Blue Print for Victory: A Training Course for Republican Leadership

A childhood friend of mine had a nanny while he was growing up. That nanny has known me since I was a kid in Junior High. My friend and I are now in our thirties. Awhile ago, this woman's grandmother passed on and she was working on cleaning out a lifetime's worth of stuff from the woman's farm near Orono. She found a bound book entitled: "Blue Print for Victory: A Training Course for Republican Leadership" in one of the outbuildings and saved it for me. My friend brought it over to my house awhile ago. Someone scanned this document into PDF format for me, and I am now posting it for all to read. It appears to be a Minnesota Republican Party document from about 1950.

I have not read this document from cover to cover, but I have perused it. It decries the corruption of the "Farmer-Laborites" (some things never change, right?) and also provides a window into a very different time in Minnesota. This was a time when the country produced more things, when the government was a lot smaller, and the country was in the midst of the post-WWII boom.

I do not have the time to launch into analysis of this document today, but it does contain interesting pieces about improving unemployment benefits, increasing "Old Age Assistance" (e.g., "under Republican leadership, the legislatures [sic] have recognized the rising cost of living, and have increased the monthly benefits Two and a Half Times!"), and doubling assistance to the blind.

To me, this document shows how out of control our state government has gotten with the Federal development of the welfare/warfare state and unrestrained inflation from the private Federal Reserve Bank that issues our credit and currency in quantities that are not known to us plebes.

I hope that whoever takes the time to take a look at this document enjoys it:

http://www.hansenlawoffice.com/CD4/Blue%20Print%20for%20Victory.pdf

The DFL Windmill Plot Against Minnesota's Bird Population

There is a lot of discussion in Minnesota politics these days about windmills. Matt Entenza, one of the three DFL'ers seeking the right to be the Democrat on the gubernatorial ballot, features windmills in several of his commercials. These commercials show Matt Entenza standing before several different sets of windmills and talking about how awesome he is. It's unlikely that Mr. Entenza is attempting to portray a Quixotic image with this windmill theme, and rather he states his goal on his website is "...creating jobs through the clean energy economy."

Apparently Mr. Entenza's plan (similar to that of other DFL candidates) is for some new fangled taxing scheme that will fund this albatross. This "clean energy" economy would be funded by a tax on carbon emissions and other new taxes and fees, which would include but are not limited to an increase in rates for electricity and other forms of energy. This economy would be mandated by the government picking some form of energy against another, specifically these would be government-protected "clean energy" cartels. Wall Street Banking firms, such as bailout-receiving Goldman Sachs, have been working on developing this new more controlled economy for many years. There are plans to base exotic financial instruments, such as the derivatives that continue to plague our financial system, on "carbon credits," an imaginary form of value invented by these charlatans.

In addition to the pure economic reasons for not supporting government subsidized windmills, there is the harm that they do to the natural environment. They are noisy, they take away habitat for many animals, and most egregiously, they kill birds. That windmills kills birds has been covered by the Wall Street Journal, the USA Today and many other publications and news sources. It's this bird apocalypse plan proposed by Matt Entenza that is at the very top of my complaints about plans for more subsidized windmills.

I have a bird feeder in my yard. My wife and I love to sit on our three-season porch in North St. Paul and watch birds eat from the bird feeder we installed and maintain. Most of my neighbors have bird feeders and enjoy watching birds. Fortunately for our birds, our North St. Paul windmill is poorly located so it rarely turns, it is near the downtown area of North St. Paul where there are a lot of trees and buildings. Another reason that it rarely turns is that it was purchased used from California for over $400,000 and is not designed to function in cold weather. Toward the end of last winter, the City of North St. Paul (which owns the windmill) had a heater in the windmill installed so that the oil in it would become less viscous and then turn. I have always wondered if the windmill generates enough power to power the heater that it needs to turn in the Fall, Winter and Spring months.

Matt Entenza proposes big huge windfarms that will be nothing but bird killing fields. Do not support the DFL's propsed bird kill-off. Do not support any candidates that propose subsidy of bird killing windmills. At this point, the only major candidate in the race who has firmly demonstrated his commitment to Minnesota's Bird population by not supporting windmill schemes is Tom Emmer.

