True North

Quixote Was Right

looktruenorthwebmaster@gmail.com (Mitch Berg) — Thu, 31 May 2012 11:18:43 -0500

One of the most difficult jobs in politics is running for office as a Republican in Saint Paul. You’re in a city that might, in a good cycle, be 30% Republican, and where a fair chunk of the city depends on government for a living, one way or another – university faculty, government workers, teachers, and of course many,. many clients.

It’s an uphill road.

“Money In Politics Has Always Been Evil, Winston”

looktruenorthwebmaster@gmail.com (Mitch Berg) — Thu, 31 May 2012 11:16:47 -0500

As Jim Treacher notes in The Daily Caller, “It’s appalling and undemocratic to raise more money than the Obama campaign” .

Or something. David Axelrod is purporting to be alarmed by a Politico story on how Republican super PACs are planning to spend $1 billion on the election.

ACLU opposes election integrity, Photo ID

looktruenorthwebmaster@gmail.com (Gary Gross) — Thu, 31 May 2012 11:05:05 -0500

The ACLU of Minnesota, the League of Women Voters-Minnesota, Common Cause MN and Jewish Community Action filed suit yesterday to keep the Photo ID constitutional amendment off of November’s ballot:

The American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota, the League of Women Voters Minnesota, Jewish Community Action and Common Cause Minnesota are petitioning the state Supreme Court to strike down the voter ID ballot question, because they claim it would create one of the most restrictive election laws in the country.

Marquette Poll shows Walker lead holding steady

looktruenorthwebmaster@gmail.com (Gary Gross) — Thu, 31 May 2012 11:01:28 -0500

The latest polling from Marquette University shows Gov. Walker’s lead holding steady:

Milwaukee, Wis. – A new Marquette Law School poll finds Governor Scott Walker with 52 percent to Mayor Tom Barrett with 45 percent among 600 likely voters in next week’s recall election. That lead falls slightly short of statistical significance. The poll was taken May 23-26, with most interviews completed before last Friday’s first gubernatorial debate, and has a margin of error of +/- 4.1 percentage points. Lt. Governor Rebecca Kleefisch had 46 percent and Professional Fire Fighters of Wisconsin president Mahlon Mitchell had 41 percent, with 11 percent not expressing a preference. The margin in the Lt. Governor’s race is not statistically significant.

The Karski confusion

looktruenorthwebmaster@gmail.com (Scott Johnson) — Thu, 31 May 2012 10:21:14 -0500

The citation for the Presidential Medal of Freedom awarded to Jan Karski reads: “He worked as a courier, entering the Warsaw ghetto and the Nazi Izbica transit camp, where he saw first-hand the atrocities occurring under Nazi occupation.” Izbica was indeed a transit camp; it was a transit camp for Jews to be shipped to Belzec, which was a death camp. (Lucy Dawidowicz called it an “annihilation camp.”) In his remarks at the White House ceremony President Obama caused great offense to our Polish friends with his reference to the “Polish death camp” (which must have been a reference to Belzec) at which Karski had witnessed the atrocities that he subsequently reported to Western leaders in 1942 and 1943.

Breaking: Federal appeals court strikes down DOMA

looktruenorthwebmaster@gmail.com (Ed Morrissey) — Thu, 31 May 2012 10:11:31 -0500

Can’t wait to see how this plays in November, along with Barack Obama’s flip-flop on gay marriage:

An appeals court ruled Thursday that a law that denies a host of federal benefits to gay married couples is unconstitutional.

The 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston said the Defense of Marriage Act, which defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman, discriminates against gay couples.

"Hope"...Still? Looking Back at 4 Years of "Change"

looktruenorthwebmaster@gmail.com (WebMaster) — Wed, 30 May 2012 16:59:33 -0500

Minnesota Voter ID Supporters Respond to Opponents’ Lawsuit

looktruenorthwebmaster@gmail.com (Dan McGrath) — Wed, 30 May 2012 16:57:10 -0500

Why are they afraid of allowing Minnesotans to Vote?

A coalition of organizations including the American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota, the League of Women Voters Minnesota, Jewish Community Action and Common Cause Minnesota announced today that they had filed a lawsuit with the Minnesota Supreme Court challenging the Voter ID Amendment. The Voter ID Amendment was passed by the state legislature earlier this year and is scheduled to appear on this November’s ballot. The plaintiffs’ claim that the amendment language is misleading and inaccurate.

Backers of the Voter ID Amendment responded by saying the lawsuit comes as no surprise and that the petitioners’ claims are without merit. “The opponents have been talking about a lawsuit from nearly the time that the Voter ID bill was introduced in the legislature,” said Jeff Davis, president of Minnesota Majority. “What are these folks so afraid that they feel the need to file a lawsuit trying to block Minnesotans from voting on this issue?”

