Incredible. At the same time Norm Coleman played the “gracious concession” act, the State Republican Party showed their true colors with their official press release:
St. Paul- Republican Party of Minnesota Chairman-elect Tony Sutton today issued the following statement regarding the Minnesota Supreme Court’s ruling in the U.S. Senate race.
“Today’s ruling wrongly disenfranchised thousands of Minnesotans who deserve to have their votes counted. Alongside Senator Coleman, the Republican Party of Minnesota has fought to make sure every vote counts and all voters are treated fairly and uniformly. As we move forward, our deeply flawed election system must be dramatically improved to ensure our state’s elections are fair, accurate and reliable.” (Republican Party of Minnesota)
In other words, “Norm wuz robbed.”
Classless.
That’s the way the state GOP Party was under former Chairman Ron Carey; that’s the way it will remain under new Chairman Tony Sutton.
It’s been a tough day for the GOPers. Fortunately for Kurt Zellers, South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford – who turned down Federal Stimulus – got caught gettin’ some international stimulus:
Chris Cillizza
washingtonpost.com Political Blogger
Wednesday, June 24, 2009; 3:30 PM
Gov. Mark Sanford (R-S.C.) admitted in a press conference in Washington today that he had an extramarital affair with a woman in Argentina and that he will resign his position as president of the Republican Governors Assocation. (Washington Post)
Yep – a “Family Values” republiCon, South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford, wasn’t “hiking the Appalachian Trail” as aides first claimed; he was down in Argentina – “catching up on foreign affairs”.
Which is good for Zellers; that diverts attention away from his history of campaign finance screwups. Well, and the video Dusty Trice found and posted today – the video of Zeller trashing former Governor Arne Carlson just last May. Let’s look!
That’s Kurt Zellers, trashing former two-term Governor Arne Carlson. Way to make the small tent smaller, Kurt!
And speakin’ o’ the Small Tent Party, Lieutenant Colonel Joe Repya split ranks from the likes of Zellers, Sutton, Brodkorb, et al. In today’s Pioneer Press, Colonel Repya explains why:
“Over the years I have raised tens of thousands of dollars for GOP coffers, donated many thousands of dollars to local and national GOP candidates, worked many hours at the grass-roots level and been asked repeatedly to run for state or federal office by Minnesota GOP officeholders. So why on Earth have I decided to leave the Minnesota GOP?
Simple: When a political party becomes so dysfunctional that it no longer can operate without tyrannical domination over the grass-roots, it is time to stop enabling bad behavior from that party. I have come to the conclusion that a majority of Minnesotans and many Republicans no longer trust the message of the Minnesota GOP.
After years of ineffective party leadership resulting in a record number of defeats, lack of transparency in party dealings, alleged financial impropriety by former party employees, and numerous Federal Election Commission problems, can you really blame the electorate for abandoning the Minnesota GOP?”
OK, now I’ll surmise that the “…alleged financial impropriety by former party employees,…” has something to do with this:
Read the “confidential memo” from the Minnesota Republican Party that is the basis of CREW’s FEC complaint
(Submitted by crew on 16 July 2007 – 1:26pm. FEC Minnesota Republican Party)
CREW filed a Federal Election Commission (FEC) complaint today against the Republican Party of Minnesota and its former treasurer, Marina Taubenberger, alleging multiple egregious violations of the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA) and FEC regulations. The complaint is based primarily upon a February 15, 2007 confidential memorandum from former Republican Party of Minnesota finance director Dwight Tostenson to the Party’s Executive Committee. You really have to read that memo. Here it is:
OK, so what happened when Colonel Repya tried to ask about the alleged financial impropriety” at the state convention? Let’s watch!!!
