No respect left to erode

It's amazing how some people continue to sully their own reputation as if they've got a surplus of goodwill. 

A judge has ordered Jennifer Carnahan, widow of the late U.S. Rep. Jim Hagedorn, to reimburse the congressman's family members for more than $20,000 that they spent on his medical expenses.

Faribault County District Judge Troy Timmerman on Wednesday ordered Carnahan to repay the family members for the medical care given to Hagedorn, who died in February 2022 after battling kidney cancer and COVID-19.

Carnahan said Thursday that she plans to appeal the decision and bring counter claims in district court.

Yeah, nothing like getting into a legal squabble with your late husband's family to further denigrate what is already a toxic reputation. 

Hagedorn's mother, stepfather and sister sued Carnahan in May, claiming that she failed to act on a promise to repay them for medical costs out of the death benefits she inherited after her husband's death.

While the family members contended in two lawsuits that the money was meant as a loan, Carnahan said she had interpreted it as a gift.

"It was never predicated on any promise of repayment from me at all," she said Thursday. "I was under the impression this whole time that they were gifting their brother and son money to live to fight another day, as I had done."

So Carnahan's assertion is that this has been a simple misunderstanding. However, when commenting on the lawsuit back in May, she never denied a repayment agreement existed. In fact, she implied that Hagedorn's estate being held up in probate was impeding her ability to make good with the alleged agreement. But since Carnahan would have been the beneficiary of her husband's life insurance policy (estimated at $175,000), she could have easily reimbursed Hagedorn's family upon those funds being distributed since life insurance proceeds are not subject to probate. To add to the already horrible optics, Carnahan loaned her failed U.S. House campaign (the one to fill out the remainder of her husband's Congressional term) $200,000 just prior to the lawsuit against her having been filed. Then literally the day after the May 24 GOP primary, Carnahan hopped a flight for a vacation at a fancy resort in Newport Beach, CA. 

Between this saga and her suit against the Republican Party of Minnesota, Carnahan has made herself radioactive in any endeavors going forth. She probably realizes this, which is the reason she seems to be implementing her own scorched earth strategy. 

If Carnahan could sue someone for her self-destructive tendencies, she'd probably do so.

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Quick Hits: Volume CCXCVIII

 - Congressman-elect George Santos (R-NY) has admitted that he fabricated details contained in his bio. 

Santos’ professional biography was called into question earlier this month after the New York Times reported that he misrepresented a number of claims, including where he attended college and his alleged employment history with high-profile Wall Street firms.

“My sins here are embellishing my resume. I’m sorry,” Santos said Monday.

Santos confessed he had “never worked directly” for Goldman Sachs and Citigroup, chalking that fib up to a “poor choice of words.”

The 34-year-old now claims instead that a company called Link Bridge, where he worked as a vice president, did business with both of the financial giants.

“I will be clearer about that. It was stated poorly,” Santos said of the lie.

At Link Bridge, Santos said, he helped make “capital introductions” between clients and investors, and Goldman Sachs and Citigroup were “LPS, Limited Partnerships” that his company dealt with.

He also admitted that he never graduated from any college, despite previously claiming to have received a degree from Baruch in 2010.

So does this mean Santos is disqualified from holding elected office? Well if we're going by precedents set, not only is fabricating one's bio not grounds for disqualification, it may well be a pathway to the White House some day. 

1/
Since Chris Hayes says Biden’s decades-long career of lying and plagiarism is just “normal” political stuff, let's list every example from before he became VP.

(The list of stuff he did after is long and ongoing)pic.twitter.com/VjNaaUOVCA

— Bill D'Agostino (@Banned_Bill) December 27, 2022

Progs will decry Santos 24/7 but conveniently ignore a sitting POTUS and two current Democrat Senators (Richard Blumenthal and Elizabeth Warren) for having their own abusive relationships with the truth. 

Tribalism at its worst. 

- As I write this, the Minnesota Vikings (12-3) are 3-1/2 point underdogs against the 7-8 Packers in this Sunday's game at Green Bay. 

I'm seeing a lot of my fellow Vikes fans express outrage over the squad being "disrespected" due to being dogs to a losing team. I would urge those folks to take a chill pill and remember what happened the last two games the Vikings were underdogs: home against Dallas and at Detroit. Anyone recall how our favorite team fared in those games? 

Oh, and if Vikes players and coaches are morally offended by this weeks' odds, I can think of one surefire way to combat that alleged "disrespect."

