Box Score of the Week

Boston Red Sox at Washington Nationals - May 30, 1913.

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The NARN Closer's playlist - 7/20/2025

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I know something's 'bout to break if we don't bend......

Mercy's sake, this will be a busy broadcast day. And since I can't invoke a third hour, I'll have to settle for the normal two hours allotted. As usual, my radio show The Closer will get started at 1:00 PM Central Time. 

In the first hour I'll discuss some of the biggest news stories from the state of Minnesota. The trial of Sen. Nicole Mitchell (DFL-Woodbury) wrapped up Friday as she was found guilty on two counts of felony burglary. Also, Dr. Scott Jensen looks become to GOP nominee for MN governor in 2026 like he was in 2022.

Then in second hour I'll weigh in on CBS deciding to axe Stephen Colbert's Late Show. Between that and NPR & PBS being defunded, the progs are not doing well.

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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The progs are *still* not alright

Dang, I haven't seen Democrats this angry since the 19th century when they had their slaves taken away. 

There are a couple of big sources of their heightened angst on Friday, one being a mercy killing of perhaps the most unentertaining of late night entertainment TV. 

TV’s ongoing problems with late night have come for Stephen Colbert, with CBS announcing Thursday that it plans to end his “Late Show” after the next TV season, citing a “financial decision.”

The maneuver — which ends years of original late-night programming at CBS that started when the network lured David Letterman from NBC in 1993 — comes as the economics of wee-hours TV have begun to accelerate, with media companies growing wary of the high price tags involved in producing the shows while the young viewers they try to attract watch more of them via digital video.

Let's face it: we're loooooong removed from the days of late night programs being appointment television. But hey, for this exercise, let's pretend we're still operating under the successful model revolutionized by the likes of Johnny Carson and David Letterman. Americans likely wouldn't believe it's worth it to stay up late to watch demagogic leftist politicians or disgraced government bureaucrats on what is supposed to be a comedy show. 

Despite that, you still have prominent prog U.S. senators insisting that something more sinister may be at the root of Late Show going away.

Just finished taping with Stephen Colbert who announced his show was cancelled.

If Paramount and CBS ended the Late Show for political reasons, the public deserves to know. And deserves better.

— Adam Schiff (@SenAdamSchiff) July 17, 2025

 

CBS canceled Colbert’s show just THREE DAYS after Colbert called out CBS parent company Paramount for its $16M settlement with Trump – a deal that looks like bribery.

America deserves to know if his show was canceled for political reasons.

Watch and share his message. pic.twitter.com/Rz7HcWFLYM

— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) July 18, 2025

Look, if Colbert were simply being swapped out for a different host, there might be a tiny seed of truth to the speculations put forth by Sens. Schiff for brains and Fauxcahontas Warren. But the fact of the matter is the entire franchise is going away. If it were still a viable business model, why would the network nuke the show altogether, especially since network TV as a whole is already facing a very uncertain future? 

But if this week weren't already dreary enough for progs, their favorite taxpayer subsidized propaganda arm (i.e. National Public Radio) will no longer be sucking on the government teet. 

The GOP-controlled Congress canceled $9 billion in federal spending for foreign aid and public broadcasting, following through on President Trump’s efforts to defund the programs and overcoming some resistance among Republican lawmakers.

The House passed the Trump administration’s plan, 216-213 early Friday. Two Republicans voted no with the Democrats: Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania and Mike Turner of Ohio. The Senate had passed it in the early hours of Thursday morning, 51-48, also largely along party lines, with Republican Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska joining Democrats in opposition.

There's been clamoring for years to defund NPR, PBS, etc. And whenever that subject was broached, you had public broadcasting's staunchest defenders say something along the line of Federal funding being so small that yanking it wouldn't make much of a difference. But now that the proverbial gravy train has been halted, the progs are pivoting to their go-to shrieks of "PEOPLE WILL DIEEEEEEE!!!!!" 

