Rebecca Brannon is one of perhaps half a dozen actual reporters in the Twin Cities media.

She captured this yesterday at “Pride“:

Looks like someone came up on the wrong end of the intersectional lottery…

Today’s song list:

I didn’t have “coup” on my bingo card for today.

Free reign to romp and play in the comments is granted. is granted.

Don’t let it go to your heads.

The rule changes in baseball this season got a lot of press.

But a rule change in basketball seems to have gotten less press.

Apparently, two field goals inside the three point line is now worth five points.

In related news, the Wooves/Linx “community” group has decared its “Inspirinig Women” winner for 2023:

Sunday, June 25 is the 30th anniversary of the last episode of “Late Night with David Letterman“ on NBC.

Today is also the 30th anniversary of the last time David Letterman was consistently funny.

The DFL did so much damage this past session, it’s hard to track all of it.

Rep. Hudson did a pretty good job of cataloging it – and why it matters (expand the tweet to see it all).

I’ll be talking about this extensively on the show this Saturday.

At some point over the last five or six years, Big Gun Control – a wholly owned subsidiary of Big Left – decided they were done trying to debate second amendment rights groups.

Its hard to fault them on their reasoning. Every time they have tried to debate the issue against a “near pair opponent“ in the past 35 years, they have fared incredibly badly.

With the flameout of the mascist establishment over Dr. George Hotez crab walking away from a challenge to debate Robert F Kennedy, Junior, the entire the left’s noise machine has switched into full gaslighting mode.

After two solid years of being busted using power, instead of fact to shut down debate on issue after issue after issue – on Fomite spread, the Wuhan Lab origin story, on vaccines preventing spread, and on and on – suddenly not only will they not debate, but…

…debate itself is bad.

Of course, when you’ve been wrong about climate change guns, transgenderism, welfare, the Soviet Union and pretty much everything else, I suppose avoidance is understandable.

But let’s call this what it is. Gaslighting.

The Left is America’s narcissistic abusive spouse. .

Today is the 18th anniversary of the opening of the Metro Transit Blue Line – the beginning, or re-beginning, of light rail transit in the Twin Cities.

So on this anniversary, let us remember the people who gave their lives – unwillingly and in most cases unwittingly – to further Minnesota’s political class’s obsession with feeling like a Big City.

It was a relatively quiet year on the rail lines – if you leave out crime at the train stations and on board the trains, of course. But the trains didn’t run over anyone new.

Still:

• The Blue Line has mowed down 15 so far – eight pedestrians, three bikers, a man in a wheelchair, and three people in cars. There was also a stabbing death in the winter of 2021 on the Blue Line, and three more murders at stations along the line. That’s an average of almost one death per year.
• The Green Line has harvested ten victims in nine years – the first just six weeks after the train started operating, mostly pedestrians trying to navigate the badly-designed street-level crossings. The most recent was last July 4. A shooting last month on the Central Avenue platform claimed another, although that wasn’t directly transit-related.
• The Northstar line has five fatalities so far. The last was in 2019 – which, to be fair, was about the last time anyone rode the Northstar.

That’s 30 dead, so far. 30 lives snuffed out so that the Met Council, the various governments, and other people who love to play with the dials and levers of government can feel like they’re “running” a big city with all the trimmings. 

Let’s take a moment today to remember these innocent victims of government narcissism and megalomania.

The missing submersible that went into the depths of the North Atlantic, taking tourists down to view the titanic, apparently had a design shortcoming or two, according to at least one whistleblower lawsuit:

At the meeting Lochridge discovered why he had been denied access to the viewport information from the Engineering department—the viewport at the forward of the submersible was only built to a certified pressure of 1,300 meters, although OceanGate intended to take passengers down to depths of 4,000 meters. Lochridge learned that the viewport manufacturer would only certify to a depth of 1,300 meters due to experimental design of the viewport supplied by OceanGate, which was out of the Pressure Vessels for Human Occupancy (“PVHO”) standards. OceanGate refused to pay for the manufacturer to build a viewport that would meet the required depth of 4,000 meters.

2700 meters short of the target depth?

Not exactly close enough for county work.

The US military learned the hard lessons about building submarines out of parts from the lowest bidder almost 60 years ago. its one of the very rare cases of government learning something before the private sector.

Something doesn’t quite smell right about this story.

It’s a gay bar, dumping Bud Light over them, abandoning the Dylan Mulvaney campaign.

The stereotype of gay bar patrons is that they have impeccable taste.

We are talking Bud Light.

Anyone else seeing the problem here?

