The rise of Tina

"Here she is. And the grooming process has already started..."

The table is being set. The hometown, left leaning "fish wrap" (thanks Dan Cole) has a front page feature story on how "super" Tina Smith is. How our current Governor is setting the table for her. Setting the table to be a major force in the 2018 election (should she decide to run).

And what exactly do we know about Lt. Governor Smith? Well, many know she was in management at Planned Parenthood. Now in most civilized countries, having that on your resume would be a killer. Planned Parenthood, the killer of millions of innocent babies, should be the scourge of mankind. Not here. It has been reported that Planned Parenthood is even more popular than the Republican Party. That is how far off the rails we have become.

Tina has an interesting background. Much more interesting than her boss. Doing some research on her, I found out she worked on the Prudhoe Pipe Line in Alaska prior to going to college. This is what I find interesting about that tidbit. Because of my age, I also knew people who worked on that project. It was cold - dang cold. And hard, very hard work. In addition, for a hard core Democrat is was working with (gasp!) - oil! 

Education wise, she has good credentials. Undergrad from Stanford and a MBA from Dartmouth. Not bad. She worked at General Mills in Marketing. Again, not bad. But that is when the "not bad" turned into "very bad".

Her next job was VP at Planned Parenthood for Minnesota and the Dakotas. Interesting choice considering she has two sons. The reason I say that is quite often once a woman has kids of her own, the choice between pro-life and pro-choice becomes softened.

Next stop she became a tried and true Democratic operative. She was the Chief of Staff for RT while he was Mayor of Minneapolis. She also was the a co-chair to elect our current Governor. For that, she was repaid by the Dayton Administration once the first term Lt. Governor decided (or was decided for her) not to run again. So here she is, waiting in the on-deck circle. And there are many on the Left just licking their chops at having our first woman Democratic Governor.

Our state cannot stand another statist running this place. One would think with an MBA she would know what makes an organization competitive and what does not. Same is true for a state. So buckle up folks. The grooming process has only just begun. 

The race for the cure...

"Every October we see pink everywhere. But does it really so anyone any good?"

Even though the cost of life seems cheap in some areas of the world right now, in many countries, life is still cherished. In this country, as well as many others, the greatest threat to our lives is cancer. Possibly the scariest word ever coined. But as bad as cancer is - and it is always bad, the good news is simply this. We are racing as fast as we can towards a cure.

One of my good friends is heavily involved in the October "Race for the cure" And he does it through fishing. Why? It hit very close to home for him. You see, breast cancer, blood cancers - they are leading the way right now. There are hundreds - yes hundreds of facilities who are "racing for the cure". Many are world wide - most however, are in the United States.

I would like to say this is for the sake of research only. To save those who need to be saved. And this only part of it. The golden grail, the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, is for whomever finds the "silver bullet" for cancer. In other words, the cure.

My Dad died of throat cancer. My wife's Mom died of lung cancer. My wife's uncle died of cancer. My favorite cousin died of pancreatic cancer. One of my best friends died of liver cancer before he was 50. We know of what we speak. We are not unique however, as most have some kind of story about how cancer affected their family or a close friend. 

When the "silver bullet" is found, when we find the cure for just one type of cancer, the bells well be ringing. I have said for a long time now - it will be breast cancer (thank you Susan G. Kolman) or the blood cancers. Once our researchers have identified the cures for one of those two cancers, the next will be - you name it. And the company who finds the cure? Their stock might surpass Apple's stock.

The end is coming, and soon for cancer. Sorry cancer, you have had your day. You have taken way too many of us, most way too early. Now it is your turn to go away. You see cancer, every day, in hundreds of facilities, we are figuring out how to kill you - forever. So those who have cancer, those who have loved ones with cancer, know this - the end is end sight. 

Should October be "Pink Month"? Hell yes! Thank you everyone who shows cancer we are not afraid. That we are fighting back. So I will speak for many of us when I address you cancer - SCREW YOU! Your days are numbered.

