Edina Celebrates July 4

It drizzled a bit as Edina's Fourth of July parade got started. Leading the procession were dozens of military vehicles, some bearing soldiers from WW2 and Korea. The sheer number of obsolete green vehicles felt excessive--it's part of the ongoing national penance for '70s America's ostensible saliva- and phlegm-based welcome-home to Vietnam veterans. We stand and applaud as the old warriors roll by; I don't see any Vietnam veterans marching in the parade, nor any Gulf War vets. These public, symbolic efforts conflate how we feel about America's role in the world, 'our attitude' toward specific wars and our gratitude to those we assume served honorably--at a time when the Edina public feels quite removed from military culture. A Korean War vet holds a sign saying America's Forgotten War; perhaps the gratitude is unmeaningful and insufficient even to those being thanked.

So amid all the vague jingoism, it was nice to see Grandmothers for Peace marching by.

Ron Erhardt used to represent 41A in the MN House of Representatives. When he opposed his party leadership on the transportation bill, he became an internal enemy in Ron Carey's GOP. Regardless, he continued to run in 2008 as 41A's Moderate Independent Party man [a known entity, perchance, in your state or province?], finishing second in the close three-way race. Had the DFL endorsed Erhardt, he might well have won.

As he entered our field of vision, the 79-year-old hustled up to a jeep, told the driver he was a vet, was welcomed aboard and waved from the chauffeured jeep for the remainder of the parade.

US Rep. Erik Paulsen

Edina's state senator Geoff Michel

Good Riddance, Norm Coleman

'Al Franken, a satirist known for his biting political humor, is headed to the U.S. Senate, the survivor of an epic legal struggle that opponent Norm Coleman finally conceded he couldn't win.' [Strib link]

IOW: Sensible adults agree: As a comedian, Al Franken went too far.

During the intraDFL contest last year, I enjoyed exposing people claiming to be offended by Franken who, upon the gentlest cross-examination, admitted they weren't offended a bit. They'd published 'I'm offended by Al Franken' but then tell me that saying I'm offended by Al Franken is a universally-understood elite-mediaspeak shorthand for I might be able to respect a person who claimed to be offended by Al Franken, even though I'm not. So when they'd publish I'm offended by Al Franken and then tell me that in fact they weren't--by their lights, I was being a hyperliteralist nag.

That Strib writer [ironically--five writers blended into one, third person, objective POV] might alternatively be asserting a bold, ultraconservative dogmatism--but you know that worldview could never be accepted in such a paper. Or could 'the writer' be offering an intimacy-building 'comic roast' 'dig' 'at' Franken, perhaps hinting--with deniability--at the oddity, that the generally DFL-preferring paper had endorsed Coleman over Franken?

And spare a thought for those of us for whom biting contains no pejorative, will you?

Same article:

Conceding defeat outside his St. Paul home shortly after the court ruling, Coleman sidestepped questions about whether he would turn his attention to running for governor in 2010. "We'll talk about the future in short order," he said.

How could he have said we'll in that answer? Norm of course means that 'in supreme public-spiritedness and ego-transcendence', he 'works as a coequal with the team members' who serve at his pleasure. Coleman is suggesting that--when electing him--the public is gaining access to a true group brain. Coleman leaks his chilling, corporatist consciousness gambit liberally:

Asked when he would talk about his plans, he replied, "Soon. I presume sometime -- we'll get through July 4 -- sometime next week, I presume, I'll be talking a little bit about what the future is." [Star Tribune] And what talisman will Coleman be employing, in this ceremony?

But seriously--when A-List State Politician says that to WurzerCentral, it's time that politician sought a new profession.

Historical Airbrushing Mars Vietnam Program

Yesterday a large crowd gathered at Minnesota's capitol to--as the newspaper of record put it--honor those who served in the Vietnam War. The event website describes it similarly: Minnesota Honors Vietnam Era Veterans.

But if you attended the event, you'd soon notice that it did not seek to honor all those who served in Vietnam. One side was quite underrepresented, in fact. In his speech, Gov. Tim Pawlenty made clear he accepts that the US intervention in Indochina was noble--and that America owes no apology to the people of Vietnam. Pawlenty revisited the preferred storyline concerning ''60s America's assault on the honor of the Vietnam vet,' supplying the predicted--if deluded--never again.

Might it be possible, in 2009, to thank America's Vietnam veterans for their service, while acknowledging the war wasn't just--and that US deaths in the Vietnam War constituted less than 1.5% of the total?

Gov. Tim Pawlenty isn't taking an honest look at history. He's not saying, The war killed more than two million Vietnamese civilians, but it was worth it. He's airbrushing the two million right out of the picture. It's disgusting.