Of course, the lesson to companies is, or should be, “don’t get involved in the culture war. Because once you dip your toe in, there is no “middle ground“.

Fantasy: Group of mewling progressive soft (among other things) racists “plan” to “buy every eligible black American an AR-15”:

Progressive activists concerned about gun violence are launching a campaign to drum up the support they need to pass more restrictive gun laws. The group plans to purchase an AR-15 for every eligible black American to scare Republicans into backing stricter regulations on firearms.

“We’ve known for a long time that racist Republicans are terrified at the thought of black men owning guns,” said Shelby Harris, chief operating officer of “Unpull the Trigger,” a non-profit anti-gun group. “By making sure every black man has a rifle, we can finally get Republicans to support universal background checks, gun buybacks, and confiscation of assault weapons.”

Dubbed the “Scare the Racists Straight” initiative, this controversial proposal is intended to get Republican politicians and their conservative constituents on board with the effort to limit gun ownership as much as possible.

“It’s a really exciting project,” said Tiffany Petit. “When these racist rednecks see video after video of black men shooting assault weapons at the range and carrying them in public, they’ll get on the phone immediately to tell their Congressperson to support more gun control pronto!”

Reality: a day at the range is more egalitarian than almost anything in modern society…

…especially a DFL executive meeting of any kind.

Also – let the record show that “23 and Me” says I have a black ancestor in the past 6-7 generations. Please make mine a .300 Blackout if you’d be so kind.

…when “Cultural Appropriation” was considered a bad thing.

Realtor markets to gays who are hysterical about Texas laws about…

…checks notes…

…restrictions on chemical neutering of mentally-ill minors, by calling his marketing ploy “the Rainbow Underground Railroad”:

When someone goes to the website FleeRedStates.com, a message reads, “As LGBTQIA+ citizens in Red States, many of us feel at risk. Current laws are highly discriminatory against trans youth and their families. Our marriages, our families, and even our safety are at risk. If you feel the need to leave the jurisdiction of a Red State, let us help you sell your property here and connect with you an LGBTQIA+ or ally agent in a better location of your choice. We are licensed in Texas and we have affiliates in all 50 states and several countries.” People can share their contact information to create an account and start the process of connecting with a real estate expert.

“We’re calling it kind of the ‘rainbow Underground Railroad,’” McCranie said. “We’re trying to get people out quietly and get them to someplace where they feel safer.”

And if you are more than two months old, you’re old enough to remember it, too.

Humans: “My God, this is horrible. Those poor girls…“

DFL/Media (pardon the redundancy): “OK, who leaked the video?“

Well, no – I’m actually not exaggerating (thread):

The problem, Ms. Moriarty, is that nobody trust you or your office. Not even a fair chunk of people who would never consider not voting for the DFL.

Fox9 – the laziest of the Twin Cities four TV stations – is suddenly concerned about “divisive rhetoric”.

“Jared Goyette” – never heard of him – cited a grab bag of more or less conservative statements absent any meaningful context, including one from Albertville Rep. Walter Hudson…

Speaking five days after Trump was indicted by a grand jury in Miami, Minnesota GOP Rep. Walter Hudson used militaristic rhetoric to describe Democrats in a speech to the Republican Seniors of Minnesota.

While making no reference to Trump, Hudson, who has a background in conservative talk radio and is known for his bombastic style, referred to Democrats as “unAmerican” and accused them of engaging in “demonic behavior.”

“You’re dealing with a party that has declared war upon you. The goal of modern Democrats is to conquer you. What do I mean by that? Conquer you? Think about what’s entailed in conquering a people. You’re physically displacing them, get out, go somewhere else,” he said.

…that was dishonestly wrenched out of context, as Hudson invites you to see for yourself, and which is in no way completely inaccurate, as we pointed out last week.

In the meantime – criticizing gender ideology is “Genocide”, according to gender ideologue and Woman of the Year Leigh Finke:

Not a word from Fox9 or Jared Goyette about that.

Still waiting for declarations of sympathy from Jews, Tutsi, Cambodians and Rohinga on the whole “genocide” thing.

The descriptions of the accident over the weekend that killed five MInneapolis women were bad enough.

Seeing it is another matter entirely:

Not sure how any jury seeing this video doesn’t go into the room with a serious bias against the driver…

…assuming it ever goes to trial. How sick is it that we have to preface all accounts of tragedies and atrocities in Minneapolis with a reference to “Moriarty Justice”.

And we do – because the driver, Derrick Thompson, has apparently already skated from one heinous traffic crime – a fact we learn on the 22nd and final paragraph:

Thompson has a long history of driving-related offenses, including multiple convictions for driving with a revoked or suspended license, according to state court and Department of Public Safety records. His license was reinstated in March 2023 and remained active at the time of the crash.

