Mitch and I are pleased that our mutual friend (and, until early June 2021, a solid radio host without a radio show) Jack Tomczak is part of the Northern Alliance Radio Network. Having worked in politics for the first decade of the new millennium, Jack established many connections which he then used to compile a quality list of guests once he made the foray into talk radio in 2011.
Thankfully, Jack's ability to conduct top notch interviews with local newsmakers has remained intact in the nearly 5 months he's been with the NARN. As such, I would highly recommend listening to his chat with Washington County Attorney Pete Orput.
It was 30 years ago today when the Minnesota Twins won their second World Series in five years, outlasting the Atlanta Braves in seven games.
In my humble (but accurate) opinion, this is still the best World Series in MLB history with five games being decided by one run, four on the final pitch and three going into extra innings.
About a month ago, my friend and fellow Twins nut Andrew Richter did a deep dive into that magical 1991 Twins season. Check it out if you're so inclined.
Just a heads up that I will be hosting a special broadcast on AM 1280 The Patriot this evening from 4-6 PM Central Time.
This broadcast is entitled Decision 2021 - School Board Elections.
Participating in the discussion of such issues as Critical Race Theory, Comprehensive Sex Education and Mask Mandates are the following panelists:
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. If you're unable to tune in live, please check out my podcast page for the latest show post.
Game 1 of the 2005 National League Division Series - San Diego Padres at St. Louis Cardinals.
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Cards manager Tony La Russa guided his club to victory on what was his 61st birthday. This was his second postseason victory in a game played on October 4, making him the first manager in MLB history to win multiple playoff games on his birthday.
Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora, who turned 46 on October 18, equaled that feat when his club defeated the Houston Astros in Game 3 of the ALCS last week.
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Man, it feels like I just completed a radio show less than 24 hours ago. Oh, wait.....I DID.
After filling in for Mitch yesterday, I'll be back this afternoon with my regularly scheduled radio show The Closer. The 2-hour broadcast starts at 1:00 PM Central Time.
On today's guest intensive show:
1:30 - William Damon, author of the book A Round of Golf with My Father: The New Psychology of Exploring Your Past to Make Peace with Your Present
2:00 - Matt Mackowiak, our political wonk, who will discuss the VA and NJ gubernatorial races, the latest out of the U.S. Congress, what's in store for the 2022 midterms, etc.
2:30 - Peter Johnson, firearms expert and founder of Archway Defense, will discuss the shooting incident from a couple of weeks ago on West 7th St. in downtown St Paul. He'll also weigh in on the Alec Baldwin shooting incident.
So please call (651) 289-4488 if you'd like to weigh in on any of the topics we plan on addressing.
With my NARN colleague Mitch Berg away on assignment today, I will assume the reins of The Headliner edition. The 2-hour broadcast gets started at 1:00 PM Central Time.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz officially announced his reelection bid. Despite recently low approval ratings outside the Metro, he's still confident in his "One Minnesota" chanting point. In other news out of St Paul, the MN DFL will not allow visitors to the Capitol or State Office Building, in addition to continue committee meetings via Zoom.
At 2:00, technology wonk D. Greg Scott will join the broadcast to discuss the latest in Iranian cyberattacks.
At 2:30, Cammy Oren of the organization Metro Hope will be on to discuss the work of her organization in addition to touting AM 1280 The Patriot's Business Benefactor program.
With the National Football League now scheduling games Thursday evenings during the regular season, there's a decent chance the NFL as well as Major League Baseball, the National Basketball Association and the National Hockey League can have games scheduled on the same day. This is what's known as a "Sports Equinox."
Well tonight is such an occurrence!
Earlier this year we purchased a TCL 65" smart TV for our newly renovated basement, so I'll be sequestered down there from approximately 7:00 until about Midnight.
@ me at on Twitter if you need to get a hold of me.
