Uffdah! You might be a Minnesotan...

barbara — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 21:12:20 -0600

barbara writes

A friend who is rarely as cynical as I am was musing the other day about things that tend to ID Minnesotans. For example:

If you have “no new taxes” except those paid by the state’s poorest residents, you might be a Minnesotan (YMBAM).

If your state university is becoming as expensive as private colleges, but prevails in building an extravagant new stadium on campus, YMBAM.

If you live in a state where the poorest residents cannot afford and/or are being denied healthcare while people come to your state from around the world for superior healthcare, YMBAM. Oh, there's more, you betcha.

read more

Thank you, Keith Olbermann

barbara — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 14:23:25 -0600

by Prairie with postscript by barbara

As a "child" of an 85-year-old in the hospital this week, bearing witness to families around us in the ICU unit who are dealing with the trauma of trying to figure out arrangements for their loved ones and what will be allowed by insurance and what won't as they cope with the challenges of medical conditions....

As one who saw too much of the trauma of families dealing with the harshness of the healthcare coverage system amid their traumas of medical circumstance and care during the long years of my husband's illnesses which finally claimed him last July, I have just two words for Keith Olbermann's special comment:

Please continue reading.

Democracy is slip-sliding away

barbara — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 09:57:28 -0600

Alan Anderson writes

In 2000, Al Gore won the presidency by more than 500,000 votes. Due to a technicality in Florida, conservative U.S. Supreme Court justices overturned the will of the people and failed to allow a recount to proceed, even though that was the directive of the Florida supreme court. Democracy was damaged.

Now, the Governor of Minnesota, Tim Pawlenty, is making a further mockery of our democratic system. He chose last year to exercise “unallotment,” and in so doing, he alone dictated the entire budget for the people of Minnesota. He disregarded the will of the legislature—the representatives of the people—and refused to negotiate. He didn’t have to. Pawlenty chose to misuse his power, completely disregarding the will of the majority….the same majority that voted for members of the House and Senate to represent them.

But wait. It gets worse. Read on.

Tiger Woods speaks

barbara — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 11:14:40 -0600

barbara writes

For as long as this has been playing out in public, I've resisted writing about Tiger Woods et al. So I’m not absolutely sure why I decided to watch him deliver his public statement this morning about his epic infidelity. And as I clicked CNN’s online link, I felt pretty much like a voyeur. Why the hell was I doing this? And why did it bring me to real, true, heart-tears? Rhetorical.

By the time you read here, you’ll have seen clips and transcripts of Tiger’s remarks, likely countless times. You'll read about the evident discomfort of those assembled in the room where he delivered his first public remarks. And you’ll have seen those remarks sliced, diced, dissected, inspected, corrected, critiqued and otherwise examined. I have chosen to disregard the aftermath and focus on what I saw, what I felt as I watched. I am entirely too susceptible to aftermath, I’ve learned. Read on.

Really a Rogue?

barbara — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 23:56:40 -0600

Alan Anderson writes:

Sarah Palin warned us she is going “rogue.” Her book describes her roadmap: In order to progress, “we must return to our founding principles of limited government, fiscal responsibility, and strong national defense.” To that end, SarahPAC is devoted to supporting “fresh ideas and candidates who share our vision for reform and innovation.”

This week, we learned that her PAC has raised $1.3 million dollars. According FEC filings highlighted by the National Journal’s Hotline, Palin’s PAC spent more money on her Going Rogue book than on conservative candidates. She spent almost $48,000 buying books from Harper Collins to give to donors (hoping they will give to her), and $43,000 on conservative candidates seeking federal office. So much for supporting candidates.

This certainly places her in the rogue category, but I’m not sure that’s exactly where she wants to be. I find it interesting that she insists on being rogue, since I’m not sure she really knows what that means. Suffice it to say I wouldn’t want to be labeled rogue if I wanted to be President of the United States.

The dictionary reveals several meanings for rogue. Few of them are flattering. For example: a rogue is an unprincipled person; a scoundrel. Rogue also refers to being mischievous and a rogue’s gallery is a “collection of pictures of criminals maintained in police files used for making identification.”

For a Republican, rogue is especially unbecoming, because it references a “lone, violently aggressive wild elephant, separated from the rest of the herd.” Read on.