A Busy Week in Lake Woebegone

It seems Garrison Keillor's blend of art and politics hasn't been limited to his antics at Orchestra Hall last Sunday. Rudimentary research reveals appearances by the gentle bard of the prairie these past few weeks in Virginia, Michigan, Washington, Illinois, and all over Minnesota.

The purpose of Keillor's visits are often times ambiguous. According to his Illinois sponsors:

He's very popular and I think this is a good opportunity, not to mention a good price, to see him," Arts & Issues series Coordinator John P. Peecher said. "With Garrison Keillor around, the topic he chooses to talk about is usually unpredictable."

Yes, when Garrison come to town, you never know if it will be Swedes or Norwegians who'll be feeling the sting of his witty barbs! Actually, for anyone who's been exposed to Keillor recently, his shtick is entirely predictable. Reported quotes from his recent appearances include:

"These people [Republicans] have done terrible damage to the country," he said. "What we believe in is just some kind of restoration of decency in this country."

and ...

He called the military commissions act passed by Congress this week "horrible" legislation that "essentially legalizes torture and suspends habeas corpus for non-Americans." The law, he predicted, will be struck down by the Supreme Court.

"You can't get away with violating basic human rights in a civilized country," Keillor said to applause from the Town Hall audience.

and ...

"The Republican Congress has marched in lockstep and has not raised a single peep of protest about the convoluted intelligence that got us into this elective war in Iraq," he said. "They have put party loyalty above independent thinking and the principles of the United States."

Although unannounced at most of his appearances, the St. Cloud Times appears to have the facts on the motivation for Keillor's recent travels:

Keillor, who has been touring the country on behalf of Democratic candidates, made the crowd laugh with his stories but got them cheering with his criticism of the Republican-controlled federal government.

As I learned myself last week, patrons of the arts and charity events should be aware any time they see a performance touched by this man, the Democratic Party approves of his message.

Listeners and funders of NPR/MPR should be similarly wary. Given the millions in tax dollars those outlets receive, I guess that means all of us.

Just how much does Keillor make from "public' radio"? Not even members of the legislature are sure, because MPR refuses to say. Rep. Marty Seifert has been waging a one man truth squad effort on the public's behalf to find out exactly where the state subsidies might be going. His sponsored legislation recently revealed:

MPR leader Bill Kling makes more than $550,000 in combined pay from MPR and a subsidiary, Public Radio International.The newest list released by MPR shows figures of 16 employees who made more than $100,000 in 2005 -- with salaries ranging from $100,946 to $146,156.

Gack! And even those gross expenditures leave out some even grosser ones:

[Seifert] said MPR is still not in compliance with the new law, which required disclosure of 2006 salaries for regular employees, plus the disclosure of pay to "contracted? MPR workers like "A Prairie Home Companion" host Garrison Keillor. "MPR needs to give us (Keillor's pay)," Seifert said.

Which MPR disputes, since the public's right to know about public radio expenditures apparently only goes so far:

[MPR spokeswoman Jennifer Johnson] also wanted to dispute what she saw as attempts by Seifert to link famous radio host Garrison Keillor to MPR. Keillor is not an employee of MPR nor under contract, so his pay would not be subject to the disclosure law, Johnson said.

Given the obscene amount of discretionary income he has available for campaign donations, I'm guessing he's not on MPR on a volunteer basis. Unfortunately we're all now getting what we paid for.