Ironically, claims of NPR being essential to providing life-saving information (like during the Kerr County, TX flooding) was superseded by their own self interests.  

Rep. Roy: “When the floods were hitting the people that I represent, it took NPR through Texas Public Radio 19 hours to post anything about the flooding on its social media.

What was NPR and TPR doing in the interim? They were playing a program, a DC based program, lobbying… pic.twitter.com/IyZYPFq5SS

— Rep. Chip Roy Press Office (@RepChipRoy) July 17, 2025

Uri Berliner, who was an NPR employee for 2+ decades before being suspended (he eventually resigned) for calling out the company's blatant leftwing bias last year, flat out claimed the organization did this to themselves. 

Once fairly evenly divided between liberals, moderates, and conservatives, NPR’s news audience shifted sharply to the left. And by 2023, liberals outnumbered conservatives more than six to one. True to the tote bag cliché, NPR became an accessory for Whole Foods shoppers. Which is sad, because in another era, NPR, and public radio more broadly, developed some of the most creative and entertaining programming anywhere, from Car Talk to This American Life, Planet Money, Radiolab and A Prairie Home Companion.

Thanks in part to this ideological transformation, NPR botched major stories—and damaged its bond with the American people.

To name a couple of prominent examples: It repeatedly insisted that the lab leak theory of Covid had been debunked and it refused to cover Hunter Biden’s laptop. NPR’s reporting on the most contentious issues of the day—climate change, youth gender medicine, and the war in Gaza—leaned on moralizing and emotional certitude more than on rigorous factual analysis.

Embracing the mantras of the Great Awokening, NPR became a caricature of itself with headlines like these:

• Microfeminism: The Next Big Thing in Fighting the Patriarchy
• Which Skin Color Emoji Should You Use? The Answer Can Be More Complex than You Think
• Black Women’s Groups Find Health and Healing on Hikes, But Sometimes Racism, Too
• Bringing Diversity to Maine’s Nearly All-White Lobster Fleet
• Diet Culture Can Hurt Kids. This Author Advises Parents to Reclaim the Word ‘Fat’
• These Drag Artists Know How to Turn Climate Activism into a Joyful Blowout

Inside NPR, rules on the use of language reflected the direction and mindset of the organization. We were told to avoid the term biological sex, warned not to say illegal immigrant (a hurtful label). A racial punctuation hierarchy was imposed; black would be uppercase, white lowercase. NPR adopted the phrase “gender affirming care” to describe childhood medical interventions that can mean sterilization and the surgical removal of genitals. These were not merely style choices. They were tribal signals, ideological markers.

NPR could have addressed these failings. I wrote my essay because I hoped the network might rediscover the values on which its success had been built. NPR could have regained some equilibrium, reclaimed a smidgen of independence, by copping to this reality even a little. It could have taken some visible steps back to the journalism gold standard of neutral impartiality. And it could have done all this prior to Trump’s reelection, so it wouldn’t look like NPR was caving to pressure from his administration.

But NPR did none of these things.

And then there's NPR CEO Katherine Maher, who decries such things as that pesky First Amendment and abject truth as getting in the way of things they like to do. 

EXCLUSIVE: Katherine Maher says the "the number one challenge" in her fight against disinformation is "the First Amendment in the United States," which makes it "a little bit tricky" to censor "bad information" and "the influence peddlers" who spread it.

NPR's censor-in-chief. pic.twitter.com/0vY6hIpbmO

— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@realchrisrufo) April 17, 2024

NPR’s far-left CEO Katherine Maher: "Our reverence for the truth might be a distraction that’s getting in the way of finding common ground and getting things done." pic.twitter.com/yuFCKBjzjT

— Ben Kew (@ben_kew) April 17, 2024

Imagine being the beneficiary of American citizens' hard earned money and then decrying perhaps the most valuable civil liberty they possess. There's no amount of spin that is going to convince me that this was not the absolute correct decision. 

