Each day, Bluestem finds more reason to head to the Jeffers' Petroglyphs to carve Tom Wolfe's edict (about the disadvantage of the novelist in the age of absurdity) into the sacred red rocks.

Take the recent episode starring Sarah Anderson, the Republican representative from Plymouth, which the editor believes to be located in the near western suburbs of Minneapolis, rather than Massachusetts or England.  In an attempt to deride Minneapolis Mayor Rybak, Sarah Anderson provides a clear demonstration of her expertise, via our friends at The Uptake:

Fun facts: Anderson chaired the Republican redistricting effort in the House. Rochester, Minnesota, home of the world-famous Mayo Clinic, is Minnesota's third largest city. Bluestem recommends that Anderson head south on Highway 52 to the Med City, where Congressman Tim Walz, a former social studies teacher, will cheerfully give her a lesson in reading maps.

Greater Minnesotans are used to people not knowing where to find Darfur or Ceylon, but Rochester shouldn't be a problem.

Glancing through the 2011 state campaign finance report for the Republican Party of Minnesota, Bluestem noticed that Patrick J. Haley was paid $24,287.13 for political consulting.That's more than Ben Golnik earned, so we grew curious.

A post on the Senate District 48 Republicans' Facebook page last August lists Haley as "Political Director-RPM for CD's 4, 6, 7 & 8."

His name had also shows up in CD7 Republican congressional candidate Lee Byberg's year-end report as "political director," earning the princely sum of $4500 in December, along with mileage.

Who is this political operative?  Before signing on as manager of Mike Jungbauer's campaign for governor, Haley kept the aptly named blog called "Rantings from the Right." Nowhere is the subtlety of his thinking expressed better than in the final untitled post from July 17, 2009, which leads with the infamous picture of President Obama as a witchdoctor with a bone through his nose.

The picture, which was circulating through conservative email chains in 2009, drew criticism when it was posted to a Tea Party forum a couple of days after it graced Haley's blog. TPM Muckraker reports in Conservative Activist Forwards Racist Pic Showing Obama As Witch Doctor:

The election of our first black president has brought with it a strange proliferation of online racism among conservatives.

And we’ve got the latest example.

On Sunday night, Dr. David McKalip forwarded to fellow members of a Google listserv affiliated with the Tea Party movement the image below. Above it, he wrote: “Funny stuff.”

A screenshot of the "funny stuff" from Haley's blog is posted here.

Haley doesn't seem shy. A frequent letter-to-the-editor writer before being hired by the MNGOP Haley drew such headlines as Haley letter offended Klinzing and Haley in his local paper:

There are at least two Patrick Haleys in Elk River, and one of them has never written a letter to the editor.

Patrick R. Haley of Elk River will often get comments about letters from Patrick J. Haley, a conservative involved in local Republican politics.

Patrick R. would just as soon not be associated with Patrick J. as he “comes across as combative,” says Patrick R.

Direct letters are not the only issue Patrick R. has had to contend with in recent years. He also gets the political activist’s mail.

“I’ve tried to take care of it, but with little success,” he says. “I have even tried contacting the party. I have given up. I just throw it away now.”
This time when a letter was published he got a call from Elk River Mayor Stephanie Klinzing, who wanted to question him about the letter. He told her you have the wrong man. {snippet instory}

Patrick J. challenged Klinzing’s motive for the recent Acts of Random Kindness campaign.

The mayor took issue with Haley, the letter writer, for implying that city funds went into the campaign.

“That is simply not true,” she said.

When asked by the Star News what he was trying to convey, he wrote that he was simply referring to resources used to put the sign together, and hours spent on this by city employees could have been better spent.

Congrats to the Republican Party for investing in one of the finest minds in central Minnesota. Were his discernment in opposition to random acts of kindness and his abilities as a photo editor when deciding to illustrate his objections to health care reform the tipping points in getting him the jobs with the state party and congressional campaign?

