Politics in Minnesota: The Weekly Report - Vol. 3, Issue 10 - 8/30/2007
Note from the Publisher:
Sarah Janecek is on a brief vacation to the Middle East, around Egypt and Jordan. She reports that "I had my first camel ride, the camel's name was 'Easy Does It,' which was not true of the camel." The full moon rose over the Great Pyramids near her hotel, and few of the political wrinkles of Minnesota will trouble her in the near future. Today's issue of Politics in Minnesota: The Weekly Report was composed entirely by Web Editor Dan Feidt, contributing writer Nick Lambert, and Morning Report Editor Tracey Howell, staunch Democrats every one. In other words, the inmates are running the asylum.
Negative Identities: Senator Craig, Senator Wellstone, Homophobia And Easy Messages
The most trenchant local article we caught this week was Jake Sherman's Strib feature noting David Wellstone's objections to Democratic candidates like Dennis Kucinich anointing themselves "Wellstone Democrats." Sam Kaplan, a longtime ally of the Wellstone family, noted that "Paul would never" attack other Democrats (like Kucinich and Mike Gravel had done in a recent Democratic debate). Sherman's article stressed that Wellstone earned respect across the aisle, though it took years, and it just wasn't part of his political character to put out negative impressions about other politicians. In marketing terms, his political gestures were sparked by fidelity to his raison d'etre, his core reasons for becoming a politician in the first place.
Fast forward to 2007: now there's a whole science of retailing slice-and-dice negative identity politics, generated by political consultants and hangers-on of every stripe; Karl Rove's style writ large. Cynical politicians like Idaho Senator Larry Craig have perfected the blunt, ugly art of attacking anyone who doesn't subscribe to their narrowly tailored, Family Research Council-approved message package: anti-gay, anti-immigrant, anti-abortion, anti-anti-war, anti-anti-American. GOP politicians by the dozens define themselves by what they claim not to be. It retails well: evidently pro-life chieftain Scott Fischbach has made a nifty business retailing these messages around the country, helping corral endorsements from pro-life organizations among equally pro-life candidates in Mississippi.
The blustering hypocrisy of social conservative politicians upholding the very stereotypes that force gays to remain closeted has sparked a backlash: visit gay rights activist Michael Rogers' BlogActive.com for the goods on Beltway GOP politicians and staff who have made careers from selling self-loathing messages. Rogers was on Craig's case back in October; he's even got 1982 news clips of Craig denying involvement with male pages. Social conservatives will have a tough time reading "The List" of gay GOP pols on the sidebar.
The problem is that negatively defined identities are a common, oft-abused tool of paranoid politics, demagogues and dictators. In order to generate a group political identity to place themselves atop of, leaders need some kind of defining symbol. Solution: assign negative attributes to scapegoats, Others and out-groups. A major pillar of anti-semitism has been attributing virtually every negative characteristic available to Jews. The exact same tropes often get tacked onto Arabs nowadays, of course. In turn, the posturing politician can deem their group the opposite of the negative.
It's the worst kind of narcissistic projection, as explored by post-WWII social analysts like the Frankfurt School and political scientists Robert Robins and Jerrold Post in "Political Paranoia: The Psychopolitics of Hatred." Insecure followers (with incomplete egos) seek emotional security by projecting positive narcissistic feelings towards their charismatic leader (GOP man-crushes on Fred Thompson, anyone?), while projecting negative uncertain feelings onto icons like "the evil Jew," "the decadent gay," and other hokey stereotypes. A cynic might say that actor, Ronald Reagan, was such an excellent GOP candidate because his "morning in America" packaged charisma hooked onto the positive side; the 'Evil Empire' theme set up 'moral clarity' via sharp contrast.
Of course, when it turns out that the very guys bombarding the public with these messages (Ted Haggard, former Rep. Mark Foley (R-FL), and now the amorous flier Sen. Craig) are complete hypocrites, it damages the authority of the narrative's whole structure. Suddenly, all their ramblings about gays ruining the Focused Family look like a worthless fundraising charade.
It's sad when someone like Sen. Craig gets busted expressing the very identity he's profited from demonizing, in the tackiest possible way. We don't think Sen. Wellstone would have laughed about it. It's much more difficult to orient political gestures around positive, inclusive identities; it's easier to dream up boundaries, markers, and write speeches conjuring evil images from the subconscious. There's a reason that we put political leaders like Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Mahatma Ghandi up on that rare pedestal. Their rhetoric always came back to the basic principle shared by all major religions: human life is sacred, we are united by more than what divides us, and paranoid delusions of evil Others are just that: self-serving paranoia, designed to enhance the authority of the powerful.