One final thought: There's a lot of sorrow being expressed over public media jobs potentially being lost and how that will adversely affect many employees and their families. So people who support the defunding of public media are being lectured that there's a real human element to which we should be sympathetic. But when then presidential candidate Joe Biden touted environmental initiatives which would inevitably lead to job losses in the fossil fuel industries? 

FLASHBACK to 2019 when Joe Biden told coal miners to learn to code.

“Anybody who can throw coal into a furnace can learn how to program, for God’s sake!” pic.twitter.com/kAkMlr4ICN

— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) November 7, 2022

I guess not all employment losses are created equal. 

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We've seen this movie before

In 2014, Minnesota Republicans nominated Jeff Johnson to oppose vulnerable incumbent Gov. Mark Dayton in an election cycle favorable to the GOP nationwide. And while Republicans did indeed fare well across the country, Minnesota was once again immune to that success with Johnson losing by about 5.5%. So it made no sense to run Johnson again in 2018 when the environment was unfavorable to Republicans nationwide, given it was the first midterm during the administration of an unpopular GOP President in Donald Trump. Sure enough, Johnson was soundly defeated by first time DFL gubernatorial candidate Tim Walz, who prevailed by more than 11 points. 

In 2022, the MNGOP nominated Dr. Scott Jensen to oppose vulnerable incumbent Gov. Walz in an election cycle that was once favorable to the GOP but later impacted by the July 2022 SCOTUS decision overturning Roe v. Wade. And while Republicans took back the majority in the U.S. House, Minnesota was once again immune to any GOP success with Jensen losing by about 7.5%. Of all the statewide races in Minnesota that year (i.e. Governor, Atty General, Sec. of State and Auditor), Jensen garnered the least amount of votes. Given all that (in addition to 2026 likely being a difficult year for Republicans due to it being the second midterm in Trump's presidency), Jensen would most assuredly recognize it's a fool's errand to run for MN governor again, right? Right?? RIGHT?!?!?!?

Today, Dr. Scott Jensen officially announced his candidacy for Governor of Minnesota, pledging to restore the values, safety, and opportunity that once made Minnesota a national model for prosperity and fairness.

“Minnesotans want their state back,” said Jensen. “We remember the days when our communities were safe, our schools were strong, and our leaders put people—not politics—first. That’s the Minnesota we’re going to fight to bring back.”

As I write this, Kendall Qualls is the only other big name vying for the GOP nomination for MN governor. And despite the fact Jensen was well funded in his 2022 gubernatorial run and had built up a solid national profile, Qualls proved very formidable at the endorsing convention that year. Ultimately Jensen was endorsed but it was clear we hadn't heard the last of Qualls. That's not to say that Qualls has some magic elixir to overcome a bad environment for Republicans this next cycle, but I would submit to you that a Jensen candidacy in '26 would be D.O.A. Which means there's a nonzero chance MNGOP delegates will once again give him the nod. 

I guess we're going to do that same thing over and over again, yet expect a different result. 

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What now, progs?

It was barely more than a month into President Donald Trump's second term when he and Vice President JD Vance had the high profile spat with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Oval Office. 

In the aftermath, many progs and anti-Trump Republicans shouted from the hilltops how they stand with Ukraine. This wasn't necessarily done out of any principled stance as much as it was their instinct to advocate for whatever Trump appears to oppose. That's axiomatic. In fact, I still see a lotta the "I Stand with Ukraine" ribbons on their social media profile pics. 

With all that said, I'd be curious to know how many of those sentiments are still being proudly displayed by the Trump haters given recent developments. 

Trump announced Monday that, under a new arrangement, NATO would buy American weapons and pass them on to Kyiv, amounting to billions of dollars in new matériel. Trump said new Patriot batteries could reach Ukraine in days.

Trump also announced his intention to impose new tariffs if there is no cease-fire within the next 50 days, although the details are vague, and he’s made these kinds of threats before.

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick later said the U.S. could choose to impose either additional tariffs on Russia itself, or sanctions on countries that do business with Russia. The direct tariffs would have minimal effect, but the so-called secondary sanctions could have real bite.