Screenshot: Patrick Haley's final post.

The screenwriter furrowed her brow as she read the end-of-year campaign finance reports from The Emo Senator's state and federal races.  Could it be as she feared? Had the Belle of Waseca County, Mike Parry, R-ALEC, suffered yet another bout of his famous amnesia? 

The malady strikes our hero so often when it comes to money and holding office. Just last year, he defended taking full per diem because he had no other income during the session--forgetting that he owns and operates a Godfather's Pizza in sunny Waseca, Minnesota.

What office did Mike Parry campaign for once he declared himself a candidate for Congress?  Judging by his congressional committee's spending, he didn't put out for mileage to drive around the sprawling First Congressional District, which extends across southern Minnesota from Wisconsin to South Dakota.

Other congressional campaigns in Minnesota's rural areas, like Republican Lee Byberg's race against Blue Dog Collin Peterson in the Seventh, are ponying up for gas. Several staffers are reimbursed for gas in incumbent Tim Walz's report.

How does our hero travel these distances without spending money on gas? Astro-projection? Teleportation? A sprinkle of former senator Dick Day's famous foo-foo dust? A sudden burst of charity on the part of campaign volunteer Ben Golnik, who accompanied him on a two-day from Winona to Worthington? 

The screenwriter doesn't know, but did find that in Mike Parry's other campaign, he was filling up at local gas stations quite regularly. There's the state campaign finance reporting of gas purchases: $48.50 on November 15; $73 on November 18; $71 on November 25th,  $48.65 on December 2; $64.06 (including a car wash) on December 12; $68 on December 16. 

For that much gas, Mike Parry must have doorknocked much of his district for the state senate campaign in November and December.

Indeed, the state report shows a great devotion to the state bid. Mike Parry purchased and activated a phone on September 3--the first phone for the state level campaign in 2011--and began paying Verizon for phone service on October 7, with a charge of $123.52, followed by payments in November of $153.44 and December of $148.03.  There are no phone or cell expenses in the Congressional campaign report to the FEC.

Parry also purchased other equipment for the senate campaign. On November  28, he visited the Owatonna Office Max and purchased card scan equipment for $182.94. Radio Shack supplied a power strip and USB cable on October 1 for $34.18 and there's the Ipad purchased a few days later from the Apple Store in Bloomington for $688.32, a better way to tweet spiteful remarks about the staff at the governor's residence perhaps--though maybe not Walz.

Then there's the dedication of Senator Parry's state campaign workers, who drove all the way to The Cities (or was it Duluth?) to attend a campaign meeting on October 6 at Pizza Luce, where they ordered $76.03 worth of food and beverages.  Persumably, they forgot--like Parry himself back in early summer--that The Belle of Waseca County owns a Godfather's Pizza.  Certainly, it's more forgettable fare than Pizza Luce.

Another indication that Parry may be carrying on a state senate campaign: using that campaign committee's dollars--reported as campaign expenses--for 2012 dues and county fair registrations. There's the $185 going toward 2012 dues for the Faribault Chamber of Commerce, for instance.

And residents of Steele County can look forward Mike Parry's appearance at the Free Fair as a state senate candidate, since the state-level committee shelled out early for a $500 SCFF sponsorship on November 16, 2011. (All earlier fair sponsorships had been paid at the time of the fair, held each year in August).

Forgetful as our hero is, certainly he'd never forget that state campaign funds can't be spent on federal campaigns.

Indeed, Emo Senator was so intent on campaigning for the state senate, that he closed the year with only $42.95 in his committee's account.  Now that he's back on track for campaigning for congress--having only spent $3402.14 last year, while banking $29,182.86--we'll no doubt see more spending from that account. Tune in again!

Or maybe it will be more foo-foo dust renewable energy used for mileage, since the Emo Senator now recalls only congressional campaign stops since October, according to the Owatonna People's Press:

Parry, a Waseca Republican whose district includes all of Steele County, announced in October he was running for the Republican nomination. Since then, he has scheduled many meet and greet events at the crack of dawn.