Way to go, Tony Sutton, a/k/a “Mr. Lost Credibility”!!! Oh, and in the comments section, of the PiPress? A guy by the name of Nathan Hansen has this to say:
I am Deputy Chair of the Fourth Congressional District and one of the newer anti-war Republican activists. It’s difficult for words to describe how happy I am that you are leaving our Party. The roots of your “neconservative” philosophy lie in Straussian Trotzkyite Communism. “Corporate money” influencing our Party? Nothing compared to the damage your military industrial complex (that Eisenhower warned us about) has wreaked on our Party and our Country. I hope you will find a happy home among your fellow communists. Your days of endless illegal wars and military industrial complex domination of our party are over.
Obama is ramping up his War in Afghanistan and continues to illegally bomb Pakistan. Perhaps you can join him to satiate your bloodlust. (emphasis added)
ROFLMAO!!! The Deputy Chair of the GOP’s CD-4 not only told Colonel Repya “don’t let the door smack ya on yer arse” — he called Joe a “commie”, too!!!
Ya really gotta admire how those in current GOPer party leadership positions honor the troops, doncha??!?
Ever hear that those who forget the lessons of history are doomed to repeat it? Well, an astute Regular Reader (thanks, Ricardo!) sent me a link demonstrating how today’s GreedOverPrinciples party’s leaders are doing just that, in an e-mail entitled “The Current State of the GOP Party”! Let’s watch!!!
Oh, and think today was bad for the local GOPers? Watch what happens if ol’ Smokescreen gets his walking papers tomorrow!
What Bachmann MotorMouth Overdrive said, BEFORE she said she was gonna break the law, is worth repeating. Here’s the transcript:
(0:25) I come from Minnesota. We’re still in a recount with our Senate race between Senator Norm Coleman and the challenger, Al Franken. Senator Coleman won the race on Election Day but that was challenged repeatedly over and over with what we feel may be fraudulent votes and very concerned about what goes forward.
“fradulent votes”, eh? That’s what you “think”, Michele?
Why, just the other day (June 1st, to be exact) Minnesota Supreme Court Justice Christopher Dietzen said he saw “no evidence or fraud or misconduct.” And Justice Dietzen said that in court.
That same day, in that same court, another Minnesota Supreme Court Justice asked Norm Coleman’s attorney, Joe Friedberg, very pointedly if their were any instances of fraud. Norm Coleman’s attorney – NORM COLEMAN’S ATTORNEY – answered emphatically “absolutely not” and added that there was no fraud of any kind; election, voter or otherwise.
But, hey – today’s GOP playbook is ignore the debunking and repeat, Repeat, and REPEAT the debunked stuff over and Over and OVER, as Bachmann just did: the “fraudulent vote (debunked) theory.”
In the rightwingworld, Norm “Smokescreen” Coleman “wuz robbed.” That’s their story, and they’re stickin’ to it.
It was just one year ago, June 2008, when GOPer Laura Brod was a nominee for that month’s “Hypocrite Of The Month”. It’s important to remember why Brod was singled out that month: she stood in front of a microphone, as a surrogate for ol’ Smokescreen, even though ol’ Smokescreen had done his best to cover for his pals Jack Abramoff, Tom DeLay, et al. And Laura earned that nomination; click here for a recap of her hypocrisy and the sordid treatment of women that Norm Coleman ignored as Chair of the Truman Committee.
Yet there Laura Brod was, a year ago, rippin’ Al Franken. Nothing demonstrates hypocrisy more than an indignant republiCon woman defending a guy like Norm Coleman’s inactions by criticizing someone else’s jokes.
And no one epitomizes a republiCon makin’ (stuff) up more than Laura Brod and her imaginary issue of “voter fraud.” Take, for instance, part of what Spot at The Cucking Stool wrote, in a piece entitled “A solution in search of a problem” back in February 2007:
In her little incitement to action, Rep. Brod mentions the increase in “identity theft and fraud.” What she doesn’t do, because she can’t, is tie the efforts of digital thieves to voter fraud. And frankly, you’d have to be a pretty stupid thief to try to steal a vote here and there. Now that he thinks about it, Spot has never gotten a Nigerian voter-fraud scheme email!