In Monday’s remarks, the president sounded like a man exasperated that he’s put one good offer after another on the table for months, only to watch Putin turn his nose up at every potential deal, and had repeated seemingly constructive phone calls with Putin followed up immediately by Russian barrages against Ukrainian cities.

Soooo.......Trump stands with Ukraine???? He now has the chance to do the funniest thing ever by adding that graphic to his Truth Social profile pic. 

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Inauspicious beginning for Nicole Mitchell (UPDATE: Mitchell *will* take the stand)

After multiple delays, the burglary trial for Minnesota State Sen. Nicole Mitchell (DFL-Woodbury) began this week.

Here is an excerpt of Becker County Attorney Brian McDonald's damning opening statement: 

 

WATCH: Becker County Attorney Brian McDonald delivers his opening statement in Sen. Nicole Mitchell's trial: "'I know I did something bad' ... I ask that you specifically remember those words throughout this trial." pic.twitter.com/BijyQJlXY4

— Alpha News (@AlphaNewsMN) July 15, 2025

On day two. jurors were able to view law enforcement's bodycam footage from that fateful early morning. 

JUST IN: Newly released bodycam footage shows the moment police arrested MN Senator Nicole Mitchell (D) for first-degree burglary charges.https://t.co/8DyuTai6FJ https://t.co/d8aaMj6pSR

— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) July 15, 2025

Upon being read her Miranda rights in the back of a squad car, Sen. Nicole Mitchell (D) states “I know I did something bad.”

OMG. pic.twitter.com/stDRVRhOPm

— Dustin Grage (@GrageDustin) July 15, 2025

Carol knew Nicole Mitchell’s political career was cooked. ☠️ 😂pic.twitter.com/14ubXNXy7e

— Dustin Grage (@GrageDustin) July 15, 2025

If you listen to Mitchell's own words upon her arrest and while she was being detained, it contradicts the initial public statement she made after being released on bail. 

In that statement, Mitchell spins a yarn as if she's merely checking on a sickly relative (in this case, her stepmother Carol) and that her showing up in the wee hours of the morning startled her stepmom. Just a simple misunderstanding, right? Well, I gotta tell ya that I too would be "startled" if someone attempted to enter my home through a basement window with the use of a crowbar while dressed in all black. Add to that Mitchell saying she arrived at the home to retrieve some of her late father's belongings. So if she denies being there to steal something, was she planning on waking up Carol upon gathering what she sought? 

I'm gonna go out on a short sturdy limb and suggest that Mitchell's attorneys are strongly encouraging her to not take the stand in her own defense (UPDATE: Mitchell will indeed take the stand on Thursday). 

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Box Score of the Week

It's All-Star week! 

Let's check out the 2007 MLB All-Star Game from then AT&T Park (now Oracle Park) in San Francisco. 

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Seattle's Ichiro Suzuki hits the first (and thus far only) inside-the-park home run in MLB All-Star Game history.

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The NARN Closer's playlist - 7/13/2025

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Nowhere is there warmth to be found among those afraid of losing their ground.....

Yet another insanely busy show on tap for today's edition of The Closer. The 2-hour extravaganza will get started at 1:00 PM Central Time. 

In the first hour I'll weigh in on several Minnesota stories, including the Minnesota DHS utilizing discriminatory hiring practices. Also, preparation for Tim Walz's pathetic testimony before Congress last month cost Minnesota taxpayers nearly half a million dollars. 

In the 2:00 hour, I'll discuss several stories discussing how "progressives" are more unhinged than ever. Finally, I may be the only person in the U.S. not obsessed with the Jeffrey Epstein saga over the past several years, but I will give the latest news a cursory mention. 

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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Legalizing racism

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 is pretty unambiguous: 

Title VII prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex and national origin.

Apparently the Minnesota Dept of Human Services didn't get that memo. 