Good political theater

"It is either something in the air or water in Washington. People who pledge one thing on the campaign trail suddenly do a 180 once getting to our Emerald City..."

What is happening right now in Washington is being portrayed as total disarray. A mess. Of course these are the words being used by the lap dog media. And I hate to say it, even Fox News has jumped on this band wagon. My view is somewhat different. It is not a mess. But things might be in some disarray right now. However, it is necessary. It might be the start of the purge.

I start to chuckle when I hear from pundits the Republican Party has been hijacked by the Liberty Caucus, the Freedom Caucus or the Tea Party. That is all good political theater. But blatantly untrue. What is happening now is a cleansing - maybe even a purge. The "Party of No" is being replaced by the "Party of Know". The Party of K Street is being replaced by the Party of Jefferson, Franklin, Adams and other Founders.

I, along with many other conservatives, believe the way our government runs right now is antithetical to the way the Founders envisioned it. We seem to have lost our compass somewhere along the way. We have become complicit. We are co-conspirators. The constitutionalists in the party will no longer settle for go along, come along. Nope. We are done. The new future starts now. 

Next month we will be coming up against yet another debt ceiling. It is authorization to pay for the party we have had since the last debt ceiling debacle. What have learned since then? Nada. Zip. What have our leaders done to protect us from more debt? Again, nada. Zip. We kick the can, kick the can, and kick the can. And nothing gets done. Simpson-Bowles was an exercise in futility. Seems the President did not like the answer the committee came up with (which was less spending), so he disbanded it. The committee has never been heard from again.

If the new Speaker is Paul Ryan, that could be okay if it was the Paul Ryan of old. The financial genius that once said of Simpson-Bowles, "Only a good start". If it is the Paul Ryan of late, then I have some doubts.

From the little I know of Daniel Webster, he sounds like he might be a good choice. He does understand the mechanics of this thing. And our home boy, John Kline? I like and respect John and his service to this country. But his decision to retire was the right one. No to John.

I can sleep easy at night knowing this will all work itself out. We are going to come away from this with a more conservative, constitutional House of Representatives. If I were Mitch McConnell, I would be watching what is happening in the House very carefully. Watching very carefully as I packed my bag and bought my plane ticket home. 

Destined for failure

"What I can't figure out is this. In this somewhat blue state, this very blue city, we are creating an underclass by accepting benign neglect in our education system."

I have said this many times before. Today, I am going to say it again. We are screwing some of our children. And screwing them good. Maybe for life. How? Some people get angry when I say this. We have a broken education system in Minneapolis. Not just a little broken, I mean off the tracks broken.

A Washington D.C. think tank, an education group, recently looked at the graduation rates of 50 of our largest cities. And how did the City of Lakes come out? Dead last. The study found that less than 50% of the students in Minneapolis graduate in 4 years. In addition, only 4% took ACT or SAT exams. That is a dreadful statistic for present year success.

The Minnesota Education Department was quick to respond. "Nonsense!" (My word). They believe the Center for Reinventing Public Education has a bias towards charter schools. That would taint their findings on public education. Besides, the data they used was flawed - it was not homogeneous in all 50 cities. Now the center admitted that the data they took from the 50 cities sometimes dissimilar, so that was taken in to consideration. They do however, stand behind their findings.

My gut feeling is this - where there is smoke there is fire. Even if the data was a bit flawed, there was probably also a whole lot of truth contained therein. I have read other reports in previous years which show the achievement gap to be real and growing. Where we have "thrown in the towel" (so to speak) on a segment of our kids. As an example, a couple high schools, which are located in area of town with higher poverty, have graduation rates in the 30 to 40 percent range. That is simply outrageous - and grossly unfair. 

What blows me away the most is that just about everyone in Minneapolis from the Mayor down to the dogcatcher is a Democrat. It is a very, very left leaning city. And yet they are flushing these kids down the drain. The teaching and learning in some schools is too bad that even if a kid can graduate, the depth of learning is very shallow. Translation - these kids don't know much.

