Standing by his man. The Star Tribune’s Patrick Condon writes: “Minnesota U.S. Rep. Tom Emmer, one of President Donald Trump’s earliest supporters, has grown adept at defending the president, particularly as one of his top lieutenants on Capitol Hill, where he heads the National Republican Congressional Committee, the campaign arm of the House Republicans. … On Tuesday night, Sixth District constituents packing Blaine’s City Council chambers put Emmer through his paces, pressing him repeatedly on Trump’s actions toward Ukraine, now the subject of a hotly contested impeachment inquiry led by House Democrats.”
At least someone can tune out Trump … Axios’ Courtenay Brown reports: “As the Federal Reserve signals it may cut interest rates again later this month, Minneapolis Fed president Neel Kashkari says the central bank is tuning out calls by President Trump to do more to support the economy — and relying on the strength of the data it collects to justify its moves.”
Return of Franken continues. The Duluth News Tribune’s Brady Slater reports: “In a video taken during a private fundraiser Saturday on the Iron Range, former U.S. Sen. Al Franken took to task Rep. Pete Stauber for failing to come out against foreign spending which may have aided Republicans during the 2018 midterm elections. … ‘He hasn’t condemned this at all,’ Franken said. ‘What the hell? Is he so afraid of Trump? Is he so afraid of (Rep. Tom) Emmer that he won’t condemn money from Russian-Ukrainians coming in to do — (to) finance — negative ads against an American politician? Shame on Stauber.’ … Franken was the keynote speaker at an Iron Range DFL fundraiser in Hibbing.”
No we can’t. The Hill’s Tal Axelrod reports: “White House hopeful Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) drew sharp contrasts with some of her progressive primary competitors Friday night as she sought to burnish her moderate bona fides. … The Minnesota lawmaker criticized health and education plans that have been promoted by Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.). Both presidential candidates are running in the primary field’s progressive lane. … Klobuchar said single payer health care plans would kick millions of Americans off their insurance and that their plans for free public colleges and universities would allow rich families to exploit taxpayer dollars.”
Weapon of mass decoration. For the Pioneer Press, Deanna Weniger writes: “The U.S. Secret Service wants a word with the man who threw glitter at President Donald Trump at Thursday night’s rally in Minneapolis. … ‘Today the Secret Service visited my house multiple times, visited my family’s house, left multiple notes on my car and phone messages,’ said Nick Espinosa, 33, of Minneapolis.”
In other news…
Pig news: “U of M study tackles swine virus” [Rochester Post Bulletin]
What’s next? “Questions remain in St. Croix Valley as Warner Nature Center prepares to close” [Star Tribune]
Look who’s backing Klobuchar:
#localangle (from the @nytimes James Comey story) pic.twitter.com/Y2TfRWGCDA
— Brian Bakst (@Stowydad) October 13, 2019
Pretty out there: “56 feet above Lake Superior, lighthouse buyer finds the beauty of life on the edge” [MPR]
No records kept: “Some University members concerned about birds dying after flying into windows” [Minnesota Daily]
Highway 61 Reviewed: “Jessica Lange: Photographer” [Minneapolis.St.Paul]
[raw][/raw]
I see misogyny, race baiting, anti-Muslim hysteria, spreading hatred to brown skinned Christians, and inviting foreign powers to meddle in US elections are not deal breakers to Emmer.
Duly noted.