And perils I will surely suffer as I begin a year long swim in this soup of fecal frivolity as I serve in full farce as Mayor of the Minnesota Organization of Blogs.

I submit willingly to any and all chicanery commensurate with this lowly office.

To that end, I hereby recognize those that paired my nickname with a female personal hygiene product as I had not previously sampled this delightful couplet. I am forever in your debt for this grand discovery.

I thank those that voted for me, especially those who leveraged their vote by proxy. Your corruption is equaled only by my gratitude.

To my opponent, I honor her for her good sportiness and recognize her patriotism in the face of pandemic liberalism.

And I will remind you my MOBster brethren, that the enemy is not within.

Above all, I would like to thank Mitch “Capo Di Tutti Bloggi” Berg as without his gracious and unprecedented invitation to sully his brand with my musings, not more than a few of you would even know who I am.

But now as I stand on high, lifted by your very will to this lofty throne, I am in receipt of confirmation of a notion I have heretofore kept in confidence to my bosom.

That I am truly better than all of you.

A little awkward, but also funny.

“…and I got my middle name from somebody who obviously didn’t think I would run for President.”

“…my middle name…it’s actually Steve.”

It was Monday, October 17th, 1988.

I was leaving for New York in the morning. 

Who could sleep?

Well, not just from excitement.  Nosirreebob.  I had to work – the trip was going to pretty well clean me out.  I spent a dreary Monday night out at City Limits, spinning records to almost nobody.  By 10PM, it was just me, the bartender, the “bouncer” (a guy who was all of 5’5 and 130 pounds and who’d never actually stopped a fight in all the nights I’d worked with him) and the waitress, who spent most of her time over in the bowling alley, schlepping beers to the few duffers rolling desultory balls down the lanes. 

And that was OK; my mind was all focused on the next day anyway; picturing the city; visualizing my way between stops on subway routes and intersections I’d long memorized; most of all, visualizing myself getting one of the jobs on my slate over the next week.  I pictured the studios; I envisioned myself behind the mike, taking my first caller (“Gino from Bensonhurst”, I figured), finding a place to live, grabbing a bagel in the morning on my way to, or from, work; the lights at night; Broadway; the Hudson, the WTC, CBGB; hopping the train to Asbury Park to hobnob with Bruce and Steve and Joe at the Stone Pony; meeting a neurotic Italian girl from Brooklyn named Angela with big Jersey-Girl hair and a black leather skirt and an accent that’d set your teeth on edge and who could probably beat me up, but wouldn’t want to…

…well, the daydreaming was always the same.

The bartender decided to close up early that night.  I drove home, the long, lonely, dark, winding path up Highway Three back to Saint Paul, across the Lafayette Bridge, looking at the riot of lights on downtown’s seemier side, practicing my delivery.

“Yehuda in the Village – you’re up”. 

In my mind, Yehuda was completely batspittle crazy.

“Yehuda, take your medication and call me next week.  Maria in Jersey City, you’re on…”

I came off the bridge and drove past the Savoy, up Tedesco street and around the corner to the tumbledown house on the narrow Swede Hollow street lined with houses that had seen their salad days when Coolidge was president.  I parked, and walked up the sidewalk. 

I heard music as I walked in the door.  There were half a dozen people in the living room; Wyatt, Shane, two guys I’d never met who had the shifty eyes and puffy demeanor of  bar-room drug dealers, and a couple of young women. 

“Miiiitch”, said Wyatt, sloshed and smelling like pot smoke.  “This is Amanda and Carol!  Have some pizza!” he yelled too enthusiastically, pointing toward three Dominos boxes on the table.   

“Hey”, said Ashley, a strikingly attractive, petite blonde with a pixie hairdo, wearing a short black skirt and strappy FM pumps.  Her friend Carol – ruddy-faced, with long, straight hair, dressed in a bright maroon blouse and a gray skirt, like a legal secretary except for a garish necklace – was lolling on the couch, seemingly oblivious. 

“Hi”.  I was hungry.  I grabbed a slice.  “So…how do you know Wyatt?”

Ashley smiled.  “Wyatt lets me into the bar”.

“Ah.  So you’re…”

“I’m a senior at Cretin!” she said, laughing. 

“And her fake ID wouldn’t fool anyone!” Wyatt chortled with gusto, like…well, like a drunk. 

“Huh”, I said. 

Hard to follow up on that.  I stood there, holding the slice of pizza, nodding my head at the conversation around me…

…until I felt something tugging at my slice of pizza.

Carol had crawled over to me on her hands and knees, and was chewing on the pointy end of my slice of pizza. 

“Er…would you like…” I started, and noticed she probably wasn’t getting a word I was saying.  Hammered, high, whatever.  I guided her back to the couch, gave her the slice, and retired to my room.