How many voter fraud cases in Minnesota have you read about in the paper recently, boys and girls? Spot certainly hasn’t seen any. If Rep. Brod’s proposals ever gets a committee hearing, Spot hopes that Rep. Brod and her sidekicks will get a good grilling on the evidence behind statements like those contained in her letter.
Rep. Brod says that she just wants to be sure that “only those who are legally eligible can participate.” Bull chips. What she really wants is to depress the turnout of the poor, the minorities, and the natives. (The Cucking Stool)
PhoenixWoman at Mercury Rising noted “right” around the same time:
Ever since they stopped being the Party of Lincoln and adopted the explicitly racist “Southern Strategy” in the 1960s, Republicans — nationally and locally, elected and in the media, traditional and online — have been attacking any and all efforts to enable more people, especially poor people and non-white people, to vote. Instead, they push various measures, under the pretext of “fighing voter fraud”, that put barriers between poor and non-white would-be voters and the voting booth because they know that these groups of people vote overwhelmingly for Democrats.
In the case of Minnesota, my home state, Republican legislators like Laura Brod (R-New Prague– she signed the letter the State Republican caucus is circulating to outstate Minnesota newspapers such as the St. Cloud Times) and their blogging buddies are savaging newly-minted Democratic State Attorney General Mark Ritchie for his eminently sensible proposal to automatically register anyone with a valid Minnesota driver’s license. Since getting a driver’s license — or even renewing one — is a complicated process with plenty of verification checks at each step, it makes sense that anyone who has achieved a license is almost certainly a legal resident.
Republicans like to pooh-pooh any suggestions that their legislation is intended to suppress voter turnout among minorities and the poor. But everyone knows better, and there’s yet another study showing that GOP-promoted measures concerning voter identification lead directly to depressed turnout among those populations. (Mercury Rising)
So, basically, with respect to Laura Brod, what we have is a hypocrite that doesn’t mind makin’ (stuff) up. In other words, the GreedOverPrinciples party, personified.
I watched the Oral Arguments in the recount case yesterday on the Uptake; I watched what was either the last or the latest whipping a Team Smokescreen attorney endured from Judge(s). And at the very end, I watched this:
“There is no evidence of fraud in this election. And maybe it’s the law out there; maybe it’s the character of the people in Minnesota. We don’t have any fraud.”
Well, just in case Laura Brod wasn’t listening and/or keeps makin’ (stuff) up with regards to voter fraud, I thought it might be a good idea to have a way to remind her.
On August 4th, at a press conference, Team Smokescreen’s Spokestool, Mark Drake, promised the assembled media he’d check with “the campaign” about providing an actual utility bill for Norm’s sweetheart deal for an apartment in a pal’s Washington, D.C. “shack” (it’s a million dollar townhouse), and get back to said media. Needless to say, Spokestool Drake never got back to ’em. Hence, the “T Plus” in the title, above.
I bring this up, because it seems Minnesota’s Most Ethically-Challenged Politician, ol’ Smokescreen himself, Norm Coleman, now has a little problemo with his St. Paul “shack”, which Norm apparently refinanced for around 3/4 of a million smackers ($775,000.00, apparently), in early 2007.
Investigative Reporter Tom Lyden, of the local Fox TV affiliate, has the story, and it’s a good one!
As much as Senator Coleman would like you to believe the recent allegations concerning potentially illegal payments funneled to his wife are “a vicious 11th hour attack”, the record simply does not bear that out. Questions regarding Senator Coleman’s complicated financial arrangements with financial backers go back at least to June, when Edward Pound of the National Journal first broke the story of Coleman’s unusual rental arrangements.
From that story:
Earlier this month, after National Journal questioned Coleman and Larson about the living arrangement, the senator said he discovered that his rent for last November and January had not been paid. In mid-June, Coleman covered the back rent with a personal check for $1,200 made out to Larson and signed by the senator’s wife. Last year, Coleman sold furniture to Larson to cover one month’s rent, according to Larson. And Larson held on to yet another month’s rent check for three months, cashing it a few days after NJ’s inquiries.(National Journal)
After this story broke, Senator Coleman produced a “lease” for the rental premises, dated after details of the “between friends” – Norm Coleman and Jeff Larson of FLS fame – agreement became known.
