I Don’t Hate America!

It’s good to see more momentum going in the direction of Barack Obama with victories in Louisiana, Nebraska, Washington, the Virgin Islands and Maine this weekend.

In addition, Obama beat a Clinton in another competition tonight by winning a Grammy; awesome!

Momentum is clearly on the side of the Illinois senator and hopefully it will continue in that direction with victories this week in Maryland, Virginia and D.C.

I now have some personal news to report; a little full disclosure, if you will. I have accepted a position within the Minnesota House of Representatives in the Sergeant-at-Arms office. Yes, this legislative session as opposed to watching everything take place from the outside, I will be on the inside of all the action working as a committee page. I start work tomorrow.

Therefore, from now through the end of session I won’t be blogging about the legislature (for obvious reasons) nor the First or Third District Congressional races (as there are House members seeking nominations for both). I’ll still pop-in here with posts as time permits, maybe a follow up on the progress of the Sonic Drive-In being built here in Savage.

Mmm, tater tots.

1:18: LIVE FROM MINNEAPOLIS, this is DJ Danielson liveblogging from the Target Center. LINES OUTSIDE WERE HUGE! I’m sure this will be an event I will tell my grandchildren about someday. Doors are set to open in about 10 minutes.

1:24: Place is still buzzing. Situated with me on bloggers row are Flash, Jeff Fecke and Sean Broom. I’m right next to a gentleman from ABC Radio.

1:28: One last sound check. You can also get coverage over at the Uptake.

1:30: IEEK! Fox News Radio is to my right! AS IF!?

1:31: Lights are up; I can only assume doors will open any minute.

1:34 I don’t think doors are open yet, but the press risers (which I am right behind) are getting full, not sure how much I’ll be able to see!

1:57: In a scare to this and many other bloggers, wireless internet was down for a while. BOO! But it is back up. On the risers as well are Ollie Ox and Joe Bodell. I also met a nice lady named Corissa who is covering this event for MTV. People are now coming in; no idea when the event is set to start.

2:03: Wireless is spotty still, but I will try and update the best I can. The gentleman from ABC Radio just filed his report as state Sen. Patricia Torres-Ray walked by. Meanwhile, I will continue to soak in this electric atmosphere.

2:09: Also spotted is Minneapolis Mayor and big Obama supporter R.T. Ryabk. He debated Tarryl Clark, DFL Asst. Senate Majority Leader on Almanac last night. Lower bowl is about 1/3 full. With the secret service and metal detectors here, I’m sure it takes a while to get through the doors. Oh, and pardon the sentence fragments today!

2:26: What is Hillary Clinton thinking: 4pm at Augsburg? No offense to any of my friends who attend Augsburg, but for real? During the Super Bowl?

2:30: I’ve come to the realization I’m not going to be able to see a damn thing once this starts (the half the arena opposite the stage is beginning to fill; next will be the upper deck) and that’s fine by me. Earth, Wind and Fire is playing on the PA system: sweet!

2:32: Cotton candy and mini donuts for sale. Rats, I’m out of cash!

2:36: Congressman Keith Ellison is in the house.

2:44: Folks starting to enter the upper deck. No idea when this is set to start.

3:04: Just a guess, the upper about 1/3rd full. An unnamed mainstream media source just told me Barack Obama landed at the airport. It’s gonna be a while.

3:10: The band Golden Smog was just introduced and is now playing. I guess they are big supporters of Sen. Obama. Cool.

3:20: The crowd is doing the Wave as the camera follows. Not quite restless yet, but this crowd is energized.

3:16: ROCK FOR BARACK. That is catchy.

3:34: Traveling bus press has arrived. Tons of men walking around talking to receivers on their collars; presumably secret service. I would assume the Senator is nearby or here.

3:39: As the traveling press corps plugs into the wireless it becomes more spotty so bear with me. The jumbotron is showing supporters and they yell wildly when the focus of the camera.

3:43: “Fired up, ready to go!” The chant emerges. Two of Obama’s field directors are welcoming the crowd and reminding the crowd to caucus. The end of the arena facing the stage on the upperdeck is about full and the portion behind the stage is about half full.

4:12: RT Rybak, Betty Mccollum and Keith Ellison are on stage. I’m going to step away from the computer for a better view; wireless is slow anyway.\

4:54: Heckuva speech so far. Wide ranging topics from education to the war to health care.