I had packed everything I needed earlier in the day.  I was ready to go.

Boy, was I.

On Wednesday night at the end of the debate, I hinted to the crowd that we had a special event coming up.

Boy, do we. 

A week from this coming Tuesday – on October 28 – we’ll be welcoming Dennis Prager, Michael Medved and Hugh Hewitt to in the Twin Cities for a humongous listener rally for the election.  We’ll be holding it at Orchestra Hall in Minneapolis.

It’s called “Talk the Vote” and it’s going to be free to the public (although please give us an RSVP at the website). Bring the kids.  Get your neighbors.  Drag anyone in whose courage is flagging.  It’s go time!

We’ll see you there!

HT Troy

“I can’t wish my opponent luck; but I do wish him well.”

John McCain is funnier than you might imagine, and also a class act.

A few weeks ago, Tracy Eberly wrote – with characteristic political incorrectness – a piece that capped off with the line “If you are biking to save the environment, keep it up and the law of averages says we’ll have a few less Obama voters in November.” 

Now, as usual on subjects where Tracy and I disagree, I’m right and Tracy’s wrong.  Not necessarily about most bikers supporting Obama – most of the lycra-and-Bianchi crowd does.  Oh, things like this…:

If you bike for your health, you’d better have a large life insurance policy as you’re risking your life.

…are worth a whack; waking up in the morning and doing anything but lying in bed involves “risking your life”.

But even though Tracy’s wrong, he’s still one of the good guys – and one of the fundamental tenets of being a good conservative is “argue amongst yourselves until your jaws fall off – but if the orcs intrude, close ranks“. 

Emily Kaiser at the City Pages – which seems to be on its way toward becoming an even less-credible operation than the Minnesoros “Independent” these days – took time off from her gruelling schedule of ignoring the thud-witted cloddish selective insensitivity of Twin Cities leftyblogs to huff and puff and write a piece in which she expressed the vapours over Eberly’s un-PC-itude.

And the usual lefty trolls came out in the comment section – most notably “Scottsdale Woman“, a risible “feminist” “blog” “writer” who threatened to sic both law-enforcement and hordes of angry bikers with both left-wing sympathies and handguns on drivers who vex bikers – simultaneously violating Minnesota self-defense law and confirming Wes Skoglund’s fears about armed citizens, albeit not the ones I’d suspect provoked his years-long fit of dissociation.  “She” also left a comment about Tracy’s place of employment – which, given the number of class acts among leftybloggers in this city, is tantamount to taping a “Stalk Me!” sign on his back.

A couple of us responded, to Kaiser and Scottsdale woman, in the comment section.

And while Scottsdale Woman and all of her wacko defamation remains, pristine and undisturbed, it’d seem that the City Pages’ moderators have chosen to remove all comments critical of Ms. Kaiser, her reporting, and of the depravity (and factual dim-bulbitude) of some of the commenters. 

Which is their right; it’s private property.

It’s also singularly gutless.

Which is kind of sad; City Pages used to put some courage behind their adenoidal shrieking.

Seeing this story – about a Maryland hotel in a heavily Democrat area being threatened with organized boycotts for displaying a pro-McCain/Palin sign – is yet a further symptom of the most depressing factor in American political life; the notion that to waaaay too many people, dissent, dissonance and difference of opinion aren’t something to tolerate, much less understand, challenge and in the end celebrate; it’s something to suppress, squash and destroy.

I don’t doubt for a moment that there are those on the right that do the same; I can imagine being a Democrat in Utah could be pretty dicey, especially if you run into any GOP operatives who take things waaaaay to seriously.  I say I don’t doubt it – because while I am sure it could happen, I have not actually heard of any such incidents any time recently. 

On the other hand, the incident with the hotel ties in with events small (Ashwin Madia staffers’ spouses stealing lawn signs, and the vandalism of Republican lawn signs in Saint Paul which, in some years, has seemed downright systematic) to big (the Tic impetus to reinstate the “Fairness” doctrine, the Obama campaign’s threats against the broadcast licenses of TV stations that broadcast ads critical of the candidate) to weave itself into a pattern of intolerance that is going to make politics very difficult in coming years.

But let’s leave all that aside for a moment.  The real question at hand here is…

…how can the other guys find racism in what I’m writing here?

Because it’s not bad enough to actively suppress your opponents’ speech; it’s much, much worse to set it up in your heads that everything they say is base, benighted and evil even before they say it.

(more…)

I’ve got a bit of a first to report.

We’ll get back to that in a moment, here.

Jake Mohan has a piece in the Utne Reader about conservatives bicyclists…

…which was a concept that took a bit for Mr. Mohan to wrap his brain around:

But eventually a few needling questions penetrated my insulated sphere of thought: What if there are conservatives who ride bikes? What the hell do they look like? And where can I find them?

