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« | Home | »

SHAME: “NON-PARTISAN” SECRETARY OF STATE MARK RITCHIE’S OFFICE PARTNERS WITH HYPER-PARTISAN LIBERAL VIDEO-BLOG

By Michael B. Brodkorb | December 30, 2008

“Non-partisan” Secretary of State Mark Ritchie’s office has joined forces with the partisan liberal video-blog The UpTake to provide a live video feed of today’s State Canvassing Board meeting. This press information about today’s meeting was sent to me by a dedicated reader of Minnesota Democrats Exposed:

“Dec. 30. 9 a.m. SENATE RECOUNT — State Canvassing Baord convenes to approve allocation of remaining withdrawn ballots in the U.S. Senate race. A live feed will be provided through “The Uptake.” To access the live feed, contact [e-mail redacted].

Location: Room 15, State Capitol Building, 75 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., St. Paul

Contact: John Aiken, [number redacted]“

Please note the press contact for the event – it’s Ritchie’s communications director John Aiken.

This would be like Governor Pawlenty telling Minnesotans to go to Minnesota Democrats Exposed to find out information about his budget proposals. While my blog is more credible, you get my point. This is totally inappropriate.

Please check back to Minnesota Democrats Exposed for more information on this developing story.

Tags:

Topics: Uncategorized | 46 Comments »

46 Responses to “SHAME: “NON-PARTISAN” SECRETARY OF STATE MARK RITCHIE’S OFFICE PARTNERS WITH HYPER-PARTISAN LIBERAL VIDEO-BLOG”

  1. Jeff Rosenberg Says:
    December 30th, 2008 at 8:33 AM

    Gasp! Live video of an important meeting? Oh noes!

    Since state workers are on vacation, there is no video feed from the Capitol. The UpTake is doing everyone a huge service.

  2. joe Says:
    December 30th, 2008 at 9:08 AM

    Hey, why don’t you link The Uptake when mentioned? This is the interwebs, after all…

  3. Tom Says:
    December 30th, 2008 at 9:08 AM

    Can explain why the UpTake is a “HYPER-PARTISAN LIBERAL VIDEO-BLOG”?

    I’d hate to see you lose any of your hard earned credibility by being defamatory.

  4. Minnesota Senate Republican communications director smears The UpTake for providing Minnesotans a great service | The Twin Cities Daily Liberal Says:
    December 30th, 2008 at 9:12 AM

    [...] assured that if anyone could, that someone is Minnesota Senate Republican communications director Michael Brodkorb. Proving once again that Minnesota Republicans can turn anything into a vicious partisan attack, [...]

  5. CD2GOP Says:
    December 30th, 2008 at 9:31 AM

    Isn’t this an example of the public-private partnership that conservatives encourage? In MDE’s view, who should be providing the coverage? I guess I am not a public employee like Brodkorb but I see nothing wrong with this.

  6. swiftee Says:
    December 30th, 2008 at 9:43 AM

    “Can explain why the UpTake is a “HYPER-PARTISAN LIBERAL VIDEO-BLOG”?”

    If you haven’t noticed their collaboration with MiniSoros Independent, or if you have, but are too dense to make the connection, be sure to join Mike McIntee when he sits in for Mark Heney on Air scAmerica radio.

    And if you still don’t get it, report to DFL headquarters to pick up your special prize.

  7. gld Says:
    December 30th, 2008 at 9:47 AM

    Michael,

    Thanks for posting comments in support of The Uptake as well as those opposed. It shows your commitment to fairness and openness.

    The Uptake is seriously limiting any dissenting opinions and posts on their live blog.

    It’s hard to argue that they’re not hyper-partisan when they won’t allow dissenting opinions to be heard.

    The site is a joke and clearly cannot get enough site visits on their own and need to rely on Ritchie’s office to do the work for them.

  8. PlymouthDem Says:
    December 30th, 2008 at 9:53 AM

    If you are so pissed, why doesn’t MDE set up a camera in the room and dedicate the expense and time to provide this public service? I’m sure the SOS isn’t going to disallow MDE from having its own video feed (not that I see how it adds anything).

    But, I’m sure what you are really trying to say is that because Ritchie is allowing the Uptake to provide the public video of the meeting it must be the case that Ritchie is stealing the election for Franken.

  9. marc Says:
    December 30th, 2008 at 9:54 AM

    Mike McIntee is an absolute liberal hack…I’d really like to hear Ritchie’s explanation for this.

  10. gld Says:
    December 30th, 2008 at 9:55 AM

    The Franken campaign clearly prepped Poser and Ritchie well today.

