Secret Young Republicans training compound located!!

First photos are emerging from behind the enemy lines, where their nefarious indoctrination techniques corrupt the innocent minds of America’s youth and prepare them for a life committed to espousing Republican ideology that runs counter to their own self interests!

We all owe a debt of gratitude to the Democratic operatives that have risked their lives to bring us this first haunting photo:

Here we can obviously see a seemingly innocent piece of playground equipment that has been twisted by the right-wing propaganda masters into some sort of sick political metaphor…

Undercover operatives for the Democratic Party have told us that Republican parents force their unwilling children up the molded plastic stairs into the GOP’s “Indoctrination Machine.” These children remain inside for up to 48 hours until they are fully processed. The children, once they are completely transformed into a smelly mass of waste material, will eventually tumble down the chute behind the Indoctrination Machine fully prepared to carry-on the Neocon Agenda.

Said one Republican mother after her child was expelled from the Indoctrination Machine: “Oh, he’s still the little stinker he always was….” where she snickered and waddled away.

UNICEF, Save the Children and Sally Struthers have begun nationwide media campaigns to save these poor little children before they’ve become indoctrinated into the little GOP shit’s that’s expected of each and every one of them. So please: If you can give anything, please give to Sally Struther’s Christian Children’s Fund. Because Jesus, and only Jesus could love these little Turds.

I found it on Bartcop Nation… So it must be true!

“Minnesota Democrats Exposed” Exposed

(Minnesota) Republicans find no fault in smear campaigns as long as it’s the DFL. They’ll throw out any kind of bullshit out there as long as they think their Dittohead readers will simply accept it as truth and accept it without question.

Enter Exhibit A… Michael B Brodkorb over at “Minnesota Democrats Exposed” has just blogged an entry making a few dubious claims. Brodkorb says that US Senator-hopeful Al Franken has spent more money than Senate Republican-Incumbent Norm (a.ka. the Bush puppet) Coleman.

Brodkorb jumps in at it too:

According to press releases and published reports, U.S. Senator Norm Coleman’s campaign has a 2 to 1 cash on hand advantage over Al Franken’s campaign. Franken ended the year with just over $3 million in the bank, while Coleman has over $6 million.

Franken has spent almost 60% of what his campaign has raised. Franken’s “burn-rate” (how much money he is spending compared to what he is raising) continues to be really high. Franken’s running a very expensive campaign.

You can’t buy tv ads or field staffers with a list of prospective donors. These things need to be paid for with cold, hard cash. I’m hearing from some Democrats that concerns are growing that Team Franken’s spending habits might not be sustainable.

Wow! Those are some damned strong accusations, aren’t they?! Did you check out that last sentence? He say he’s hearing some some Dems that they’re raising concerns that Team Franken’s spending habits might be worse than Lindsey Lohan’s cocaine habit.

Why, Brodkorb here implies that he might just make millions of dollars shooting and producing an “Al Fraken Spending Gone Wild” video!

There’s only one problem with this in that he documents nothing. …Absolutely nothing! He doesn’t cite one source to support his allegation(s). You’re just supposed to accept it as fact.

…and so let’s keep the fact for what it really is; Al Franken has raised more money, and has spent more than his incumbent-rival Senator Norm Coleman. That’s okay, because I swam all over the Internet looking for anything where a Republican campaign outspent a Democrat’s campaign. And I ended up back where I started.

Blue Man in a Red District points out that Brodkorb cheered the fact:

A week ago Brodkorb was pimping the fact that (R) Ray Cox had raised nearly $40,000 while Dahle (DFL) lagged behind at about $10,000.

In the end, Cox spent over $29,000 in the race, compared to about $12,000 for Dahle, and got beat by 13 points.

What?!? Mikey B, say it isn’t so! Are you saying that you’re a stinking hypocrite? When a Republican state senator spends 75% of of his campaign funds – that’s great news! But if a DFL US Senator spends an alleged 60% of his cash, that creates …what was that?! “…concerns are growing that Team Franken’s spending habits might not be sustainable.”