On the Internet, of course.

“I am a gun-owning, low-taxes, small-government, strong military, anti-baby murder, pro-big/small business, anti-social program, conservative Democrat,” wrote Maddyfish, a poster on Bike Forums, an Internet discussion forum where everyone from the casual hobbyist to the obsessive gearhead can discuss all things bike-related, from frame sizes to the best routes downtown. There are dozens such forums for bicyclists and I recently crashed three of them—Bike Forums, MPLS BikeLove, and Road Bike Review—with a simple question: Are there any conservative cyclists out there? Maddyfish (an online pseudonym) was one of the first to reply: “I find cycling to be a very conservative activity. It saves me money and time.”

And just like that, biking conservatives came out of the cyber-woodwork, offering their own mixtures of bike love and political philosophy.

My parents will be happy to know that I, their conservative Republican black-sheep son, has done the improbable; gotten written up in the Utne, that palimpsest of upper-midwest Liberalism:

Mitch Berg is a conservative talk-radio host whose blog, A Shot in the Dark, is divided between political content and chronicles if his experiences commuting by bicycle [Well – among a few other things – Ed.]. “I grew up in rural North Dakota, and biking was one of my escapes when I was in high school and college,” he told me. “It’s my favorite way to try to stay in shape. And if gas fell to 25 cents a gallon, I’d still bike every day.”

Berg doesn’t believe there’s anything inherently political about riding a bike. “But people on both sides of the political aisle do ascribe political significance to biking. The lifestyle-statement bikers, of course, see the act as a political and social statement. And there’s a certain strain of conservatism that sees conspicuous consumption—driving an SUV and chortling at paying more for gas—as a way to poke a finger in the eyes of the environmental left.”

Mohan and I had quite an exchange; read it at your leisure.  The piece covers a lot of ground – most notably, the non-biking conservatives:

Conservative cyclists don’t tend to get help from all their political allies, however. Some right-wing personalities know that biking is a hot-button issue and make pointed attacks on cyclists while reinforcing the liberal-cyclist stereotype. The Minneapolis Star-Tribune’s hard-right columnist Katherine Kersten earned the ire of the Twin Cities bike community in 2007 when she characterized Critical Mass as a mob of “serial lawbreakers” bent on ruining the lives of honorable citizen motorists. “Are you rushing to catch the last few innings of your son’s baseball game? Trying to get to the show you promised your wife for her birthday? Critical Mass doesn’t give a rip.”

I defended Kersten on that one, of course; I’ve attacked the arrogance of “Critical Mass” in the past.

Last fall, Twin Cities talk-radio host Jason Lewis made on-air remarks decrying the “bicycling crowd” as “just another liberal advocacy group.” He recycled a common anti-bike canard—that bicyclists have no rights to the roads because they don’t pay taxes to service those roads…

…and Lewis is wrong, and I have the property tax statements to prove it.  It’s not our fault that some previous legislature, in its infinite wisdom, chose to tie the state road budget to gasoline taxes which we bikers, largely, don’t use.

We disagree.  That’s nothing new; indeed, it’s stock in trade for conservatives, who do disagree on a lot of things, and still share a party pretty civilly.

Mohan’s conclusion:

Conservatives on bikes represent the breakdown of party-line stereotypes. They are heartening examples of crucial divergences from the lazy red/blue dichotomy the pundits are relentlessly hammering in these last frenzied days of campaign season. They are a microcosm in which a stereotype falls away to reveal an actual individual.

And that, to me, is the important part, not only of Mohan’s piece but a much larger lesson indeed.

Most of the “isms” that have made the past hundred-odd years such a miserable time in the history of the human race – racism, collectivism, Naziism, whatever – trace back to the big one, “We-ism“.  The best way to defend your group’s we-ism is to convince each other that those who are not part of “we” are less intelligent, less coherent, less human than “we” are.

The first step to true hatred is in finding a way to seeing your opponent as something – a set of cliches, stereotypes, abstract evils – other than human.

(Via this guy)

If I were Joe the plumber I would like to think I’d have answered Obama’s queries a little differently.

I would have bristled at the audacity of his condescension as he stood there and told me that had I had a tax break from the government I could have built my business faster;  as if I needed the government to help me get where I’ve gotten. On my own, thank you very much.

And maybe those firemen and nurses and teachers would have been better off too with that middle class tax cut; but they aren’t building a business. They provide valuable services and exhibit bravery in the face of danger (I’m talking about teachers too);  we need them for sure. But they work for the government. They don’t create jobs. They don’t buy capital goods. They won’t pull us out of this economic crisis.

By the way, I would have asked him why so many of the people he hangs out with hate America so much?

If I were Joe, I would have asked Barack Obama how he can give tax cuts to 95% of Americans when 40% don’t even pay income taxes?

