Across the Great Divide

Coleman's Concession is "Gracious" by Half.

After his third (or was it fourth?) defeat in his appeal process, Minnesota Sen. Norm Coleman may have been "gracious" in finally conceding the election to new Sen. Al Franken. But Coleman is doling out the graciousness selectively.

I heard an MPR reporter say that cameras from The UpTake were excluded from livestreaming Coleman's announcement. Instead, the news service shot shaky video from a neighbor's yard and posted it here — a mute commentary on the snub.

The UpTake has provided the most in-depth video documentation of the various proceedings associated with the recount, but has been systematically stiffed by Coleman's staff. If Coleman does decide to run for office again, he's certainly not paving the way with citizen media.

UPDATE: David Brauer has a good account of what went on.

"You Will Pay, Prendergast! You Will Pay!"

Politics in Minnesota so far has the best take on "False Witness! The Michele Bachmann Story."

The comic is a great format to illustrate the ominous ideas and symbols that Bachmann's linked with -- from the black helicopters to the teabaggers, icons like this deserve a graphic treatment. Two other classes of characters, mainstream journalists and non-sectarian Republicans, get portrayed as happy faces and anxious elephants. Much wrath is justly directed at the journalists, who repeatedly failed to get Bachmann's most outlandish comments in print [though perhaps more blame ought to go to their editors].

You can order here.

Tempus Fugedaboutit.

Orchestra Hall is coming in for a makeover.

Architecture critic Linda Mack, who served on an advisory committee for this project, once described Orchestra Hall as an example of "1970s let-it-all-hang-out brutalism." New York architect Hugh Hardy's design "was a product of its era," she said Friday. "It was avant-garde in its time and meant to be more accessible, but I don't think people embraced it. It's hard to find someone who says, 'I adore that lobby.'"

Sounds familiar. I myself am a product of my era, and my lobby has fallen into disrepair.

As Tom Waits once wrote, "I'm big in Japan." But stuff changes, and at a certain point, you don't get to change with it.

When the ceiling sound cubes of Orchestra Hall were still being plastered, I was putting the finishing touches on a special section I wrote for the Minneapolis Star that was to accompany the opening of the new building. In those days, I wrote as Charles R. Quimby, because it seemed like newspaper readers might take my criticism a little more seriously than from a guy called Charlie. Charles R. had tickets on the aisle whenever he asked.

As another Tom wrote, "The sky was the limit."

The supplement contained a general orchestra history, plus profiles of all the past conductors and an interview with a violinist who'd served under all of them. I also covered how the construction company was both intrigued and a little disturbed that all the building's mechanical systems were exposed. 

As one of the Star's arts writers, I got passes to the opening concert. We were standing around in our dress-up clothes drinking champagne, which made the let-it-all-hang-out lobby look pretty decent.

But my prevailing memory is of the music critic, who shall remain nameless, who showed up in a powder blue outfit the likes of which we had never seen. In fact, the style was so brand new and avant-garde, he could wear it without irony to this major cultural event and no one would even know until he told them that this groovy new ensemble was called a leisure suit.

If they have an opening ceremony for the updated hall, I would hope there's a curatorial display case for that baby.

 

Looking at the building today, it may not be obvious how much time has passed since it was new and adventurous. But my face over that special-section byline and the powder blue leisure suit make it clear that something was due for a change.

Finally, Brodkorb's Going to Win Some Elections.

It's just a throwaway line at the end of a story about the new/old state GOP chair.

Central committee members elected Michael Brodkorb, who got his start in the party's machinery as a political blogger, as deputy chairman.

Strib reporter Bob von Sternberg should know better, but we've grown accustomed to the press being almost incapable of describing Brodkorb accurately. For a long time, he was portrayed as partisan hobbyist blogger who just happened to go after Democrats, with no mention of his extensive party jobs and connections.

In the latest piece, history isn't just ignored, it's being rewritten.

Brodkorb was a redistricting analyst for the Minnesota Senate Republican Caucus from 2000 – 2002. That's a machinery job, if there ever was one, figuring out how to redraw districts so Republicans get elected. Even before that, he worked for state senate Republicans, and in 1996 worked for an acquaintance of mine on the Rudy Boschwitz senate campaign.