“Part of the reason is that I’m a seated (state) senator and so I’m working all day long up at the Capitol,” Parry said. “We’re taking Saturdays and Sundays and we are doing meet and greets all over the First District.

Stay tuned.

Photoshop image: the Emo Senator, by Tild.

These are the headlines that try readers' souls. An urban legend, like hell, is not easily conquered, as Mike Parry's continued campaigning against an imaginary EPA dust rule demonstrates.

One has to hand it to Huckle Media, publishers of the Owatonna People's Press, for at least putting Senator Mike Parry's notion of "common sense" within quotation marks. In Parry discusses ‘common sense’ there's this gem:

“Does it make good common sense for Congressman Walz to vote against agriculture?” Parry asked. “It’s exactly what he’s done. He voted against the Cambodian and Panama trade agreements. That’s about a $9 billion export market for this state of Minnesota.”

Parry said Walz has supported the Environmental Protection Agency, which Parry says wants to control the dust coming out of the back of a combine.

Perhaps Parry should take a refresher course on both his talking points and geography (perhaps he could sit in on one of Walz's guest social studies classes in district schools). Presumably, Parry is talking about the Colombian free trade agreement. Colombia and Cambodia? Close enough, one supposes; they both begin with a "C."

Walz wasn't against agriculture, but concerned about other issues.  The Rochester Post Bulletin reported in October:

Walz voted for the South Korea Free Trade Agreement saying it will benefit farmers in southern Minnesota. But he voted against agreements with Colombia and Panama. He said he has serious concerns about Colombia's human rights record and corruption and instability in Panama.

“I believe that as the leader of the free world, the United States must be guided in its trade policy by our values,” he said in a written statement.

No doubt Parry is guided by his values, too: he's a ALEC member willing not only to allow corporations write the bills he introduces, but to craft fiscal notes for budgets in which work might be outsourced to them. Lovely.

And then there's that complete nonsense about combine dust. Since this is Mike Parry, it's not surprising that he keeps spouting material that was stale in November, as BSP noted in Emo Senator: battling phantom EPA dust menace key to Parry's totally straightforward campaign:

Bluestem agrees that a rule against combine dust would be devastating to farmers. However, far more devastating to the political process is basing campaigns on pure cow flops, as legendary Minnesota politician Magnus Johnson liked to point out about the Republican platform of his time.

Parry is riding that manure spreader. The Washington Post reported in Bill to ban phantom EPA dust rule approved by House panel:

Earlier this year, Republicans found what they saw as an ideal talking point to illustrate a federal bureaucracy gone batty.

The Environmental Protection Agency, they warned, was trying to regulate something only God could control: the dust in the wind.

“Now, here comes my favorite of the crazy regulatory acts. The EPA is now proposing rules to regulate dust,” Rep. John Carter (R-Tex.) said on the House floor. He said Texas is full of dusty roads: “The EPA is now saying you can be fined for driving home every night on your gravel road.”

There was just one flaw in this argument: It was not true.

The EPA’s new dust rule did not exist. It never did.

Still, the specter of this rule has spurred three bills to prevent it , one of which was approved Thursday by a House subcommittee. It sparked a late-night battle on the Senate floor. GOP presidential candidate Herman Cain cited it in a debate as a reason to eliminate the EPA.

The hubbub over this phantom rule — surely one of the most controversial regulations that never was — involved a slow-moving federal agency and a Republican Party with the EPA in its crosshairs.

"Common sense" like that possessed by Mike Parry makes nincompoopery completely redundant.

Photoshop image:  Fiddle-dee-dee on geography and facts, Flouncette O'Parry. Image by Tild

Bonus: Some campaign advice from Weird Al Yankovic:

A tipster with the barking fantods emailed Bluestem with a comment he felt was racist dropping from the tender lips of Martin County GOP stalwart Neal Breitbarth.