I would ask him why I should believe that a man that has consistently voted for more taxes and more spending would change his stance now? Does he think Joe’s stupid?

I would have asked him what he knows about building anything. What risks, save experimenting with drugs, has he taken in his life?

I would have asked Obama if he could be patient. Cut my taxes and I will grow faster, hire more people, invest in my business, buy more equipment and ultimately my success would create way more tax revenue for Obama and his pet projects.

I would have agreed with Obama: I’m not voting for him, but not because of his skin color. So don’t call me a racist. Joe isn’t going to vote for Obama because he doesn’t get it – despite Obama’s America-hating elitist wife’s pleading to the contrary.

You see America was founded by Joe the Plumber. Guys like Joe are the true pioneers. He’s a self-starter. Joe creates something from nothing. He scratches a business plan on the back of a pink sheet he got from his last employer, asks his wife to make sacrifices, support and believe in him. Joe claws his way to some semblance of success. He creates jobs and buys American trucks and hardware. He is the self-reliant, hard-working risk taker. Joe owns two guns. One to hunt with. One to defend his family with. Joe is what is left of the American backbone.

Joe is as proud as he is concerned that his business pays not only his mortgage and car payments, but also those of his employees and their families. His biggest monthly bill is his company’s health insurance plan and judging by how much government has f*cked up just about everything else they’ve put their hands on, the last thing he wants government to do is get involved there. In fact, he would just as soon give his employees the ability to shop and choose their own health insurance provider. He’d give them a raise if they did.

Joe doesn’t want a handout. He doesn’t want a floor beneath him because he doesn’t want a ceiling above him. He doesn’t want to be penalized for working hard, following the rules and realizing the American dream. He’d just as soon you leave him alone and stay out of his way.

And for his success what does Barack Obama offer him?

Deep down Barack doesn’t want to celebrate his success. Barack can’t identify with a guy like Joe. Barack colors him “wealthy” and wants to take from him and give to those that can’t or won’t do what Joe has done.

Taking from the rich and giving to the poor has left us a bankrupt nation. In the interest of “fairness”, Barack Obama and his liberal cronies want now to take from the almost-rich and give to the almost-poor. It is time-tested formula for national failure. It is exactly the wrong course for America in a time when we need leaders for which more spending and more taxes isn’t the answer to every single issue that faces our nation.

But of late, Joe has become outnumbered. The pendulum has swung from the ranks of the self-reliant individual that values hard work, saving, accountability, investment, financial freedom and wealth creation; The American Dream is dying a slow death by asphyxiation.

Swelling are the ranks of those that have given up on those values; including far too many Republicans.

We now suffer a majority of Americans that see government as some disassociated entity that sends them a check without regard for where it came from. Life is too tough. Government is the answer. We have a right to a home and a comfortable life and we shouldn’t have to work so hard to have it. These are the people that think Joe just got lucky. And maybe he did – it’s the kind of luck that comes from working hard. They don’t see the sleepless nights; the seven-day work weeks; the fear of failure.

Welcome to the Entitlement Society. Where no one suffers and no one rises above. Where the goal is to game the system, and the Democrats will show you how. They will tell you you’re pissed and rightfully so: vote for me.

The Democrats are leading the charge and are ignorant to risks their policies pose to the financial survival of our nation. The takers have stormed the castle of the givers and have breached the outer wall, flooding the courtyard chanting Change, Hope and “Obama! Obama! Obama!”

We all need Joe. We need Joe desperately right now. But Joe may become an endangered species. Obama wants to put Joe on the ropes because Joe doesn’t vote for guys like Obama.

…and when we have no more Joe’s, our nation ceases to exist.

cockamamie: ridiculous, pointless, or nonsensical: full of wild schemes and cockamamie ideas.

…as in John McCain on Joe Biden’s “…cockamamie idea of dividing Iraq into three countries…” for me was the highlight of last night’s debate. Not because the statement was truly relevant in times like these nor because it was debate time well spent. Rather, it was a glimmer that John McCain was finally going to go after Barack Obama on the issues that matter to conservatives.

Last night’s debate was certainly John McCain’s best effort, repleat with gritted teeth and his nervous ticks, criticizing Obama for his affinity for government spending and earmarks, a broken promise on campaign financing, his relationship with domestic terrorist Bill Ayers and finally delivering the one-liners that McCain supporters have been waiting for like “I am not George Bush.”

The crowd at the AM1280 The Patriot event at Trocadero’s had many opportunities to stand in applause…and as many to shout at the screen in disagreement or disappointment when opportunities were fully grasped…or totally missed.

Missed were opportunities to talk extensively about effective strategies for growing our economy out of the current malaise, and hitting Obama harder for his far-left liberal record on a litany of issues (that should be) relevant to the American voter.

