The Rake Magazine

Category: Blog Post

  • Who Has The "Wide Stance" Beat?

    Not that it quite rivals the Wall Street Journal stealing a Pulitzer Prize out from under the local dailies’ nose with Bill McGuire’s United Health back-dating scam, but it’s a little embarrassing to miss a U.S. Senator — Larry Craig, aka “The Militia Senator” and “The Right and Honorable Senator of the Aryan Nation”, not to mention one of the far right’s High Priests of Gun Worship and Family Values — soliciting anonymous gay sex right there in our own airport.

    WCCO TV’s Jason DeRusha over on MnSpeak.com offers this explanation why no one in town caught the Craig arrest back June or the court action earlier this month:

    “1. Airport Police are a pain in the neck… and extremely secretive. Even yesterday, no one would come back to the office to send us the report or give us the mug shot. “They close at 4 p.m.” is what I was told.

    “2. Because airport police is separate from Minneapolis Police, or the Sheriff’s office, media would have to go to the airport to request reports. The arrest information doesn’t leave their property, and as the charge was a minor charge, I don’t think it even went to the county attorney. It was like a ticket.

    “3. No one locally would raise an eyebrow about a “disorderly conduct” at the airport for a guy named Larry Craig even if they saw the report’s front page.

    “4. The plea deal at the courthouse happened the week after the bridge collapse. So the usual suspects who would have tipped someone off, were too busy with other things to even concentrate on this.

    Someone nationally had to tip off Roll Call, the Capitol Hill Newspaper. That’s who broke the story.”

    »» Submitted by »»» jderusha at 7:44 AM on August 28.

    Earlier today I called the Star Tribune’s dogged Minneapolis reporter Rochelle Olson, surprised that she of all people hadn’t caught that one. “The name alone wouldn’t have meant anything to me,” she said. “Believe me, I wish I had. But I didn’t. Are you going to rip me?”

    No. I’ve missed WAY too many good stories to lob stones over this, which as I say, isn’t quite on the same level as a billionaire ripping off shareholders and contributing to the outrageous cost of health care in this country. But since Olson has just about everything else in Minneapolis to cover, thanks to Avista/Par “right-sizing”, it is worth wondering aloud how maybe if the big paper did have more bodies working city government and cop beats, downtown and out with MAC, they might have had a source who would have tipped them to this particular “Larry Craig” flashing the card of a U.S. Senator after getting yanked out of toilet stall. A cop tipster was about the only way a local reporter would have gotten the story last June.

    Meanwhile, I gotta ask, what gives with these guys? I mean Republican Congressman Mark Foley and the pages, McCain’s Florida guy Republican Bob Allen soliciting gay sex in a public restroom because he was frightened of black guys in the vicinity, uber-evangelical proselytizer Ted Haggard (wild guess — Republican) buying meth … meth! … and banging a gay body builder, Jeff Gannon credentialed by the White House as a reporter for Talon (virtual) press (wha?) and later revealed to have worked with a gay escort service, the chairman of the Clark County Republican Party out in Vegas fellating some kid while he slept, and now Larry “Wide Stance” Craig tapping feet in Minnesota, as well as Deputy Secretary of State Randall Tobias and his romps with a D.C. escort service and Republican Louisiana Sen. David Vitter and the –female — hookers. (Do those last two guys get a pass for just nailing women?)

    I mean, can we just agree that from this point forward any politician or evangelist who declares themselves pro-family values and makes a huge, vote-getting, money-making scene about ripping gay marriage decrying the slippery slope from gayness to turtle sex is in effect acknowledging both their own closeted homosexuality and an affinity for a little clandestine quick-and-dirty, probably in a noisy john, with meth and without?

    It is so far beyond easy satire, Jon Stewart’s gotta be stumped.

    By the way, check out these characters reenacting Sen. Wide Stance’s Lindbergh Terminal shtick.

    Why didn’t Shelby and Vascellaro do this?

    Also, Glenn Greenwald at Salon has a terrific “then and now” with right-wing bloggers and pundits excoriating, Mike Rogers, the guy who blogged about Wide Stance last October … and what they are saying today. His post comes with every imaginable link to all things Wide and Stancey.

  • A Tip of the Hat

    I just wanted to point out what might be one of the best blog headlines ever over at clothesline blog.

    “Gonzales may have resigned — says he can’t recall”

    To say anything else would be gilding the lily.

