Memo To: My Fellow “Anti-Semites and Bigots”
From: Jude Wanniski
Re Joshua Muravchik Wants It

Two weeks ago I got a call from a fellow I don’t remember meeting, but whose by-line I have read over the years on commentaries in various conservative journals of opinion. He called to ask me if Iraq was a client of Polyconomics and I informed him that in 24 years my company had never taken a dime from a government or a politician. He continued to insist that his readings of my Memos on the Margin were distinctly anti-Israel and anti-Semitic and that he could not engage me in debate because my positions were outside the realm of civilized discourse. My support of Min. Louis Farrakhan came up and I noted I had offered a $1,000 reward on “The O’Reilly Factor” to anyone who could provide evidence that Min. Farrakhan had ever said anything disrespectful of Judaism or the Jewish people.

Mr. Muravchik asked if he could participate, and I said of course, that my offer has been open to anyone and that it was publicly made several months ago. I did tell him that several people thought they had me cold with the “Judaism is a gutter religion” statement, which Farrakhan never made, and in 1984 offered a $10,000 reward if anyone could find it, but Muravchik went ahead anyway. Here is the e-mail exchange that followed. After the last e-mail from him that appears here, I asked if he would mind if I would quote him. He responded within minutes: “Be my guest.” You can be the judge. Has he earned the thousand dollars?

* * * * *

From: JMuravchik
Date: Tue, 16 Jul 2002 15:12:26 EDT
Subject: You owe me $1,000
To: Jude Wanniski
Mr. Wanniski,
Whatever else you are, let us see if you are a man of your word. Below are a few clips concerning Farrakhan’s speech in which he was reported to have called Judaism a “gutter religion.” Farrakhan’s response was that he had said “dirty religion,” not “gutter religion.” Most news organizations that listened to the tape heard “gutter.” Some were not sure. But there is no difference between “gutter” and “dirty” as far as your offer of $1,000 to anyone who could produce “evidence that Farrakhan had ever said anything disrespectful of Judaism or the Jewish people.” Please confirm that my $1,000 is in the mail.
Yours,
Josh Muravchik

Copyright 1984 The New York Times Company
The New York Times

June 29, 1984, Friday, Late City Final Edition

SECTION: Section A; Page 12, Column 1; National Desk

LENGTH: 715 words

HEADLINE: TAPE CONTRADICTS DISAVOWAL OF ‘GUTTER RELIGION’ ATTACK

BYLINE: By E. R. SHIPP

DATELINE: CHICAGO, June 28

BODY:
Louis Farrakhan, the leader of the Black Muslim group called the Nation of Islam, continued tonight to deny referring to Judaism as a ”gutter religion,” but a tape recording made available today by The Chicago Sun-Times contained that phrase in a sermon broadcast by Mr. Farrakhan last Sunday.

In an interview on the Cable News Network, Mr. Farrakhan said he had actually used the phrase ”dirty religion.” He also said that he had voluntarily withdrawn from the Jackson campaign on May 5 and that he was ”not the least bit disturbed” by the Rev. Jesse Jackson’s disavowal of his remarks.

”It it will help him go to the convention and represent the 85 percent of the blacks who voted for him,” Mr. Farrakhan said, ”then the rebuke or the repudiation is well worth it.” Earlier, the Senate, by a 95-to-0 vote, passed a resolution condemning Mr. Farrakhan’s remarks. Asked about the vote, Mr. Farrakhan said. ”And there is not one black senator, is there? My repudiation of the Senate carries more weight with God than their repudiation of me.”

Mr. Farrakhan could not be immediately reached for further comment.

‘An Outlaw Act’

On Wednesday, in an interview with The Chicago Tribune, Mr. Farrakhan, while denying he made the offending remark about Judaism, acknowledged that he had referred to the creation of the state of Israel as ”an outlaw act.” Mr. Farrakhan then reportedly said, ”I’m willing to pay $10,000 out of my pocket and offer my life if any person can prove that Louis Farrakhan made that kind of statement.”

In the speech Sunday, as recorded by a reporter for The Sun-Times, Mr. Farrakhan gave his version of biblical history and, in a recurring theme, accused Jews of rewriting the Bible to depict themselves as God’s chosen people. In reality, he said, black Americans are the chosen of God.

Toward the end of that portion of his speech that was recorded, Mr. Farrakhan said: ”Now that nation called Israel never has had any peace in 40 years and she will never have any peace because there can be no peace structured on injustice, thievery, lying and deceit and using the name of God to shield your gutter religion under His holy and righteous name.”

Mr. Farrakhan addresses his followers nearly every Sunday afternoon in a spirited and wide-ranging sermon at the sect’s national headquarters on Chicago’s South Side. He is frequently interrupted by applause.

Most Journalists Barred

Last Sunday most journalists were barred from the proceedings, but a few black journalists, including the managing editor of The Chicago Defender, a black newspaper, were invited to attend. Several black journalists later met privately with Mr. Farrakhan.

The Sun-Times reporter, Don Hayner, was not allowed to attend, but he recorded the address as it was broadcast live over radio station WBEE. It was that tape that was made available today.

Mr. Farrakhan, 51 years old, said that his duty, as taught by Elijah Muhammad, a founder of the Black Muslim sect, was to ”expose the wickedness and lay it bare” so that ”the people of this earth will never again be deceived by those who come in the name of God, cloaking themselves in the robes of God, but are in fact members of the synagogue of Satan.”

Attack Against Reporter

Mr. Farrakhan became the center of controversy earlier this year when in a speech he described Hitler as great. In that same broadcast, he made what has been interpreted as a threat on the life of a Washington Post reporter who disclosed that Jesse Jackson, the Democratic Presidential candidate, had referred to Jews as ”Hymies.”

Mr. Farrakhan is popular on the speaker’s circuit among blacks, ranging from church groups to local chapters of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

While no one is quite sure of his following, he is believed to draw a large listening audience for his radio addresses, which are broadcast over black-oriented radio stations in several major cities.

