Befuddled, a blog written by a woman named “Louie”, is skimpy (or so it seems at first impression) on autobiographical details.  But she’s an excellent writer, covering a very, very wide range of topics.

This post from earlier this month – a memoriam to teenager that used to attend Louie’s daycare – caught my attention:

Pat and I went away for the weekend AND attended the Chicago/Vikings game on Sunday. (Thanks R & R) All that sounds like a great time … hmmm, I beg to differ on that because of…well, if you’ve read my previous posts you know. The weekend away was to be a moment to forget, a moment to feel normal…

Well…it started that way and it was really nice to be with my hubby…then on Saturday, I read the paper and there was a small blip about a car accident and a teen dying. The name didn’t register at that time, I was skimming and briefly sad for yet another loss on Highway 8 of a young life….a couple hours later, our daughter called knowing that she should only call if there was something urgent….

The girl who died….she was one of the kids I did daycare for only a few years ago. It was after that phone call that I thought I was going to have a nervous breakdown…I shut down. Too much for my human emotions to handle. At a certain point, the wall that I created to try to help my friends, crumbled, and I found myself lost.

Read the whole thing; it’s some excellent writing on a very difficult subject.

So support your local MOB blog – whoever they are…

Chris Meirose is the pastor of the First Congregational Church in Waseca. He writes Because I Said So – a blog that’s been appearing consistently for almost five years.

And he’s all over the place; family life, computers, daily life at his church, politics – the same dog’s breakfast of topics that makes the most interesting blogs for me.

I liked this piece last month, about the value of spiritual upbringing for children:

With all of the time, money and effort that parents and churches invest in the spiritual growth of children, we find ourselves often wondering if there is really any statistical connection between childhood faith and adult religious commitment. A recent study by the Barna Group provides new insights into the age-old question.

The survey asked adults to think back on their upbringing and to describe the frequency of their involvement in Sunday school or religious training. The researchers then compared these responses to the current level of faith activity of these adults.

Read the whole thing – and of course, check back with Mr. Meirose often.

We’ve had a few MOB blogs leave Minnesota.  As long as they carry on blogging, I don’t think any of us have a problem with that.

Bear Creek Ledger was always an unrepentant Christian conservative blog when they were here; now that they’ve moved to Tennessee, they’re no less trenchant.  Here, they assail the leftism-of-convenience of way too much of American Catholicism:

Funny how NOW it’s acceptable to use Christian religious symbolism.

From the WaPo – Baby Jesus, poster child for the 2010 Census?

The poster was based on a story in Luke’s gospel that says Joseph and pregnant Mary journeyed from Galilee to Bethlehem to take part in a census decreed by Roman Emperor Augustus. There is no other record of that particular census ever taking place, but the story explains why Jesus was born in a manger in Bethlehem, the city of David.

The poster was created by the National Association of Latino Elected Officials (not by the Census Bureau), which sent it to more than 7,000 churches to inform Hispanics about the census and encourage them to participate, regardless of their legal status. Some find it comforting.

I’m sure the Catholic Church will go whole hog for this campaign since they’re nothing more than whores for illegal aliens, especially those who come from any Latin country. The Catholic Church and the Vatican has bought into ’social justice’ and wealth transfers.

Bear Creek Ledger – conservatism, unfiltered.

So click in and and support your local MOB blog – even if they’re not local.

Nathan McLaughlin is the mayor of Clarissa, Minnesota.  And that job keeps him busy enough that America’s Small City Mayor is updated on a relatively leisurely basis.

But it’s good stuff.  McLaughlin brings a fairly keen analytical eye to covering his turf – Clarissa is between Eagle Bend and Browerville [1], up in Minnesota’s reddish-purple hinterland, where Michele Bachmann country starts to dissolve into Collin Peterson country. 

I liked this piece: “Small City Economic Overview and the Policy Bubble“.  Excerpt:

SCSU Scholars economist, King Banaian, shows in a recent study (Slowing Layoffs & Fewer Hires) that while there are fewer layoffs than in previous quarters.  The acceleration in hiring for new jobs just isn’t registering. 

In my conversation with local employers and employees this seems to be the case.  An abundance of caution is being taken to figure out a true direction in our economy.  

Accordingly, one executive, representing our areas largest employer referred to the numerous changes that might be occurring at our state and federal levels. (i.e. banking, health, taxes)  He told me their company just cannot make investments or decisions on a large scale until the legislative actions are brought to a definitive conclusion.

