Today would have been my Dad’s 85th birthday. He was a no BS guy who didn’t put up with spin, BS, or people’s self centered selfishness. He told it like he saw it, and was respected for being honest.

A lot of people said I am the most like him in both looks and attitude. I take most of that as a compliment, depending on whether they liked him or not.

Miss ya pops.

Voters in MN House District 28B will decide which Democrat will be on the ballot for the August special election.

Special Election To Decide 28B DFL Candidate
(AP) Winona, Minn. Voters in Minnesota House District 28B go to the polls Tuesday in a special primary election to narrow the field of DFL candidates from two to one.

The candidates include Linda Pfeilsticker of Wabasha, who has the DFL endorsement, and challenger Wes Moreland of Pine Island.

The winner will face the Republican-endorsed candidate, Steve Drazkowski of Wabasha, in the special general election August 7.

Polls will be open in 52 precincts in parts of Winona, Wabasha, and Goodhue counties from seven this morning until eight tonight.

The winner of the special election will replace long-time state Representative Steve Sviggum, who resigned to become commissioner of the state Department of Labor and Industry.

A quick search under Pfeilsticker’s name leads us to a letter of endorsement from DFL State Senator Ann Lynch of SD30. It is pure gold for exposing the real Democratic plan for Minnesota.

One need only look as far as the transportation bill‹the vetoed
transportation bill‹to see how imperative it is to increase the strength
of the DFL majority in the House. The strength of both majority bodies
‹House and Senate‹is more critical than ever so that we can work
together to truly move Minnesota forward. Sometimes that means
having enough votes to override on matters that are critical and
represent Minnesota core values. We need Linda Pfeilsticker in
the House!

So when in the heck did tax increases become core Minnesota values?

Is this letter from Sen. Lynch a promise that Pfeilsticker will promise to raise taxes on hard working Minnesotans?

In the end, the voters will have to decide if they really want to send another Education Minnesota goon to the Legislature.

I am pretty sure that Pfeilsticker will selected today, as she is the teacher’s union approved candidate. And that is trouble. The DFL and Ed MN have already thrown down $200,000 for this one single special election. The liberal groups on the left are flocking into MN for this one. The former speaker of the House seat is a coveted pick up for the opposing party.

the Republican Drazkowski is well suited for the challenge. In the 2006 MN Senate race, he actually won the HD28B half of the District. the seat has been in GOP hands for 26+ years under Sviggum. But can we overcome the odds?

EdMN on full assault. (key note is this one is in the Summer, keep an eye out for a caravan of buses carrying teachers to goon for Linda. )
DFL $$$$$. (The liberals are salivating at the chances of picking up one more MN House seat.)
Organization. )The DFl is coming off 2 straight election routes in MN, not to mention the 05 specials which they won as well.)

I have full faith in Draz and the individuals supporting him, but well, ….. you know me. I worry that it was a bad decision to make this an open seat as the GOP is not geared up for it, and too busy recovering from last cycle and other problems as well. the DFL machine is quite formidable, getting cocky, and it is focussed entirely on this one.

You should all consider dropping down to help out Draz in the next weeks, especially the weekend before the election. If you can’t make it down to Wabasha, drop him a few bucks. he is up against the Liberal machine and could use it.

(AAA’s note: I think it is just plain stupid for this election to even be taking place. Here Republicans are , a skeleton minority in the MN House, and we have the former speaker getting tapped for a Commish job, thus leaving an open seat. Really really, short sighted in my mind. It is not like Republicans have done all that well winning specials yof late. )

Seems that the stalkerazzi of Rep. Michele Bachmann (MN6 R) are trying their hand at a letter to the editor campaign.

They’re upset that their juvenile tactics weren’t taken seriously by the professionals.

Ode criticized Ken Avidor’s use of photoshop as lowering the political discourse. Actually, this is nothing new. Cartoonists have lampooned politicians long before the internet and youtube. We make it very clear the photoshop parody is exactly that - parody.

