Wednesday, May 31, 2023

Quick Hits: Volume CCCXV

 - Minnesota State Rep. Walter Hudson (R-Albertville) signals what the aftermath of the most recent Legislative session may bring. 


We're only a week past the end of the 2023 #mnleg session. Yet I've already heard several anecdotes of people working less as a result.

🔹️Rejecting a summer job offer because unemployment is now available

🔹️Moving from full to part-time to avoid PERA clawbacks

🔹️Plenty of moving out of the state, more looking to

All this translates to less production across the board. If people aren't working, work isn't getting done, and value isn't being created, which means we ALL have access to less.

Of course, it isn't just that work doesn't get done. In many cases, we're *paying* people to not work, and thereby losing twice the value.
 
In 2022, the state's GDP was $350 billion dollars. We just passed a $72 billion budget. That's around 20%. Twenty percent of everything we produce in the state. That's just the state government, not accounting for federal and local.

What do you think is going to happen as less is produced? What will be left over for people to live on? For investment? For savings? For future orientation?

Minnesota is being run into the ground. The consequences of poor choices this session are already manifesting. And it's just the very tip of a deep and treacherous iceberg.

... and that's just the economy. The damage to our children, our parental rights, our culture, that runs even deeper. And reports are they're not done yet. The debauchery continues in 2024, full speed ahead, targeting your children directly.

Repent and organize.


Unfortunately, there will be immediate consequences felt as a result of these disastrous fiscal and social policies. With that in mind, if MNGOP House candidates can't make hay out of that and thus flip four of the chamber's seats in next year's election, then it will be a dereliction of duty. 



- Get ready for yet another GOP entrant into the presidential race. 


Former New Jersey governor Chris Christie is expected to announce his entry into the 2024 Republican presidential primary as soon as next week, according to multiple reports.

Christie is expected to formally enter the race next Tuesday, June 6, during a town hall discussion held at Saint Anselm College, a liberal arts school in New Hampshire.

The former governor plans on running “a non-traditional campaign that is highly focused on earned media, mixing it up in the news cycle and engaging Trump,” one adviser told Axios on Wednesday morning. “Will not be geographic dependent, but nimble.”


Christie was one of the most popular governors in the country back in 2012, which was more than halfway through his first term as New Jersey gov. The GOP presidential field wasn't particularly strong that year, so that would have been an ideal time for him to indulge in his White House aspirations. Obviously he declined to do so, instead focusing on his 2013 gubernatorial reelection in which he easily prevailed with 60% of the vote. 


While his 2016 POTUS candidacy devolved in his being a henchman for frontrunner Donald Trump (i.e. blowing up the candidacy of the popular Marco Rubio), Christie has now soured on the former POTUS. So could it be that Christie's strategy is to devour Trump to benefit another GOP candidate in the field? Maybe unwittingly, but I get a sense Christie considers himself a viable alternative to Trump and Ron DeSantis. As such, he's delusional enough to believe he's got a shot at the nomination. 



- Kudos to Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Blake Treinen for calling out the organization's decision to include in its "Pride Night" an actual hate group (Yep. I said it.).





And props to Clayton Kershaw, arguably the face of the Dodgers franchise, for not staying silent

 

“I don’t agree with making fun of other people’s religions,” the Cy Young winner told the Los Angeles Times in a recent interview that aired Monday. “It has nothing to do with anything other than that. I just don’t think that, no matter what religion you are, you should make fun of somebody else’s religion. So that’s something that I definitely don’t agree with.”

“As a team between my wife and I and different people that I respect, we talked a lot about the right response to this,” Kershaw added. “It’s never an easy thing, because it felt like it elicited a response.”


There is absolutely zero doubt in my mind that if there was an LGBTQ+ group skewering Imams, they wouldn't have even been considered for this event. 


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Monday, May 29, 2023

Box Score of the Week

 Los Angeles Dodgers at Milwaukee Brewers - May 23, 2002.


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Have a day, Shawn Green! With four home runs, a double and a single, the Dodgers slugger amassed 19 total bases, which is a single game MLB record. 


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Sunday, May 28, 2023

The NARN Closer's playlist - 5/28/2023



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If I had my way, I'd shuffle off to Buffalo..........

It's Memorial Day weekend, but the NARN rolls on with original programming. Today's 2-hour edition of my radio show The Closer get's started at 1:00 PM Central Time. 