I truly think he’s lying that any Democrats have raised any concern about Al Franken’s spending. In fact, I’ll go out on a limb and say that Micheal B. Brodkorb is flat-out lying about the subject. (Since he doesn’t bother to cite his work, he’ll have to simply accept the allegation until he can produce anything to support his claim.)

For the record (only because Brodkorb is far too lazy to look it up and document his work), KARE-11 filed this today:

For the third straight reporting period, DFL candidate Al Franken has out-raised Sen. Norm Coleman.

Franken says he raised nearly $1.9 million in the last quarter of 2007, while Coleman reports raising $1.7 million.

But Coleman was able to widen his cash-on-hand advantage over Franken. Coleman finished the year with about $6 million, compared to just under $3.1 million for Franken, a comedian-turned-politician.

For the year, Franken raised around $7 million, while Coleman raised $6.6 million.

KARE-11 adds on caveat that compounds the equation Brodkorb certainly doesn’t want you to consider:

Franken is battling Democrat Mike Ciresi and others for the right to take on Coleman, a Minnesota Republican. Ciresi did not immediately release his latest campaign figures.

With all of the cash raising by the entire DFL team, including Mike Ciresi, Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer, and Jim Cohen all totaled up: Norm Coleman has accomplished little. Well, except for being a good puppy for King George. I guess in that light; Norm’s been a huge beacon of hope for the Dittoheads.

While Al Franken’s team is proudly explaining that not only have they raised more money than Coleman, it was money that came from American citizens:

A couple hours after we sent out the email below, Norm Coleman announced his own fund raising numbers. Turns out, we out raised him yet again! And we did it without

taking a dime from the Big Oil, Big Insurance, and Big Pharmaceutical PACs he relies on – we did it with you, and 81,414 other Americans who want to see change in Washington.

Lucky Mr. Brodkorb. My college professor’s never let me get away with drawing conclusions and stating facts without citing my sources. Drawing double-standards and promoting hypocrisy in my material would have me kicked out of the damned class.

Now with all of that set aside, this is what I found the funniest part of researching this blog entry. Brodkorb’s entry where he’s bragging it up about Ray Cox (R-SD25) raises almost four times what his competitor Kevin Dahle (DFL) raised for that special election. Read the blog entry – and then cruise on down to the comments section to all of Brodkorb’s muffin-headed geeks and read what they have to say about the (upcoming) election. Keep in mind that it was all written 12/31/07 and the election was held 1/3/08, so nobody knows the results…yet. They’re all excited about Brodkorb’s entry that Dahle is obviously a loser for not raising nearly the amount of cash that Ray Cox has raised. And so they leave their comments like:

..and this guy’s comment:

That one made me laugh. “Yes Michael B. Brodkorb! You’re delight in the money-raising isn’t news! The DFL and it’s lackluster effort shows it all!!”

..and this one:

Let’s not tell these guys that it was their candidate who lost that election. Let’s just let them slather themselves in arrogance and a nice warm milk bath. It’s that same cocky attitude that lost that election on the 3rd and it’s the same attitude that’ll lose even bigger come this November.

But let’s not tell them… Okay? Let’s all take an oath and nobody tell Brodkorb’s idiot fan club that Dahle won…and they wasted their money sinking it into Cox. Shhhh!!!

Republican GOP Pawlenty Stunt makes veto-proof DFL Senate

November 27, 2007 – Governor Tim Pawlenty (R) appointed State Senator Tom Neuville (R-Northfield) to serve as a judge in the 3rd District (in Rice County). In exchange for a replacement, he declared a special election (Jan 3rd 2008) to fill the vacant seat. All expectations were that a Republican would win in a landslide. It was a logical expectation. The area is, afterall, in the heart of the Congressional 1st District.

In 2006, Republicans were convinced that some obscure high school wrestling football coach named Tim Walz being elected to Congress was freakishly weird and they were positive it would be impossible to ever happen again.

Put simply: This area is GOP property and they insist the DFL keep their dirty hands off.

