{"id":19906,"date":"2011-05-09T06:39:40","date_gmt":"2011-05-09T12:39:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/?p=19906"},"modified":"2011-05-09T06:39:40","modified_gmt":"2011-05-09T12:39:40","slug":"chanting-points-memo-the-ventriloquists-dummy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/?p=19906","title":{"rendered":"Chanting Points Memo: The Ventriloquist’s Dummy"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Fisking Lori Sturdevant is the new Fisking Nick Coleman.<\/p>\n

Like Coleman, Sturdevant is a reliably monochrome columnist; practically her every word is predictable. \u00a0In fact, if anything Sturdevant is worse; Coleman at least had the occasional story about the community, something about a crime or a community institution where he could depart from “droning DFL hack” mode and actually write <\/em>something worthwhile. \u00a0And, as I acknowledge over years, he did that occasionally. \u00a0Rarely, but it happened.<\/p>\n

Sturdevant writes about nothing but politics – and her writing is entirely, 100% DFL chanting points.<\/p>\n

Like\u00a0yesterday, where \u00a0she burned 20 column inches<\/a> parrotting Tom Bakk.<\/p>\n

There’s nothing in the column that couldn’t have come from DFL Legislative PR flaks Beau Berendtson or Carrie Lucking; indeed, it reads in every particular like it does:<\/p>\n

It must be acknowledged that the official line from the Legislature’s GOP majorities is that they don’t need to look for more revenue for the state’s 2012-13 budget, even though it’s $5 billion short.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

(Of course, it’s not, and never was, except in comparison<\/a> with the DFL’s wish list).<\/p>\n

But it also must be noted that the GOP’s proposed fix to said budget contains a little north of $1 billion in presumed cost savings that no credible nonpartisan analyst will vouch for.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Sturdevant is repeating the DFL’s chanting point. \u00a0Minnesota Management and Budget is no more “non-partisan” than, well, Lori Sturdevant. \u00a0And the DFL was saying exactly as much, back when they were trying to pass off a bogus budget:<\/p>\n