In the first hour, I'll discuss the merciful end of the Minnesota Legislative session and how the DFL and their media lapdogs continue to gaslight Minnesotans. In national news, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis finally declares he's running for President. 


At 2:00, I will welcome to the Patriot bunker Jenna Dicks, who is the Secretary of the Republican Party of Minnesota. Jenna will discuss her unusual foray into politics as well as share her own insights on the recently completed MN Legislative session. 



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.....


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Friday, May 26, 2023

Holy strawman......

 Someone in my Facebook community recently shared this post:





I can identify nearly all the TV show/movie characters pictured in that post. And the statement is partially correct in that I was largely entertained by most of those performances. All that said, this pictorial retrospective is a textbook definition of a logical fallacy. None of those people ever "twerked" in front of children or discussed sexual proclivities with the kids, unlike what some drag performances have devolved into today. Alas, this is a classic example of progs being unable to defend those tendencies, so they have to construct a strawman like this. 

But what makes that pro-drag post beyond outrageous? They didn't include the lead actress from the '80s classic movie Just One of the Guys

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Thursday, May 25, 2023

Ron to run

Perhaps the longest anticipated presidential announcement finally occurred Wednesday evening. 





There have been those (specifically Donald Trump and his cultists) who have suggested that Ron DeSantis waited too long to hop into the race and thus the momentum he garnered in the aftermath of his huge reelection victory as Florida governor has long dissipated. And given DeSantis wasn't even engaging Trump or any of the other POTUS candidates (because, y'know, he was a little busy running an incredibly successful state), it gave them an opportunity to try to define DeSantis. 


But as Erick Erickson explains, Trump in particular fell for the brilliant trap DeSantis set for him. 


 



Of course, all media outlets as well as Trump are jumping around like poo-flinging monkeys over the fact DeSantis's campaign launch had a snafu. The plan was for DeSantis to make his announcement via Twitter "Spaces" along with the platform's owner Elon Musk. However, the servers were so overloaded with participants that the announcement was delayed about 20 minutes. Let's face it though: if DeSantis ends up not being the GOP candidate for President, his bungled announcement won't be the reason. Heck, despite stumbling out of the gate, his campaign raised $1 million one hour after said launch. 


Like it or not, DeSantis is the only candidate with a realistic shot to top Trump as the '24 Republican candidate. His campaign is already highly organized with staffers in such key states as Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina, just to name a few. Also, pro-DeSantis Super PACs have raised more money than candidates Trump, Nikki Haley, Tim Scott, Vivek Ramaswamy and Asa Hutchinson combined.  


Yes it's true, most polls still show Trump with a commanding lead for the '24 nod, a fact that Trump and his minions pointed out incessantly all over the internet. That said, Trump must not feel that lead is safe given a) he's spent more money attacking DeSantis than he did cumulatively on his handpicked 2022 U.S. Senate candidates and b) he mocked DeSantis's Twitter space malfunction by invoking a Hitler reference. 


 



DeSantis has given every indication that he's going to make substantive policy issues the focal point of his campaign. 


Given his unhinged lunacy on his "Truth Social" platform, Trump signals he is neither capable nor interested in engaging on such topics. Sad!


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Wednesday, May 24, 2023

What we're up against

If there is any doubt that leftist elected officials consider themselves a deity, check out this MN Legislative session recap from Lucy Rehm (DFL-Chanhassen). 





Mind you Rep. Rehm doesn't represent any part of St Paul or Minneapolis. No, her district consists of Chanhassen and more than half of Chaska. If the constituents in 48B reelect her in 2024 in an area that certainly isn't dark blue, the GOP will have a steep uphill climb in attempting to take the majority in the House.


Again, politics has become a literal religion for leftists, and the kind of commitment they put behind campaigning can not be matched by Republicans. That's not necessarily a dig at the right. The fact is most right-of-center prospective candidates, campaign volunteers and voters put a higher priority on their faith, families and jobs - as they should. Also, with the DFL being flush with financial resources thanks to Super PACs and labor unions, they have campaign staff working year-round on voter contacts, which is the type of operation the MNGOP can not (and never will be able to) match. 


The good news is that despite those advantages, the DFL gained only one Senate seat while the  majority in the House stayed the same (70-64). I find it hard to believe that a majority of Minnesotans are down with all of the extreme legislation passed in the 2023 session, so Republican House candidates should have their messaging ready to roll into the 2024 cycle. I'm not ready to declare Minnesota a lost cause just yet, but not taking the House next year would certainly expedite such a declaration. 


