MN Progressive Project - Front Page

Will XCEL let Minnesota Shift from 62% Coal?

Grace Kelly — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 20:43:51 GMT

62% of Minnesota's energy comes from coal! Minnesota still has 13 coal-fired plants . These plants tend to be older plants grandfathered out of complying with the clean air act. In other words, these plants are dirtier polluters. Our heavy reliance on coal in Minnesota is one of the invisible media stories never told.

(From a powerpoint presentation by Dr. Carol Martinez)

So if mountaintops are being decimated in Appalachia, we are part of that cause. For without demand, the mountaintops would not be decimated.

Coal has been more economical than other energies because the true cost, including environmental cost is not considered. For a quick review, coal power plants are also the largest polluter of toxic mercury pollution. This is one of the reasons that you can fish anywhere in Minnesota, and it is recommended that pregnant women never eat the fish. Coal plants are a major source of toxic air pollution: 59% of total U.S. sulfur dioxide pollution and 18% of total nitrogen, 50% of particle pollution and 40% of total U.S. carbon dioxide pollution. This contributes to health problems like asthma and to global warming. Coal plants create acidic rain which destroys ecosystems by changing delicate pH balances, as well as directly contributing water toxins. And "clean coal" is technically impossible, which means that when politicians use the term "clean coal", they mean less polluting coal, which is still really awful.

So the real questions are: Will Minnesota be able to move away from coal? Is XCEL, the Minnesota energy company, pushing for coal or green technologies?
We have the technology today to implement real green energy solutions that can curb global warming and cut air pollution, while at the same time building a clean, sustainable economy that lowers energy bills and creates thousands of new jobs.

XCEL is justifying very expensive transmission lines because the highest expect peak loads on really hot days. XCEL could be promoting air conditioning that uses stored excess energy during low use times, that would shift the load of air conditioning off of peak times on hot days. Instead, XCEL is trying to build a massive transmission line that could connect to proposed coal plants outside of Minnesota instead of using conservation, smart grids, local distribution and load shifting technology. By breaking a big transmission project into smaller projects, XCEL could be avoiding a needs and goals discussion.

Historically, XCEL was a strong supporter of coal. It always struck me as bizarre that XCEL was able to charge us as monopoly for lobbying against our own best interests.

The current official policy is that XCEL promotes clean technology. Whether that clean technology includes the impossible "clean coal" is not obvious. Hmmm, maybe we should be quoting this document in fight against the XCEL Hiawatha project?

2008 Corporate Responsibility Report
The energy business provides products that are essential to people's lives.
We take that responsibility seriously, and delivering safe, reliable, affordable energy is our commitment. Now, we are taking that responsibility to a new level. In addition to our traditional role as an energy provider, Xcel Energy is committed to transforming our business through environmental leadership.
Our vision, in fact, is to help lead the utility industry to a clean energy future. Our customers expect nothing less, and our policymakers are equally interested in making energy clean and making it work for America.
These are tough economic times. But that hasn't altered our commitment. We've always understood that clean energy has to be reliable and affordable for customers and must offer additional value for all of our stakeholders. Our environmental leadership strategy allows us to achieve those goals.
As part of that strategy, we are focused on areas that leverage our commitment to its greatest advantage: Advanced technology, Energy efficiency, and Business innovation.
We are investing in advanced wind and solar technology. We are exploring smart grid strategies that will increase communication with customers and enable us to better manage our own systems. Although we've had an aggressive conservation effort for more than two decades, we are pursuing new ways to work with customers to conserve energy and manage its use. And we've adopted state - of-the-art technologies in our own operations that enable us to reduce our emissions and improve our environmental performance.
As a result of our environmental leadership, Xcel Energy is the No. 1 provider of wind energy in the nation and No. 5 for solar capacity. For the third year in a row, we've been named to the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI). Companies listed on the DJSI are considered to be best in class in economic, environmental and social performance. For the first time, we were listed on a leadership index for the Carbon Disclosure Project, which recognizes the quality of our disclosure.
(xcel)

OK, in XCEL's defense, I have three sources that say that XCEL fought against the Excelsior Energy coal gasification project. Although, this project was so environmentally wrong and also so very expensive, that fighting this project might not be strong indicator about how the XCEL feels in general about using coal. XCEL still could be pretending that "clean coal" exists.