 

According to DHS documents, the agency is updating its “Hiring Justification” policy which requires DHS to justify whenever it hires a “non-underrepresented candidate” for a job where “underrepresentation” is said to exist.

Alpha News first reported this week on a DHS memo which describes how the agency’s policy on this matter will be updated in August. The memo details how DHS will handle so-called “hiring justifications.”

“Hiring supervisors must provide a hiring justification when seeking to hire a non-underrepresented candidate when hiring for a vacancy in a job category with underrepresentation,” the memo says. “Hiring justifications must be submitted to and approved by DHS Equal Opportunity and Access Division (EOAD) prior to an offer of employment being made.”

According to the memo, “underrepresented” means the representation of “one or more protected groups” is below the group’s availability. The memo defines “protected group(s)” as “females, persons with disabilities, and members of the following minorities: Black, Hispanic, Asian or Pacific Islander, and American Indian or Alaskan native.”

The memo also includes a reminder about failure to comply with state policies: “Employees may be subject to disciplinary action, up to and including termination, for failure to comply with policies.”

I fully recognize that "underrepresented" groups were regularly denied opportunities, even after the Civil Rights Act was passed. No question there were gross injustices. But I fail to see how using those same tactics today against whitey can be rationally viewed as "equal." I'd also venture to say that a good number of folks who benefit from such discrimination (yes, these hiring practices are discriminatory) may not be all that thrilled they didn't necessarily receive their job on merit (at least I hope that sort of pride still exists). 

Now that this has received nationwide attention, it's a pretty safe be there will be lawyers....like the Asst. Attorney General of the United States. 

Not legal. FA… https://t.co/K9Gg8srXeu

— Harmeet K. Dhillon (@HarmeetKDhillon) July 9, 2025

Yet another area where my home state continues to make national headlines for all the wrong reasons. 

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The progs are not alright

Look, it's pretty obvious to me why leftists claim speech (specifically "right wing speech") is violence or continually cite the events of 1/6/2021 as the worst attack in the history of the republic or declare white supremacy (which is their code for anyone right of center) as the number one domestic terror threat. It's because, as my friend and NARN colleague Mitch Berg has stated ad nauseum, it's to draw attention away from their own misdeeds. 

If progs are able to convince enough people that anyone with a conservative worldview is a grand threat to our democracy, then they can justify the violence in which they regularly engage. The things is, they no longer wanna go it alone. They're now demanding that Democrat elected officials enter the fray. 

Axios spoke to several House Democrats who didn't want their names on the record. 

 

The grassroots wants more. "Some of them have suggested ... what we really need to do is be willing to get shot" when visiting ICE facilities or federal agencies, a third House Democrat told Axios.

• "Our own base is telling us that what we're doing is not good enough ... [that] there needs to be blood to grab the attention of the press and the public," the lawmaker said.
• A fourth House Democrat said constituents have told them "civility isn't working" and to prepare for "violence ... to fight to protect our democracy."
• A fifth House Democrat told Axios that "people online have sent me crazy s*** ... told me to storm the White House and stuff like that," though they added that "there's always people on the internet saying crazy stuff."

I would gather the vast majority of the people calling for violence are avowed atheists (aka secular progressives). If so, folks who subscribe to that worldview have resigned themselves to believing that what we have in this world is all there is. And given there's literally a finite amount of time remaining in life, it's no secret why they're willing to die for something so temporal. I'm equal parts saddened and repulsed by such a mindset. 

Here's a question I have for elected Democrats: have you considered the possibility that your hyperbolic rhetoric about President Trump's second term may have caused already mentally fragile individuals to call for a violent insurrection? Just go back to the 2024 campaign and listen to the speeches given by Dem candidates (including their POTUS and VPOTUS candidates) and how fatalistic they considered a potential second Trump term. Heck, even after Trump assumed office they were still accusing Republicans of being fascists. Now, if a mentally unstable person takes such verbiage to heart, they convince themselves there's no voting their way out of that. So these House Democrats who conveyed their shock in that Axios piece should really examine their potential role in radicalizing these people. 

