Surly's Soap Box

Well, the Republicans had it handed to 'em. But hey, this stuff goes in cycles. We probably need a couple years of high taxes, loosing the war in Iraq, terrorist attacks here in the U.S. (it's coming, it's coming), approval of prartial-birth abortions and 'harvesting' embryos for junk science. All in the names of 'progress'. Tax the rich to feed the poor until there are no rich no more (as the song goes).

I blame Walmart. Ya got some of the richest people in the world who won't cough up for decent health insurance for their employees.

Do I want Congress to pass laws forcing them to cough up? Hell no. I want them to see the error and hypocracy of their ways on their own.

Okay, maybe Walmart isn't to blame. But something is wrong with the conservative movement in the U.S., particularly here in Minnesota when the Republican Gov can win but the Republican Senatorial candidate looses by 20 points.

People more connected than I will make those observations, but I will be reading what they are saying.

The wife and I weren't planning on staying as long as we did at the party on Saturday. I wasn't feeling well, but we decided to have dinner and catch up with Uncle Ben, The Night Writer Family (and hanger on), and just see what was going on.

We had the pleasure of meeting King David and Mocha Momma, the folks from Echo Zoe and from Our House, Triple A, Mitch Berg, and even an Evil Weeble.

Speaking of Evil Weebles, when we got there, we saw someone running down the road, screaming like a little girl. I have learned that it was Learned Foot running away as soon as he saw the Evil Weeble. It scared him. I had some chills, but at least I manned up.

And then there was Joe Tucci: Curse you, bastard.

I'll just leave it at that.

Campaign trail leads to trouble on North Side

A couple of political wanna be's had a chance to experience what being soft on crime will do for ya: One guy, Michael Katch (DFL) got himself pounded by some local youth, while Jim Lilly (R) found himself in a shoot out of sorts.

Michael, in response to the feral youths attack said "the attack has not changed his belief that struggling and dangerous young people in the area can be saved, especially with the aid of good job and education opportunities."

Okay. That approach hasn't been working so far. I guess you need to throw more money at the problem.

I celebrated my Blogiversery by going to going to the Fair with my brother. I enjoyed some cheese curds, french fries, and a Summit Extra Pale Ale, all before 10:00AM. The gal serving the beer asked if I wanted a large, to which I asked if they had anything larger. She responded, "Yeah, Two beers."

Kind of decadent, drinking that early in the morning, but it kind of triggered off my "Surly mechanism". Right from there, I wandered off to the Pawlenty Booth and asked for directions to the Jeffers Booth. Oh boy, did I get the look of death! The gal was P.O.ed. Totally snubbed me.

Then I stood out side of the Communist Party AFL-CIO tent (ironically right across from the DFL booth) and asked why didn't these people have jobs. Good fun! I easily out ran those 350lb hulking, monobrowed, slack-jawed teamsters on their rascals. Next time, I'm going to tie cans to the back of one. The rascal, that is, not the teamster. Maybe.

Ran by the AM 1500 booth and noticed that Bob Davis looks like Jack Osbourne:


I couldn't find a good picture of Bob, so trust me.

Anyway, had fun. I'll be going back with the Family on Sunday to see the animals and such.

Let's see...Mike Hatch didn't raise any stink about the over the counter "Morning After Pill". By nature of who he hangs out with (Democrats), he's probably for making it available to all regardless of age.


So...The judge throws out Minnesota's video game law.(Mike plans to waste tons more tax payers money appeal) The law was supposed to keep kids from getting their hands on violent and sexually explicit video games.

Therefore...It okay for kids to have sex, but they can't watch it in video games.

Mike Hatch, Minnesota Politics

Coleman's father cited for lewd conduct

Come on! I'm sure that Al set Norm Senior up. 81 and having sex in a car outside a pizza joint? It had to be a set up!

"The 81-year-old father of U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman was cited for lewd conduct and indecent exposure Tuesday for allegedly having sex in a vehicle with a 38-year-old woman, according to police reports.

Police responded to a call early Tuesday evening and arrested Norman Bertram Coleman Sr. and the woman, Patrizia M. Schrag of St. Paul, outside a pizza joint on the eastern edge of downtown.

Sen. Coleman issued a statement this afternoon that said:

"I love my father dearly. I do not condone his actions or behavior, and I am deeply disturbed by what I have learned. He clearly has some issues that need to be dealt with, and I will encourage him to seek the necessary help."