The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission on Thursday rejected a measure that would have forced Xcel Energy Inc. to buy power from a coal-fired power plant proposed for the Iron Range.
The St. Paul Pioneer Press reports that Excelsior Energy of Wayzata had wanted a mandate that Xcel buy all the output from a $2.1 billion 600-megawatt plant that Excelsior wants to build near Taconite.
(Biz Journal)

And XCEL was still pursuing Big Stone II, a massive coal burning plant located on the border of Minnesota and South Dakota, where the constant winds from the east would dropped most of the air pollution on Minnesota.

On January 15, the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission unanimously approved transmission powerlines linked to Big Stone II, which was believed to have cleared the way for construction of the plant to start.
(Reuters)

OK, in the long anticipated impact of electing President Obama, suddenly the clean air laws are now applied again and the air pollution permit for Big Stone II is pulled. Hopefully this project will no longer be pushed by anyone.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Environmentalists claimed on Friday that a new era regarding coal-fired power plants had arrived with the Obama administration after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency turned back South Dakota's approval of a big coal-fired power plant in that state because of pollution concerns.
"EPA is signaling that it is back to enforcing long-standing legal requirements fairly and consistently nationwide," said Bruce Nilles, head of the Sierra Club's effort to stop coal power plants ....
The proposed $1.3 billion Big Stone II plant near Milbank, is in northeastern South Dakota, near the border with Minnesota. About half of the power from Big Stone II would be sent to Minnesota.
Daly, of the EPA's Denver office, said the South Dakota Department of Environment & Natural Resources has 90 days to correct three deficiencies it noted in the January 22 ...
Obama has said he supports advanced technology for coal-burning power plants that could capture the CO2 emissions. That technology is not yet commercially viable. Coal plants generate half of U.S. electricity supply.
(Reuters)

And so the question before all of us, is can XCEL truly embrace green technology and stop embracing coal?

Steve Sviggum's governor campaign over even before it began?

The Big E — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 20:26:45 GMT

Republican Steve Sviggum's campaign for Minnesota Governor may come to an abrupt end because of his employer, the Department of Labor and Industry. MN Governor Tim Pawlenty appointed Sviggum to head the agency in 2007. Sviggum had been Majority Leader and Minority Leader in the MN House.

Steve Sviggum's path to the governor's mansion may have hit a roadblock.
The Department of Labor and Industry commissioner's oversight of OSHA may qualify him as a federal employee - a group forbidden to run for public office.
"This was a curveball out of left field," the former House speaker and Kenyon Republican said Thursday. "I'm kind of suspended right now."
While organizing his campaign, Sviggum was informed that his OSHA association might constitute federal employment, he told the Republican Eagle Thursday.
Sviggum said he contacted the U.S. Office of the Solicitor General, who he said confirmed the assessment in an "over-the-phone ruling."
(West Central Tribune)

XCEL Should Use Permanent Load Shifting

Grace Kelly — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 18:32:07 GMT

XCEL is justifying very expensive transmission lines through the highest expected peak loads on really hot days when green technology offers a cheaper, more sustainable, very green solution of permanent load shifting. Permanent load shifting stores excess energy during low use times for use during peak load times. Carrie Anne Johnson, submitted these comments to XCEL on the Hiawatha project ( reprinted with permission):

The EIS should analyze Permanent Load Shifting Technologies as a viable, demonstrable alternative that is currently being offered to business customers via the Southern California Edison Power Company as one example. Technologies include Ice-On-Coil technology, Ice Storage Air Conditioning, and Chilled Water Storage. These systems are designed to use energy during non-peak hours to chill water or make ice. The stored medium is then used during on-peak hours to cool buildings via the air conditioning system. The following are three distinct types of thermal energy storage technologies proposed by our approved contractors to permanently shift the energy load to lower rate periods, thereby reducing energy costs.
Chilled Water Storage ("CWS") - The CWS system includes the design, installation, and operation of storage systems for chilled water so that the building's air conditioning compressors can manufacture and store chilled water during the off-peak hours (generally at night) for use later during the day. During on-peak periods equipment such as smaller pumps and fans operate to circulate the chilled water to condition the spaces with the main compressors turned off, thereby permanently reducing a major portion of air conditioning energy usage and demand from the on-peak period.
Ice-on-Coil ("Ice Bank") Storage - This is a modular TES system that utilizes a chilled water-glycol technology to manufacture ice in an enclosed tank for central air conditioner systems. Using the same TES principle as in chilled water storage, the ice-on-coil system will "charge" the modular tank during the off-peak hours with the electric chillers that would normally operate during the day. The Ice Bank system will manufacture and store ice at night, which will be used during the day to chill the water for air conditioning.
Ice Storage Air Conditioning ("ISAC") - ISAC uses an external ice storage tank to provide the thermal storage for a packaged air conditioner that uses refrigerant, not water, as the cooling medium. The system operates the compressors at night to freeze water in a self contained storage system to create ice. The ice is then used during the day to cool the refrigerant which in turn is used to air condition the building. The system may be retrofitted in existing packaged central air conditioner systems (usually 5 to 15 tons) or installed as new systems.
Given that the Midtown area has recently seen the expansion of the Allina campus with Abbott Northwestern's new Heart Center, their additional administrative buildings, the very large Wells Fargo Home Mortgage campus, not to mention the very well-lit (and then some) Midtown Global Market. Each of these businesses would be ideal locations for this kind of technology. By shifting the peak load of high-energy consuming air conditioners at these facilities alone during the summer time, which is precisely when Xcel has stated the current feeder overloads are occurring, I am certain that Xcel would be able to reduce the total consumption of current during these hours, such that the feeder capacity would again be operating below threshold guidelines.

