Friday, May 06, 2016

Identify this Minnesota legislator. And in a comment, let other readers know what the individual has done for the represented district.

Date of Birth: 12/19/1961
Birth Place: Corydon, Iowa
Gender: Female
Religion: Evangelical Christian
Occupation (when first elected): Small Business Owner; Real Estate Investment Company, Scott Property Investments

EDUCATION
Wayne Community High School; Secondary;
Lowthian College; Junior College/Community College; Fashion Merchandising, Associate's Degree, 1983

OTHER GOVERNMENT SERVICE
Municipal Board/Commission: Andover, Minnesota (Parks and Recreation Commission); ??/??/???? to ??/??/2008

Total Days Served: 2678

Affiliated with this spousal-managed, on-again, off-again registered Minnesota speculative investment venture (not appearing to be in the business of merchandising fashion).

Identity might be an easy one, for some readers. Done for District, that hummer might be thorny. No official easily researched Minnesota government site directly gives listings of bills-authored and passed into legislation; so helping on that has to be part of the done for the district query.

Readers, please pay attention and help on done for district. It is important. It is why folks get sent to do legislative business.

The Clintons doing all they can to alienate Sanders supporters; and may the chickens come home to roost. No need to reinvent the wheel. Things I might have posted, in part, but not as well. And going beyond things I'd read about by including a link or two.

It is as if establishment Dems [can you say Debbie WS?] want to alienate and push away millennials from THEIR PARTY. As when they claim "Bernie has not been a Democrat." That, idiots, is in his favor. He's not been stuck in that mud. The party has become a nest of Eisenhower-Rockefeller Republicans; in drag; and it's time to expose that for being counter productive to all that progressives favor.

That said, Steve Timmer in two incedibly tightly written posts (with a link or two but not overly derivative at all), does what I need not paraphrase, since he does it so well.

Here.

Here.

Linking here (in turn linking per example to 'truebluedonkey' here).

And Trump has maintained an insurgency and will take it to Cleveland where within the SECOND OF THE TWO PARTIES there are inner party scuts believing they should wag the dog [can you say Paul Ryan?] doing all they can to saddle Trump with baggage that did more harm than help to the Romney candidacy.

[On that latter point, see, e.g., Strib here and here.]


BUT DO NOT LET THE LINKS ABOUT THE OTHER PARTY DISTRACT YOU FROM READING THE TIMMER ITEMS ABOUT THE MESSED UP PARTY OF "FOOL ME ONCE, HELL, FOOL THEM EACH AND EVERY TIME AND KEEP A SMALL TENT AT ALL COSTS." A Wall Street here's the money - take the money tent; which does nobody any good aside from Wall Street and misguided hangers-on getting a from time to time table scrap.

A turn their backs on you after they've hustled your vote tent.

___________UPDATE____________
That one Reddit link from Timmer emphasizes two things. First, never in a million years would I have thought there was that much individual attention to Reddit. Or Facebook. I consider both hateful wastes of time. But the comment thread to the Reddit link was intriguing. Paid web trolls as a theme; shills, see e.g., HuffPo, here.

An AP feed Strib carried noted near the end:

Both Clinton and Trump head into the general election with historically high unfavorable ratings. But Clinton is generally popular within her own party, particularly with women and minority voters who are crucial to winning general election battleground states like Florida, Colorado and Nevada.

On both fronts it seems the inner party Angst is: even without love, there is loyalty.

That is why I am an independent. That same Strib item noted earlier in the text:

Bob Vander Plaats, an influential evangelical leader who backed Cruz, withheld his support for Trump Wednesday, saying the real estate mogul needs to prove his conservative credentials with his vice presidential pick and more information about what kind of judges he would appoint. "It's kind of a wait-and-see moment with Mr. Trump," he said.

For entirely different reasons, having both Trump and Clinton on record re VP and judicial appointments would interest me too.

