Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Kansas any more.
Have you ever seen that movie "The Wizard of Oz" (1939)? It's based on a story that is an allegory about economic issues. Really. The yellow brick road refers to the Gold standard. The silver slippers (changed to ruby for the movie) refer to the Silver standard. The trio of the scarecrow, tin man, and lion refer to the affiliation of farmers, laborers, and liberal hearts that would together be necessary to overcome the influence of big business, represented by Oz, the "ounce" (abbreviation: "oz") of precious metal used to value wealth. Follow the trail of wealth, and find a charade of power that is bent on pursuing its own selfish goals instead of serving the interests of the people.
Here in Minnesota, people created that team literally. The major liberal party here is the DFL, representing Democrats (lion), Farmers (scarecrow), and Labor (tin man). And together with Margaret Kelliher (Dorothy), they now appear motivated enough to begin their difficult journey down the yellow brick road to visit Oz.
Over the weekend, some familiar Democratic names were ignored for the party's endorsement in the next gubernatorial election. The old guard (with significant funding from their own stockpiles of wealth) is now threatening to pursue independent campaigns to further their personal political ambitions. Truly. Margaret Kelliher got the party endorsement, but three rich kids plan to throw a hissy fit during the primary election. (Counterpoint: there is a troubling question of lobbyist influence over Kelliher's own votes.) People are angry at Wall Street right now, and liberals are willing to take a chance on shedding its power over their political party. Will conservatives do the same? It seems unlikely.
Commentators are wrong if they think that liberals are gloating at their success now that Obama is in the white house. There is so little "liberal agenda" (whatever that is) being accomplished that the electorate seems to be hankering for some more of that "hopey, changey thing". Liberals are pretty fed up with status quo, regardless of which party is in the majority, and they are willing to push out the old guard to start over with new leadership in the Democratic party. One can hope that the same change happens among Republicans, despite the irony of their predicament.
I want us to change our money before it's too late. I would be content, I think, if Minnesota created its own state money. It would suffice only if it's based on a steady-state system rather than an exponential one. Will conservatives join the cause? Somehow, I doubt it. They still seem content to blame big government and bureaucratic abuses rather than wrong policies. It seems like every time a conservative finally speaks the truth, they get booted out of their respective organizations. The Republican electorate doesn't seem ready to question the whole basis of our economy and our industry.
Good luck, DFLers. I still plan to vote for 3rd party candidates as much as possible, sorry. I'm rooting for you, though.
Here in Minnesota, people created that team literally. The major liberal party here is the DFL, representing Democrats (lion), Farmers (scarecrow), and Labor (tin man). And together with Margaret Kelliher (Dorothy), they now appear motivated enough to begin their difficult journey down the yellow brick road to visit Oz.
Over the weekend, some familiar Democratic names were ignored for the party's endorsement in the next gubernatorial election. The old guard (with significant funding from their own stockpiles of wealth) is now threatening to pursue independent campaigns to further their personal political ambitions. Truly. Margaret Kelliher got the party endorsement, but three rich kids plan to throw a hissy fit during the primary election. (Counterpoint: there is a troubling question of lobbyist influence over Kelliher's own votes.) People are angry at Wall Street right now, and liberals are willing to take a chance on shedding its power over their political party. Will conservatives do the same? It seems unlikely.
Commentators are wrong if they think that liberals are gloating at their success now that Obama is in the white house. There is so little "liberal agenda" (whatever that is) being accomplished that the electorate seems to be hankering for some more of that "hopey, changey thing". Liberals are pretty fed up with status quo, regardless of which party is in the majority, and they are willing to push out the old guard to start over with new leadership in the Democratic party. One can hope that the same change happens among Republicans, despite the irony of their predicament.
I want us to change our money before it's too late. I would be content, I think, if Minnesota created its own state money. It would suffice only if it's based on a steady-state system rather than an exponential one. Will conservatives join the cause? Somehow, I doubt it. They still seem content to blame big government and bureaucratic abuses rather than wrong policies. It seems like every time a conservative finally speaks the truth, they get booted out of their respective organizations. The Republican electorate doesn't seem ready to question the whole basis of our economy and our industry.
Good luck, DFLers. I still plan to vote for 3rd party candidates as much as possible, sorry. I'm rooting for you, though.