Almanac: At the Capitol

This morning I got this request for help from CD3 Chair Jerry Parr:

Read the breaking news below for ACORN’s (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now) activity in Minnesota. ACORN is a liberal group that is dedicating its resources to electing the Obama-Biden Democrats. From Ohio and Florida to Wisconsin and Nevada and NOW MINNESOTA,there are reports of fraudulent voter registration forms being submitted and fraudulent  practices by ACORN. The Obama-Biden campaign has funneled more than $800,000 to ACORN for work on get-out-the-vote activities conducted by the left –leaning organization.

He was citing this recent Strib article on ACORN:

ACORN voter fraud allegation surfaces in Minnesota
PAUL WALSH, Star Tribune

The dispute over ACORN voter registration practices has surfaced in many states this election season has now come up in Minnesota. The Hennepin County attorney's office said this afternoon that is investigating an allegation that an individual with the ACORN grass-roots community organization 'did not fully comply with Minnesota voter registration rules.' County Attorney Mike Freeman will be briefing reporters in more detail later this afternoon. Similar allegations have been tied to ACORN in Ohio, Indiana and other competitive states in the November presidential election.

They want as many fraudulent votes as they can muster folks, and if not, they will settle for chaos and an entry reason for oily lawyers. So what we need are poll watchers, and as Jerry notes, there are still many poll positions yet unfilled in the 3rd CD.

The Third Congressional District still needs trained and credentialed volunteers to be present at polling places on Election day in the area in which you live.
If you can volunteer at least 4 hours on Election day to help protect the Republican vote,  protect our candidates and our future in this state and country, please respond to this email indicating which training (approximately 1 hour) date,  Election day shift/shifts would suit you and the city in which you live so we can determine a proper polling place for you to be.

TRAINING dates and locations are:
Thursday OCT. 23, 7:00PM South View Middle School
4725 South View Lane, Edina  Room 214 (just east of the Edina Community Center)
Wednesday Oct. 29, 1:30PM Edina Community Center 5701 Normandale Rd., Edina  Room 350
Wednesday Oct. 29, 7:00PM Southview Middle School, Room 214
NOTE: REGISTRATION BEGINS 15 MINUTES BEFORE THE START TIME SHOWN ABOVE
 
SHIFTS on Tuesday November 4th are:
 
6:00AM-10:00AM
10:00AM-2:00PM
2:00PM-6:00PM
6:00PM-8:30PM
 
Please help keep our Minnesota elections fair and fight voter fraud at the polls on November 4th IN THE THIRD Congressional District.
Reply to this email and indicate the training date best for you, your preference for a shift and your city of residence. If you have already signed up earlier, please just indicate your preference for training and your shift/shifts for Election day.

Contact Jerry at: 3rd Congressional District Republicans <thirdcdrpm@hotmail.com>

Left of everyone. Well, at least that's ONE thing Senator Obama has accomplished.

As I expected, the investigations into ACORN and voter fraud has arrived to our fair state. From KSTP:

The Hennepin County attorney announced Tuesday they’ve launched an investigation into an allegation that an individual with the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, or ACORN, did not fully comply with Minnesota voter registration rules.

According to the allegation, a batch of registration forms were turned into the office of elections outside the ten-day period, but were turned in early enough to be registered to vote in the September primary.

This may be Obama's October surprise (although ACORN and voter fraud is not a surprise to anyone who's followed the last two elections).

Some of those registration cards have become the focus of fraud investigations in Nevada, Connecticut, Missouri and at least five other competitive states in the November presidential election.

House Republicans have also renewed their push for the Justice Department to investigate the group. Last week, six GOP leaders wrote to Attorney General Michael Mukasey to urge him to make sure ballots by ineligible or fraudulent voters are not counted on Nov. 4.

The RICO action filed today in Ohio is a good start in getting justice. (Hat tip and logo: Michelle Malkin)

Nice. Clean. To the point. HT to EJ.

Does a US/UK relationship still matter? Does a MN/UK relationship matter? Come find out as The Economic Club of Minnesota hosts an interesting speaker from across the pond this Thursday October 16, 2008, at 12:00 p.m. at the Minneapolis Club.

The Economic Club of Minnesota was launched last month by former Congressmen Mark Kennedy, Tim Penny and Bill Frenzel. For details or to register, Call or email Kristin Robbins at 612.432.6790 or Kristin@ecomn.org or go to “Contact Us” at www.ecomn.org

This isn't just socialism. This is out-and-out communism.