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Tuesday, May 23, 2023

Quick Hits: Volume CCCXIV

 - About 72 hours before Minnesota's Legislative session mercifully came to a conclusion, Nebraska Fats Gov. Tim Walz signed into law two "gun control" provisions. Two days later, he chose to ding Second Amendment advocates via Twitter. 





This is perhaps the most disingenuous chanting point gun grabbers put forth in this whole debate. No 2A advocate suggests that "thoughts and prayers" are the only course of action in keeping guns out the hands of bad people. It is, however, something that is extended in an effort to bring peace and comfort to those who've suffered an unconscionable loss. Prayer can also be utilized to bring clarity to a situation (such as the gun debate) where there is no simple, one-size-fits-all solution. 


I'll say this much: thoughts and prayers are a lot more productive than when anti-gun shills use shooting victims as political pawns literally before the bodies are in rigor mortis. 



- After disinviting a rabid anti-Catholic group to its June 16 "Pride Night," the Los Angeles Dodgers, after a severe backlash from Woko Haram, re-invited the group Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence. 


In their new statement, the Dodgers said they will continue working with "LGBTQ+ partners to better educate ourselves, find ways to strengthen the ties that bind and use our platform to support all of our fans who make up the diversity of the Dodgers family."


Let's he honest here: if an LGBTQ+ group skewered or parodied the Muslim faith, said group wouldn't have received an invitation in the first place. I guess not all bigotry is created equal. 



- Of the viable GOP presidential candidates (declared and presumptive), Donald Trump consistently polls worst in a head-to-head matchup with President Joe Biden. But that's merely popular vote, which is not as relevant given America elects a POTUS via the Electoral College. But in that instance it's worse for Trump given he can't win in Georgia and Arizona, two states which had been reliably in the red column before 2016 (yes, I know Trump won those states in '16, but his margins were significantly slimmer than that of Mitt Romney, John McCain and George W. Bush). As such, his path is (to be charitable) very narrow without those states. 


If Team Trump had any self-awareness (I know, I know. Work with me here), they would work to expand their base beyond Trump cultists. 


Alas, he'd rather go "scorched earth.


Trump, who is the current frontrunner in the 2024 presidential race, has launched a series of attacks against DeSantis, who is expected to enter the race this week. MAGA Inc. has spent $15.3 million attacking the Republican governor and just $1,500 on supporting Trump.

In the 2022 midterms, the PAC spent $15 million to support Republican candidates in the key swing states of Arizona, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Ohio and Nevada. Republicans lost Senate races in four out of those five states, with only Ohio Republican J.D. Vance securing a win.

MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!! *



*unless Trump isn't elected President, then the country can die in a proverbial fire. 


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Monday, May 22, 2023

Box Score of the Week

 Chicago White Sox at St. Louis Cardinals - June 16, 2001.


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In this game, future Hall of Famer Albert Pujols (who was a rookie in 2001) laid down a sacrifice bunt in the 7th inning. It was literally the only time Pujols bunted in his 22-year career. 


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Sunday, May 21, 2023

The NARN Closer's playlist - 5/21/2023



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Well the good ol' days may not return......

Happy end of Minnesota Legislative Session day! A lot to break down in that area on today's edition of my radio show The Closer. The 2-hour broadcast gets started at 1:00 PM Central Time. 


I'll take the first hour to discuss how the DFL majority in the MN Legislature has cast off all restraint this session, particularly over the past week. 


In the second hour I'll weigh in on the Durham Report that dropped this past week. While I still maintain Donald Trump is unfit to be President, he was proven to be correct about the "Russia collusion" saga being an absolute hoax. This sorry episode is also indictment of our media, which appears to be wholly corrupt. 


I will also discuss NBA star Ja Morant and yet another incident of his flashing a handgun while on Instagram Live. 



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.....


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Saturday, May 20, 2023

DFL scorpions

For those not familiar with the fable "The Scorpion and the Frog," here is a synopsis:


A scorpion wants to cross a river but cannot swim, so it asks a frog to carry it across. The frog hesitates, afraid that the scorpion might sting it, but the scorpion promises not to, pointing out that it would drown if it killed the frog in the middle of the river. The frog considers this argument sensible and agrees to transport the scorpion. Midway across the river, the scorpion stings the frog anyway, dooming them both. The dying frog asks the scorpion why it stung despite knowing the consequence, to which the scorpion replies: "I am sorry, but I couldn't resist the urge. It's in my nature."