In this city, the first hour of the Muslims’ Sunday proceedings have been broadcast live over WBEE. This includes 10 to 20 minutes of preliminary remarks by Muslim fuctionaries, then Mr. Farrakhan’s sermons. He sells tapes of his sermons for about $8.

HEADLINE: Farrakhan Says He Called Judaism ‘Dirty Religion,’ Not ‘Gutter’

DATELINE: NEW YORK

BODY:
Black Muslim leader Louis Farrakhan, one of Democratic presidential hopeful Jesse Jackson’s earliest supporters, maintains that he never called Judaism a “gutter religion,” but acknowledges that he used the term “dirty religion.”

Farrakhan, head of the Nation of Islam, denied in a published report and in two broadcast interviews Thursday that his statement in a Sunday radio broadcast included the word “gutter.”

The Chicago Sun-Times, which obtained a tape of Farrakhan’s radio broadcast, had reported that Farrakhan used the word “gutter.” Farrakhan told the Chicago Tribune on Thursday that he is willing to “offer my life” if anyone can prove he called Judaism a “gutter religion.” In interviews with ABC News and with Freeman Reports on the Cable News Network, he said the word he used was “dirty.”

In videotapes and an audio tape of the broadcast heard at various speeds by Associated Press editors in New York, Chicago and Washington, the word used could not be determined with certainty.

“I’m going to sue every last one of them that said that Louis Farrakhan said that Judaism is a gutter religion, and I’m willing to pay $10,000 out of my pocket and offer my life” if it can be proved that he made such a statement, the Muslim minister told the Chicago Tribune.

On the tape, Farrakhan said: “Now that nation called Israel never have had any peace in 40 years and she will never have any peace because there can be no peace structured on injustice, thievery, lying and deceit and using the name of God to shield your (gutter or dirty) religion under his holy and righteous name.”

The comment has created a furor among Jewish leaders and drawn sharp rebukes from Democratic presidential candidates Walter Mondale and from Jackson.

Jackson, who has been under pressure to disavow Farrakhan’s support, said Thursday that there is no place for the Muslim leader’s recent remarks in his campaign and called Farrakhan’s comments “reprehensible and morally indefensible.”

Copyright 1984 U.P.I.

June 28, 1984, Thursday, AM cycle

SECTION: Washington News

LENGTH: 679 words

BYLINE: By DAVID LAWSKY

DATELINE: WASHINGTON

BODY:
Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan was condemned by the Senate Thursday just hours after Jesse Jackson branded his supporter’s anti-Semitic remarks ”reprehensible and morally indefensible.”

Farrakhan, a prominent backer of Jackson’s bid for the Democratic presidential nomination, referred to Judaism as a ”gutter religion” during a speech broadcast Sunday in Chicago.

The Senate voted 95-0 to condemn Farrakhan for ”hateful, bigoted expressions of anti-Jewish and racist sentiments.”

The resolution condemned Farrakhan for his remarks and instructs the chairmen of the Democratic and Republican parties to request they immediately repudiate in writing Farrakhan’s remarks. ”There is no place in our society, nor in the electoral process, for hateful, bigoted expressions of anti-Jewish and racist sentiments such as those being made by Louis Farrakhan, and all such vicious expressions must be condemned,” said the resolution sponsored by Sen. Don Nickles, R-Okla.

Five senators were absent for the vote.

In a statement released at Jackson’s Democratic headquarters Thursday, Jackson labeled the Nation of Islam leader’s comments as ”inflammatory” and ”damaging for the prospect of peace” in the Middle East and called for the start of a process to ”heal the wounds” between Christians, Moslems and Jews.

”I find such statements or comments to be reprehensible and morally indefensible,” Jackson said.

Jackson said that reporters had failed to notice that Farrakhan has not participated in his campaign in recent months.

”I discouraged his participation,” Jackson said. ”He is not a part of our campaign.”

However, in an interview on Cable News Network’s ”Freeman Reports” Thursday, Farrakhan said he was ”not the least bit disturbed” by Jackson’s disavowal.

”If it will help him go to the (Democratic) convention and represent the 85 percent of the blacks who voted for him … then the rebuke or the repudiation is well worth it.”

Farrakhan, speaking in a Cable News Network interview, said he had voluntarily withdrawn from the campaign on May 5th.

The Muslim leader also denied he used the phase ”gutter religion” to describe Judaism. He listened to a tape of the speech and said the words used were actually ”dirty religion.”

”I’m prepared to offer $100,000 and my life if CBS or the New York Post or anyone can examine that tape and come up with the fact that I said Judaism is a gutter religion. I could never make a statement like that and remain a Muslim.”

However, United Press International obtained a tape recording of the Sunday broadcast of Farrakhan’s and reference to Judiasm as ”gutter religion” was clearly audible.

Farrakhan, informed of the Senate motion during the Cable News Network interview, smiled and said, ”And there is not one black senator, is there?”

He then added, ”My repudiation of the Senate carries more weight with God than their repudiation of me.”

Walter Mondale immediately issued a statement in Atlanta approving of Jackson’s statement.

”I commend Rev. Jackson for doing … for making it clear that Mr. Farrakhan has no part in his campaign,” Mondale told reporters. ”The only way to advance the cause of justice in America is to condemn bigotry and prejudice wherever it appears.”

Jackson said he would not allow Farrakhan’s words to divide the Democratic Party. ”Neither anti-Semitism nor anti-black statements have any place in our party,” he said, apparently responding do urgings by political, religious and civil rights leaders to repudiate Farrakhan.

Jackson said that the problems raised ”go to the very fabric of our national civility” and that ”to heal the wounds” in the Christian, Islamic and Jewish communities he wants to begin ecumenical meetings between the groups.

Nathan Perlmutter, national director of the Anti-Defamation League of B’nai B’rith, said, ”I don’t want to be carping — (Jackson’s statement) took an awfully long time, but better late than never. I also don’t want to be naive, it took a very, very long time.”