- The Associated Press published an interesting piece recently in reference to the wide ranging diversity within the newly elected Minnesota Legislature. 

While a lot of focus is on the DFL side since they value intersectionality over competence/qualifications, new House Minority Leader Lisa Demuth shows how Republicans can have it both ways.

Demuth said she specifically told her caucus not to vote for her (for Leader) because of her racial or gender identity — and only to vote for her if they think she would lead effectively.

“I’m a Black woman, but that’s not all of me. That is not the only thing I bring to the table,” she said. “I think if we can start acknowledging diversity, but not making that the only focus, we will be better off. Because I think when we make that the only focus, we further divide ourselves.”

And newly elected GOP House member Walter Hudson, also black, emphasizes how "diversity" shouldn't be restricted to race or lifestyle. 

(He) said it’s important to remember there is “diversity within diversity” and that all people of color do not have the same priorities or values. He said he’s looking forward to elevating voices of conservative people of color.

Given the DFL holds the governor's office and both chambers of the Legislature, Republicans will be little more than a speedbump if Dems are unified on all their prog agenda items. That said, the GOP has done a better job of putting forth legislators who can't be summarily dismissed as "angry white guys." 

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The NARN Closer's playlist - 12/25/2022

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Make the yuletide gay.......

 Not that there's anything wrong with that. 

Anyhow, yes, today there will be original programming on the Northern Alliance Radio Network as the final 2022 edition of my radio show The Closer will air 1-3 PM Central Time. 

In the first hour I weigh in on national/world news involving the Russia-Ukraine war, more reckless spending by Congress, Afghanistan back to square one, etc. 

Then in the second hour, it'll be local stuff involving Gov. Tim Walz's new Health Commissioner and Minnesota's declining population. Thankfully, I wrap up the broadcast with a heartwarming tale of Minnesota sports teams lifting up a 9-year old victim of school bullying. 

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 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.

Until then.....

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The exodus continues

More people are leaving the state of Minnesota than are arriving. I'm guessing not enough folks are buying Gov. Tim Walz's "One Minnesota" pap.

Minnesota's population growth has stalled for the second year in a row, suggesting the pandemic has left lingering effects and the number of people leaving the state continues to outpace new arrivals.

The number of people living in Minnesota grew by less than 1% — about 5,700 people — between July 2021 and July 2022, according to the U.S. Census Bureau's 2022 population estimates released Thursday.

While the numbers are an improvement over the previous year when the state recorded a net gain of about 1,600 people, they are still far short of Minnesota's typical annual growth of about 35,000 people, said Susan Brower, Minnesota's state demographer.

"To see two years of this level of growth is surprising," Brower said. Last year's low growth levels could potentially be attributed to higher death rates, slowed immigration and delayed pregnancies during the pandemic, she said. But seeing the situation continue for a second year is "concerning."

Yeah it's concerning, but it shouldn't be all that surprising. People would be more apt to tolerate the arctic weather from December thru about March (sometimes April) if there were other enticements across the state. 

Unfortunately, many from outstate are more hesitant to indulge in activities in Twin Cities metro area given the alarming rise in violent crime. Sure, residents in the metro can poo-poo that concern all they want, but the reality is they keep voting in the same officials (or, in the case of the Hennepin County attorney, worse people) who don't adequately combat an undeniably growing problem. And given the metrocrats actively look to kill oil pipelines and the mining industry, the livelihoods of a good number of rural Minnesotans are suddenly jeopardized.

So go ahead and spend a half billion dollars on renovation and expansion of the State Office Building or dump another $100+ million into the money pit that is Southwest Light Rail. Just don't be surprised if all those factors expedite weary Minnesotans' departures. 

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Quick Hits: Volume CCXCVII

 - Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky visited Washington, D.C. on Tuesday, culminating with a speech to a joint session of Congress. 

Something a lot of people noticed, myself included? Zelensky's attire, which consisted of a plain dark-green sweatshirt and cargo pants. While I firmly believe any male visitor to the White House should don a suit and tie, National Review's Jim Geraghty says anyone focusing on that aspect is missing out on the bigger picture. 

In other circumstances, I could see getting upset about a foreign leader’s choice of attire while visiting the White House. If French president Emmanuel Macron visited the White House and didn’t wear a suit, we would be surprised and dismayed.

But Zelensky’s in awfully unique circumstances. We don’t know all the details of how he got to the U.S., but European newspapers published a picture of the Ukrainian president at the train station in the southern Polish city of Przemysl, just across the Polish–Ukrainian border.