My correspondent took exception to the remarks at the end of Local turnout reaches new high, published in the February 8, 2012 Fairmont Sentinel:

Breitbarth is optimistic the high turnout means positive things for Republicans in Minnesota. Addressing the crowd at the Holiday Inn, he said, "Maybe we can get this monkey off our back in Minnesota and actually vote for a Republican for president."

Bluestem doesn't find the remark to be racist. Breitbarth wasn't comparing the president or health care reform to a monkey (a racist trope), but employing a shopworn figure of speech about addiction. Having a "monkey on your back" comes from the jargon of heroin addiction; Breitbarth was slamming Minnesota voters, not the President.

It's true that Minnesota hasn't gone into the Republican column in a Presidential race since Nixon was elected in 1972, but it's hardly persuasive to tell voters that picking Democratic candidates is the equivalent of political vein popping. "Hey, dumb junkies...."

That will work.

Need more entertainment at Breitbarth's expense? Earlier in the article, the Fairmont RV dealer says:

Neal Breitbarth, who has served numerous times as a GOP delegate, wasn't surprised by the outcome [the Santorum win].

"Health care is the biggest drag on Mitt Romney, and the biggest issue in the nation is Obamacare and getting rid of Obamacare," said Breitbarth, a Santorum supporter.

Breitbarth is referencing Romney's role in the 2006 health care reform in Massachusetts, widely seen as a precursor to the direction reform took under President Obama.

Curiously, Breitbarth didn't have a problem with Romney's record on health care reform two years later, when he served on Romney's 2008 Minnesota statewide steering committee. He was a Minnesota Republican State Central Committee member at the time. It's astonishing what Obama's support for a policy could change it so drastically for Neal.

It gets better. 

The Sentinel breathlessly reports about the "record" turnout for the presidential caucus and plays stenographer for the local Republican activists carrying on about how the turnout in one of the reddest Minnesota counties means that Santorum or whomever will be the next Nixon. According to the paper, 234 people cast their votes in the straw poll. 

What the conservative newspaper doesn't tell readers, but the SOS page reveals, is that in 2008, 230 people in Martin County cast straw poll votes for the Republican straw poll.  That works out to one new Republican straw poll participant for each year since 2008.

Statewide in 2008, nearly 63,000 Republicans cast presidential straw ballots; in 2012, the number dropped to 48,916.

No wonder why Neal is so high about getting that DFL monkey off the back of Minnesota; Bluestem only wishes that he would quit bogarting whatever it is he's smoking.

Movie still: What Martin County Republican Neal Breitbarth's figure of speech suggests about Minnesota's voters.

Scrolling through my Facebook wall late yesterday afternoon, I noticed this post by a state representative:

During our extended floor session, Rep. Cornish sends photo to all DFL representatives with subject: Crime Bill on My Desk. It contains only a photo of a gallows with two empty nooses.

Yet another way to fostering the bipartisanship the public so desires, as well as promoting public confidence in the institution as well on Cornish's part.

I messaged the House member to see if I could have the email forwarded; a screen shot is at right. What a kidder, that Tony Cornish.

Cornish chairs the Minnesota House Public Safety and Crime Prevention Policy and Finance committee. That's might clever of him to send that photo to his Democratic colleagues.  What a kidder.

Given the symbolic meanings that gather around nooses these days, meanings differing by race, age and other factors, perhaps one might have wished that the chair of the House Public Safety and Crime Prevention Policy and Finance Committee might have been mature enough to control his wit for a moment, or at least reflected on the possibility that his colleagues on the other side of the aisle might not all share his taste in rick-rolling emails.

It's not as if he's just a poor country blogger or something. He's actually a poor country chief of police. UPDATE: Reader T.Pa Or Coffee notes: "By the way, Cornish is no longer a police chief. He resigned so that he could do a better job as a legislator."  Point taken. [end update].