In other words, Bordkorb has been part of the party's machinery his entire career — and for about ten years before his anonymous "personal blog" was exposed as his work.

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So what are we to make of his filing a Minnesota Data Practices request "for copies of rejected absentee ballots from areas where for the most part Republican Norm Coleman ran strongly in the disputed November election for U.S. Senate"?

This most-scrutinized race in Minnesota history is about to be put out of its misery by the state supreme court and now oppo-research ace Brodkorb is fishing for some scattered rejected ballots?

He's within his rights to make the request, but to what end? And why is a state employee — yes, your taxes pay his salary — wasting public dollars like this, even if he's doing the wasting on his own time?

Brodkorb is the communications director for the Minnesota Senate Republicans but did not work on the request on state time and called this reporter during his lunch hour from his personal cell phone.

According to his deputy chair campaign site, Brodkorb was worried about reducing costs — for his party.

I strongly believe we must dramatically reduce the compensation levels of the State Party officers. Therefore, if elected, I will not take a salary as Deputy Chair.

His site also contains this bit of delusional bravado:

Rather than sitting on the sidelines, I have decided to roll up my sleeves and get to work helping our party win more elections.

To which Mark Kennedy, Mary Kiffmeyer, Norm Coleman and Diane Anderson, Tim Wilkin, Lynn Wardlow, Mike McGinn in Brodkorb's home district can only ask, where have you been?

Memorial Weekend Mashup: Pig Farm Fawning and Other Hogwash.

Yesterday's news had three remarkably detailed descriptions of sex crime suspects. Here's one:

The suspect is described as a man in his 30s with light brown skin, who is possibly Hispanic or American Indian.

He is 5 feet 1 to 5 feet 2 with a muscular, stocky build and a thick neck. He has straight short black hair that is combed back on the sides and sticks up on top. He has medium sideburns with a thin beard along his jaw line and a slight mustache. He has a scar running under his left ear, a burn mark on the top of his left hand, a missing right upper tooth and a gold upper left tooth.

He had a metal cross post earring in his left ear and walks with a slight limp. He was wearing a white T-shirt with curved lettering on the chest and a picture of a black male. He had a red and white bandana around his neck and black or blue pants.

An earlier report also mentioned an "unusual body odor," which could indicate he's living on the street. Somehow, I think they'll find this guy.

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Speaking of unusual odors, all week a scandal has been unfolding involving British Parliament member misuse of expense accounts — which have a purpose similar to the per diems paid to Minnesota legislators who incur living expenses away from home during a session. Another purpose, of course, is to pad their salaries.

Among the most notorious, Conservative MP Douglas Hogg charged £2,200 in expenses for cleaning his moat. In the old days, you would never clean the moat because that would reduce its value as a castle defense. Today, it's the opposite. One must keep up one's property values, mustn't one?

Of course, Americans do not have moats because we are less attached to our historic home sewer systems — or if we did build a moat, we'd call it a lake and pretend the property was on an island.  Plus, we have guns for home defense, which are much easier to clean. And if a legislator did have a moat that needed cleaning, it would be done by friendly private contractors who would forget to submit a bill.

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Speaking of hogs, a letter writer in today's Strib called out a particularly fawning 600-word editorial that supports the state's pork producers and urges American consumers to keep pork in "its time-honored spot at the family dinner table."

All the arguments would be familiar to anyone who has been following the pork industry's PR campaign to counter unfounded consumer fears about contracting "swine flu" from pork products.

Bill Lehto disputed the editorial's position that "pork continues to be a smart, safe food choice," making counterpoints about health, environment, employment, jobs, economic impact and humane treatment of animals. It would've been a perfect letter [not yet online] had it also mentioned the number of full-page ads that have run this month in the Strib as part of the pork PR campaign.

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Speaking of non-transparent agendas and highly identifiable suspects, Steve Perry writes about the Minnesota false claims act passed this year, sponsored by DFL Rep. Steve Simon, signed by GOP Gov. Tim Pawlenty and opposed by former Attorney General Mike Hatch, "who first brought the idea to the Legislature and urged its passage, back in 2004." 