* * * * *

July 16, 2002

Mr. Wanniski,
In addition to being a crank and an anti-Semite, you are also thoroughly dishonest. This is what Farrakhan said: “Now that nation called Israel never have had any peace in 40 years and she will never have any peace because there can be no peace structured on injustice, thievery, lying and deceit and using the name of God to shield your (gutter or dirty) religion under his holy and righteous name.” He does not use the word, Jew, here, but he explicitly refers to the religion of Israel, which is Judaism. You can pile on the double talk and the additional anti-Semitic slurs, but you remain a miserable faker and liar until you pay up the grand.

Yours contemptuously, Joshua Muravchik
Date: Tue, 16 Jul 2002 17:11:28 -0400
To: JMuravchik
From: Jude Wanniski
Subject: Re: You owe me $1,000

Farrakhan has made thousands of speeches in which he spoke reverently of Judaism. He never made a speech in which he spoke disrespectfully of Judaism, including the one you cite out of blind hatred. I know anti-Semitism when I see it and can assure you neither he nor I have a speck of anti-Semitism in our hearts or souls.

Please read this, Joshua… It is about how my father raised me.

http://polyconomics.com/showarticle.asp?articleid=1984

And I suggest you do read Jeffrey Goldberg’s interview with Farrakhan, which was never published. Just type in Goldberg + Farrakhan on Google and you will find the three-parts, directed at Joe Lieberman. Please note that Ed Rendell, Jewish Mayor of Philadelphia and now candidate for governor of Pa., checked out MLF before inviting him to Phila to help head off race riots. It was Rendell who told Lieberman that MLF was a good guy.

At 03:12 PM 7/16/2002 EDT, you wrote:
Mr. Wanniski,
But there is no difference between “gutter” and “dirty” as far as your offer of $1,000 to anyone who could produce “evidence that Farrakhan had ever Please confirm that my $1,000 is in the mail.
Yours,
Josh Muravchik

July 16, 2002

Dear Joshua:

There is of course no difference between “gutter religion” and “dirty religion,” but Min. Farrakhan was only making a correction because he has never said the words “gutter religion” and has several times used “dirty religion” in connection with political people of different faiths – Christians, Jews and Muslims — who hide behind their religion in an attempt to make gains at the expense of other people. In the material you cite, the word “Judaism” does not appear. You cannot say he called “Judaism a gutter religion” [or dirty religion] when he never did. You are in a long line of people who have claimed the $1000 without proof, only an insistence that you know what he really meant. The best way to understand Farrakhan’s angry comment is to think of Jesus chasing the money changers away from the Temple at Passover, on the grounds they were making a mockery of Judaism. Of course, this got Jesus in trouble straightaway, and in a few days he was crucified.

You have got to do better, Joshua. So far, you have been hiding behind your own faith in an attempt to discredit and destroy a good man who is neither bigoted nor anti-Semitic. I would say you are practicing a dirty religion. Please examine your conscience and perhaps you will be able to clean up your act.

Jude Wanniski
From: JMuravchik
Date: Tue, 16 Jul 2002 17:27:28 EDT
Subject: Re: You owe me $1,000
To: Jude Wanniski

Mr. Wanniski,
You are a fraud and a liar. Your reply is wholly unresponsive. I furnished you the verified quote in which he said the religion of Israel is a dirty religion–his acknowledged words. Now you fall back on saying you know anti-Semitism when you see it, and this is not anti-Semitism. In other words, you are the sole judge: if you say Der Sturmer or Mein Kampf is not anti-Semitic then it is not. But in the world of the sane, words have given meanings. Your black heart and leprous soul brim with anti-Semitism, but that is between you and your creator. My concern is that you put a challenge, and I met it, and you owe me money.
Joshua Muravchik

* * * * *
From: Jude Wanniski
To: JMuravchik
16 July

Joshua:

The “religion” of Israel of which Min Farrakhan spoke almost 20 years ago was clearly related to Zionism, which was used by Israelis to trample the rights of Palestinians who had lived on that land. The Er’etz Israelis have been dishonest all these years in pretending they would like to have a resolution of the conflict with the Palestinians. They want a Greater Israel and want the Palestinians removed or contained forever in concentration camps. The folks behind this goal were the founders of Israel, who were secular socialists and communists who had no interest in “Judaism.” They wanted it all and still pretend that their “God” promised them all this land. Sharon and Netanyahu are part of this Er’etz game. Joshua, you know all this, but you also pretend, kidding yourself. I would not mind at all if Israel could persuade the Palestinians to hang out in Jordan, but the Er’etz drive is alive and well — witness the vote of the Likudniks — and as long as our government tilts toward them, the suicide bombers will be back to blow up more of Manhattan. You and I know [Richard] Perle. The WTC, as far as he was concerned, was collateral damage. Part of the price in the great chess game he is playing.

How easy it is for you to call me a “fraud and a liar.” I was pleased to see you actually contact me, because the Perle/Wolfie crowd has discouraged all their sheep from having anything to do with me. You broke out of the flock. You became a man on the margin. It is still clear you will not engage me seriously, as you have not read the Farrakhan/Goldberg interview and cannot explain why Lieberman and Rendell decided Farrakhan is not a bad fellow and certainly not an anti-Semite. Your entire case is based on an ancient tape that never mentions the word “Judaism.” It has been part of the big lie of the Defamation League, determined to smother any Islamic voice in America that might contest “Greater Israel.” They did the same to Jesse Jackson in 1984 when it appeared he was cozy with the Palestinians.

