Across the Great Divide

A New Year's Odds & Ends.

Cleaning up the kitchen with Prairie Home Companion on the radio. Garrison "Karaoke" Keillor and Prudence Johnson show that the Brill Building pop catalog cannot withstand nuzzling by two square crooners — one with a trained voice and one merely enthusiastic.

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You'd think a guy with William McGuire's coin and medical connections would know they have surgery to treat aviator glasses.

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Life is short, so I don't spend much time with conservative blogs. Why should I show up places where I know I'll get just want to get in a fight? But I'm okay with David Strom, who is principled and thoughtful despite being a conservative media hound. He  has this to say about Gov. Tim Pawlenty:

If conservative principles are the right principles upon which to base policies, they don't become less so due to this electoral setback. Pawlenty's message is that we should, "hey, go with the flow." Democrats win? Well, make nice with the Democrats, give them what they want, and the consequences? Let the future deal with them. This works for me and my political career. After all, Pawlenty is only 46, so he has to have a future, right?

The consequences that matter seem to be measured in short-term political terms, not long-term "common good" terms.

This is disappointing at best, dangerous at worst. This is how we will backslide our way into socialized medicine, fantasy-driven policies on energy (which is the blood of our economy), and protectionism (which will make us all poorer, and doom the 3rd world to another couple generations of poverty and environmental disaster).

Obviously, politicians can't get too far out ahead of the public, and certainly shouldn't engage in elitist dismissing of public opinion. But it is their obligation to have and stick to core principles based upon an understanding of how the world really works, and base their compromises on how best the move the ball toward the right outcomes--not on what will provided the best short-term political boost for their career.

Energy may indeed be the "blood of our economy," but that HIV in the energy bloodstream is still a bit of a problem, eh, David?

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A friend's new car with front wheel drive but no snow tires didn't like the combo of ice, snow and inclines on our street. Coming back from the Gopher Women's entertaining BBall game with Indiana, it insisted on going straight where turns were required. We decided to punt on the evening's party plans — to stay home with the fire, where the difference between 0.075 and 0.08 matters naught.

Cheers!

A Monster's Sad End.

This may sound strange coming from a man with a noose in his garage, but then, what wouldn't?

Reading about Saddam's hanging last night, I felt a creeping dismay, the sort of sadness you might feel when learning the body of some lost person has been found and their death is finally confirmed. You knew it would be so, and yet...

It is hard to decribe this, knowing it may be seen as one more example of why soft liberals can't protect America. But I am not a pacifist, and there are certainly circumstances where I could see myself pulling the trigger with Sadaam or some other tyrant in my sights.

Iraq clearly is steeped in a cycle of revenge and retribution — the primitive emotions our invasion helped unleash — but I am not. Once we had Saddam in his 15x15 cell, it would not have been hard to ensure appropriate misery for the rest of his life.

Instead, we freed him. 

Rushing him off to an ignominious death in a Green Zone garage may be satisfying for many. It will represent justice for some, and his continued existence might be painful for others. I understand all that. But once we had a helpless Saddam in our hands, I did not lust to see him sent so soon to hell.

We may think we have dispatched a monster, but I believe monsters have higher uses. They test our limits of compassion and forgiveness, our ability to discern humanity where humanity may be in question. Monsters can give us hope, for as long as they live, the possibility exists for repentance and redemption.

If Saddam can change, then so can I.

Some may say that's what Jesus is for, but then why would we be given monsters?

Grown Men and Free Speech.

Poor Vikings receiver Marcus Robinson. He talks frankly in print and two days later, on Christmas Eve, he's gone for "performance-related" reasons:

Things are a mess. In the beginning of the season, I'm not making the team, then I make the team and I start. Then to be benched, for no reason, then I'm starting. Then I'm not starting again. Position changes. But no one gives you an explanation. No one comes up and says, "Marcus, you know what, this week, you're going to do this."  

You're not even told. You just get reps on Wednesday as the fourth receiver. We're grown men here.

Maybe he thought he worked someplace where speaking your mind is expected performance.

Nick Coleman:

While the outcome of all this cutthroat gambling is unclear, there are two possibilities:

1) A private equity firm with no newspaper experience will show the newspaper industry how to save itself.

Or:

2) A privateer thinks the Star Tribune, with 2,000-plus workers, is ripe for plucking and pillaging.