The elder Coleman was a fixture on the campaign trail four years ago when Coleman defeated former Vice President Walter Mondale after Sen. Paul Wellstone was killed in a plane crash.

Sen. Coleman often held up his father as a hero, a veteran of the Normandy invasion and the Battle of the Bulge. "He's the smartest man I know," the senator said in 2002."

I ran across this via Kennedy Vs. The Machine: 101 Reasons for Change.

Now, I was just browsing through, not really paying much attention, just seeing how many reasons were actually posted when I came upon these entries:

"#20: "I have 55,000 reasons to change Washington, after serving in AmeriCorps two years my loans from 4 years of college will be over $55,000." Paul C. Grove City, MN"

Paul, Paul, Paul. Comrade Paul: You sniveling, whining, commie bastard. I wish you had the male body parts to put your last name out there so I could call you and personally inform you of some facts, the most obvious that you didn't learn anything in college other than to be a sponge off of society. Must have some sort of liberal arts major and spent your time in the Americorps proping up a communist dictator or trying to over throw a democracy somewhere.

You went to college so you could learn a skill or trade that will help you get a job and make money. You obviously were interested in moving beyond McDonald's. After all, college grads tend to make much better money that the folks who do the Fast Food thing. So who benefits from your education, Comrade? Why, you do, you ignorant schmuck.

So why do you expect other to pay for your education when you are the one who is going to benefit from it.

You should have taken an economics class, and Marxism doesn't count.

Commies,
Amy Klobuchar, Minnesota Politics,

My throat is a little soar. Yours would be to if you had a Fricken' Twins Stadium rammed down your throat.

Alright, it's not official yet. The Governor has to sign the bill. So we are toast.

This thing really angers me because the polls show that close to 70% of the population doesn't want it. The people have spoken against the stadium for years, but the politicians won't listen. I pay more taxes, the billionaire Pohlads get some corporate welfare, and the people of Minnesota get screwed.

I'm going to watch to see who voted for this crap. I want to make it my mission to see that they are all removed from office, Democrat or Republican, I don't care. Why have elected officials that refuse to listen to We The People.

Minnesota

Minnesota Politics

I am going to attempt a fisking of this story:

ST. PAUL (AP) - Saying the state's efforts to curb methamphetamine use haven't worked, Attorney General Mike Hatch on Friday proposed going after big pharmaceutical manufacturers to recover the government's costs for meth-related problems.

Yes. I see it. Instead of encouraging personal responsiblity and fixing the blame on drug dealers and users, we need to go after the people with the deepest pockets.

Hatch said he's working on a lawsuit against about six large companies that make products containing pseudoephedrine or ephedrine - active ingredients in cold medicines like Sudafed that are broken down by meth cooks.

Mike Hatch leans back in his office chair and stares dreamily at the ceiling, "Pharmaceutical companies: That's where the big money is! We took down "Big Tobacco", now we're going after "Big Pharmaceuticals"! Everyone hates them! We'll be rich!"

A state law passed last year makes those remedies harder to get, restricting their sale to pharmacy counters, limiting how much customers can buy and requiring them to sign for purchases. Law enforcement experts credit the law with sharply reducing homegrown meth labs in Minnesota.

The law is working. But we aren't making any money off of it.

But meth use is still going strong, with most of the drug coming in from other places.

"We're deluding ourselves that putting Sudafed behind the counter was the solution," Hatch said at a news conference. "It is an epidemic just like the avian flu, only it's here. It's real."

What avian flu epidemic? It's obvious that he is just trying to stir up fear by attaching meth to the future dreaded avian flu out break. Millions Dead! Meth and the Avian Flu are coming to Kill You!

Hatch is also pitching legislation to hold pseudoephedrine makers liable for damages caused by meth labs. The bill would be modeled on a 1994 landfill cleanup law that allowed the state to sue polluters' insurance companies to recover its costs.

And yet, in typical Mike Hatch style, instead of outlawing something so evil as cigarettes and Sudafed, he just want to make someone pay.

So to sum it up for ya:

Mike Hatch thinks he has found away to milk the Pharmaceutical companies the way Tobacco companies got it.

What a moron. Mike Hatch is more of a danger to our society than Meth is. He doesn't encourage personal responsiblity, he thinks that it's the States job to take care of people, and blames the problem on the people with the deepest pockets.

Drug prices sky rocket in Minnesota, thus making it even harder for people to afford their medications, and some democrat lawyer buddy of Hatch's will make millions, a la Mike Ciresi.

Hatch is an Idiot.

Minnesota,
News and Politics