Shot In The Dark

From Your Fingertips To My Blog

The other day, commenter PB asked:No comments about Iraq, about how swimmingly things are going, but just not getting reported?Damn. PB's right. I've been a big negligent. There's this. It's part 35 of a series. And about Iran and North...

Mike Hatch, American Bankers and the Twin Cities Media - Part 4

Part 4: "Confusing, deceptive, inappropriate, inconsiderate" Once you get past the January 6 meeting, things get confusing. In February, Patrick Nelson (Deputy Commerce Commissioner) finally negotiated a settlement with American Bankers. There would be a $200,000 fine, and a $1.8...

Mike Hatch, American Bankers and The Media - Part 3

I'm re-running my series on Mike Hatch and the American Bankers controversy, first published in the summer of '03. The story is back in the news - if below the fold - due to the continued prosecution of State GOP...

Mike Hatch, American Bankers and the Media, Part 2

I'm reprinting the entire five-part series I did in the summer of 2003 on Mike Hatch and the American Bankers story, one installment every day. Next week, I'll revisit the story. By the way - if you have any inside...

Mike Hatch, American Bankers and the Twin Cities Media - Part 5

Part 5: Disappearance of Impropriety Imagine the scenario: The Star-Tribune finds a major political figure doing something that has that appearance of impropriety - for argument's sake, let's say it's a Republican. Let's say they found evidence that, say, John...

Mike Hatch, American Bankers and The Media - Part III

Part 3: The Meeting After a tumultuous campaign season, Tim Pawlenty was elected governor of Minnesota in November of 2002. He appointed Glenn Wilson to the post of Commerce Commissioner. Wilson's main experience was in the mortgage industry - Ronald...

Mike Hatch, American Bankers and

Mike Hatch, American Bankers and the Twin Cities Media, Part 2 - The second part of a five-part series. Nobody argues that during last fall's election cycle, American Bankers tried to rent some influence with a potential, incoming Commerce Commissioner....

Mike Hatch, American Bankers and the Media: Part I

If a Settlement Falls In The Forest, and Nobody Hears It... A source close to the story says "Make no mistake, American Bankers was a bad player. Everyone acknowledges that."  American Bankers Insurance (which was originally two companies, American Bankers...