Free Speech in Eden Prairie

An Eden Prairie man--Abdulahi Hassan Farah--'was charged Monday in Hennepin County District Court with making terroristic threats, a felony,' reports the Strib's Vince Tuss. Farah's crime? He expressed an unpopular political viewpoint while visiting the Eden Prairie Library. The Star Tribune continues:

Eden Prairie police went to the library on Wednesday, after a man on his way out handed a note to a worker at the service desk.

The note was in a foreign language and included drawings of buildings, a Star of David and "911," the complaint said, adding that the worker believed it was a reference to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Police returned Thursday after another worker received a note, one with pictures of a plane crashing into something. According to the complaint, the notes were believed to be written in Somali or Arabic.

On Friday, staffers told a detective who was in the library that the man was back and that he was seen writing two notes, according to the complaint. The man left one note under the desk where he was working and the other at the counter, the complaint also said.

If you handed someone a note and the recipient could not even identify the language it was written in, it would be weird were you to subsequently be charged with 'making terroristic threats', no? (If the note was later translated into English and was determined to contain an unambiguous threat, the reporter should certainly have noted that, right?) But let's be clear on the main issue: It's entirely legal for a person to express admiration for Osama bin Laden or the 9/11 hijackers--and to seek to make her viewpoint known in the public square.

Okay, he held a THF

For weeks a number of bloggers had been berating Rep. Erik Paulsen for cancelling CD3's lengthy Town Hall Meeting tradition. Paulsen eventually relented--declaring a Town Hall on 9/11/09. The audience was larger than I'd previously witnessed with Rep. Jim Ramstad--and with the Congressman much farther removed from his constituents: Paulsen spoke from up on stage at Maple Grove High School's auditorium. Plenty of Republican wingnuttery on display, with a bracingly sectarian invocation, some immigrant-bashing and much chortling over the latest example of Democratic insanity--the concept of universal health care. Sacre bleu!

Democracy has not entirely been reinstated, however. Ramstad held multiple, quarterly Town Hall Meetings; Paulsen has held one, without committing to any future schedule. Many of the questioners slobbered obsequiously, thanking their monarch for deigning to acknowledge the citizenry. How bizarre.

EP News plays Paulsen flack

Hello Ms. Leah Shaffer:

You write:

"In lieu of district town hall meetings, Paulsen has opted to hold smaller forums with groups of constituents ranging from seniors to meetings with large employers and business leaders. Additionally, Paulsen has been holding "tele-town hall meetings" where constituents can put forward questions and listen to answers via a conference call. The plan is on to have one more tele-town hall meeting related to health care next week, he said. Even if a person's question doesn't make it to the front of a queue, Paulsen noted that staff gets back to everyone who's submitted questions within 24 hours." [my emphasis]

The whole paragraph is of course fawning nonsense, but your final sentence [above] states a known falsehood.

I've contacted Rep. Erik Paulsen on numerous occasions; I never receive any reply or acknowledgment. Here are a few examples: one two three four Do my inquiries strike you as shockingly rude or beyond-the-pale?

You're certainly aware of this, aren't you? Rep. Paulsen will not disclose what--if anything--I did, to get put on his black list. I've repeatedly requested Rep. Paulsen explain his blacklisting of me--and disclose what I might do to get my name taken off his list. He will not acknowledge my inquiries. Do you know why?

Very best wishes,

Gavin Sullivan

Eden Prairie