But there's something else that might have given him pause if he grasped a larger sense of history: the role hanging played in Minnesota's decision to end the death penalty. In 2008, the Star Tribune's Brian Leehan reviewed that story in Botched hanging led state to halt executions:

A small item in the Wednesday Feb. 7, 1906 edition of the Minneapolis Tribune reads, "Sheriff Miesen has arranged to test the rope and gallows upon which William Williams is to be executed next Tuesday at midnight."

Ramsey County Sheriff Anton Miesen's test seems to have been successful, but it didn't keep the execution of Williams at 12:31 a.m. on Feb. 13, 1906, from being a hideously botched affair that resulted in him being the last person executed in Minnesota.

Double murderer William Williams was certainly guilty of killing his former lover (a teenager) and the lover's mother, but his death was cruel, if not usual:

Sheriff Miesen was confident of his rope's strength, and the proper functioning of the trapdoor of his gallows, but his math was faulty in calculating both the height of Williams and the gallows platform.

As the condemned man dropped, his feet hit the floor.

A lurid description in the next day's issue of the St. Paul Daily News said that William's "neck stretched four and one-half inches and the rope nearly eight inches."

So deputies quickly grabbed the rope and pulled it upward, then took turns holding Williams' feet off the ground for almost 15 minutes while the life was choked out of him.

The death certificate stated that the cause of death was strangulation.

The debacle, and the newspaper coverage of it, gave ammunition to those in the state Legislature who opposed the death penalty.

House member George MacKenzie, R-Gaylord, had tried to abolish capital punishment in Minnesota in 1905 and again in 1909. He succeeded in 1911 when Republican Gov. Adolph Eberhart signed the legislation into law.

But Bluestem suspects Cornish didn't have that in his mind--or much else--when he decided to send the "Crime Bill on My Desk" email to colleagues while they were meeting in chamber. Perhaps he should just stick to the little handcuffs pin he loves to wear.

The photo can be found on Cornish's Facebook page in an album called "Arizona Trip 2012" that documents a short stay in Tombstone. The caption below the photo there? "The Only Sure Cure for Repeat Offenders."  Stay classy, Representative Cornish.

Screenshots: The gallows humor of Tony Cornish.

Related posts: Cornish denies rumors he's running for Blue Earth County Sheriff day after spreading them

Tony Cornish likes opponent, but freaks over her totally rad liberal Facebook ties to a Democrat

 Civility and its discontents: Tony Cornish is an honorable man (just agree with him)

Former Wells Mayor Shannon Savick seeks to challenge Representative Tony Cornish

Loyal fans of Emo Senator, southern Minnesota's most beloved telenovela, will remember that Mike Parry's congressional campaign stops are drawing voters like Limburger cheese attracts the ladies. In Emo Senator: lost episode shocks Mike Parry fans, the Austin Herald reported that two men gathered for coffee with the Belle of Waseca County.

It's looks like his campaign checkbook is just as attractive.

Minnesota Public Radio's Brett Neely reports in Congressional fundraising numbers streaming in:

First District Rep. Tim Walz raised $210,000, making 2011 a million dollar fundraising year for the former teacher. His campaign has $617,000 in the bank. Two of Walz's three Republican challenger Allen Quist raised $6,200 for the entire year. A third opponent, Mike Parry, has not yet released his fundraising totals.

Within ten minutes of each other, devoted Emo Senator admirers pointed the screenwriter to Senator Parry's FEC filing:

Covering Period 09/14/2011 Through 12/31/2011:

When he entered the congressional race in early October, the Emo Senator told the Mankato Free Press that he didn't have a fundraising plan, but that he felt very good about himself. Veteran political reporter Mark Fischenich wrote in Parry to challenge Walz for Congress:

Parry hasn’t set a goal for campaign donations but said he has strong skills in fundraising.

“I do know that I’m a hard charger. I work from sun-up to sun-down and then some.”