Going into the Minnesota Legislative session this past January, the state had a near $18 billion budget surplus. Even though the MN Democrat party controlled both legislative chambers and the Governor's office, surely not even they could hike taxes when in that position......right?


With just a few days left of the 2023 Legislative session, Democratic-Farmer-Labor lawmakers are considering raising Minnesota’s gasoline tax and creating a new fee on deliveries to help fund transportation.

Many of the bills forming the upcoming state budget have passed or have been signed into law, but House and Senate lawmakers continue to negotiate on the transportation bill. As they try to find sources of ongoing revenue for transportation, the delivery and gas taxes have emerged as potential new moneymakers for the state.

A proposed new gas tax would tie the state per-gallon tax on gasoline to the rate of inflation, raising it beyond the current charge of 28.5 cents a gallon in the future. The proposal has not been finalized and exact figures are not yet available.




 

Ah, but do you remember those "Walz checks" as well as some DFLers (along with all Republicans) campaigning on a full repeal of income tax on Social Security? Yeah.......


Democrats struck a deal Wednesday on a $3 billion plan to send one-time tax rebate checks of $260 to 2.5 million Minnesotans, create a new tax credit they hope will slash childhood poverty rates and exempt many seniors from taxes on their Social Security income.

Local governments also will see a boost in aid to keep property taxes down and help cover public safety costs.

Not everyone will see a tax cut under the bill, and some corporations and wealthier Minnesotans will pay more.

"We had an extraordinary opportunity here to provide for children and families across the state," DFL Senate Tax Chair Ann Rest said.





Also, you gotta love how Sen. Rest gave up the game there. When government takes too much of your money, they see it as an "opportunity" to dole it to others who haven't earned it. 

This is your modern day Democrat party, folks. Despite having the ability to right a wrong, they exacerbate the issues which created the "wrong" in the first place. It's in their nature .

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Wednesday, May 17, 2023

Quick Hits: Volume CCCXIII

 - If you were justifiably outraged over the U.S. Capitol riots on January 6, 2021 yet can't muster the same energy over John Durham's "Russiagate" report, you're a fraud. It's just that simple


National Review's Andrew McCarthy points out that the FBI actually indulged Hillary Clinton's efforts to paint Donald Trump as a Russian stooge. 


According to Durham, it appears that FBI headquarters withheld the information from some investigators who should have had it. No surprise there. We learned during Durham’s unsuccessful prosecution of Clinton lawyer Michael Sussmann that headquarters concealed from the bureau’s own investigators that Sussmann was the source of the Alfa Bank data. But this information about a Clinton strategy to smear Trump wasn’t ignored. Rather, it was echoed. At the same time that the FBI had this information, the bureau nevertheless went to the FISA court and swore under oath to the Steele dossier claim that Trump and Putin were in a “conspiracy of cooperation.”

To make Trump look like Putin’s puppet, which is exactly what Clinton wanted, the FBI departed from the most elementary investigative steps, especially the duty to verify information before presenting it to a court. FBI lawyer Kevin Clinesmith (who later pled guilty) altered a document that would have undercut false claims the FBI was making to the FISA court. As the FBI gathered information proving that the allegations it had made to the FISA court were false, it concealed that information from the judges and kept re-alleging the false claims.

There is not a chance that the FBI — or anyone in America — was unaware that the Clinton campaign wanted Trump to be seen as a Russian operative. But the bureau expected Clinton to be the next president. That was her Trump strategy, so it became the FBI’s Trump strategy.


Our Republic is set up in a way that it can survive the whims of a President, even someone as unstable as Trump. But instead of letting that process play out, what is supposed to be a radically nonpartisan institution (i.e. the FBI) abused its power and authority to undermine the democratically (and legitimately) elected POTUS. 


Trust in our major institutions seems to be irreparably broken. That is definitely not a good place in what is supposed to be a civilized society. 



- Former Chappelle Show writer Neal Brennan with a brilliant idea for a new game show. 





Ideally the contestant selection pool would start in elitist, lily white Minneapolis neighborhoods like Kenwood and Linden Hills. 