Phillips Incinerator Burning Down
An official timeline for the construction of the new Midtown Eco Energy (MEE) facility in East Phillips (at the site of a former solid waste incinerator) at 2850 20th Ave S, in Minneapolis has been difficult to come by. Originally, the construction of the generator was scheduled to begin early this September (according to an article in the Twin Cities Daily Planet) if MEE's application for an air permit was approved by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. The permit is currently under review but after speaking with Allan Muller of Green Delware, it sounds as if its approval may loom somewhere in the distant future.
The use of "biofuel" for incinerators has been considered to be a "green" energy option by many. Regardless, Midtown Eco Energy's estimated one million pounds per year of "air pollution" has certainly sparked some debate. The battle over the legitimacy of Midtown Eco Energy's claims regarding the "environmentally friendly" status of its proposed facility has yet to be definitively decided. However, the fact that the original inception of the plant began with the Green Institute (a non-profit organization dedicated to environmentally friendly practices) then landed in the hands of Kandiyohi Development Partners (a large development company owned by private investors) has been the cause of many raised eyebrows.
Despite the unsettled nature of the debate, Muller believes that it should be up to the community to decide whether or not the facility should be built. According to Neighbors against the Burner in St. Paul (a group originally created to oppose the construction of the Rock-Tenn incinerator), the community was not given a fair opportunity to weigh their options; nor were they given access to balanced information. As such, the organization has filed a motion against Midtown Eco Energy in an effort to delay the approval of the air permit and allow for more community input before a decision on construction is reached.
In retrospect, this seems wise, given a statement made by Kim Havey, the project director for Kandiyohi: "We don't plan on burning anything but tree waste...but we could burn some clean construction waste if we wanted to in the future." Making sure that the Phillips community is aware of what Kandiyohi will and will not burn rather than what they may or may not "want to" as well as the new degree of input the community will now have in the decision making process are several steps in the right direction for those concerned with the environmental and public health impacts of the proposed facility.
Lively Green and the War on Drugs: Who Patrols the Border Patrol?
Minnesota's border issues look like parking tickets, compared to what happens around our southern counterparts. There's a bit of petty smuggling around here, but in places like Arizona it's a whole new level of trouble. PIM staff noticed an interesting collection of stories by organized crime reporter Michael Marizco at BorderReporter.com. He spelled out, sometimes in lurid detail, a complex sting operation dubbed "Lively Green" on the FBI side and "Desert Blue" on the military side: "Soldiers, airmen, cops, prison guards, anybody with a uniform and access to an official vehicle all happy to run a load of blow for what they thought was a drug cartel." Starting around 2002, more than 70 trusted government employees worked to smuggle cocaine for the FBI for about $1,500 a trip. Some of the informants got out of control and abused prostitutes, but that's a side story compared to the major problem: apparently, once the higher-ups realized that "the biggest corruption sting the FBI had ever run" was collecting a seemingly endless concourse of corrupted officials, the political liability grew so big they had to call it off and suppress the big picture.
Exposing the full reality of Lively Green might do for the War on Drugs what Sen. Craig's exposure has done for anti-gay crusaders: critically damage the authority of the federal government's perpetually expensive narrative, the strenuously defended belief that federal bureaucracies can actually execute the War on Drugs itself.
PIM's DFL staff would like to issue a challenge to Minnesota's freshman congressional delegates: call for an investigation into every dimension of the War on Drugs, past, present and future. Let's get all the documents on Iran-Contra, corrupt U.S.-backed governments across South America and Asia, everything. Why do minority males get twenty years in prison for two crack vials, but hundreds of billions of dollars get laundered through Wall Street year after year with nary a banker frog-marched out in chains?
During the process of putting together Politics in Minnesota: The Directory early this year, we had the rare opportunity to discuss the War on Drugs with dozens of state legislators off the record, behind closed doors. In a nutshell, we heard a few things: follow the money. Treatment, not imprisonment, works better. It's really hard to challenge orthodoxy without getting punished in the media. Police enforcement creates gang structures. Hemp would be a fantastic source of cellulosic ethanol, and medical marijuana would obviously help suffering Minnesotans.
But it was almost always off the record. Most of the time, they gave answers rejecting the conventional wisdom of the War on Drugs. A state employee told one of us of strange loopholes in federal bureaucracies and "CIA black ops." We don't expect any answers, but we really want to ask questions. We return again to Sen. Wellstone, who opposed further aid to Plan Colombia in a memorable speech: "We ought to get serious about reducing the demand in our own country. As long as there is demand, somebody is going to grow it and somebody is going to make money and you can fumigate here and fumigate there and it will just move from one place to another."
Bridge Charity Work
Many in the metro community are pulling together to provide charitable assistance for victims of the bridge collapse. If you'd like to donate money, several reputable websites handle donations: MinnesotaHelps.org, MinneapolisFoundation.org, MnCommunityFoundation.org, SaintPaulFoundation.org, UnitedWayTwinCities.org and the city's official response website.