The about-face this year was almost universally viewed as a vendetta against Simon, a former staffer in the attorney general's office who incurred the wrath of Hatch and his successor, Lori Swanson, by getting the Office of Legislative Auditor to look into whistleblower claims by AG staffers. 

Ah, yes. Maybe, if Peter Hutchinson hadn't split the vote in the last governor's race, we'd have a different budget and intact health and human services funding. But we'd also have Gov. Pigsticker instead of Gov.  Hogwash.

Cheney: Still Trying to Keep a Straight Face.

On the off chance some readers rely on me for national political news.... I used to think Dick Cheney had suffered a minor stroke, but now I think the grimace on his sinister side must be the result of trying to keep a straight face as he lied about Iraq, torture and other manipulations yet to be disclosed.

Pres. Obama's general stance of moving on from the mistakes of the Bush administration made sense to me. That's how I'd run an organization. But with Cheney's Torture Tour attempts to obscure his record and impeach the president's judgment, Cheney is asking for it. I hope the current administration will be just a bit less circumspect about the dirt it uncovers from the last one.

Frank Rich summarizes why. (h/t Norwegianity)

The traditional news media is heading way beyond lapdog status into fully submissive, peeing on the floor mode. It's lapping up the red herring story that Nancy Pelosi could've stopped torture and didn't, while the man who always had other priorities comes out of his bunker to finally tell the "truth."

Cheney gets his 20 minutes over and over, and the media has barely acknowledged how this man and his cohorts have been manipulating them. For example, how the Bush Pentagon populated TV news with "expert military analysts" who just happened to work for companies with fat Pentagon contracts. 

At least there's a chance that the viewers of Fox News might get some actual critical reporting by reading their men's magazines.

Seriously. GQ is breaking the story of how Donald Rumsfeld cynically slapped Bible quotes on classified intelligence briefings for Pres. Bush. Playboy.com walks you through a waterboarding (see video).

I checked Maxim to see if it had a scoop, too. The current issue has a story titled "The scariest man in America." I couldn't find it online, but I have an idea who it might be about.

The New Torture.

Lost amid the Cheney Family Torture Tour and GOP grandstanding with the "Keep the Terrorists out of America Act" is an announcement from the University of Wyoming that its Cheney International Center (CIC) has named John Yoo to the newly endowed Cheney Chair of Enhanced Interrogation Studies. 

"Enhanced Interrogation Studies is an exciting new multi-disciplinary field," said CIC director Jane Goodwell. "Recent events have dramatized the importance of finding enhanced techniques that will be effective in interrogating fanatical stateless combatants. Too many current methods rely on brutal centuries-old practices and do not take into account advances in medicine, brain science, bio-stimulation technology and bridging cultural differences. 

"Vice President Cheney has passed the torch to his alma mater, and we are proud to take up his quest for information that will keep America safe.

"Professor Yoo has demonstrated a profound understanding of the legal and ethical dimensions of exacting confessions and actionable intelligence without torture. In his work at the center, he will collaborate with a diverse cohort of UW researchers and thinkers, ranging from physical education, photography and music to corrections, livestock studies and destination management." 

The CIC is located in the school's Health Sciences Building, where "putting the departments together would allow them to do more than they would if they were apart."

*****

Okay, I might've stretched a few details. But this torture story is real.

Next Sunday, Katherine Kersten returns to the Strib with a weekly op-ed column. So does Nick Coleman. Although the ad says "familiar faces in new places," one of the faces looks to have had a makeover.

Weekend Ramble.

George Lakoff suggests why the so-called "liberal media conspiracy" doesn't matter one whit. It reports factually on discrete issues and rarely deals repetitively in overarching themes.

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Smart Politics notes that Rep. Tom Emmer (R-Delano) has introduced the “Firearms Freedom Act,” which would exempt from federal law or regulation, including registration, "any personal firearm, firearm accessory or ammunition that is manufactured commercially or privately in Minnesota and that remains within the boundaries of the state."

Instead of pointing out how dumb this legislation is or linking to the bill, Eric Ostermeier just rummages through poll data on gun ownership and statistics on per capita gun homicide rates.

It's clear from the text of the bill that Emmer thinks he is exercising states rights here. What's not clear from any quarter is why he feels it necessary to introduce this as the legislature heads into the last critical days of trying to deal with a major budget shortfall. Or whether Michele Bachmann's successor as the capitol's loosest cannon has considered any implications of his grandstanding bill.