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- Just 2-1/2 weeks ago, smug self-righteous jackass Jim Acosta of CNN posted this:
This is quite a map from the NYT… pic.twitter.com/FAgOms5o1V
— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) October 2, 2021
The insinuation was clear. Thanks to those backwoods southern Trump supporters, COVID-19 deaths in America were highest in the southern region of the country from mid June until the end of September. Instead of chalking it up to the fact that area of the U.S. is largely cramped indoors during the summer months due to the insufferably hot weather (thus breathing in each others' exhalations), progs chose to politicize the issue.
With that in mind, I'm gonna guess no one left-of-center bothered to post this particular map:
If you look at the New York Times’ “Hot Spots” map, there’s a broad swath of light-yellow counties - fewer cases per 100,000 residents - from Miami to the middle of Texas, up into Missouri, and across to North Carolina.https://t.co/dxURWTjwEuhttps://t.co/dHbFYcVBOm pic.twitter.com/RQhYMV8Jgk
— Jim Geraghty (@jimgeraghty) October 19, 2021
Huh. Ya mean as we move closer to winter, those in warmer climates tend to be outside (and thus not as susceptible to the virus) more so than the northern half of the country? Why, it's almost as if COVID is similar to other viruses in that it's impacted by seasons.
- Just another in a series of friendly reminders why I will not support Donald Trump for President if he chooses to run in 2024.
I read this ACLU brief. This is the first time, at least to my knowledge, that ACLU is explicitly arguing in court that the First Amendment's free speech clause has been interpreted *too broadly* by courts, and are advocating *a more restrictive view* of what free speech means. https://t.co/RKfmDVLGw7
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) October 17, 2021
Just as we have a right to speak freely, we should also have the ability to be free of laws which compel speech. A public school district (an arm of local government) requiring its employees to bend to the whim of students would seem to fly in the face of that.
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Game 3 of the 2018 NLDS - Los Angeles Dodgers at Atlanta Braves.
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At 20 years, 293 days old, Braves' slugger Ronald Acuna, Jr. became the youngest player in MLB history to hit a grand slam home run in the postseason.
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Another beautiful Minnesota day, so enjoy the outdoors and tune in to my radio show The Closer. The 2-hour extravaganza gets started at 1:00 PM Central Time.
A lot to get to this broadcast, including a disturbing story out of the Loudoun County Public School district in Virginia, the leaked emails that led to NFL coach Jon Gruden resigning, and the Biden administration outdoing itself in its weekly ineptitude.
At 2:30 I will welcome to the broadcast Kelly Jahner-Byrne, who is vying for the 2022 GOP nomination for Minnesota Secretary of State.
So please call (651) 289-4488 if you'd like to weigh in on any of the topics we plan on addressing.
President Joe Biden having to break a campaign promise or his administration's quasi acknowledgement that Donald Trump was right?
FLASHBACK: Joe Biden in March 2020 on "Remain in Mexico." https://t.co/GBdA3xv07O pic.twitter.com/pl6G4Gvu6l
— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) October 15, 2021
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- Las Vegas Raiders coach Jon Gruden resigned Monday evening after emails from 2011 thru 2018 surfaced featuring him using misogynistic, homophobic and racist language.
"I love the Raiders and do not want to be a distraction," Gruden said in a statement Monday night. "Thank you to all the players, coaches, staff, and fans of Raider Nation. I'm sorry, I never meant to hurt anyone."
A good number of people want to write this off as Gruden being a victim of "cancel culture," but I believe that's far too simplistic. Given the Raiders have a significant number of black players on their roster in addition to the first openly gay active player, how could those team members have any respect for their coach upon learning the way he spoke about black people and gays when in a private conversation? So from a sheer business standpoint (i.e. wins and losses), Gruden's continued presence would be untenable.
It's highly unlikely Gruden will ever again have a job of any capacity in the National Football League.
- Oof. Man this was cringe inducing, courtesy of your favorite prog ice cream moguls.