Again, I've consistently said that the only people culpable for violent acts are the perpetrators themselves. But it's analogous to someone getting mugged in a bad neighborhood while walking through it late at night. The muggers are the only bad guys in that situation, but it's clear the victim should have exercised discretion. It's not nearly as much of a stretch to say that Dem politicians may have triggered violent tendencies in their supporters as it is to suggest a former Republican VP candidate putting a crosshair symbol on the map of a U.S. House District resulted in a Congresswoman getting shot. 

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Quick Hits: Volume CCCLXXVII

 - In the aftermath of the mid-June shootings of Minnesota legislators, I was heartened to hear elected officials of both parties strike a more unifying tone as well as make vows to tamp down divisive rhetoric. That's not to say this was due to heated words setting off the maniacal gunman as much as it was acknowledging how life can be fleeting, so we shouldn't waste it on personal animosities. 

But as I said on my most recent Sunday broadcast, I'm too much of a cynic to believe the left will sustain this newfound unity. Specifically, speaking out against any leftist policy prescriptions in reaction to this tragedy may be ginned up as dishonoring the memory of Melissa and Mark Hortman. 

You're up, Gov. Walz. 

Walz clarified that he’s not proposing legislation to limit guns at the Capitol, just that he’s putting “it out there.”

“No one is talking about taking your guns away,” Walz said.

“Just leave it in your car if you’re going to come in this building. We do that in other businesses. I don’t understand it — why you would need that.”

Literally dozens of state legislators and employees have been carrying for years with nary an incident. But if suddenly word gets out that Capitol carry is no longer allowed, that sure as heck doesn't make that environment more safe (DUH!).

Once again, progs are hellbent on not letting a good crisis go to waste. 

- Sen. John Hoffman (DFL-Champlin), who was seriously wounded in that mid-June shooting spree, is progressing well. 

Here's an update on his condition.  

Now here’s a picture MN can celebrate. State Senator John Hoffman discharged from ICU today after being shot numerous times during assassination attempt. His family tells me he’s moving to a rehab facility and still has a long road ahead. ⁦@kare11⁩ pic.twitter.com/rugIIiUnxQ

— A.J. Lagoe (@AJInvestigates) July 7, 2025

I normally rue the opening of the Minnesota legislative session. However, I can honestly say I'm looking forward to the thunderous ovations Sen. Hoffman receives upon his return to the Senate floor in January. He's earned it. 

- I've been on record as saying I'm not a fan of "cancel culture" for the simple reason that it shows a stunning lack of grace. For example, adults who've said some wildly objectionable things on Twitter when they were teenagers are dragged through the mud upon those tweets being dredged up. The implication being their youthful indiscretions automatically reflect the person they are today. 

But getting nuked from your job for wishing death on people whom you believe voted for the wrong political candidate?  That ain't cancel culture. 

A pediatrician has been fired over a vile post suggesting that the more than 80 killed in the horrific Texas floods — including dozens of kids — were President Trump supporters who got “what they voted for.”

Dr. Christina B. Propst drew widespread scorn following the disparaging, since-deleted post under her old Facebook username, Chris Tina, according to Mediaite.

“May all visitors, children, non-MAGA voters and pets be safe and dry,” Probst wrote in the now-viral post.

“Kerr County MAGA voted to gut FEMA. They deny climate change. May they get what they voted for. Bless their hearts.”

The Facebook post quickly went viral after a screenshot was shared by Libs of TikTok.

Dr. Propst's now former employer released the following statement: 

This past weekend, we were made aware of a social media comment from one of our physicians. The individual is no longer employed by Blue Fish Pediatrics.

As we previously mentioned in our original statement, we strongly condemn the comments that were made in that post. That post does not reflect the values, standards, or mission of Blue Fish Pediatrics. We do not support or condone any statement that politicizes tragedy, diminishes human dignity, or fails to clearly uphold compassion for every child and family, regardless of background or beliefs.

