Author: Tom Bartel

  • States' Rights When It Comes to Flagpoles

    I’ve been thinking a bit about Mike Huckabee. Of course, I’ve mostly been thinking about what a disaster for the country it would be to follow the idiot currently in the White House with another. But you’ve got to admit Huckabee would be funny. For example, let’s consider his performance on the Confederate flag in…

  • Making Hay in the Winter

    There’s going to be another inquiry into why the bridge fell. On top of the NTSB, the Legislative Auditor, and the Governor Pawlenty-hired consultants, we’re going to have the Minneapolis law firm of Gray Plant Mooty looking into things on behalf of a bi-partisan State House-Senate committee. One wonders why we need another such investigation.…

  • My Friend Larry

    Larry Berle is perhaps the friendliest guy on the planet. He seems to know everyone I know, plus most everyone else, too. He accomplishes this in a couple of ways. He gets you to introduce all your friends to him, and then he actually remembers their names, what they do, where their kids go to…

  • Another Death Sentence for Journalism

    NY Times media columnist David Carr told a sad tale today. It started out with him telling how the city of Chicago had just paid out $20 million to settle lawsuits by four former condemned men who had been tortured by police. He mentioned that, in essence, because of these men being tortured into confessing…

  • Oh, That's Why Harvard and Carleton Are Such Crappy Schools

    You know, this is just too easy. In case you missed Kersten today, the topic is "Why St. Thomas University is going to hell in a handbasket". The short answer is, (and I’m only telling you this because reading the column will just cause you to think ill of thoughtful Catholics) because they don’t have…

  • Spare the Rod, Spoil the Newspaper

    I made a mistake the other day and accidentally tuned in to KTLK and whatever right-wing boob they have on during the late morning. With a little checking after I got back to the office, I found his name is Dan Conry, and he has, like so many of his ilk, the IQ and eloquence…