Welfare/Warfare Queen Rep. Betty McCollum (D, CD4-MN), on bombing Pakistan or How Betty Learned to Stop Thinking and Love the Predator Drones.

There has been a great deal of talk by Puppet-in-Chief Barry Soetoro about perceived threats related to the proliferation of nuclear weapons. Specifically, that "terrorists" will obtain nuclear weapons and detonate them in major cities around the world.

Let's assume, arguendo, that this is indeed a potential problem and that "Al-Qaeda" is something other than the Arab Legion of the CIA. If one were truly worried about freelance terrorists obtaining nuclear materials, one aspect of such a policy would be to, at a minimum, not contribute to the destabilization of nation-states that do indded possess nuclear weapons and the means by which to deliver them (e.g., missiles).

Pakistan is a country that shares borders with China, Afghanistan, India and Iran. The region has historically had an affinity for China. Pakistan has a population of nearly 170 million people. It possesses nuclear weapons, and missile technology obtained from North Korea that enables it to deliver these nuclear weapons to its neighbors.

For several months I have contacted Rep. Betty McCollum's office about the Soetoro administration's ongoing bombing of Pakistan with Predator drones, which are remote-controlled airplanes. For a long time the administration denied that this was happening even though it was in the newspapers in Pakistan. It turns out that when women and children and unknown others are killed by remote controlled airplanes, it causes quite a stir in the local media. Its estimated that thousands have been killed by these Predator drone attacks. We are not at war with Pakistan, and no war declaration has been made by the U.S. Congress.

My question to Rep. McCollum's Office was essentially: "Do you support this ongoing bombing and destabilization of this nuclear-armed country, Pakistan?" Finally, after many calls, my response arrived. In her letter, Betty McCollum essentially says that the people who perpetrated the crime of 9-11 are in these "Northwest Frontier Provinces" of Pakistan that are "outside the control of the Pakistani government." Rep. McCollum goes on to state that these continued bombings of unknown individuals is "critical." I submit to the Congresswoman that even if Osama bin Laden was hiding in Pakistan and he was carrying the child of the Devil himself and about to give birth, ongoing bombing of this nuclear-armed country does not improve our security.

What Betty McCollum cannot or will not understand is the geopolitics of this bombing of Pakistan and the real reasons behind it. A full explanation is beyond the scope of this article, but in essence the real purpose bombing of Pakistan tribal areas with Predator drones is to destabilize Pakistan and enrage the Pashtun people, who live in both countries. The destabilization strategy against Pakistan, is in large part a play against China, a traditional ally of Pakistan, and presently involved in financing a multi-billion dollar port project in Quetta, Pakistan. Ongoing chaos is also used as the justification for US presence in the region. Problem, reaction, solution.

I have not seen a scintilla of evidence against any of the people who have been bombed with Predator drones in Pakistan. Mere assertions from our mendacious government or the thug Leon Panetta (as cited by Betty in her letter) about "terrorists" residing there are not sufficient justification for me to have these killings done in my name. Further, even if you believe the "terrorist" story regurgitated by Rep. McCollum, Predator drone bombings are a destabilizing force in a country that does indeed possess nuclear weapons. A good way to get nuclear weapons into the hands of rogue folks who might want to use them is the bomb the hell out of the country in which the nuclear weapons are present and anger the civilian population with these bombings.

It's mental deficient people like Betty McCollum who most certainly do not belong in Congress.

"The Project for a New American Century: Rebuilding America's Defenses," Vin Weber, and the Minnesota Governor's Race

It was with some despair that I learned that Rep. Tom Emmer has received an endorsement from former Congressman and now longtime Washington, DC lobbyist Vin Weber. In the 1980s, when I was in elementary school and Ronald Reagan was President, I admired Rep. Weber.

By the time I had reached my late 20s (as I write this I am 33), I had come to loathe Vin Weber for views he had endorsed. Specifically, Rep. Weber was a signatory to a document produced by a think-tank calling itself "The Project for a New American Century" called "Rebuilding America's Defenses." Among a veritable treasure trove of neoconservative nuttiness in this document is the following on page 72:

"...advanced forms of biological warfare that can 'target' specific genotypes may transform biological warfare from the realm of terror to a politically useful tool."