Flight trackers determined that shortly after Zelensky announced he was going to visit the U.S., a U.S. government Boeing C-40B took off from Poland’s Rzeszów airport. That U.S. government jet looks like a miniature version of Air Force One, with “UNITED STATES OF AMERICA” written in big letters on the side.

Zelensky traveled that way because on any other jet, there’s a chance — not a big chance, but a chance — that Russia would deem shooting the plane down worth the risk. Remember, if Putin and his top military advisers had a great ability to assess risk and consequences, he wouldn’t have launched the invasion. Sure, it would be extremely dangerous for the Russians to send some MiGs to attempt to shoot down a foreign leader over NATO airspace. But it’s also extremely dangerous to dig trenches and camp right outside of the Chernobyl nuclear plant and subject yourselves to high levels of radiation, and the Russians chose to do that, too. The phrase, “Oh the Russians would never do that!” needs to be put on temporary hiatus.

During the biggest land war in Europe since World War II, getting upset about what Zelensky chooses to wear while visiting the U.S. seems awfully silly and shallow. (I notice that a lot of people judge political figures — and likely everyone else — on their appearance because you don’t need to know anything else about them. Learning anything else about the person requires effort, and the last thing some people ever want to do is put effort into learning something they didn’t already know.)

Fair enough. And while my hope is for the Ukrainian military to succeed in fending off Russia (given their literal survival as a country is at stake, in addition to it being a plus for the entire world), the unconscionable amount of money the U.S. is spending in this "proxy war" should absolutely be called into question. As we learned the hard way with our involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan, endless founts of money with no coherent end goal is a recipe for disaster. 

- Speaking of disastrous circumstances in Afghanistan.......

Taliban security forces fanned out to some universities and informal learning centers in Kabul on Wednesday, teachers said, enforcing an edict issued the night before that appears to have banned most females from any education beyond the sixth grade.

In one instance, a teacher reported security forces barging into his class, shouting at girls to go home. "Some of students started verbal arguments with them, but they didn't listen. My students left their classes, crying," said Waheed Hamidi, an English-language teacher at a tuition center in Kabul.

The move was expected – and dreaded – by observers as the Taliban's supreme leader Mullah Haibutullah Akhundzada imposes his vision of an Afghanistan which is ultra-conservative, even by the hardline group's standards.

Say, do you happen to recall President Joe Biden's declaration upon American forces withdrawing from Afghanistan in the summer of 2021?

It was shortly thereafter that Biden's approval rating went underwater and has rarely been above the low 40s since. 

It's absolutely sickening to ponder the countless deaths of American military and their allied forces (not to mention the hundred of billions of U.S. taxpayer dollars) over nearly 20 years, only to see Afghanistan wind up literally where they were upon the initial invasion. 

- A lot of concerns raised over draconian lockdowns and nonsensical mandates during the COVID-19 pandemic have become validated more and more with each passing day. 

Better late than never, WaPo.

A new study found that exercise, in almost any amount, reduced people’s risks of being hospitalized or dying of covid. https://t.co/tKpKyxLPiJ

— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) December 21, 2022

New Jersey gym owner Ian Smith defied lockdowns in order to keep his business open to allow people to better their physical and mental health. He was fined by the government for every day he kept his doors open amid the pandemic. Any idea where he can get his reputation (and money) back?

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The NARN Closer's playlist - 12/18/2022

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I know you're getting twisted and you can't calm down....

Seven shopping days until Christmas! I actually am caught up, so I'll be live in studio for today's edition of my radio show The Closer. The 2-hour broadcast gets started at 1:00 PM Central Time. 

Since I was traveling for my day job this past week, I haven't been all that engaged in the news. I guess you can say I'll be winging it today, so it'll be entertaining if nothing else. 

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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Tables turned

So a group of prog Twitter users were suspended en masse from the platform Thursday evening without explanation, huh? 

As has been revealed in the "Twitter files" released by different journalists over the past few weeks, the old regime had a strong bias towards conservatives when determining alleged violations of their terms of service. And when the unequal application was called out by righties, progs usually responded with a derivative of "bUt It'S a PrIvAtE cOmPaNy." 

New CEO Elon Musk appeared briefly on an audio conference to discuss the latest suspensions. 

 

“You doxx, you get suspended. End of story. That's it,” Musk said, explaining his latest policy to the group, before he left minutes after having joined the discussion.

Musk was referring to Twitter's latest rule change about accounts that track private jets, including one owned by Musk himself, which was put in place Wednesday.