I am hopeful in 2016 we can elect people who have the ability to think outside the box in education. Right now, that skill is a rare commodity. In 2018, we need to elect a Governor who understands positive change. A maverick. A person who can cut the cost of our bloated education system while improving the quality and results and the same time.

Right now, if you are in the proper district, you can receive a good education. An education which will prepare you for the today's world. However, If you live in the wrong part of Minneapolis - good luck. Your chances of success are slim. And to make matters worse, help is NOT on the way. Hey Mayor Betsy - how does this fit in with your "Brag Minneapolis" campaign?

The other side of yesterday

"Many thought the fall of the Soviet Union was the single biggest accomplishment of Ronald Reagan. And he did it without firing a shot."

It does seem like it was just yesterday. The great and powerful, the menacing Soviet Union, fell. Or should I say fell apart. It was quite a scene, actually. This most truculent power caused many of us while young, to practice hiding under our desks in case we were bombed. Or practice hiding in a fallout shelter. Many thought it was not a matter of if, but when the United States (NATO) and the Soviet Union would mix it up. And both sides had enough nuclear throw weight to burn up and poison the world many times over.

So what really killed the Soviet Union? Was it the iron clad working relationship between Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher? Was it the terrible economy the Russian's lived with for decades under a Communist power? Or was it the threat of Star Wars? Many historians believe it was all of the above and much more. And what was the "much more"? Freedom. The people living behind the "iron curtain" just wanted to be free. Like us.

So on a gray and overcast day in early November 1989, the Berlin Wall came down. Shortly thereafter, the entire Soviet Union dissolved. A young Lieutenant Colonel in the KGB, watched in horror as his beloved Soviet Union drifted into the ash heap of history. Years later, this former KGB officer became the President of the Russian state. In 2005, Vladimir Putin told the Russian people the fall of the Soviet Union was "the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the century". The Soviet Union may have ended up in the ash heap of history, but Putin did not. It was a harbinger of things to come.

So what has changed over the years? Between the old style Soviet Union and the new Russia? Not much really. A relative who lives on the left side of the street keeps reminding me that Russian shenanigans really started in August of 2008. Even for the short period while Putin was not president. 

Russia used its mighty muscle to go into Georgia to quell separatists. They were Georgian people who just wanted freedom. You know, like the Russian people wanted it in 1989. But that was then and this was now. Russia, now using its military might, squashed the uprising. And once again, the world started to smell the stench of Russian storm troopers.

Well Putin replaced Medvedev as President of Russia. Obama replaced Bush as President of the United States. And it became "game on" for real. And why is the Russian genie out of the bottle once again? My opinion is simply this - Bush did not want to mess with the Russians towards the end of his Presidency. He was focused on the Islamic threat. Obama on the other hand, does not want to mess with either the Russians or the Islamic threat. Consequently, Obama has left the playing field wide open for a very opportunistic Vladimir Putin.

Somebody said our problem today is the Russians are playing chess as we play checkers. I disagree. I think we are playing tidley winks or something like that. We will watch the world become redefined from the comfort of our living room sofas. And for freedom loving people, what is their future? Not much really. The "City on the Hill", the "Beacon of freedom" is not doing much these days. Not interested. Seems we have retired.

So where is the other side of yesterday? Right here. The other side of yesterday is today. And tomorrow. Our kids and grand kids will ask us where we were when Russia made its return to world domination. We will respond to them, "We were right here - watching". I just hope we don't have to respond to our kids and grand kids using Cyrillic instead of English.      

Cesium for dinner anyone?

"This is not Dr. Strange-love - no this is much, much worse. Why? Because it is real..."

As much as the bad guys would like to have a Hiroshima type bomb going off in NYC or WDC, it probably is not going to happen. As least in the near future. And would the bad guys like this? Absolutely! But after 9/11, a dirty bomb would work just fine, thank you!