Ben and Jerry's founders can't answer why they boycott Israel but not states in the US over policy disagreements. pic.twitter.com/j4gvSyvRSG
— The First (@TheFirstonTV) October 11, 2021
Beyond parody. I don't believe you could have used sketch actors to better encapsulate "wokeness" and leftist virtue signaling.
- With America currently enduring multiple crises, from the porous handling of the southern border to the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan to COVID-19 raging on to a foundering supply chain due to cargo ships being held up at the ports, you need to look no further than the incompetence within the Biden administration.
I've said it before and I'll say again: if any organization (whether it's a presidential administration or private sector outfit) prioritizes diversity ahead of strongest qualifications, your mission, more likely than not, will suffer. That's not to say a racial minority or member of the LGBTQ+ community can't be the most qualified candidates for a position. Absolutely they can and, more so in the 21st century, often are. But given Joe Biden made diversity the predominate factor in forming his cabinet, America is now enduring the consequences.
Albert Hunt at The Hill concurs.
The record on diversity of the Biden appointments is terrific and welcome — but too often the White House stresses that instead of the quality of the appointees.
A question on the lips of more than a few Democrats these days is “Where is Kamala Harris?” The vice president was assigned to handle the border crisis and securing voting rights legislation, either near-impossible tasks or ones that will be taken over by others in the crunch. Biden gave her "a portfolio that's not meant for her to succeed," complained Bakari Sellers, a Harris ally and political commentator.
Above all else, the vast majority of Biden's inner circle have never even held a private sector job. Regardless of one's race or sexual identity, that's just a recipe for disaster.
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Game 1 of the 2016 National League Championship Series - Los Angeles Dodgers at Chicago Cubs.
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In Game One of this year's ALDS, the Tampa Bay Rays' Randy Arozarena stole home against the Boston Red Sox. That was the first straight steal of home in the postseason since the Cubs' Javy Baez pulled that off in this week's featured game.
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By now you have likely heard about the incident of young "activists" following Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) into a public restroom.
🔴BREAKING: Blanca, an AZ immigrant youth confronts @SenatorSinema inside her classroom, where she teaches @ ASU. "in 2010 both my grandparents got deported bc of SB1070...my grandfather passed away 2 wks ago & I wasn't able to go to Mexico bc there is no pathway to citizenship." pic.twitter.com/JDZYY2fOD2
— LUCHA Arizona (@LUCHA_AZ) October 3, 2021
This all stems from Sinema (as well as Democrat Sen. Joe Manchin of WV) not wanting to support another $3.5 trillion in spending, much of which is to fund radical leftist programs.
Regardless of the merits of the legislation Sinema opposes, this goes beyond the boundaries of civility and decorum. Yes, Sinema works for Arizonans and thus she answers the state's citizens. But to harass her while she's engaged in a private activity (i.e. using the restroom) and then broadcasting it for millions to see is disgusting, deranged and flat out wrong, This shouldn't be that difficult for anyone to say, yet the guy elected President in large part because of his "decency," "competence" and "compassion" couldn't bring himself to give an unqualified condemnation.
President Joe Biden condemned activists cornering Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema in a bathroom over the weekend and filming the encounter but dismissed the tactics as common and "part of the process."
“I don’t think they’re appropriate tactics, but it happens to everybody,” Biden said of the people who confronted Sinema on Sunday. “The only people it doesn’t happen to is people who have Secret Service standing around them. It’s part of the process.”
Somehow if the key players were changed up (i.e. the elected official was someone who supported far left causes and was harassed by those who opposed such policy), the reactions might be a tad different.
Charles C.W. Cooke of National Review presents such a scenario.