Of course the prog spin is Musk can't handle criticism from these individuals, so he's nuking their accounts out of spite. Again, as we were reminded during the COVID pandemic and 2020 presidential campaign, the company is totally free to determine what content is allowed on their site.  However, Musk had indicated earlier this year that he desired for his fervent critics to remain active given he was a big believer in free speech. As such, this latest action has people, fairly or unfairly, labeling him a massive hypocrite. 

In the end, I do not believe the journalists who had their Twitter accounts suspended should have been removed. However, I don't have a ton of sympathy this collection given they lauded the removal of a sitting President of the United States nearly two years ago but had nary a word to say about members of thuggish foreign regimes still able to remain active on the site. But the exact opposite is also true. For those of us who believed it was an utter disgrace for the New York Post to be locked out of its account for publishing a potentially damaging story to the 2020 Democrat candidate for President but are OK with leftists being removed without explanation, we have no moral high ground. 

The good news is I'm seeing a lot more conservatives decrying Twitter's latest suspensions than I ever saw of leftists lamenting their political opposites being suspended arbitrarily. If anything, this exercise has laid bare the progs' utter hypocrisy on this issue. 

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Quick Hits: Volume CCXCVI

 - MN State Rep-elect Walter Hudson raised a few eyebrows when giving a speech this past weekend.

During a meeting on Sunday conducted by the group Mask Off MN, Hudson compared medical professionals and others who recommend the COVID-19 vaccine to plantation owners who “enslaved Black people.”

“The plantation owner who said, ‘I need cotton and you’re going to pick it,’ is morally equivalent to the person today who says, ‘I don’t want to get sick, so you have to take the jab,’” he said.

Just to make sure he wasn’t misunderstood, Hudson repeated what he just said.

“And I want to be clear … that I mean exactly what I just said. OK? It’s not a gaffe. I mean it,” Hudson said. “You are the equivalent to a plantation owner who enslaved Black people and forced them to work for you if you today, as a medical professional or just a member of the populace, demand that your neighbor take a vaccination to keep you safe.”

For his full statement from that evening, you can check it out here: 

 

I consider Walter a friend and I understand where he was coming from. While I eschew any analogies to slavery, Nazism, etc., Walter is more than capable of defending his comments. 

All that said, It's amusing to me to witness the obligatory pearl clutching from a lot of the same people who suggested NFL owners requiring their players to stand for the National Anthem was tantamount to (you guessed it) slavery. 

- After the walking cadaver in the White House signed into law the "Respect for Marriage Act," he attempted to make a grandiose speech which devolved into his usual gibberish. 

Biden: "When a person can be married in the morning and thrown out of a restaurant for being gay in the afternoon, this is still wrong."pic.twitter.com/oF2DtveW6P

— Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) December 13, 2022

There is literally no legal recourse for a business to throw out patrons for being gay and the insinuation that this is actually a thing is complete bull pucky. In fact, there are a heckuva lot more documented incidents of people being denied service due to being politically right-of-center. However, that doesn't quite fit this narrative, does it? 

- The love we lost. 

Shortstop Carlos Correa and the San Francisco Giants are in agreement on a 13-year, $350 million contract, a record-long deal that is the richest ever for the position and gives the team a franchise-type player around which it plans to build, sources familiar with the situation told ESPN.

The free agent path of Correa, 28, was far less circuitous than last year, when he entered the market in hopes of landing a $300 million-plus deal but wound up signing a shorter-term contract with the Minnesota Twins that included an opt-out after the first season. This offseason, Correa found a market that lavished $300 million on Trea Turner and $280 million on Xander Bogaerts far more to his liking, and he wound up with the second-biggest deal, behind Aaron Judge's nine-year, $360 million contract with the New York Yankees.

The Twins front office was all in on signing Correa long term, and for that I commend them. However, once Trea Turner got $300 million, the Twins needed to immediately commit resources elsewhere since there was no way the younger Correa was going to settle for a penny less. This is especially in light of reports the Twins weren't willing to go beyond $285 million total. 

So now what? The Twins still need a shortstop and the only big prize remaining is Dansby Swanson. But since the Los Angeles Dodgers and Boston Red Sox also have a need at the position, it's likely the Twins will have to overpay if they really want Swanson, which would leave them fewer resources to acquire another starting pitcher. 

For all the goodwill the brain trust of Derek Falvey and Thad Levine have built up over the past six years, they can ill afford to give off a vibe that they had no alternative plan if Plan A (i.e. re-signing Correa) fell through. There's still time to right the ship.