Now here is the punchline: not only does the documentation back up what Carrie Anne Johnson is saying but the technology for load shifting is more efficient than using batteries. Yep, it is 130% more efficient! This green technology is so efficient that the big air conditioning users should already be doing this! A proper pricing of heavy peak load electricity would easily drive big air condition users to this then cost economical decision!

Air conditioning and process cooling loads are key contributors to this peak electrical demand problem. Approximately 35% to 40% of the peak electrical demand for large commercial office and institutional buildings is air conditioning related.
Thermal Energy Storage (TES) can eliminate approximately 60% to 80% of the peak electrical demand related to air conditioning for many large commercial office and institutional buildings by transferring most of that air conditioning energy use to the previous night. TES is a proven technology that began over 80 years ago, when electricity prices were high, and electrical systems were unreliable.

Description
TES acts as a storage battery for air conditioning systems - the cooling is done at night, when electrical demand is low and generation or transmission and delivery capacity constraints are minimized. This cooling energy is stored in a tank for use the next afternoon. During the afternoon, the main air conditioning equipment is shut off. The cooling is then supplied to the building by the "battery", thus reducing the power usage during peak hours (when electrical demand is at its highest and power generation equipment efficiency is at its worst).
One key difference between this "air-conditioning battery" and a typical battery is that the air-conditioning battery is over 130% efficient - it takes far less source and site energy to charge the air conditioning battery at night when it is cool than it would take to run the air-conditioning system on hot afternoons, when power plant and air-conditioning equipment are at their poorest efficiency levels.
(ROI Engineering)

The Best Comic Strip From Last Week!

TwoPuttTommy — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 15:40:54 GMT

Well, ok - I missed it last Tuesday, but: I caught it on CrooksAndLiars today!

The title? "Sarah Palin!" on This Modern World by Tom Tomorrow, July 14th, 2009

Wait'll ya get a load o' the last panel....

Amy Klobuchar not out of touch like John Kline

The Big E — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 23:49:35 GMT

The other day I ripped on Rep. John Kline (R-MN) for his cluelessness on the plight of dairy farmers. Then I ripped on his senior staffer, the rude and racist Mike Osskopp for aiding and abetting the cluelessness.

Kline has no idea about the plight of family farmers and in particularly what the plummeting price of milk is doing to dairy farmers because he refuses to meet with constituents. Kline will only meet with constituents when his staff have vetted them so no liberals or anyone with tough questions can attend.

Compare and contrast Kline with Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN).

^{Photo by Jerrica Goines}

Wow. How does she do it?

This is what happens when a politician goes out and meets with the people. The people of Minnesota have told Amy what their problems are and she's doing something about it.

As part of her continuing her efforts to help Minnesota's dairy farmers struggling with plummeting dairy prices, U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar, along with other Senators including Pat Leahy (D-VT) and Herb Kohl (D-WI), sent a letter to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack calling for a temporary boost to the federal price supports in the Dairy Price Support program.
"These tough economic times have hit Minnesota's farmers especially hard," said Klobuchar. "Across Minnesota, dairy farmers have been stung by rising input costs and falling product prices. We must continue to work to help dairy farmers through this crisis by providing targeted support to stabilize prices."
With the price of milk and dairy products falling sharply in the past year, Klobuchar has pushed for several measures aimed at helping dairy farmers.
(Isanti Chisago County Star)

This is the face of the modern Republican Party

The Big E — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 23:19:30 GMT

I've been following the Sonia Sotomayor confirmation hearings. I'm not surprised, but I am appalled at the overt racism of today's Republican Party. From the de facto leader of the party, Rush Limbaugh, to their propaganda arm, Fox News, to the Republican Senators on the Judiciary Committee embarrassing themselves every time they open their mouths, they are all playing the same racist game. They are following Nixon's southern strategy through to it's bitter, divisive ends.

