said “no one can feel it, use it” Does that mean we can destroy it with a clear conscience? No! The next time your at the Minnesota Zoo look for the sign at the beginning of one of their exhibits that says we are destroying 27,000 species of animals and plants a year! Why should we let this go on in our neck of the woods? Scientists say “this can never be recreated”, Christians would say “We can’t continue to destroy the beauty of God’s creation!” Parents would say “What kind of world will our children have if we continue like this?”

It has been amazing to see Savage grow from a town barely on most maps to a town developed to the stage it currently is. Let’s hope the council takes a step back on this issue.

Tis’ an excellent feeling to be back here blogging at good ole’ IDHA yet again (unless if course you are reading this on Minnesota Campaign Report where I have been posting somewhat regularly since IDHA has been down). It appears Jason has gotten all of the technical difficulties solved, and we are back online. Many thanks go to Joe Bodell at MNCR for allowing me to post there while these evil computer bugs decided to let loose on IDHA.

The last post I made at MNCR concerned a subject which I first didn’t think would ever be blogworthy, then after I realized something needed to be said I figured only one post would be necessary. Unfortunately, it seems this subject not only needs more attention, but is bringing attention upon itself willingly. Let me provide background material.

The issue of Governor Tim Pawlenty’s appointment of a state university student member to the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities board of trustees has unexpectedly become quite a contentious issue. For the complete “long story,” you can check out former MSUSA state chair Hal Kimball’s posts at Blue Man in a Red District, the Cucking Stool, A Bluestem Prairie, Dump Bachmann, and my “two cents” (which ended up being more like six-and-a-half bucks) at MNCR here.

The short story is this: two candidates have been recommended by the Minnesota State University Student Association to fill the position: Ezra Kazee (former MnSCU policy and procedure facilitator, student services coordinator and member of the board of directors for MSUSA) and Adam Weigold (editor of the “Maverick Underground” newspaper, advocate for the Minnesota Students for Academic Freedom, former student body president at Minnesota State University-Mankato and MSUSA board member). In addition to these two candidates, a third one named Luke Hellier, has been discovered as an applicant to the position. He is a graduate of St. John’s University (a private school) and will soon attend MSU-Mankato via distance learning program on a part time basis to pursue a graduate degree. He has served on the SJU student senate, as a campaign staffer for Congresswoman Michele Bachmann, and as an advocate for Mark Kennedy. Personally, I know the first two through student government activities and I know Luke through our time in local independent professional wrestling, myself as a ring announcer, Luke as a referee and his father as a promoter (coincidentally, however irrelevant, Ezra is a wrestling fan and used to attend matches featuring Luke and myself in our respective roles!).

Needless to say, some students aren’t pleased that someone who has yet to take a class at a MnSCU institution is being considered for a very prominent position within higher education in Minnesota. The position of student trustee is that of a full voting member of the MnSCU board; not just that of a “delegate” or “student advisor.” As evidenced by the links listed above, the blogosphere has picked up on this issue.

Hellier’s supporters have reacted through the social networking site “Facebook”(add me if you like, just do a search for “DJ Danielson”). These reactions have fueled already mounting suspicion that the consideration of Hellier has been based on partisanship as opposed to qualification.

Facebook features a “wall ” feature on which “friends” (contacts) can leave “posts” for all to see.

Some of these posts have showed apparent enthusiasm for the blogosphere’s attention to this issue.

The main catalyst for this has been Tim Ibisch, a former MSUSA board member representing MSU-Mankato (again coincidentally, his term followed Adam Weigold’s departure from MSU-M).

Today he wrote on Hellier’s wall: “libs are really going nuts its (sic) great.”

He wrote on Michael Boulton’s wall (the current trustee): “i(sic) know, its(sic) great to see the hippies go nuts, did they really think that a lib would get it?”

Boulton, seemingly responding to the Ibisch comment (or vice versa), says “I heard about that….oh well, he qualifies for the position, so what is the big deal?”

