Tracking Minnesota Politics Since 2005
In a complete lack of any type of scrutiny or fact-checking, nor even examining that the story is simply a publicity stunt, the Star Tribune, more-or-less reprints Brodkorb’s meaningless and fruitless endeavor — and treats it as news. Way to go, Pat Doyle. What an incredible disservice to all Star Tribune readers.
Anyone involved with the “Save the Strib” campaign needs to first scrutinize the political writing and the editorial board at the Strib over the last year. It is seriously disgusting.
As Jeff pointed out earlier today, Michael Brodkorb is at it again — trying to make a press story out of nothing. Rachel Stassen-Berger called him out on it yesterday and killed the story:
But even [Brodkorb] admits that any count he gets, if he gets the data, would come accompanied by a “giant asterisks.” That’s because, without the envelopes, he wouldn’t be in a position to know whether the individuals who cast the ballots comported with even the most basic requirements of absentee ballots. He could not check, for instance, whether those who cast the ballots were registered. Without that information, it’s not clear to this reporter what practical value the information would have — except for spin purposes.
Exactly. The only reason Brodkorb is doing this is for spin and media coverage. Over in the comments in MinnPost, Alan Paulson says:
The elections officials will refuse [Brodkorb’s] request. He would be wasting his time to sue. Opening the ballots would require an act of the Legislature.
While Mr. Paulson is sound in his logic, Brodkorb is absolutely not wasting his time. The whole point is to get media coverage, not to actually accomplish anything for the voters of Minnesota. Brodkorb’s the same guy that started the rumor that Mark Ritchie is a communist, harassing female DFL staffers by posting photos of them online and asking his readers what “skinny bitches for Madia” meant, called the exploitation of an 8-year-old girl “hilarious”, stalked a woman in a Perkins Restaurant parking lot outside a campaign office after placing illegal lawn signs, and now, naturally, he’s running for deputy chair of the Minnesota GOP. The whole point here is media coverage for Brodkorb and his allies, not to do anything relevant or helpful for anyone else.
This is what I don’t understand, though: the Star Tribune has traditionally published Brodkorb’s stories and tips. For example, he was going to sue over alleged double-counting of ballots and the Strib gave him an entire article. He never actually sued anyone — it was just for press coverage, as far as we can tell.
Has the Star Tribune finally learned to not fall for his traps?
SIWP was founded in 2002 with the dual goals of “empower[ing] youth to build peace skills” and erecting two 9/11 “Freedom Fountain” memorials. One of the fountains—a computer-rendered image on the website showed the body inlaid with coins symbolizing fallen firefighters and an upper basin supported by pillars resembling the World Trade Center towers—was to be located in the Twin Cities area, with the second to be built in New York. SIWP also sold peace bandanas, peace promise wristbands, and even peace water—“because creating so much peace can make one thirsty.”
But this group did not seem to really do anything for anyone, at least publicly. John Goodman and Nasser Kaseminy were “among the original directors” and John Goodman’s son, Shane, was the CEO. Shane still owns the domain name under his for-profit business, the Goodman Group:
Registrant Name:Shane Goodman
Registrant Street1:1107 Hazeltine Blvd.
Registrant City:Chaska
Registrant State/Province:MN
Registrant Postal Code:55318
Registrant Country:US
Registrant Phone:+1.612720566
Registrant Email:sgoodman@thegoodmangroup.com
Of course, everyone involved with SIWP is a huge donor to Norm Coleman. Where did the money this foundation raised go? Silverstein digs further:
…some six years later the foundation has raised and spent about $100,000 but has done, as far as I can tell, virtually nothing to honor the victims of 9/11 or to “remind the world…that it cannot be allowed to happen again.”
So what exactly is the purpose of this IRS-approved non-profit organization?
Very good question.
Calls to the organization at (612) 922-STEP were not answered.
Further reading:
Harpers: “Stepping Into It: Norm Coleman’s donors and their plans for ‘World Peace’”
Harpers: “Norm Coleman’s Donors and Remembering 9/11”
Internet Archive Wayback Machine: stepintoworldpeace.org
Meanwhile, national Republicans just threw $750,000 at Coleman’s legal bills to keep Minnesotans with a single Senator. One would think national Democrats would be able to at least match that to help get our representation in DC, right?
Conservative outrage in the blogosphere about the surge of the federal deficit, stimulus spending and billions in bank bailouts has evolved into a broader grassroots phenomenon.
Grassroots phenomenon? No way. Everything about the “tea party movement” is fabricated from the top down:
…in a nutshell: three national-level conservative groups, all with slightly different agendas, are guiding it. All are quick to tell you that the movement is a bottom-up affair and that its grassroots cred is real.
They are: FreedomWorks, the conservative action group led by Dick Armey; dontGO, a tech savvy free-market action group that sprung out of last August’s oil-drilling debate in the House of Representatives; and Americans for Prosperity, an issue advocacy/activist group based on free market principles. Conservative bloggers, talk show hosts, and other media figures have attached themselves to the movement in peripheral capacities.