Many of you might remember a post on The Policy Bubble (March 2008).  I had warned about this exact circumstance.  What our free market needs is political certainty on the levels of taxation, regulation, and reform.  Right now business cannot resume until elected representatives in Washington & St. Paul get out of the way.

In a sense, this is how more politicians should blog; give the people coherent analysis, and show why it is you should be in office.

In your wanderings around and about the MOB, make sure you check out America’s Small City Mayor.

[1] Or, to give you a helpful description, it’s about 75 miles northwest of Saint Cloud.

There was a time when blogging was a little like Twittering is today; indeed, in the days before Twitter, many blogs were a medium for people to publish quick jottings to an audience.

Some of us shifted to the longer and longer form post over time (MITCH’S AUDIENCE: “No kidding?”); others stayed with the original idea.

Some still do.  Alan Anderson has been doing “For Personal Responsibility” for the past four years; a long series of piquant, focused personal jottings.

Wednesday;

President Lyndon Johnson’s administration was known for his War on Poverty. President Obama’s will be known for his War on Prosperity.

I’m speaking, of course, about Obama’s effort to engineer a massive redistribution of wealth in America, using all the coercive powers of government now under Democrat control.

Make no mistake about it: Obama does not believe in individual upward mobility. He would penalize it, tax it, regulate it, inveigh against it, and disincentivize it.

Economical.  To the point.  No messing around.

“For Personal Responsibility” is like a political commonplace book for someone who thinks about the subject a lot.  And since I agree with Mr. Anderson, near as I can tell, on most everything, that’s a very good thing.

Stop by, say “hi”, and support your local MOB bloggers.  Please.

Next stop in our tour around the Minnesota Organization of Bloggers – 270 Days in Afghanistan, a production by Captain Mark Martin, a Minnesotan whose subject matter should be pretty obvious from the title; it’s a story of a tour of duty in Afghanistan.

The blog started last June – and from the beginning, has been a fascinating look at the life of a typical soldier going off to a modern war; the bureaucracy, the lingo, the mission.

I thought packing my kids for a vacation was a job; Cpt. Martin describes the job of packing up his company for nine months back in the Stone Age:

For those of you who have never been in the United States Armed Forces, and the Army in particular, there are plenty of anachronisms, acronyms, lingo, and generally huge explanations for what can be the simplest of things. I once saw a sign that read, “Ft. Lee, Virginia! Home of USALMC-G4LOGPACCOM!” That was Army-ese for “United States Army Logistics Management College – General Staff 4 Logistics Packaging Command”. These guys are the dudes that come up with how supplies should be routed around the world. Pretty impressive….I’ll give them that. But does their acronym really have to be that convoluted. Seriously?

Anyhoo….fast forward to this particular installment of my fantastic voyage. The Pre-Combat Check/Pre Combat Inspection. You see….the Army doesn’t walk out the door, get into the vehicle, and drive off into the fray. No no no….the Army has Checklists and Inspections! Mostly this is to keep unimaginative people like me from packing irrelevant minutiae. Things such as the latest installment of Homes and Gardens magazine have no place in the Army rucksack! I mean c’mon! There are STANDARDS dude!

So the PCC/PCI has been around for as long as the United States Army has been in business. Way back in the colonial days, Samuel Smith might have shown up with his musket on time and in the right place, but the battlefield was minutes from his house, right? These days we pack truckloads of stuff halfway around the world. Small wonder that we need to check and re-check what we plan on bringing to the fight.

Today was a day for PCCs/PCIs. Loadplans, vehicle setup, rucksack configuration, packing lists, ammo loads, pyrotechnic storage. You get the idea. Anything and everything a soldier would need to close with and destroy the enemy on the friendly highways and byways of Afghanistan. Besides…I have always found that the best way to get soldiers who have never been in combat more comfortable with the idea is to inundate them with preparation. That way, when it come time to actually pull the trigger, it is yet another thing that they have practiced. Soldiering is a dangerous business.

It’s not hard to catch up on the entire history of the blog; Cpt. Martin’s had some other priorities than writing this past seven months, so a few posts go a long way.  But it’s well worth the read.

Stop by, say “hi”, and by all means tell the Captain the MOB thanks him for his service.

As, indeed, I am right now.

Minnesota has long had one of the most fertile, bumptious, interesting, active blog scenes in the world.  Most of it is centered on the center-right blog scene; blogging is a medium that favors the underdogs.  