Politics in Minnesota: Bits & Pieces...
The Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy has put together a mapped guide to structurally deficient bridges in Minnesota.The guide indicates which district each bridge is in as well as which legislator represents that district. Jim Erkel, MCEA's land use and transportation program director, and Geoff Mass, who handles mapping for MCEA, mapped existing government bridge data to create new maps. Bretton Jones at Minneapolitics.com has released another video, this one of the press conference introducing the map project; it's about 13 minutes long. MCEA has long advocated more secure transit funding to help the environment. MCEA has downloadable data for all the bridges.
MCEA also recently sued the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency for purportedly failing to protect Lake Superior from potential fish virus contamination from ballast water expelled by foreign freighters. MCEA fears that Viral Hemorrhagic Septicemia, dubbed the "Ebola of fish viruses," could infect lakes throughout the state. It has already been found in the other Great Lakes and Wisconsin. MCEA noted about 40 aquatic species have already infested the St. Louis River estuary, likely from ballast water.
The 12th annual Elephant Open will be held Monday, September 17th, 2007. The Tournament, hosted by House Minority Leader Marty Seifert at Legends Golf Club, features a shotgun style tournament with each foursome being matched up with one Republican State Legislator. So RSVP by Sept 11th, and remember this is G.O.P. function so Country Club attire is required.
WWW...Women, Wine and Wardrobe, a fundraiser hosted by Faegre & Benson, will take place Oct. 4th at 4:30 p.m. featuring the backdrop of Faegre's 50th floor view from the IDS Center. The event will raise money for the American Indian Family Center, which helps to strengthen families in the American Indian community, and will feature a fashion show. The festivities begin at 4:30 with remarks at 5:30 and the fashion show to follow.
The Minnesota Viking and their slumping ticket sales have been usurped. By what? The Hottest Ticket in Town" is a party for the former Speaker of the House Steve Sviggum, which will take place at the Minneapolis Convention Center on September 7th. The social hour will begin at 5:30 and the program will commence at 6:30. Hosted by former Minnesota GOP Rep. and Minnesota Supreme Court Justice Kathleen Blatz, former DFL Sen. Maj. Leader Roger Moe and former GOP House members Doug Stang and Charlie Weaver, both RSVP and pre-payment are required so book early.
And the answer is? The Friends of the Minneapolis Library Annual Meeting is fast approaching. Get your thinking caps on because on September 26th at 7 p.m. the festivities begin. Trivia will be wide ranging so feel free to register as a group or alone and get placed on a team. Appetizers and cool drinks will be available, the Big Brain Bash will last until 9:30 p.m. To register click here.
Both Cargill and the University of Minnesota received grants for researching renewable energy as part of President Bush's 20 in 10 initiative. Cargill received $4.4 million to research a program that would develop highly efficient fermentative organisms to convert biomass material to ethanol. The U received $715,000 to research the possibility of breeding a dual-purpose corn that could be used for both grain yield and biomass for ethanol production. More than $3.2 billion in funding has been granted since February 2006 with these two grants being the first with Minnesota connections.
In more University of Minnesota News. The U recently announced that Steven Rosenstone, current Dean of the College of Liberal Arts, has accepted the position of Vice President for Scholarly and Cultural Affairs. The Board of Regents still needs to approve the move, but barring anything unforeseen he will be taking over his new position on Sept 10th.
Gary Wynia, husband of DFL Minnesota House leader and 1994 senatorial candidate Ann Wynia, passed away Sunday after a long illness. Gary enjoyed a distinguished career as a Political Science Professor at the University of Minnesota, and authored five books and numerous articles on Argentina and Latina America. Our heartfelt sympathy to Ann and the family.
The DFL Central Committee, in what can only be described as a landslide, decided to move its caucuses to February 5th. They voted, by a 89.2% majority, to move their caucus forward from March 4th to increase grassroots participation and greater involvement in the political process.
Southern Counties to Receive Flood Disaster Unemployment Relief: Self-employed persons will be able to receive Disaster Unemployment Assistance (DUA) in response to the recent floods that have ravaged southern Minnesota. The counties eligible are Fillmore, Houston, Olmsted, Steele, Wabasha, and Winona. Those in need are encouraged to apply early; applications will be accepted until September 28th.
Ted Thompson, former Chief of Staff and Press Secretary to former DFL Congressman Bill Luther, will now be the Board Chair at Resources for Child Caring. Resources for Child Caring helps "raise the standard of care for children so they thrive and grow up to contribute to the community." Thompson has been an active volunteer for years and holds a JD from William Mitchell along with a BA in Business from St. Thomas.
Governor Pawlenty announced the finalists for the seventh judicial court vacancies. He has accepted the recommendations of the Commission on Judicial Selection for two trial court bench openings. The Honorable John E. Pearson will retire on September 7, 2007 and the second judgeship was newly created by the 2007 Minnesota Legislature and will take effect on January 1, 2008. The finalists for the positions are Douglas P. Anderson, Kevin S. Carpenter, Ann L. Carrott, Mark Hansen and Leanard A. Weiler. The selection process has been shepherded by Eric Magnuson.
Hamline University is putting on a symposium titled Conflict Resolution in Health Care from November 8th through the 10th. This year's symposium will feature a host of "theme leaders," all of whom are well-versed in the area of conflict resolution and/or health care.
The Center of the American Experiment has a couple big gigs coming up. Fredrick Hess, director of Education Policy Studies at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, will speak at the American Experiment Dinner Forum on Tuesday, September 18th. His talk will center on why there is so little educational entrepreneurship in the state of Minnesota. They will also be holding a luncheon on September 5th At the Airport Hilton. The Luncheon will feature Robert Poole, the founder of the Los Angeles-based Reason Foundation, who will speak about rebuilding America's infrastructure. This forum, entitled "Safeguarding and Rebuilding America's Physical Infrastructure" is $25 for members and $30 for non-members. For further information click here.
The venerable Vance Opperman is hosting a fundraiser for U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar (DFL) at the Graves 601 Hotel in downtown Minneapolis the evening of September 14th. Suggested contributions are in the four-figure range. For questions or RSVP contact Becky Groen at 651-714-2006.
The Minnesota Excellence in Public Service Series, an organization that provides leadership training for women throughout Minnesota, is accepting applications from women interested in their annual leadership program until September 1. Generally the program works with GOP women.
The American Indian Community Development Corporation, under executive director Gordon Thayer, has just set up shop at 1404 E. Franklin Ave., in the Many Rivers West building. Mainly focused on Native homeless issues, AICDC works on community outreach, chemical dependency treatment and housing for homeless chronic alcoholics in the Native American community. They've also helped create and finance many units of stable family housing along the Franklin Avenue area.
The Savage Center for Peace Studies is holding classes on world religions, genocide studies, human trafficking, and views of mysticism and the afterlife from various cultures through September and October at the Paul and Sheila Wellstone Neighborhood House in St. Paul, presented by Savage Center CEO Sarah McClellan. For more information see SavageCenter.org.
The Sierra Club has seen some recent success advocating for Light Rail Transit in northern Dakota County. They would like a Central Corridor-linked line to Rosemount serving the Inver Hills Community College and Dakota County Technical College. With help at the Capitol from South St. Paul DFLers Sen. James Metzen and Reps. Rick Hansen and Joe Atkins, $500,000 in funding for a transit study was secured last year, and will be finished in April 2008. Work is happening under the aegis of the Robert Street Corridor Steering Committee, led by Ramsey County Commissioner Rafael Ortega (District 5) and Dakota County Commissioner Willis Branning (District 7). See the Northstar Sierra Club site for more info.
Mike Christenson now heads up the Department of Community Planning and Economic Development (CPED) in Minneapolis, replacing Lee Sheehy, who has become Sen. Amy Klobuchar's (DFL) chief of staff. Both Sheehy and Christenson are well-known for sporting bow-ties.
The Twin Cities Republican Association will feature Minnesota State Representative Tom Emmer (R-Delano) as their guest speaker on September 25th, at the Fort Snelling Officer’s Club near the Minneapolis St. Paul International Airport, Hwy 5 and Post Road. The cost is $25 for dinner or $5 for the program only at 7:30 p.m. Register by noon on September 20th, by calling Nancy at 651-653-8511.
The Midtown Greenway Coalition is pleased that the bike overpass over Hiawatha Avenue has been wrapped up, but now they're hoping a new bike/pedestrian bridge over the Mississippi River might come along. A nearby abandoned, rusting rail truss bridge was deemed unsuitable for a refit, but any new bridge would require coordination with four federal agencies, two state agencies and six community organizations. The Coalition just opened a new office at 711 West Lake Street. They're also taking applications for a 'membership and communications organizer' but today's the last day to apply! Contact executive director Tim Springer via tim@midtowngreenway.org for info.
While in Las Vegas attending the American Majority Partnership Summit, Sen. Patricia Torres Ray (DFL-Minneapolis) gave the Democratic Hispanic Radio Address, as the Democratic response to President Bush's weekly radio address. This is the second time that the Democratic National Committee has chosen the first-term senator to deliver the Democratic response in Spanish to President Bush's regular Saturday address to the nation.
The RNC Welcoming Committee, which is organizing protests for next year, is proud to announce the release of their first and, according to them, totally awesome, video. Check it out here. Politics in Minnesota: Lobbyist Watch
--Who is working which issues--
From the Minnesota Campaign Finance & Public Disclosure Board:
Morning Reports