Senator Parry hasn't done much had charging, spending only $3402--including one $600 in-kind contribution for munchies--so Bluestem can't speculate on just how hard it may have been. Such fundraising figures surely could barely cover the copying fees for the  crack public-relations legal team recently hired by Parry's best-known campaign volunteer, Michael Brodkorb.

Curious items in the contributor list suggest that Parry's on-and-off again amnesia has affected his accounting.  Information has been requested about the occupation of one "Gretchen Hoffman" of Vergas, Minnesota. Bluestem has it on good authority that Ms. Hoffman is a state senator. 

Additionally, Parry seems to have forgotten what Dick Day did for a living when he wrote the check.

Most of the rest of the haul is standard issue Republican checks--no surprises there, other than the fly speck quality. 

The contrast with earlier  Walz challengers? Eventual (and spectacularly dismal) 2008 nominee Brian Davis took in close to $55,500 in late 2007. Former Senator Dick Day was also seeking the seat, and raised nearly $53,000. Randy Demmer, who won the nomination in 2010, took in about $35,000 during the same time period in 2007.

Looking at 2010 cycle figures, we learn that the Demmer campaign closed 2009 with a $19200.00 haul, though the campaign remained in debt to the tune of $135,150.00 in loans from the candidate to himself. At the end of 2011, $92,000 of that debt remained on the books. Quist, who lost the endorsement after several rounds of balloting at the 2010 convention, took in $32,853 in late 2009. 

Two other candidates, Jim Engstrand (now running for Congress in Texas) and Mr. Conservative, Jim Hagedorn, who moved to sunny Blue Earth to run, and who is now supporting Newt Gingrich from an undisclosed location.

But all hope is not lost, completely, if we turn our eyes to fundraising in the legendary 2006 election that swept Walz into office. Mostly lost, but not totally.

And the 2005-2006 unknown who challenged six-term representative Gil Gutknecht?  At the beginning of 2006, Walz had $78,103.24 cash in hand, having just experienced a final quarter in which he'd deposited $48,444.39 in the bank. The campaign carried $5755.93 in loans the candidate had borrowed from Wells Fargo.

Gutknecht, whom Walz would defeat in one of the biggest surprises of 2006, entered that fateful year with $620,101.24 in the kitty, having just raised $144,406.57. 

While the Walz and Gutknecht totals are close, the candidates' approaches are far different. Gutknecht failed to preceive the Walz campaign as a threat until well into 2006, whereas Walz is listed as one of 20 most vulnerable Democrats by his own caucus's campaign wing. 

What will happen?  Tune in again--this is an episode of Emo Senator, after all. Anyone, except for Walz himself, may well be surprisedby what Mike Parry will do or say.

Image: Mike Parry, the Emo Senator. By Tild. With that sort of fundraising, of course he has to wear the parlor drapes from Tara.

Earlier episodes:Emo Senator: lost episode shocks Mike Parry fans

Emo Senator: Amnesia! Mike Parry forgets he's his own boss during MNSCU benefits hearing (a complete list of episodes is found at the end of this post).

Fans of Emo Senator, southern Minnesota's most beloved telenovela, weren't surprised to learn that Senator Mike Parry's amnesia had returned and the Belle of Waseca had forgotten that he doesn't have a boss who forces him to take vacation time.

More shocking? The lost episode of Emo Senator a reader dug up in the Austin Herald. The day before Parry's grandstanding performance in Emo Senator: Amnesia! Mike Parry forgets he's his own boss during MNSCU benefits hearing, voters in Spamtown seem to have forgotten that Parry is running for office.

In the lost episode, Sen. Parry talks campaign in Austin, the fan called this passage to Bluestem's attention:

Sen. Mike Parry, R-Waseca, spent Wednesday morning drinking coffee and talking politics with two men at the Mower County Senior Center.

The stop was one of many meet-and-greets Parry will hold this month as he campaigns for Democrat Rep. Tim Walz’s congressional seat.

Parry said he has been meeting many new faces on the campaign trail and has been well received.

