…that the DFL knows its voter base believes its own press and has no critical thinking ability whatsoever:

So – we’ve got a straw buyer problem, but DFL county attorneys would pursue charges “because the penalties aren’t high enough”, so the DFL demands more penalties to the camera, but then leads his entire ghouish, creepy, Orwellian caucus in voting against a bill that’d do just that.

We’ll need a whole lot of Minnesotans who are tired of being treated like gullible children to turn out this November.

If you’re a working or middle-class taxpayer in Minnesota, the DFL wants to show you:

They took $17 billion dollars extra from you, and gave you $260 back, maybe. But they want to give illegals a Universal Basic Income.

This is a complete inversion of anything plausibly close to “Justice”.

Wait – didn’t the DFL in the Legislature spend most of April and May of last year doing the endzone happy dance celebrating having “fully funded” education?

I do believe they did.

So – what is up with this?

Now, when you asked a DFL legislator or an EdMN partisan what “Full Funding” meant, the “answers” should have come with a side of blue cheese for all the word salad. It was gibberish. And that was just the ones that didn’t ignore the question entirely.

As we see now, pretty much intentionally so.

I should put together a bingo card of sarcastic, grifting proposals so outlandish and bizarre that they couldn’t possibly exist in nature, and see how many of them the DFL proposes in the legislature.

One of mine might be “state subsidies for teacher strikes”.

Hand me the dauber. Got it.

Walter Hudson asks a great question:

Once I get Juan and Goncalvo to cough up the money…

…I think it’s time to guy that 1960 Les Paul Standard.

What are you doing with your cut from the illegals?

SCENE: A conference room in Zürich, Switzerland. An international team of historians is gathered in a conference hall. Behind the panel tabel, a large “Powerpoint 2170” holographic slide displays the title for the session: “Origins of the Second American Civil War”.

PROFESSOR A: Welcome, one and all, to this discussion on the origins of the Second American Civil War. We’d like to start with this presentation from PROFESSOR B.

PROFESSOR B: Thank you. As you know, the origins of the Second American Civil War, 150 years ago, are shrouded in mystery. But we found this exchange on “X”, a “social medium” popular around 2024, that sheds some light on the subject.

(B swooshes his hand in the air, and the holograph advances to show a “Twitter thread”i)

ProgressiveDuke1332: ReTHUGlicons have no policies to fix Minneapolis’s problems.

Mitchpberg: Of course we do. Arrest, prosecute and incarcerate actual dangerous criminals. Make life better for law-abiding citizens. Get rid of impediments to affordable life, like rent control, the Met Council’s idiot zoning policies and city policies about “driving density”. Have a a sales tax holiday. Cut spending, and cut taxes, especially some of the more niggling, punitive taxes like parking meter rates and hospitality taxes, to simulate traffic and business.

ProgressiveDuke1332: Hahaha, mitchpberg think you can eliminate crime by lowering parking fees!

PROFESSOR B: This, I hold, was the beginning of a pattern where nobody in society could communicate about anything.

PROFESSOR C: So, part of America lashed out at the other part as a matter of…

PROFESSOR D: Intellectual self-defense?

PROFESSOR B: Precisely.

(Brow-furrowing and beard-scratching follows)

PROFESSOR E: I mean, it doesn’t not make sense…

(General assent breaks out).

And SCENE

Did you hear that crash last week?

That was the sound of the DFL trying to demolish the First Amendment.

We touched on it briefly last Friday. But here’s a handy 20 minute digest of what exactly happened:

And yes, it’s systematic.

From the “it could be comedy, if it weren’t for what they actually mean” files: Minneapolis representative Brion Curran took some time off from driving hammered through Central Minnesota while thinking she was in the Twin Cities to tell us what’s what:

It’s tempting to respond “we know you exist, Rep. Curran. It’s just irrelevant to our actual lives, and don’t bother forcing us to see this your way”.

But about that last bit:

Under the DFL proposal that reps FInke and Curran are talking about..

…and talking, and talking…

…churches can be sued into obedience.

This is like those lawsuits against the bakers and florists and photographers, but in statute, and everywhere.

If this isn’t enough to get you to hold your nose and support even an imperfect Republican for the legislature, I’m really not sure what to tell you anymore.

Christians are the same as slaveholders.

No, that’s what Rep. Luke Frederick of Mankato says:

He’s responding to an amendment that would protect churches and their members freedom of conscience about transgender issues.

The MNDFL is at war with the Constitution.

UPDATE: Harry Niska sums up the, er, debate:

I’ll be talking with Rep. Niska on the NARN tomorrow.