That and Fox News has been continually promoting it. Yes, Fox News promoting a protest fabricated by top-conservative groups against, well, America:
Frustration culminated this week with Glenn Beck, who promoted the tea parties on his show Monday, encouraging viewers to “celebrate with Fox News” and join the protests April 15. Some of Fox’s more popular personalities — Greta Van Susteren, Neil Cavuto, Sean Hannity, and Beck himself — will broadcast live from tea parties in DC, Sacramento, San Antonio, and Atlanta on tax day.
In other words, the Star Tribune again joins the ranks of Fox News by publishing a story without mentioning who’s behind it and claiming it’s “grassroots” — effectively promoting the tea parties.
By the way, anyone who has basic knowledge of U.S. history should find the whole premise of this teabagging phenomenon insulting.
The pressure in this contest is slowly shifting from Coleman (who is rapidly becoming just a cardboard cutout for the Senate Republicans) to Governor Pawlenty. The Governor has to decide when a certificate of election is to be issued. Presidential aspirations could be affected by how this is handled.
I disagree with Mindeman one serious point: it’s not slowly shifting — after today it completely shifted. From the findings of fact today: (PDF, page 26, emphasis mine)
Franken received the highest number of lawfully cast ballots in the November 4, 2008 general election for United States Senator for the State of Minnesota and is entitled to receive the certificate of election.
The ball is in Pawlenty’s court.
UPDATE: To be clear, Pawlenty does not literally have a decision to make right now — but he’s a huge player in terms of helping Minnesota get our fair share of representation opposed to playing along with Coleman’s partisan objectives.
Psst… Shakopee and Savage are both in Scott County.
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Yeah. Since when is a 40% increase in lead called “ever so slightly”? Rather nasty spin especially if you note that this was Coleman’s contest to get more votes, not Franken’s.
Oh, and it’s nice to see the Star Tribune pinning the DFL as the people calling Coleman to quit. I guess the Star Tribune decided to leave out all the conservative voices asking Coleman to stop wasting time. (And, well, it’s almost mathematically impossible for Coleman to win.)
The former finance chief of a Texas company controlled by Nasser Kazeminy, a close friend of former Sen. Norm Coleman, said in a deposition last week that Kazeminy ordered $100,000 in fees be paid to a Minneapolis insurance agency where Coleman’s wife was employed.
This might sound like old news to MNpublius readers, but this is a new sworn testimony. Paul McKim had the first one, and now this is from the man “who was corporate secretary and CFO at Deep Marine from January 2002 to December 2007.” Here’s a fun bit:
According to the transcript, Thomas was asked, “In that conversation that you had with Mr. Kazeminy, did he tell you, quote, United States senators don’t make shit, close quote? Or words to that effect?”
Thomas answered: “Yes, sir.”
Thomas testified in the deposition for the company’s internal investigation that Kazeminy told him that he wanted to use Laurie Coleman at Hays in relation to the consulting services agreement. Laurie Coleman, who is not a party to either suit against Deep Marine, was hired by Hays as an independent contractor in 2006. The insurance company has said she received no compensation under its contract with Deep Marine for risk management consulting.
I’m surprised this investigation is taking so long. The whole story at the Star Tribune.
Q. Joe, are you done?
A. Yes, I’m done.
Q. Let me ask you in a different way. Is Norm done?
A. Well, I think that we have been trying this case with the appeal record in mind, and that’s where we’re going, and it’s going to be a very quick appeal, and then I will know whether or not it worked.
Q. Well, when you say quick appeal, are you confident that you are going to lose the case in front of the three-judge panel? By losing the case, I mean Norm ends up with less votes.
A. I think that’s probably correct that Franken will still be ahead and probably by a little bit more. But our whole argument was that it was a constitutional argument, and it’s an argument suitable for the Minnesota Supreme Court, not for the trial court. So we will see whether we were right or not.
Sigh. They’re just trying to drag this on as long as absolutely possible.
WORD ON THE STREET: The next RNC chairman will be Norm Coleman, after he loses his recount fight and big donors see Michael Steele’s March numbers.
I can see how this might make sense: Steele has been relatively unpopular:
Most chairmen wave the party flag; Mr. Steele smiles and shreds it. A man of constantly colliding analogies, he compares Republicans to drunks in need of a 12-step program and to the mentally ill. He has insulted Rush Limbaugh and moderate Republican senators alike, and he has promised a “hip-hop makeover” that would attract even “one-armed midgets” to his party.
Norm Coleman would be a perfect replacement as RNC chair and the antithesis to Steele’s style. Even though Coleman lost the Senate race, he still has deep (although arguably corrupt) ties with Washington politicos as well as deep connections to one of the right-wing’s best fundraising machines. He knows how to pull money out of people as well as government and he knows how to smear opponents in a way few others do. Norm Coleman as chair might be exactly what the RNC needs right now.
More at Mike Allen’s Playbook’s on Politico.
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