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SCIENCE!!!

I'm traveling for my day job a few days this week. On Monday I stopped by a warehouse of one of our company's vendors when I noticed this signed affixed to the entrance. 

If you look closely, you'll notice the word "please" is taped over. Apparently the warehouse manager grew tired of asking nicely. 

But when I showed up sans mask, not a word was said. I guess my being an employee of a prolific customer has its privileges, specifically it makes me immune to COVID, the flu and RSV. Huh. Who knew?

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On assignment

I am away on assignment, so my friend and Northern Alliance Radio Network colleague Mitch Berg will be filling in for me on today's edition of my radio show The Closer. It'll be the usual 1-3 PM Central Time slot. 

Talk to ya soon.

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Today's Arizona maverick

While serving in the U.S. Senate from 1987 until his death in 2018, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) didn't always vote along with the majority of his party. He was best described as a "maverick," a fact he pointed out incessantly. And for that, McCain earned critical acclaim from the prog media who often lamented that there weren't many Republicans like him anymore. Of course, McCain learned the hard lesson that when he did run afoul of Dems (i.e. running for President against "The One" Barack Obama in 2008), the proverbial long knives came out for him as if he were George W. Bush incarnate.

But when today's senior Senator from Arizona exercises her own maverick tendencies, she doesn't quite receive the same rhetorical fawning from the agenda-driven media. 

Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema has left the Democratic Party and registered as an independent.

Sinema, in a Friday op-ed in the Arizona Republic, cited increasingly partisan interests and radicalization of both political parties as the reason for her departure.

"Americans are told that we have only two choices – Democrat or Republican – and that we must subscribe wholesale to policy views the parties hold, views that have been pulled further and further toward the extremes," Sinema wrote in the op-ed.

"Most Arizonans believe this is a false choice, and when I ran for the U.S. House and the Senate, I promised Arizonans something different," she continued. "I pledged to be independent and work with anyone to achieve lasting results. I committed I would not demonize people I disagreed with, engage in name-calling, or get distracted by political drama."

 

In a natural extension of my service since I was first elected to Congress, I have joined the growing numbers of Arizonans who reject party politics by declaring my independence from the broken partisan system in Washington and formally registering as an Arizona Independent. 1/3 pic.twitter.com/jUQHAeuxym

— Kyrsten Sinema (@kyrstensinema) December 9, 2022

Given that Sinema votes 93% of the time with President Joe Biden, this isn't exactly a huge shakeup in the short term. However, 2024 is a different story. In that year's election cycle, Democrats have 20 seats up for election, including in reliably red states like West Virginia, Montana and Ohio as well as the swing state of Nevada. If the GOP can hold all 11 of their seats up for election, they literally need only one of those four Dem seats to regain the Senate majority. Why Sinema herself is up for reelection, so provided the Arizona GOP candidate doesn't have the stink of Donald Trump on him/her, that seat too may be up for grabs. 

While there's very little in which I agree with Sinema politically, I admire her convictions. She has stood strong on maintaining the legislative filibuster and also declined to drive America further into a fiscal quagmire by not supporting "Build Back Better." In fact, her opposition to BBB resulted in Sinema being harassed by deranged progs upon her entering a public restroom stall. The fact that Biden didn't even unequivocally condemn the incident (he basically dismissed it as "part of the process") had to be one of the final straws for her. 

Pardon the language, but this seems to be Sen. Sinema's general sentiment towards her loony detractors: 

Again, that's typically not how I'd engage opposition but one can hardly blame Sinema given what she's endured over the past two years. 

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Free Brittney

This is good news. Full stop.

Brittney Griner, the WNBA star who was held for months in Russian prisons on drug charges, was released Thursday in a one-for-one prisoner swap for international arms dealer Viktor Bout, bringing an end to an ordeal that sparked intensive high-level negotiations between the U.S. and the Kremlin to secure her freedom.

"She's safe. She's on a plane," President Biden said at the White House, announcing the exchange. "She's on her way home. After months of being unjustly detained in Russia, held under intolerable circumstances, Brittney will soon be back in the arms of her loved ones and she should have been there all along. This is a day we've worked toward for a long time. We never stopped pushing for her release."