I hope it was the first option that attracted Avista Capital Partners to add us to its fleet of oil rigs.

But one thing is clear: A newspaper company abandoned its employees and readers, for profit, not principle.

Doug Grow:

Everything we've heard from McClatchy recently is 'Hey, we're all in this together. We don't do layoffs.' Blah blah blah BS.

As much as you hated the idea of local ownership disappearing, which it did, and ending up as part of a chain, at least it was a chain in the newspaper business.

A Sure Measure of Testiness.

Yesterday, I heard the Decider-in-Chief describing the status of "the way forward" in Iraq. This is not to be confused with Ford Motor Company's "Way Forward." Or maybe it is.

Last January, in what sounded a lot like a plan for withdrawal, Ford announced its intention to cut at least 25,000 jobs, shutter 14 plants and — if that weren't forward enough — build a stronger Mercury brand. Then it brought in a new boss who didn't yet own a Ford product. The only thing missing was bilateral talks with Kia.

The New Yorker's Steve Coll captured the tenor of the country's way forward, as interpreted by George Bush’s spokesman, Tony Snow:

The President, he said, “is moving toward a decision on how to move forward.” In a tone of voice that was not particularly seasonal, he continued:

        I know a lot of you have been curious about when he would be announcing or talking about the way forward. That is not going to happen until the new year. We do not know when, so I can’t give you a date, I can’t give you a time, I can’t give you a place, I can’t give you the way in which it will happen.        
      

According to the latest polls, seven out of ten Americans disapprove of Bush’s performance regarding Iraq. For them, Snow offered a few words of reassurance. “The most important thing,” he said, “is that the President continues to be engaged in the business of talking about the way forward.”

In other words, our way forward so far consists of not setting a date about not setting a date.

The President yesterday was talking about this business of being engaged in the business of talking, but he sounded less like his standard petulant over-ar-tic-ulator and more like he was auditioning for a part in Lonesome Dove: "Ahm own tock tuh Congurse," which, in the more diplomatic transcriptions of the major news services, would be rendered as "I am going to talk to Congress."

When the President reverts to Texican, it's a sure sign of frustration with the niceties, and he's moving from impatient executive to pissed off tough guy. We'll have our first clue how he really feels when he finally pronounces his way forward. Or pernounces it.

Pro Bono Publico? Or Just Pro Bono?

The Minnesota Taxpayers League's David Strom reflects on whether U2 frontman Bono's tax strategy squares with his humanitarianism.

But what you should also know about Bono is that he has moved his music publishing business to Holland to avoid the Irish tax. Now most conservatives would seize on this as evidence to expose the hypocrisy of leftists, but I think the better thing is to seize on this as an object lesson on the power of incentives to actually move people, regardless of what intentions people have. Overall, incentives are stronger than intentions.

Don't believe me? Look at Bono. A genuinely good, caring guy who believes tax dollars should go to help the poor and downtrodden, yet once the taxes get too onerous, even he is driven to a tax shelter.

Strom's post doesn't have the whole story (see below), but his point  about taxes is still well-taken.

Tax policy is never exclusively about raising revenue; it creates some degree of incentive or disincentive, as well. For example, Ireland's previous exemption for royalty income led musicians, artists and writers to remain or to locate there. Its corporate tax rate helped attract high-tech companies such a Dell and Intel that have greatly aided Ireland's prosperity.

Generally, the wealthy can benefit most from gaps in the rules or global disparities in how income is taxed. Not just because they can afford the advice of experts in "tax efficiency," but also because their wealth derives from capital, which can be easily moved around the world.

U2 is a stellar example. The rules for the bar band playing in a Dublin pub are simply different than for an international rock star and his mates.

In Minnesota, the same principles apply. If the state needs more revenue, it's easier to raise it from sources that can't shelter income or move away — people with homes and day jobs. That's why tax fairness, along with the consequences of who pays, must be a big topic of discussion as the state considers its budget.

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U2 members benefited from a tax exemption on songwriting royalties, the source of about one-third the band's income. As residents of Ireland, they still pay personal income tax, which ranges from 20 to 42 percent. The Dutch tax on their publishing income will be about 5 percent, less than half the rate in Ireland.

The group makes 90 percent of its money outside Ireland.

