How about - unimpeachable elections?

"Will the minions be satisfied if Lisa prevails in the primary? I believe not! The Kendall Qualls followers will think he got robbed. What about the Adam Schwarze crowd? If Michele Trafoya comes out on top? Same thing. The seeds are now sown for much discord in MNGOP. Discord? When is the last time there was discord in MNGOP? Try, yesterday..."   

Don't look now, but the DOJ is still finding suspicious stuff from the 2020 election. Not that it matters, but it might have. But what is the point? The point is simply this. We need election integrity from our general elections all the way down to our endorsement process. Why? Once the people lose faith and confidence that ALL of our elections are unimpeachable, our system of governance will be questioned. And once that happens, the wheels might start to fall off our ship of state.

Somebody the other day brought up a very valid point. With the amount of fraud which has been found in Minnesota to date (and this state is simply oozing with fraud), what makes you think there was no fraud (also) in our voting system? Like illegals voting. Like dead people voting (a fav among Dems). Voting in more than one state. Voting more than once. Voting with fake credentials. The list goes on and on and on.

Do I blame Lisa Demuth for going to the primary? Not the way the clicker voting turned out. Wait a second Bird! Are you alleging fraud or cheating in the MNGOP convention? Nope - but the seeds of doubt were sown. Michele Trafoya is a different story. I think this was her plan all along. But back to Lisa. If we had an unimpeachable vote and voting process, I really do think that Lisa would have abided by the endorsement process. That is only my view from this perch, and I may be 100% wrong.

During the 2020 general elections, there was so much wrong, or appeared to be wrong, it shook the belief system of many a voter. How in the world could Joe Biden, who ran a nothing burger campaign, have amassed such a large number of votes? Now, I am not going to go back and relitigate that election - it would serve no purpose. But I will say this - it stunk. Anybody who said there were no oddities was either lying or very insular.

Will the minions be satisfied if Lisa prevails in the primary? I believe not! The Kendall Qualls followers will think he got robbed. What about the Adam Schwarze crowd? If Michele Trafoya comes out on top? Same thing. The seeds are now sown for much discord in MNGOP. Discord? When is the last time there was discord in MNGOP? Try, yesterday...   

 

Was this the death of our endorsement process in MN?

"At one time, when the endorsing conventions were over, it was time to rally around the flag. At one time. But those days might be over. Now the time to rally around the flag might be after the primary is over. After the primary, over is finally over. That is, unless a vanquished foe decides to run as an independent in the general election. And the beat goes on..."      

I am a veteran of Minnesota politics. I was state delegate three years in a row. I was tightly involved both times Jeff Johnson ran for governor. I voted as a delegate - way more than once. I was a fan, a devotee of the endorsement process. I considered it to be an honor to represent my BPOU in the voting process. But those days are over for me. I decided to step aside to let some of the younger folks also taste this honor. I am still interested, and as many know, I do my part now via the Very Angry Bird Blog.

I penned a few days ago that both the DFL and MNGOP conventions left much to be desired. In fact, the MNGOP was so screwed up using the "clickers" for voting, this convention might have been the last for endorsing candidates. As much as I fought the idea of going directly to a primary a few years back, if might now be time to modify my thinking. Why? Possible shenanigans during the "clicker" voting. Please note I used the word "possible". But also, the word "trust" went out the window long before Kandall Qualls got the nod after dark on Saturday night. 

Some are saying that Qualls will have a tough time beating Amy for one reason only. Name recognition. Other are saying the same thing about Schwarze having problems beating either Flanigan or Craig. Name recognition. Truthfully - I am in the same camp. I think both Qualls and Schwarze are qualified and quality men. But who are they? That is the question many voters will ask. And truthfully, there are many voters out there who not political geeks in either political party. They are just ordinary, underinformed voters who vote for a name they recognize.

Where does that leave us this year? We are headed for a wide-open primary. Many think the only Republican who has a snowball's chance at the open senate seat is Michele Trafoya. I know, I know. Michele flunks many of the MNGOP "purity tests". But that will be a "so what" if Michele can steal that seat away from the Democrats. Is it possible that Adam could win that seat? Sure - anything is possible. But maybe not probable.

At one time, when the endorsing conventions were over, it was time to rally around the flag. At one time. But those days might be over. Now the time to rally around the flag might be after the primary is over. After the primary, over is finally over. That is, unless a vanquished foe decides to run as an independent in the general election. And the beat goes on...      

Pausing for peace; stalling for war

"The IRGC is slippery - they have been for many decades. Bottom line? Getting them to comply with promises or agreements might turn into a shell game of sorts."

Those who have ever negotiated for a living or taken a negotiation class, have heard this infamous axiom -the most, and some of the very important movements come right at the very end of a negotiation. I will confess when I first heard that, I thought it was some kind of lore or fiction. That is, I thought that until it happened to me - more than once. Now, it does not happen every time, but in my case, it seemed to happen when it really counted.

I am not only frustrated by the negotiations with Iran, I am also (in a weird kind of way), fascinated by the process. I know what Trump and team are trying to do. Wait until the right deal is scribed on paper and then try and implement it. I also (don't know but believe I know) what the Iran team is doing. It is something they have done before many times and are very good at it. Stall. Stall. And stall again. While they are stalling, work their shadow fleet, reconstitute their drones and missiles, and prepare to act like this war never happened.

The doubter in me thinks that this entire negotiation stage production might just be a "stork dance". Meaning what? Lots of sound and fury, signifying nothing. Even if an agreement is signed, and the Strait is opened up to normal traffic, how long will this fragile peace last? Will the peace also involve Lebanon, or will that dust up be the trip wire which ends the master agreement? There are so many things which could go wrong with an agreement which is signed by the snakes from Iran, that I would be amazed if it lasted a year. Maybe even a month.

What is the good part about this "pause" in the action? We are watching Iran like a hawk right now. It has slowed down or stopped any work to procure and/or enrich uranium. But Iran is a big country with lots of hiding places. Most of which we know about, but maybe not all of them. I hate the idea of having boots on the ground, but I also need to face some hard facts. Even though our intel is very good, having eyes and ears on the ground is even better. The IRGC is slippery - they have been for many decades. Bottom line? Getting them to comply with promises or agreements might turn into a shell game of sorts.

Meanwhile, not to bitch about first world problems, I filled up my truck this weekend. Almost $100. Because of the ill will in negotiations that the Iranians are showing, this might be the case for the rest of the summer. I have said this in a recent post - finish the job Mr. President. The IRGC only understands force, and lying has become an art form to them. They are playing us sir. Sorry to say, but I believe it to be true.