Two men at a campaign stop?  Stupendous!

Arch rival Tim Walz visited Austin the next day, the paper reports in Walz tours Innovance in Albert Lea:

First District Congressman Tim Walz, D-Minn., looked at Albert Lea’s Innovance Inc. Thursday as a successful business model for creating and maintaining jobs.

The parent company to four businesses — Lou-Rich, Almco, Panels Plus and Exact Manufacturing — Innovance now has 340 full-time employees and 30 temporary or part-timers. It has three facilities in Albert Lea and one in Hayward.

“It’s a powerful story,” Walz said of the company’s growth. “It’s positive to walk around here.”

Meeting with company officials and a few other business leaders, Walz had a roundtable discussion about the company and then took a tour to see how the business operates. . .

. . .After his visit at Innovance, Walz was slated to visit Albert Lea City Hall to meet with some of the city’s leaders.

Tune in tomorrow for more tales of Emo on the campaign trail--and the money trail, as the deadline approaches for Parry and Quist to report on their Q4 2011 fundraising. Walz raised $1 million last year and ended 2011 with $617,000 in the bank.

Image: Emo Senator, by Tild.

For all past episodes, see Emo Senator: Amnesia! Mike Parry forgets he's his own boss during MNSCU benefits hearing

Last year, Representative Steve Drazkowski (R-ALEC) ran as a foe of job-killing regulations. He told the Post Bulletin:

We must address the pandemic of uncertainty facing Minnesota businesses. Forcing government to live within its means and eliminating business-killing regulations will send positive signals to Minnesota’s job creators. Once confidence is restored, our state’s entrepreneurial spirit will be unleashed to create jobs that will restore vibrancy and economic prosperity.

Jobs! Prosperity! Get out of here government!

Confronted with news that tribal gaming facilities aren't getting much oversight, Draz is singing a different tune:

Drazkowski said he met with Gov. Mark Dayton on Monday to discuss his concerns, and the governor has promised to make changes to the agency.

“It’s easy to say you’re doing a wonderful job when no one bothers to check your work,” Drazkowski said. “We’re talking about regulation of what could be a $20 billion industry in this state.”

Apparently, there are job creators who don't need regulating and those who do. Bluestem wonders how Drazkowski sorts that one out.

Photo: Chocolate ALEC Drazombie Bunny By Tild.

In a column on reform--not just reform, but the lovely 2005 urban slang Reform 2.0 favored by those hep cats in Kurt Zellers's caucus--Steve Drazkowski notes:

America is changing. Minnesota is changing - and it's clear we aren't keeping up. We're in the middle of the pack when it comes to student reading test scores. Our current state education model came about before we put a man on the moon.

Yes indeedie. This is powerful rhetorical stuff.

Bluestem wonders if The Draz is willing to apply this reasoning to other areas. It's clear that Minnesota isn't keeping up with Iowa, for instance.

Our current marriage model came about before we put a man on the moon.  Those folks in Iowa have had same sex marriage for a couple of years now. We hope to see Draz urging voters to reject the marriage inequality amendment Draz and his friends so rashly placed on the November's ballot.

Is Draz proposing that we make 1969 the cut-off year for models for everthing, or is education somehow special?  Bluestem also pauses to reflect that people educated under that pre-moon landing model somehow managed to get a man on the moon, but perhaps there's no relationship between book larnin' and rocket science.

Or perhaps mere chronology is simply no substitute for arguing a system or proposal on its merits. Or that fluffing the same-old, same-old ALEC model bills with a shiny new name (dated as the construction might be) only changes the branding of said proposals, not the debate about them. 

Pretending that the "hearings" where Draz and his ace boonies presented these ideas once again were actually forums designed to gather citizen-generated proposals is the pure product of a Potemkin advance team, as we noted late last August in The Draz Traveling ALEC Reform 2.0 Medicine Show hits Kenyon, Goodview and beyond.