Fraters Libertas

The Fraters Libertas Welcome Wagon

David drops us an e-mail begging for a Fisking of a certain Star Tribune columnist who he feels has had it coming for a long time (look for it later this week), and thanks us for preparing him for his eventual relocation:

I've been reading Fraters daily for several months now and I especially enjoy the fisking of local columnists, even though I'm from Pittsburgh and I have no clue who most of these people in MN are. For about a dozen years now, I have had an extracurricular interest in Minnesota politics. When Rush Limbaugh's first book came out, I sent a copy to a cousin in St. Paul as a Christmas gift. I should have vetted him before doing that. In the first place, he had never heard of Limbaugh, so his wife had to explain it to him. Once he understood what I had foisted on him, he treated the book like a hunk of rancid gorgonzola. Fortunately he had one conservative friend who could appreciate the gift. Cousin, being a forthright sort of fellow, then phoned me to explain what he had done with the book and why. In making me aware of his political leanings, he identified himself as DFL. His words "Democrat Farmer Labor" were immediately followed by "Communist" in a near-whisper. It took me about three seconds to realize that he was not joking.

The City of Pittsburgh is bankrupt, though it has not quite reached that "last one out turn off the lights" stage of decline. I long ago decided, and have since convinced my wife, that Minnesota is the place to go when and if we ever pack our bags. At least I know what I would be getting myself into -- forewarned really is forearmed.

Come and listen to a story about a man named Dave
Living in Pittsburgh, a city no one could save,
Then one day he was surfin' on the net,
And up popped a blog where the bar was highly set.

Fraters that is, colorful prose, witty wordsmiths.

Well the first thing you know ol Dave's more aware,
Kinfolk said "Dave move away from there"
Said "Upper Midwest is the place you ought to be"
So they loaded up the truck and moved to Minny.

'Sota, that is. Hockey rinks, radio stars.