The Northern Alliance Radio Network founded the Minnesota Organization of Bloggers nearly six years ago, as a way of turning that new, fertile, enthusiastic bunch of writers into a social scene.  The MOB, as we called it from day one, has always been rigorously non-partisan; we have strenuously welcomed bloggers of all political stripes, and even bloggers who could care less about politics.  And we always will.  The MOB (Karl Bremer’s delusions aside) has no editorial input into any MOB blogs; our only agenda is to publicize MOB blogs, blogging in Minnesota and, twice a year or so, get together for a party.

That’s it.

It’s something I used to do pretty much yearly – but I’ve fallen gravely short in my duties as one of the MOB’s Capo Di Tutti Bloggi, and so it’s been nearly five years since I last took a trip Around The MOB to introduce you to the 100-odd blogs on the MOBRoll. 

So let’s fix that.  Over the next few weeks, I’m going to take a quick visit (not super long) with every currently-active blog on the MOB Blogroll. 

———-

Which brings us to the top of the order, and the MOBRoll, and the only one so far to depart the Latin alphabet: έχω ζωη (“Echo Zoë”). 

Where most MOB blogs focus on politics, έχω ζωη has always been about faith.  Christianity, as it happens.  The blog has largely converted into a vehicle for a monthly podcast – which are, by the way, well worth listening to (as with this piece, on the nature of persecution).

But the writing is also wonderful – philosophical, tackling the nature of God and eternity with the aplomb many of us reserve for fisking Nick Coleman.  I loved this piece – on the “hateful” label so promiscuously appled to Christians – from last October:

I recently posted a Youtube video by comedian/magician Penn Jillette. Despite being an avowed atheist, and thoroughly rejecting the claims of Christianity, including what I’ve laid out here, he had the intellectual honesty to admit that it would be downright hateful of a Christian to believe what I’ve stated above, and do nothing to share it with others. I was a bit surprised by his understanding of the Good-will of the Christian he encountered.

On the other hand, Jillette is in a small, and shrinking, minority among the vocal unbelieving world. The more common response is much more antagonistic, if not violent. That of homosexuals is perhaps easiest to point to as exemplary. As a Christian, I don’t see homosexuality as any lesser or greater a sin than those which I am guilty of myself. However, it’s quite visible. I know of no other sin that has parades, festivals, or benefits to highlight it. In addition, opposition to it is painted as hatred. But is it really? If I firmly believe a sin (or in this case a lifestyle of sin) to be destructive, not only within this life, but in the next as well, is it really hatred to speak up about it?

It’s hard to believe that έχω ζωη has been cranking out uniformly excellent material, at least every time I’ve checked it, for over six years now.

Stop by, say Hi, give a read and a listen, and support your local MOB blog.

Gary Gross’ Let Freedom Ring blog is celebrating a big anniversary today:

Today marks the fifth anniversary of me starting blogging. It’s understatement to say that it’s been a great experience. During those years, I’ve watched history being made, starting with the elections in Afghanistan, then Ukraine’s Orange Revolution (that’s how I first learned about King), followed by Iraq’s Purple Finger election on Jan. 31, 2005, immediately followed by the Cedar Revolution in Lebanon.

The Cedar Revolution was started when Syrian thugs assassinated Rafiq Harriri, the popular leader of Lebanon.

Over time, LFR evolved into a mostly political blog. Thanks to Final Word, I got interested in state level politics. On that front, the best is yet to come. There will be exciting news coming on that front soon.

Hopefully it involves video of Tarryl Clark taking wads of Jacksons from drug dealers.  But I won’t hold my breath.

I’ll just say that it’s about putting a common sense blueprint for winning in 2010.

OK, seriously now: Gary is one of the “Class of ’04” – one of the big crowd of excellent center-right blogs that started in 2004.  Gary has gone the extra step, though, parlaying LFR into a fairly influential source of info for Saint Cloud-area politics.  Gary, along with King, is one of the leading voices for principled conservatism in Saint Cloud and the Sixth District.

Happy Anniversary!

The basketball program at Minneapolis Community and Technical College is on the chopping block.

The program has grown from a run-of-the-mill junior college program into a national powerhouse among two-year colleges, under the leadership of coach Jay Pivec.  He’s got plenty of experience turning obscure colleges into basketball powers; if memory serves, he came to MCTC in ’89 or ’90 from (I hope I remember this correctly) Havre, Montana – whose college he also took to the bigs.  And before that, he coached my alma mater, Jamestown, turning it’s hoops program into an improbable success.  Jay also coached my one phy-ed class – Tennis, I think – where our only real subject in common was Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes.  We have more in common now, of course; his wife, MLP, writes the excellent blog  Casual Sundays with Mr. Curry; his sister-in-law, Katie McCollow, ran the late, lamented Yucky Salad With Bones.

At any rate – MCTC’s basketball program is to college hoops what junior/community college is supposed to be for college; a place for students who are late bloomers or who slipped off “the rails” in high school to get their act together and move on to “regular” college, or at least down some path with a better education.  Unlike so much in public education, MCTC’s program (actually programs – the women’s program does the same thing), it works:

Most MCTC players lacked grades or money. Some of the players live at home to save money; some have kids of their own. Lindahl said he holds practice between 6 and 8 a.m. because he knows his players have other responsibilities, and Pivec and Gates are widely known for salvaging the careers, if not lives, of at-risk players…Last year, the men’s coaches helped Cortez Wallace land a scholarship at Western Missouri. Pivec and Gates found Wallace, who dropped out of high school in the 10th grade, playing AAU ball. They pushed him to get his GED, recruited him and gave him a future.

“Coach Gates and coach Piv have done so much for me, helped me get jobs, helped me get work-study,” said women’s player Natalye Horne. “Coach Piv and coach Gates especially treat me like a second daughter. This program is like a family, and now they’re breaking it up.”

Guard Sondra Jones said: “For a lot of people, this is a stepping stone to something bigger. But the administration looks at this as an option instead of a priority.”

Freshman point guard Freddie Burton could have left the program once he found it was doomed but said, “I’ll just try my luck here. I like the program. I really don’t know what I’m going to do next year.

“Damn that Pawlenty and his LGA cuts!”

Well, no – it was a fairly capricious-looking decision by the MCTC student senate – the DFLers of tomorrow:

Last year, the school’s Student Senate and Student Life Budget Committee decided that basketball was not a high priority, and school President Phil Davis accepted the recommendation to withdraw funding for the program. That silly process — letting students who will spend a maximum of two years on campus decide the fate of a traditionally powerful program run by two dedicated lifelong coaches — leaves the Mavericks renowned yet doomed.

The crazy part? The program is excellence on the cheap:

While some players are circulating petitions to fund the programs, Davis has made it clear that the program would have to be financially independent, requiring $118,000 a year.

$118K?

There are Twin Cities’ corporations for whom 118 large is a week’s philanthropic giving.  Given the amount of money society as whole saves – I’m saying this with absolutely no intention to condescend – on future social costs for the people the program turns around – it’s a bargain.

There are Timberwolves players with $118,000 under the seat cushions in their Bentleys.

You’re going to tell me someone out there can’t cover that?

Just a quick note – Speed Gibson, one of the best of a large crop of great MOB blogs, has moved.

Update your links accordingly.

When people ask me “how do I make it as a blogger?” (which, admittedly, doesn’t happen every day – but it does happen, pinky swear), my response is always some variation of “write something every day”.  Get into the discipline of writing something – a big magnum opus on your favorite topic, pictures of your cat, a quickie fisk of something you disagree with – anything.  The discipline is what brings the improvement – not the other way around.

With that in mind, I direct you to one of the great unsung bloggers in the Twin Cities – and when I say “unsung”, that’s misleading, because Speed Gibson has an audience of discerning consumers, largely but not exclusively on the subject of education.

Sunday, he had a S reminder for everyone on the right; there are still surprises out there:

We on the right might be hidebound ourselves in thinking the media will always wear the union label. But many of these reporters and editors have kids in school themselves, and must face some union reality themselves. Regardless, they’re generally good people. The lack of results despite decades of promises and billions in targeted programs may have finally left them with no other conclusion.

Who is he talking about?

Read the article.

Which is the whole point of this article…

…like this one…

A Florida man is facing charges after authorities said he was naked and covered in feces when he broke into a resident’s backyard and jumped into the pool.

…I always silently ask “when was the last time I saw Ryan or Learned Foot?”

Or, given that drinking was involved, all of the Fraters as well…

Today we’ve got a huuuuge show. 

We have eight solid hours of great live radio planned:

• Volume II “The Headliners” –  Brian and John are both out of town today, so Ed is on from 11-12, I’ll be on from 12-1, and then we’ll be both do our usual gig from 1-3.  We’ll be talking with protesters from the Saint Cloud Tea Party early, and then with Jon Van Hecke of MN2020 later on in the broadcast. We might also be talking with Rep. Michele Bachmann later in the broadcast.  Of course, we’ll also be talking with anyone who attended the President’s rally. 
• Volume III, “The Final Word” – King is up next; he’ll be breaking his 22 year abstention from meat at some point during the show.  See what meat won the poll over at SCSU Scholars.
• And don’t forget, our long-time colleagues David Strom and Margaret Martin lead things off on the David Strom Show from 9-11AM – and the Sons of Liberty are up from 5-6!

(All times Central)

So tune in to all six hours of the Northern Alliance Radio Network, the Twin Cities’ media’s sole guardians of sanity. You have so many options:

• AM1280 in the Metro
• streaming at AM1280’s Website,
• On Twitter (the Volume 2 show will use hashtag #narn2)
• UStream video and chat (at HotAir.com or at UStream).
• Podcast at Townhall, usually by Monday
• Good ol’ telephone – 651-289-4488!

Join us at the Fair!

The Minnesota Organization of Bloggers (or MOB) has been a going concern for five years now.  And we’ll be having our fifth anniversary gala this Saturday at Keegans, just west of Hennepin on University in northeast Minneapolis, from 6:30 ’til whenever we’re done (usually around 11 or so).

Over the years, a bunch of myths have sprung up around the MOB and our semiannual parties.  I’m here to shine the exhilarating light of truth on them, that they wither and die and let us concentrate on the fun stuff.

Myth 1: The MOB is a conservative group: Nope.  We are rigorously non-political.  Oh, we’ve had some folks from the leftymedia claim otherwise, but they are, to put it as civilly as they deserve, morons.  Indeed, it’s almost (but not quite) bad form to talk politics at our meetings.  Whomever you are, we wanna see you there. 

Myth 2: The MOB is affiliated with the “Mob” – the derogation that many “town hall” and “tea party” protesters have assumed: Nope.  We were the MOB five years ago.  And while many members of the MOB are members of the Mob, there is no actual connection.

Myth 3: MOB parties, being full of conservatives, are dull dull dull: Again, nope.  For starters, see Myth 1; we’re not a “conservative” group.  Now, over the years we’ve had a few leftysphere wags – Tim McKay, Two-Putt Tommy – sniff and claim that MOB parties just have to be dull, since there’s conservatives there.  So compare and contrast for yourself; a party where (to pick a random selection of past attendees) James Lileks, Bob Davis, Sarah Janecek, Joe “Learned Foot” Tucci, Sisyphus and Katie McCollow are holding forth, versus (to pick a typical “Drinking Liberally”) being stuck in a room with Ken Wiener, “Minnesota Observer” and “Tild”?    I’d say that myth is busted.

Myth 4: You can’t smoke cigars at Keegans anymore: The patio may or may not be closed on 9/12 – but there’s always the sidewalk.   I’m totally there.

Myth 5: There’s a $10 cover: Wrong-o.  There’s no cover charge.  Just buy a beer or a shot from among Keegans’ best-in-town assortment of brew, wine, and hard stuff.  And the food is better than a jab in the face with a sharp stick, too!

Myth 6: Parking in Northeast Minneapolis sucks: Well, it’s no myth – Minneapolis is doing its best to make sure everyone who comes to town has to pay a ticket.  But the ramp behind Keegans is actually halfways reasonable – better than the meters (which are enforced, rigidly, until ten).

Myth 7: We have to wear nametags: Never, never, never.

So join us Saturday night!  We’ve had a ton of RSVPs – perhaps the biggest pre-party response we’ve ever gotten – so by all means, come on down!  University, just west of Hennepin, starting at 6:30 or so.

Remember – the Fifth Anniversary Minnesota Organization of Bloggers Summer Gala is Saturday night at Keegans’ Irish Pub, just west of Hennepin on University in Northeast Minneapolis.

Things kick off around 6:30, and run ’til we’re done (usually 10:30ish), so there’s plenty of time to make your other late-night plans.

You can RSVP via the email address feedbackinthedark (which is at Yahoo dot com), or if you’ve friended me on Facebook, you can respond to the event.

Just so you don’t forget – Saturday, September 12th is the Minnesota Organization of Bloggers Fifth Anniversary Gala.

 We’ll be at Keegans, starting around 6:30ish, going until people get tired or ejected. 

It’s open to….everyone!  Bloggers, blog fans, blog hangers-on, people who like good Irish beer, you name it!

RSVP if you’d like, to “feedbackinthedark”, over at Yahoo dot com.

The fifth anniversary party of the Minnesota Organization of Bloggers is coming up Saturday, September 12 at Keegans in Northeast Minneapolis.

If you’re coming, and haven’t (or even have) RSVPed, drop us a line at “feedbackinthedark”, which is a yahoo dot com email address.

I’ve already gotten an amazing number of responses, allowing that it’s this far ahead of the party.

Hope to see you there!

Well, the verdict (throwing out all the votest for “crashing Drinking Liberally”) was pretty decisive.  People want the MOB Summer Party moved to September 12.

So moved it shall be!

Location to be officially announced later.

Again – please RSVP to either the comment section, or to the email address “feedbackinthedark” over at yahoo.com.

 …may live this down. 

But not if King and I can help it.

I’m going to leave the polls open on the “When Do We Have The Summer MOB Party” vote until tomorrow at noon.

(It’s the same codebox as before; if you’ve already voted, thanks!)

Last week, I announced that the next MOB party is scheduled for August 22.

Some said “the notice is too short”.

So I’ll do something unprecedented in MOB history:  Throw it open to a vote.  The choices:

August 22 (a week from this coming Saturday).

September 12 (the weekend after the state fair is over, and autum is kicking in).

Upsides to the 22nd – I need a drink.

Upsides to the 12th – more time, fewer summer distractions, weather should be good, and there’s a chance that cigar patios will be legal again.  More on that later today.

So vote early and often!

Note that I’ve set this so everyone gets one vote – not a daily vote.  Joke votes will be your final answer.

Mark off the evening of Saturday, August 22.  The fifth annual Minnesota Organization of Bloggers (MOB) Summer Gala will be at Keegans, from 6:30 until 10:48.

Please RSVP, either at yahoo dot com email address “feedbackinthedark”, or in the comment section, or on Facebook.

While the news from the rest of the economy remains dicey, Associate Executive Publisher Johnny Roosh and I are proud to announce that Shot In The Dark is increasing our headcount of unpaid writers by 50%.

Starting Monday, look for another “new” writer – actually a familiar face – at Shot In The Dark.

I think it’s time to have the Summer MOB party.  It’s been five months, after all – why not get at it?

How does the evening of Saturday, August 22nd look for everyone? 

Not that there are a whole lot of other options, but I figured asking would be a good thing.

There is no blogger in MInnesota who has had a greater impact on Minnesota politics than Michael Brodkorb.

Michael’s a friend, a former NARN colleague, and one of the sharpest political minds I know.

And Minnesota Democrats Exposed has been both a juggernaut and a lightning rod for the past five years or so; it’s been a powerful force for transparency in Minnesota govenment; it’s broken more stories about DFL malfeasance than, I think, both the dailies and all the TV stations put together.  Naturally, it’s drawn ten blogs’ fair share of ire from the local left; the smart lefties know Michael’s a sharp, canny opponent; the rest of them just bay at the moon until they soil themselves, and then go put up a post on Minnesota Progressive Project.

Michael has written, by his count, 7,000 posts (it’s amazing how it adds up, isn’t it?) – and he says he only regrets one of them:

There is one post that has never really fit into the focus of my blog, one post that never felt right, one post I wish I hadn’t posted on Minnesota Democrats Exposed. In almost 5 years of blogging, I have never issued an apology – until now.Back on January 4, 2008, I published a post awarding Drew Emmer with the first ever first-ever Minnesota Democrats Exposed Man Not In The Arena Award and Mitch Berg an “honorable mention.” Click here to read the back-story and the post-post commentary.

Drew and Mitch are both my friends and I should have picked up the phone to contact them with my frustrations. I should have sent a private e-mail and both of them would have politely responded and we could have had a respectful and production conversation. But I instead chose to publish a smart-ass post, and in the process wasn’t respectful to either Drew and Mitch. It was a jerky thing to do to my friends. As hard-working, principled conservatives, they both deserved better than to labeled as “do-nothings” and I want to publicly apologize to both Drew and Mitch for this post of January 4, 2008.

Well, I do appreciate it – but it was never necessary.  While I disagreed with Michael’s original point – everyone’s got a right to an opinion, although the opinions of those who do and deliver count for more – I took it as a challenge; less talk, more rock.  And I figure among people who are on the same team, those sorts of things have to – and, honestly, had better – be treated that way.
Anyway – today’s Michael’s last day at MDE.  The intellectual imbalance facing Twin Cities’ leftybloggers will fade from “absurd” to merely “hopeless”.

And best of luck, Michael!