This post card invite was sent to a DFLer in the Robbinsdale School District:

Note Ellison's plan to "turn out 20,000 voters." Then, read this snip from the recent Hennepin County Report from Commissioner Peter McLaughlin:

October 2008
Hennepin County endorses the "Restore Your Voice" initiative

The Hennepin County Board unanimously passed a resolution to endorse the "Restore Your Voice" initiative that I introduced on behalf of a collaborative effort by nonprofit and public-sector partners to
increase voter registration and turnout among ex-offenders who have completed their sentences.

In the state of Minnesota, individuals serving a sentence as a result of a felony conviction lose their voting rights, but regain them once their full sentence (including parole and probation) is completed.
The resolution endorsing "Restore Your Voice" acknowledges that re-enfranchisement of voting rights is an important step for ex-felons in becoming productive members of our communities and regaining a place in society.

Broad voter participation is fundamental to a strong society and Hennepin County strives to promote a welcoming environment for all eligible voters.  "Restore Your Voice" reaffirms our commitment to
assure all communities fair access in elections.

With this action, Hennepin County will evaluate ways to increase efforts to communicate with ex-felons of their voting rights and collaborate with "Restore Your Voice" partners, including 180 Degrees, the Council on Crime and Justice, Goodwill Easter Seals, ACLU-Minnesota, ACORN, Family & Children's Service and the City of Minneapolis, to increase awareness of this issue among residents.

Looks like the Robbinsdale School Board hopes this voter initiative with Ellison and Hennepin County will help pass their referendum in November. Something smells here.

If anyone in the area can attend the Ellison visit tonight, it's at School Board Chair Patsy Green's home (address shown in card photo) from 6:30 - 8:00.

(hat tip: Loyal Opposition) 

Well, the results of my medical tests have come back and they're not good.  It appears my condition is chronic, and there is no known cure for it.  The  good news is that it can be managed with lifestyle changes and, more importantly, is not progressive.

I had my suspicions about this many years ago when I decided to stop watching the network news.  It wasn't long after that I noticed fewer bouts of depressed moods and unfocused anger.  I noticed again a couple years ago,  when I dropped my subscription to the Star Tribune, that my blood pressure dropped substantially, especially  during those two stressful hours that I was spending every day finding grammatical errors and blatant bias  in their news stories.  Since then I've been content to get most of my news through blogs and talk radio, and I thought perhaps this self-medication had done the trick.    Supposedly the ill side-effect of this treatment is that it gives me a biased view of events, but I prefer to believe that all I am missing  are the toxins to the truth introduced by the mainstream media.  If the right-wing blogosphere is a "filter"  on the news, it is a beneficial one, acting only to remove the leftist ideological sludge that's already been put into it.

I thought I had my condition under control, but it's now clear that I was wrong. I think I just didn't want to admit it to myself.   For example, I chose to record the last three presidential debates, rather than watching them live.  I planned to, and did, learn all I wanted to know, I thought, from blogs and the  Internet.   Last night, though, I began  watching the vice presidential debate between Joe Biden and Sarah Palin, hoping for entertainment if not enlightment. .  No more than 15 minutes into it I found myself shaking my fist uncontrollably and yelling "liar!" at the TV set whenever Joe Biden spoke.   I went into the music room, put on the headphones, and waited for it to be over.  This test conclusively proves  that I do not suffer fools lightly, but rather that I suffer them greatly.  I simply cannot,  health-wise,  tolerate liberal  Democrats, and there don't seem to be any other kind.  No free range, no organically grown,  just Democrats with all the poisonous rhetoric, hormone-addled attitude,  and toxic policies still clinging to them like socialist friends to a corrupt Chicago political hack.

You can help.  Please quarantine these virulent contaminants-- Obama and Biden-- in the U.S. Senate, where their lies, fantasies  and generally offensive logorrhea can be better kept away from sufferers such as I.

Thank you.

I like this new ad from the RNC. A clear point needs to be repeated here. it is the difference between association and alignment.

Michelle Malkin has an open poll to get reader reactions on the markets. Comments ranged from BUY! to SELL! to DRINK!

Rush commented yesterday:

I think Wall Street's afraid of an Obama administration. A friend of mine who is in the know on these kinds of things said, “On election night, keep a sharp eye on the Asian markets.  The Asian markets, 12 hours ahead of us.  If it looks like McCain's going to win, you're going to see the biggest rally you have ever seen.  If it looks like Obama's going to win, may not be much more damage, 'cause by then, how much more damage will there be able to be inflicted?”

On one local news report, some said they were too afraid to look up their numbers. I wasn't: one is in a money market holding steady, the other in a conservative fund that lowered about 10% (also dipped in '05 but bounced back quickly). Luckily, I'm a long way from retiring.  I'm not even close to knowledgeable in these matters, and offer the comments section to you for your thoughts.