Sill unanswered after these revelations are the arrangements concerning utilities for the Senator’s rental unit. What is known is the unit Coleman rents is a legally licensed separate rental unit, with separated utility meters. On August 4th, at a press conference, Coleman spokesperson Mark Drake promised to check with the campaign about allowing members of the media to see an actual utility bill, so members of the media could verify Senator Coleman was paying what he should be and not violating the Gift Ban – let alone having a corporation picking up his tab.
To date, said utility bills have not been produced. Indeed, just yesterday, with Mark Drake at the podium, Team Coleman stonewalled reporters again. Here’s the transcript, beginning at the 15:24 mark:
REPORTER: Mark we know that Senator Coleman pays $600 a month in rent, right?
Mark Drake: (right.)
REPORTER: We still don’t haven’t had an answer on utility bills, and we asked a few months ago if you could produce those to see how much he’s really paying – do you have an answer for us now?
Mark Drake: You know, this has all been dealt with months ago.
REPORTER: No, it hasn’t been. We haven’t seen a utility bill yet and it would be good to see those.
Keep that in mind, regarding the utility bill issue. Now, let’s look at a press conference from October 8th, where both the utility bill and Lori Coleman’s employment were brought up:
REPORTER: On a different subject is there a reason that the Senator won’t say whether or not someone else bought some suits for him.
CULLEN SHEEHAN: Rachel, the Senator has reported every gift he has ever received.
REPORTER: That wasn’t my question, Cullen.
CULLEN SHEEHAN: The Senator has reported every gift he has ever received. We are not going to respond to unnamed sources on a blog.
REPORTER: So Senator Coleman’s friend has not bought these suits for him? Is that correct?
CULLEN SHEEHAN: The Senator has reported every gift he has ever received.
REPORTER: Why would say that? Why wouldn’t you give us an answer yes or no on that?
CULLEN SHEEHAN: The Senator has recorded every gift he has ever received.
REPORTER: We haven’t asked whether he has recorded every gift he has ever received and I will take his word that he has recorded every gift he has received. Has he ever received a gift of suits?
CULLEN SHEEHAN: The Senator has reported every gift he has ever received.
REPORTER: If the answer is no, then why don’t you say no.
CULLEN SHEEHAN: He has reported every gift he has ever received, Rachel.
TwoPuttTommy: Cullen, who’s name is on Senator Coleman’s utility bill in D.C.?”
CULLEN SHEEHAN: Are there any more questions from the Capital Press Corps?
REPORTER: What about Laurie, Mrs. Coleman’s job at Hays Company? Do you know what she did there?
CULLEN SHEEHAN: Again they have disclosed everything they need to disclose on the Senate ethics forms.
REPORTER: So the Senator will only go according to the Senate ethics laws or rules rather than answer questions?
CULLEN SHEEHAN: He has done everything that he is required to do, Rachel.
REPORTER: That is not my question, Cullen.
CULLEN SHEEHAN: But that is my response.
REPORTER: Senator Coleman has talked a lot about campaign finance and transparency. He’ll repeat that transparency – transparency – that’s what you need to have. If there are questions about whether he was a recipient of some very expensive suits and whether those they were gifted to him in an appropriate way – why not just clear it all up because it is very unclear to us?
CULLEN SHEEHAN: He does that every year as a United States Senator on his Senate disclosure forms.
REPORTER: And will we find information about clothing on those forms?
CULLEN SHEEHAN: If it exceeds a gift limit, yes.
REPORTER: So is it possible that he received these suits and it was below gift level.
CULLEN SHEEHAN: The Senator has reported every gift he has ever received.
REPORTER: It is a little puzzling Cullen why you won’t say whether or not he received these gifts and I understand that you don’t have respond to everything on the blogs but you are getting questions from reporters and I don’t see why you aren’t answering them. Can you explain that a little to me?