  11. gopstreetfighter Says:
    December 30th, 2008 at 9:56 AM

    This coming from our “non-partisan” secretary of state. This man has become a complete joke.

  12. Jack Harkness Says:
    December 30th, 2008 at 10:14 AM

    So?

  13. loris Says:
    December 30th, 2008 at 10:56 AM

    Today is not a holiday, state workers should be working. It is inexcusable to allow so many workers to be on vacation that the basic duties of their job cannot be carried out. Where is there supervisor to tell them this? He or she should be seriously reprimanded, or fired. This is THE story in our state right now and they have abandoned their TAXPAYER-FUNDED jobs.

    Plus, isn’t Room 15 outfitted with cameras already? There should be no need to have an outside website come in and film it.

  14. joeNotASpammer Says:
    December 30th, 2008 at 10:59 AM

    gld,

    “The Uptake is seriously limiting any dissenting opinions and posts on their live blog.”

    How so? It looks like anyone can enter any comments they wish.

    Just curious why you claim this….

  15. gld Says:
    December 30th, 2008 at 11:05 AM

    I claim this because I posted several comments that they never allowed to be posted.

    They review each and every comment prior to posting and filter out most dissenting comments.

  16. joeNotASpammer Says:
    December 30th, 2008 at 11:14 AM

    gld,

    You are correct. I just asked them (on their live blog) and they indeed confirmed it. That’s a shame.

    I still appreciate that they stream the content.

  17. swiftee Says:
    December 30th, 2008 at 11:33 AM

    “That’s a shame”

    What did you expect from lefty’s, joe?

    Try posting a dissenting comment on any lefty website…..their empty skulls are too fragile to endure the ringing that results from cognitive dissonance.

    Facts? Lefty’s do-not-want.

  18. jump Says:
    December 30th, 2008 at 12:03 PM

    “Try posting a dissenting comment on any lefty website…”

    That’s quite an assumption to make. I never said anything about disenting (and neither did they).

    My guess, they attempt to moderate SPAM. That is not unusual and I would assume that even this site does the same.
    .
    .

  19. Jeff Rosenberg Says:
    December 30th, 2008 at 12:20 PM

    Swiftee, you’ve posted dissenting comments on my left-liberal-commie-America-hating website before without problems. They’re always wrong, but they’re encouraged.

    Gld, if you’re not allowed to post comments at The UpTake, why did I see you mouthing off on their blog because of a temporary glitch in their video?

  20. CD2GOP Says:
    December 30th, 2008 at 12:24 PM

    Didn’t MDE redact the contact information for the Uptake’s link to the live video? I may not like the censoring of dissenting comments on the Uptake’s website, but at least we should be consistant in our criticism for the use of censorship.

    Loris, since when is it the Minnesota Senate Media Service’s responsibility to cover a state elections meeting? Those folks will be working non-stop for the next several months when session starts. I say they should be able to spend time with their families before their schedules fill up with Senate hearings and floor sessions.

    Why did you not complain about Brodkorp posting on MDE when HE should be at his TAXPAYER-FUNDED job?

  21. Jeff Rosenberg Says:
    December 30th, 2008 at 12:37 PM

    CD2GOP: zing!

  22. Chris Says:
    December 30th, 2008 at 12:56 PM

    loris is right. Room 15 is outfitted with cameras and audio. It would be very easy for the proceedings to be streamed live over the internet through the official House web site.

  23. Chris Says:
    December 30th, 2008 at 1:01 PM

    An additional point: the Secretary of State is an official entity of the state and the Canvassing Boards are official legal proceedings. It is in the public’s interest that the proceedings be streamed live, in a way that is easily and freely accessible and in a way that is content neutral. There is no legitimate reason for any partisan outlet to be the official streamer of official legal proceedings.

  24. loris Says:
    December 30th, 2008 at 1:09 PM

    Michael Brodkorb may be on vacation today, I have no idea. However, I have no doubt that if he is, there is someone who can step in in his absence. Whatever his job is, I have no reason to believe he is abdicating his responsibilities.

    Whoever provides these streams, on the other hand, cannot claim the same. Room 15 repeatedly and consistently, until now I guess, broadcasts non-legislative meetings and events. Whether it takes one person or ten, they should be there doing their job. Long hours, irregular schedules are part of life. If they don’t like it, maybe they can find a job in the private sector.

  25. danbrome Says:
    December 30th, 2008 at 1:56 PM

    Ahhh Quit crying!

    Senator Coleman can try to win his seat back in 2020. Ritchie will have moved past SOS by then, and the GOP can romp.

  26. swiftee Says:
    December 30th, 2008 at 2:17 PM

    Say Jeff?

    I see when you’re not busy assing up teh interwebs over at tcdailymoron, you have been taking lessons from Feckless Jeffy on how to keep your man happy.

    You two morons should really set up shop together; word on the street is that Feckless looks quite fetching in his new honorary uterus…and who knows? Maybe you two can spawn a whole new species of lefty idiots!

    Bwahahaha!

  27. John T. Hoffoss Says:
    December 30th, 2008 at 2:40 PM

    “What did you expect from lefty’s, joe?

    Try posting a dissenting comment on any lefty website…..their empty skulls are too fragile to endure the ringing that results from cognitive dissonance.

    Facts? Lefty’s do-not-want.”

    Yeah, real fact-laden post there…try posting a dissenting comment with well-thought-out and well-written arguments, and drop the childish and insulting (to the reader) crap like “MiniSoros”, “scAmerica”, “tcdailymoron”, and did you just call someone a uterus?

    If this is what your posts over on a news-oriented website look like, then yes they’re going to be censored. They would be on a conservative news site as well. But if you wrote up some thoughtful commentary that dropped that editorial junk, it’d get through the UpTake’s moderation.

    On second thought, keep that garbage up. It’s much easier to win an argument when one side has to resort to these tactics in their attempt to “win” rather than actually intelligently discuss the topic at hand.

    Either way, The UpTake has been providing streaming video of the entire process, and without commentary on the video stream itself. If you choose to, you can read their articles too. But you aren’t required to if all you want is that video stream. And you can see their video stream here on Mogulus as well if their website is really that offensive to you.

  28. CD2GOP Says:
    December 30th, 2008 at 2:49 PM

    So, Loris, let me get this straight:
    You have no idea who does the job or what the job entails BUT you are willing to tell them how to do it. . .because you feel you have a RIGHT to a government-provided service. . . eventhough a private entity has volunteered to provide that same service free of charge?

  29. loris Says:
    December 30th, 2008 at 3:24 PM

    I’m not telling them how to do it, how can I, THEY AREN’T EVEN THERE TO DO IT! It’s a disgrace. If whoever provides this public service can’t be there to do it, maybe we need to rethink whether they need to be there at all. And yes, I do think we have a right to see how our government is deciding a Senate election and it should be the government’s responsibility to make that possible. Whomever provides that service has abdicated his or her responsibility.

  30. swiftee Says:
    December 30th, 2008 at 4:03 PM

    Say, John T. Hoffoss?

    I’m going to assume that you’re a Democrat assbag, so I’ll be sure to use small, easy to digest words.

    I wouldn’t discuss anything seriously with a Democrat any more than I would a nine month old infant.

    Instead, as I would with an infant, I simply enjoy their complete absence of any congnative ability and the funny sounds they make.

    Once in awhile, I’ll remind them to wipe their chins, too.

    Now, you were saying?

  31. swiftee Says:
    December 30th, 2008 at 4:14 PM

    BTW, John. I most certainly did not “call someone a uterus”; how unseemly!

    I merely commented upon our good friend Jeffy the Wingnut slayer’s recent acquisition of an honorary unit and the fashionable visage he presents while modeling it.

  32. CD2GOP Says:
    December 30th, 2008 at 4:31 PM

    Loris:
    I am not a big government person, so your FREE-video-access-to-public-meetings-at-any-price-to-the-taxpayer (meetings which you could attended in person) mentality puzzles me.

    All I know is that people were able to watch the meeting from UpTake free of charge or attend the meeting in person–so it’s not an “access to government” problem. Your anger seems utterly misdirected.

  33. dedededededem Says:
    December 30th, 2008 at 4:38 PM

    Alternate title:

    Purportedly “independent” Paulson assisted by ultra partisan right wing media tool!

    Sound the Alarm!

  34. Chris Says:
    December 30th, 2008 at 5:27 PM

    CD2GOP:

    As a conservative Republican, I think you’re either a moron or a wanker. There is no way in hell you can make a credible argument that it’s better for an opinion-based website to stream the official legal proceedings for the public than it would be for the House of Representatives who have cameras, microphones and a webcast page on their website.

    I’m sorry but if you think it’s small government to outsource the proceedings to an equivalent to MoveOn.org, you’re either misguided or a moron. The public has a right to know without having to wade through the slant of someone else’s opinion.

  35. Tommy Johnson Says:
    December 31st, 2008 at 3:36 PM

    Chris, as a conservative Democrat, I think you’re a republiCon bootlicker.

    Aren’t you shameless dicks always claiming “anything government can do, private industry can do better”??!?

    Yet here you are, lickin’ the boots, trying to follow the lame excuse government should be doing what The Uptake is doing on their own.

    You (cheney)in’ morons constantly prove that the GreedOverPrinciples party is consistently inconsistent.

  36. Chris Says:
    December 31st, 2008 at 5:01 PM

    Two Putz,

    It’s amazing that you and your party control everything: the White House, Congress, the MN Legislature, the Secretary of State, etc. and you’re still as rabid, angry and pissed off as ever. Perhaps it’s because you’re the shameless dick. But happy new year nonetheless.

  37. Chris Says:
    December 31st, 2008 at 5:11 PM

    I have a question for all of you Mark Ritchie apologists like Two Putz Tommy:

    If it’s okay for Ritchie to broadcast the official Canvassing Board proceedings through the Uptake, why not just do it through Al Franken’s website or the DFL’s? It’s the same difference.

  38. Tommy Johnson Says:
    January 1st, 2009 at 12:01 PM

    Chris, the reason the feed isn’t through MDE, unTrue North, et al is you republiCons don’t want the truth to be shown.

    If the truth isn’t out there, lying liars in the GreedOverPrinciples party get away with the spin.

    But, just to let you know exactly what’s got me still pissed off, I’ll tell you: the greedy bastard crooks in the GreedOverPrinciples Party haven’t been PerpWalked – yet.

    But ol’ Smokescreen will be…..

  39. Chris Says:
    January 1st, 2009 at 1:11 PM

    Two Putz,

    Your party has the likes of Rod Blagojevich, Charlie Rangel, William Jefferson, et al. and you have the chutzpah to call Republicans greedy? LMAO!

    The truth is that the official proceedings of the State Canvassing Board should be streamed live on the House Web Site and not on a partisan hack site.

    Oh, and to say that you’re a conservative Democrat is choice considering you’re calling everyone else a lying liar. You should add honesty to your list of New Year’s Resolutions.

  40. Tommy Johnson Says:
    January 2nd, 2009 at 10:07 AM

    Yes, Chris – I have the ‘nads to call you shameless dicks EXACTLY what you are: the party of GreedOverPrinciples.

    Sure, there are crooked Democrats – there’s bad apples in every barrel. But you don’t see Dmocrats running as “Holier Than Thou” the way you hypocritical bastards do.

    Well, maybe YOU do; like a typical republiCon you just make shit up and believe that stinkin’ pile of crap even though reasonable people recognize that stinkin’ pile of crap as the typical republiCon stinkin’ pile of crap.

    But in your world – “Planet Denial” – that stinkin’ pile of crap is yours, so it smells just fine.

  41. Chris Says:
    January 2nd, 2009 at 12:52 PM

    Two Putz,

    You need psychological help. I surely hope you don’t talk to your family and co-workers like this.

    All you ever do is call people names. You’ve never argued a single point people are making. It’s completely valid to question the SOS outsourcing the proceedings to a partisan blog. But instead of actually sticking to the point, you call names, disparage people and engage in flame wars. It’s great to know that hope and change has already done so much to change the tone of politics in our country.

  42. Chris Says:
    January 2nd, 2009 at 1:04 PM

    P.S.,

    You keep saying Greed Over Principles, but isn’t it the Franken campaign who is excluding 654 wrongly rejected absentee ballots in Anoka County? The only principle people like you care about is winning at any cost and to hell with doing the right thing. Yeah, hope and change indeed.

  43. CallyMortigan Says:
    January 19th, 2009 at 4:03 PM

    Troy Polamalu Game Winning Interception For A Touchdown AFC Championship (video) http://troy-polamalu.blogspot.com/

  44. redormoter Says:
    January 23rd, 2009 at 7:37 AM

    Hi guys!
    [url=http://underworld-rise-lycans.blogspot.com/]I watched this movie online already![/url] Found it [url=http://underworld-rise-lycans.blogspot.com/]here[/url]
    Rather good quality and fast speed. I liked it :)

  45. Shot in the Dark » Blog Archive » Northern Alliance Takes Over As State Press Office Says:
    October 25th, 2009 at 2:01 PM

    [...] Oh, this is Minnesota under the control of the unfettered DFL.  Of course not. [...]

  46.   On the Franken Win, How Democrats Have Forever Disqualified Themselves from Bitching About “Every vote counts” by Macsmind Says:
    November 4th, 2009 at 10:14 PM

    [...] the same time they should begin to look into Secretary of State Mark Richie and his partisan activities, who over the weekend joined forces with the partisan liberal [...]

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