Alas, all Barrack needed to do was not lay an egg. As such, it was probably not the breakthrough McCain needed to sway the lion’s share of the undecideds he needs let alone dislodging any Obama supporters. Obama was calm, cool and never appeared defensive as he lied through his teeth to the American people.

So as a souvenir, I leave you…”Cockamamie”.

MPR’s venerable “The Morning Show” is closing the studio doors for good:

MPR’s “The Morning Show,” a home for eclectic, acoustic music and gentle humor for 26 years, is about to go gently into the good night.

Hosts Dale Connelly and Jim Ed Poole (Tom Keith) announced Wednesday that the program will go off the air Dec. 11 with a live celebration at the Fitzgerald Theater, open to the public.

TMS was the kind of morning radio my mother would love if she lived in the Twin Cities.  Truth be told, in my 23 years here I’ve listened to the show perhaps enough times to count on one hand, and I’m pretty sure you’d get a finger or two in change, but it seemed like the kind of show where a couple of public radio guys (and their listeners, natch) could have a lot of good clean self-referential fun while their audience sprayed each other with self-righteousness (no, really.  Check out the comment section in the Strib piece.  Clouds of smug are descending).

But I digress.  Like most changes for the worse in radio, it’s the result of some manager’s bright idea:

Keith, who will continue to provide sound effects on “A Prairie Home Companion,” said the show was never really the same after it moved four years ago to the Current (89.3 FM), which leans toward alternative rock and a younger demographic.

“I didn’t care much for a lot of the music on the station,” said Keith, who turns 62 in December. “We tried to mix in some flavor of the rest of the Current lineup, but I didn’t know the names of a lot of the bands or singers.”

Connelly, 53, said he was willing to continue the program solo or with a new partner, but management told him last week that the show was going away. “I think they wanted a fresh start,” said Connelly, who will continue to work at MPR.

And by “fresh start”, I’ll betcha they meant “another show that’s oblivious to Delicious Dish“. 

But I do wish Jim Ed and Dale the best. 

Shooting someone in self-defense is, at best, the second-worst possible outcome in any form of confrontation.

But according to the FBI, it’s on the increase:

The number of justifiable homicides committed by police and private citizens has been rising in the past two years to their highest levels in more than a decade, reflecting a shoot-first philosophy in dealing with crime, say law enforcement analysts.

This so-called “shoot first philosophy”, on the other hand, merely reflects the media’s myopia about the issue, and their inability to find literate, much less reliable, sources on the subject.

The 391 killings by police that were ruled justifiable in 2007 were the most since 1994, FBI statistics show. The 254 killings by private individuals found to be self-defense were the most since 1997.

They are very likely underreported, as well. 

Again – more later.

Some law enforcement analysts say the numbers represent changing attitudes on the streets, where police have felt more threatened by well-armed offenders, and citizens have taken greater responsibility for their own safety.

Look for the pants-wetting class on the left to see this as a bad thing.

Indeed – here it is!

Northeastern University criminal justice professor James Alan Fox describes an emerging “shoot-first” mentality by police and private citizens. For several years, police departments have armed their officers with higher-powered weapons to keep pace with criminal gangs. “Clearly there is a message out there that citizens may be able to defend themselves” as well, he says.

Alfred Blumstein, a Carnegie Mellon University criminologist, says the gun “legalization movement” also may have helped create a “greater willingness” among citizens to act in self-defense.

I’m not sure if Blumstein and Fox are being misquoted, or if this area of criminology isn’t their specialty; the “willingness” has always been there, and guns have been “legal” in most of the US all along.  Unfortunately, the figures don’t show how many of the civilian shootings are in the home versus away – which would be covered by the mushrooming number of Shall Issue states which have more law-abiding citizens carrying outside the home or business).

Emphasis added:

Forty-eight states provide various rights to carry firearms. Illinois and Wisconsin do not, according to the National Rifle Association. In a landmark decision, the Supreme Court in June carved out a right to individual gun ownership, ruling that the Second Amendment allows citizens to keep guns in their homes for self-defense.

Further evidence of the constitutional illiteracy of the major media; the Supreme Court “carved out” nothing.  It affirmed that the right is individual. 

The NRA and other analysts say most laws allowing gun possession have existed for years and would not likely account for a recent spike in self-defense killings.

Instead, Wayne LaPierre, the NRA’s executive vice president and chief executive officer, says the Sept. 11 attacks and the widespread looting and violence after Hurricane Katrina spurred some people to take more responsibility for their own safety.

Immediately after those events, LaPierre says the group’s gun-safety trainers reported “big increases” in NRA-sponsored courses. “Americans are simply refusing to be victims,” he says.