Ah yes, those pictures used with out permission, or those gathered by misrepresenting themselves as “members of the media”, or just plain deranged photoshops which they use to smear a Republican.

Well, they are trying to launch an LTE drive to attack Bachmann since the Strib didn’t see fit to just print the garbage they come up with to slime her.

Meanwhile the *self proclaimed Republican ringleader of the stalkerazzi is mum on her own Representative Keith Ellison’s Nazi remarks and other fringe liberal policies, and even lashes out at people who bring up how she lets him get a pass.  Oh and her little buddy who made the Strib piece is also an Ellison constituent who is silent on his actions.

Maybe we should send in a few letters about how they ignore their own Representative’s behavior in lew of their fatuation with smearing Republican Rep. Bachmann.

Obsessed has a new meaning with these people. I hear they bought a dump truck to draw attention to themselves at events. Seems only the Strib gives them the time of day these days. Their dump truck, like their claims of massive discontent in the 6th, are full of s&@t. But as Bachmann’s career continues these nutbags will become emboldened and continue to think they matter.

Paging Swiftee?

Democratic Presidential candidate John Edwards really knows how to play to the crowd he is speaking to.

MSNBC Story July 6, 2007 Emphasis mine

For instance, former Sen. John Edwards said, “you should never tie the hands of an American president or take any option off the table,” in response to questions from the Israeli newspaper, the Jerusalem Post.

So to a newspaper from the country Iran’s leader has promised to eliminate from the face of the planet, he talks about showing a strong front and that military options must be on the table, but more importantly, he says that you can’t tie the hands of the commander in chief.

“you should never tie the hands of an American president or take any option off the table,”

But in his official campaign statements, Edwards is urging Congress to do just that.

“Congress, Accomplish your mission and end this war.”
JohnEdwards’08

So when he is talking to his Democratic supporters who oppose war, he is willing to tie the President’s hands because it serves his purposes, but when he is talking to an Israeli paper, he sings a completely different tune, because it serves their purpose…. survival.

Oh, don’t worry, he isn’t just giving lipservice to the surrender Democrats in one time lit/hit pieces, Edwards is leading their charge to tie the President’s hand. Emphasis mine

Says Bush is acting without authorization
Senator John Edwards believes that every day this war goes on it is worse for Iraq, worse for our troops and worse for our country. We cannot wait for the next president to end the war in 2009, we must act today.
Edwards has issued a comprehensive proposal to end the war in Iraq—starting today: It calls on Congress to use its funding power to block President Bush’s escalation, immediately begin withdrawing troops by capping funding and requiring complete withdrawal of all combat troops in 12 to 18 months. (Source: JohnEdwards.com)

Such hypocrisy, pandering, and saying anything to win has no home like it does in the Democratic party and its race for the White House.

An emailer forwarded this one to me.

2008 Democrat National Convention
Denver , Colorado

7:00 pm Opening flag burning

7:15 pm Pledge of Allegiance to the U.N.

7:20 pm Ted Kennedy proposes a toast

7:25 pm Nonreligious prayer and worship with Jessie Jackson and Al
Sharpton

7:45 pm Ceremonial tree hugging

7:55 pm Ted Kennedy proposes a toast

8:00 pm How I Invented the Internet - Al Gore

8:15 pm Gay Wedding - Barney Frank presiding

8:35 pm Ted Kennedy proposes a toast

8:40 pm Our Troops are War Criminals - John Kerry

9.00 pm Free Saddam Rally - Cindy Sheehan and Susan Sarandon

11.00 pm Ted Kennedy proposes a toast

11:05 pm Collection for the Osama Bin Laden kidney transplant fund
- Barbara Streisand

11:15 pm Free the Freedom Fighters from Guantanamo Bay - Sean Penn

11:30 pm Oval Office Affairs - William Jefferson Clinton

11:45 pm Ted Kennedy proposes a toast

11:50 pm How George Bush Brought Down the World Trade Towers -
Howard Dean

12:15 am “Truth in Broadcasting Award” - Presented to Dan Rather by
Michael Moore

12:25 am Ted Kennedy proposes a toast

12:30 am Satellite address by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

12:45 am Nomination of Hillary Rodham Clinton by Nancy Pelosi

1:00 am Ted Kennedy proposes a toast

1:05 am Coronation of Hillary Rodham Clinton

1:30 am Ted Kennedy proposes a toast

1:35 am Bill Clinton asks Ted to drive Hillary home

I think it is a redo of the 2004 mocking, but you still have to just love that last one.