Last July, Pawlenty appointed Representative Steve Sviggum (R-HD 28B) as Commissioner of Labor and Industry. Sviggum, from the same geographical, was his first pick and it was a gamble. But it was a gamble he was willing to play because it was in the heart of the Republican party: south and east of the Twin Cities. Needless to say, it was a safe (political) bet. And the bet paid off: Republican Steve Drazkowski defeated DFL candidate Linda Pfeilsticker 52.9 to 46.9.

Ron Carey, Minnesota’s GOP Chair, threaded his thumbs under the lapels of his suit coat after that win, belched twice and proudly:

…characterized Drazkowski’s win as signaling “growing Republican momentum as we head into 2008,” the GOP should be cautious to read too much into this race. District 28B has voted overwhelmingly for Republican candidates in recent years.

But Pawlenty’s second gambled proved Carey wrong.

Pawlenty didn’t expect anybody would want to go out and vote in the dead of winter, especially with the distractions of the Iowa Caucuses going on. So the Governor arbitrarily decided January 3rd as a special election day just for those in the 3rd District. The stakes of second gamble was bigger than the first, and nobody, including Ron Carey, paid any attention.

On November 27th, word was official that Ray Cox would run in the race to replace Neuville. Mary Lahammer of the MN Public Television’s Almanac excitedly explained that Cox was the favored son to win. On November 27th, Lahammer gushed over Cox like a cheerleader over the quarterback:

I think you’re hearing it here first, former State Representative Ray Cox just told me, “yes, I do plan to run” for the seat Sen. Tom Neuville is expected to vacate today. Cox told me he had coffee this morning with Sen. Neuville and he encouraged Cox to attend Gov. Pawlenty’s announcement at 1:00 in Faribault where the governor will appoint a new judge to the Rice County bench.

The only group that worried about a special election in the dead of winter was the League of Women Voters who sent a letter to all of the newspapers in the district saying:

To the Editor:

To fill the District 25 state senate seat vacated by Sen. Tom Neuville, whom Governor Pawlenty appointed to a judgeship, the governor has called a special election on January 3rd and a primary election on December 18th.

The League of Women Voters believes that eligible voters have the right to be informed about candidates’ positions, the right to vote, and the right to have their vote counted. Scheduling an election immediately after a major holiday season protects none of these rights for many voters.

There is a real possibility that it may be difficult if not impossible for significant numbers of absentee voters to obtain and return absentee ballots by mail in time for them to be counted.

Still, nobody’s paying any attention. It’s a perfect set-up. Pawlenty, Ron Carey…They’re all very… very comfortable with the “Electoral hood-wink of 2008.”

Exactly one month later, December 27, Mpls Star Tribune endorsed Cox and complained that while Dahle was a good man, he simply lacked any experience as a politician. Ray Cox, the Trib claimed, although a Republican, was a moderate in his politics. They cited his stand on environmental issues among other things. (Thanks to Northfield blogger site Locally Grown.)

The entire GOP was happy. No need to call the Minneapolis Star-Tribune a “liberal media outlet” this time. True to the demands of the Star-Trib’s corporate heads of boards and cheating editorial chief; the Strib did it’s job in supporting the GOP. And so the party went back to their Holiday Spirits and roasted their nuts by warm fire light.

Pretty arrogant of the GOP, don’t you think? They have an election going on, called by their own party, and they don’t do jack-squat about it. They’d even get the state’s largest newspaper to endorse their guy and they don’t give a whit! They’d rather stay home and count how many knuckles they can stuff up their nose on one finger.

Yesterday..:January 3rd: The good citizens of the 25th district went out, stomped through the cold and voted en mass for DFL candidate Kevin Dahle, sans GOP electoral efforts.

Minnesota Secretary of State’s reports that Kevin Dahle won in an easy landslide:

• Independant Vance Norgaard 296 votes 2.40%
• Republican Ray Cox 5225 votes 42.37%
• DFL Kevin Dahle 6802 votes 55.15%
• Write-In 10 votes 0.08%

The Minnesota GOP has since, become unglued:

Michael B. Brodcorb of Minnesota Democrats Exposed, went stumping for votes by going door to door on Wednesday (1/2/8). But the following day, the day of the election, he decided to sit at home and bitch in his blog that Minnesota’s Secretary of State Mark Ritchie (DFL) buried the news that there was a special election.