- NBA star Ja Morant is likely to face another suspension after a second incident of him flashing a handgun on Instagram live. The first incident resulted in an 8-game banishment. Given the tone of NBA commish Adam Silver Tuesday night, Morant will be fortunate if he receives merely a 40-game involuntary vacay. 


Given how the NBA as a whole embraces left wing values, they relish any opportunity to take a firm anti-gun stance. But as Black Guns Owner founder Maj Toure asserts, the league doesn't have a lot of moral high ground on this. 





Depending upon where in the country he was brandishing his firearm, Morant may not have been breaking any laws. However, as a gun owner myself, I can't begin to tell you how absolutely foolish it is to wave around a loaded gun in an enclosed a area like a friggin' car. And I guarantee that if any of my employers caught wind of my doing something similar, I would at best have a stern talking to. Then again, my employers can concern themselves with how they're perceived since they don't play footsie with a brutal, tyrannical regime.


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Monday, May 15, 2023

"One Minnesota"

In his campaigns for governor of Minnesota and subsequent elections, Nebraska Fats Tim Walz made a declaration that, despite our differences, we are "One Minnesota." His messaging was essentially that all Minnesotans want what's best for the state but we just have different ideas on how to get there. 

With the Minnesota Democrat party having complete control of state government, Walz et al have clearly shown that their folksy "One Minnesota" mantra was not really a declaration but rather a vision. That vision being a "progressive utopia" where norms & dignity are relics and that conservative ideals are no longer welcome. However, you will never be able to convince me that a majority of this state's citizens support the entire buffet of prog legislation that has been rammed through with little to no debate this legislative session. Heck, I'm sure there are even leftist supporters who would concede that point, but they don't care. And if they're ever challenged with that belief, you'd likely get the standard retort "eLeCtIoNs HaVe CoNsEqUeNcEs." Funny how they don't keep that same energy with the conservative revolution happening in the state of Florida, but I digress. 

Rep. Pat Garofalo (R-Farmington) articulates beautifully what I have been saying since session began in January. 




So when the inevitable budget deficit occurs within the next few years, who's going to be left to ding for more tax revenue? 


How brazen have elected DFLers become? They were even willing to scuttle bipartisan tax relief which would have benefitted families with babies. 


 



Stunningly, that's not even the most outrageous aspect of this saga. The provision which would've aided young families was stripped out on .......Mother's Day. 


 


 



There's your "One Minnesota," folks: Government screwing over young families, senior citizens on a fixed income and lawful gun owners. Sadly, they see this as more a feature, not a bug. 


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Box Score of the Week

Washington Nationals at Los Angeles Angels - July 18, 2017.


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Recent league Most Valuable Players Bryce Harper (2015 NL MVP) and Mike Trout (2016 AL MVP) each hit a homerun in the first inning of this game. That marked the first time in interleague play when former MVPs from each league hit a first inning HR in the same game. 


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Sunday, May 14, 2023

The NARN Closer's playlist - 5/14/2023



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I'll wait in this place where the sun never shines.....

Happy Mother's Day to all you moms out there as well as those fortunate enough to have your moms still with you. Today's 2-hour edition of my radio show The Closer is already in the can, so tune in starting at 1:00 PM Central Time. 


Today's guest lineup: 

  • Corey DeAngelis, passionate school choice advocate, is on at 1:30. 
  • Susan Crabtree, White House correspondent with Real Clear Politics, will be on at 2:00 to discuss the Biden Family's shady business dealings. 
  • Emily Schumacher, Miss Coon Rapids competing for the title of Miss Minnesota next month, will be on at 2:30 to discuss a charitable endeavor near and dear to her heart. 


In the non-guest segments, I will discuss the DFL majority in the Minnesota Legislature pulling off a procedural coup to slip in "gun control" to the Public Safety omnibus bill. I also weigh in on Donald Trump's appearance on CNN last Wednesday. 



You can listen 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, 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.

Until then.....


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Wednesday, May 10, 2023

Quick Hits: Volume CCCXII

 - Former President Donald Trump was found "liable" of "sexual abuse" of E. Jean Carroll. But for those who firmly believe that this sinks Trump's political aspirations clearly have been comatose for eight years, only to wake up on Tuesday. 


Grabbing women didn’t stop his election. Adultery did not stop him. Porn stars did not stop him. This will not stop Donald Trump. Neither will Alvin Bragg’s silly prosecution that even Democrats roll their eyes at.