That is my goal for this week. To find balance.

It seems like every aspect of my life is pulling in different directions, and everything is the most important thing and needs all my immediate attention. Work, politics, family, blogging endeavors, and lastly my life are not slowing down as I was hoping. Granted I have trouble saying no or leaving things to others, but still…. most days I feel like the weight of the world is on my shoulders.

Anyways, i had a decent weekend at the cabin, although a contractor did not show up Friday as planned which made taking a day off work a waste. But we did get to have a couple of fantastic moonlit boat rides and got a lot of work done. Even got dragged to see Live Free or Die Hard last night. (great movie btw!)

Great weekend, great company, as usual. Now if I can just figure out how to juggle bowling pins during the week.

There was what seemed to be a pretty good bio piece done on Rep. Michele Bachmann (MN6 R) this weekend.

Of course they hit up the stalkerazzi for quotes, and once again lend credibility to the obsessed Bachmann detractors and play up their juvenile online tactics without nary a quote from those who support her, but in the end, the piece seems pretty fair.

Update:

You just have to love how the George Soros Rent-a-blogger/journalist site has to dig up dirt, year old dirt, in order to smear a conservative Republican, and in true liberal retaliatory style from a former Strib reporter.

Honest to gOD. I know that many center right bloggers think Black is a stand up guy who doesn’t let his liberalism get in the way, but you’re dead wrong. He is biased, and I think even has a problem with powerful women.  

Let’s get this straight, the Strib runs a positive piece on Rep. Bachmann, and the former ink stainer Stribber himself sees it his new media duty to smear Bachmann.

I was remotely involved in that ‘kerfuffle’, and frankly who cares. Emotions were terribly high that day and at that time. Black has no proof that any threats were made or carried out. He just wanted to smear a strong Republican woman, or rather two, in order to take away from a story that made Bachmann in a positive light.

He still has no respect for Ms. Frederickson. He gave her hell during the 2006 MN US Senate race between Mark Kennedy and Amy Klobuchar, as she was Kennedy’s Press Secretary. She is now filling that role in Bachmann’s official office.

Black often made a Kennedy-Klobuchar story out of how Kennedy didn’t respond or this and that. Often playing the role of judge-jury-and-executioner of campaign ads and press releases. Forcing Kennedy’s staff (er Frederickson) to provide volumes of sourcing and documents as examples. Klobuchar was allowed to play shadow games with her record and ignore requests. BIAS (by gones, campaign over. let it go AAA…)

OK, I will, but will Black? Nope, he’s carrying on his little obsession, or rather the obsession of most political reporters round these parts. He’s all about smearing strong Republicans, especially women.

Seriously, what does the ‘kerfuffle’ from the Soros rent-a-journalist really have to do with anything? I am sure I heard all the same accounts from all the same people, but it never went anywhere. Black’s just trying to dig up an old internal GOP grudge, already solved and forgotten about a year ago.

Did he feel all of Ellison’s past illegal activities and questionable memberships were a statement on his character. Did he make such a big stink or “repent” for not taking Mike Hatch to task for his temper.

And for that matter, what proof does Black have that Rep. Bachmann has a temper? Seems to me that this is THE only indication Black has. An instance he was not part of, that happened between 2 people. One of which has downplayed it already. Story over? not to Black and the Soros funded hatchet grinders at the Minnesota Monitor.

Emotions were very high that day, and a lot of tears were shed. Even grown men cried that day.