In some ways, you are much closer to the Nazi principles, which were racist and superior to non-Aryans. You guys have adopted the idea that because you are morally superior to the Palestinians, you have a right to the lebensraum of the Promised Land. Farrakhan is in the Middle East trying to encourage the Islamic people to accept Israel within the 1967 boundaries — which is what Arafat was doing at Tabas with the Barak negotiators in February 2001. Your fanatical Er’etz crowd puts your goal ahead of everything else, including the national security of the US. And please do not insult my intelligence by saying you don’t know. Read through this e-mail exchange and you should see how you have been frothing at the mouth. Go find a quiet corner and examine your own conscience. I submit is you who are pretending the innocence of your “leaders.” What goes around comes around, and when you look in the mirror you are staring fascism directly in its face.

Jude

* * * * *
From: JMuravchik
Date: Tue, 16 Jul 2002 22:21:20 EDT
Subject: Re: Israel&Judaism?
To: Jude Wanniski

Wanniski,
You are one sick f**k. And dishonest to the core of your being.
Very sincerely,
Joshua Muravchik

Yeah right! My linked article has “pull quotes with a bunch of conjecture”

Just like all the proof about Ellison’s anti-semitism? Yeah, right, none of it’s true.

If the dims wish to tarnish the GOP with this, I think our list of sleezy sex scandals is a lot longer. Do you really want to go there?

Last intern scandal….

“I never had sex with that woman” I’d like to see Clinton give a talk about the abuse of interns……
Foley resigned, while you have perverts still in office and others pretending to be President!

I wish Mike would start a post on this specific topic, so we could keep you dims posted on the FACTS since you never post them on your own sites!

Back to Ellison – i’m still not seeing many signs up in my 5th district neighborhood!

Your linked blog is some pull quotes with a bunch of conjecture, much like this one. At this point, your proof is on the same level as your meds.

That is to say: sadly non-existent.

Doug, you got that right – I believe your the one who thinks microwaes are recording you. And now your talking about “lefty illuminati”?

Take your Haldol.

How quickly you cling to a conspiracy when it’s convenient. I noticed you didn’t have much to say about the link I posted a thread or two ago, if you even bothered to educate yourself. Nothing like the spectre of learning to shut you down.

‘It’s the Dims! The damn dirty Dims!’ So much easier to blame a nebulous lefty Illuminati than grapple with the truth.

Perhaps there are some people who post here that like to “look behind the headlines”

Take the time to read this excellent article about the unfolding of Foley events as we know so far. I’m hoping the FBI has and uses their authority to interview, under oath, C.R.E.W. staff and ABC and computer files!

This is not a conspiracy theory.

I see Foley also gave $525,000 to the Republican National Campaign Committee in “excess funds”.

No wonder they want to protect him! He’s a good earner!

If you have THAT much to say, start your own blog.

Gerry Eastman Studds served as a Democratic Congressman for Massachusetts from 1973 until 1996.

Studds is remembered chiefly for his role in the Congressional page sex scandal in 1983, when he and Representative Dan Crane were censured by the House of Representatives for separate sexual relationships with a minor – in Studds’s case, a 1973 relationship with a 17-year-old male congressional page.

During the course of the House Ethics Committee’s investigation, Studds publicly acknowledged his homosexuality, a disclosure that, according to a Washington Post article, “apparently was not news to many of his constituents.”

Studds was re-elected five more terms after the censure…

What!? How in the world did anyone else get hold of Foley’s private IMs and emails? Highly unbelievable.

No, the Republican leadership failed to investigate it’s own member, and swept this under the rug when it happened.

To say the parents didn’t want an investigation is specious. It was the leadership’s DUTY to investigate. What other motive could there be for “overly friendly” emails?

If a Democrat had done this, Bush Republicans would be hollering about the party of the pedophiles!

The other article you cited from Insigt news quotes Keith Ellison as saying, “For the record, however, I am opposed to the subjugation of any class of person an account of their religion, national origin, race, sex or gender. I reject anti-jewish attitudes from whatever source.”

So, using your own post, wouldn’t you agree that it is time to stop trying to link Keith Ellison to anti-semitism? The ship has already sailed on Alan Fine. Hate is his campaign, and he seems destined to stick to it. My question to you is, do you share his inflexibility when presentied with the truth, or are you able to discern truth from fiction and make judgements independent of what Ron Carey wants us all to believe?

Yes, why the coverup just before the election?

I hope we can now count Florida for the Democrats – 14 more to go.

This article from StarTribune.com has been sent to you by paul and Linda Bartlett.
*Please note, the sender’s identity has not been verified.

The full article, with any associated images and links can be viewed here.
The Blog House: Attack ads coming soon to a monitor near you
Tim O’Brien, Star Tribune

Remember when Geraldo opened Al Capone’s vault? Remember the one-hour, 55-minute buildup to the opening of the door? Remember the anticipation of possibly uncovering some Capone riches or maybe the remains of some Capone foes? Remember the empty soda bottle that Rivera found?

That’s how I felt when I finally saw the most-talked-about political ad in Minnesota history — the hacked-into spot for Mark Kennedy.

Noah Kunin, you owe me 30 seconds of my life that I’ll never get back.

Kunin of Blanked-Out (1) made the ad news when he gained access to it while it was still on Kennedy’s media consultant’s website. The ensuing controversy ended with Kunin in legal jeopardy, Amy Klobuchar’s communications direc! tor out of a job and a really, really bad ad getting a lot of play on the Internet.

But that’s the whole beauty of the deal for Kennedy. Throw a fit (rightfully, I might add) about the blogger gaining access to the ad, don’t bother to put it on TV and let the news direct traffic to it on the Net. Presto: Plenty of people see it, and nary a dollar spent. Free media.

That’s why a lot of campaigns are utilizing YouTube (2). Once known as a clearinghouse for bad “Star Wars” reenactments and videos of tree-climbing dogs, today it’s a place where candidates go viral — using sites that people flock to for other reasons, i.e., last night’s “Daily Show” clips — to get passerby hits on their ads. That’s the upside. The downside: If you call someone “macaca,” millions will see you do it.

