Capitol View: May 12, 2006 Archive

This weekend

Posted at 8:35 AM on May 12, 2006 by Bob Collins (1 Comments)

If you're live blogging this weekend, send me an e-mail and I'll create a directory here.

6th District

Friday miscellany (open thread)

Posted at 9:01 AM on May 12, 2006 by Bob Collins (7 Comments)

Rep. Mark Kennedy is out with a challenge to Amy Klobuchar today. Kennedy is promising not to accept pay for any day he's not able to vote in Washington. The challenge to Klobuchar is for her not to accept pay whenever she's not at the courthouse because of the campaign.

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OK, you have to admit, this is pretty funny. DFL Senate noted this picture adorning the front of the Kennedy for Senate campaign.

Look closer...

What the heck is that? An extra arm (DFL Senate suggests)? It appears to be holding the fish properly. Whose arm is that? What's weird is the skin tone on the, umm... top arm... matches the guy's left arm and face. The ...err... "lower arm" is a darker tone, almost as if it were in the shadows. But if you look at the fish casting a shadow on the shirt, it's obvious the arm couldn't be in the shadows.
One arm is casting a shadow on the shirt, but the other one isn't.

Also, check out the shadow of the fix on the shirt and compare it to the position of the actual fish. The head is lower, indicate the sun high enough on the horizon to cast a downward shadow. The shadow of the tail, however, is even with the tail of the actual fish.

My theory: this is a legitimate picture of a fish that had just eaten a human. Only the poor victim's arm was left.

This is why I don't fish. Too dangerous.

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By the way, if you want to see some terrific pictures, check out Minnesota Democrats Exposed. You have to love the guy. He's on vacation, but still blogging. That's dedication. Nice pix.

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National Journal has a phrase I hadn't heard before: "Republican fatigue." It's uttered in this week's cover story, "How Republicans can get their groove back."

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The stadium conference committee began its work this morning. As far as commentary, Morning Edition had one this morning on "chronic stadium fatigue syndrome." Yesterday, by the way, Wurz talked with former House Speaker Dee Long about the conference committee process.

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Laura McCallum is pulling a piece together for All Things Considered tonight on the various plays politicians are drawing up regarding high gas prices. On the one hand, this is apparently a big political issue to folks. On the other hand, I once again got blown off the road by just about everyone as I drove home at 55 mph last night. Are people really interested in lower gas prices? Slowing down and using less of it is widely considered the best way to accomplish it, and yet clearly nobody is doing that. How that fact does or doesn't lead to a charged-up electorate, I obviously don't know; nothing about the gas price debate makes sense to me.

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The Fix at the Washington Post has the latest update of tight races. Guess which one is in there?

6. Minnesota -- OPEN Rep. Mark Kennedy continues to represent Republicans' best chance at a pick-up this cycle, but his road is not an easy one. Hennepin County Attorney Amy Klobuchar (D) cleared the primary field with remarkable ease over the past six months and has performed admirably on the fundraising front -- raising more than $3.7 million by the end of March. Klobuchar campaign pollster Anna Greenberg released a survey this week that showed her candidate with a 50 percent to 42 percent lead over Kennedy. More interesting than the head-to-head number, however, was that 66 percent of the sample said the state was on the wrong track and 58 percent voiced disapproval of the job President Bush is doing. Since the numbers were provided by Klobuchar's pollster, we take them with a grain of salt. But if Greenberg's numbers are anywhere close to where public sentiment actually lies, it will be extremely difficult for Kennedy to win. (Previous ranking: 5)

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People have looked at me funny over the last two years when I mentioned a civil war in this country isn't far-fetched. I view it as a bipartisan affair. A Weekly Standard article recently took apart a Harvard professor who seemed to lay it all at the feet of Republicans, something the Weekly Standard rightly criticized. So think about it: what makes the United State immune to civil war?

The Standard offers an intriguing answer:

Most Americans maintain an attitude towards politics that is best described as benign indifference. Even when the Bush-Gore battle hung in the balance, concerned partisans did not take to the streets in significant numbers. When the Supreme Court put an end to that struggle, there were some delirious Republicans and some despondent Democrats. But most of America shrugged its shoulders and began looking forward to the second season of Survivor.

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It's his finger

Posted at 2:25 PM on May 12, 2006 by Bob Collins (19 Comments)

Kennedy press boss Heidi Frederickson sends an e-mail. The mystery arm is the fisherman's finger.

