Fraters Libertas Reveals New Logo

The moment you have been waiting for has arrived! Fraters Libertas is proud to reveal our new earth-shattering logo*!

* The Fraters Libertas masthead and other graphics will remain unchanged because, frankly, Derek Brigham's graphics are way, way, better than this.

Hug, Huge, Fraters Libertas News Coming Soon

Later today, Fraters Libertas is going to release some huge news. Fraters Libertas fans will be thrilled and energized by this news. Our enemies will throw themselves into the dirt, wail in agony, rend off their garments, and punch themselves repeatedly in the face when they see this announcement.

I don't want to raise expectations to unrealisitic levels, but when you see the huge Fraters Libertas announcement, you will say "Wow, that is an even more exciting announcement than I dared hope!"

Stay Tuned.

You've gotta fight, for the right

There has been some consternation among Republicans on what Christine O'Donnell's victory in the Deleware primary means. It's not often that we see the likes of the boys at PowerLine disagreeing with Rush Limbaugh.

Essentially, the PowerLiner's argument (at least Scott & Paul's) comes down to the fact that O'Donnell is a flawed candidate, and because of that she endangers the chances of the Republicans taking control of the Senate in November. Had Castle won, he would have been a less reliable conservative vote, but he would have been more reliable than the Democrat who will likely defeat the controversial O'Donnell in the race.

I want to throw my two cents in on this subject, as it is one I have struggled with as long as I have been politically aware. Now, I am firm in my belief that the O'Donnell win is a good thing for conservatives.

A lot of Republicans are sick of the spending that the Republicans in congress were happy to escalate when they were in control because they thought that the only problem with runaway spending was when the money wasn't going to their special interests.

I'd gladly see a more fiscally conservative and ideologically pure Republican party fail to take the Senate in 2010. The alternative is more of the same politics that I've seen my entire life, which would mean that in the immediate aftermath of November a slight Republican majority or small minority would thwart any major initiatives from the Obama administration. In the long term Republicans would likely retake power and continue to waste taxpayers money as they did under Bush.

I have come to the opinion that we need a fundamental change in Congress and no sacred cows can be off the table: repealing Obamacare, changes to social security, corporate and farm subsidies, military funding, and all other large budget items. We aren't going to get that with the people the mainstream Republican party was pushing.

An O'Donnell primary victory tells the Republican establishment to stop playing the same old politics and to get serious about budget reform. Such a focus will bode well for America's future, whether or not the Republicans end up with 51 Senate seats in the next congress.

Just The Facts

DFL gubernatorial candidate Mark Dayton presented his economic plan at a public meeting on Monday. Reviews from attendees include:

"Dayton offers facts and logic defending his tax plan"

"… if you value straight talk about what a candidate plans to do, based on facts and logic, DFL guv nominee Mark Dayton demonstrated again today at the Humphrey Institute that he is in a class by himself."

"… if there was an award for the most detailed and fact-based presentation by a candidate, Dayton would have won it"

What a speech for Dayton. He had the crowd enthralled, virtually eating out of his hand. Oh, the logic! The facts! The thrills going up legs! Dayton in 2010, Happy Days Are Here Again.

Not to turn the hose on the bandwagon prematurely, but these swooning endorsements weren’t exactly from a random selection of average voters. In fact, they were from, in order:

-- a headline writer for a liberal web site

-- an ex Star Tribune reporter

-- the Walter F. and Joan Mondale Chair for Political Studies and Director of the Center for the Study of Politics and Governance in the Hubert H. Humphrey Institute

Not exactly a representative sample of the general electorate. If a Democrat candidate can't get breathless praise from the Mondale Chair at the Humphrey Institute, he's really in trouble. (By the way, I love that Mondale/Humphrey branding for an academic at a government run school. It's too subtle though. Maybe amp it up with a new title and announce he sits on the Wellstone Cushion of the Mondale Chair of the Humphrey Institute.)

