June 6-8, 2018
Jun 06 03:26 King James: sore winner Jun 06 10:14 Ellison's federal agenda Jun 06 14:42 Ex-Philadelphia mayor's outrage Jun 06 20:39 What's missing is telling Jun 07 01:57 Ellison: Ideology first or people first? Jun 07 12:12 The DFL's substantive problem Jun 07 14:49 Travelling Tarryl strikes again Jun 07 21:22 Happy Birthday, President Trump? Jun 08 03:24 Palmer vs. Masters
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King James: sore winner
It's clear that LeBron James is a sore winner. Unfortunately, this article is proof of that.
Don't be surprised if LeBron jersey sales drop after they sounded like a pair of political hacks:
A day after Trump revoked an invitation to the NFL champion Philadelphia Eagles to visit the White House amid reports fewer than 10 players would take part, the NBA's elite closed ranks to condemn the president.
"It's typical of him," James said. "I'm not surprised. Typical of him. "I know no matter who wins this series, no one wants the invite anyway. It won't be Cleveland or Golden State going."
When asked for his remarks later, Curry added: "I agree with 'Bron."
This pair of spoiled brats are ingrates. Apparently, they don't care that the unemployment rate amongst African-Americans is the lowest in history during President Trump's administration. Why should they care while Steph and LeBron make $30,000,000 a year?
They weren't the only ingrates putting a foot in their mouths. Apparently, that affliction affects coaches, too:
Warriors coach Steve Kerr, a frequent critic of Trump, said teams look forward to returning to the White House under a new leader. "It's not surprising," Kerr said. "The President has made it pretty clear he's going to try and divide us all in the country for political gain. We're all looking forward to the day when we can go back to just having a celebration and celebrate Americans for their achievement.
"It will be nice when we can just get back to normal, in three years."
Don't quit your day job, Mr. Kerr. If you're stupid enough to think that there's a Democrat out there that's capable of defeating President Trump in 2+ years, I'd recommend you stick with coaching because your political analysis skills suck.
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What a coward. You could see LeBron shift into PR mode after he cheapshotted the President of the United States.
What's sickening is seeing these Democrats acting like this after Democrats told Republicans that they should respect the office if they couldn't respect the President. I guess that rule only applies to Republicans when a Democrat is President.
Apparently, intellectual honesty isn't LeBron's strong suit.
Posted Wednesday, June 6, 2018 3:26 AM
Comment 1 by Chad Q at 06-Jun-18 05:51 PM
Maybe Lebron should take the $45k he spent on his little outfit he wore before game two, and spend it on the helping those he says are being oppressed or can't get a good education. Go dribble the ball and shut the hell up.
Ellison's federal agenda
It didn't take long for Keith Ellison to admit that he's running for the Minnesota Attorney General job to harass President Trump . Ellison said "It was attorneys general who led the fight against the Muslim ban. I want to be a part of that fight."
What Rep. Ellison omits from his cheap shot statement is that a) it isn't a Muslim ban and b) these attorneys general's cases are flimsier than wet cardboard. The Supreme Court will rule that a) presidents have sole authority to set U.S. foreign policy and b) courts don't have the intel or authority to set U.S. foreign policy.
What's clear is that Ellison knows Republicans will maintain control of the U.S. House of Representatives for the foreseeable future and that he's likely to not be able to impact policy anytime soon. Ellison is an agitator. Being unable to be influential in DC, Ellison left.
GOP endorsed candidate Doug Wardlow didn't waste time before attacking Ellison:
"Keith Ellison supports open borders, meaning he does not support the laws America currently has in place. How can he be the state's top law enforcement official if he is unwilling to enforce our immigration laws?"
The thought of Ellison being Minnesota's chief law enforcement officer is laughable. Ellison is famous for selectively enforcing laws :
Ellison also spoke favorably of convicted cop killer Assata Shakur and expressed his opposition to any attempt to extradite her to the United States from Cuba, where she had fled after escaping prison. "I am praying that Castro does not get to the point where he has to really barter with these guys over here because they're going to get Assata Shakur, they're going to get a whole lot of other people," Ellison said at the event, which also included a silent auction and speech by former Weather Underground leader Bernardine Dohrn. "I hope the Cuban people can stick to it, because the freedom of some good decent people depends on it."
Isn't that great? The man that wants to be our attorney general wants cop-killers protected. Seriously?
Here's Assata Shakur, aka Joanne Chesimard, in her own words:
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That's who Rep. Ellison fought for. Electing Ellison to be Minnesota's Attorney General would be spitting in the face of Minnesota's law enforcement personnel. Ellison has been a defense attorney his entire legal life. Why would we think that he's capable of enforcing laws, especially when he's had a history of ignoring laws he doesn't like?