5:13:  This concludes the liveblog.  I’ll have more later when I arrive home.

The three remaining Republican candidates wishing to vie for the seat in Congress currently held by freshman DFL Rep. Tim Walz debated for the first time last night in Rochester.

First time? I guess if we’re playing under the “if no one was allowed to see it, it didn’t happen” rules, maybe

The Post Bulletin has coverage of the debate featuring Mayo physician Brian Davis, state Sen. Dick Day and state Rep. Randy Demmer, who collectively form “Team-3D.”

All three were fighting for the anti-immigration vote:

Day said a framework could be put in place that would alert potential employers to the immigration status of job-seekers.

“If we don’t protect our borders, we don’t have a country,” Day said.

State Rep. Randy Demmer of Hayfield and Mayo Clinic physician Brian Davis also said they’re strong believers in adopting a get-tough stance against illegal immigration.

Wow, great original insight, Dick.

The candidates also agreed on the importance of fostering greater energy independence by increasing the domestic oil supply, including drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge; and in making sure that DFL Rep. Tim Walz of Mankato is not re-elected to a second term in November.

I thought the cookie-cutter talking point on domestic oil was about “individual liberty and choices,” not energy independence. Oh, you mean this isn’t the Jason Lewis show? Sorry, my bad.

The candidates also seemed to touch on issues such as education, national security and health care.

The PB article did not mention if Iraq or transportation issues were discussed, though apparently Day’s greatest qualification is his old age and newest conquest is apparently earmarks.

“I’m too old to be influenced by power or prestige,” he said.

Day, an 18-year state senator, also said fiscal discipline would be a top priority and that he would shun earmarks.

“I’m a guy that says, ‘no earmarks. We should cut out the earmarks,’” he said.

I wish we could get real and stop with this demagoguery about earmarks. Good luck getting funding for a project, say, I don’t know, Highway 14, to go through the United States Congress in a stand alone bill. People complain about how nothing gets done in Washington as it is; can you imagine how bad it would be if every single line item to be appropriated had to have its own bill? Ollie has her views here.

Will we see Day on a mission to stop omnibus bills in the state legislature, too? Somehow I doubt it.

Tomorrow, Brian Davis will appear on NARN’s “the FINAL word” at 3:00 p.m. on 1280 AM. Glad to see Davis has caught on that it’s easier to reach his prospective voters on a conservative station as opposed to say, this lefty-blog.

If you’re in the First District, or even three miles away from the interchange of Cliff Road and 35E, and thus out of the 5,000 watt station’s reach, they offer convenient web streaming. How sweet of them!

As I channel-surf watching coverage of the results of the New Hampshire presidential primary (supplemented with viewing of the Uptake’s live coverage), it’s become clear that the media is not telling the whole story about this primary.

By “not telling the whole story” I mean no one has told me that Minnesota’s own Ole Savior is on the Democratic presidential ballot in New Hampshire (link to PDF).

Furthermore, none of the major networks, nor the Uptake, are displaying his numbers.  Shameful.

In all seriousness, congrats to John McCain on his victory.  It looks like Barack Obama is gaining a little bit of ground on Hillary, but let’s keep watching to see how it turns out.

Maybe I’m just being a nit here, but it really bugs me when bloggers on either side of the ideological spectrum purport to be experts/pundits on political issues and can’t even get simple facts straight when presenting an analysis.

Case in point: Shot in the Dark’s Mitch Berg on the Senate District 25 special election, won by DFLer Kevin Dahle. On Tuesday, not only did Mitch give the incorrect date for the election (claimed it was Wednesday when it was really Thursday), but claimed the district was “in the heart of Tim Walz’s district.”

Berg, who also plays radio talk show host every Saturday on 1280 AM “the Patriot,” explained the error with the date by stating he had meant to upload the post the following day (plausible, we’re all human, mistakes happen). He explained his error in identifying which Congressional District the SD was in by saying “SD25 is in CD2? Who knew?”

The latter is simply lazy “reporting.”

Who knew? Well, I would like to say everyone blogging about the subject, but I guess I was wrong.

As if publicly being wrong once on this very easy geographic fact was enough, today on Berg’s radio show he claimed SD 25 was in “the greater…uh…somethin’…the West Metro!”

West? Maybe south-southwest at an angle of 10 degrees…maybe. Metro? That’s funny.