Alas, the thrill of Dayton's speech has proven to be short lived. On Tuesday, while the amazing facts and logic of Mark Dayton were still triumphantly ringing in the ears of adoring partisans, the MN Department of Revenue rendered its judgment on the same presentation.

A state Department of Revenue analysis of DFLer Mark Dayton’s so-called "Tax the Rich" proposal to add tax brackets for high-income earners showed Tuesday that the gubernatorial candidate’s plan would raise roughly half of what he had hoped to get to help solve Minnesota’s $6 billion budget deficit.

Suggested topic for the next Mondale Chair led seminar at the Humphrey Institute: Can a logical and factual budget that comes up roughly 50% short of its designated goal be described as either logical or factual? Discuss!

Not to worry though, the Dayton campaign has a plan B:

Katharine Tinucci, a Dayton spokesperson, said the analysis showed "that more work is needed to identify additional sources of revenues" and said the campaign was "taking suggestions" on making cuts to erase the state budget deficit.

In other words, anybody out there got some facts and logic to spare for Mark Dayton?

Size Matters?

A couple of interesting nuggets from yesterday's Wall Street Journal:

The first concerns the willingness of more and more businesses to wade into politics and spend money to protect their interests:

"Businesses have traditionally had little appetite for political risk," the Chamber's Mr. Miller said before a rally with Republican Senate candidate Rob Portman at an Ohio plant that makes upholstery for planes and cars. This has been changed, he said, by concern that Democrats in Washington are pursuing policies that will hurt business. "That threat to their businesses has brought them to the fight," he said.

One of the key points that was mostly lost in the kerfuffle over Target donating money to a group that was supporting pro-business politicians was why they would risk alienating customers in such a manner. The answer is that Target, like many businesses throughout the country, is damn worried about the direction the country is headed and what that means for their bottom line.

Another article explained how businesses (big and small) are joining together to Fight Obama's Job Plans:

Democrats hope that the small-business loan package will highlight their commitment to "Main Street" businesses. Instead, small-business owners are mobilizing this week to oppose an obscure provision in the health-care law that would require them to file a 1099 tax report for every vendor transaction valued at $600 or more. The measure, intended to recover taxes on unreported income, would create "a tremendous paperwork compliance burden," the NFIB says. Democrats have voiced similar concerns.

The Senate is expected to vote Tuesday on two measures that would scale back the reporting requirements. Both are expected to fail. On Wednesday, the Chamber of Commerce is bringing several hundred small-business owners to Capitol Hill to press lawmakers for the provision's repeal. It has sent protest letters to lawmakers signed by 3,000 business owners.

"Of all things in the health-care law, this is going to be a priority for the business community. It's not going away," said Bruce Josten, chief lobbyist at the Chamber.

Election-year efforts by the White House and Democratic lawmakers to tax multinationals to pay for small-business and other hiring initiatives have backfired, business leaders say. The Business Roundtable, which includes chiefs of U.S. multinationals, will release a study Tuesday slamming proposals that the group says ignore the interdependence of large and small businesses. The study advocates for policies that favor both large corporations and the small businesses that sell $3 billion a year in goods and services to them.

It's encouraging to see business interests resisting the efforts of Democrats to try to divide them into big (bad) and small (good) groups. The idea that you could impose punitive taxes on big businesses without having a negative impact on small businesses is ludicrous. Who supplies these big businesses anyway? Small businesses. And what is a big business really, but a small business that has enjoyed great success.

The Obama administration and Congressional Democrats need to come up with plans that are good for business writ large. There will be no true recovery for the US economy until the climate for business, all business improves.

Minnesota Voters Exposed

Even in the current political atmosphere, which is toxic for the Democrat brand, Exhibit A on why the DFL has hope in Minnesota:

Woman cited for indecent exposure at the Moorhead Walgreens

Moorhead Police say 37-year old Katherine Watson, who also uses the last name Engebretson, walked into the store around 6 last night wearing only a partial towel, thong, pasties on her breasts, and whipped cream on part of her buttocks.