It's these sorts of views that cause me to reject and despise "neoconservatism" with a passion. Weapons designed to kill people based upon their race would be a dream of the worst tyrants in history. I judge people by the content of their character, not their race, color, or creed.

I cannot support anyone affiliated with these insane views.

Betty McCollum Approves of Obama's Extrajudicial Killings at Home & Abroad

For the past few weeks, I have contacted Congresswoman Betty McCollum's Office several times about the ongoing Predator drone bombings of unknown people in Pakistan. I was alarmed at a Sy Hersh piece I read in the New Yorker and several other pieces I have read about unknown populations of people being bombed by Predator drones in Pakistan. The administration does not officially admit that these killings are going on, but they are widely reported on in Pakistan and around the world. Sometimes over 100 people will be killed in a bombing. I have no idea who these people are, and who is deciding that they should be summarily executed in such a fashion.

These unknown people who reside in this country with whom we are not at war, are referred to by some as "terrorists." It is the Obama administration that is carrying out these attacks. Even if you are to assume for the sake of argument that Pakistan is harboring "terrorists" or even the Devil himself, it is dangerous and unwise to be bombing Pakistan in this way. Pakistan is a country with a population in excess of 160 million people. It possesses nuclear weapons, and it possesses missile technology obtained from North Korea. Ongoing bombings with remote control airplanes is destabilizing, and puts the world at risk.

Obama's Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair has recently stated that U.S. Intelligence agencies may also summarily execute Americans, with the approval from Obama. Source: Reuters, February 3, 2010.

My very simple questions for Betty McCollum were and are:

1) Does Congresswoman McCollum support the ongoing bombings of Pakistan with Predator drones?; and

2) Does Congresswoman McCollum support the Obama administration policy of extra-judicial killing of American citizens by U.S. intelligence agencies?

Betty McCollum's staff has emphatically refused to answer either of these questions, and refused to let me speak to the person handling foreign affairs, at first stating that they were not available, and then stating that they are "never available."

Congresswoman McCollum's silence and evasion of these serious questions demonstrate her support for ongoing illegal, murderous and unconstitutional policies. Could she at least speak up for her hard-working constituents to her friend Obama? Should our tax money be used to bomb these people in Pakistan and to murder our own citizens?

Call Rep. Betty McCollum's office today at (202) 225-6631 and ask her what her position is on these issues. Representative McCollum's silence is deafening on this issue. If she is too much of a coward to stand up to her elite controllers, then she doesn't belong in the U.S. House of Representatives for CD 4 in Minnesota.

The RINO NINO and the Billion Dollar Bonding Bill (SF 2360). Oust the RINO NINO!

Today the Minnesota Senate passed a $1 billion bonding bill (SF 2360).In a Legislature controlled by the DFL, this is not surprising.What is surprising and disappointing is that nine “Republicans” voted for this monstrosity.A plan to “create jobs” by borrowing money and spending it on government projects is ridiculous.Government does not create wealth; it merely redistributes and destroys wealth.Here are the NINE “Republican In Name Only” (RINO) Senators who voted for this terrible piece of legislation:

Bill G. Ingebrigtsen
Michael Jungbauer
Paul Koering
David Senjem
Gen Olson
Steve Dille
Dennis Frederickson
Pat Pariseau
Joe Gimse

That David Senjem would vote for this as the Minority Leader in the Senate does not bode well for Republican resistance in the Senate. His leadership of the GOP in the Senate is called into question by this vote.Even if you are a minority; you were all elected to stand up for your constituents. Would it be a sound plan for your constituents to max out their credit cards and incur as much debt as they can to make themselves wealthier?

Minnesota families and businesses simply cannot continue to support an ever-expanding state government.

Moody's has revised the outlook on the State of Minnesota's general obligation bonds and state supported debt to negative from stable. Further, Moody's has affirmed the state's Aa1 general obligation rating, and the Aa2 rating assigned to state supported debt, which includes the St. Paul Port Authority (State office building project), City of Bemidji lease appropriation, and the Minnesota Credit Enhancement Program.

Will borrowing even more money help us even more? I can see Student Government DFL types voting for this nonsense; but not any Republicans. This is why there is a growing resistance in this country against this type of arrogance. Times are tough for people, but for the public sector, the attitude continues to be: "It's my job or yours." Let's hope that this bill is met with stiff resistance in the Minnesota House and that Governor Pawlenty vetoes this terrible bill.We cannot continue to support RINOs representing us in our government.They sell us down the river with more debt and out of control spending. Oust the RINO NINO!

