Quick Hits: Volume XXVII

-When Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton was a US Senator from 2001-2007, his record was (to be kind) feeble. On more than one occasion I've pointed to the Time magazine article which named then Senator Dayton as one of the worst on Capitol Hill. In fact, one criticism which stood out was how he lacked understanding of the basic facts of the job.

Sadly, with Dayton now being chief executive of my state, that description is still applicable.

As DFLers and Republicans dig in on their budget divide, Gov. Mark Dayton on Thursday proposed a novel approach: Bring in a professional mediator who could help the two sides find common ground.

“We’ve got 28 days now and the clock is ticking and I’m willing to do everything and anything that I can think of, or anyone else can think of, that will be constructive to get this resolved,” Dayton said. He said he would even welcome two mediators — one picked by each side.

Republican lawmakers quickly dismissed the idea.

“It is our time to step up and to lead and to do the job that we were elected to do,” said House Speaker Kurt Zellers.

It’s been just 10 days since legislators ended their regular session without a signed budget agreement.

Are you kidding? A freaking mediator? Dayton was so up in arms over having little power as a US Senator for those six years, but now he shirks that responsibility. Does this guy ever have a grasp on any of the basic tenets of a job?

Oh, and the person Gov. Dayton wanted as mediator for his side? Retired Chief U.S. Magistrate Judge Jonathan Lebedoff, who has a private mediation practice in Minneapolis. As Channel 5's Tom Hauser reported via Twitter, Lebedoff made political contributions to the following: $500 - Ciresi for Senate; $230 - Obama for America; $500 - Klobuchar for Senate.


-Look, I am really not all that interested in discussing the controversy regarding New York Congressman Anthony Weiner and his allegedly sending a lewd photograph via Twitter to a 21-year old woman. The fact is if I start opining, it opens up the door for too many double entendres. So all I will say is that if the Weiner handlers.....D'oh! Sorry! I meant if Weiner's staff had advised him....GAHHH. See what I mean?

What I'm trying to say is that if any member of Congress ever......AHHH, that's it! I give up.

Bottom line, if I were the Congressman from New York, I would use humor to disarm the feeding frenzy that is the national media. Basically, Weiner should have used his initial press conference to perform a reenactment of a certain scene in the TV show Seinfeld.


-Add Jason Kubel and Jim Thome to the long list of Minnesota Twins to visit the disabled list this season. Actually this is Thome's second stint on the DL, but that's neither here nor there. The fact is you know it's getting bad when the players being called up from the minor leagues are having to don jersey numbers in the 50s and 60s.

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