Mudslinger for hire

Michael Brodkorb on occasion has identified himself on his blog, Minnesota Democrats Exposed (3), as a part-time paid consultant! for the Kennedy campaign.

Robin Marty at Minnesot! a Monito r (4) called into question just how part-time Brodkorb is, pointing out that Brodkorb makes $4,583 a month working for the Kennedy campaign. And despite Brodkorb’s claim when he announced the gig that readers of his blog “may notice a small drop in [his] coverage of the U.S. Senate race,” Marty discovered Brodkorb’s posts on the Senate race have increased dramatically since he started drawing a paycheck.

In the same vein, MN Publius (5) reported that an FEC filing showed that Brodkorb accepted $5,500 from Sixth District U.S. House candidate Michele Bachmann on Aug. 8 for “research.”

Brodkorb claims that his blog “is not created, endorsed, sponsored, or authorized by any political party, candidate, or candidate’s committee. It’s all me and always will be,” but these revelations cast serious doubt on that claim.

He wrote on his disclosure page, “[M]y ethics are not governed by legal interpretations. This is why I have gone through the un! precedented efforts of creating a disclosure page on my blog.”

A couple of problems with that statement:

• His disclosure page (which was announced Aug. 31 but posted only Tuesday) doesn’t disclose anything. Nothing about his salary from Kennedy, the payment from Bachmann, his prior work as the research director for the Minnesota Republican Party, being the chair of the Senate District 38 Republican Party. It’s nothing more than a sanctimonious screed aimed at those who exposed his ties to campaigns.

• He only disclosed his identity because of a defamation lawsuit. He blogged anonymously from July 2004 to January 2006.

• As Blog of the Moderate Left (6) pointed out, Brodkorb didn’t disclose the work he did for Bachmann; MN Publius did.

• Disclosure pages are anything but “unprecedented.”

Brodkorb is a nice guy. But he’s not credible on this issue. He needs to be upfront about what his blog is.

! And, in light of these facts, to argue that it is anything but! a paid advertisement for the GOP is disingenuous at best, and, at worst, a lie. Caesar’s wife should be above suspicion.

If Brodkorb is going to make a career out of “exposing Democrats” by twisting their words and concocting half-truths, then he’d best have his house in order.

Let’s get this party started

The good news: The Twin Cities is hosting the 2008 GOP convention. The bad news: The Twin Cities is hosting the 2008 GOP convention.

At Captain’s Quarters (7), Captain Ed rolled out the red carpet. “How did the Twin Cities land the Republican National Convention for 2008? It took a bipartisan effort that predicated itself on a gentleman’s agreement: all Minnesota politicians would support bids for both conventions, and whichever party chose first would get unanimous support. The combination worked better than anyone could have hoped. … This is a story that reflects well on everyone in Minnesota. Old rivals put aside differences and a! llied together for both efforts, and in the end, the result means that everyone won.”

But Brian at a day in the life (8) isn’t excited by the prospect. “Why do we, not just as the city of St. Paul but the entire state, want the Republican National Convention or the Democratic one for that matter. … [I]t will be one uncontrollable political adoration orgy.”

tobrien@startribune.com

SEE FOR YOURSELF HOW TO FIND THE BLOGS ONLINE

Barney Frank had a homosexual prostitute living with him and turning tricks in the Senators apartment. Are you calling for Franks resignation?

However we need a coalition of countries to allow that to happen. If we do not get support from others as it is needed, we must remain. We are the country in the MOST danger. And thanks to the Muslims, Denmark is also strongly in the danger stew with Great Britain. This is a religious war. It is not now, nor was it ever about weapons of mass destruction. If we had not struck Iraq when we did, in a surprise and Presidential demand, we could have been immediately bombed or attacked again. It was pre-emptive, yes. But important to send the warning message of our might to the Muslims in the radical fringe. Plese note here that since 9-11 the so-called, ‘Peaceful Muslims’ have not come forth en masse in the US as they could and should, due to the fact that they follow, and are a force to reckon with,yet, merely stood by and wallowed in the scrutiny and the fears of the christians. Where is the leadersho if the Muslim community in the USA?
Muslims are divided. That is a serious Muslim issue.If ‘peace loving’ Muslims want us to accept them and thier religion, they need to fix themselves first!
Keith Ellison needs to fix himself first.
With so many Muslim names to his name, whose name does Keith Ellison work in?
Looks as though he does not know. He is strictly opportunistic. Strictly Ellison first in the most dysfunctional form of the words.
Ellison is blinded by his desire to set criminals free…any and all criminals. Could this passion be due to the criminal that lives within himself? He clearly has issues.

In fairness I will add here; sadly the black community, in such pain, has no real support from their white neighbors. We can track back to the days of MLK and we see the close ties that developed with John Kennedy and MLK die to the need of the DFL Party to garner votes and of the needs of the black community to garner power. However we see that the DFL is continuing to be a rather fair=weather friend to the black community as history sets forth for us. I have wrongly stated in the past blogging scenes that Ellison has shaken, not stirred us with his run in Minnesota politics. What he is actually doing is taking us, white men and women, into the black community. Into their issues and into their pain. It is unsettling to say the very least. Yet, he is true on that level and in that regard. True to the black community. His claims in his writings are of the need for a black landspace for the black community to build on. It is considered, when labeled, to be a black nationalist society. I liken it to Palestine. A people without a land/state to claim as solely their own. The black community has grown immensely since the MLK days. Black leaders have died. I often wonder how Mr. Jesse Jackson ever made it this far. He has been a strength in the black community and known and accepted by white circles for the majority of his life now. He has become a leader in the black community who stands for reason and not rage. Jesse has not weakened to the Muslim faith to be used as a front man for the NOI to gather a more abundant and tunell-visioned force of followers. His Rainbow Coalition efforts has saved many black lives and many white lives in the process.
I do not feel that Keith Ellison is qualified for this position. I do also feel that it is shameful how the DFL is using this driven man to garner votes and to raise the buzz on the DFL as it is sinking, cluelessly, into oblivion. The DFL got lucky with Clinton. He was a relative unknown and a big chance was taken on this southern boy. He campaigned well as did Hillary. They rose the South! And as you know, the South is predominatly black. In essence, they used the balcks…again. What did Clinton really do for the black mother with six children and a long-gone husband? What did the DFL ever do for the black student who struggles get an education and take care of her family at the same time? What did the DFL do for Ron Brown? What did the DFL do for Jesse Jackson? For MLK? For Malcom X?
Ron Brown was MUREDERED on CLinton’s watcj. A bullet to the head and a crash into a mountain with the plane!
Where is the support from the DFL for blacks after election year? How much is just not enough?