Two other posts on Hellier’s wall from other people include one, seemingly sympathetic, saying “rough day on the blogosphere?” Another, which seems to think Luke should find glory in all of this attention, says “I’m so proud of you, Luke! It’s pretty sweet to be known as “the Manchurian Candidate” by the Lefties.”

This whole issue illustrates three items which bring much contention to this situation.

First: Trustee Boulton says “oh well, he qualifies for the position, so what is the big deal?” Technically speaking, he absolutely qualifies for the position. He qualifies as much as anyone about ready to transfer into a MnSCU four-year state university.

He might be qualified and then again he might not be. Is he the most qualified? Some bright brain in a public administration class in one of the seven state universities might be and he or she might not know it due to lack of interest in this sort of position and we never will know. Does Luke’s resume (which has been taken down) directly show more qualification than Mr. Kazee or Mr. Weigold, two MSUSA endorsed candidates, though? I find it hard to answer “yes” to that question. I fail to see how work for conservative causes, as honorable as that may be (I truly mean that; its better to stand up for something in college than to not care about politics at all), translates into qualification for this specific position.

Second, Mr. Ibisch’s comments complete the point of this entire thing being blown up to the proportion it has been:

THIS SHOULDN’T BE ABOUT PARTISANSHIP!

I repeat…

THIS SHOULDN’T BE ABOUT PARTISANSHIP!

I am glad Mr. Ibisch considers Hal Kimball (who spent many years manning the turret of a Bradley Fighting Vehicle in Korea) a “hippie.” In all fairness, maybe he was referring to myself as a hippie, though I doubt that since my hair doesn’t grow longer than one-eighth of an inch and I (as of now, anyway) cannot even find a Democratic candidate I completely support in 2008, regardless of how many people are hopping on various bandwagons (other posters of this blog included!).

This appointment has been relegated to name calling of “libs” and “hippies.” This process shouldn’t be as partisan as it is, but it has been pointed out that it is going in that direction, and people seem upset at the attention it is receiving! Why does everything have to be either about “libs” or “repubs”? <tangent> Things like this made it difficult for me to get involved in partisan groups in college. It seemed everything was partisan for the sake of being partisan, with virtually no real focus for policy; more interest in getting photos with candidates than interest in the process or bills. WSU College Republicans would follow the College Democrats around with a video camera asking the question “Well, let’s see what the hippies are up to these days!” In my time at WSU, College Democrats would ask questions during conversation such as “Do you think all Republicans are assholes?” and “Could you ever marry a Republican?” </tangent>

Thirdly: ADAM WEIGOLD IS A CONSERVATIVE! And, he was recommended for the position by MSUSA. I cannot speak for Hal or anyone else who has written about this subject, but as far as I see it, undies are not in a bunch because a conservative is being considered for this position!

Is this criticism of Luke fair on the blogosphere?

Well, like Fox News, I am fair and balanced, by god! According to several sources close to the governor’s office, at least a few “deep throat” type calls have been made bringing up Mr. Weigold’s record. Is this fair? Well, considering Weigold’s record is very public (check out Ollie Ox’s post for a few examples of this), I see no reason that politics should need to be played against him in this manner. Should his record be looked into as a consideration for appointment? Absolutely. Ezra Kazee too had an unceremoniously exit from student government. Should his record be looked at? Sure.

Both men actually have records though on which to run. They both grew up (as just about all students do during their time in college) and made up for earlier alleged transgressions and ended up serving MSUSA well. Luke does not have such a record with a public college or university.

The governor is set to announce on his 9 a.m. weekly radio show on WCCO an announcement regarding tuition reciprocity. Soon an announcement will be made regarding the trustee position.

Stay tuned.

I know everyone missed us.  I hope we didn’t lose too many of you because we were down.  We had problems with our previous web host and had to find a new place to start again.  As a result, we have lost many of our archived posts.  We will be posting some of the ones we saved over the next week or so. 

 Expect more from us as we get settled in.  Thanks for coming back!