Like with most things in America these days, this saga became hyper politicized. There were progs blaming the inequity of salary in professional sports, essentially saying the money gap forced Griner to play in a country like Russia. Had WNBA players been paid on a similar scale to NBA athletes, she wouldn't have been in Russia in the first place. You then had some political righties who were completely unsympathetic to Griner's plight because she occasionally spoke ill of the USA, even deciding not to stand for the National Anthem when it was played prior to WNBA games. 

Another high profile detainment of an American in Russia has not received nearly the publicity as Greiner's imprisonment. Thankfully that has changed once the 1-for-1 swap was announced. 

Notably, the Griner-for-Bout exchange leaves retired U.S. Marine Paul Whelan imprisoned in Russia. Whelan has been in Russian custody for nearly four years. He was convicted on espionage charges that the U.S. has called false.

"We've not forgotten about Paul Whelan," Mr. Biden said Thursday, adding "we will never give up" on securing his release. U.S. officials told reporters that it became clear in talks with the Russians that the prospect of securing the release of both Griner and Whelan in exchange for Bout was a nonstarter, with one saying the U.S. had was "a choice between bringing home one particular American — Brittney Griner — or bringing home none."

Whelan told CNN in a phone call Thursday that he was happy Griner was free, but said he was "greatly disappointed that more has not been done to secure my release, especially as the four-year anniversary of my arrest is coming up."

There's been chatter in previous years that Russia was willing to swap Whelan for Bout but the U.S. declined due to their assessment of Bout being a terrorist. So why did we acquiesce to this exchange? 

Andrew Brandt, who primarily writes about football, had a very insightful take. 

Negotiations are all about leverage.
Obviously this is simplistic, but Russia had the leverage of an American public clamoring for Griner's release. Any requests/demands to include more than her in exchange for Bout were met with resistance, knowing the importance of Griner.

— Andrew Brandt (@AndrewBrandt) December 8, 2022

I definitely believe there is something to this. If you've paid even a small bit of attention to the Biden administration in its nearly two years in the White House, they give off a vibe that they craft policy based in no small part on what progs are spewing on Twitter. 

While we can express outrage that this seems like an unfair "trade," we should not direct our ire toward Griner herself. I can't imagine the anguish and fear that she and her family have endured this year, so I'm over-the-moon ecstatic for their joyous reunion. That said, the bumbling Biden administration should be called out continually until Paul Whelan has been reunited with his loved ones.

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Quick Hits: Volume CCXCV

 - Amazing how taking more money from Minnesotans than is needed is spun by some (**koff** DFLers **koff**) as a good thing.

Minnesota's budget surplus has ballooned to a historic $17.6 billion amid lower spending and larger tax collections, triggering a flood of ideas for how to spend the extra cash.

A funding boost for classrooms, climate change investments and potential tax relief are all on the table for Democrats, who will control state government when the Legislature convenes in January.

"We can do all of these things. This isn't a choice of either-or," DFL Gov. Tim Walz said after the new economic forecast was released Tuesday. "There's golden opportunities for us to do things on so many fronts."

In a time where some Minnesotans are still trying to recover from the pandemic combined with everyday items being so much more expensive than last year, there's only one realistic solution: give it back. 

Leave it to MN Representative-elect Walter Hudson to best articulate how this should be handled.  

Since the 2023 session is a budget year and the DFL has total control of the Legislature as well as the Governor's office, the only question is just how much this next state budget will increase. Since the Republicans are essentially persona non grata, they need to flood the zone with speeches on the Dems' unwillingness to return to taxpayers what is rightly theirs. 

- To be honest, I'm ambivalent about this move. 

The Gophers and football coach P.J. Fleck on Wednesday agreed to a new seven-year contract that will run through the 2029 season. The new contract will increase his pay by $1 million per year to an average of $6 million, a source with knowledge of the contract told the Star Tribune. The agreement is pending Board of Regents approval.

Fleck, 42, most recently agreed to a new contract on Nov. 4, 2021, a deal that averaged $5 million and ran through the 2028 season. The new deal takes it one more year with the pay raise. Under Fleck's old contract, he would owe the university a buyout of $7 million if he left for another coaching job before Dec. 31, 2023. Further details of the new contract were not immediately available.

There's no question Fleck has been the most successful Gophers coach over the past half century (which, to be fair, isn't exactly a high bar). He's coached the team to some impressive bowl game victories, including a New Years Day 2020 win over Auburn in the Outback Bowl. And the way his team responds to his style of coaching makes you believe they'd run through a wall for him.

