The NARN Closer's playlist - 9/27/2026

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I'm only pretty sure that I can't take any more.....

Another Sunday means yet another edition of my radio show The Closer. Today's 2-hour blitz begins at 1:00 Central Time. 

It's another guest intensive show on the broadcast today. 

1:00 - Jessica Johnson, GOP candidate for MN House District 33B (Stillwater, Oak Park Heights, Scandia, Bayport). 

1:30 - Andrew Hattaway, GOP candidate for MN House District 56B (Rosemount, eastern Apple Valley, southwestern Eagan). 

2:00 - Amanda Peterson, geopolitical wonk talking Iran war, relations with China, assassination attempts by Kremlin assets inside the U.S., etc. 

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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Who run the world?

 I've been hearing variations of this statement for years now. 

Obama: "If you put women in charge of every government for two years... I have a strong belief that things would be better. I'm confident about that." pic.twitter.com/H6hs5ZjZFV

— TheBlaze (@theblaze) September 24, 2026

Barry apparently didn't believe this in 2008 when Hillary Clinton was his chief rival their party's nomination for President. It was only after near completion of his two full terms as POTUS that Obama made public his belief that Hillary was the most qualified candidate to run for President, like, ever!

My favorite riff on the "women need to run things" chanting point came from Drew Carey during a White House Correspondents' Dinner during the George W. Bush years. 

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A post shared by Decker Watson (@beringc)

And here's an excerpt from a now defunct blog (written by a gal, BTW) when blogging was the thing back in the aughts. 

 

I'm so sick of people saying things like "If mothers ran the world there would be no wars". Seriously, ZZzzzzzzzzzzzz. Because mothers are what, all a bunch of passive, docile negotiators?

Good God, what if every world leader were a pregnant woman? There would be wars for the worst reasons you've ever heard.

"This dress makes me look like a buffalo! I bomb you!"

"Why is my hair so greasy? Why does your mother hate me? Talks are over! Send in the tanks!"

On second thought, we might have been done with the Iran conflict in a much more expedited time frame. 

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Quick Hits: Volume CDXXIII

- Regrets. California Gov. Greaseball Gavin Newsom has had a few, specifically the way he handled the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Newsom agreed when CNN's Jake Tapper suggested: "There needs to be like a 9/11 Commission on COVID -- what we did right, what we did wrong."

"Everyone's a genius in hindsight. Coulda-woulda," Newsom said. "I was running around doing price-gauging legislation against Purell -- everyone was thinking it was a Purell-based crisis."

And who could forget that while the Golden State was locked down while also under a draconian mask mandate, Newsome could be seen dining at the swanky restaurant French Laundry.....while maskless? 

"(J)ust a bone-headed decision."

"I was just dialing it in. We were exhausted, friend's birthday. It was a restaurant that was open the night before, open the night after. But it was against the spirit of the rules I was promoting, and I went. I had a mask on when I went in, when I went out -- but not while I was eating."

"I was up there promoting mask on in between bites," he laughed. "Which in itself is curious."

"It was a completely legit condemnation," Newsom said. "I got a recall, and I almost lost -- talk about humility."

"My politics changed after that."

Did they really? Because I remember a mere 4-1/2 months after surviving his September 2021 recall election, Newsom was seen at the Super Bowl in Inglewood's SoFi Stadium  *not* wearing a mask. Meanwhile, elementary age kids were still mandated to don face coverings while outdoors. 

Yeah, that snake had clearly not shed his skin. 

- This clip from last Sunday featuring Taylor Swift cheering on her husband (and Kansas City Chiefs TE) Travis Kelce has, not surprisingly, gone viral. 

“THATS MY HUSBAND” 💍 pic.twitter.com/BPvOxNlGEq

— Taylor Swift Updates (@TSUpdating) September 21, 2026

When arguably the most famous person on planet Earth does anything in full view of millions of TV viewers, it's going to garner massive attention. 

In our politically and socially polarized world, every action by a celebrity tends to be scrutinized to death. But I would hope we'd be able to agree here that this is a tremendous example of a successful partnership, where each member of the couple passionately supports the other in their chosen endeavor. 

There is some debate over whether or not TSwift is a proper role model for young ladies. While I couldn't possibly care less about that back and forth, I can't deny that Tay's excitement over her husband's success is something every man should long for from this bride. And it should be reciprocated. 

- With an approval rating hovering in the 30s and his political party facing the prospects of a midterm election that could rival the 2006 "thumping," President Donald Trump is seemingly radioactive among many GOP Congressional candidates. 

Jim Geraghty at National Review compiled a list. 

• Florida Republican gubernatorial candidate Byron Donalds scrubbed references to Trump from his campaign website.
• Donalds is following in the footsteps of GOP Representative Young Kim, who often faces tough reelection bids in her R+1 southern California district.
• Michigan GOP Senate candidate Mike Rogers is running an ad that begins, “The war in Iran needs to end, to bring costs down.”
• Iowa GOP representatives Zach Nunn and Mariannette Miller-Meeks joined in a vote to limit Trump’s war powers last week. Both lawmakers represent competitive districts, and this marked the first time either one had voted to rein in Trump’s Iran war powers. Nunn wrote on X, “With the negotiating window closed, sustained combat operations now require congressional authorization. Having deployed multiple times and flown over 700 combat hours in the Middle East, I will not support another open-ended war.”
• Ashley Hinson, a GOP representative who’s running for governor in Iowa, wrote on X Monday, “Iowans are being squeezed and shouldn’t have to foot the bill at the pump or the checkout line for the war in Iran.”
• Wisconsin GOP candidate for governor, Representative Tom Tiffany, on rising gas prices and Iran: “I just believe we should be exiting Iran, it’s time to move on. We’ve degraded their nuclear facilities, we’ve degraded their military, most of their ships are at the bottom of the ocean. Time to come home, take care of business here in America.”
• In a meeting with voters, Colorado GOP Representative Jeff Hurd “talked about where he disagrees with the Trump administration. Hurd said he opposes Trump’s sweeping tariffs against Canada and a Republican push to sell public lands. He voted to extend healthcare subsidies.”