The Republicans have become a southern regional party. They're power in the NE, midwest and west coast has drastically diminished and will likely continue to do so.

Why?

Pat Buchanan exemplifies everything that is wrong with the modern Republican party. The modern Republican party is angry and racist and not afraid to say so.

The Republicans have probably permanently lost the hispanic vote with these confirmation hearings.

So what are the implications of this for the MN?
The MN Republicans are just a microcosm of the national party. Duh. That's not exactly brilliant analysis, but as the Republican gubernatorial candidates vie for their party's nomination, they will play to their base which means when it comes to immigration, they're going to be just as racist as the national party.

Republican candidates are going to score points with their base by trying to one-up each other on how much they hate hispanics and how hard they'll crack down on them if they were to become Governor.

They're going to promise that if they're Governor, they'll make sure that police and state troopers become enforcement arms for the INS. They might even promise to get the police to start checking for immigration papers for anyone who looks hispanic ... can you imagine how this would play out in real life?

They're going to promise to do make sure the police are pulling more drivers over for DWH (driving while hispanic). Of course, they will try and couch this in Orwellian terms so that at face value it doesn't sound quite as racist as it is.

They will promise the base that they will make sure that no illegal immigrant's child born in the US has a chance at citizenship.

They will promise to make sure that no illegal immigrant can get access to health care in MN.

What can we progressives do about this? First of all, continue to organize. We need to work at organizing in the Hispanic/Latino community so that they know what the stakes are in the 2010 Governor's race. We need to get even more of this community registered to vote and out to the polls.

Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) worked hard in 2008 to explode the vote in his district. What if we could have turned out an extra 1% in MN-05? Franken would've won by thousands. What if we can increase the turnout in the Hispanic/Latino community by 5% in 2010?

Persuasion in Bible Land

Grace Kelly — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 19:27:26 GMT

In Minnesota, where an election is determined by 312 votes or by how appealing the independent candidate is, the persuasion of all groups is very important. Many of the methods that I have suggested involve getting more of our votes to the polls. However, I do believe, we have to go further! We have to persuade people that are polled as "strongly" opposed. This article is focusing on persuading the Christian Right, as led by James Dobson.

Remember that I believe that Christianity is inherently a liberal progressive religion. I believe that we can through the very tenants of Christian religion persuade people who current labeled as Christian right - strongly opposed.

The best persuasions start by seeking to understand. The best understanding comes from books written by Chris Hedges, who will be available at Pigstock, a camp out peace event in nearby Wisconsin, this weekend. Chris Hedges is a veteran journalist, who does interviews and covers events like pro-life rallies and week long classes on conversion techniques. Chris compares normal religious movements, previous political movements and the current Christian Right movement to show that the Christian Right movement is actually for political power. Chris Hedges demonstrates how far this political power expects to go:

"If you have been healed or saved or blessed through TBN and have not contributed to [the] station, you are robbing God and will lose your reward in heaven, " Paul Crouch said in a Praise the Lord broadcast on November 7,1997. Couch said: "God, we proclaim death to anything or anyone that will lift a hand against this network and this ministry that belongs to You, God. It is Your work, it is Your idea, it is Your property, it is your airwaves, it is in the way of God's great voice of proclamation to the whole world. In the name of Jesus and all the people said, 'Amen'"
Trinity Broadcasting Network is the world's largest televangelist organization...
(Chris Hedges, from the book, American Fascists:The Christian Right and the War on America, Page 171)

The strongest appeal of Christian Right as led by James Dobsen is certainty and comfort in a time of great change, great fear and great challenges! I suspect that you the reader of this blog, strongly share my passion for discovery and truth and like me, have a high tolerance for uncertainty. So in crafting persuasions, we have to appeal to the desire for certainty and comfort, rather than appeal to a spirit of discovery and truth. So we have to study these folks and start in their comfort zone!