(Yes Mr. Brodcorb… Since the GOP didn’t do their job in notifying their constituents that there was such an election, it’s time to once again bitch at the DFL Secretary of State for not doing a good enough job to you satisfaction. …Because everybody knows that each and every GOP voter checks the S.O.S.’s website daily for updated information on issues such as elections, and …”licensing fees”. We all agree: “You’ve been horribly wronged, and we sympathize.”)

What an embarrassing Bawl Baby.

Meanwhile, Drew Emmer of Wright County Republican, complained bitterly about the loss. For Emmer, it wasn’t DFL Mark Ritchie’s fault at all. No, it was the fault of Al Franken and Rep Tim Walz (DFL MN CD-1) who stumped hard through the cold and the snow for voters to turn out for Kevin Dahle. Blame that damned Al Franken and that freaky football coach for the GOP’s woes. In fact, Emmer’s entire blog entry reaks of a third grader who’s just had his juice-box stolen:

Local politics is finite math. The DFL found victory in coy manipulation of same-day registration and what is reported as a higher than expected student turnout in Northfield proper. There was no credible rallying alarm for the conservative base to respond to. That was largely because many in the conservative base felt somewhat excluded by the process whereby Neuville anointed Cox without the benefit of a grassroots vetting of the GOP endorsement.

To be honest, Emmer’s gripe is valid. The GOP arrogantly assumed it was an easy win for Cox from the beginning. (Considering the district is historically “moderately” conservative.) Pawlenty made the appointment because everybody was on the hay-wagon for this sleazy deal from the beginning, right?!

No. Brodkorb was pissed off. Fingers still frostbitten from Tuesdays doorbell smashing, he unleashed a butt-load of whoop-ass on his GOP com padres:

Drew, I consider you a friend and I tip my hat to you. You did nothing to help out with the SD 25 special election, yet by quickly pointing out this morning how everyone else stumbled, you win the first-ever Minnesota Democrats Exposed Man Not In The Arena Award.

Drew’s prize is the opportunity to come on tomorrow’s radio show and tell the listeners of NARN “The Final Word” how we all could have done a better job. The number is (651) 289-4488 and I look forward to Drew’s collecting his prize anytime after 3:45 p.m. Congrats Drew!

It’s more fun than watching midget-wrestling, don’t you think?!

The knee-jerk is to lash out and throw fiery barbs at your friends by giving them “Dunce Awards” hoping that, when Der Fuher shows up at the Xcel Energy Center this fall, he’ll decide who’s to blame for this disaster. (Hopefully he’ll blame Emmer!! Oh please! Oh please! Let it be Emmer!!)

Brokorb isn’t finished either. Mitch Berg, of “Shot in the Dark” also was pissed off at the loss, and blogged about it. Brodkorb offered a stupid “Runner-Up Dunce Cap” award:

My NARN colleague (and friend) Mitch Berg wins “honorable mention” by regurgitating Drew’s post and adding his own “analysis” on why the Republican effort came up short in SD 25. I’ll will be asking Mitch to stay in the studio tomorrow (NARN II ends right before NARN III begins) to claim his “honorable mention” award. Congrats Mitch!

The Minnesota DFL has check-mated the Republican governor.

Pawlenty’s lost the Minnesota Senate to the DFL with a veto-proof majority and in 2006, he lost all of the State’s elected Officers to the DFL. We’re down to 1 Republican US Senator in Norm Coleman (Lame Flip-Flopper), Michele (Jesus) Bachmann in the 6th (Wack-Job), John Kline in the 2nd CD (Iraqi War whore) and the GOP’s only respected elected official, Jim Ramstad (R-Stepping Down Maybe) in the third.

The biggest applause belongs to Kevin Dahle and his wife Beth. “Welcome to the DFL and to political ground-swell movement of Change Senator Dahle! We’re weird, we’re nutty, and occasionally we’re bit kookie. But we’re always pleased that you’re there to represent us.”

My humble thanks to Zack over at MNPublius, who deserves all of the credit for all of the information on this subject. If I didn’t have my “Zack” over at MN Publius, nothing in this blog entry would make any sense at all.