I believe this.  I’ve noticed a lot more acceptance on the left, not only of the notion of the Second Amendment as a right (and a political third rail), but the validity of and need for self-defense.  Their political leadership may blanche at the thought, but there a fair number of rank and file lefties who keep guns in their homes, and pockets, too. 

Interpretation of that factoid, again, would seem to depend on ones’ predisposition.

Florida State University criminologist Gary Kleck says the FBI underestimates self-defense killings by citizens because the ones that are not precipitated by felony crimes may not get counted. “Less than a third of (citizen killings) are reported,” he says.

And remember – the killings are the dirt on the tip of the iceberg.  The real goal is deterrence – where nobody gets shot, because nobody feels emboldened to commit a crime, because that “victim” might just blow your brains out.

I studied at the U of M’s School of Professional Journalism (“The J-School”) and even though it was not that long ago, industry practices appear to have changed a great deal since then (not to mention my career as a Financial Advisor having nothing to do with Journalism).

Lost is the notion that a journalist is a professional at least in the sense that a professional follows a creed; adheres to some standard of excellence; observes a code of ethics. Nowadays, objectivity is for sissies. Everything is an editorial.

Journalistic “talent” is more apt to refer to a Journalist’s visage or breast size than more cerebral aptitudes.

A reversal of sorts has emerged. Conclusions are crafted, research is conducted and the story is written to substantiate it. Political events are reverse engineered. Newspapers didn’t use have agendas…or at least were a lot better at concealing it.

And the printed journal is suffering for it.

This morning on Sirius 144 The Patriot I heard Bill Bennett read The Journalists Creed.

The Journalist’s Creed was written by the first dean of the Missouri School of Journalism, Walter Williams. One century later, his declaration remains one of the clearest statements of the principles, values and standards of journalists throughout the world. The plaque bearing the creed is located on the main stairway to the second floor of Neff Hall.

It is engraved in bronze; surviving now only in spirit. The bronze’s worth now measured by its weight – not the import it conveys.

They were heady days…when a journalist could be counted on for the facts. Nothing more/nothing less. News was news. Opinion was relegated to the Editorial Page.

Great reward found the investigative reporter that uncovered a truth unknown but of great weight; and it was never served until it was corroborated; confirmed. If anything, the press showed too much restraint in the interest of the greater good. JFK’s affairs weren’t in the news – it wasn’t good for America.

In the interest of The Republic, in-depth coverage and vetting could be expected to be conducted on both party’s candidate. Not just the one, usually a conservative, that the paper wasn’t endorsing – a bastardization of the institution in and of itself.

Case in point: More time and effort has been invested on the part of the media to determine the the maternity of Sarah Palin’s granddaughter than Barack Obama’s associations with admitted domestic terrorists, anti-American ideologues, or the prime instigators of our current financial crisis, Raines and Frank, both either allies or advisers to Barack Obama.

And the voter is suffering for it.

Newspapers have been dying a slow death for many years now. Soon the printed page will be a thing of the past.

As for the state of Journalism? The Blogosphere has emerged as an agent for change and frictionless expression. Objectivity, and even truth are left for the reader to discern and evaluate. Feedback and commentary is real time. The Blog is the modern day version of the pamphlet of Ben Franklin’s time; published with a nom de plume, not unlike the millions of blogs across the globe.

And objectivity in the blogosphere? It’s for sissies here as well.

As for the creed? Read it and weep.

I believe in the profession of journalism.

I believe that the public journal is a public trust; that all connected with it are, to the full measure of their responsibility, trustees for the public; that acceptance of a lesser service than the public service is betrayal of this trust.

I believe that clear thinking and clear statement, accuracy and fairness are fundamental to good journalism.

I believe that a journalist should write only what he holds in his heart to be true.

I believe that suppression of the news, for any consideration other than the welfare of society, is indefensible.

I believe that no one should write as a journalist what he would not say as a gentleman; that bribery by one’s own pocketbook is as much to be avoided as bribery by the pocketbook of another; that individual responsibility may not be escaped by pleading another’s instructions or another’s dividends.

I believe that advertising, news and editorial columns should alike serve the best interests of readers; that a single standard of helpful truth and cleanness should prevail for all; that the supreme test of good journalism is the measure of its public service.

I believe that the journalism which succeeds best — and best deserves success — fears God and honors Man; is stoutly independent, unmoved by pride of opinion or greed of power, constructive, tolerant but never careless, self-controlled, patient, always respectful of its readers but always unafraid, is quickly indignant at injustice; is unswayed by the appeal of privilege or the clamor of the mob; seeks to give every man a chance and, as far as law and honest wage and recognition of human brotherhood can make it so, an equal chance; is profoundly patriotic while sincerely promoting international good will and cementing world-comradeship; is a journalism of humanity, of and for today’s world.

Those were heady days.

A Kansas City couple notes that their credit card has a fraudulent, $2,300 donation to the Obama campaign on it:

Steve and Rachel Larman say a strange credit card charge appeared on their statement this month — a $2300 donation to Barack Obama’s presidential campaign. The Larman’s say they don’t want this to be about their political affiliation, but they say they’re not about to give the Obama campaign any help from their pocketbook.

They said they notified Chase, their credit card bank, to report the fraud.

Emphasis added next:

“(They)  said that they had seen-they were familiar with this,” said Steve Larman. “It was fraud, they believe through telemarketing but they were going to be doing some more investigations.”

The Larman’s don’t want their politics to enter into what is essentially just a fraudulent charge. But they say that the charge involves the Obama campaign adds insult to injury for the registered Republicans.

Stealing votes, stealing money – what’s the difference?

Chicago politics; it’s not just for Chicago anymore!

On the other hand, the Larmans just have a head-start on the financial aspects of four years of two-branch Democrat rule.

Conservatism – of sorts – wins in Canada, increasing its lead over the melange of other parties:

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Wednesday he will reach out to all parties during the global financial meltdown after his Conservative Party won in national elections but fell short of a parliamentary majority.

Harper had called Tuesday’s elections early in hopes of getting his party a majority, and in doing so he became the first major world leader to face voters since the financial crisis…Harper sought to put a good face on the results Wednesday, pointing to an increased number of seats and pledging cooperation.

Canada’s parliamentary system is a little more byzantine than ours – but at the end of the day, votes count – and it was a good day, albeit not a slam-dunk, for Conservatives:

With nearly all the returns in, Canada’s election agency reported on its Web site that the Conservatives had won or was leading in races for 143 of Parliament’s 308 seats, an improvement over the 127 seats the party had in the previous Parliament.

The Conservative Party needed to win 155 seats to govern on its own.

Maybe that’s why we’ve had fewer celebs promising to move to Canada if Mac and Sarah win; their government may actually develop more common sense than ours.

A Nebraska judge tosses a lawsuit against God:

Judge Marlon Polk threw out Nebraska Sen. Ernie Chambers’ lawsuit against the Almighty, saying there was no evidence that the defendant had been served. What’s more, Polk found “there can never be service effectuated on the named defendant.”

Chambers had sued God in September 2007, seeking a permanent injunction to prevent God from committing acts of violence such as earthquakes and tornadoes.

It’s good to know there’s some sort of brake on judicial activism.

Oh, wait – it was “to prove a point”:

Although the case may seem superfluous and even scandalous to others, Chambers has said his point is to focus on the question of whether certain lawsuits should be prohibited.

“Nobody should stand at the courthouse door to predetermine who has access to the courts,” he said. “My point is that anyone can sue anyone else, even God.”

Chambers, an avowed atheist, said he decided to make that point after at least two attempts in the Nebraska Legislature to limit “frivolous lawsuits.”

Laws against “frivolous lawsuits” are indeed stupid – provided you believe in the integrity of judges and juries…

…and we should just change the subject, shouldn’t we?

…get over to Kool Aid Report and vote for JRoosh for MOB Mayor.

Margaret “Vaya Con Friedman” Martin is a capable enough blogger – but her past associations render her judgment suspect.

Vote early and often.  Open corruption is openly solicited.

As I’ve noted in the past, I don’t so much care that Al Franken wrote for Playboy; I’ve been a freelance writer, and I know you don’t look gigs like that in the eye.

Does he cuss during the occasional speech?  Yeah, and I doubt I’ll let him babysit my kids, but I’d suspect he’ll be in a different mode should Minnesota lose its collective mind and send him to DC. 

And is he an aloof, elitist jerkwad – sort of a younger Garrison Keillor?  Sure.  But I’m not voting for a buddy – I’m voting for a Senator.  Right?

Right.

But what does matter is that Al Franken is buddying up with a group that is under investigation in a third of this nation’s states for rampant, mind–numbingly bizarre, massive, immense, systematic, criminal voter (and other) fraud – including Minnesota:

It was last July that Minnesota ACORN endorsed Al Franken.

Today, the Al Franken for U.S. Senate campaign is proud to announce the endorsement of Minnesota ACORN, a member-driven community organization dedicated to providing housing services to low- and middle-income Minnesotans.

“I’m thrilled and honored to receive this endorsement,” said Al Franken. “And more motivated than ever to work with ACORN and other community organizations in this campaign and in the Senate to fight for economic justice, health care reform, good-paying jobs, and a solution to the housing crisis.”

There will need to be a national accounting for ACORN and its contributions – especially in terms of votes – to Democrats across this country.

Tonight is the debate for all the marbles. 

Do you want to tell your grandchildren you were cleaning out the garage when this happened?  Or would you prefer to say you were there, sitting with a couple of hundred of your closest friends, watching history be made?

AM1280 The Patriot is hosting a debate viewing party at Trocadero in Minneapolis (it’s right by the Monte Carlo, on Third Avenue at First Street North) for the final debate, a week from tonight!  Join the NARN – I’m one of ’em – for an evening of fun and politics!

We’ll have free appetizers and a cash bar (and let me tell you – nobody does appetizers like Trocadero!). The debate goes from 8pm CST to 9:30pm CST and doors will open at 7:30pm-ish.

Admission is free – but please RSVP at the handy AM1280 RSVP Page so we can plan accordingly.

Sign on up and join us tonight.  And stay tuned for details about the Patriot’s election-night coverage!

We’ll see you there!

We here at SITD Central are happy to note that our assistant publisher, JRoosh, has made it through the primaries to the final general election for Mayor of the Minnesota Organization of Blogs (MOB).  He’s running against Margaret “Vaya Con Friedman” Martin, of Our House, Minneapolis Crime Watch, and some low-production-value remedial-spelling-class rantblog whose name eludes me at the moment.

Now, over the years I’ve tried to remain above the fray – partly because as a MOB founder it’d be unseemly of me to use my boundless influence and gravitas unfairly, and partly because as one of the MOB’s Capi Di Tutti Bloggi, it’s really irrelevant; what the left thinks Dick Cheney is to Dubya, I (along with Chad, Brian, King, Ed and John) really am to the MOB. 

But these are “interesting” times, and they require the kind of leadership that only a cold-blooded bully-pulpiteer can provide.  So I beg of you – race over to Kool Aid Report and vote for Roosh – preferably once from every computer to which you have access (and feel free to use co-workers’ machines when they’re away from their desks, too.  Coffee shops?  Sure, them and the library too!). 

Martin has pulled to an early lead, presumably drawing the votes of every Anti-Strib reader who isn’t too addled from snacking on lead paint chips to operate a mouse.

And remember – the Mayorship of the MOB is a vitally important job, which directly impacts the coverage of issues provided by the most important alt-media group in the state, a man (or, maybe someday but not this election, a woman) who has direct control over MOB blogs’ approach to the news.  Really.  Steve “Mister Furious” Perry and Karl “I’m So Angry I’ve Soiled Myself” Bremer say so!

Flash:

 Conservatives heads exploded simultaneously at the announcement of political gadfly Paul Krugman’s Nobel

Nah.  Head is firmly in place.  Being a conservative, I look at issues on their merits, using actual data and facts.

King, who has a vocational reason to remember Nobel Economics Prize trivia, has the inside poop:

If you’ve read here before, you know that I think Paul Krugman is an excellent economist … and a lousy political observer…They indicate that “netting out” bad research is not part of the process, so all the things we might disagree with Krugman about are not part of the record the Nobel Committee looked at…

…His prize is rather obviously…”for his analysis of trade patterns and location of economic activity.”  This is a single analysis.  Basically, before Krugman trade theory was simply a matter of factor endowments.  To take an example I use in class, in the old trade theory we had manhole covers made in India and in Michigan.  India had cheap labor, so focused on making them using a technology that used lots of labor.  In Michigan capital was comparatively cheaper, so the covers were made in a more automated process that minimized labor.  Trade patterns were based on who had more labor or more capital, more land and natural resources, etc.  Krugman changed all that.  Some people have tried to say it’s both trade and economic geography, but I read both as coming out of a single research agenda, one of many he’s had.

Krugman is an example of someone who is perfectly capable – indeed, brilliant – in his actual field; he’s also an example of how excellence doesn’t always translate between fields. 

Sort of like how “being on the Harvard Law Review” doesn’t necessarily mean “great leader”.

Congrats, Krugs (as all of us pals of his call him).  Someday, we’ll teach you how to write a coherently-reasoned column.

I will miss the many and several Almost Championship Seasons of my childhood.

…the antics in the endzone.

…and on the lake.

And we can do without any more outdoor stadiums with Global Cooling setting in. We will regret building the ones we already have once reality sets in.

We should not be held hostage by a team that can’t win the big one.

What do the Minnesota Vikings, Buffalo Bills, Florida Marlins, Tampa Bay Rays, New York Islanders and basketball’s New Orleans Hornets all have in common?

The 10 Sports Franchises Most Likely To Move

Go Twins!  -er I mean stay!

Step One…

Governments are “tackling the root of the problem,” said Christopher Wong, who helps manage about $25 billion in assets as investment manager at Aberdeen Asset Management Asia Ltd. in Singapore. “They’re putting confidence back into the market by not just adding liquidity but adding strength to the banks that serve main street.”

Step Two…

Dow Jumps 300 in the First Minute

It’s fun…while it lasts.