Fraters Libertas

"Both of them have high opinions of themselves and think they are real smart"

When I first heard that the Star Tribune was going to run a front page story in Sunday's paper on two prominent local brothers, one a serious, well respected, responsible pillar of the community who also happens to be a very active Republican and the other an irreverent, gambling, smart assed, arrogant blowhard who spent a few tumultuous years in Boston I thought that finally JB Doubtless and myself would be getting the recognition that we so richly deserve.

But when I cracked open yesterday's edition I was disappointed to see that said article concerned the Rosenbaum brothers, Jim the chief justice of federal courts in Minnesota and Ron a lawyer and horrendously bad talk radio host. I was not disappointed however to see Ron remain true to his daily radio form and serve up a hackneyed cliché right out of the chute:

"He did everything conventionally while I was tilting at windmills," Ron said.

And as is usually the case the older, wiser brother had a much better quote for posterity:

Working in a housing project might seem an odd fit for a lifelong Republican such as Jim, who ran U.S. Sen. Rudy Boschwitz's winning 1978 campaign. But as Jim said before being named to the bench in 1985:

"Being a Republican is not necessarily synonymous with asshole."

On another fraternal front I am happy to report that intensive negotiations are underway to have Two Brothers Brewing Company of Warrenville, IL become an official sponsor of Fraters Libertas. Two Brothers produces only the finest quality hand crafted beers just as we here at Fraters Libertas only produce the finest quality hand crafted writing (in fact Atomizer's drafts are often scrawled in crayon-Burnt Sienna if I'm not mistaken). The only holdup at this point appears to be our demands for scads of free beer in exchange for a guaranteed seventeen advertising hits per month for Two Brothers. We'll keep you updated as developments warrant. Until then drink Two Brothers, read Fraters Libertas, and keep blood between brothers.