I've attached several pictures below and there will be more e-mails that follow with additional pictures. The picture on your blog has not been doctored/photoshoped in any way shape or form. I was in the boat when he caught the fish, yes he really caught the fish - it was not in a live-well, caught by anyone else, etc. I was the one who took the pictures.

If you look closely and look at the additional photos and how Kennedy is holding the fish you'll notice that 'thing' is his finger. While I understand the idea of a "doctored" photo is much more amusing to some than others, it was really disappointing to see something completely false and misleading on your blog... again.

A simple phone call could have prevented all of this - I hope you will consider that in the future. My cell is xxx-xxx-xxxx if you ever need to reach me.

Here's the pictures:

Here's the close-up of the finger.

That's definitely a knuckle.

For the record, I continue to believe the picture is real. I'm rethinking the notion that it's eaten a human, however.

Still too dangerous. And I need someone to bait the hook.

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Time-wasters

Posted at 2:56 PM on May 12, 2006 by Bob Collins

Speaking of Photoshopping -- or not -- there's actually a site we discovered today that specializes in contests to see who can doctor photographs the best. This is not for amateurs. These folks are good.

My favorites:

And one from the Democrat side (in case you're keeping score):

Here's the political drag category.

Inside EMILY'S list

Posted at 3:37 PM on May 12, 2006 by Bob Collins

CQ reporter Greg Giroux reveals what really happened at EMILY'S list luncheon yesterday. The "k" word , and the other "k" word are both mentioned, though not particularly prominently.

If it's Friday...

Posted at 3:46 PM on May 12, 2006 by Bob Collins

... then Monday must be coming.

Sen. Mark Dayton is on Midday at 11.

At 9, Tamar Jacoby is on Midmorning. She is also the author of "Reinventing the Melting Pot: The New Immigrants and What It Means To Be American."

At 10, former Sen. Dave Durenberger is on Midmorning.

Here's a question. Suppose Durenberger jumped back into electoral politics. How do you think he'd do?

Lost amid the fish hysterics

Posted at 4:46 PM on May 12, 2006 by Bob Collins (5 Comments)

...is the fact Minnesota is one of 9 states that could lose federal funding for education because it didn't make enough effort to comply with teacher standards.

According to an AP article, "The 4-year-old No Child Left Behind law says teachers must have a bachelor's degree, a state license and proven competency in every subject they teach by this year. The first federal order of its kind, it applies to teachers of math, history and many other core class."

Guess how many states have a qualified teacher in every core curriculum?

None.

The Education Department on Friday ordered every state to explain how it will have 100 percent of its core teachers qualified - belatedly - in the 2006-07 school year.

In the meantime, some states face the loss of federal aid because they didn't make enough effort to comply on time, officials said.

They are Alaska, Delaware, Idaho, Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, North Carolina and Washington, plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.


"At some point there was, I suspect, a little bit of notion that 'This too shall pass,"' said Henry Johnson, the assistant secretary over elementary and secondary education. "Well, the day of reckoning is here, and it's not going to pass."


Department officials would not say how much aid could be withheld from states to force compliance. But Johnson said, "In some cases, we're talking about large amounts of money."


States often fell short because they did not report accurate or complete data about the quality of the teacher corps, said Rene Islas, who oversees the department's review.

The 4-year-old No Child Left Behind law says teachers must have a bachelor's degree, a state license and proven competency in every subject they teach by this year. The first federal order of its kind, it applies to teachers of math, history and any other core class.


In grading the states, the department found that 29 have made substantial progress. They must improve but do not face looming sanctions.

I'm guessing this is going to be a huge issue in the campaign since there are quite a few candidates who bristle under the notion of the "submit or die" nature of the law.

This'll be interesting. An actual, you know, issue.

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Huh?

Posted at 5:10 PM on May 12, 2006 by Bob Collins (2 Comments)

You know that AFLAC commercial where Yogi Berra is in the barber's chair and the duck shakes his head because of the utter confusion of Yogi's comments?

Well, ummm...yeah.

The only thing missing is the duck.

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No easy path for Ellison

Posted at 10:20 PM on May 12, 2006 by Bob Collins (1 Comments)

Minnesota Democrats Exposed has been working over DFL endorsee Keith Ellison (5th Congressional District), specifically his relationship with Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan. Of course,anytime you're talking about Farrakhan, you're talking about the relationship between Jews and African Americans. It's one of the more hotly-commented blog postings I've seen in months with lots of archived Star Tribune material and allegations of race baiting. It's bare-knuckle stuff.

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