Unless Trump caved in to the inner party awfulness of the GOP's Vander Plaats clone bunch, I could live with him as President. He's appeared honest so far; not getting rich out of career politicianism. Unlike others, that way.

But if Trump goes the easy route and departs from what got him to where he is, independence and insurgency against the likes of entrenched Orrin Hatch levels of egregiousness; and schmoozes with the GOP Ryan bunch in their call for "unity;" hey, I could under that kind of compelling circumstance vote for somebody I essentially believe to be a crook.

If Trump remains an insurgent, I can take a vacation when voting, as to the top spot on the ballot. And very likely would do so if it is to be the Clintons holding that spot, not Bernie. Downticket: SD35, HD35A, HD35B; I do support DFL. Congressional District 6; my vote will not make any difference whatsoever. Demographics are as they are, Wright County and other district backwaters being what they be.

BOTTOM LINE: Trump has his talking points. Hillary has her transcripts. Trump shares his. No public release of transcripts absolutely means not wanting my vote. Do it without me or not; but over a half a million dollars into her pocket not her campaign for "speeches" alone is hard to swallow, but then hiding the transcripts on top of it; that is disrespectful of the electorate. She accepts that quarter-million buck hourly rate, without backing a fifteen buck minimum wage; that is equally disrespectful. Disrespetful of basic human decency.

_____________FURTHER UPDATE_____________
This link. And this. Here. Here. Here. Here. November cannot come soon enough - the closer election day appraoches, the more we will see those squishy things evolve; and billions will be spent for one side or the other to buy the Presidency. One party or other; and with victory go the spoils. [UPDATE: As to telling you of the value of "to the victor go the spoils," Eric Holder, his law firm, and all the unprosecuted Wall Street crooks from the various mortgage real estate backed derivatives promotions could be the chior singing that tune; where Goldman Sachs even issued a derivative security touted to its hedge fund clients and then hedged its own portfolio against it being a loser; etc., etc. Jail overcrowding surely was not the motive for the non-prosecutions. Space could have been found.]

Wednesday, May 04, 2016

For Ted Cruz, the consolation prize.

This link.

For Carly, a consolation prize from the part she failed to mess up.

For Kasich in Cleveland.

For Trump, a theme for casting himself as the Wizard of Oz.

Friday, April 29, 2016

Larry Klayman files interesting litigation, against the Florida Republican Party, concerning convention delegate matters per a Florida statute.

The post headline summarizes things where an excerpt would not help as much as reading the entire item.

_____________UPDATE___________
More, in Larry's own words, here.

The Stanford Daily publishes: When specifically asked his opinions on Ted Cruz, Boehner made a face, drawing laughter from the crowd. “Lucifer in the flesh,” the former Speaker said. “I have Democrat friends and Republican friends. I get along with almost everyone, but I have never worked with a more miserable son of a bitch in my life.”

Boehner coverage, here. This from CNN:

"After a great deal of consideration and prayer, I have come to the conclusion that if I am nominated to be president of the United States that I will run on a ticket with my vice presidential nominee Carly Fiorina," Cruz said during a rally in Indianapolis.

Oops. Wrong image. Got the CNN based caption correct, but . . .
Try this -



UPDATE: Here and then here and how far can you get into that second link before being repulsed? Far enough to say you cannot disagree with Boehner?

(I made it through 3 min 6 sec, but to be honest, I was repulsed from the outset)

What a total bozo. [UPDATED]

This link.

Hateful, spiteful control freaks waste time while real issues exist.

There is budget.

There is capital project planning, bonding.

There is long term mining policy and consequences.

There is diddling while others do the real work.

Hello, Ms. Whelan. Wake up and do the real job.

Voting straight party leadership commandments on the real issues, and then Bachmanning on the crap is not representing anybody.

UPDATE: This link. We have too many like minded in kind, if not in details of doctrine.

FURTHER: Another blog takes a more extended viewpoint. Friend Abigale did forget one point, whatever your gender identification or attraction; she'd rather you don't leave the seat up. Leaving it up shows gender bias. Birth-certificate gender bias.