Once in a while, we agree with Democrats. Allahpundit shows a clip with Chuck Todd saying some high-level Dems want Franken to lose:

But why? Why not Senators Clooney and Damon, too? Have every left-wing turd in Hollywood start running for office. What could go wrong?

He’s up six in one poll and four in another, incidentally. I think this, even more than an Obama victory, will be the bitterest pill to swallow on election night.

SD-45 is at it again with humorous political videos:

One area Minnesota House incumbent representative earned over $16,000 in per diem expenses last year.

Gregg Prest supporters grabbed a camera and showed how "Rep. Stinka" spent his earnings:

Ham on.

After the vote on Nov. 4th, go check out Bobby Z at the Northrup. He is also hitting several spots across the Canada and the northern US.

I have caught Dylan on tour at several points in his career although sadly I missed out on everything from the early years. Columbia recently put out the latest in his bootleg series called "Tell Tale Signs: The Bootleg Series Vol. 8". I am listening to it as I type—rich stuff from the vaults of 1989-2005.

If you enjoyed the rich and haunting Daniel Lanois produced period of Dylan, this is a must. Oh Mercy is one of my favorite of all Dylan's albums. This set is available many ways:

2 CD edition { Amazon }
3 CD Deluxe Collector's Edition { Amazon }
4 LP Box Set { Amazon } (includes MP3 download link)
    [For the kids out there, LP means Long Playing, er, vinyl album. I'm amazed they still make 'em]
1 CD edition { Amazon }

Or if you're like me anymore, you just download it all.

Not the AA that has helped so many across the world find sobriety and recovery. In that AA you have to admit that you have a problem and a disease that you need to confront honestly with a twelve-step program that many of my friends and family have successfully utilized.      

The AA I nearly joined is Apathetic Americans. It is a growing population of Republican voters who, since the late 1990's, have watched their party move to the middle, reach across the isle, spend like liberal democrats and completely forget who put them in office. This disease of apathy is now at epidemic levels and we are not admitting we have a problem. It is important to understand the definition.

The Websters New World College Dictionary
 
APATHY :

1. lack of emotion

2. lack of interest; listless condition; unconcern; indifference

The Democrats were wiped out in the great apathy plague of 1977 when many blue collar common sense union & farm democrats lost their minds and decided Jimmy Carter was the solution to their economic woes. That worked out well for the country, didn't it?

Monday night was a painful reminder as to why John McCain was my last choice, and why I have never been totally sold on him. And no, it wasn't the "media presence " worry I had two weeks ago. It was not only a breakthrough for treating severe insomnia, but if you paid attention to McCain's words, it was a screaming declaration of a devotee to the religion of moderation. Delivered with the same emotion as Ben Stein playing the teacher in "Ferris Bueller's Day Off."

The "moderate" has been the undoing of the Republican party for the last fifteen years. Growing right along side the moderate Republican politicians seems to be a growing population of the Apathetic American. Now that you have read the definition above, let me add one more to it. The voluntarily uninformed. These are intellectually brain dead sheep who are more than willing to fall prey to the oncoming liberal Republican or socialist Democrat onslaught. Let government handle all problems, buy bad debt (McCain's mortgage rescue), Manage and mandate healthcare...The list goes on. The moment I really cringed Monday night is when I heard from McCain, "These are very complex and complicated problems." It is that very language that made me a "former" Democrat. That, along with several years of law enforcement experience would make anyone with a brain a former Democrat. Right and wrong are very simple terms, for me anyway.

So, those of you who threw up your hands Monday night and almost joined AA, let me stop you right now. For every man and woman who is serving in our military, thousands of who are in harms way as we discuss this issue. Imagine their Commander in Chief being Barak Obama. I'm sorry, I will not become a member of AA and have a part in forcing our military to salute this man. More importantly, NOT give Obama the privilege of saluting these far superior American men and woman.

However painful for conservatives and true Republicans, make sure you vote for John McCain & Sarah Palin on election day. McCain can be challenged & held accountable by active members of the party and I am certain we will have a voice with a McCain / Palin administration. Is there any doubt how a mainstream media will circle the wagons for a Obama / Biden administration? That is simply four years I refuse to imagine, if I can help it.

Yes we have a problem, but I am not ready to join AA just yet. 
 

I just went to the bank and noticed I was near empty, so I pulled into Freedom Gas, my usual gas station. I was thrilled to see the price of unleaded was down to $2.95. Subtract from that another 5 cents Freedom gives you when you pay with cash = $2.90/gal.

Hot Spit! Under $3.00/gal., and the doomsayers predicted $6.00/gal by now.

Small things can really put a smile on your face.

What defines a great actor is their ability to make others believe the actor is living the story.  Many directors call this innate ability to act ‘presence.’