Posted Wednesday, June 6, 2018 10:14 AM
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Ex-Philadelphia mayor's outrage
Michael Nutter is the former mayor of Philadelphia. He's written this op-ed to defend the Philadelphia Eagles football team for not attending the customary Champions Day event at the White House. In his op-ed, Nutter quoted President Trump's statement, which said in part "(The Eagles) disagree with their President because he insists that they proudly stand for the National Anthem, hand on heart, in honor of the great men and women of our military and the people of our country."
Nutter then said "Here is where the lying begins and ends with Donald Trump -- none of the Eagles took a knee during the playing of the National Anthem during last year's regular season or playoffs." Technically, Nutter is right. None of the Eagles took a knee a la Colin Kaepernick. Saying that they didn't protest during the national anthem is another story.
This article proves that Eagles players protested during the Anthem. The title of the article is "Eagles' Malcolm Jenkins explains why he protested during the national anthem." Instead of taking a knee, here's what Malcolm Jenkins did:
Does Mayor Nutter really want to base his argument on a trivial technicality? What's most interesting is that Jenkins didn't deny protesting:
Last week, prior to this political firestorm, Jenkins' explained at his locker why he started protesting during the national anthem by raising his fist, and whether he believes the initial message has been lost.
Here is what he had to say:
"I think that is why the demonstrations were in fact very effective. Here we are going into three years later and we are still having conversations about it. Even though it gets confused sometimes, it is still creating that dialogue. I think the reason that we are still talking about it is that we have yet to find a better way to do it. To create this much buzz. Nobody has provided another platform for it to have the same weight so we will continue to figure out what we have at our disposal to bring as much attention to this cause as possible. To continue to stay on message about it being about systemic racism, about our criminal justice system, about police brutality, about lack of education and economic opportunities in our community of color. We will keep repeating that. If you want to talk about the anthem and the anthem is going to bring the cameras to me, so be it."
My first recommendation to Jenkins is to stop listening to DeMaurice Smith. He thinks like a politician. My second recommendation for Jenkins is to pull his head out of his ass and start working towards a solution. Starting conversations without a goal in mind is just wasting time. Saying 'we want to start a conversation' is saying 'pay attention to us. We don't have a solution.' If you want to change society, prepare enough to recommend a solution or a series of solutions.
Putting a fist in the air isn't a solution. It's a high-profile temper tantrum. If you want to be taken seriously, do the homework. Do the research. This isn't kids' stuff. This is about positively impacting millions of lives who need help.
Finally, I'd recommend to Jenkins to start advocating for African-American athletes to stop giving the Democratic Party 90-95% of their vote. That's a surefire way of guaranteeing that you'll be taken for granted. Putting that bloc of votes up for competition increases the politicians' accountability.
Posted Wednesday, June 6, 2018 2:42 PM
Comment 1 by Chad Q at 06-Jun-18 05:10 PM
I have to laugh each time I hear these idiot players give their excuses for why they are protesting and then they turn around and bash Trump and the GOP. You supporting the democrats and race baiters has gotten them into this situation.
And other than Chris Long (who I think is on the wrong side of the protesting) and the original rabble rouser Kapernick, I don't see these pampered athletes spending their own money or time to make the situation better. Go out on your own dime and time and try and make a difference.
What's missing is telling
Briana Bierschbach's article for MPR is a nice run-down of the DFL's 'Dumpster Fire Day'. The article opens by saying "At the end of filings Tuesday, Minnesota Democrats were facing a six-way primary for attorney general in August, a sudden eight-way intraparty battle for U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison's seat, and an unexpected, three-way primary for the open governor's seat. It was all part of what was described by some Democrats and Republicans as a "dumpster fire" day for Minnesota's DFL Party. And it had plenty of people wondering: What does this mean for Minnesota Democrats in such a pivotal election year?"
Saying that the DFL isn't united is understatement. This is the fight that Ken Martin has tried avoiding the past 5 years. In the DFL gubernatorial primary, it pits the Iron Range against Twin Cities environmentalists. When that primary ends, will the DFL be able to unite? That's far from a foregone conclusion.
This paragraph jumped out at me:
Three-term Attorney General Lori Swanson went into the party's convention Saturday seeking the endorsement for her job, but newcomer Pelikan ran to her left and was a close second to her on the first ballot. Swanson unexpectedly dropped out of that endorsing contest and instead moved on to run in the governor's primary, setting off the mass of filings Tuesday.
What's important is what's missing. What's missing is the fact that Matt Pelikan outed his opponent as having an A rating from the NRA. Within 15 minutes of that bomb getting dropped, Swanson had dropped out of the endorsement fight.
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Broton worries that the DFL candidates it will hurt most are those in races not facing primaries but are top-tier targets in November. That includes the 1st congressional district, which is open after U.S. Rep. Tim Walz decided to seek the governor's office, and the 2nd and 3rd Congressional Districts in the suburbs. "My fear is that this will actually hurt [2nd District candidate] Angie Craig and [1st District candidate] Dan Feehan," he said. "These other races that are really competitive and they need the resources in the fall."
Broton is right. These primaries eat up lots of resources. That won't help Craig or Feehan. Still, that's just one of the DFL's problems.
The fact that the DFL is openly hostile to the Second Amendment is cause for GOP celebration. It won't DFL candidates in the Twin Cities much to oppose the Second Amendment. In outstate Minnesota, that's a different story. DFL legislative candidates campaigning in outstate Minnesota should wear flack jackets if they oppose the Second Amendment.
The DFL isn't the semi-sane party that it used to be. They're crazy. That's why they'll do poorly in outstate Minnesota.
Posted Wednesday, June 6, 2018 8:39 PM
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Ellison: Ideology first or people first?
This article might offer the most revealing insight into why Keith Ellison left his DC job to pursue the AG's job.
Inside the article is this gem:
Why Ellison is making that risky move now is rooted in the realization that in the Donald Trump era, the best place to advance a progressive agenda might not be in Congress, but in the courts.
Despite his talk about representing the people , Ellison is mostly interested in harassing President Trump with lawsuits. It isn't likely that Ellison would be interested in strengthening law enforcement. In fact, it's easier to picture Ellison becoming Minnesota's version of Eric Holder. It isn't a stretch to think that Ellison would launch tons of investigations into Minnesota's police departments. Most likely, Twin Cities police departments would have the most to fear from Ellison.
After he filed his paperwork to run for attorney general at the State Capitol on Tuesday, Ellison spoke with MinnPost and outlined his vision for the attorney general job: a "people's lawyer," Ellison said, "who holds people in power accountable and makes sure the average person has a fair shot."
Mostly, he's defended cop-killers like Assata Shakur. He's better off as a lawyer for CAIR than anything else.
It's difficult to picture Ellison as pro-law enforcement. I'm more than skeptical of the talents Rep. Ellison brings to the position. It isn't difficult to picture the AG's office taking a hostile stance towards law enforcement. Listen to Rep. Ellison's explanation for why he isn't seeking re-election:
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That explanation simply isn't credible. At one point, Rep. Ellison talks about talking with people in rural Minnesota. That's a bunch of BS. The only time he's seen outstate Minnesota is from his airplane heading to or from Washington, DC. His gibberish about fighting for people who "didn't have anybody on their side" is utter spin. Ellison's legal career was spent defending cop-killers like Assata Shakur. Actually, Scott Johnson's article leaves no doubt that Ellison is a liar. Johnson's timeline leaves little time for defending people's civil right in court actions.
Posted Thursday, June 7, 2018 1:57 AM
Comment 1 by Rexnewman at 09-Jun-18 08:54 PM
My theory is that Ellison was soon going to fired from his DC job, and/or fears the blue wave is a bust. What better place to hide your incompetence than State AG, SOS, or Auditor? And you still get to make headlines as AG. Perfect fit - if you're a Democrat. A Republican would actually have to work for a living.
The DFL's substantive problem
According to this article , the DFL thinks it's got a messaging problem. While it's true that they have a difficult time selling their agenda, their problem is substantive. It isn't that they've got a failure to communicate.
Check this out. A caller into the Kerri Miller show, Rishab, thinks that "Republicans are incredible marketers. They have a very simple ideology and can get that out to the voters", adding that "All these moves the Democrats are doing are very calculating and it's very difficult for the American people to understand what their position really is."
I'd argue that the DFL has a unity problem, which might turn into a shrinking party problem if the socialists persist in pushing their economic message. To reduce it to its simplest, socialism bets against human nature. That's why they need tons of regulations, then tons of carve-outs for their friends when those regulations don't work. People are in the process of rejecting that economic model. That, in turn, will lead to the party shrinking if this persists.
Why would people be confused about this DFL?
Shortly after the endorsements were announced, the Democratic field began shifting.
- U.S. Rep. Tim Walz made it clear he'll take his gubernatorial campaign to the primary against the endorsed candidate, state Rep. Erin Murphy.
- After Lori Swanson, the incumbent attorney general, lost the endorsement to DFL activist, Matt Pelikan, she decided to shift her focus to the governor's race.
- Seeing an opportunity, U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison filed to run for attorney general, leaving his seat in the 5th Congressional District open.
- In response to Ellison vacating his seat, eight other Democrats entered the fray for his 5th District seat.
What could possibly be confusing about that? LOL The thing that's straightforward is that all of these tickets/candidates are extreme lefties. How do you message for their agenda? Good luck with that.
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In this convention speech, Mr. Ellison talked about selling people on climate change and other 'progressive' issues. BTW, never forget that progressive equals socialist. They're inseparable.
Finally, the DFL has some real problems ahead if this is true :
Even so, Bakk sounded a pessimistic tone for the DFL should the primary send Murphy on to the general election. "There is zero chance she will win in November," predicted Bakk. " I heard there are 13 rural DFL party chairs who have quit over it ," he said. "It's a pretty metro-centric ticket."
The prediction is fun reading but finding out that 13 DFL BPOU chairs have quit over the endorsement of the Erin-Squared ticket is important news. That indicates a major division within the DFL. Whether those chairs flip and vote Republican or not, it isn't likely that they'll vote DFL.
People leaving the DFL because the DFL isn't interested in people living outside the Metro is how you shrink the party. That's a substantive issue or a philosophical issue, not a communications issue.
Posted Thursday, June 7, 2018 12:12 PM
Comment 1 by Gretchen Leisen at 07-Jun-18 07:30 PM
Wow, Gary. You have been shredding the DFL this week, and no one deserves it more than they do. Congratulations on your very astute opinion pieces, and for helping us keep up to date on all the DFL shenanigans and musical chairs.
Response 1.1 by Gary Gross at 08-Jun-18 12:53 AM
Thanks Gretchen. When you have the time to connect the dots, things become rather clear rather quickly. Anyone that thinks the Democrats nationally or the DFL locally are going to meet or exceed expectations isn't connecting the dots. Period.
Travelling Tarryl strikes again
I remember the good old days when Tarryl Clark moved from St. Cloud to Duluth . These days, Tarryl isn't the rising star that she once was. These days, she's still travelling but this time, instead of running for Congress, she's running for a spot on the Stearns County Commission, where she'll be running against Steve Gottwalt.
A loyal reader of LFR emailed me, saying "Travelin' Tarryl has a house on Woodhill Road near Cooper Ave about 7 blocks from Calvary Church. Her new 'apartment' is near the St. Cloud Aquatics Center...in Steve Gottwalt's County Commissioner District where the vacancy is occurring."
KVSC reported the story this way:
With candidate filing periods closing this week, one candidate made a last second entry to join the race to become the District 1 Stearns County Commissioner.
Tarryl Clark announced her intention to run for the position Tuesday. Clark is a resident of St. Cloud who has worked in the St. Cloud area for about 30 years. She is an active member of the St. Cloud Rotary Club and the St. Cloud Chamber of Commerce.
Clark has previously been elected to the Minnesota State Senate, where she became Assistant Majority Leader and worked from 2006 to 2010. She was also the Academic Dean at St. Cloud Technical and Community College and the first Director for the Central Minnesota Habitat for Humanity.
Clark will run against businessman Craig Bomgaars and former St. Cloud City Council member Steve Gottwalt.
I'm sure the omission of Steve Gottwalt's accomplishments was intentional. While it's true that Steve served on the St. Cloud City Council, including as City Council President, he later went on to win election to the Minnesota House of Representatives, eventually serving as Chair of the House Health Care Reform Committee.
I found this interesting:
Especially when compared with this:
What's pathetic is that Tarryl went from Minnesota Senate in 2005-2011 to Congressional candidate in CD-6 in 2010 to congressional candidate in CD-8 in 2012 to running for the Stearns County Commission in 2018. The question I have is this: will she run for Colin Peterson's seat when he retires?
I won't bet against it.
PS- I wouldn't bet against Steve Gottwalt in this race.
Posted Thursday, June 7, 2018 2:49 PM
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Happy Birthday, President Trump?
First, today isn't President Trump's birthday. June 14th is. The reason I've titled this post is because Michael Horowitz has announced that he's releasing the much-anticipated DOJ Inspector General's report on President Trump's birthday.
According to Fox News reporting, "In a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee, Horowitz said 'we anticipate releasing the report on June 14, 2018.' That day is also President Trump's birthday. The inspector general also told committee chairman Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, in the letter that he has accepted the invitation to testify about the report on June 18, meaning his scheduled appearance before the committee is being delayed again."