No Opportunity Without Unity

looktruenorthwebmaster@gmail.com (Benjamin Kruse ) — Wed, 30 May 2012 08:58:56 -0500

Less than two weeks ago, Minnesota Republicans endorsed Kurt Bills to run for U.S. Senate. Last night, Mitt Romney crossed the magic number of 1,144 delegates to clinch the Republican Nomination for president.

Now should be the time for unity for Republicans, but some activists' call for unity behind one candidate comes with a hypocritical attack of the other candidate.

Get behind Bills, but I won't vote for Romney.

You must support Romney, but Bills is a grave mistake.

Both kinds of activists are wrong. You support BOTH Bills and Romney. If you don't like it, you shouldn't have joined the Republican party in the first place.

Noted perpetual candidate still in search of argument for a second term

looktruenorthwebmaster@gmail.com (Ed Morrissey) — Wed, 30 May 2012 07:57:53 -0500

So … “Forward” apparently has flopped. Earlier this week, The Hill explained that Barack Obama and his campaign still haven’t found a theme on which to run for a second term. “Forward” turned out to be all about the past, and now Team O is back to spitballing:

Obama formally launched his campaign this month with the message of “Forward,” but one senior Democratic Party official told The Hill that people who thought that would be the campaign’s lasting official slogan should “stay tuned.”

Onward!

looktruenorthwebmaster@gmail.com (Mitch Berg) — Wed, 30 May 2012 07:51:51 -0500

As of today, barring a major electoral cataclysm, Mitt Romney should get enough delegates from the Texas primary to clinch the nomination.

Now, three months ago – back around caucus time – we had a lot of flags planted in a lot of beaches; “I’m for Newt, and if Mitt wins I’ll sit this thing out” and such.

Which was fine, back then, when the goal was to push for your candidates. You wanted them to win; that’s why you push for them. And as a secondary goal, you do it to push other candidates in the desired direction (and for most of us, that direction is “right”).

But today it’s all but official. Romney’s going to be the nominee.

Tarryl Trapped in Blue Green Alliance Scandal

looktruenorthwebmaster@gmail.com (Gary Gross) — Wed, 30 May 2012 07:49:09 -0500

Months ago, Tarryl Clark announced that she was joining the Blue Green Alliance, undoubtedly thinking it would be an asset in her campaign:

Tarryl Clark joined the BlueGreen Alliance as National Co-Chair of Jobs21! Prior to her work on Jobs21!, Tarryl was elected to the Assistant Majority Leader of the Minnesota State Senate after an unprecedented 11 months as a state senator representing conservative-leaning central Minnesota.

Ten Years Of Power

looktruenorthwebmaster@gmail.com (Mitch Berg) — Wed, 30 May 2012 07:45:44 -0500

I never actually knew the official anniversary – but I’m happy to send my congratulations to my good friends John Hinderaker and Scott Johnson at Power Line, who celebrated their megablog’s tenth anniversary over the weekend.

You may recall that my blog celebrated its tenth last February; of the Twin Cities’ huge mass of conservative political blogs, it’s Power Line, Ed Morrissey, Lileks, King Banaian of the late SCSU Scholars and the Fraters who’ve been in it since the very beginning. And sometimes it’s hard to remember, in those pre-MOB days, what a solitary thing blogging was.

Obama campaign hits back on Solyndra

looktruenorthwebmaster@gmail.com (Gary Gross) — Wed, 30 May 2012 07:42:09 -0500

After Mitt hit the Obama administration hard on his use of taxpayers’ money to pay off President Obama’s political allies, it was just a matter of time before the Obama campaign hit back. Unfortunately for the Obama campaign, the issues they’re fighting on are losers. This article highlights the feeble arguments that this administration is making:

The Exposed Intellectual Id Of The DFL, Chapter CXXVI

looktruenorthwebmaster@gmail.com (Mitch Berg) — Tue, 29 May 2012 13:06:08 -0500

Today’s example of the DFL’s exposed intellectual id is Nicholas Dolphin of (where else) Minneapolis, who wrote a letter to the editor in the Strib - featured, naturally, as their “letter of the day” about a week ago.

Mr. Dolphin wrote:

State Rep. Kurt Bills, newly endorsed by the Republican Party in the U.S. Senate race, is quoted as saying “we sent a lawyer, a community organizer and a comedian to Washington, D.C., and we get an economy that looks like it does today.”

This Week on Liberty Tree Radio - It's the Production, Stupid!

looktruenorthwebmaster@gmail.com (Walter Hudson) — Tue, 29 May 2012 10:15:38 -0500

Co-hosts Tim McShane and Walter Hudson take apart a TED talk by entrepreneur and venture capitalist Nick Hanauer alleging that consumers, not producers, drive the economy. Hanauer suggests the wealthy cannot be rightfully called job creators, and should therefore be taxed to "invest" in the middle class. Hanauer sets it up, Liberty Tree Radio knocks it down. It's the production, stupid!

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