The DFL just used them to get votes and then used them as numbers to creat funding for student, of ALL colors. In short, the DFL threw a little money at them and hoped that a few of them would quell the chants of the rest.
It is exactly what Malcolm X tried to tell his followers….regarding the whites….they will offer it to a few, to one of us. They will offer one a life out of the slums where the rest of us shall stay…one will be walking around with a big cigar…’a big cigar with a fire on one end and a fool on the other”.

I will add that as a young white girl in the Minneapolis school system, Malcolm X was one of my first book reports in sicth grade. I was moved by his story and by the honesty I was finding about the black community that was hidden from me in my white world of school and family and community. In my heart beats a rythym for the greater good. I want the hard-working blacks to succeed just as we want the hard=working Irish, Polish, Lebanese and Italians to succeed. That is America!

But I do not want to see antiquated thoughts and practices implemented again. It didn’t work before because it is a flawed approach.
Ellison is holding onto a lost dream for the black community. A failed agenda.

Ellison has the powerbase and the energy and the hope to ‘revive the dream’ and he doesn’t get it.
He is taking the cowards way out, the unimaginative, and dismal way out for the black community. That is what I resent about Keith Ellison’s campaign.

Yes he has ticketing issues…MLK did too, hence the need for JFK’s support at the time in the ’60′s.
The Prophet Muhammad had a Trench War with the Jews and held to the Pact of Medina.
Ellison is fighting his own war with the Jews and specifically a Jewish candidate for the same seat.
MLK and Malcolm X also felt that ALL black men were created equal, criminal offenders or not.
So does Ellison as he strives to have criminals records expunged and voting rights resturned to them.

This list is long if you stop and truly think about it.
If you will take a serious look at this campaign between Alan Fine and Keith Ellison you will spot a few irregulatiites/similarities:
a) Fine is NOT being heard or spoken to appropriately as a candidate.
Neither is Ellison.
b) Fine is tating that he is ‘offended as a Jew’ by Ellison’s campaigning.
Ellison is offended by white men who have worked to oppress the black community since the days before slavery.
c) Each candidate has their own style and determinations as they charge against each other. No one is noticing those factors.
d) Each candidate largely represents communities that have been oppresssed and dictated by whote governments. No one sees their sensitivities to their followers clearly.

The list of similarities is long. We are all deeply at fault for not showing these candidates the respect that they deserve in recognition of their own lifelong ‘Jihad’s” (Jihad meaning struggle, not war). We are all wrong to overlook their passions as only surface attention-getting devices that are nothing more than campaign veneer. These are two very different prople in lifestyle and conduct, however, two very similar candidates in their representation of people oppressed.

Ellison, we do not need or want a black nationalist nation…because that doesn’t work. Admit it.
What we do need is small black condensed islands for the black community to spread their wings in and to grow and develop and to be proud again. To have a safe place to learn and to grow.

Ellison, your approach is just as oppressive and the white approach of the past.
Until the black community accepts that the strengths it soes have need to be built on with real sweat and blood…the tears will not stop. The hurt will continue.
Take Louisiana…a black Mayor holds on…making mistakes and learning as he goes. SUPPORT him! Hold the faith and build there.
Retake the South. Your lost home.

Don’t overlook and don’t squander your blessings in this life.
MLK would have built it up. With word and deed.
Found financing and most importantly…shared a vision for all.

Ellison needs desperately to step away from te lies and the deceptions. Stop playing politics and reach down into his heart for…a vision.

For those of us, whiteys, who grew up dreading the divide of black and white equally as much as the blacks…Keith, remind yourself that ALL your Prophet Muhammad had was…a vision.
ALL that your leaders, MLK and Malcolm X had was…a vision.

And for those of us who are thoroughly disgusted at the DFL Party’s abuse of the black community in the US…show us your vision.

If you don’t share it…we can’t see it.
Leaders have a responsibilty to their followers…that is primarily…a clear path.
You will never get the domiance of white votes without it Ellison. Never.

For those od us long disappointed by the DFL Party leadershipr from the core…show us your vision.
For those of us who are no longer DFLers…show us your vision.
For those of us who want to also live in harmony with our black neighbors, black friends, and black business associates…show us your vision..

Honesty and clarity will make it happen for you.
Are you man enough?
Are you Leader enough?

We are not seeing it. And are disappointed in you for that fact alone. And that is why this campaign is based on CHARACTER…on the integral and substantive teachings of MLK.

Ellison…are you a member of NOI. Or not?
The truth truly matters to us.

If he had a point he could try a coherent post with a point to guide the reader than cut-n-pasting wholesale from somewhere else hoping that that anyone who reads that crap will just simply come to the conclusion he thinks is obvious.

// The Maine National Guard is giving life-size from-the-waist-up pictures of soldiers to the families of deployed guard members. Guard officials and families say the cutouts, known as Flat Daddies or Flat Soldiers, connect families with a relative who is thousands of miles away. The Flat Daddies are toted everywhere from soccer practice to coffee shops to weddings. //

http://liberaldad.blogspot.com

You are right. Ellison has been busy as a state legislator. He has authored legislation to:

1) Impeach President Bush (HR0024).