If Andrew McCabe, Jim Comey and Loretta Lynch aren't worried, they should be. It's already been reported that McCabe wants immunity to testify against Comey. Lawmakers are already hesitant to grant him immunity. If McCabe's attorney can't offer an impressive proffer, then McCabe shouldn't get immunity. If he's subpoenaed to testify, he can plead the Fifth and take his chances with a DC jury:
Horowitz's review has already put top FBI official Andrew McCabe in legal jeopardy. The Justice Department's internal watchdog sent a criminal referral for McCabe in April to the U.S. attorney's office in Washington.
Good luck with that, Andy.
The inspector general's review uncovered the anti-Trump texts from FBI official Peter Strzok, who famously called Trump an 'idiot' and texted about an 'insurance policy' against a Trump presidency. Strzok had been assigned to Robert Mueller's special counsel probe, but has since been reassigned.
I suspect that Mr. Horowitz's investigative findings will lead to several people in the DOJ and FBI wearing prison uniforms.
Posted Thursday, June 7, 2018 9:22 PM
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Palmer vs. Masters
Jenny Berg's article about Dr. John Palmer's decision to run for the St. Cloud City Council highlights something important. It is best highlighted when Dr. Palmer is quoted as saying "I've chosen consciously to talk about 'we the people' because I really think the current council and the person I'm running against has forgotten that they are servants to the people. In our republican form of government, it's the people who are in charge."
What Dr. Palmer implied, I'll state explicitly. The men who represent the citizens of Wards 1, 2 and 3 don't listen to the people of their wards. Jeff Johnson, who isn't seeking re-election, is the only member of the City Council that consistently listens to his constituents and who sees what's happening in this city.
Of the candidates running for the City Council, I'm confident that Dr. Palmer, Liz Baklaich, Paul Brandmire and Mike Conway will listen to the people. I'm confident of that because I know each of them and I've seen how good of listeners they are. It's possible that the other candidates are decent listeners. I just can't vouch for their listening skills.
Nobody should like the direction that St. Cloud is heading. The Chamber of Commerce, Mayor Kleis and the incumbents have told us that the city is heading in the right direction. Unemployment is low but Electrolux is moving. Herbergers is closing. Our airport is on life support. What part of that sounds like we're heading in the right direction?
Palmer said his goals, if elected, are to grow the economy of St. Cloud and ensure citizens' voices are heard. "We can no longer rely on simply increasing fees and sales taxes, increasing hotel and motel taxes and increasing property taxes. What we need to do is grow the economy in able to have sufficient revenue," he said. "What you want more of, you certainly don't tax."
Palmer said the council needs to be open to differing opinions. "My main goal is to reform the council in such a way that the primary orientation is to listen to the people and to conduct the affairs of the council in such a way so that the people's voice is not stifled," he said.
"Let me give a concrete example - by having a public hearing two weeks before they are going to have a vote, and by excluding the public from participating in the debate at the time they are going to vote, you stifle public input. You stifle the quality of the debate."
That's what principled leadership sounds like.
In her speech during the open forum portion of the City Council meeting, Liz Baklaich said that the Council is irreparably damaged and couldn't be fixed. In my opinion, she's right. Dave Masters, Steve Laraway and John Libert aren't suddenly going to start listening to the people. That isn't who they are. I don't often agree with Vice President Biden but he once said something that's inescapably true. He said "A leader without followers is just a man out for a walk." Masters, Laraway and Libert are just people out for a walk.
Frankly, Masters is a disgrace. When Dr. Palmer tried making a point at last Monday's meeting, the Council President told Dr. Palmer to sit down. When he refused to sit because sitting would've violated a Minnesota Supreme Court ruling, Masters said "Personally, I take offense with Dr. Palmer not following the rules and standing before the Council after being asked numerous times to sit down please. You have your time when you can speak during the Open Forum."
I have a problem when elected officials ignore state Supreme Court rulings:
I feel like justice was finally served,' said Robin Hensel, whose refusal to move her chair at a 2013 Little Falls City Council meeting was at the heart of the court's decision. Hensel, a grandmother and peace activist who frequently protests at Camp Ripley, said she never thought she would actually get charged when she moved a folding chair to the open space between the public galley and the City Council's dais.
In its ruling Wednesday, the Supreme Court sided with Hensel, saying: 'The statute is broad and ambiguous, prohibiting any conduct or speech that 'disturbs an assembly or meeting,' whether expressive or not. An individual could violate the statute by, for example, wearing an offensive t-shirt, using harsh words in addressing another person, or even raising one's voice in a speech.'
Masters is part of the problem. In my opinion, Dr. Palmer is part of the solution because he's a principled leader.
Posted Friday, June 8, 2018 3:24 AM
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