John McCain has none.

Barack Obama has oodles.  Obama possesses the quintessential ice-to-the-Eskimos confidence.  What he says doesn’t matter, for his uncanny ability to deliver his lines with conviction, inspiration and clarity – in spite of the clinical emptiness of his logic – is the stuff that could earn him an Oscar, if not a presidency.

As a conservative, I take no great pleasure in making the observation that Our Man McCain is a theatrical “extra” at best.  Even were he to win the election, he cannot divorce himself from the public impression that he is merely reciting lines.  Were he in a casting call, he would hear the ominous ‘thank you – next!’

Those of us who follow politics with more sobriety than a Hollywood casting call believe substance, principle and core convictions ought to rule the day.  In the MSM this paints us as out of touch. The sad fact is Abraham Lincoln, in his homely awkwardness, could never ascend to the presidency today because Americans, in the age of instant gratification, glean their worldview from checkout tabloids and Will Ferrell movies.

It’s not fair, it’s not right, but that’s the way it is.  We can pine for the days when Reagan possessed both the presence and the pulpit, but that won’t change our current conundrum.  The inescapable fact is we may have to drag McCain’s sorry butt over the finish line in spite of himself.

Analysis:  Neither won the debate.  It was vapid excess wrapped in empty posturing.  It was 90 wasted minutes, served by a waiter – Tom Brokaw – who was more mortician than moderator – insisting that the most savory questions be kept off the table.

Even now, they're holding hearings on Lehman Bros, etc., but are NOT holding hearings on Fannie & Freddie...

They (Frank, Dodd and the rest of the Congressional Mafia) are entitled royalty, above being held to account. ...and did you notice that they were in a hellfire of a hurry last week to CYA in making the taxpayers foot the bill to the tune of nearly a trillion dollars; saying that if we "didn't do something now" our 401Ks would tank?

Well, wouldn't you know it... our 401Ks are still tanking, and we're in hock to the tune of an extra trillion dollars (and counting), to boot.

The road to hell, my friends... the road to hell, has been paved by our esteemed Royal Democrat Legislators with the toil and sweat of their indentured servants, otherwise known as the taxpaying public and their progeny for the foreseeable future and beyond.

Why we trust government to the running of anything more complex than a lemonade stand is beyond my ability to comprehend. They couldn't even run their own bloody Capitol cafeteria.

Yet Barack Obammy wants your government to do even "more." and wants us to think that "government is cool."

Worse yet, there are plenty of suckers who have been born that are buying his royal "One-ness"'s bilge.

Heh. Isn't that precious.

I see there's a collective blogger "groan" after last night's debate (but good news that McCain's is still close by 1 or 2 points in recent polls).

So, here's another post that will make you groan (and laugh) at The People's Cube:

It is a matter of common knowledge that the old-fashioned idea of One Nation Undivided is incompatible with diversity and multiculturalism. For the same reason, the concept of One Obama Logo For All has been recently found at conflict with the presidential hopeful's philosophy of catering to each minority group with a different set of words and images. As a result, his campaign has unveiled a new collection of ethnically-specific Obama logos to match each minority's pre-approved role, legend, and grievances, in full compliance with the divide-and-conquer revolutionary doctrine developed by Antonio Gramsci and perfected by Saul Alinsky.

---

Community organizing is pivotal to the revolutionary goal to divide society into confrontational minority groups, breed discontent, and whip up class and culture war sentiment. Not only does it open up lucrative opportunities for political and financial manipulation by community organizers (think of it as an added bonus), but the constant clash of group interests poisons the culture, sends cracks through the foundations of American society, and delivers mortal blows to individual liberties - much to the progressive movement's delight.

This results in a longing for a popular supreme leader - the Ultimate Community Organizer - who will replace the agonizing pain with a comfortable numbness; chaos with unity; bitter divisiveness with total conformity. He will promise to save us from failure by guaranteeing a total equality of outcomes regardless of our ability and according to our needs. The scope and nature of our needs shall be defined for us by the benevolent leader and his enlightened advisers. This will be a change the wounded country won't be able to refuse.

Didn't find your minority logo? People's Cube is here to help...

Chris Baker on KTLK nailed it this morning.  He indicated  that last night's debate was essentially a debate between a liberal and a communist.  (and depending on the topic either one could have fit either category)  That is exactly what the Mrs. and I were screaming at the television throughout the debate.  In my opinion what we just witnessed last night was John McCain handing the keys to the White House to Obama.  No amount of lipstick is going to cover up that pig of a performance.  Welcome to the United Socialist States of America. 

Lassie adds: This image sums up my feelings on McCain's missed opportunities: