from BoldNebraska.org
Getting tough – Feb 27, 2011
from the Lincoln Journal Star
Magic budgets – Feb 20, 2011
from the Lincoln Journal Star
Happy Valentine’s Day Part 2! – Feb 14, 2011
from the Lincoln Journal Star
Don’t forget to check out the Bigfoot & Nessie Valentines while you’re here.
Happy Valentine’s Day!
There was media coverage of Christensen’s birther bill after all
Thanks to my laziness, I didn’t get the Monday, January 31st edition of the Lincoln Journal Star until Friday of last week (the mailman scrawled “Not shoveled!” on the front of the paper. And while that is true — I was a bit slow getting the sidewalk from the street to my house clear — my mailman doesn’t even use the sidewalk when it’s shoveled; he cuts through a flower garden, steps on plants and breaks my little lights! But anyway…) and I didn’t read through that paper until today.
Lo and behold, Don Walton mentioned Mark Christensen’s birther bill in his Monday column:
Sitting in the pile of this year’s pending legislative bills is a measure introduced by Mark Christensen designed to require presidential candidates — uh, that would be Barack Obama — to jump through a series of “birther” hoops to get his or her name on the ballot in Nebraska. Must be born in the USA and subject exclusively to the jurisdiction of the United States; both parents U.S. citizens; multiple documents and records required.
So I was wrong when I stated in the “Birther update” post that nobody else in Nebraska media was touching it. Don did! And I should’ve known that Don would.
The Miseducation of Jon Bruning
The old story of Attorney General Jon Bruning’s path from Daily Nebraskan liberal to hardcore conservative has been around for years. I remember back during my second stint at the DN in grad school, a few politically minded students discovered that Bruning’s liberal columns had been removed from the bound volumes in the DN archives. A few years later, when Bruning announced he would challenge Chuck Hagel, a scan of one (or maybe more?) of Bruning’s columns appeared on the Leavenworth Street blog. Recently, they’ve surfaced once again now that Bruning is planning on challenging Ben Nelson. Bold Nebraska wrote about Bruning’s liberal youth a few weeks ago, and yesterday it showed up on Politico.
In case it needs to be said, I am no fan of Jon Bruning’s politics. I’ve heard he’s a nice guy in person, and I once invited him to an informal Daily Nebraskan alumni reunion before P.O. Pears closed down, but I doubt I could disagree with him more on policy views. But I just don’t think this should be an issue. People’s opinions change over time! When I was a teenager, I loved Rush Limbaugh! I listened to his radio show and read his books! My persuasive speech in freshman year speech class was on the myth of global warming! And look at me now — I’m practically a commie pinko!
I don’t know why I wandered into the abyss of Politico comments, as that’s usually a hellhole of Drudge-directed morons, but commenter “Matlock” made what I think is a very good point:
Sometimes politicians who legitimately change their minds have more depth than those who were precinct walking while still in utero because they have actually thought through the issues.
I realize the rules of the Republican tribe are different than those that govern the rest of reality, but personally I think it’s kind of meaningful when somebody leaves the other team for yours. It’s like how my mom, the Lutheran convert, is the most gung-ho Catholic in our family. If not for her, I dare say there would’ve been a lot more sleeping in on Sunday mornings.
There are plenty of things to pick on Jon Bruning for — things he’s doing now and things he wants to do in the future. I find those things much more relevant and persuasive than things he wrote 20 years ago.
UPDATE: Deena Winter is on the case now too.
Don’t be afreud – Feb 6, 2011
from the Lincoln Journal Star
Birther update
Well, it took a reprinted Nebraska News Service article in the McCook Daily Gazette for Nebraska media to touch it, but now people are finally talking about Senator Mark Christensen’s Birther Bill.
The story is worth reading, but here are a few interesting points:
As always, the comments on the story are fantastic. And check out The Huffington Post’s recap too.