Chris Hedges later notes in his book that proven hypocrisy and corruption did not shake believers. So proven hypocrisy and corruption would shake people who believe in discovery and truth, like you and I. The comfort believers need a new island of belief and comfort that they can leap to, before they can let go of the old. This comfort need is the not the progressive belief in principles; it needs a leader to believe in. President Obama did represent that kind of leadership and speaking style, that a comfort believer could leap to. In fact, the very difference between polled popularity of Obama and polled popularity of his policies, demonstrates that Obama has been embraced by the just-pick-a-great-leader folks.

Now, here is the most important point. What are these comfort people looking for - a halfway moderate mushy weasel statement or a highly intense declaration of values leading to action? Hmmm, what do the current leaders that Christian Right follow talk like? Above all, this group wants strong leadership with clear simple direction. Even in the strongest opposition, this is true.

The heart of being a progressive, is the heart of "Fighting Bob" La Follette, a senator from Wisconsin. On March 25, 1921, Bob spoke in a cathedral loud voice, in his finest oration, reaching the climax of his speech, fist raised in defiance. Bob declared,
"I am going to be a candidate for reelection to the United States Senate. I do not want the vote of a single citizen under any misapprehension of where I stand: I would not change my record on the war for that of any man, living or dead."
The crowd sat in stunned silence for a moment before erupting into thunderous applause. Even his critics could not resist the courage of the man; indeed, one of his bitterest foes stood at the back of the hall, with tears running down his cheeks, and told a reporter: "I hate the son of a bitch. But, my God, what guts he's got." (FightingBob)

Despite having voted against war, Bob La Follette was re-elected as senator in very pro-war state. This is the type of leadership that Christian Right led by Dobson would go for!

So this tells us that strong authentic leadership is the "how" of the persuasion. The next step is the "what" of the persuasion.

The Christian Right led by Dobsen says it wants freedom. Freedom in the Dobsen universe is the freedom to follow Dobsen and do exactly what he says. In fact, "follow Dobsen and do exactly as he says" becomes the definition of all words of goodness: freedom, Christian, American, faithful and patriotic. However disagree with Dobsen and you are labeled: "secular jihadists", liberals, evolutionist, false, pagan, Satan and evil.
This process of taking comfortable words and twisting the meaning is essential to this movement.

So start with the comfort words: bible, freedom, personal freedom and limited government! Take back these key words.

Anyone can respect and quote the bible, without being a believer. Anyone can offer "Well it was my understanding that the bible said ..." in a compassionate way that opens discussion rather trying to dictate beliefs. Anyone can have the same values as the bible, and in fact people frequently do. So for example, when accosted about abortion, one can say,

"I believe what the bible says about abortion, that abortion deserves to have a fine by law and no more."

To have credibility, you have to remember Exodus 21:22,

"When men strive together, and hurt a woman with child, so that there is a miscarriage, and yet no harm follows, the one who hurt her shall be fined".

Then you can ask the person who asked you about abortion if they believe in what the bible says!

Furthermore, I like to go on a rant that

"Government should keep its nose out of our religion, out of our bedrooms and out of our personal decisions. Government should take of roads, bridges, education, keeping our food safe and keeping big corporations from cheating - it has a hard enough job just doing that!"

Usually a laughter and discussion follows. My part of discussion leads this way:

Somehow the Republican form of government has become all intrusive into personal rights and liberty while being super protective of corporate/ business rights and liberty. If you are an ordinary person, in the Republican universe the government goes through email, goes through your library books, says who can have sex with, and how you can have sex. Where is the "freedom" in that?.

This discussion is invoking what is usually a key tenet of conservative philosophy: personal freedom and limited government! And this is the way that I would conclude:

The Democrats have done a much better job of keeping government out of our personal lives and keeping government focused on what it can do better: roads, bridges, education, regulation and safety!

Above all, the Christian Right led by Dobsen are our friends, family and community. We need them back with us in working for the common good!

Steele County Republican Party Co-Chair Dave Thul And Dirty Tricks - Part 1

TwoPuttTommy — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 17:42:10 GMT

The recent election of FEC Tony and MudSlingerMike to Republican Party of Minnesota Chair and Deputy Chair was a clear signal that the GOP was going to keep playing down and dirty - or worse. And apparently, Steele County Republican Party Co-Chair Dave Thul got the message - LOUD AND CLEAR. Before we get into how down and dirty Dave Thul is willing to play, let's go into the archives and review how down dirty republiCon GOPer John Kline plays:

Republican Party is fishing for info on the phones

Joe Bodell — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 12:49:49 GMT

Under the guise of "RPM Surveys," the Republican Party of Minnesota is making phone calls around Minnesota asking some rather loaded "survey" questions:

--In an economic downturn, should government raise taxes or lower taxes?
--Do you support domestic drilling for oil?
--Do you consider yourself pro-choice or pro-life?
--Do you identify with the Democrat Party or the Republican Party?

