Her columns are poorly researched and her arguments often completely miss the mark, but her greatest sin is that she is a fear monger of the worst variety.
Look at her most recent column. I posted a rebuttal earlier today in which I tried to soberly address the issues that Kersten raises (and round out the half truths that fill her work), but I have to tell you that I am truly offended by the trash in her column.
Katherine Kersten is trying to scare Minnesotans into thinking that the Muslims are coming to get them - trying to transform our Judeo-Christian society into a Western version of Afghanistan pre-2001. Kersten’s shrill voice pounds at our ears: Sure, its starts off with little things. Muslim taxi drivers don’t want to carry alcohol. Muslim students want to be able to practice their religion at MCTC. But this is only the beginning.
Think this is all hyperbole on my part? Check out the title of her latest column:
Ritual-washing area for Muslims at MCTC may be only the beginning
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Why didn’t they go w/ Sarah Janecek?? Kersten’s been a disaster.
And Mallard Fillmore!
If Kersten is the most effective communicator and Mallard Fillmore is the most insightful humorist the authoritarian (not conservative) right can offer, they are in trouble.
I think the Star Tribune uses Kersten BECAUSE she is so bad. Her bigotry is so transparent that it undermines the conservative arguments she is attempting to make.
Janecek is just as bad as Kersten. Partisan twits.
I agree, Dan. The Trib should keep KK because she’s only preaching to the choir. When I read George Will, I think here’s a conservative who could convert me. His essays are well thought out, articulate, and worth pondering. It’s easy to dismiss KK because she picks and chooses her facts in order to support her very transparent ends.
Funny that Richard of all people would call someone a partisan twit. Sarah Janacek is no more a Republican than the man on the moon and she certainly is not a conservative. If Kersten is annoying the people on this web site, then she’s doing her job. She should not be replaced, but I agree that the Strib should have more than one conservative.
LOL.
Kersten is not good, but yeah - let ‘em have their goofball.
I stopped reading the strib much when they brought her on board.
Janacek - the lobbyist, right?
If she’s not Republican, why does she always spin shamelessly for the RW on Almanac? Tsk, tsk. Making my head spin!
She the local small time equivalent of a RW James Carville.
Mockingbird,
She is not a spin meister for the Republican Party. She criticizes the GOP every chance she gets. In fact, very few Republicans even like her.
partisan me: yes, kersten is a God-send! she does only preach to the choir, serving only to make liberals mad (as Chris so observantly noted above). it’s all about the “politics of resentment;” if it makes liberals mad, then she must be doing her job. that extreme partisanship keeps getting the republican party into trouble. let them have kersten — they deserve each other.
good government me: janecek is more thoughtful and less predictable. she would have added to discourse, not to partisan hackery. i may not have agreed with her, but at least she would have had interesting points. and no, i do not know her personally.
The other Chris -
Exactly. Just like Rosie O’Donnell (an Al Franken contributor) going on television and echoing the 9/11 conspiracies that the Bush administration imploded WTC Building 7. Or when Rosie sided with Iran during the hostage crisis. Or when Bill Maher (another Al Franken contributor) said that the 9/11 terrorists had more courage than our “cowardly” military. Or when Bill Maher said the world would be better if Vice President Cheney had been assassinated in Afghanistan. Or when NPR’s Nina Totenberg said of Republican Senator Jesse Helms that “if there is any retributive justice, he’ll get AIDS from a blood transfusion, or one of his grandchildren will get it.”
Yep, Chris, the politics of resentment is alive and well in America and I think the American people will tire of all the vitriol and hate, and it will not bode well for Democrats in 2008.
Zack,
You said, “Her columns are poorly researched and her arguments often completely miss the mark, but her greatest sin is that she is a fear monger of the worst variety.”
I guess not everybody can be as erudite as Rosie O’Donnell:
anderson cooper
wake up
False flag operations are covert operations conducted by governments, corporations, or other organizations, which are designed to appear as if they are being carried out by other entities.
the british did it on purpose
into iranian waters
as
US MILITARY BUILD UP ON THE IRANIAN BORDER
we will be in iran
before summer
as planned
come on people
u have 2 c
i know u can
Chris (the original) — Who mentioned, much less defended, Rosie O’Donnell here? I didn’t think she held herself out as anything other than an entertainer, while Ms. Kersten emits her bad grammar and specious reasoning under the banner of “serious commentary.”
There are plenty of loonies all across the spectrum. THe question is, are we eing asked to take their lunacy seriously?
Randy,
Are you kidding? Rosie O’Donnell is the co-host of one of the most powerful news/magazine shows in the country. I interjected Rosie O’Donnell because I think the outrage over Kersten is pretty ridiculous when you compare her to what Rosie says on a daily basis. Rosie makes Katherine Kersten look like William F. Buckley, Jr. but I don’t hear any calls on this blog to take Rosie off the air.
Chris, are you serious with your comments about The View? And even if you are, what relevence does it have to a discussion about the Star Tribune?
KK is a terrible columnist. She’s lazy with her research, makes wildly speculative conclusions without a basis in fact, and panders to the lowest kinds of fear mongering and hate. Surely they can find someone who doesn’t engage in this sort of Coulter-esque writing.
Janacek would be a much more interesting choice, if she were interested. She’s clearly on the conservative end of the political spectrum, but she’s also widely respected throughout. I may not agree with her (in fact I’m fairly certain I’d disagree with the vast majority of anything she wrote), but at least she’d add something to the discussion beyond “I hate Muslims”, which seems to be most of what KK writes these days.
Josh,
You’re pandering to the lowest common denominator by saying that people who object to having cab drivers tell them what they can and can’t carry in their luggage as hating Muslims. It has nothing to do with hate. All of the things you’ve said about Kersten (fear mongering, no basis in fact, wildly speculative, etc.) are all true about Rosie.
Sarah Janacek is NOT a conservative. She’s pro-choice, pro-gay marriage and supports raising certain taxes. She fits right in with most in the DFL.
Chris — Are you going to make Rush Limbaugh (whom you have said you find “amusing”) pass the same scrutiny as Rosie O’Donnell? His lies and distortions (leaving aside the cheap shots and ethnic slurs) have been well documented, but he seems to have some degree of influence with conservatives. Whatever fantasies and conspiracy theories Rosie may spin, I don’t think anyone has ever attempted to nominate her for the Nobel Peace Prize.
Randy,
Rush’s lies and distortions have been well documented? By who? Al Franken - a smear merchant and character assassin.
Chris — Rush’s lies and distortions have been documented by many (not just the non-Soros funded Media Matters). There are far, far too many to repeat here.
Of course, he doesn’t really believe what he says, does he? If he did, wouldn’t he have done jail time for his drug use?
Randy,
Nice cheap shot. And no, Rush has never done jail time for abusing prescription drugs. In fact, Rush has never been convicted of a crime. Who is lying about Rush now.
And, yes, Media Matters is funded by George Soros.
Chris — What cheap shot? Rush admitted abusing prescription drugs, which is a crime. I know he was never convicted, but by his own “logic,” he should have been convicted and sentenced to prison.
Why do you think Media Matters is funded by George Soros? Rush says so, but that doesn’t make it true.