FURTHER: Well gee. Today is my day to apologize. I went and confused "news" a day ago, with "news" a year ago.

Now how could such an error happen. I suppose for hatred and ignorance the motto is: revive to thrive. Or is it: reprise the lies? Or: an annual event, transgenders - "Repent." Whatever -

How about those first-stone throwers; ain't they really something? Never letting a year pass by.

FURTHER: Apologies again. It is not Bozo; but Bozos in the plural. Bozoes? What's the plural form of Bozo? Do you add an "es" or only an "s?" Abigale and Warren should know how that's pluralized. Like a murder of crows; is it a squad of bozos, or a collective of them? How about, of course, a Brigade of Bozoes?

FURTHER: A Tangle of Transphobians?

FURTHER: While possibly drawing criticism for the observation, two images of Whelan from the same right wing outlet; the recent item here; earlier a two-fer, here. From that, subjectively, she at least appears a more serious legislator to be taken seriously, without the warpaint.

FURTHER: Faint praise, but at least giving some credit, Whelan's chief author bill on fetal tissue use in U. Minn. research aims not that all such research be forced to cease, but that only tissue from stillborns should be considered appropriate; in a manner similar to a distinction Dr. Ben Carson was reported to have stated. Not a total troglodyte; thought ninety percent there. Only partial troglodytism there, hinged onto choice hatred. Other coverage has not yielded that degree of attention to detail - recognition that less than a total ban is proposed in the Whelan bill.

Whatever other criticism I have for Whelan I do not doubt she will have the intellectual honesty to continue that in-between distinction into the future, even perhaps during a Republican governorship where a bill such as her present one might be less a total grandstanding exercise in futility by bill sponsors:


I am in no position to, nor particularly disposed to attribute an equal degree of intellectual honesty and integrity to Whelan's fetal tissue research constriction bill's cosponsors.

The crystal clear insight, however, from this Whelan bill making the stillborn exception is that it is an anti-choice bill, pure and simple, as now drafted with the utility of aborted tissue Verboten, but at least it is not a bill wholly repudiating the advancement of medical science. Choice hatred at least being a lesser evil than science hatred, which is the norm in Bible-as-unalterable-word-of-God Bachmannistan, where evolution is repudiated as counter-Biblical. There are degrees of bozodom.

LAST: Transphobic mindset commentary in the context of Ted Cruz pandering for votes; this item.

The strategy seems to be to narrow the scapegoat population yet further than those hated against via the failed Minnesota marriage amendment circus. Transgender folks are fewer than the entire gay-lesbian segment of the population, so go after them.

If you want a really small group for focused hatred; what about that list of bill sponsors? Twenty to twenty-five individuals; a sound hate-focus number well below the number of Minnesota transgender identifiers among us, and who knows, among that list there may actually be some harboring a healthy degree of merited self hatred and loathing. Likely not, but who knows?

FURTHER: One thing that really honks me off about Whelan, via this video she talks about district need, particularly related to traffic, and via a somewhat late-in-session bill number she's gone through the motions; this link. However, Peter Perovich running for that seat aggressively promised to bring back a parity in what the district pays the state, and what it gets back in public spending in district. Whelan then in her public statements while running against Perovich co-opted his agenda as hers; got elected that way; but she's not delivered jack.

Going through the motions of throwing a text into the bill hopper at the legislature is quite less than getting the allocation for the district's achieving a parity in payments - what's paid by the district into the state coffers coming back for project needs within the distinct in something like balancing numbers. Now, the session's not over, something however unlikely may happen, and if it does a less harsh view of Whelan capability and actual priorities may be merited. But is that how the smart money would bet the odds?