And for our DFL friends, I present this note from Chairman Ken Martin:

Just a quick reminder:

• Martin and DFL leadership primaried the candidates endorsed by the caucus and convention process in 2018, jamming down Tim Walz (who came out of the endorsement process in third place).
• In addition, Keith Ellison was another jamdown; the party pushed him over Matt Pelikan, the candidate that oozed up through the caucus and convention process.
• Before that? The party made sure Mark Dayton prevailed over endorsed candidate Margaret Anderson Kelliher in 2010.
• The last endorsed DFL goober candidate to make it through the primary was Mike Hatch. Given that he was the party’s choice over the hapless but (for the time) “progressive” Becky Lourey, that was not a big stretch. I suspect Lourey would be to the center of any choices today.
• It’s been 18 years since the caucus-endorsed DFL governor candidate got through the primary.

If you’re a DFL caucus goer, your “voice” matters only if it agrees with whoever’s got Ken Martin’s ear.

This – letting major but utterly corrupted institutions burn to the ground – is becoming kind of a theme, isn’t it?

OK – so read this entire AP piece on the murder of Georgia nursing student Laken Riley.

And when you do, tell us what’s missing:

Ready?

No mention that the alleged murderer, Jose Antonio Ibarra, was an illegal alien with a rap sheet as long as a Walgreens receipt.

It’s almost like someone wants this sort of thing – unrestricted illegal immigration by people whom no country wants – to be the norm.

Somone, like…:

So many institutions.

So little fire.

Tonight in Fridley:

I’m not a betting man, but it looks like he’s getting ready for some more power-grabbing “consumer protection” litigation.

Minnesota, 2024: The DFL says 46 days of early voting and “no excuses needed” mail in voting doesn’t make voting (for the DFL) easy enough; demands more:

Given that young adults are least likely to own a car, and many 18- and 19-year-olds do not even have a driver’s license, it can be very difficult for them to reach early voting and Election Day voting sites,” Pursell said as she explained the parameters of the legislation, which is being backed by Secretary of State Steve Simon.

The House Elections Committee voted to place the bill on the general register on a party-line voice vote. The bill has no companion in the Senate. No Republicans in the hearing expressed support for the bill, which one member said amounts to a fiscally irresponsible “unfunded mandate” for counties.

Minnesota, 2030: The Minnesota DFL, claiming early voting and polls that come to you if you’re a prog kid at Gustavus is still not easy enough, proposes to simply enter votes for all newborns for the rest of their lives, on birth (or when they would have been born, if the mother “reproductive freedomed” the baby).

The Legislature is back in session. And the DFL lost no time trying to extend last session’s jamdown.

Gun control? Yep, they got it:

Details here.

Of course, the bill will get dissected in court, if it gets passed. Best to make sure it doesn’t – which means if you’re not a member of the MN Gun Owners Caucus, you should be.

Senator Isa Perez-Vega may be a contender to pass Erin Maye-Quade as the most cloyingly annoying DFLer in the Senate.

Possible saving grace for this session? It’s an even-numbered year – and DFLs from Greater Minnesota are getting nervous about how the Faerie Raenbow Agenda from last session is going to go over in Eveleth. In this case, Sen. Hauschild – who currently occupies Tom Bakk’s old seat – and a clear case of nerves over making Minnesota a “sanctuary state”:

And with a one-vote majority in the Senate, it’s making a bit of a difference.

The DFLers in Greater Minnesota have to be looking at…:

• Joe Biden’s escalating unpopularity. Trump doesn’t have to win the national election for them to still lose their seats in counties that are, or are drifting, red.
• The disproportionate impact of DFL policy on rural Minnesota

…and thinking it just might be time to reel in some of the worst excesses.

Hope Hauschild takes the hint on Isa Perez-Vega’s idiot bill.

A few phone calls and emails might certainly help him make up his mind.

It’s the most wonderful time of the year, for people who love to control other people:

And right back atcha – happy first day of session to all you DFLers who treat it like an orgy!

So, yesterday the DFL told us that “People like getting “free” stuff”.

Er, wait. Sorry.

It wasn’t technically the DFL. It was the “Minnesota Reformer”, aka “MInnesota Independent v 2.0“.

Anyway, there was a poll:

What an odd little thing to report on. People like “free” stuff? Stop the proverbial presses.

And on a Tuesday, just before the session, in an election year.

Wonder why?

Aaaaaah.

Makes perfect sense now.

So, Erin Murphy is the new MN Senate Majority Leader, replacing Senator Dziedzik (whom I wish the best in her ongoing battle with cancer).

What this means is that the old “Labor” coalition that ran the DFL and often Minnesota has been demoted to the back seat. Dziedzik’s father was a long-time Northeast MInneapolis politician who was a perfect metaphor for the coalition; blue-collar, from Northeast or the Iron Range, pretty much your typical Perpich voter.

Murphy represents the, uh, great leap forward for the DFL: Metro, public employee union, and not one degree behind The Squad in terms of perfect “progressive” credentials.

