The Sad Little Party

(Warning, some bad words ahead!)

I'm trying to understand the Minnesota GOP better.  On one side, you can't argue their success.  They went into this last legislative session as a clear underdog, and, by playing Senate Majority Leader Bakk like a fiddle, were able to walk away with an insanely positive outcome for 2015.

On the other side, I've finally put my finger on what I don't like about the Minnesota GOP; they're just dicks.

There are some who will insist I've just forfeited any credibility by name calling.  Hey, I'll be the first to admit I'm too brash at times, but, in my defense, if you earn my respect, I'll freely give it.  These Republicans haven't done a thing to earn any respect from the Democrats, and have gone out of their way to be huge tools.  Want proof?

Let's go back to November last year, when the GOP and their dark money buddies were screaming about how Governor Mark Dayton was going to, personally, give every Minnesotan ebola.  As they ran that meme on the day before and day of the election, Republicans across the state insisted they had no idea where the ads were coming from.  Not only did the Republicans refuse to condemn the ads, in some cases, they tried their best to fan the flames of the hysteria.  I blew that off as some national GOP's strategists game plan (it was clearly being coordinated from a national front) and left it alone, brushing it off as election year theatrics.

But then, slowly but surely, the Minnesota GOP, lead by Republican Speaker of the Minnesota House Kurt Daudt and head of the GOP Keith Downey, went out of their way to be obnoxious jerks.  Here's a list of some of their bigger jackass-ian hits:

• After swearing up and down to respect Governor Re-Elect Mark Dayton (something we now know was a complete farce) Republican Speaker Daudt didn't attend the Governor's inauguration at the Landmark Center on January 5th.  His reason?  On a Monday, in January, at noon, after an election year just finished up, Speaker Daudt HAD to be at a fundraiser which was too important to miss...on a Monday, in January, at noon, after an election cycle was completely finished up, during the swearing in ceremony of the Governor.  Yeah...sure you did.  It was so disrespectful I was at a loss of words when I heard he pulled his little stunt.  
• In true GOP form, the Republicans had to find ways to punish their perceived enemies.  Back in early February, Representatives Cornish and McNamara were actually kicking around the idea of a walking tax, charging people walking on state trails.  Mind you, their state tax dollars already went to make the trails, and the damage done by a pair of sneakers is non-existent when comparing it to the damage done by snowmobilers, but since the feeling of the Minnesota GOP was that snowmobilers were more likely to vote Republican and people walking the trails were more likely to vote Democrat, the unnecessary punishment was proposed (and failed).
• They actually had mind numbingly stupid individuals come to St. Paul and testify that firing a gun is loud.  DUH!  But this was their argument to push forward (likely NRA scripted) legislation to legalize gun silencers, something pretty much every police officer in the state was against.  
• Allegedly, all freshmen Republicans in the House and Senate were told to sit down and shut up, only to vote the way they were told to vote by the leaders of the party.  They allegedly were told to not introduce any legislation without approval, regardless of district need, until they won re-election, effectively making Kurt Daudt and Keith Downey their district's de facto Senate and House representation.
• They went after the state Auditor's office by holding committee hearings where the 'true victims' of the Auditor's office were able to speak; people who had been discovered either breaking state laws or being dishonest about how state tax dollars were spent.  They held these hearings with smirks on their faces, trying desperately to hide their giggles.
• Speaker Daudt and the rest of the GOP refused to force Rep. Newberger to apologize on the Minnesota House floor, after Rep. Newberger made a racist comment on the same House floor, in reference to North Minneapolis African Americans and the commuter rail line.  Newberger has a history of racist tinged comments, but the Speaker and the GOP never once made him apologize in the same venue as he made his racist statement.
• At the beginning of the Legislative Special Session, the GOP, with giggles and smirks, distributed a hand out to the Republicans, mocking the Governor, at taxpayer expense, by taking the picture of him doing the ice bucket challenge last year, changing it to make it look like the Minnesota GOP was pouring cold water on his agenda, going out of their way to do a dickish victory dance to kick off the special session.
• And the latest one (and this is wild), an ethics complaint against Hastings Representative Denny McNamara was dismissed by the two Republicans on the ethics board.  Rep. McNamara doesn't deny yelling loudly in his meeting with Representative Kahn and a Minneapolis Parks Board Lobbyist.  He also doesn't deny yelling because he was upset his son's private landscaping company might not get awarded more Minneapolis Parks money.  The GOP and the Rep. McNamara have consistently gone out of their way to screw over Minneapolis and St. Paul, so why he was thinking his son deserves a sweetheart taxpayer funded deal from Minneapolis, I'm not sure, but here is where it gets comical.  Rep. McNamara insists, even though he was screaming loud enough to be heard in neighboring offices, his screaming temper tantrum was in no way geared at Representative Kahn, only geared to the Minneapolis Parks Board Lobbyist, sitting right next to her.  And the ethics committee AGREED!  Too funny...

Governor Dayton and every Democrat who is not Senator Bakk:  don't trust the Minnesota GOP.  Don't respect these guys.  Don't try to work with these guys.  There's no point.  They're just dicks.