I am by no means an expert on this political stuff, but the ability to do the most basic research such as going to a map, is within my realm. It is evidently lacking from Mr. Berg’s.

Again, we all make mistakes, but when someone who tries to sound credible has a soap box such as a radio show these errors resulting from laziness, as opposed to a “true” mistake (such as putting a post up early), shouldn’t be excused.

Merry Christmas to everyone reading this post.  I normally hate excessive amounts of snow, but since “we’ve no place to go” today, the weather conditions which gave the appearance of a snow globe were welcome.

I hope everyone enjoyed their day, as I know our family enjoyed our Christmas of double smoked ham from Krenik’s Meats in Montgomery (turkey on Christmas? Shame!), bottles of Grain Belt Premium (from New Ulm, nope, not doin’ egg nog!) and the continuous loop of the Yule Log on KSTC 45.

Later this week I will have a post reflecting upon the year 2007.

While I was in Winona this weekend visiting to catch fall graduation ceremonies at the ole’ alma mater, Winona State, I missed quite a bit of news concerning transportation issues, especially those surrounding US Highway 14 in southern Minnesota.

With a h/t to Bluestem Prairie, the Star Tribune shows us it has the ability to publish thoughtful stories about the First Congressional District, as opposed to those based nearly solely on press releases from ambitious GOPers, with a thorough piece about the deadly stretch of road around Owatonna.

Several years ago, as newcomers to Winona State, my colleagues and I would light-heartedly write off Highway 14 as a possible route getting to the metro area (instead sticking with I-90) as it is likely to become stuck behind a tractor and limited to traveling at 15 mph. Later we would find out 14’s problems go beyond inconvenience into the realm of real danger. From the Strib:

The highway, a mix of old two-lane and reconstructed four-lane sections, has blind intersections, heavy truck traffic, narrow shoulders and unexpected curves. It may be the deadliest highway in the state.

Since the mid-1980s, more than 145 people have been killed on the highway, which winds through 265 miles of farmland from Winona to the South Dakota border. On average, someone dies on the road every two months. And 75 percent of the deaths between 2000 and 2005 occurred on the two-lane stretches, state rec­ords show.

Instead of investing in transportation projects such as Highway 14, we keep getting empty political rhetoric from Republican officials. On TPT’s Almanac last month, John Kline called this year’s House Transportation bill, which had funding for Highway 14, the I-35W bridge and other projects, “fiscally irresponsible.” What’s really fiscally irresponsible: fixing the infrastructure now, or continuing to clean up wrecked vehicles, bringing accident victims to the hospital and taking the pieces of wrecked bridges out of the river?

On that same program, Rep. Tim Walz asked Kline why he should have to give up Highway 14 for his district when the President Bush won’t compromise on anything. Kline’s response: “We should all have to give.”

Meanwhile, GOP state Sen. Dick Day, who represents a district bisected by the highway, shows signs of being out of touch with what’s really going on. From the Owatonna People’s Press (I know I’m late here, but other stuff was on our minds when it came out):

Day and Ruth, both members of legislative committees concerning transportation, told the audience that transportation has been a low priority in Minnesota. The pair said they hoped to bring more funding and attention to transportation issues in Southern Minnesota.

“[Highway] 14 isn’t ever on the radar, yet,” Day said. “Everybody said health care, education are more important. The Bridge had to come down before a certain group of people would say that transportation is important.”

Barring a presidential veto, Highway 14 will soon be in line for federal funding. U.S Representative Tim Walz has sought funds in the 2008 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development bill for the expansion of the highway.

According to Meredith Salisbury, Walz’ press secretary, Walz earmarked $850,000 for Highway 14 in the current version of the bill. The revised bill still has yet to pass through the U.S. Senate. President George W. Bush threatened to veto the first version of the bill in October.

Day and Ruth did not mention the bill pending in the U.S. Congress, but explained to Chamber members that they hope to pass a comprehensive transportation plan and find state funding for Highway 14 and other road projects without resorting to a gas tax.

This is a classic article in the sense that Day forfeits any credibility even before reality is presented.

Not even on the radar? Was Day awake in the Senate chamber this legislative session (before the bridge collapse) when Sen. Steve Murphy, Senate transportation chair, spoke clearly about “Highway 14 in Sen. Day’s district” multiple times (among countless other things)?
Funny too is how Day says people think “education and health care are more important” when he’s made it clear his campaign theme is rounding up illegal immigrants.