Gosh, I wonder who RPM Surveys is. It's not till the end of the call that the caller identifies the source of the survey as the Republican Party of Minnesota, and offers ways for the listener to find the party online. The caller my wife and I got sounded downright glum at our answers to his questions -- I can't imagine why.

There are two threads to suss out here. One is the call itself: don't believe anything you hear on the phone unless there are several questions asking you to identify yourself demographically. Without those questions, it's not a valid survey, and is likely to be done for purposes other than science-based polling. ALWAYS ask upfront who's paying for the call, and think about the content of the questions skeptically -- in the case of this call, there likely would have been follow-on questions if our answers matched up against the RPM's volunteer-finding success tracks.

The other thread is the utter boringness of it all. Look, I'm a Democrat, and I'm not likely to vote for a Republican any time soon. But is this what's really important about politics? Running sneaky "survey" calls, sending boring press releases attacking everyone else, and letting your committed volunteers turn all their neighbors off to the political process with their rabid commitment to their party and candidates?

I'm not saying commitment is a bad thing. But there are lots of people on both sides of the aisle who don't just disagree with the other side, but talk about the issues in such a way that you know they can't believe anyone would ever feel differently about the issues than they themselves do.

Is that right? Is a neighbor's or a coworker's or a friend's worth to us determined by their level of agreement with our politics? Can we not be committed to our positions and our politics and still remember that relating to people is more important than dragging them kicking and screaming over to our side of the field?

Michele Bachmann cannot understand health care bill

The Big E — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 04:18:36 GMT

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) had a little trouble reading today. She was trying to read the American Affordable Healthy Choices Act. This bill is the House's health care bill. She apparently misread certain parts. Or did she?

On Dennis Miller's radio show today, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) attacked the bill, claiming that it plainly stated that Americans would be forced out of their current health care plans "within five years":
BACHMANN: Well, what does that mean? That means that politicians are going to substitute their choice for your doctor's choice for you. That's exactly what this bill does. Here's the other thing about that bill. It's a monstrosity. I have the bill printed out on my desk, it's over 1,000 pages long. On the 16th page, it says whatever health care you have now, it's going to be gone within five years. So your current health care plan, you're not going to have in five years. What you're going to have is a government plan and a federal bureau is going to decide what you get or if you get anything at all.

It doesn't actually say that on p. 16. Page 16 is the start of the Protecting The Choice To Keep Current Coverage section of the bill.

Considering Michele often makes stuff up like secret plans to divide Iraq and secret plans to get rid of the dollar for a one-world currency, it's possible she's just in insane-conspiracies-everywhere mode.

Considering how often she lies ... well ... she could just be lying.

Baghdad Bob to run ads against Mark Ritchie

The Big E — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 04:06:13 GMT

Minnesota's latest Baghdad Bob impersonator, MN Republican party chair Tony Sutton, will be running attack ads on the radio against Secretary of State Mark Ritchie. After all the rave reviews that Ritchie got for how he conducted this last election, overseeing the massive undertaking that was the recount, FEC Tony thinks Ritchie is vulnerable.

The state GOP is buying radio ad time for the next week to criticize the record of Secretary of State Mark Ritchie, a first-term Democrat. Chairman Tony Sutton claims Ritchie failed to properly train local election officials and switched his position on absentee ballots during the recent Senate recount. Sutton says he thinks Ritchie is vulnerable and he's been talking to several potential candidates. Sutton says the party will also work to unseat the DFL attorney general and state auditor.
(Polinaut)

Maybe FEC Tony is picking up right where Ron Carey left off. Maybe FEC Tony has a chance of living up to legacy that Carey left the Republicans when he abandoned ship. He still has a lot of work left to do if he's going to fail that badly.

Mud Soup

The Big E — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 04:00:00 GMT

A long evening of politics so you'll have to make due with a smaller bowl of soup tonight.

Aaron Brown: Franken and net neutrality.

Dustry Trice: hide your laptops, Pat Anderson is running for Guv.

The Nuclear Age began 64 years ago today.

Remember Maj. Cook? Well, he might be a scam artist.

Rachel Maddow has had enough. Watch the vid here.

Glenn Beck has cried, sobbed, pandered, lied and now we can add shrieking to what he'll do on air.