  • You're invited: Szechuan Dinner With An Expert

    When Jim Harkness, the new executive director of the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, dines at Little Szechuan in Saint Paul, he orders in Mandarin, and sometimes he throws in a Szechuan accent, just to mess with the waiters’ head. My Rake co-blogger and I will be having dinner with Jim this Sunday, September 2 at 7 p.m., and we would like to invite some Rake readers to join us. It’ll be a chance to learn more about the cuisine of Szechuan, and the work that Jim is doing with IATP. We’ll split the bill – we’ll try to keep in under $20 per person – – and you have to pay for your own wine and beer. Probably about half the dishes will be vegetarian or seafood. If you would like to join us, please email me at iggers@rakemag.com, no later than this Friday at noon.

  • The Best Car You Can't Buy

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    The once again iconic Fiat 500

    I usually hate these articles in car magazines. However, there is a little car (accent on small) that is currently taking Italy by storm and threatens to topple the Mini, Peugeot, and everything else in its path once it is exported.

    With this kind of success and with the resurgence of Fiat (now run by Luca Cordero di Montezemolo, the best CEO on the planet–from Ferrari), it may only be a matter of time before you see it here.*

    The car is the much beloved Topolino/CinqueCento, now called the Nuova 500. This little thing makes women melt and men wish they had its mojo. It is so hot in Italy right now that they cannot even export it, so I hear. It is designed by Frank Stephenson (almost as cool as Luca), who previously penned the first generation Mini for BMW.

    * You can’t buy this car, yet, but you can probably buy Fiat as an ADR on the NYSE. I did this with Toyota eighteen months ago and it has treated me well. So I recommend you buy the ADR, wait two years, and then allow your stock appreciation to pay for the car. Worth visiting the “Street” Rake, eh?

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    Mr. Montezemolo: a small picture of the biggest man in cars.

  • Old Style, New Standards

    IMG_7236V2.gifIf you haven’t already, check the photo shoot we did with members of the New Standards for our September issue. Not only does it provide a rare glimpse of the musicians’ doll-faced (and successful!) wives. But it’s also a hosanna, of sorts–our tribute to the gentlemen of yesteryear who, you know, wore fedoras and went through all that trouble of polishing their shoes.

  • Hoops Chatter

    Catching up on a few things while my Kevin Garnett appreciation piece lingers on another few weeks…

    * The KG magnet is working well in Boston. Of the Celtics signings to fill out their roster since the big trade, Scot Pollard is no great shakes but Eddie House is a nice little microwave to have from outside coming off the bench to spell Rondo and Ray Allen, and, the real coup, glue guy James Posey has agreed to come to Boston to firm up its suspect defense. Like House, Posey is also a threat from three-point territory. The real winner in all this is Kendrick Perkins, who will be wide open on the weakside low block every time the C’s set up with KG on one block, Pierce and Allen on the wings, and gunners including Allen and House outside the arc.

    * The flipside is the traded-KG magnetic force propelling Juwan Howard away from the Wolves. Howard’s stated desire to be traded just weeks after he himself was acquired was eminently predictable following Garnett’s departure, but the Wolves should resist compliance for at least a year. Anyone scanning Minnesota’s roster will notice a void of veteran leadership, at a time when the post-KG wake promises to wash up all kinds of pecking order disputes, even as Randy Wittman implements the hard-ass discipline that has been the most frequent justification made for his rehiring. Bottom line, the Wolves need Howard’s level head and mitigating demeanor, especially with clubhouse balm Mark Madsen waylaid by a watercraft incident. Too bad for Juwon, who isn’t getting any younger and wants a shot at a ring– or at least a chance to believe his role as lead babysitter will lead to tangible rewards before he retires.

    * As if often the case, the best free-agent signings are teams retaining their keystone players (Gerald Wallace in Charlotte, Chauncey Billups in Detroit, Mo Williams in Milwaukee). Otherwise, there are a lot of gambles out there thus far. The Celts getting Posey is an exception–he’s a perfect fit–and I’d add to that a quartet of point-guard signings. The diciest of the four is Chucky Atkins going from nothing-to-lose Memphis to the impending pressure-cooker of a Nuggets squad that can’t afford to squander the Melo-AI-Camby combo one more year. Still, I think Atkins will be an upgrade over Steve Blake, who bears the scars of not stepping up in last year’s playoffs versus the Spurs. Blake’s return to Portland is a good idea for both sides, however, as he is the right guy to mentor Jarrett Jack and help along Greg Oden and company as the Blazers quicken into feared contenders for the next decade or so. Brevin Knight will give the Clips a nice little bridge between the fast-fading Sam Cassell and the recently drafted rookie. And Derek Fisher going back to the Lakers is a no-brainer all the way around.