2) Restore the voting rights of convicted felons while on probation (HF0607). This bill restores the right of a convicted felon to vote while on supervised release (e.g., probation). “Current law allows a convicted felon to resume voting after completing any incarceration and period of probation or other supervised release. This bill would restore the right to vote to a convicted felon who is not incarcerated but may still be under some form of supervision.” So, in combination with Amy K, who pleas down most sentences to probation, and Ellison, who has given them the right to vote while on probation, Minneapolis criminals can now vicitmize law-abiding citizens AND continue to vote for the likes of Amy K and Ellison.

Bush and his lockstep, do-nothing, rubber-stamp, no-oversight Congress will never get us out of Iraq.

// President Bush said … the decision about when to withdraw all U.S. troops from Iraq will fall to future presidents and Iraqi leaders, suggesting that U.S. involvement will continue at least through 2008. //

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11941620/

Time for some new direction in Congress.

The local media has imposed a virtual blackout on information about Ellison. Will we hear about his love and veneration of all things Farrakhan in the Strib? Even when such past information is routinely published about current (conservative) pols, on the theory that to know them, we must know them?

Not a chance. To get past the blackout, we have to go to other sources. And so, if this effort by MDE and Powerline to get this information out there is somehow bad, and beyond their mission, who else is going to pick up the slack?

No one. And that’s your preferred outcome, isn’t it, Dems? Because the best way to defend your principles and your principals is to keep them hidden. Liberalism does best with a bedazzled but uninquisitive constituency.

And the rest of the column said:

“Brodkorb is a nice guy. But he’s not credible on this issue. He needs to be upfront about what his blog is.

“And, in light of these facts, to argue that it is anything but a paid advertisement for the GOP is disingenuous at best, and, at worst, a lie. Caesar’s wife should be above suspicion.”

“If Brodkorb is going to make a career out of ‘exposing Democrats’ by twisting their words and concocting half-truths, then he’d best have his house in order.”

“He only disclosed his identity because of a defamation lawsuit. He blogged anonymously from July 2004 to January 2006.”

I think the 375,000 readers of Saturday’s Strib got the true story, compared to the few ‘insiders’ who read this piece of…

You’re the worst of the worse, me boy…you believe what you write is making society better. Rather than discuss issues, you wallow in the muck for money. It is sick and it is sad. I hope your children never look back at this site, for if they do they will feel ashamed.

Sorry I don’t have the time Roving has *or michael* to post comments.

Um, no. It was used to show that Ellison lied about a claimed “18 month-long” affiliation with the Nation of Islam and with Farrakhan.

As in 18 month, as in a year and a half. As in 1989 (in law school) up to 1998 (showcasing Farrakhan’s rag while marching for “you get no peace”) is 90 months longer than 18 months.

I suppose it all boils down to what the meaning of “affiliation” is.

And, hey Paul, chill with the spam…

Because it is true. And it is damming.

When a self-professed leader of men goes into hiding, he looks weak and insincere.
And devious.

The DFL needs to ask themselves just exactly where this chosen leader will take the people he is endeavoring to govern.
Into a Black Nationalist hell, apparently ,if one is to view this record for what it is.

The truth hurts! They remind me of the sounds and sights of those horror movies when the aliens are exposed to something lethal and they get slimy, distorted and putrid snot drips from every orifice.

This article from StarTribune.com has been sent to you by Paul and Linda Bartlett.
*Please note, the sender’s identity has not been verified.

The full article, with any associated images and links can be viewed here.
Kline staffer filmed using racial term outside Rowley event
Kevin Diaz, Star Tribune

WASHINGTON — Just when you thought the congressional campaign between John Kline and Coleen Rowley couldn’t get any weirder, a video appeared on a Minnesota political blog showing Kline’s district director screaming about “another Jap car.”

It was posted by DFL activists who taped a small GOP protest. It happened at a visit by Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., a Marine turned anti-war hero who was in Rosemount on Sunday stumping for Rowley in the Second Congressional District race.

Kline’s Minnesota director, former state Rep. Mike Osskopp, was seen repeatedly chiding people who arrived in foreign-made cars at the Murtha event at a local VFW hall.

Witnesses said they heard O! sskopp several times use the word, considered a disparaging term for Japanese. One Rowley supporter, Paul Bartlett, complained Monday to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, noting that Osskopp is a “high-level federal employee.”

Osskopp, who rode his Harley-Davidson motorcycle to the event, apologized for the remark Tuesday.

“I apologize if my words offended any Americans of Japanese descent, including my sister-in-law,” Osskopp said. “I allowed my emotions to get the better of me and used a phrase commonly used in my youth, but which is now inappropriate and offensive.”

The episode in Rosemount represents a faint echo of racial gaffes that have marred other congressional campaigns this year, including those by Sen. George Allen, R-Va., and Sen. Conrad Burns, R-Mont.

But this time the controversial remark was uttered by a campaign aide, and Kline was quick to condemn it.

“That’s unacceptable now,” Kline said. “We’ve all seen t! he John Wayne movies about World War II, and then it was accep! table. N ow it’s not, and [Osskopp] knows that.”

The incident perpetuates a personal feud that started earlier this year when a doctored photo of Kline was posted on Rowley’s campaign website depicting him as Col. Klink of the “Hogan’s Heroes” TV series.

Since then, Kline’s campaign has accused David Bailey, an unpaid staffer on Rowley’s campaign, of being a “double agent” and trying to infiltrate his campaign by making an illegal contribution.

The bad blood continued last week when Democrats announced that Murtha — like Kline, a decorated Marine — would come to Minnesota to back Rowley, a critic of the war in Iraq.

Organizers said more than 250 people turned out for Murtha’s appearance Sunday at VFW Post 9433, which was billed as a veterans’ event to “meet and greet” Murtha.

The video also shows a dozen or more protesters, including Osskopp, who says he was there on his own time.

Kline staffers said Osskopp’s outburst was promp! ted in part by a Rowley supporter who showed up in a Ford Explorer SUV and blamed Republicans for the loss of his job at the Ford auto plant in St. Paul.