Ireland's tax on corporate profits is about half the European Union average.

Bloomberg has a good summary of the U2 story, plus this context:

Wealthy individuals have put about $11.5 trillion in tax havens around the world, according to a 2005 paper by the London-based Tax Justice Network. Unpaid taxes on those assets could amount to $255 billion, the paper said.         

      

Number of the Day: There's Miller and Then There's Miller's.

Gin is a drink. Vodka is a means to an end.

The Leftist Pot: Chili con Charlie.

I don't believe in recipes unless you are baking, and I don't bake.

Otherwise, recipes are like chords for a song. They indicate the structure and direction, but also invite interpretation from those who get it. You will find certain ingredients that, like riffs, licks and grace notes, you can hang on some tunes and not others.

Wege published his chili recipe today, and since I made chili last night, I have to respond in kind. I actually have three or four distinct chili themes, using beef, chicken or pork with widely variant versions  depending on chile tolerance.

This is Charlie's Albino Chili, approaching Minnesota tastes, but muy bueno. Lots of ingredients, but if it was hard, I wouldn't make it.

1 pound ground pork, plus 1 pound chow mein ground pork, just for fun
1 carton chicken stock
2 cans white hominy
1 bag pinto beans
5 tomatillos
1 red tomato
1/2 Anaheim Pepper or whatever
1 medium yellow onion
1 small can chopped green chilis
1 lime with a nice skin
3-4 cloves garlic
Ground coriander, cumin and chili powder to taste
Charlie's chili sauce (reduced from Farmer's Market Thai chiles; substitute whatever very hot sauce works for your taste)
Salt — I'm cutting back, but go for it

Wash beans and simmer approx. 2 hours; pour off remaining water and add chicken stock
Brown pork in skillet with chopped onion (may need 2 skillets); drain fat and add to beans
Toss in hominy; drain one can, include water with the other — you want chili, not bean curd 
Add diced chiles, drained or not — who cares?
Season with salt, coriander, cumin and  chili  powder. No one can tell you how much you like, so why are you looking at me?
Stir in chiles or chili sauce to taste
Chop 1/2 Anaheim Pepper, tomatillos and tomato; add to pot whenever you feel like it
Juice lime into pot; slice peel into slivers and add to pot; you won't believe how good this is when you cook it down
Chop garlic and add to pot

Simmer until hungry or contents are in danger of congealing

Garnish with flour tortillas, blue corn chips and/or plain yogurt

Your children will thank me. Your childrens' children will set up a shrine; tell them it's Gramma Gomez's recipe.

What a Difference an Election Makes.

Amy Klobuchar heads to Washington with a telling change in her rhetoric. As she spoke to supporters seeing her off today, she talked of "working" rather than "fighting" for such issues as affordable health care, energy independence and ethics reform.

Is that just a shift from candidate to new Senator? Or is it the difference between minority party and majority?

[The fact I was able to mull this subtlety is thanks to MPR. KARE 11 took the "Mrs. Klobuchar goes to Washington" approach with its report summary. The video clip is better.]

Number of the Day: When Does One Not Equal One?

He became president without winning the popular vote. Soon after taking office, he helped heal a national trauma, then presided over the end of a losing war. His name a monosyllable, he spoke in simple sentences and espoused a simple faith. He was widely regarded as a doofus and was relentlessly parodied on Saturday Night Live. His wife was more popular than he was.

Wait, we've had two of these presidents, but they still couldn't be more different.

Winners and Losers for 2006.

Year-end lists are a cliche, but why should bloggers be left out of the fun? We've been picking winners and losers all year. I'm not providing many links because most of this is old news to my readers, or it wouldn't qualify for my list.

Minnesota Winners of the Year

Tim Walz. The newly elected representative from Minnesota's First Congressional District was a breath of fresh air — quite possibly the most appealing candidate in the state this year. All sorts of media called his victory a surprise, thereby betraying their failure to actually cover the race and learn what an authentic human being running for office really looks like. Keith Ellison has been handed Paul Wellstone's mantle, based on his progressive politics and fiery speaking style. But I see a bit of Wellstone in the good-hearted teacher and coach from Mankato, too.