CULLEN SHEEHAN: Rachel, we are not going to respond to unnamed sources on blogs. That is what we are going to do from now until election is over. The Senator has disclosed everything that he is required to disclose and recorded everything that he is required to record.
REPORTER: But Cullen if the Senator did nothing wrong here and that is what you are saying then just tell us that and the issue will go away.
CULLEN SHEEHAN: The Senator has reported every gift he has ever received.
REPORTER: Did the Senator done something wrong here?
CULLEN SHEEHAN: The Senator has done nothing wrong and reported every gift he has ever received.
REPORTER: And you don’t know what Mrs. Coleman did for Hays Companies?
CULLEN SHEEHAN: And again whatever has been required to be disclosed about her income and what she does has been disclosed.
Apparently, by the recent cour filings, everything that has been required to be disclosed about ‘her” – Lori Coleman – has NOT been disclosed.
And clearly, the revelations alleged in the Texas court filings are NOT “a vicious 11th hour attack”; they are issues the Coleman campaign could have/should have gotten in front of, if the allegations were baseless, months ago. But they didn’t. Where there’s smoke, there’s often fire. Especially when left smoldering.
This story is not “an 11th hour attack” – this is a story that, after 4 months is coming to a boil; it very well could be embers combusting into fire. If it’s “11th hour”, that’s only because allegations have gone unsatisfactorily addressed – for months if not more.
And still unanswered is who’s name is on the utility bill for the apartment Norm Coleman rents, from a well-connected campaign operative. This is another story that Team Coleman has left unexplained – and after many months, those paying attention are connecting the dots.
So said Coleman spokesman Tom Steward, in late June. And here’s the whole quote:
“As the senator indicated to the National Journal and further articulated last Friday, he is paying fair market value for his cramped bedroom in a basement of a home in D.C. As our research shows, this rent is comparable to other rent in the D.C. area,” Steward said. (emphasis added)(Star Tribune)
Now, keep in mind that all along, Team Smokescreen has been claiming, and again I’ll quote from a story just yesterday:
Sheehan noted that Coleman allowed National Journal and Star Tribune reporters to see his living quarters. “The senator has been incredibly transparent, honest and open about this entire situation,” he said.(Star Tribune)
Yeah, “right.” If Team Smokescreen has been so “incredibly transparent”, just where is that “research” that “shows” the rent is “comparable”??!?
Ladies and Gentlemen, that story where Team Smokescreen claims “our research shows” was published on June 30th – it is now August 15th.
It’s put up or shut up time for Team Smokescreen’s claim that “our research shows” – they either got it and it shows it, or they’re lying.
Ladies and Gentlemen, the listing on the property is clear: Norm Coleman’s D.C. digs is a legally seperate rental unit, and licensed as such by the D.C. authorities. This has been verified. But the biggest verification just came from PepCo, the electric utility provider – and provider of electricity for the place Norm Coleman (allegedly) stays while in D.C. And that verification is a big one: there are two electrical meters. Yes, TWO. Therefore, somebody is paying for the electricity that goes to Norm’s digs, and only Norm’s digs.
What the utility will NOT verify, is who’s name those two meters are in.
So, who is pickin’ up the tab, for Norm’s electric?
I called Team Coleman, to ask just exactly that. But, Mark Drake wouldn’t take my call was unavailable, so the question was asked via Mark’s voicemail.
As for Coleman, the optics of having a big-time GOP insider, in effect, providing roughly a few thousand dollars a month in free cable, electricity, and Internet could prove equally problematic. On a more serious level, a utilities subsidy may present an ethics violation.
“This is a legitimate question to be asking in light of the fact that he is apparently renting from someone with an interest in his official actions as a senator,” said Mary Boyle of the good government group Common Cause. “It would be one thing if he was paying above market value and they could argue that it is included in his rent. But he is paying below market for this apartment. At a minimum [not paying utilities] would be a violation of the congressional gift ban. Certainly under no way is it okay for a member of Congress to be taking free or subsidized rent or benefits from anyone, particularly from someone you are working with.”(emphasis added)
Reaction from Coleman suggests that he too finds the utilities issue troubling. The Huffington Post placed more than two-dozen calls to his campaign spokesperson and Senate office over the course of several weeks. Despite leaving more than ten voice and email messages including the basic request to discuss the utilities bill, not one aide ever returned a request for comment. (Huffington Post)
Gee – now I don’t feel so bad; HuffPost is gettin’ ignored by the mighty Team Smokescreen, too.