If anything, this helps him advance in the GOP. A party with a persecution complex will stand behind the persecuted-in-chief. Liz Cheney running ads in New Hampshire might as well be an in-kind contribution to Trump to secure the Republican nomination.


Look, I'm never voting for Trump for anything ever again. But even I concede that this isn't close to a death knell to his '24 campaign, which further underscores indiscretions that would have been disqualifying 20 years ago (heck, maybe even ten years ago) are forgotten in a matter of days. 


So even after all this, is Trump still on track to be the 2024 GOP presidential nominee? Probably....but it's definitely not a fait accompli



- In a rare moment of bipartisanship among Minnesota elected officials in 2023, a state icon was honored


The late pop superstar Prince is being honored in Minnesota as the state renames a seven-mile stretch of highway after him, one that runs past his Paisley Park home and recording studio.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz used purple ink on Tuesday to sign the bill dedicating the roadway formerly known as Minnesota Highway 5. Now, the path through in the Minneapolis suburbs of Chanhassen and Eden Prairie will be called the Prince Rogers Nelson Memorial Highway.

Purple road signs will soon go up along the highway declaring the new name, paid for by Prince’s friends and fans.


Despite the fact my friend Sen. Julia Coleman (R-Chanhassen) introduced this legislation, there was no mention of her in the linked ABC News piece. But at least a photo of her was featured!





Definitely a better pic choice than that of the dumpy Gov. Walz actually signing the legislation. Just sayin'................


- When mainstream media outlets finally conceded last year that Hunter Biden's abandoned laptop, one which allegedly contained info on shady financial deals involving Joe Biden et al, was indeed legit, I had the same question as many others: why did several former intelligence officials dismiss it as "Russian disinformation" mere days before the 2020 presidential election? And how could such a declaration be made without any inquiring media minds asking follow-up questions such as "What evidence has been gathered to make such a claim?" That would seem to be the most obvious inquiry given the nearly 2-year "Trump colluded with Russia to steal the 2016 election" narrative proved to be utter bull pucky.

On Wednesday, things started to become more clear

The House Oversight Committee is out with a new report detailing how the Central Intelligence Agency may have directly helped President Joe Biden win the 2020 presidential election. How? By helping to recruit signatures for the now infamous letter, which was signed by 51 former intelligence officials, calling Hunter Biden's abandoned laptop "Russian disinformation." That laptop contained endless information about Biden's overseas business dealings, which he conducted with his father as a business partner.

"The Committees have evidence that an employee affiliated with the CIA may have assisted in obtaining signatories for the statement. One signer of the statement, former CIA analyst David Cariens, disclosed to the Committees that a CIA employee affiliated with the agency’s Prepublication Classification Review Board (“PCRB”) informed him of the existence of the statement and asked if he would sign it. The Committees have requested additional material from the CIA, which has ignored the request to date," a new report states. "Notably, the Biden Administration has declined to cooperate with this oversight to date. On March 21, 2023, the Committees wrote to the CIA, requesting documents in the CIA’s possession relating to the statement and interactions between the CIA and the signatories of the statement. The Committees requested that the CIA furnish these documents by April 4, 2023. The CIA has so far failed to comply to this oversight."

After the letter was released, the New York Post was banned from Twitter for covering the laptop (the suspension lasted for over a month) and the story was censored from distribution by big tech.


Election interference and collusion. Traits the Dems and media tried to convince us happened in 2016 literally occurred in 2020. 


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Tuesday, May 09, 2023

Use it or lose it

In the aftermath of the Allen, TX mall shooting, the typical shrieks of "GUN CONTROL NOW!!!!" ensued from the usual suspects. Despite high profile spree killings seeming to occur at an alarming rate recently, staunch gun rights advocates still pack the rhetorical gear to beat back gun grabbers' vapid chanting points. 

That said, is it fair to ask if these same passionate 2A supporters are packing literal gear? For my money, Jerah Hutchins conveys a deeper issue


Here’s the unfortunate truth. It shouldn’t be on us, but it is. If we are going to tout being from the amazing, no BS state of TEXAS, then we better start acting like it again.

This shit happens because we allow it. We talk all damn day about how much we love #2A and our right to defend ourselves, yet we DON’T DO IT. Evil will NEVER be eradicated and all we can do is control what we can. And that is our own preparedness. No law… current or future… is going to stop bad people from getting guns. Therefore, we have to respect what is currently in place, and defend physically what we cannot control legislatively.