Well, he convinced the Strib’s Mark Brunswick of that anyway.

As this photo shows, Day should put the toy glasses he got early from Santa away and worry about the issues important to southern Minnesota such as education, health care and oh yeah, transportation.

I hate writing posts about parliamentary procedure basically because people hate reading it due to the sometimes complicated “inside baseball” nature it possesses (and I guess it’s a pretty boring subject, too).  Certainly, reading about the procedure behind passing legislation isn’t as appealing as reading about rhetoric or the issues.

Unfortunately, Republicans have a nasty way of taking advantage of the general ignorance about which formal steps actually occur in the halls of Congress to further their mission of making Democrats look lazy and out of touch.

Yes, American people: how dare you not understand, much less care about, every nuance dealing with Mason’s Manual, Jefferson’s Manual, the Book of Hoyle and the rules of the US House of Representatives?!  Well, I guess mandatory C-SPAN viewing wouldn’t be so bad, would it?

Case in point: this press release from Ron Carey, chair of the Republican Party of Minnesota.

“Tim Walz promised to stand up for the middle class during his campaign but it’s clear he didn’t really mean it. With his vote against bringing a clean Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) patch to floor of the House, Walz once more sides with national liberals and against the interests of the First District.”

I’m enraged! Wow, the nerve of that Waltz guy.  He’s a real restaurant-quality SOB to put a dull knife right in the back of the middle class like that.  And how he’s putting those evil, prominent national liberals over his constituents! I bet totally forgot where he came from. What’s that I feel? Based on this quote it sseems like he’s physically sticking his hand right in my pocket and taking the contents! Ugh, I don’t want to talk about Washington Waltz anymore!

Without the context of the true procedure on the House floor (I’m sure just conveniently accidentally omitted by Carey, sure) a reaction like the above paragraph could be completely understandable.  With the context though, Carey is grasping at straws, at best.  He maybe is even fiddling with reality.  To call him a liar in this instance wouldn’t be too unreasonable.

As Bluestem Prairie points out, the underlying bill was the energy bill, not one dealing with the Alternative Minimum Tax.  Carey seems to think the House should have allowed this amendment to be considered, regardless of the subject’s relevance to the bill.

You see, the subject of the song was “I’m Just a Bill,” not “How a Motion to Recommit Gets Put to a Vote” or “How an Amendment Gets Through the Rules Committee” (though I am sure both would provide for excellent educational fodder for our nation’s children).  As far as I am aware, since the Schoolhouse Rock video was produced, the main vehicle for which legislation is passed is still a bill.  And yes, amendments to these bills can and do come up for discussion.

Almost always though the amendment offered is germane to the bill at hand.  Not so in this case: the Republicans wanted to make an amendment to the energy bill essentially wiping it out and replacing it with Alternative Minimum Tax language.  Walz and the majority then voted for the rule prohibiting such an amendment.

Yes, how dare that elitist liberal majority use its power in such as way as stopping non-germane amendments.  Personally, I am not a very big fan of closed rules such as the one used for the energy bill, but the obstructionist tactics (such as this proposed amendment) the GOP has employed time and time again make their use necessary.

This isn’t the first time the GOP has used press releases about a “gotcha” vote to try and make Walz appear in poor light: Randy Demmer used loaded rhetoric, eerily similar to that used by Carey, in October to describe a Walz vote on a motion to recommit. 

Remember when the GOP grandstanded on SCHIP during debate on the agriculture appropriations bill?  Same thing all over again.  This is classic “gotcha” from the GOP, but lucky for you, we’re here with the truth about what happened.

The Senate has passed AMT-patch legislation.  If the House brings up similar legislation and Walz or any other member votes against it, then we would hope if Carey or another GOP member authors a press release that it be based on the merits of the vote on such legislation.  Until then, we hope Carey stops trying to recreate reality.

Right now, tears are flowing freely and words are very difficult to come by, but I figure since I have this medium to let out feelings, I might as well take advantage of it.

Tonight we lost Jared Stene, Student Senate president at Winona State University, and more importantly to me, one of my best friends. I have never felt the loss of someone so close to me, coupled with the suddenness of the whole situation make this a very hard evening to get through, let alone post to complete, so bear with me.