For example, wouldn't the new provisions force gun retailers to maintain an additional set of books to track the Minnesota-made versus non-Minnesota products? How, exactly, would a retailer be able to establish that the Minnesota-made ammo or weapon he was selling would remain within the state?

Maybe it's a jobs bill. Naturally, criminals would want to stock up on unregistered Minnesota products, so that would be a boon to the economy.

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Then Craig Westover almost finds an acorn with his self-referential (a Minnesota Free Market Institute post quoting his PiPress column, cross-posted at True North) commentary on faculty salaries at the University of Minnesota.

The interesting issue he raises is whether students, university staff and Minnesota taxpayers must pick up the added costs of escalating salaries for star professors who might otherwise leave the state because they received better offers. Does paying these faculty more increase the wage gap at the university?

But then he fastens on the differential in state income taxes as the reason why Minnesota pays more — ignoring the role of the, ahem, Free Market and perhaps not realizing that this entire exercise is a form of academic blackmail that takes place annually at all institutitions. Faculty make the rounds, entertain job offers and use them as leverage to get a salary bump. It's not really about the taxes.

Grossing up any difference in state income taxes may take place as part of the negotiation process, but it is hardly the main dynamic, and the additional cost is negligible. Whether it's fair, though, is a reasonable question.

The other reality Westover skips over is that the "faculty" being poached are more likely to be researchers who bring to the institution large grants that employ other researchers, attract students, get new buildings built and spin off commercial applications. Facing the loss of those dollars, universities, like sports franchises, may be tempted to overpay for talent.

I won't dispute that income taxes are a factor in recruiting talent in a free market, but when you look at real situations, there's a lot more going on.

Sorry, I Can't Help But Watch the Wreck.

United Airlines travelers in Minneapolis Friday morning did not want to board their flight to Chicago as this story unfolded from the monitors broadcasting CNN. [No embedded video here as CNN code hijacks my formatting.]

As a woman drove around Long Beach for about half an hour, like OJ on meth, passengers hung out in the boarding area, hoping for some resolution before they had to turn off all their electronic devices. Airline staff had to make a special appeal to get them on board.

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Then there was the saga of Billy Bob "I'm a Drummer and Music Scholar" Thornton, whose vanity project crumples at the slightest emanation of a penumbra of a hint of an allusion that his vanity project might be a vanity project.

After BBT did a number on a Canadian radio host and audiences protested, his band came down with the flu. If you watch the video of the interview, you can see his band mates getting sick.

Guess I Should've Worn a Tie.

My fourth week on the job and the nun who runs the place stops me as I head back to the food pantry.

Are you a volunteer here?

Yes. (I work right outside your office.)

Then you'd better get a name tag, so we know who works here.

Busted. Obviously I don't stand out enough among the homeless and destitute.

I'm not saying the nuns were responsible for my ex-Catholicism, but they certainly hurried it along.

Last week, I had a lot of single men who were camping. Not this week. All families (mostly single women) and kids.

We get a slip with the food request. My favorite today was for 7 kids, including ages 1, 2 and 4, and 1 adult named Chastity.

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Over at the Day Center I noticed some new magazines had come in, and it reawakened my questions about what's the reading material preferred by our guests, who are mostly homeless men who come in for coffee, a shower, laundry, to make phone calls, etc.  If they're waiting, there's not much to do besides smoke on the patio, shoot the bull inside or read.

Last week, I brought in some back issues of National Geographic, Discover and High Country News, which I figured would be of interest. (The current issue has an excellent article, "Tarp Nation," on the camps and shanty towns growing in the west.) I did not bring in the old Wine Spectators that were left behind by a house guest.

Maybe I'm being elitist to think that magazines celebrating consumerism would be inappropriate to set out at a place filled with people living under bridges and eating lunch at the soup kitchen. Who am I to judge the people who left off copies their reading material?

The new issues I considered marginal choices were Better Homes and Gardens, the Frank Lloyd Wright Quarterly and American Baby — although we did have a mother in today with a baby who was no older than two months. Maybe she would appreciate tips on how to "Recreate Celebrity Mom Style."