I don’t know if Black has yet started his Soros mandated personal blog, but I have a name suggestion for him: “The Big Whoop”

I am heading to the cabin for a long weekend. I have to meet a well driller up there today, and finalize the details with the new septic system contractor.

Oh and that boat has been sitting on that boat lift for far too long. She really needs to see a sunset.

Later!

I just got my hands on Al Franken’s latest MoveOn style attack salvo at Sen. Norm Coleman.

Last week, Norm Coleman said, “We’re going to be in Iraq a long time.”

And yesterday, he voted against bringing our troops home. It didn’t matter to him that we’ve already lost over 3,600 Americans in the service of a misguided war. It didn’t matter to him that a broad majority of Minnesotans want a change in course in Iraq. It didn’t even matter to him that Republican Senators from Maine, Nebraska, and Oregon did the right thing and finally broke with the President.

When push came to shove, Norm Coleman chose to stand with George W. Bush.

No Al, he chose to stand with the troop and victory, not to mention defeating America’s enemies.

So, today, we begin to push back.

We’re taking out a full-page ad in tomorrow’s Minneapolis Star-Tribune calling out Senator Coleman for once again voting to support President Bush’s endless war in Iraq.

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE AD AND HELP US HOLD NORM COLEMAN ACCOUNTABLE

(that link takes you to a donate page on Franken’s site, hence it is embargoed. You can see the image file here)

Yesterday could have represented the beginning of the end of a war that has cost too many lives and too much of our country’s standing in the world. Instead, a group of Republicans, including Norm Coleman, killed bi-partisan legislation that would have started to bring our troops home.

Norm Coleman stood with George W. Bush. And now we need to stand up to him.

Democrats like Franken have been hammering home the point that this is Bush’s war, but the truth is that this is al Qaeda’s war. We went into Iraq to dispose a brutal terrorist sympathetic dictator with a track record of using WMDs. What we found was that AQ were willing to bring the fight to us. We are fighting terror, among other things, in Iraq.

This ad wasn’t cheap. And with almost 16 months left until the election, we’re going to need your ongoing support to keep holding Norm Coleman accountable for his support of this President and his endless war in Iraq.

Click here and take a look at the ad. If you agree that it’s important to challenge Norm Coleman head-on, and you can spare a few dollars to help us continue to hold his feet to the fire, I’d really appreciate it.

And even if you can’t, can I ask you to forward this email to your personal email list?

Sorry Al, I don’t have Susan ‘Surrender’ Surandan’s email.

For all his political agility, Norm Coleman won’t be able to wriggle off the hook on this one. He had a chance to help bring our troops home and chose instead to stand with George W. Bush. It’s as simple as that.

And in tomorrow’s Star-Tribune, it’ll be right there in black and white.

Thanks for your support,

Al Franken

P.S. - I’d like to know what you think about the ad. Drop me a line at info@alfranken.com and I’ll make sure to pass along your feedback to our creative team.

Black and white? Well one thing this ad helps expose is the clear nature of the differences between Franken and Coleman. Al Franken can’t wait to surrender to the terrorists.

This ad by Franken comes on the heels of the possible terrorist threat here in the Twin Cities, the capture of the #1 al Qaeda leader in Iraq who reports to bin Laden, and the news that the Surge is having results and the troops need time to achieve victory.

So Al Franken’s strategy to win the hearts and minds of Minnesotans is to try to publicly force Coleman to wave the white flag in Iraq. An odd plan if you ask me. He’s obviously comfortable with being labeled as a defeatist.

So Al Franken’s plan to make America safe is to retreat from the central front in the war on terror?

If you email Mr. Franken, I suggest you ask where he thinks the terrorists in Iraq will go after they topple the current elected Iraqi government with the help of Syria and or Iran.

Better question, ask Franken if he cares if retreating from Iraq emboldens America’s enemies.

Pentagon to Sen. Hillary Clinton: You’re Aiding the Enemy With Iraq Withdrawal Questions