The event program listed a similarly one-sided, amnesiac program at the Minnesota History Center. So our claptrap infestation on this topic--led by the McCarthyite right--is also embraced by Democrats, intellectuals and the news media.

For next year, I propose we think up some way of honoring all Vietnam veterans--and include the winning side among our speakers. To the dustbin with Gov. Pawlenty's dishonorable historical amnesia! Let's make clear we're aware America inflicted vastly more suffering on their side than they did on ours.

So yes--we should thank our veterans. But our moral imagination should make room for the two million Vietnamese civilians who were killed during our Vietnamese mistake. And that we're sorry about that.

Minnesota Dependent

While surfing today I found Paul Demko's Paulsen Vulnerable piece--and was taken aback that the Minnesota Independent would steal my photograph of then-candidate Erik Paulsen pressing the flesh in Coon Rapids on 2008's Independence Day.

On February 8, I broke the news that Ashwin Madia will not run again in 2010.

In his May 29 article, Demko writes:

So far the race hasn’t drawn any takers. Madia says he doesn’t expect to make another run for the seat. “I felt like I had a good crack at in 2008 and I came up short,” he says. “We should give somebody else a chance.”

[6/12/09 Note: Since publishing my post last night, The Minnesota Independent has removed the stolen photo from their blogpost, without acknowledging the correction on their site.]

Paulsen at St. Olaf Commencement

The lifeless math major spoke at St. Olaf's commencement ceremony yesterday. You can view the entire event here. No anti-Paulsen protest materialized.

It was a gorgeous, hot sunny Saturday afternoon for late May. The droning bore invited the Class of '09 to imagine the marvel when they are invited back to speak at the 2031 ceremony. Paulsen discusses no serious matters of governance or citizenship. His talk is pure chloroform, as predicted, asphyxiating the opposition and thus requiring no embarrassing gestures of support from his base. Without reaching out to the non-Lutheran, Paulsen draws attention repeatedly to his Christian belief. He mentions several collegiate pranks and how, unable to afford a semester in Europe comparing various political systems there, he met with St. Olaf's president who assisted Paulsen in making the dream happen. Paulsen establishes no intimate bond with his audience--nor does he attempt any. He's the Class of 1987's graying clock watcher, returning to inspire the nasal dullards of the future.

No one seems to notice; the audience responds unenthusiastically. The faculty--embarrassed at having to participate in this rite of middle class identity formation--applaud with minimal energy.

Remembering Minneapolis' 1934 Teamster Strike

The Friends of the St. Paul Public Library sponsor a local labor history series called Untold Stories. On Saturday we took a tour of sites associated with the 1934 Teamster Strike, led by labor historian Dave Riehle. We took the tour on the restored--and last remaining--early '50s Minneapolis city bus.

Our tour ventured forth on the 75th anniversary of the outbreak of the 1934 conflict, when Trotskyite-led Teamsters fought management's Citizens' Alliance--by summer's end turning Minneapolis into a union town.

David Strom Ponders Paulsen's BBA Position

Barbara Allen, Jeff Blodgett and David Strom

I attended a Carleton luncheon downtown on Friday, on Barack Obama's first 100 days. Political Science Prof. Barbara Allen moderated the unrevealing discussion with Jeff Blodgett and David Strom.

David Strom led the Taxpayers League of Minnesota for four years and the Minnesota Free Market Institute for two. He has a radio show and is a fellow at the Claremont Institute; he's a large player in Minnesota politics.

After the program on the fortieth floor of US Bank Plaza, I spoke with Strom, who'd mentioned earlier he'd recently converted to Catholicism. (I ask if he'd care to defend transubstantiation or the all-male priesthood; he declines.)

I tell Strom that my congressman--Rep. Erik Paulsen--vocally supported the Balanced Budget Amendment during last fall's campaign. So I ask Strom if he supports the Balanced Budget Amendment? No, he doesn't. Strom explains that it wouldn't make sense to arbitrarily select the 365-day time unit as the period during which the budget must be brought into balance. He says he might support a Balanced Budget Amendment if that period were adjusted to five years. (Your response, Rep. Paulsen?)

Strom explains that Paulsen is simply deploying a political symbol with his support for the BBA--he knows it will never pass and if it did it would cause economic havoc. But doesn't Paulsen's support cause a political problem, since he's therefore advocating passage of legislation he simultaneously believes ought to be unconstitutional? No--Strom reassures--no one cares about that.

So I've now contacted quite a number of strong Paulsen supporters--and Rep. Paulsen himself--trying to find out whether Erik Paulsen still supports the Balanced Budget Amendment. David Strom is the first to offer an answer, explaining that Paulsen doesn't sincerely support the Balanced Budget Amendment--it's just a shtick he's performing for his constituents, whom the congressman is sure are too naive to notice.