As many have probably heard, the good guys (a consortium of US, Russian and others) have broken up (again) a band of thugs trying to sell cesium on the black market. So what? What is cesium anyhow? Well it depends. Some is fairly benign (it is however, radioactive). A select few parts of cesium very dangerous. For example, Cs-135 (a part of the Cesium family) had a very short shelf life of radiation. Not too bad if you consider a short half-life of 2 million years or so.

That is the kind of crap (I don't know if it was Cs-135 or some other kind of cesium poison) that was stopped by the FBI in the Euro Zone. I can't even begin to describe the disruption and major expense even a small dirty bomb would have if detonated anywhere in this country.

However, if a dirty bomb which had "teeth" was placed in a vital area of NYC or WDC, it would do incredible damage. And if we don't take this threat seriously, if we don't secure our borders, science fiction, with become then become science, and then then become reality.

What do we do? First recognize we have tons of spent radioactive fuel around the world. And I mean tons. First off, a dirty bomb is not that hard to build. It is one heck of a lot easier than a fission bomb. And harder to detect.

But just think about this for a minute. A dirty bomb going off on the corner of Wall and Broad in NYC. The financial damage might be incalculable. And if one went off by Capitol Hill in Washington - we might have to move the capital back to Philadelphia - like forever.

We need to understand. We need to wake up. 9/11 was the first step. The grooming. The next step will be worse. The third step will be even worse. What the bad guys are counting on is neglect. And we are doing a very good job on helping them out.

It is up to us. Go back to sleep, put our "coexist" bumper stickers on our cars, or see the threat. In the eyes of us Americans, this is our homeland. In the eyes of the bad guys, this is the target. 

Mr. Speaker!

"The House is a mess. Not just a little bit of a mess, a hot mess. Who can fix it? Who knows..."

The race has begun. The posturing and politicking as already started. Before too long, the voting will start. For the 2016 race? Nope. For the new Speaker of the House.

Some have asked this question - "What difference does it make?" Truthfully, I understand that question. The silver bullet, the knight in shining armor, our new Ronald Reagan - all seem to be evaporating into fantasies rather than hope.

Here is my take. The House of Representatives is a mess right now. They are not doing what Representatives are supposed to be doing. What is that? First off, watching the purse strings. Next, managing oversight on a renegade Administration. Finally, they need to be the starting point for the launching new legislation. And whom are they acting like right now? The Senate. Laid back, lazy, and doing a whole lot of nothing. 

We have three Republicans who have announced for the Speaker's job. All good men, but can any of them do the job? I mean REALLY do the job? For example, not to spend money we don't have. Impeaching or firing people (up to and including the agency head) at the IRS, EPA, VA, Department of Education, Department of Energy and so on. We need a Speaker who is a true leader, and not a squish. One that can make these things happen.

Jason Lewis has an interesting (and I think accurate) opinion of our government. We do NOT have three co-equal parts of our government. They were never meant to be. The most important part of our government is the House of Representatives. The job of the Senate is to sand off the rough edges of legislation the House sends over. Or as George Washington reportedly told Thomas Jefferson, the Framers created the Senate to cool hot legislation the House sends over, just like a saucer is used to cool hot tea.

So my question for the House members is simply this - where is the hot tea? The hot legislation? The action packed, get-er-done House like we had in 1994? What do we have now? Sadly, a bunch of bureaucrats. The go along, get along crowd. Play golf with the President. Have lunch with "K" Street buddies and lobbyists. Blah, blah, blah. 

Well here is the bottom line. And I will be very, very blunt. The Russians are making their big play right now. What happened in Crimea was just a warm up. The Russians are filling the geopolitical hole our President has left for them.

But remember this. The President is only one part of our government. We need to be able to stem this Russian aggression. And we need to do it before it is too late. We also need to address our debt, rather than ignore it year after year. Then there is our out of control entitlements. We need to eliminate waste - and heaven knows there a bunch of it. Cut down the size of the President's cabinet. That is a job which is long overdue.

Fix things dammit! This is for all the marbles. The world is changing before our eyes, and we are sitting in the bleachers eating a hot dog. We don't need any more spectators in Washington - we need players. And those players need to be world class with world class courage and acumen.