I've always maintained the GOP would lose the House given they only have a razor-thin majority to begin with, but hang on to the Senate. However, with such reliable Republican seats like Texas, Kansas, South Carolina and Iowa suddenly in play this cycle, even that is far from a sure thing.  

On a somewhat related note: if either SCOTUS justice Sam Alito or Clarence Thomas are considering retirement, they may well have their letters in the "Drafts" folder right about now. 

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Box Score of the Week

Chicago Cubs at New York Giants - July 20, 1927.

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At the age of 18 years and 140 days, the Giants' Mel Ott is the youngest player in MLB history with a pinch-hit, walk-off RBI. 

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The NARN Closer's playlist - 9/20/2026

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You move Middle East and I'll move Wild West................

Yeah, I know the Vikings play at Noon today, but I'll still have the top notch content on today's radio show The Closer. The 2-hour broadcast gets started at 1:00 PM Central Time. 

I'll take the first two segments to discuss Minnesota statewide races, specifically the GOP being in a decent position to actually.....uh.....win?!?!?! Will Charlie Brown actually kick the football this time????

The subsequent segments will be a guest-a-palooza. 

1:30 - Austin Peterson, GOP candidate in MN Senate District 4 (Moorhead, Detroit Lakes, Dilworth).

2:00 - Tawny Kilpper, Middle School Program Director for Young America's Foundation, will be on to discuss a YAF event taking place in the Twin Cities next week. 

2:30 - Paul Wikstrom, GOP candidate in Minnesota's Fourth Congressional District, which covers nearly all of Ramsey County and part of Washington County. 

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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MANA

With President Donald Trump's second term being a veritable goat rodeo, the upcoming midterm elections should yield a blue tsunami. And while there's a nonzero chance that can still happen, the fact is the Democrats are running so many whack jobs in key Congressional races that, as I write this, they're on pace to attain only a slight majority in the House while not being able to seize control of the Senate. 

On the flip side, this shows that if the Trump administration portrayed even a scintilla of competence, Republicans would be able to mitigate (if not outright prevent) key losses this election cycle. 

The hilarious Bridget Phetasy has a brilliant yet simple solution for conservatives in this era: don't be goofy.

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Make America Normal Again: I would totally don a red hat with that slogan.

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Quick Hits: Volume CDXXII

 - When prog political candidates are heavily supported by plutocrats such as George Soros, Michael Bloomberg and Alida Rockefeller Messinger, it elicits a collective yawn from the media lapdogs. But if a prominent GOP candidate garners even a fraction of that support? It gets put on blast. 

The November election is just over eight weeks away and one of the marquee races in Minnesota is the race for governor.

Republican House Speaker Lisa Demuth now faces DFL Sen. Amy Klobuchar in the November election.

Klobuchar is way ahead in fundraising with $3.44 million cash on hand to Demuth's $544,000, but Demuth has closed some of the gap with the help of outside money. Records show an outside Super PAC called Restore Sanity has given $2.8 million from at least 26 separate donations to support Demuth's campaign, most of it going to advertising.

The Restore Sanity PAC is funded by Wisconsin billionaire Richard Uihlein, a top donor to President Trump.

In contrast, Klobuchar's campaign has received $5,000 of outside money from two Minnesota PACs.

Yeah, but has Klobee always been that scrupulous when running for U.S. Senate or President? (Spoiler: no).

Let's be real though. It's not the money that bothers the left and their media allies so much. It's the fact Demuth is within striking distance in this race. If Klobee had her normal 15-20 point lead in the polls, this race would be summarily ignored even if Demuth brought in a semblance of that kind of outside money. Sounds to me it's more the effective messaging than it is campaign cash that is fueling Demuth's competitiveness. 

- Speaking of the Minnesota gubernatorial race, I'm highly skeptical an in-depth piece such as this would have been allowed in the Star Tribune had Gov. Tim Walz not suspended his bid for a third term. 

Four takeaways from our deep dive into the Walz administration’s fraud response https://t.co/eUpNORPinl

— The Minnesota Star Tribune (@StarTribune) September 14, 2026

The sub headline in the story: Key figures in and around the administration and more than 1,000 pages of newly public testimony transcripts revealed a theme of delegation and missed warnings.

One of those figures who could be aptly characterized as being "in and around" the Walz administration? Why, that would be Lt. Gov. (and current US Senate candidate) Peggy Flanagan, who, conveniently, is not mentioned by name in the article. Despite that, this issue will continue to dog her. 

This certainly has the potential to be an in-kind contribution to Peg's opponent, Michele Tafoya. 

- Conservative commentator Erick Erickson has uncovered some disturbing allegations about certain elements looking to hijack the conservative movement. 

For the last month, I've been working on tying together the white nationalists, Christian nationalists, and neo-Nazis rising on the right. They not only have common sources of funding, but they are taking over portions of the conservative movement. Finally hitting "publish" in…

— Erick Erickson (@EWErickson) September 16, 2026

The piece is long, but it is an essential read. 

To put it mildly, I will have absolute zero involvement with any faction which chooses hate to achieve its end goals. Any credible conservative would be wise to call this out for what it is, and in much the same manner Erick has. 

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