But I digress. There really are two questions that are very important:
1 – In what name is the billing account for Norm’s rental unit in; and
2 – who is paying the tab.
So now it’s ‘fess up time, for Norm. And not only does he need to show a bill in his name, he needs to show a cancelled check, too.
It seems that ol’ Smokescreen’s Landlord, the Chair of the GOPer National Convention, STILL has property tax problems. I just checked in with the W.D.C. property tax people, and Larson is still delinquent on property taxes for the place ol’ Smokescreen (allegedly) stays . I called, because here’s what the W.D.C. website has to say:
Property Detail – 0140 NORTH CAROLINA AV SE
SSL:0734 0085
Below is the most current billing information for the Real Property Tax on this property.
Current Balance $927.09
*The outstanding amounts displayed here reflect payments and credits which have been applied to this account as well as some Homestead Audit charges (emphasis added); however, the balance due may not include updated penalty and interest.
*For billing information contact OTR Customer Service at (202) 727-4TAX. (TaxpayerServiceCenter)
Well, well, well. The Chair of the RNC Host Committee, owing property taxes, because he in-fact was claiming a Homestead Exemption for his rental property that he was not entitled to.
And even though he knows about the problem, Jeff “Landlord” Larson doesn’t know enough that he ought to PAY HIS TAXES, and pronto.
Then again, republiCons are shameless, and Jeff “Landlord” Larson is simply proving again that:
So, there I am, blogging on the DFL Presser, when the guy from The UpTake wants to interview me. Why? It seems that republiCon Leadership STILL doesn’t answer questions, from bloggers. Let me back up – let’s look back to republiCon Ron’s presser last April, where republiCon Ron wouldn’t answer this blogger’s question, which was along the lines of: “Mr. Chairman, given your “stewardship” of the State GOP finances first as Treasurer and now as chair, and given the fines and amended and then re-amended financial reports, aren’t you and the republiCons trying to hold Mr. Franken to a standard you and the party have not been able to meet, yourself?”
So, at yesterday’s presser, after republiCon Spokesman Mark Drake commandeered the podium and then (lamely) ripped Franken’s “four letter language”, I asked Mark: “Mark, isn’t the GOP’s criticism of Franken’s language trying to hold him to a standard that Vice-President Cheney, in the Senate, didn’t manage to meet?”
Well, tried to. Watch for yourself, ol’ Smokescreen’s Spokesman, Mark Drake, refuse to answer my question.
The republiCon Party Of Minnesota LOVES to demand others answer questions; the fact that they – including Team Smokescreen – won’t answer questions only serves to demonstrate, once again:
“Hypocrisy, Thy Party is GOP (GreedOverPrinciples).”
Oh, and if someone has Mark’s e-mail address, please forward this to him. I’d like to let Mark know, now and for certain, that the reason Franken called republiCons “Shameless D*cks”, is, as you, yourself proved, once again yesterday, YOU ARE “Shameless D*cks.”
The DFL schedules a presser, then you, Mark Drake, official spokesman for Team Smokescreen, commandeer the podium, and then refuse to answer questions at a room booked by someone else?
Shameless, Mark – simply shameless. You should go (cheney) yourself.
Oh, and in the immortal words of D*ck (cheney)in’ Cheney, to Neil Cavuto, on Fox TV, when Cheney was asked about telling someone to “Go (cheney) yourself”, what I just said is “appropriate.”
Hey – if it works for Cheney, without a peep of reproach from the republiCons, then it works for me. Unless, of course, the republiCons demonstrate their usual hypocrisy…….
Two Putt Tommy 