Osskopp responded by pointing out a number of foreign-made cars driving into the parking lot, at times pointing and yelling.

Greg Skog, associate chairman for the DFL in State Senate District 38, was on hand taping the Rowley event with Murtha. When he heard the commotion, he said, he went outside and started taping Osskopp.

Skog said he turned over the grainy video to Mike McIntee, who posted it on his liberal website, Inside Minnesota Politics (www.insideminnesotapolitics.blogspot.com).

Bartlett, who wrote a letter to the civil rights commission, also was a witness. “It reminded me of some very crass behavior that I thought we had moved beyond 20 years ago,” he said.

Bartlett, a frequent Kline critic and Rowley supp! orter, is well-known to the Kline campaign, which has a length! y file o f his e-mails and blog entries, some of which insult Kline in crude terms.

Steve Sutton, Kline’s chief of staff, dismissed Bartlett’s civil rights complaint as “synthetic outrage … It’s like being called insensitive by David Duke.”

Kevin Diaz is a correspondent in the Star Tribune Washington Bureau.

As an example, the case of Kathleen Ann Soliah/Sara Jane Olson the bail donor list was a public record, indeed defense lawyer Susan Jordan waived the document in court in front of the camera in a televised court hearing.

A few people compared that to David Duke’s presidential campaign where people who had donated even small sums were “outed” locally by the media. I recalled that and sourced the comparisonsc to a white supremicist leading group. I never made the information public (before now) and avoided using anything I could connect with this white supremicist group.

That to me was proper course to take.

Blogs don’t have rules. They don’t have guidelines. They don’t have markers or boundaries. I guess it is up to each individual blog to make its own parameters.

This particular blog gives you the opinion of the author (whoever that happens to be), nothing more, nothing less. We understand that you have a variety of sources at your disposal to form your own opinion and we encourage you to utilize as many as you have time for.

But let’s look one more time at Minnesota Democrats Exposed by Michael Brodkorb. I am still trying to figure out what MDE is. In theory, I guess it is supposed to be a simple blog — but Brodkorb seems to expect his readers to accept him as newsmaker. He wants to make news (or distort news, depending on your take)… and he relishes the opportunities that the main stream media gives him to do just that.

But given what we have gradually found out about him, as he moves from an anonymous blogger to GOP Party spokesperson, the real description of Michael Brodkorb’s role with his blog would be this:

Paid opposition researcher for a partisan campaign who uses a blog to release his information.

That’s it.. pure and simple.

Yet, he thinks of himself as an investigative journalist. He truly believes that his one sided look at any subject counts as some kind of “truth”. If you investigate something, you should be letting the facts lead you to wherever they go. Brodkorb sets out with a preconceived idea of what he wants and then only uses the facts that fit. That is NOT journalism and any main stream media person who uses that as a source is guilty of doing the same.

That’s why he uses distorted descriptions of his “stories”;… for instance:

He has a picture of Keith Ellison from 1998 holding the “Final Call”, a publication of Louis Farakhan. He uses that 8 year old picture to attack Keith Ellison as lying about his assertion that his affiliation with Farakhan is in the past. Past… you know, as in 8 years ago!

He discovers some large donations from the Lac Qui Parle DFL party unit coming from Hatch donors and without knowing any of the facts uses the term “slush fund”.

And at the same time he puts up posts about coming Republican ads as if it is “breaking news”… simply repeating the message without any critique of the factual nature of these ads.

He is proud of his “newsmaking” blog and he tells us that his background is all out in the open — even though each piece of it had to be forced out by lawsuit or research by other blogs. And he criticizes liberal blogs for not being so forthcoming about their party activities. The problem is, none of the liberal bloggers get paid $4,500 per month or have the entire GOP opposition research arm at their disposal… or even have the same kind of party access. Most liberal bloggers do their own research on their own time and at their own expense.

Actually, there aren’t any rules here that Brodkorb is breaking (that we know of, at least). We now know exactly who he is (although it took some time) and we know his purpose.

The real rules that get broken are from the main stream media — they use his blog as a source and don’t do their own fact checking; allowing his one-sided, distorted viewpoint to get newspaper space is the real distortion. Michael Brodkorb’s place in the blogosphere should simply be another talking point for the Republican Party.

To elevate his message beyond that is to encourage the pervasise negative tone of political dialogue and furthur destroy the public trust.
comments (1) permalink
Creepy Stuff in Florida
Category: US Politics
Posted: Friday, 29 September 2006 21:04

by Dave Mindeman

I’ve carried around copies of the Star Tribune; does that make me a member of their staff?

Frankly, I don’t care about what Keith Ellison used to do ten years ago. I care about what he has been doing lately. And lately, he has been working with a very diverse group of people to better North Minneapolis and Minnesota as a whole.

Now, I know that there are a lot of people out there who may believe that Ellison is evil for ever having said a word about Farrakhan at all. They are free to believe this. Nothing will make them vote for Ellison, in the same way that nothing will make an ardently pro-life person vote for a pro-choice candidate. Who cares?

Do Ron Carey, MDE, and other Republicans wake up every morning and think to themselves, “How can I detract from the public debate today? How can I tar Democrats with anything?” I truly feel sorry for these kinds of people. Once upon a time, Republicans and Democrats were about discussing the best way to improve our state. Now, it’s all about who can post the most 911 calls. Is this fulfilling for anybody?

Of course, even with this overwhelming evidence Keith will still be elected and those who are concerned about his bigotry will face all sorts of ad hominem attacks. The standard for Keith doesn’t seem to be “innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt” but, instead, “innocent no matter what.”

Short of launching into an antisemitic tirade on live TV — and probably even them — these people just don’t appear interested in the truth.

I mean really, why are you reading the future? If someone said it, then link it. If someone hasn’t, then what’s the point in speculating? I thought you were a ‘real nice guy.’