    In contrast, the big-man signings are fraught with risk. Did Jamaal Magloire permanently fall off the table that fast due to age and injuries, or will the chance to play with Kidd, Carter and Jefferson resurrect his low-post tenacity? Is Darko Milicic a tease or a burgeoning star? And how is he not redundant with Pau Gasol in Memphis? Mikki Moore was a wonderful story last year, and I’m glad he’s getting paid, but he’ll soon discover that playing with Bibby and Kelvin Martin is a tad different than Kidd and Jeff. Joe Smith is no upgrade over PJ Brown in Chicago (but perhaps a better fit with Ben Wallace, if not Joakim Noah).

    Like the Sports Guy and many others, I believe Orlando grossly overpaid for Rashad Lewis, who does a lot of the big things and precious few of the little ones that turn a star into a superstar. But getting Adonal Foyle off the scrap heap to help Dwight Howard was a nice move. In signings that have more pronounced playoff implications, Grant Hill is a decent gamble for Phoenix, who is totally mortgaging its future (how many of their draft picks has Portland owner Paul Allen bought by now?) in order to win now. And Eddie Jones brings 10-12 minutes of quality defense and hustle to an already-stocked Dallas team whose biggest hurdle will be psychological in 2007-08.

    * It is hard not to conclude that scandalized ref Tim Donaghy didn’t blow whistles that shaved points to abet the alleged mob figures who allegedly had him by the short hairs due to gambling debts. And I understand and appreciate that the credibility of the entire NBA will take a hit for it. But as a constant watcher of NBA games, one of the things I selfishly fear is that the refs as a group will have suffered sufficient loss of face that the rules about players bitching over calls will effectively vanish. As one who tends to side with employees over management in most labor disputes, I was surprised at how much I welcomed the potential reduction in absurd bellyaching after every blown whistle. But after a month or so of enforcing the rule, the refs seemed to slowly but surely relax their intolerance–or worse, selectively enforce it–as the season went on. Amid all the calls for upgrading the refs and removing any taint of scandal from their ranks, I hope that a bone gets tossed to the quality refs who will have to endure a horrendous season in 07-08 in the wake of the Donaghy matter. Specifically, David Stern should reiterate that needless complaints–and I’m talking about melodramatic reactions and extended debates by players who clearly just hacked/charged/travelled/etc–will result in additional fouls. Let’s clean up the game all the way around. I’ll take that over dress codes any day.

    * Finally, while it is true that the United States has been unbeaten throughout its performances in FIBA Americas Championship Series over the decades, I do believe the current squad obliterating the South Americans this summer is the best all-around ballclub since the fabled Dream Teamers of the 1980s. When you can throw out three rugged floor generals like Kidd, Deron Williams and Billups at the point, have three-point specialists Michael Redd and Mike Miller as backcourt options, trump any opponents’ athletes with LeBron, Kobe, Melo and Tayshaun Prince as your swingmen, and finish off with Dwight Howard, Amare, and Tyson Chandler as your beef inside, you have got a team without discernable weakness.

  • Cheap thrills

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    Looking for a late afternoon glass of wine that costs less your morning latté? Try Gigi’s Cafe. Be forewarned: this is not a place to visit when you’re in a businesslike mood. It doesn’t have air conditioning, wireless Internet, or table service. And the staff tend to shuffle in circles, stirring up homemade salads, brewing iced tea, and arranging enormous muffins on a plate, totally oblivious to the waiting crowd. Then someone with dreadlocks anchored by a knit cap will glance in your direction and ask — utterly without irony — “Are you being helped?” If you say no, odds are good he’ll put down his spoon and amble over.

    But if you can get past all this, putting your type-A personality defects aside, you’ll find the food is amazing — wholesome and inexpensive. Gigi’s bakery produces giant cupcakes, fresh-baked fruit tarts, and bread pudding as warm and comforting as your favorite blanket. Plus, every weekday afternoon from 3-6 p.m., house wines are Happy Hour-priced at just $3 a glass. Yesterday’s pick, an unusually light, organic Malbec, was easily worth twice that. For all of these reasons, Gigi’s happens to be the hangout where Jeremy Iggers and I meet to confer about restaurant reviews and blog posts on old-fashioned seltzer makers (check this out: it’s “vintage” Iggers). Critics: we’re all about long slow afternoons and cheap wine.

  • Paradiso

    I can’t pass up anything related to The Divine Comedy. Read The New Yorker’s “Cloud Nine” to discover a new translation.

  • Pssst… Do Something

    Concerned about FOX News’ right-wing slant? See Fox Attacks!

  • Another Local Classic

    Check out The Book of Spam, and don’t forget to stop by the book blog.