Is the private sector dead in Minnesota? I’m asking because it seems to be by the sounds of the rumblings about what isn’t in the already ginormous bonding bill proposed by Governor Pawlenty. Here is a story about some Duluth projects that weren’t in there, but may very well end up in there. More bleeping handouts.

Both projects can proceed and even come to fruition without the governor’s support at this time — what matters is his signature on a final bonding bill that emerges after all the compromises have been made by lawmakers. But rail enthusiasts can be encouraged by Pawlenty’s inclusion of two other train or transit projects on his list: A request for $60 million to complete the Minneapolis-Big Lake commuter rail line and $2.5 million for the Central Corridor Project to run trains or high-speed buses downtown-to-downtown between Minneapolis and St. Paul. His Central Corridor request is only a token amount compared to the $50 million sought by some promoters, and nowhere near the $840 million needed before the first train pulls out of a station. Yet it indicates a progression in Pawlenty’s appreciation and understanding of rail transit that’s far evolved from his days as a legislator unimpressed by anything running on steel wheels.

If there was demand for it, wouldn’t the private sector pick up on it. (I know AmTrak ain’t exactly private.) Just why the heck are we all of a sudden talking about trains to nowhere, everywhere? What the heck has happened to personal responsibility? Has the Governor truly lost his way?

I think the problem lies more with advisors than the Governor himself. But regardless, we can get everything he is pushing from a Democrat. So I ask, why should I bust my hump to get a Republican elected if it is just a Democrat in Republican clothes.

This is not the Republican agenda, that is the problem. He isn’t holding the line against the Democrats, he is carrying it to their side of the aisle and out “handouting” them. It is really ironic that the Democrats still hate him, he has done more in his first term than the Democrats in the legislature have for their side.

It is being bantered around that we need to get more Republicans elected into the House and Senate. And that if we do, Pawlenty’s leftward drift will be corrected. I only hope that will work, but given the fact that a lot of people in the public (who used to believe in what Republicans stood for) are pretty darn POed, and are threatening to stay home. Public perception of the Party is with the highest elected official, that is the Governor. Unless, as I called for before, someone else can stand up and be our shining knight, we’re screwed.

Knock on all the doors you want, but if you’re selling a dead horse, you’re selling a dead horse.

Presidential Corruption blocks investigation. Well because no one else is really bringing it up I will.

“After a thorough reading of the report it would not be unreasonable to conclude as I have that there was a coverup at high levels of our government and, it appears to have been substantial and coordinated. The question is why? And that question regrettably will go unanswered. Unlike some other cover-ups, this one succeeded.”

Bet you can’t guess who is being talked about here?

Read the rest of this entry »

More on Jeffers via Craig Westover.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty may have a challenger for the Republican Party endorsement in his re-election bid. Sue Jeffers, owner of the Minneapolis bar Stub & Herbs, will officially announce Monday that she is running for governor.

Although Jeffers is seeking the state’s top office as a Libertarian Party candidate, she may bid for the GOP endorsement as well. “Let’s not give Pawlenty a free pass just because he is our sitting governor,” she says. “I think he’s let us down.”

While the chances of Jeffers actually succeeding in wresting the GOP endorsement away from Pawlenty are pretty much nil, she could prove meddlesome to the Governor’s re-election plans. She describes herself as a “lifelong Republican” who has grown disaffected with the party’s inability to control spending. “I met with so many Republicans who were trying to get me to run as a Republican,” she says. “And I was too embarrassed. The Republicans have let us down.”

This is the kind of stuff her and I talked about during our 2 brief phone calls.

All I can say to those of you who continually hate me, and are back to attackingme again, is: Do you remmebr all the anger over the Fee, the spending, and the gambling proposals? Good, so does the party’s base.

Sue Jeffers is the Challenger.

I know everyone is upset I sat on this so long, but I was keeping my word to Sue.

The BBC has the text of OBL up, and it sounds more like a speech by Al Gore or one of teh other Bush hating Democrats. Read it for yourself.

There is no defect in this solution other than preventing the flow of hundreds of billions to the influential people and war merchants in America, who supported Bush’s election campaign with billions of dollars.

That is just the last paragraph.

I forgot to add that I have no doubt that the words of OBL will soon find their way into the left’s rhetoric. They will soon start quoting OBL. They are will to do and say whatever needed to profess their hatred for Bush.

From the initial reports of this tape from Osama bin Laden, I leaning towards the fact that we scared the living daylights out of him and his ilk with the Predator strike in Pakistan.

Pakistan has confirmed that we did get some al Queda officials in that attack.

Why would OBL announce an attack? He would have launched the attack and then offered a truce.

Why would OBL say that our security isn’t working, and then offer a truce? He would have normally attacked and had us surrender, or promise to finish us off.

Why no video? If they are in final preparations for an attack, why can’t he get to a video camera? (or one can’t get to him?

What the heck was there to rebuild in Afghanistan before we showed up? Are we supposed to destroy everything we have been building (not RE) in order to rebuild Afghanistan and Iraq?

I think we may have not only almost got #2 with the attacks, but we may have sent a chill up the spine of #1. This tape seems cowardly for OBL. He is not as egotistical as he normally is in these tapes. This tape makes no sense if AQ is still a powerful organization. I think we have kicked the living crap out of this puke. He almost got killed himself recently, and he is scared senseless.
The worst thing that can happen to the chief terrorist is to be killed for his own cause. He is terrified that he may have to find out that all those virgins he has been promising those suicide bombers, don’t really exist.

If the tapes are legit, you still think we shouldn’t listen in on ohone calls domestically? What if your neighbor is teh next Atta?

Hey America haters, sorry, rights groups. Please define what you consider torture.

I’d really like to know what you think torture is before you continue to handcuff the defense of our Nation by saying that torture is central to our interogations. Oh and is this 20 something year old journalist being held hostage on your radar for mistreatment? Is she being tortured? My guess is you haven’t even bothered to investigate that one have you?

So, what exactly constitutes torture?

The Strib has a story about how to start a blog. It looks like the did more regurgitating than anything else, but check out this little excerpt from the bottom of the story.

Anonymity

After signing up with a blogging site, for which you must provide personal information to register, you can maintain anonymity with readers simply by not listing your name. Also don’t make revealing references to yourself, such as where you live or work. Of course, you’ll have to weigh your desire to remain anonymous with what attracts many readers to a particular blog: the person behind it.

Weren’t they against anonymous blogging and sources? I guess they did just regurgitate this story with out giving it a duly diligent once over to see if it gels with their agenda.

Then again, they don’t realize what a blog really is if they consider huffingtonpost to be a real blog. It is more of an editorial page for fringe leftist whackos than it is a blog. You see the papers won’t publish their hate filled bile enough for them, so they were forced to venture to the internet.

I have a guy helping me out with the changes, and he seems to have been swallowed by a blackhole, so I don’t have a clue what is going on with the hosting change.

I’m working on switching to a new host. So please be ready for some rocky times here.

404 kind of stuff.