Tim Pawlenty. While much of his party's ticket was melting down, Gov. Pawlenty ran an almost contentless campaign, ignoring Peter Hutchinson and allowing Mike Hatch to wear thin before November. Had he lost, Pawlenty's political prospects would be dim; had he won with his party maintaining its majority, the state would face another year of dysfunction and underfunding, with the Governor playing the Gingrich who stole Christmas. Instead, he emerges reinvented as a national hopeful who will act like a statesman to get things done.

Minnesota Twins. The Twins were a rookie elbow and a veteran shoulder away from a great year that could've been magical. (Okay, they needed some runs in the playoffs, too.) While the other Minnesota professional franchises founder and flounder, the Twins fielded a team that really felt like the home team, with a low budget and relatively few vagabond hired hands.

Wealthy Minnesotans. The wealthiest Minnesotans had another gangbusters year — at least those not deprived of their stock options. Income for the top two percent of Minnesotans continues to grow much faster than for the rest of the population, while their federal taxes dropped and their state and local taxes are proportionately the lowest of all income groups. Not so lucky were the house-poor imitators who have been funding a lifestyle based on low interest rates and a rising housing market. They also got knicked with higher property taxes.

Big Thinking Achieves Critical Mass. Not every example of transformative development (big thinking and usually, big spending, that takes years to be realized) was brand new in 2006, and I'm not a fan of every single one. But there's little question about how these projects have converged to exert positive impact on life in Minneapolis in 2006: Hiawatha Light Rail, Washington Avenue  Corridor Development, the cultural trifecta of The Guthrie, Downtown Library and Walker Art Center, revitalizations of East Lake Street and Franklin Avenue, and the completion of the Greenway to the Mississippi. And like it or not, two stadiums are getting under way.

Minnesota Losers of the Year

William McGuire. This isn't New York, where being a rich, self-indulgent asshole  guarantees celebrity. Former United Health Group chairman and CEO McGuire — perhaps the highest profile businessmen in the state — is so far guilty only of being rich and exercising insufficient ethical care. He's lost a lot more than stock options and his day job. Now his name will be forever linked with Ebbers, Lay and other tarnished titans.

Alan Fine. Running in the unwinnable (for a Republican) Fifth Congressional District, Alan Fine could've taken the high road as a culturally attuned, business-savvy consensus-builder and gained the visibility he needed to run successfully for another office. Instead, he sacrificed himself for the GOP fear-and-smear get out the vote campaign and came out looking like an intemperate loser. To see what might've been, Fine can watch how Robert Fitzgerald (Independence Party) does next time after his U.S. Senate run. As Borat might say, "Fitzgerald, very sexy. The other one, not so much."

Minnesota's Newspaper Readers. They were already on my list before today's news that venture capitalists with no history in the newspaper business bought the Strib from the small-time McClatchy chain. First McClatchy expanded its affirmative action for white conservative opinionaters and experimented with the stupid but equal doctrine when reporting controversy. Then it bought Knight-Ridder, selling the Pioneer Press to an owner with the apparent intention of turning it into an East Metro shopper. How many decent journalists will now hit the streets after the VCs come to whip things into shape at the Strib?

Minnesota Democrats Exposed. Michael Brodkorb, the Exposer, labored in the pay of Senate candidate Mark Kennedy, and supposedly slung mud long and hard for free. He got himself identified as a go-to-blogger for lazy MSM reporters, but also managed to get slapped around twice by the Strib's The Blog House. Despite his ubiquity and incessant shoveling of slime, his main targets Amy Klobuchar, Keith Ellison,Tim Walz and Mark Ritchie all won. Although other targets, such as Mike Hatch and Coleen Rowley, lost, none of Brodkorb's charges stuck or figured in the outcome. He also chaired the Senate District 38 Republican committee — in the home turf of Gov. Pawlenty and Auditor Pat Anderson — where Klobuchar trounced his client Kennedy, even in precincts where Republicans led the other races.

Kids. Not all kids, just the kids whose low-income families lost health coverage. The kids whose single parents have to work, but can't afford to put them in structured childcare that prepares them for school. The kids who use a Minneapolis Public Library so they can get on the internet or find a safe, quiet place to study. The kids in public schools with 30-40 others in a classroom. The kids who experience learning as drilling material to pass a standards test. The kids who aren't super students or super jocks and see tuition costs continuing to climb. The children of illegal immigrants. Other people's kids.