Think about the lives that could have been saved had someone at that mall been prepared to act. It is OUR responsibility to protect ourselves and our community. If you think #2A isn’t becoming a ”use it or lose it” right, you’re insane. The more this happens, and the less we respond… the easier it will be for them to take your right to defense away. You watch.

Go. To. The. Range.

Carry. Everyday.

Check out her monologue in the video below (WARNING: at least one f-bomb). 




Truth be told, I'd prefer not to own guns, much less carry when I'm out and about. However, Jerah is spot on when she says evil exists and no amount of feel good, hippy-dippy Pablum is going to eradicate that. And while I've lauded the quick arrival of first responders to the shootings at Nashville Covenant school, Old National Bank (Louisville, KY) and Allen Outlet Mall, the fact is multiple atrocities can occur in the, at best, 5 minutes it requires for law enforcement to arrive on scene. 

Gun free zone (like the Allen mall) or not, we the people have to be more diligent about our safety. Yes, morally it shouldn't be that way, but as someone once said -  "Facts don't care about your feelings." 

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Monday, May 08, 2023

Box Score of the Week

Toronto Blue Jays at Baltimore Orioles - September 11, 2021.


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After being no-hit for 6+ innings, the Blue Jays erupted for eleven runs in the top of the 7th. In the expansion era (since 1961) that is the most runs a team has scored in the inning in which they broke up a no-hitter. 


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Sunday, May 07, 2023

The NARN Closer's playlist - 5/7/2023



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Well, the first days are the hardest days.....

It's Sunday, which means another edition of my radio show The Closer. The 2-hour blitz, live from the Patriot bunker, gets started at 1:00 PM Central Time. 

In the first hour I'll discuss the insane fiscal policy of the DFL majority in the Minnesota Legislature. Also, in a totally unrelated matter, the state's population declined for a third consecutive year. 

Then at 2:00, I will welcome to the broadcast News 5 Cleveland reporter John Kosich. It was 10 years ago on May 6, 2013 that a man by the name of Charles Ramsey helped rescue three young women from his neighbor's house. The women, held captive for a decade, had suffered significant physical, sexual and emotional abuse at the hands of their kidnapper. In the aftermath, Mr. Kosich conducted an interview with the heroic Mr. Ramsey, an interview which went viral within a matter of hours. 





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.....


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Friday, May 05, 2023

CNN can't quit Trump

With Fox News' ratings having cratered in the aftermath of Tucker Carlson moving on, prog networks like CNN and MSNBC sense there's proverbial blood in the water. As such, CNN is pivoting back to the one thing that served as its ratings elixir


Former President Donald Trump will participate in a CNN presidential town hall next week in New Hampshire, the network announced Monday.

“CNN This Morning” anchor Kaitlan Collins will moderate the event at St. Anselm College, which will air at 8 p.m. ET on May 10 and will feature the former president taking questions from New Hampshire Republicans and undeclared voters who plan to vote in the 2024 GOP presidential primary.

This will be Trump’s first appearance on CNN since the 2016 presidential campaign.


Sure, Trump hasn't personally appeared on the network in seven years, but people tuned in during his presidency as some sort of therapy session. In essence, CNN's ratings went up in the Trump years because the anti-Trump crowd wanted their maniacal thoughts validated. And while I concede that an American news network should be provide thorough coverage of the President of the United States, CNN took it to another absurd level. Whether it was tracking Trump's ice cream and Diet Coke consumption or selectively editing video in an attempt to put him in an unflattering light, CNN went balls to the wall knowing there was a huge market for Trump derangement. 


For as much as CNN personalities clutched their pearls over Trump's blatant lack of decorum or perpetuating a "big lie, " the network brass knows what's good for business. National Review's Charles C.W. Cooke spells it out


At the New Republic (Tuesday), Prem Thakker complains that the show’s renewal represents “proof” that CNN has “learned nothing from 2016.” In fact, the opposite is true: It demonstrates that the network has learned the lessons of 2016 perfectly. Those lessons, in no particular order, are that it is extremely profitable for CNN to pretend that it hates Donald Trump; that it is equally profitable for Donald Trump to pretend that he hates CNN; and that, if Trump ends up in the White House in consequence, the ratings will be terrific for all involved.