Anyway, here we are:

By the way – has anyone noticed that, if you left all anthropological terms out of the rhetoric, the “improvements” the DFL is making are the same kind of thing a farmer does to take care of a herd of livestock?

As opposed to free people?

SCENE: It’s a darkened back room at Minnesota DFL headquarters. Ken Martin and an attendant perp-walk a figured in handcuffs with a bag over his head into a room at the faaar back of the building. They sit him down and pull the bag off, revealing Rep. Andy SMITH (chucklehead jagoff, Rochester). DIsoriented, SMITH blinks and adjusts to the dim light as he notices the people around him.

SMITH: Er…who are you?

MAN 1: I’m former state Representative John Thompson.

MAN 2: I’m Representative Dan Wolgamott

WOMAN 1: I’m Representative Brion Curran.

MAN 3: I’m former sheriff Dave Hutchinson.

MAN 4: I’m William Davis, former communications genius.

WOMAN 2: I’m Julie Blaha, state auditor.

MAN 5: I’m Matt Roznowski, , DFL comms guy and tough tough enforcer.

SMITH: Wow. So – what are you all in for?

CURRAN: Same thing as you.

SMITH: Uh…what’s that?

HUTCHINSON: Keep you out of sight.

SMITH: Why?

BLAHA: So the media doesn’t accidentally get curious and cover any of us.

THOMPSON: RIght about now, you’ll be…

(DAVIS pulls up SMITH’s twitter account)

DAVIS: Just like they did for me.

Everyone nods, goes back to quietly passing the time.

And SCENE

A fire at a west end building housing three conservative groups is being investigated as arson:

My firend, former co-host and CAE chair John Hinderaker commented:

John Hinderaker, president of the Center of the American Experiment (CAE), said based on the location of the fires in the building, it appears that someone targeted conservative groups.

“The fires were obviously set by someone. They targeted conservative organizations. They didn’t firebomb the chiropractors or psychologists or Manufacturers Alliance. We are working with authorities to try to identify the perpetrators,” Hinderaker said.

The Golden Valley Fire Department responded to a fire at 8421 Wayzata Blvd. shortly after 2 a.m. Sunday morning, according to the fire department.

Among those cheering on domestic terror was “Represenative” Andy Smith (Chucklhead Jagoff, Rochester):

Apparently having one of his (dumber) representatives giggling like a schoolgirl about domestic terrorism was enough to get even Ken Martin and the DFL Mystery Meat Machine to spring into PR action:

Nothing could shut that little twerp up until, apparently, giggling like a middle-school mean girl about domestic terror.

PS: I hope “Protect” Minnesota can provide good information to the FBI/BATFE to find and arrest those responsible for this apparent attack.

As we’ve noted, Ilhan Omar gave a speech to a Somali audience last week that’s gotten some flak. It’s been in all the papers…

…Well, OK. It’s been in none of the Twin Cities papers. As usual.

Until now.

While “coverage” is out of the question, the Strib posted a “fact check” of the conservative response. There’s less in the fact check than meets the eye – but it hews closely to Rep. Omar’s claim that the translation is ambiguous, or just plain wrong.

The Strib’s claim (emphasis added, to return to later):

Omar’s office pointed to a more accurate translation of her speech posted online. A Star Tribune reporter who speaks Somali listened to the speech and reviewed the transcript, and found it matched Omar’s actual comments. It said:

“My answer was the U.S. government will do what we tell the U.S. government to do. We as Somalis should have that confidence in ourselves. We live in this country. We pay taxes in this country. It’s a country where one of your own sits in Congress. As long as I’m in Congress no one will take Somalia’s sea. And the United States will not support other people to rob us. Rest assured Minnesotans. The woman you sent to Congress is aware of you and has the same interest as you.”

The translation now under dispute characterized Omar’s comments this way: “The U.S. government will only do what Somalians in the U.S. tell them to do. They will do what we want and nothing else. They must follow our orders and that is how we will safeguard the interest of Somalia … together we will protect the interests of Somalia.”

As someone who knocks around in German and Norwegian, I know that translation begets ambiguity. It’s not unheard of for nuance to drift, or be yanked, in directions that weren’t intended.

So – is Somaliland’s Deputy Finance Minister, presumably a native speaker of Somali, as able to translate the Representative as the Strib’s translator?

She seemed pretty convinced:

Still waiting for the Strib/MPR/the Big Four to tell us whether and why the Somali Deputy Finance Minister’s take was wrong.

And waiting.

And waiting.

You will search the Strib in vain for any mention of the fallout from Ilhan Omar’s speech, in which she basically told a Somali audience that she was there to uphold their side’s interests in an ongoing squabble with Ethiopia.

Now, normally you need to go to the London Daily Mail.