On the other side of the ledger, I've long lamented his in-game management, whether it's the head-scratching play calls, poor clock management or bungling of timeouts. I appreciate his student athletes are set up for success upon leaving the U of M, but he's also hired to win key football games. His 0-6 record all time against rival Iowa is inexcusable and the infuriating home losses to the likes of Bowling Green should never happen to a...**ahem**...."elite" program.  

With this extension, the *minimum* Gophers fans should expect is some Big 10 West titles (including occasional wins over Iowa) and a New Years Day bowl every so often. An 8-4 season with zero wins over Top 25 competition is no longer good enough.

- The 2022 midterms are now complete, and it's official: This was an absolutely blown opportunity for Republicans to take back all of Congress. It culminated Tuesday evening with vulnerable Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-GA) defeating Herschel Walker in the Georgia runoff, giving the Dems a +1 gain in that body for a 51-49 majority.

Also official: Donald Trump is toxic and has to be put out to pasture once and for all. 

Conservative commentator (and Georgia resident) Erick Erickson lays it out. 

Donald Trump picks the weakest candidates, and those tied to Trump lose in places that matter.

More than being tied to Trump, the story of Walker is that the candidate's quality absolutely matters. Anyone who tells you Herschel Walker was a top-tier candidate should be ignored. His performance and baggage, all known going into this race, meant he should have been deterred from getting in.

But Donald Trump convinced him to get into the race. Then Donald Trump did virtually nothing to help him. In fact, what Trump did — speaking up about Walker during Trump’s own announcement speech at Mar-a-Lago — was used against Walker.

As much as Walker was a thoroughly likeable person, he was just a bad candidate who would have never entered except for Trump pushing him to do it.

The remarkable closeness of the runoff had everything to do with Mitch McConnell sinking $11 million into the runoff and Brian Kemp keeping his ground game going. Kemp was able to boost GOP turnout, but it was not enough.

In Georgia, Warnock spent the campaign tying Walker to Trump, including running an ad that had nothing but Trump talking up Walker with the text under Trump speaking: TO STOP TRUMP / DEFEAT WALKER. They ran that ad everywhere.

And if you're tempted to reach the conclusion that Georgia is trending blue now that both the state's U.S. Senators are Dems, consider this: 

 

Georgia is a great example of the difference candidate quality makes:

Governor: R+8
Lt. Governor: R+5
Sec. of State: R+9
Attorney General: R+5
Ag. Commissioner: R+8
In. Commissioner: R+8
State School Superintendent: R+8
Commissioner of Labor: R+7

Senate: On track for D+2-4

— Ryan Matsumoto (@ryanmatsumoto1) December 7, 2022

@EWErickson on Herschel Walker's loss and other Georgia election results: https://t.co/fKN3Yyg1MV pic.twitter.com/Yuo8VUMED5

— Byron York (@ByronYork) December 7, 2022

On to 2024.

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The NARN Closer's playlist - 12/4/2022

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I don't know where I can go to let these ghosts out of my skull.....

It's weeks likes this past one where I need a third hour on my Sunday radio show. Heck, after this past week I could likely fill four hours. Alas, the normal two will have to suffice for today's edition of The Closer. The broadcast gets started at 1:00 PM Central Time. 

In the first hour, I'll discuss the latest goings on at Twitter, specifically progs flipping out over no longer having a stranglehold on the platform. Also, journalist Matt Taibbi brings receipts on Twitter actively suppressing the Hunter Biden laptop story a month ahead of the 2020 presidential election. 

Then in the second hour, I'll weigh in on the perpetual dumpster fire within the MNGOP and how a certain former Chair just won't go away. 

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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Like a bad penny

How are we supposed to miss her if she won't go away?

Former Minnesota Republican Party Chair Jennifer Carnahan sued the state party in relation to her ouster, claiming that her ability to gain new jobs in politics was damaged by remarks made by past colleagues.

Carnahan’s lawsuit filed Thursday in Hennepin County District Court alleges she was improperly disparaged in violation of a separation agreement she signed in August 2021. Carnahan resigned amid allegations of a hostile work environment and other internal troubles. She was paid about $38,000 when she stepped down.

The party immediately fired back with a countersuit that said Carnahan’s actions damaged the party’s reputation. The counteraction also criticized Carnahan’s association with a major operative and donor who is facing a raft of federal charges.

Carnahan declined comment when reached by phone. But her attorney, Matthew Schaap, said the exit contract was breached.

“A number of people who were involved with the party and bound by the agreement were on social media and in the public essentially saying negative things and disparaging Ms. Carnahan publicly, acting almost as though the contract didn't exist,” Schaap said.