I had learned of his condition just more that 48 hours ago, late Tuesday evening. Since that time we were all on a scary roller coaster ride hearing his condition change, for better and worse. Tonight that ride came to its end when we heard of Jared’s passing.

Jared was a special person; absolutely one-of-a-kind. The energy and passion he brought to every aspect of life, whether it was an affair concerning student issues, political action, simply entering the Student Senate office or one of the many nights at Schyde’s for wings, drinks and darts won’t be filled anytime soon.

He was someone who attracted a ton of friends and for good reason. His kindness, warmth and unique sense of humor (if you’ve never met him you have no idea how funny he was!) made him a natural magnet for people to want to be around him.

I first met Jared in the Spring of 2005 when he was on a committee in charge of the Mr. WSU competition; I had been hired as event host. Jared’s chief task was to coordinate games for the audience in the spirit of “the Price is Right.” It was through our work on that project which we got to know each other and I got to instantly know his love of that show. It was his love for that show which eventually lead to an effort to create a recognized student group, “the Price is Right Club” on the WSU campus.

He had an endless passion and ability to firmly grasp issues facing students. Tuition, parking, textbook prices, ability to vote in elections, and consultation with campus administration are issues that on the surface may not be glamorous, but are nonetheless important and Jared was a tireless advocate for them. For the final two years of my college career, I got to spend countless hours in committee meetings and office hours with him, and every Wednesday at 4 p.m. in the Purple Rooms: Student Senate meetings. Every minute of that time I was able to feed off of his energy and passion.

I had the pleasure of traveling to Minnesota State University Student Association (Jared had been serving as a member of that body’s board of directors) conferences with him, including a week-long lobbying trip to Washington, D.C. March of this year, and sharing many hotel rooms with him at these conferences. I had the displeasure of hearing him snore in these hotel rooms, but really, who’s perfect?

He was passionate about issues which even fewer people would find important, such as WSU food services’s bastardization of Minnesota culinary tradition by labeling a dish “Tator Tot Casserole” and his fight to ensure that someone would water ski on Lake City 24 hours a day and seven days a week.

Oh, and the mochas (coffee drink consisting of steamed milk, espresso and chocolate). Boy, was he ever a coffee addict. He was a frequent visitor of Mugby Junction on Huff St., and was perhaps that business’s best patron. If not “best,” certainly “most frequent” fit the bill; once he requested a purchase history from his frequent customer card and the ensuing slip of register tape measured several feet. One day, Mugby even served a special drink in his honor: “the Jared.”

I feel blessed I had the opportunity to see him one last time on Wednesday evening. While it was difficult seeing him in the condition he was, we knew he was strong enough to fight and I know he did until the very end.

Jared has a very special family; parents Bruce and Char and sister, Caitlin (who is now at Winona State serving on the Student Senate). From my experience anyway, most people our age (early 20s and under) aren’t usually too comfortable having their parents meet their friends. Jared was, therefore I feel privileged to have gotten to meet and know them.

Stene family: my heart resides with you guys. I will keep Jared in my heart as long as I live.

For as hard as this is for me, I can only imagine how hard it is for many others those who got the special gift of being even closer to him.

Friends: Jared showed tremendous strength, and while this isn’t an easy time by any means, we all have the ability to rely on one another for our own strength to get us through this.

Yes, readers, the guy in the blue track-jacket with the neck-beard on the masthead of this blog is Jared. He was initially going to join us as a blogger here at IDHA, but his other commitments kept him from doing so. That’s not to say he never blogged; check out the archives of his personal blog he kept here and you will get a glimpse into the special human being we all loved, cared for and wished we could be.

Jared, as this box of Kleenex to my left is nearly empty, I want you to know that while it will not be possible to be as special of a person as you were, as futile of an effort it will be I will try my best to be as rock-solid of a person as you were. You left a void that will be impossible to fill in the Winona State community, and the world. I will forever be thankful for the friendship which you gave me.

Jared, I love you and will never forget the memories I had with you.

Goodbye my friend.

I’m about ready to take off with the ole’ lappy to Washburn High School for another debate between Mike Ciresi, Jim Cohen, Al Franken and Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer, all vying for the DFL endorsement to take on Norm Coleman for the US Senate in 2008.

Stop over and say “hi.” Even if you’re a GOP candidate for Congress!

When: TONIGHT, 7:00-9:00 p.m.

Where: Roosevelt High School, 4029 28th Avenue S.,
Minneapolis

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