A Funny Thing Happened At Billy’s
By Mitch Berg
Two things did not happen at the MDE/MNPublius Happy Hour at Billy’s on Grand last night:
- Nobody started singing Kumbaya. In the presence of each other’s “operatives”, nobody apparently converted to their respective dark sides. Left stayed left, right stayed right, and though the twain met, it did not turn into an Ophrah episode.
- Nobody started throwing punches. Everyone got along just fine in the presence of a roomful of the other side’s “operatives”. The lion didn’t lie down with the lamb, but they did share nachos and buffalo wings with each other.
Who did I meet? It was such a blur; I met Mary Lahammer from Channel 2, and found we shared some time in the North Dakota broadcasts wars. I met the MNPublius guys – Matt and Sean, whom I call the “giggly fratboys”, but all in good fun (Michael Corleone: “It’s not personal. It’s business), along with (naturally) the co-host of the party, my NARN colleague Michael Brodkorb. Gavin Sullivan was there, along with Jeff Rosenberg from MN Campaign Report, Joe “Learned Foot” Tucci from KAR, one of the fellas from “Liberal in the Land of Conservative” (nice guy, albeit a poor judge of “smack“), Sara Janecek and her colleagues from Politics in Minnesota, Dane Smith, Shadow from the “Urban Renaissance Coalition“, Brian McClung from Governor Pawlenty’s office, Anne Mason from the Erik Paulsen campaign, “Two Putt Tommy” (who’s graduating from being a comment section gadfly to writing for “MNBlue”; honestly, he could do better). I’m told even Charlie Quimby braved the flood of “anti-progressive operatives” and showed up, although he disappeared before I could work my way over to that corner of the bar.
And of course, I saw Brian Lambert, now with Minneapolis Saint Paul Magazine…
…at whom I’ve taken my fair share of shots over the years.
And at whom I’ll no doubt take many more.
But – here’s the fun part – I had a blast meeting him. He’s sort of like a political photonegative (a polinegative?) of Bob Davis; quick, glib but articulate, just erudite enough. We haven’t actually met face-to-face since he sat in for Geoff Charles one day at KSTP in 1985 – and I have to say that I had a great time talking with the guy.
I know. Stifle the “Kumbaya” stuff, dagnabbit; I’m gonna keep dinging on all of their politics! I mean, let’s be clear – nothing about the event was, as Charlie Quimby put it, “a symbolic show of bipartisanship — which is people who’d like to stab each other in the back pretending they won’t”. There was nothing “bi”-partisan about the evening; we all knew what sides everyone was on, when we were talking politics at all. It was multipartisan and nonpartisan (and let’s be perfectly clear; I only stab people in the face).
But as I noted earlier this week – one of the great joys of events like these is that you start to see people with whom you spar (constantly!) as people, rather than as collections of cliches and stereotypes. Which makes arguments, debates and discussions more difficult and, ultimately, much more rewarding. And which some, unfortunately, find threatening.
Kudos to Matt, Sean and Michael. We gotta do it again sometime.
Hmmm…
July 10th, 2008 at 7:38 am
Anybody try to follow you home?
July 10th, 2008 at 9:08 am
I really disliked Brian Lambert when he posed as a non-partison newspaper guy. He wasn’t fooling anyone. Then when he came out of the closet and became a political commentator…..he did quite well. Reasonable arguements and rational think (he is no Air America wacko). Rather enjoyed his radio show from a couple of years ago.
July 10th, 2008 at 11:48 am
How was your wine spritzer?
It’s really too bad that Nick “non-monkey” Coleman didn’t show up at Billy’s last night.
If he had, everyone would have been writing about how misunderstood the poor slob is, what a decent guy he is and how his writing really isn’t that bad if you don’t count the content.
You pussies go ahead and join hands with the moonbats and dance around the maypole…leave the heavy lifting to the professionals. 😉
July 10th, 2008 at 11:50 am
Sounds like an excellent idea. Maybe viewed through beer goggles, around 3 in the morning, you wingnuts seem to make sense.
July 10th, 2008 at 11:52 am
Guess Swiftee was at home doing the crystal meth and beating the common-law wife as usual.
July 10th, 2008 at 11:55 am
How was your wine spritzer?
I don’t even know where they sell ’em.
It’s really too bad that Nick “non-monkey” Coleman didn’t show up at Billy’s last night.
If he had, everyone would have been writing about how misunderstood the poor slob is, what a decent guy he is and how his writing really isn’t that bad if you don’t count the content.
Oh, I suspect Nick is one of those people who’d never dream of showing for one of these kinds of things. The “operatives” might contaminate him.
You pussies go ahead and join hands with the moonbats and dance around the maypole…leave the heavy lifting to the professionals.
Who’s gonna be scoring the big hits? That’s right, pallie. The Mitch.
Say it.
The Mitch.
🙂
July 10th, 2008 at 12:38 pm
Yeah, AssClown; that’s exactly what I was doing.
July 10th, 2008 at 2:33 pm
and let’s be perfectly clear; I only stab people in the face
One of the best lines from Firefly…
Simon: I’m trying to put this as delicately as I can… How do I know you won’t kill me in my sleep?
Mal: You don’t know me, son, so let me explain this to you once: If I ever kill you, you’ll be awake. You’ll be facing me, and you’ll be armed.
July 10th, 2008 at 6:30 pm
Swiftee: honest, you don’t have to give up one whit of disagreement with anybody if you sit down and have a beer (or your other choice of beverage) with them.
Or even be more friendly.
I’m guessing — and it’s just a guess — that Mitch and I will be pushing for different gubernatorial candidates, in a few years, and will be taking not particularly gentle shots at each others’ positions, and candidates.
I’m not guessing that we’ll still be friends, and will continue to work together on those issues where we agree; that’s a preposterously safe prediction.
July 10th, 2008 at 7:02 pm
The Mitch.!?
Oh, I dare you to call yourself that Saturday at 1:10 PM.
July 10th, 2008 at 10:41 pm
Guess Swiftee was at home doing the crystal meth and beating the common-law wife as usual.
I used to have this Vietnam vet as a neighbor. He wasn’t one of the heroic ones, tho. He said he was stoned from the minute he landed in Saigon until the time he left. The only war stories he had were about all the tricky things he did to get get weed & heroin in a war zone. To him Vietnam was one gigantic dope search & seizure operation.
Anyway, once he got back to MN the VA put him on the methodone program. Every once in a while, though, he would decide IT’S PARTY TIME and he would do his his whole week’s supply of methodone in one night. The VA, of course, would not give him any more methodone until the scheduled date so he would be hurting for a week afterward.
He would get cranky and say mean things, just like the clown’s comment today.
So, until he proves otherwise, I will asume the clown is a cranky, jonesing heroin addict.