Store employees say she walked in quietly off of Main Avenue and was waiting in line to buy some cans of shaving cream when police came in and escorted her outside. She was cited for indecent exposure.

“She said that she was just trying to make a statement, she wanted to draw attention to herself, which certainly she did and that she was a free thinker and that she didn't want people to conform to society's rules."

Granted, she (probably) doesn't represent a majority of Minnesota public opinion. But there are at least 312 people in Highland Park alone who consider this woman a progressive thought leader who expanded their consciences about the false limitations of society's norms. And they all voted for Al Franken.

Oh, THAT Recovery

White House Biden's Summer of Recovery Meant Construction, Not Jobs:

Vice President Biden wasn't talking about jobs when called this the "summer of recovery." He was talking about construction projects.

That's the explanation top White House economic adviser Austan Goolsbee gave when asked about the more than 280,000 jobs lost over the past three months.

"The vice president was talking about the summer of recovery in reference to the Recovery Act, that you would see the creation of a series of infrastructure and other projects ramping up over the summer," Goolsbee said on "Fox News Sunday." "And you did see that."

What, you people actually thought that economic recovery would mean jobs for YOU? No, no, no. Simple peasants. You were supposed to live (or in this case) work vicariously by watching others rebuild bridges and lay down new roads. That's what we meant by recovery.

Five for Fighting for Lunch

If you liked John Ondrasik's performance at the 2001 Concert for New York City (linked below), you'll probably love his FREE performance in St. Louis Park tomorrow afternoon. Courtesy of Cities 97:

Free Performance by Five for Fighting

John Ondrasik of Five For Fighting is Superman. He’s also Easy Tonight, 100 Years and Chances. He’s been a part of Cities 97 for more than a decade and he’s coming to say thanks for your support with a free lunchtime performance this New Music Monday, September 13th, at The Shops at West End in St. Louis Park. Come by for lunch and stay for his 12:30pm on-site Studio C performance featuring his new song Slice.

Northern Alliance Radio Network

The Northern Alliance Radio Network goes LIVE this morning at 11 AM. John Hinderaker and I return to the studio after a rare and well-deserved one week hiatus to breaking down all HOT topics of the week. On the agenda are 9/11 tributes, Koran burning (discussion, not execution, of) and the latest election news.


At 12:30 we're joined by one of the finest young reporters in Washington DC, James Hohmann of Politico. He's a Minnesota boy, now making his living in the corridors of power in the nation's capital. He'll bring us up to date on the latest machinations of Congress as we head towards the midterm election, and on the potential for an activist lame duck session.

It all starts at 11AM (central). Following us at 1 PM, Mitch Berg and Ed Morrissey with NARN 2.

The Northern Alliance Radio Network is heard locally on AM1280 the Patriot. And streaming LIVE worldwide at the web site. Call in and join the action at 651-289-4488. Don't you dare miss it.

Thru the night with a light from above

Speaking of 9/11 Tributes, my wife and I have the attended the Linden Hills 911 Tribute at the Lake Harriet Band Shell a number of times in the nine years since the attacks and have always found the program moving and poignant:

Our 9th annual concert will take place on Saturday evening September 11th 2010 at 7 p.m. at the Lake Harriet Band Shell. Please join with us in an evening of music, flag waving and reflection as we honor the memory of those who lost their lives that day. We especially want to invite parents to bring their children. They will receive an American flag to wave as they march in the parade though the aisles. There will be a couple minutes of fireworks at the end.

