OpEd

Defanging Holy Joe

Jeff Fecke — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 23:23:23 -0600

By Jeff Fecke • 11/20/08 • Like most Democrats, I was gleeful after the Dems took a big lead in the Senate. Sure, part of that was about getting our agenda pushed through, but mostly I was happy because it meant that defenestrated Sen. Joe Lieberman, Joe-Conn., would soon be out of a job. His gavel would be stripped, his epaulettes ripped from his shoulders, and he’d be sent out of the Democratic caucus into the cold twilight of the GOP caucus, where he’d have to put up with idiots like Tom Coburn.

Gutting Green Acres: Slap in the face from 2008 MN legislature

Loon Commons — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 23:23:23 -0600

by Brian Devore • 11/14/08 • Farmer Mike Gilles has a succinct way of describing what a mess the 2008 Minnesota Legislature made of the popular Green Acres program: “Pretty much it’s a slap in the face to anyone who is conservation-minded.” It’s a slap that could leave bruises on the state’s landscape for decades to come.

Loon Commons is a blog

Muy Fabuloso

Hispanic Fanatic — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 19:07:34 -0600

by Daniel Cubias • 11/16/08 • Let me give you a warning. If you should ever walk down the street of a major American city with my wife, you should not (by her own admission) listen to her she asks the innocuous question, “What’s over there?” I speak from experience.

Food and Human Rights

IATP — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 19:03:15 -0600

by Ben Lilliston • 11/14/08 • How would our global food system be different if we started with a human rights perspective that guarantees everyone the right to adequate food?

SPAM in the place where you live

Jeff Fecke — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 22:22:22 -0600

by Jeff Fecke • America’s loss is Austin, Minnesota’s gain. As the economy plunges into the Great Recession, sales of what I affectionately refer to as the unofficial pre-packaged meatlike substance of the State of Minnesota are way, way up:

Through war and recession, Americans have turned to the glistening canned product from Hormel as a way to save money while still putting something that resembles meat on the table.

Do as I say (and ignore what I've done): Tim Pawlenty reinventing himself

Jeff Fecke — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 16:20:09 -0600

by Jeff Fecke • My governor, Tim Pawlenty, has been a regular media gadfly during the Republican Governors’ Association meetings. He’s had the combover line and the less ideology, more doing line, and he let loose with a rebuke to Sarah Palin, saying that “Drill, baby, drill” was just a slogan. If you didn’t know anything about Minnesota’s governor, you might think he was a decent, pragmatic guy who was willing to stand up to his party’s orthodoxy.

Those of us who live in Minnesota, of course, know better. Gov. Timmy has not been willing to buck his party, not at all.

Which Minnesotans supported California's hateful Prop H8? Here's the list

Andy Birkey — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 00:54:15 -0600

by Andy Birkey • 11/13/08 • California passed Proposition 8 or Prop H8 (H8 = “hate,” get it?) to rescind marriage rights for same-sex couples. It’s one of the first times in American history that voters chose to take away a civil right at the ballot box.

Andy Birkey lives in Minneapolis.

Shock and surprise! Democrat Mark Ritchie is a Democrat

Jeff Fecke — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 23:23:19 -0600

By Jeff Fecke • 11/12/08 • You have to hand it to the modern Republican Party.