Since she stepped down, several party officials openly questioned Carnahan’s fiscal management, her leadership style and her association with a GOP donor who faces federal sex trafficking charges.

Does it make a difference if the disparaging remarks were true? 

Also, Carnahan's reputation was most damaged through her own actions, specifically her close friendship with GOP megadonor  Anton Lazzaro, who is the aforementioned donor facing federal sex trafficking charges. Whether or not she knew of Lazzaro's activities was irrelevant to the fact his close proximity to MNGOP activities made Carnahan's position as Chair untenable. 

On top of all that, the burden of proof is on Jenny. While I'm no legal beagle, I have to believe that proving her "ability to gain new jobs in politics was damaged" was due more to remarks by former colleagues than her poor judgement of character is going to be a tough sell. 

It had been rumored that Carnahan was looking to get back her old job as party chair, with the election taking place this weekend. I guess this is why the party's Executive Committee was looking to adopt the following new rule in regards to party leadership. 

Specifically, the new proposed rules include language that "...all candidates wishing to access the list must also not be actively suing the party..." See link to the proposed rule changes -> https://t.co/PrLFHnVA8i pic.twitter.com/oChBGppH9S

— Michael Brodkorb (@mbrodkorb) November 18, 2022

When Jenny resigned in disgrace more than a year ago, I believed then that the party had finally hit rock bottom, so there was no place to go but up. You'd think I'd know better. 

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Quick Hits: Volume CCXCIV

- LeBron James may not be the best player in the NBA anymore, but he darn sure wants the mantle of being the foremost authority on social issues. But only the issues he wants to to discuss.

LeBron James concluded his postgame press conference by rhetorically wondering why the media hasn’t asked him about the Jerry Jones 1957 Little Rock photo, after he was asked about the Kyrie Irving situation. LeBron said he was “disappointed” that he hasn’t been asked about Jones pic.twitter.com/IvdJzZa5Fd

— Michael Corvo (@michaelcorvoNBA) December 1, 2022

This isn't all that complicated. James is asked about a 30-year old man (who was a teammate of his in Cleveland for three seasons) sharing anti Semitic material just last month. Meanwhile, Jones was 15-years old sixty five years ago, a time which was dramatically different than what we live in today. 

Look, I'd like to hear Jones' perspective of what he was thinking at that point in time and what the defining moment was in his life that caused him to realize what an awful period that was in American history. While I'm no Jones apologist, I am confident in saying that whatever racist views he may have had in his youth is certainly not reflective of who he is today. 

- Just gonna leave this here. 

Alex Jones: "You're not Hitler. You're not a Nazi."

Ye: "Well, I see good things about Hitler, also. Every human being has value that they brought to the table, especially Hitler." pic.twitter.com/xZtjq18dm6

— Greg Price (@greg_price11) December 1, 2022

Remember, a former President of the United States (someone who desires to be POTUS again) hosted this person and white nationalist Nick Fuentes at his home recently. While Donald Trump can plead ignorance on Fuentes' background, he has zero plausible deniability with Kanye West.  

- The DFL leadership has already signaled that one of their priorities in next month's Minnesota legislative session is to address "gun violence." And on cue, the Minneapolis Star Tribune Editorial Board is assisting with the chanting points. 

According to the Gun Violence Archive, a nonprofit research group, there have been 618 mass shootings so far in 2022 (the vast majority occurring in areas with strict gun laws - ed.). There were 690 in 2021. The toll keeps mounting. In 2014, there were 273.

Are we just to meekly accept this level of carnage? That in a shopping mall, a nightclub, a movie theater, a school, a church, so many lives can be shattered or lost? And no matter how heavily armed our society has become, the National Rifle Association's mythical "good guy with a gun" almost never prevents or stops a mass shooting.

A couple things. First, "good guys with guns" are real. The media believes that if they don't bother to give vast coverage of such instances of heroism, then they don't really exist. And second, a significant chunk of places where shootings occur are "gun free zones," which are locations where the property owner specifically bans guns. That certainly is their right to do so, but can ya take a wild guess as to who is most likely to ignore such a directive? (Hint: it ain't the good guy with a gun). 

Progs have been chortling that if more black people become legal gun owners, then NRA-lovin' Republicans will finally make the push for gun control. Well as it turns out, black people are one of the fastest growing demographics in first time gun ownership, yet only one side is making the strong push to inhibit it. Once again, leftists are engaging in IMAX level projection. 

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