Which was five paragraphs below the fact that he is the son of former DFL representative John Thompson:

Though police have not publicly named the driver, two sources identified him as 27-year-old Derrick John Thompson, of Brooklyn Park. Public records indicate that he is the son of former state Rep. John Thompson, DFL-St. Paul. John Thompson did not respond to messages seeking comment.

Just as the sins of the father aren’t visited on the sons, a son’s crime isn’t a father’s fault. The fact that Thompson the Younger apparently benefitted from revolving door justice.

But the dead are Somali, in Hennepin County. I doubt even Moriarty can ignore that.

I talked with Lacy Johnson and Rep. Walter Hudson about the Frederick Douglas Foundation of Minnesota. Learn more here!

Learn more about helping the Fabro family dealing with the Carver County Attorney’s Office in getting accountability for the alleged attempted kidnapping of their daughter .

And here’s today’s music list!

SCENE: One morning at MNDFL Headquarters. An array of progressive Minnesota luminaries are gathered around a table. At the head sits Lieutenant Governor Peggy FLANAGAN. To her right, Ken MARTIN, chair of the DFL. The other seats are occupied by Javier MORILLO of the SEIU, Denise SPECHT of Education MInnesota, Alida MESSINGER of Alliance for a Better MInnesota, and the senior staff of Minnesotans United for All Progressive Causes, the non-profit/money-laundering operation that works with the party.

FLANAGAN: Murphy!

(Esme MURPHY enters the room): Yes, Maam?

FLANAGAN: Gimme a g*****mn Manhattan.

MURPHY: Yes, ma’am. (Murphy exits.)

FLANAGAN: OK, Ken, where’s the governor?

MARTIN (Yelling): Governor Walz?

WALZ (Enters from a closet next to the exit door). Hraaaa hraaa hraaaas hreaa One Minnesota hraaaaa hra hra hraaaaaa Best State (holds out an iPhone, takes a selfie) hraaaa hraaaa hra hra donut hraaaaaa hraaaaa…

FLANAGAN: Got it! Enough! (WALZ goes back into the closet).

FLANAGAN: We need an example of a place in the real world that is dominated by Democrats and exemplifies love and equity.

Inge “Lucky” CARROLL, a former guidance counselor at a school for monomaniacs, Inge is Head Meme-Buffer at “Minnesotans United for All Liberal Causes, raises her hand.

FLANAGAN: What?

CARROLL: Let’s have them look at Hamtramck, Michigan. It’s solid Democrat country – their Democrat congresswoman won by a sixty point margin. And the city is majority Muslim and is run by an elected Muslim city council, and they just voted…

(CARROLL squints at a site on her phone) uhhhhhhh…

On Tuesday, Hamtramck, Michigan’s city council, unanimously voted to banPride flags from being displayed on public property. Located just outside Detroit, Hamtramck is the only Muslim-majority town in the United States.

The ruling was celebrated with cheers and applause inside City Hall, where dozens of concerned residents, Muslim and Christian, had shown up to express their thoughts on the matter.

According to the Detroit Free Press, the resolution was introduced by Councilman and Mayor Pro Tem Mohammed Hassan, and applies not only to Pride flags, but also those promoting any “religious, ethnic, racial, political, or sexual orientation group.”

“Only, the American flag, and the nations’ flags that represent the international character of our City shall be flown,” Hassan stated, adding that it was imperative to “maintain and confirm the neutrality of the city of Hamtramck towards its residents.”

FLANAGAN: (Sits, dumbfounded)

(The closet door opens. Governor WALZ steps out, and wanders around the room like a Roomba)

WALZ: Hraa hra hraaa hra hraaaaa hraaaaa hra BestState hra hraaaa hra Fully Funded hra hra hraaaaaa hra hra hraaa hra…

And SCENE

Maybe, just maybe, the kids will be all right:

Us Gen-X grandparents will have a role in helping our Zeeper/Alpha grandkids reclaim this nation’s actual legacy.

Also: I bet if this keeps up Big Left will stop trying to register teenagers to vote.

Earlier this week, the Facebook page of the Scott County GOP compared Governor Walz and the DFL’s legislative majority to to Hitler and Stalin.

Silly Republicans. Only Democrats get to make specious, scabrous, historically-void comparisons to dictators.

Now, as someone who studies history – especially the history of tyranny – very seriously, I’d like to make two points:

1. I hate willy-nilly dictator references. Calling people “Hitler” or “Stalin” is lazy. The only thing I hate nearly as much is…
2. Dismissing legitimate claims of tyrannical behavior as if the claim itself, rather than the aptitude of the facts presented, is the joke.