I can hear the rhetoric now. Change a handful of inconvenient details, and this incident would be cast as an attack on “women,” on “the LGBT community,” and on “our democracy itself.” Put the motivating criticisms in the mouth of Tucker Carlson, instead of Chris Hayes, and the episode would be widely held as “the logical endpoint of the climate of hatred that has been whipped up.” Attribute the passion to a MAGA type instead of a progressive, and it would be said to “evoke the painful memories of January 6.” Noting the event, the Washington Post concluded that it was “representative of the dissatisfaction that many Arizona Democrats — and Democrats across the country — have voiced over Sinema’s resistance toward the reconciliation bill.” Is there anyone alive who believes that the Post would have been this sanguine if the roles had been reversed?
As an independent thinking, openly bisexual female, Sinema becoming the first Democrat in thirty years to win election to the U.S. Senate out of Arizona would be something leftists could normally hang their proverbial hats on. I mean, look how many boxes she checks on the "intersectionality scorecard." As it turns out, most proggies would prefer that this particular female would robotically submit to the party's demands. Oh the irony is rich indeed.
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Florida Marlins at Atlanta Braves - September 17, 2007.
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The Braves' Julio Franco, at age 49, played in his final MLB game. Franco had a run-scoring single, which made him one of only six players in league history to record an RBI at age 49 or older.
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We made it to October! Another Sunday, yet another edition of my radio show The Closer. The 2-hour broadcast gets started at 1:00 PM Central Time.
Right at 1:00, newly elected Republican Party of Minnesota Chair David Hann will join the broadcast to discuss his first orders of business as party leader.
At 2:00, I will welcome to the broadcast author and Assistant Professor at Kentucky St. University Wilfred Reilly. Dr. Reilly has been a prolific commentator on race relations and "wokeness" in today's culture, so we'll get his perspective on some of the latest discourse.
In the non-guest segments, I will weigh in on the Dem debacle in Washington, D.C. as well as an anti-Ron DeSantis ad which actually portrays the Florida governor in a somewhat positive light.
Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) is universally reviled by those left of center. That's certainly not breaking news. However, the invective thrown his way approaches (and, at times, surpasses) the rage that was often on display when Donald Trump was President. The difference between progs' hatred for DeSantis and that of Trump is that they believe DeSantis poses the bigger threat given he's more substantive and articulate when debunking proggie chanting points. Hence leftists and their media lapdogs engage daily in a full fledged campaign to attempt to cripple DeSantis's 2022 reelection prospects. If successful, they believe that would serve as a death knell to a White House bid in 2024.
The latest attack launched towards DeSantis is an ad put forth by the Remove Ron PAC, which was started by the insufferable douchebag who last year dressed up as the grim reaper while parading around Florida beaches.
Ron DeSantis does not want you to retweet this ad pic.twitter.com/AyaHQ77fqs
— Remove Ron (@RemoveRon) September 30, 2021
This is not going to have the intended effect that this PAC believes it will. First is the declaration in the tweet which suggests DeSantis doesn't want others to see the video. To suggest that people don't want to hear a sitting governor saying "We trust people to make their own decisions in this state" regarding COVID-19 is not exactly the "GOTCHA!!" moment this PAC believes it is. Heck, DeSantis's own Press Secretary enthusiastically tweeted out this video.
Second, a verifiably false claim of "It is against the law for private business or schools to mandate masks or vaccines." The bill Gov. DeSantis signed earlier this year addressed local governments which looked to impose arbitrary lockdowns and feckless mandates, instead leaving that to the state's purview. Given that school aged kids are not nearly as susceptible to contracting the virus as adults, DeSantis was following the science when insisting schools remain open and thus elementary schoolers not be masked.
And finally, the sampling of news clips from Florida media exclaiming "COVID-19 is surging again!!!" Er. Yeah, that was rather ill-timed.
Kyle Griffin stopped his updates about Florida's case numbers for some reason. https://t.co/ioZFqv8wMb pic.twitter.com/jSJONXZzrK
— Max (@MaxNordau) September 30, 2021
If progs were really concerned about surging COVID cases, increasing hospitalizations and high death rates, they would have been railing on New Jersey and New York for more than a year now. But they haven't been. Now ask yourself why.
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