Thakker also complains that CNN is “giving open air to a man who warrants none of it.” But this approach is very 2021, is it not? As we all have learned repeatedly over the last few years, media ethics are entirely contextual. When the press wishes to prioritize a given story without being criticized for doing so, it insists that it has no choice but to cover it because it’s “newsworthy.” When the press does not wish to cover a story at all, it resorts to Talmudic, po-faced discussions of “systems” and “disinformation” and “platforming” and so forth. CNN devoutly wishes to get back into bed with Donald Trump, and, as a result, doing so will be deemed to be justified by the loftiest of journalistic ideals.


Now that Trump has soured on Fox News, what are the odds he'll utter sentiments along the lines of CNN being a better news outlet than FNC? It wouldn't be all that different than his suggestion that Democrat gubernatorial candidates Stacey Abrams (GA) and Charlie Crist (FL) might be preferable to respective GOP incumbents (and those whom he's deemed disloyal) Brian Kemp and Ron DeSantis. And since they have no principles, the "always Trump" simps will drink it all in. 


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Wednesday, May 03, 2023

Quick Hits: Volume CCCXI

 - We have been reliably informed by leftist elected officials et al that the residents of our home state are more than happy to pay for a "better Minnesota." Also, we right-of-center politicos are perpetuating a myth when suggesting people are becoming more willing to "vote with their feet," which is another way of saying relocate to a more fiscally conservative state. 


John Phelan at Center of the American Experiment punctures these leftist narratives


Back in December 2021, I wrote about newly released Census Bureau data that showed that Minnesota lost a net 13,453 residents to other states in 2020-2021, the most in more than 30 years. Newly released data from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) shows where they went.

.....Minnesota lost 16,021 residents overall in 2020-2021, the largest outflow recorded by the IRS since at least 1991. It also shows that the primary source of migrants into Minnesota was North Dakota, probably a result of that state’s economic difficulties arising from the federal government’s war on America’s extractive industries. California, Illinois, and New York rounded out the top four sources of migrants into Minnesota. Figure 2 also shows that Minnesota lost 5,766 residents, net, to Ron DeSantis’ Florida in 2020-2021, a 47% increase on the loss of 3,921 in the previous year.


In lines with that, Rep. Anne Neu Brindley (R-North Branch) shares some eye-opening anecdotes from the floor of the MN House. 

 

 



With each passing day I'm becoming depressingly more confident that the DFL is on the brink of a permanent majority, if they're not there already. The reason is quite simple: those who would even consider voting right-of-center seem to prefer to leave Minnesota altogether.


- In the aftermath of Tucker Carlson being let go from Fox News, Newsweek posted an article discussing how the network became "spooked" over certain text messages Carlson sent out. 

But there was an excerpt of one text in particular which caught Hannah Cox's attention. 




This is something I've come to realize more and more over the years as a part-time radio host. While I react angrily to how progs cast aspersions on groups I belong to (i.e. gun rights advocates and pro lifers), I'm cognizant of not responding in the same manner by launching similar character assassinations. I admit that I fail from time to time, but I feel as though I'm getting better at extending grace while at the same time poking holes in leftist chanting points. 



- The reports of a man in Texas gunning down five of his neighbors last Friday resulted in the obligatory leftist shrieks for gun control. But when more was ascertained about the shooter (i.e. he was an illegal alien who had been deported multiple times), the outrage naturally was tamped down if not disappeared completely. 


After a days long manhunt, the suspect thankfully is now in custody


The suspect, Francisco Oropesa, 38, an immigrant from Mexico who had been deported four times, was apprehended just a few miles from the site of the Friday night shooting, which took place in a wooded residential development in San Jacinto County, about 50 miles from downtown Houston, said County Judge Fritz Faulkner.

“My emergency manager called me and said they caught him,” Mr. Faulkner said in a brief phone interview on Tuesday. He said that the arrest had taken place in a neighboring county.


I guess we should thank our lucky stars illegal immigration is down 90%, eh?


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Monday, May 01, 2023

Box Score of the Week

California Angels at Texas Rangers - July 6, 1991.


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This was the final game of umpire Steve Palermo's career. 


While at a Dallas area restaurant later that evening, Palermo went to the aid of  two waitresses who were being robbed in the establishment's parking lot. One of the perpetrators shot Palermo in the back, resulting in his being a paraplegic the rest of his life. 


Palermo died in 2017 after a bout with cancer. 


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