Because it’s not like tyrannies generally drop in on society unannounced.

Tyranny, like cancer, has four stages. There is no stage five.

(Definition of terms: “Regime” is used in the original French sense of the term; it means the person, people or parties running the government).

I’d say the Walz administration is a solid stage 1.

Thoughts?

And if you say otherwise…

…you must be an uncool middle-aged white guy from Fridley!

I guess the upside is, jacking cars makes those kids too busy to commit the white collar crime that is this nation’s real problem.

Big Media (Loudly). Target is getting threatened for backing off of some trans-forward merch in some stores in some places…

(More quietly): …by pro-LGBTQIAetc advocates.

Conclusion: give in to the wannabe terrorists so the conservatives don’t win!

We started seeing it alwt week, with EJ Dionne’s puff piece in the NYTimes.

And over the past few days, you’re seeing Public Relations via Goebbels 101 in action: repeat something over and over and over until the gullible and uncritical start accepting it.

It started last week – the DFL’s functionaries and pet media referring to this past session as a “Minnesota Miracle”.

Note the coy presentation below:

“Whatever you want to call it?” The DFL is spending big money and redeeming big political capital to try to push the idea that their legislative orgy was, not a Mafia-like twisting of “moderate” arms after spending $18 for every GOP dollar to win the Senate by 300-odd votes, but a “Miracle” of progressive governance.

So, they “won” the session. They got everything they wanted, and then some. . The GOP wasn’t even a speed bump (somewhat unforgivably, in terms of the bonding bill IMO).

Why would the DFL feel the need to pimp so hard for the public image of their “colossal achievement”?

Oh. That’s why.

My band, “Elephant in the Room“, is playing at the “Backing the Blues“ Street dance this coming Saturday.

The event – which was an annual thing for over 40 years until the pandemic, and is restarting this year – is a benefit for the Hennepin County Sheriff Association

The event is free. Donation proceeds go to supporting scholarships for people going into law enforcement. The band is playing for free, so anyone who wants to throw a few bucks in the bucket is much appreciated.

I mean, they had me at barbecue.

Governor Klink is all about the stolid rural individualism:

“It’s a very Midwestern value: mind your own dang business.”

This from the guy who gave us the snitch line.

When trying to win a rhetorical or political battle, the idea is when the fact reflect the proposition that you are winning, and that your victory is inevitable. Not only does it show you are on track to win, but it sucks the morale out of your opponents as the contest slogs to its miserable, inevitable end. Sort of like a Timberwolves season.

The next best thing?

To paraphrase the old law school trope: when the facts are against you, argue the ideals. When the ideals are against you, argue the facts. And when the facts are the ideals are against you, convince the enemy that they favor you anyway.

And that’s what Big Left is trying to do; convince Real America that the game is already over.

It’s nothing new – it’s why they parroted twaddle about “the emerging Blue majority” and “Texas will turn blue!” over the past 20 years, as if all political trends are linear.

But there’ve been a few hot ones lately.

“Minnesota Is Irreversibly Blue!”

The DFL outspent the GOP 18:1 in the 2022 elections – and flipped the decisive seat by less than 400 votes.

Fewer than 1,000 votes would have put the House in GOP control.

But for a pretty dismal showing by the Jensen campaign, and the overturning of Roe (which can’t happen again), the Attorney General and State Auditor were on the cusp of winning.

Yes, statewide races are a problem – and I despair of the current MNGOP cracking that code, not that I’m not gonna try to push it.

But saying “Minnesota is pure blue!” is premature.

“Millennials Are Eternally Progressive!”: Maybe not so much anymore.

In the 2020 presidential election, voters who were 18 to 29 in 2008 backed Joe Biden by 55 percent to 43 percent, according to our estimates, a margin roughly half that of Mr. Obama’s 12 years earlier.

The exit polls show it even closer, with Mr. Biden winning by just 51-45 among voters who were 18 to 27 in 2008 (exit polls report results among those 30 to 39, not 30 to 41 — the group that was 18 to 29 in 2008).

And last fall, the young voters of ’08 — by then 32 to 43 — preferred Democratic congressional candidates by just 10 points in Times/Siena polling.

Nobody stays young and stupid forever (DFL communications staff notwithstanding).

“The General Public Is Embracing The Transgender Ideology”: Sincie 2021, the public perception that there are more than two genders has shifted six points.

Away from the transgender narrative.

Sack up, campers. This fight is just beginning.