Here's the musical lineup:

Fanfare for the Common Man--Aaron Copland

The Star-Spangled Banner

American Kalidiscope – Carol Barnett

Symphony no. 2, finale – Howard Hanson

Armed Forces Salute – arr. Lowden

Semper Fidelis – John Phillip Sousa

America the Beautiful – Samuel Ward/Katherine Lee Bates/arr. A. Luck

Selections from The Tender Land – Aaron Copland

Stomp your foot, Laurie's Song, The Promise of Living

Let me fly – Robert DeCormier

Hymn to the Fallen – John Williams

When the saints go marching in – Gospel hymn/arr. Rutter

God Bless America – Irving Berlin/Roy Ringwald

The entire event is infused with patriotism and is a reminder of the way the country came together in response to the 9/11 attacks. We should never forget the victims of 9/11. We should also never forget that despite all of our differences, when put to the test we can still unite as Americans.

Elevation, Baby

For my money, the two most poignant 9/11 tributes, delivered in the months immediately following the atrocity by Muslim terrorists in New York.

First, from the Concert for New York City, held October 20, 2001. In this tribute concert to the cops and firemen who sacrificed so much on 9/11, headlined by the likes of McCartney, Jagger, Richards, Bowie, Bon Jovi, Billy Joel, etc., a young singer-songwriter who fortuitously had a hit record the previous summer about every day heroes, stole the show. John Ondrasik, aka Five For Fighting, with 'Superman (It's Not Easy)', the climax to the 5-hour TV broadcast, which he said during an interview on NARN last year, he delivered fighting back tears throughout. A note-perfect, soothing respite for an America in mourning:



And then the morning after. Five months past, on February 3, 2002, U2 performing at halftime of Superbowl 36 in New Orleans. Turning their 1987 ballad "Where the Street Have No Name" into a sublime tribute to the victims of 9/11. What a spectacle. The energy of the youthful, American crowd on the stadium floor. Bono racing around the stage. The names of the victims slowly crawling up the nylon screen to the sky, as if on their way to heaven. The band locked in and feeling every note. And finally, Bono miming a heart, then revealing the American flag under his jacket. It was a valentine to this besieged country from the these foreigners who happened to be the biggest band in the world. At this moment, it was clear that we're going to be all right. In fact, we cannot be stopped. In these increasingly uncertain times, something to be reminded of again.

The Not So Soft Racism of Michigan Football

Tomorrow, the University of Michigan plays Notre Dame in a highly anticipated football game. In 2004, Notre Dame came under scrutiny of the media, with accusations of institutional racism. The reason was that they had fired African American head football coach Tyrone Willingham after three poor years. His record of .583 was significantly under the school's historic average of .733, and he was dismissed. His contract was bought out according to the terms he had negotiated.

With his pride stung, Willingham met on air with ABC's John Saunders and insinuated that race may have been a factor in his dismissal. Many in the media, eager for a juicy story and unwilling to do any real work, discussed this aspect of Willingham's firing. Most missed a central question: if Notre Dame had really been racist, why did they make Willingham their head football coach in the first place? Why not just hire another white guy? Over 90% of Division 1 - BCS Division (college's highest division for football) at the time had white coaches, despite the fact that the ratio of black college football players was significantly higher.

A reasonable analysis concludes that Notre Dame evaluated Willingham on his merits when it came to hiring as well as firing. Willingham ended up at the University of Washington, where his 11-37 record confirmed the fact that he just wasn't a very good head coach. When he was dismissed from that post, no one cried racism.

If the lazy media wanted to look for institutional racism, I'd suggest they check out the a more objective statistic than the firings of specific coaches. They should look at the disparity in graduation rates between black and white players. Graduation rates for football players may be than the general student body of a school due to different admission standards. However, no such differences should exist within a football program. That is, they shouldn't exist unless one group of players were valued only for their football skills. If they are brought in as a commodity to be used up and then discarded, then a group of football players would have a lower rate than their peers.

According to this Stanford report from 2007, Michigan graduated 91% of their white football players. That's impressive. However, they only graduated 50% of their black players. That is disgraceful. I'd like to hear someone defend that statistic.