Twin Cities Rib Redux: Cap's, Ted Cook's, Big Daddy's 'Saturday Only,' Roosters, Rudolph's BBQ & Market BBQ

Not everything is wrong with the world. In the Twin Cities, where I have lived most of my life, we have some of the best rib joints in the world. Since I was a kid, I always enjoyed ribs. There was a place called PT Pit BBQ that we went to sometimes that was delicious. It is not now in business.

Many wonderful rib places thrive in the Twin Cities. I am offering reviews of the following restaurants with the utmost respect to all of them. I only mention them because I have positive things to say about them. I have carefully sampled all of the restaurants I mention and provide first hand analysis.

It's difficult to rank ribs, but the following is my Twin Cities Top 6:

1) Ted Cook's 19th Hole (South Minneapolis, Hwy 55 & 38th, at light rail stop by the Cardinal);
2) Big Daddy's Saturday Only (Dale & University, St. Paul);
3) Rudolph's (1933 South Lyndale Avenue, Mpls);
4) Market BBQ (Wayzata off 394);
5) Cap's (South Minneapolis, south of Ted Cooks, near Minnehaha Falls)
6) Rooster's (Randolph Avenue, St. Paul)

If you live in the Twin Cities or plan on visiting the Twin Cities, check out any of these rib places.

If you have not sampled ribs in the Twin Cities, you are missing out.

Breaking: Norm Coleman says "i'm not looking for another elected ofice [sic]" in post on facebook.

In response to a recent post on his facebook wall by a well-known GOP activist, Jennifer DeJournett, Norm Coleman stated as follows:

"i have the greatest respect for all your efforts on behalf of our party and conserative values. i'm not looking for another elected ofice. but i do care about whether folks in this state can find a job and take care of their families. i also have a proven record as a former mayor of growing jobs by keeping lids on taxes and reforming govt-a record of real change!
i fully respect the endorsement process-but none of us should ever be afraid of listening to the voices of the people(or the party faithful). if that was done more often washington wouldn't be about to stuff government run health care down our throats!
all my best,
norm"

Everything I have heard indicates that Norm is running for Governor, therefore his written assertions on facebook appear to be simply not true. Norm's record of Bankster Bailouts and carbon tax bills have not done working people in Minnesota any favors. Bailouts for Wall Street elites have been put on our back and Norm voted for it. Norm seems to hint in this post replete with weasel words and equivocation that there is some sort of grassroots support for him to run for Governor.

I received a call from "Capitol Research Group" from a Washington DC area code a few days ago. They indicated that they were working off of a "MN GOP list." I don't know if it was a list they got from the MN GOP or not, I sort of doubt that it was received directly from the Party. The last question asked of me was: "Who would you vote for in a Norm Coleman versus Mark Dayton governor race?" Obviously, this is the Washington establishment putting forth its dream slate of "heads I win, tails you lose" candidates.

Stay tuned.

Is Norm Coleman Electable? Carbon Taxes, Bailouts, the expansion of the ATF & 30 years of Government Paychecks & Elections

The evidence of Norm Coleman's involvement in carbon tax bills has been covered previously in this blog. He co-sponsored a carbon tax bill with Chuck Schumer, Ron Wyden, and Amy Klobuchar. Norm also voted for the Bankster Bailout that has resulted in unknown amounts of money (by some estimates in excess of $27 trillion) going to Wall Street Banksters.

Norm Coleman is not electable for multiple reasons:

1) Has been a career politician for 30 years;
2) Voted for Bankster Bailout;
3) Has lost elections to wrestlers and comedians;
4) Only a tragic plane crash gave him the upper hand in an election;
5) Will profess that he supports gun rights but ATF has multiplied in size during his watch;
6) Will talk about how he is pro-life, but cannot point to any progress on this front in 30 years of public office.

Whoever you support for Governor of Minnesota, do not subject us to someone who is demonstrably an agent of Banksters. Go to your precinct caucuses on February 2, 2010 for the GOP and become a delegate against Bankster Bailouts.