So the fact that it’s in the NYPost must mean it’s serious. Tom Emmer called on her to resign:

“Ilhan Omar’s appalling, Somalia-first comments are a slap in the face to the Minnesotans she was elected to serve and a direct violation of her oath of office,” House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) wrote on X. “She should resign in disgrace.”

If you’re confused by the fracas? It does need some explaining:

Omar, the first Somali American in Congress, appeared to assure her Somali American constituents that she would do everything in her power to prevent the disputed, breakaway Republic of Somaliland from entering into a sea-access deal with landlocked Ethiopia.

A clip of the Minnesota lawmaker went viral with over 2.6 million views after it was posted on X, with a translation saying Omar had said: “As Somalis, one day we will go after our missing territories.”

The congresswoman claims her remarks were lost in translation. 

“It’s not only slanted but completely off,” Omar said of the subtitles in a video of her speech shared by Republic of Somaliland Foreign Minister Rhoda Elmi. “But I wouldn’t expect more from these propagandists.”

Of course, as we noted yesterday, the Somali deputy foreign minister – presumably a Somali speaker – felt the need to disavow the speech in no uncertain terms:

My fearless prediction: Omar will do her usual on-air slumber party with Esme Murphy this Sunday. They’ll paint each others toenails on the air as they commiserate about all the bigotry that strong powerful women face in the world today.

And then it’ll get disappeared.

How much effort does today’s #MNDFL put into acting like a bunch of 25 year old “influencers”?

This much.

President Biden came to Duluth/Superior yesterday to celebrate breaking ground on a taxpayer-to-political class money transfer machine.

And the DFL showed him where he stands, figuratively and literally:

What just happened?

Either:

• The Babylon Bee has developed Artificial Intelligence video to the point where they can make a video mocking the President and the gathered, uh, dignitaries, or…
• Governor Klink and Senators DeVille, Baldwin and Slugger made the President stand with his thumb up his butt while they took the inevitable slew of selfies to gurgitate out onto social media.

I love how the even President Biden, around :30, puts up his hands so as to say “What TF? Aren’t I the President?” as DeVille, Slugger and Baldwin cackle like a bunch of Edina housewives chugging box wine.

Hilarious? Yes.

A perfect representation of today’s MNDFL – the obsession with self-adulatory echo-chambering, the forced junior-high giggling, the obliviousness to anyone and anything outside their special little world? The three of them, and Baldwin, act like a clacque of spoiled, oblivious middle-school mean girls.

This does, in fact, personify today’s DFL to a perfect “T”

When I was a kid, I got my first drivers license in North Dakota. The whole process was handled via snail mail between state offices. Took about two weeks.

IN the decades I’ve lived in Minnesota, I’ve gotten or renewed my license eight times, counting last month.

Three of those times, it took six or more weeks to arrive. Another time, after three months, I went to the newly-computerized DPS, and found that some union data entry droog and entered an address that I had not only never lived at, but didn’t exist (“18xx Minnehaha in MInneapolis”).

And this last month? Six weeks and counting. I went to the DPS office. They said “Production issue”.

3-4 years ago, I got my mother’s drivers license renewed in North Dakota. Printed on the spot. Done while I waited, and I didn’t wait long enough to even notice.

So tell me, DFLers – when Minnesota brags about having “good government”, what are you talking about?

The DFL will repeatedly and systematically cheat in their own elections.

But no way, no how in everyone else’s.

Sheesh. What are you, some kind of Cheetoh-haired Literal Hitler?

Don’t get me wrong. Jason DeRusha – former Channel 4 reporter and morning anchor, turned afternoon drive guy at the once-great WCCO – isn’t a bad guy. I’ve met him, engaged with him a time or two, and by Twin Cities media standards he’s OK. He’s no Bob Collins, anyway [1]

But if I were a DFL Comms person who wanted to come up with a nice, low-impact media appearance to side-slip the impression that your Governor’s only media contact was an endless stream of selfies and cheesecake (and donut, and pizza and corn dog) photos, without sweating the Governor too hard, DeRusha – or, really, anyone at ‘CCO – would be at the top of the list.

But somehow he managed to choke:

“Minnesota is a diverse state, it continues to grow. This flag was crafted in the 1890s,” said Gov. Walz regarding Minnesota’s current flag. “It’s highly offensive to a large number of people, and there’s very little debate about that.”

“…there’s very little debate” because the DFL steamrolled it through without a whole lot of debate allowed.

But here’s the clinker:

When asked about this topic, Gov. Walz compared these Republican efforts to “somehow saving the Confederate battle flag.” The governor added, “These are the arguments that happened with Jefferson Davis statues in Alabama.”

That’s right. The “old” flag was the one the 21st Virginia carried at Gettysburg.

Remember – he’s the governor of “#OneMinnesota”.

[1] Of course, either was Bob Collins, ’til he retired.