We continue to extend our full support to the families and the surrounding communities who are grieving, recovering, and searching for hope.

Since this Dr. Propst medically treats children, it's a safe bet that a good number of her patients' parents support President Trump. So why on earth would anyone bring their kids to see a physician who expresses such disdain for their beliefs?  

In the end, this was a wise business decision. 

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Box Score of the Week

Boston Braves at Pittsburgh Pirates - July 18, 1948.

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Pittsburgh's Ralph Kiner hit his 300th career home run in this his 1,087th MLB game. That was a longstanding record for fastest to hit 300 HR's until the Yankees' Aaron Judge reached that mark last year in his 955th career game. 

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The NARN Closer's playlist - 7/6/2025

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If it was time to put in work, would you be down to ride?

Hard to believe we're officially more than halfway through 2025. As usual, there's a lot to get to on today's edition of my radio show The Closer. The 2-hour broadcast gets started at 1:00 PM Central Time. 

I'll talk some Minnesota stuff in the first hour, specifically elected officials striking a conciliatory tone in the aftermath of laying former colleague Melissa Hortman to rest. Also, is Gov. Tim Walz seriously considering not seeking a third term?

Then in the second hour I will weigh in on the passage of President Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Wait, signing legislation passed by duly elected members of Congress??? Huh. I thought Kings did everything unilaterally. 

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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Happy 249th, America!

It's been well documented on this site as well as on my weekly radio show the issues I have with Donald Trump. And given the potential destruction this country could face due to questionable provisions in the recently signed into law One Big Beautiful Bill Act, I will certainly not be shy in sharing my genuine concerns. 

All that said, America really dodged the proverbial bullet by not electing Kamala Harris to be President of the United States. There are myriad reasons we should express relief in Trump prevailing over Harris this past November, if for no other reason that next year's Sesquitennial will not be blatant display of crapping all over the country. 

Erick Erickson ponders what might have been. And it is frightening.

Were Ms. Harris the President next year and progressives in charge, we would be forced to hear sob stories of the founding white slave owners while being forced to celebrate the transgender amputee midget people of color whose sacrifices made victory possible. Instead of praise for Jefferson, Washington Madison, Hamilton, Adams, and Franklin we’d all have to sit through insufferable lectures about the non-Jewish people of color and lesbians who built this country and how white people ruined it all.

Every one of you knows this is true.

Look, I'm not suggesting that we should ignore the undeniable blemishes of America's history. However, if you listen to prog elected officials and their supporters, they would have you believe that we're no better off than life in the Jim Crow era. Deep down I'm not convinced they really believe that, rather it's a chanting point they put forward in hopes that their fellow Americans are, at best, woefully ignorant or at worst flat out stupid. 

Anyhow, I was 7 years old when the Bicentennial occurred in 1976. I certainly didn't have a deep appreciation for the true meaning of Independence Day then, but I certainly do now. 

Man, what a party it's gonna be next year!

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Tim's up?

We're a mere 16 months from Election Day for the 2026 cycle, yet Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz has yet to make an official announcement on whether he'll seek a third term. 

Given the DFL overreach in the 2023 and 2024 legislative sessions combined with Walz's (to be charitable) uneven performance as the Veep candidate last year, it's no surprise that more Minnesotans than not don't even want him to run again. 

This has been a recurring theme on the Northern Alliance Radio Network the past few months, specifically with guest co-hosts Kelly Gunderson and Andrew Richter both predicting Walz will indeed not run in '26. But this past Sunday, Andrew took it a step further by saying that former MN Congressman Dean Phillips will ultimately be the DFL candidate for governor despite the likelihood he won't be endorsed by the party's delegates at their convention next year. 

So if Walz declines to seek a third gubernatorial term, then what? Despite obtaining national notoriety over the past couple of years, he's barely registering a percentage point among 2028 Democrat hopefuls for President. 

Regardless of who is the DFL candidate for guv next year, I'm not terribly optimistic that the Republicans can capitalize on what should be a golden opportunity. 

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