The NARN Closer's playlist - 3/16/2025

-------------------------------------

Kids want a savior, they don't need a fake.......

A lot to get to on today's edition of my radio show The Closer. My 2-hour stint in the Patriot bunker begins at 1:00 PM Central Time. 

I'll discuss the latest happenings in Minnesota politics in the 1:00 hour, including another Democrat entrant into the 2026 U.S. Senate race. Also, elected DFLers are still ghoulish. 

Then in the second hour I'll weigh on President Trump getting a win on avoiding a government shutdown but taking some L's on the economy. 

So please call (651) 289-4488 if you'd like to weigh in on any of the topics we plan on addressing.

 

You can listen live in the Twin Cities at AM 1280 or, if you're near downtown Minneapolis/West Metro area, 107.5 FM on your radio dial. In and out of the Minneapolis-St Paul area you can listen to the program on the Internet by clicking this link, or check us out via iheart radio as well as Amazon Alexa (just say "Alexa, play The Patriot Minneapolis"). If you're unable to tune in live, please check out my podcast page for the latest show post.

And if you're so inclined, follow along on Twitter at #NARNShow or "Like" our Facebook page, where we also conduct a "Live Stream" of the broadcast.

Until then.....

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Again.....sadly predictable

The next time Dems use the labels "extreme" and "weird" to describe Republicans, just remember this. 

(On Thursday) the Minnesota House of Representatives failed, on a party-line 67-66 vote, to pass a bill to require medically appropriate lifesaving care for infants who survive abortion (68 votes were needed for passage). The House also voted down, 67-65, a measure to provide grants to organizations that assist new mothers, babies, and families.

When elected Minnesota progs passed the most radical abortion legislation in the U.S. (and arguably the entire world) back in 2023, they had shot down every single solitary amendment the GOP offered, including a measure requiring basic medical care for a newborn surviving an abortion. Their rationale for voting down a seemingly common sense proposal was that such an instance is so very rare that a solution such as lifesaving techniques for an actual human being is irrelevant. Funny, but these same people use the philosophy of "if it saves just one life" whenever they put forth draconian gun control proposals, but can't be bothered to bring that same energy to preserving the life of an innocent baby. 

But I digress. 

Just you watch: during the 2026 election cycle, House DFLers will use the occurrence of this particular vote in campaign ads by essentially saying "Welp.....Republicans once again tried to ban abortion." Book it. 

------------------------------------------

Sadly predictable

Welp.....the GOP majority in the MN House was fun while it lasted. 

As expected, DFL candidate David Gottfried ran away with a victory in Tuesday’s special election for District 40B, securing shared power for his party in the Minnesota House.

Gottfried won 70% of the vote against Republican challenger Paul Wikstrom and will represent the Roseville-Shoreview area. The victory will lock the two parties into a 67-67 tie in the House.

“It feels great,” Gottfried said of the results. “This has been a really, really hard-fought election. We knocked on doors every day. It feels good that we can get back to the substantive work.”

The election comes four months after DFLer Curtis Johnson won the same seat against the same opponent with 65% of the vote. But a judge later found Johnson ineligible to serve because he failed to meet state residency requirements, which ultimately prompted Tuesday’s special election.

It was probably only a decade ago where a district such as this was a "toss up," maybe even leaned GOP. But now? Well, this is who represents that area as of Tuesday evening (pardon the language). 

 

DFL 40B candidate David Gottfried compares getting stiffed as a waiter to being enslaved in antebellum America:

“Ironically enough it is me suffering from the last vestiges of slavery in America, which I suppose is appropriate in America, being that I am a white guy.” pic.twitter.com/ZlDZY8XXyt

— MN Up North Lake Guy (@MNUpNorthLakeG1) March 10, 2025

No word on whether or not the first bill he drafts is to a proposal to award menial servants like himself reparations. 

-------------------------------- 

Quick Hits: Volume CCCLXVIII

 - I've been reading the writings of Twin Cities sports scribe Patrick Reusse for 40+ years, whether it was his time with the St Paul Pioneer Press, the Minneapolis Minnesota Star Tribune or his tenure on Twitter. In all that time I've viewed him as a top notch, Grade-A agitator who dings overzealous Minnesota sports fans as well as his political opposites on the right. 

But when I heard of a blowup over the weekend accusing him of being a racist, my first inclination was to summarily dismiss it. The following tweet is what got the ball rollin': 

As it turns out, the Beastie Boys tune Brass Monkey was what Reusse was referring to, specifically the lyric "Brass Monkey, that funky Monkey." Given the nearly 80-year old Reusse is not the target demographic for such a tune, it's not at all implausible he heard "f****** monkey." Upon the severe backlash he received (in addition to the Strib Sports Editor reacting), Reusse put out a statement on a friend's Twitter account, essentially saying he was leaving the platform. 

In the end, I believe the invective towards Reusse was completely misguided and I'm sorry to see he deactivated his account. However, he now has some keen insight as to the oversensitivity (and faux outrage) his allies on the political left put forth on a regular basis. 

- At that end of the 2024 Minnesota Legislative session, I pointed out how former DFL Senator Melisa Lopez Franzen appeared to be a voice of reason when her party ran roughshod over procedure in order to pass a massive spending bill (without anybody having a chance to read it) before the clock struck Midnight. 

But then I realized that even though she didn't hold political office at the time, the ol' "once a politician, always a politician" mantra was likely in play. Is there an ulterior motive to this sudden reasonableness? 

Yep. 

Former Democratic state Sen. Melisa López Franzen announced on X early Monday morning that she will be running for U.S. Senate.

“I’m running for the United States Senate to protect our Minnesota values, restore sanity and bring decency and common sense back to Washington,” she said in a video announcement.

The U.S. Senate bid comes after her Feb. 21 announcement to step down as executive director of Government and Community Relations at the University of Minnesota. López Franzen formerly served in the Minnesota Senate for District 49 from 2012 to 2022, representing parts of the Twin Cities metropolitan area, as well as parts of Edina, Eden Prairie, Bloomington and Minnetonka.

I'd been hearing for nearly two years that Sen. Tina Smith was unlikely to seek reelection in 2026, so I'd be willing to bet López Franzen was hearing the same rumor. Hence her kumbaya sentiments at the end of the '24 session was a preemptive strike ahead of a possible Senate bid. 

Cynicism in politics makes for a great b.s. detector. 

- Ever since the end of the 2024 NFL season, I've had several back and forths with fellow Minnesota Vikings fans over the fate of QB Sam Darnold. Despite Darnold being in MVP conversation as late as Week 17, I felt it was a fait accompli that he was moving on after his unexpectedly stellar year. When I expressed that sentiment, I got a lotta pushback from many fans incredulous over the possibility the team would let a "proven commodity" walk away and then pivot to a guy (JJ McCarthy) with zero NFL game reps. It never did much good to have a nuanced discussion since most never appeared interested in that. 

Regardless, I was proven correct. 

 

The Seattle Seahawks have found their replacement for Geno Smith, agreeing to a three-year, $100.5 million deal with former Minnesota Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold, sources told ESPN's Adam Schefter.

The deal includes $55 million guaranteed, sources told Schefter.

Given his new deal is a $33.5 million average annual value, it now makes sense why the Vikings opted not to place the franchise tag on Darnold and then attempt to trade him. A franchise tag would have carried a $41 million cost, which Darnold's representation would have set as the floor for AAV in a mutli-year pact. It's obvious now that this year's QB market isn't as robust as the past few seasons when the likes of Tua Tagovailoa, Jordan Love, Jalen Hurts, Trevor Lawrence and Dak Prescott got north of $50 million per season. As it turned out, QB needy teams this offseason weren't even going to approach $40M AAV for Darnold, much less throw in a 2025 draft pick on top of that.

With that......bring on the JJ McCarthy era! 

----------------------------------------------------------

The NARN Closer's playlist - 3/9/2025

---------------------------------------

Remember the time we realized "Thriller" was our favorite song?

 Has spring finally sprung? Regardless, I'll be in the Patriot bunker for today's edition of my radio show The Closer. The 2-hour festivities get started at 1:00 PM Central Time. 

In the first hour, I'll weigh in on the disgraceful performance by Democrat members of Congress during last week's address given by President Donald Trump. It was so pathetic that many fellow Dems were abhorred. 

At 1:30, Vice President of Legal Affairs at Landmark Legal Foundation Michael O'Neill will join the broadcast to discuss how legal challenges to President Trump's executive orders can be overcome. 

Then in the second hour I will weigh in on Minnesota political news, specifically the upcoming budget forecasts being worse than initially thought. Also, Minnesota Dems (like their national counterparts) continue to show how out of touch they are with regular folks. 

So please call (651) 289-4488 if you'd like to weigh in on any of the topics we plan on addressing.

 

You can listen live in the Twin Cities at AM 1280 or, if you're near downtown Minneapolis/West Metro area, 107.5 FM on your radio dial. In and out of the Minneapolis-St Paul area you can listen to the program on the Internet by clicking this link, or check us out via iheart radio as well as Amazon Alexa (just say "Alexa, play The Patriot Minneapolis"). If you're unable to tune in live, please check out my podcast page for the latest show post.

And if you're so inclined, follow along on Twitter at #NARNShow or "Like" our Facebook page, where we also conduct a "Live Stream" of the broadcast.

Until then.....

------------------------------------------------------------------------

He's running

Let's face it. Gov. Greaseball Gavin Newsom (D-CA) is gearing up for the 2028 presidential race. Heck, had Joe Biden declared in 2022 or 2023 that he was not seeking reelection, Newsom likely would've thrown his hat in the ring for 2024. But since Biden waited until about 100 days before election day to bow out, the Dems were saddled with VP Kamala Harris. 

Anyhow, Newsom knows full well his far left Cali progressivism is a loser in a national race, so he figures he needs to moderate his positions a bit. He began his quest earlier this week on the debut of his podcast This is Gavin Newsom, where he had a discussion with Turning Point USA founder (and uber MAGA loyalist) Charlie Kirk. 

...Newsom, a pioneer for LGBTQ+ rights who decades ago upset leaders in his own party when he defied state law and issued marriage licenses to same-sex couples, suggested Democrats were in the wrong in allowing transgender athletes to participate in female college and youth sports.

“I think it’s an issue of fairness, I completely agree with you on that. It is an issue of fairness — it’s deeply unfair,” Newsom said in his debut podcast episode of “This is Gavin Newsom.” “I am not wrestling with the fairness issue. I totally agree with you.”

This isn't the first time he tried to appear less insane than his fellow progs on the trans issue. Back in the fall of 2023, the California Legislature overwhelmingly passed legislation to allow judges to consider a child's gender identity when litigating a custody dispute. Basically, a judge could have used a parent's refusal to acquiesce to their kid's desire to transition as a black mark against them. Newsom shocked many by vetoing the bill, though it was a clear signal that he was looking to exercise political expedience in the event of a presidential run. 

Expect Newsom to officially announce his aspirations about 5 milliseconds after the 2026 midterms. 

--------------------------------------------------

I'll see your incoherence and raise you utter derangement

I don't recall the exact quote from Sean Davis of The Federalist, so I'll paraphrase: "President Trump's greatest asset continues to be the idiocy of his most fervent detractors."

Never was that more apparent than during (and after) Trump's speech to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday night. 

The thing is, there was plenty to critique about Trump's rhetoric, specifically his dubious comments about the economy. But the increasingly deranged and out-of-touch Democrats (as well as their media lapdogs) continue to show their stunning disdain for regular Americans. 

First off, their intention to hold up protest signs when Trump said something they felt was objectionable. 

Now, the staffers for these Dem members of Congress are likely of the Millennial and Gen Z generations, right? So why didn't said staffers alert their bosses that these are some of the most humiliating, meme-able optics on the internet? Well, maybe these Dems were given a heads up but because they're so blinded by their anti-Trump rage they simply didn't care. That stunt was such an exploding cigar in the face that even an MSNBC panel called it out. 

Symone Sanders and Michael Steele HATED the Democrats' "bingo signs."

SANDERS: "This is an indictment, in my opinion, on the Democratic leadership... The visuals are not taking back the House in 2026."

STEELE: "I don't know who thought up the bingo signs, but they should be… pic.twitter.com/oi89ZQBg4V

— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) March 5, 2025

How clouded is the progs' vision due to anti-Trump hysteria? They couldn't even stand and applaud for a young man being surprised with an announcement of his acceptance into West Point......

This is Jason. His dad, grandfather and great grandfather were veterans. Jason lost his dad when he was young. His dream is to go to West Point. And guess what, it’s where he’s going.

Watch till the end. Your heart will melt. pic.twitter.com/HUUxSOLuF5

— Mish 🎗️ (@Mish_K_) March 5, 2025

......or honoring a 13-year old kid battling cancer. 

❤️ This touched my heart.

President Trump honored a 13 year old boy who was diagnosed with Brain Cancer 6 years ago!

He was given 5 months to live and survived

He dreamed of becoming a Police Officer

Trump & the Secret Service Director made him an official Agent of the… pic.twitter.com/kYRrUo3zt5

— Terrence K. Williams (@w_terrence) March 5, 2025

Not to be outdone, MSNBC gal Nicole Wallace with a rather deranged take on DJ's career aspirations. 

 

JUST IN: MSNBC’s Nicolle Wallace politicizes young DJ’s moment at Trump’s speech, says she hopes he doesn’t k*ll himself because of something like Jan 6.

Holy sh*t

“I hope he has a long life as a law enforcement officer, but I hope he never has to defend the United States… pic.twitter.com/2wHSzECggL

— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) March 5, 2025

I don't know that it was Trump's intention to show how firmly entrenched in a bubble these Democrats seem to be. If indeed that wasn't his motivation, I'm not sure an actual concerted effort could have achieved a better outcome. 

----------------------------------