Quick Hits: Volume CV

- Thanks to the internet, there's never a shortage of evidence of how the 2006 film Idiocracy may well have been a biography. An example of this would be the notion that if a political figure is fan of a sports team outside the state which said pol resides, then he/she has effectively dashed presidential prospects.



OK, I'll grant you that New Jersey governor Chris Christie trying to embrace Jerry Jones, the owner of the Dallas Cowboys, after Dallas's dramatic playoff win over the Detroit Lions looked extremely awkward. As such, Christie was the subject of much ridicule on myriad social media sites. But the idea that people would be dismissive of Christie as a presidential candidate based solely on his rooting interest of a sports time they loathe is (I'll be charitable) downright silly.

Many of you may be wondering if I'm being a hypocrite here and might even be querying whether or not I would support a political candidate who was a fan of the Green Bay Packers, a team I root against vociferously. Not only would I enthusiastically support a presidential run for, say, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker but I actually donated money in 2014 to Congressional candidate Stewart Mills.


- In their game against the Denver Nuggets Monday evening, the Minnesota Timberwolves were without the services of head coach Flip Saunders, who missed the game due to "illness."

No word on whether or not Flip's condition was exacerbated by his reviewing game film from the month of December when the Wolves went 1-14.


- The Minnesota Legislature is back in session today {insert scary music here}. Yesterday was the inaugural ceremony featuring the swearing in of Gov. Mark Dayton, for which House Speaker-designate Kurt Daudt (R-Crown) was a no-show. Naturally, a certain local media outlet was in midseason form when  reporting on this news (emphasis mine).

Daudt is preparing for Tuesday’s start of the 2015 Legislative session when he is expected to be elected speaker.

Daudt’s decision to not attend today’s festivities follows his repeated pledges to work with Dayton in the coming months to find common ground solutions.

I may be reading too much into this but it almost appears as if MPR guy Tim Pugmire is questioning Daudt's integrity here. I wonder if would have used the same tone had he known right away that a certain DFL leader would also not be attending.

UPDATE

In an equally surprising more (sic), the top Democrat in the Minnesota Senate is also a no show. Senate Majority Leader Tom Bakk, DFL-Cook, could not attend the inauguration due to scheduling issues, according to a spokeswoman.

Hmmm. Interesting. Could it be that Bakk is still fuming over Dayton essentially calling him a liar during session last year? I'm sure Pugmire et al are ON IT!

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