This page, 482 days in the legislature collecting pay checks; and she's focused on this kind of Strib op-ed publicity-oriented marginalia; not the core job. She was not elected to serve Jesus and the fetuses, to get that ticket punched, she was elected to do the clear job of capably representing the needs of the district. She's failed. She's fiddled, the district got the Armstrong interchange largely because Jason Tossey and others on the Ramsey Council supported it and made annual payments to Elwyn Tinklenberg to lobby, and because Jim Deal can get things done with Democrats holding statewide office. Jim Deal's done Whelan's job while she's put time into ticket-punching op-ed nonsense along with others:

[...] Abigail Whelan, R-Anoka, is a member of the Minnesota House. This commentary was also submitted on behalf of the following legislators, all Republicans: Sens. Michelle Fischbach and Warren Limmer. Reps. Mark Anderson, Jeff Backer, Brian Daniels, Bob Dettmer, Steve Drazkowski, Sondra Erickson, Steve Green, Glenn Gruenhagen, Dave Hancock, Josh Heintzeman, Kathy Lohmer, Eric Lucero, Tim Miller, Jim Nash, Marion O'Neill, Cindy Pugh, Peggy Scott, Dennis Smith, Anna Wills.

It appears Jim Deal has to be doing Whelan's job because she is either insufficiently interested or insufficiently talented to do it herself. Bottom line. Pure and simple.

That listed bunch of "no aborted fetus shall defeat us" conniving nonsense peddlers will not be the ones getting our district's parity in payments for us, nor will she. It is time for a broom. Sweep things clean and start over.

FURTHER: This from Strib:

Tensions are rising between Gov. Dayton and GOP leaders as Minnesota legislative session winds down --
Dayton, Republicans stand fast as taxes, transportation remain unfinished.
By J. Patrick Coolican Star Tribune - April 29, 2016 — 7:48am


[...] Dayton said he relented on a few policy provisions in 2015 because they were tucked inside key budget bills needed to keep state government running for two years.

Not this year, Dayton said, refusing any negotiation over GOP measures like restrictions on which bathrooms transgender people can use and the defunding of Planned Parenthood. He called these provisions “pandering to their extreme right wing base.”

Daudt replied: “We had a very pleasant breakfast, and he didn’t bring up any of those things to me, so I wonder if he was potentially doing it for the cameras. I don’t know.”

Daudt gave no indication of backing down. “We feel like we’re in a great position because we’re on the side of the public,” he said, citing support for tax cuts and transportation spending that are at the heart of the GOP agenda.

Being unnecessarily hateful toward transgender people is not really what Minnesota nice is about, nor fitting to the parable of who should be stoning "sinners." Not that transgender people should be called sinners, but unfortunately pseudo-Christians more into power-tripping than gospel insights are afoot, feeding demonizing biases as much as they can, with mischief in mind, dark in their hearts. Let us hope Dayton holds firm against bigotry. Bigotry and budget are, and must remain two separate things. Giving something in one, to secure favorable things in the other, is not long-term sound government. It would be exactly what Dayton termed it; "pandering." To the more base moods afoot now in the nation, being inflamed as they are, by who we clearly see stoking those dark, unpromising fires.

FURTHER: In terms of pandering to the worse of the Minnesota north-metro GOP Gestalt, do notice Peggy Scott right on up there on the lists with Whelan. The Batman and Robin of the female gender of that GOP segment's hate squad. Not too much to say for either. They reinforce the worse in one another. Whelan uses less makeup.

Tuesday, April 26, 2016

Here it is, read all about it: From Mammon to The Almighty. Eighteen million reasons Pastor Mac Hammond should feel envy.

This link.

The Highway 10 landscape evolves. Or at least changes. "Evolution" might be inappropriate phrasing. I would not know, and would be unable to pick Bob Merritt out of a police lineup. Never seen the guy. Don't know him. Could not find a Linkedin page. Yet, wish him luck on the business risk of his next step.

____________UPDATE____________
Look for the trademark, your sign of quality:


__________FURTHER UPDATE___________
So, will this new town of Anoka venture on the busy highway meet the competition, or perhaps up the ante?


If so, it would not be the sole prominent trademarked brand of a nonprofit along the Hwy 10 corridor: