Hello, Minnesota. Welcome to the Twin Cities Kossacks Weekend Open Thread, a weekly (usually) post for all things Minnesotan. Please join us to Connect, Unite and Act with other Twin Cities Kossacks. Posting most every Sunday. Do you live in Minnesota? Kosmail idlemoments to join this group so you can get updates on meetups and other Daily Kos activity in the Land of 10,000 Lakes.
Open Thread — Sun. Nov.11, 2018
Hey there, I’ve been out of town the last couple of weekends, so it’s been a while since the Minnesota Open Thread has posted.
First the good news: We won, and we won big in Minnesota — a sweep of all the statewide elected offices after, let’s be honest, a rocky endorsement process and flurry of last-minute filings and jockeying in the Governor and AG races that had cascading impacts from the U.S. to Minnesota house races.
There were also the allegation against Keith Ellison, and let’s not forget earlier, Sen. Franken’s resignation, the appointment of Tina Smith and having to defend an additional U.S. Senate seat. All things considered, this has been one heck of a messy, complicated election for DFL candidates, but they did exceeding well in most cases.
On a statewide basis, Minnesota voters clearly gave DFLers a mandate — from the two U.S. Senate seats, Attorney General, Secretary of State, State Auditor, filipping the Minnesota House to electing Tim Walz as Governor with the most votes in the state’s history.
The other good news was finally dislodging two metro suburban Congressional districts that Republicans have been able to hold onto for years with faux “moderates/independents”. Congrats to everyone who worked to send Dean Phillips and Angie Craig to Congress — it’s been a long, hard slog fighting Erik Paulsen, John Kline and Jason Lewis.
I know there are many Kossacks out there (myself included) mightily disappointed about our loss in MN-08 and a near win in MN-01. But there is some consolation in the fact that the two new Republicans we’re sending to the House are not going to be able to do much mischief with the new Democratic majority. TC Kossack Flannel Guy has an excellent diary on the MN election results and the urban-rural split, and not giving up on greater Minnesota.
I believe Gov.-elect Walz has the perfect set of skills and background to bridge the urban-rural divide. Here’s a phenomenal video from the Walz campaign that you should check out. I’m not a fan of sports metaphors, but Coach Walz’ Halftime in Minnesota speech gave me goosebumps:
OneMinnesota
Anyone else able to make it to one of local rallies this week to protest the firing of U.S. AG Jeff Sessions? Senhor Tambor has a diary about the Eden Prairie gathering. Loved this comment to the diary by DrWho:
Haha, you know you done f’d up when frickin EDEN PRAIRIE is makin’ noise. My GOD. Doesn’t get any Minnesota white suburban than that. Holy Buckets! (as my very Minnesotan boss used to say).
Looking for a new hobby? TC Kossack Rosebuddear has a post this week on the art of flower pressing. Also want to point out a great diary by Minnesota writer Amandamagsam on the difference the Affordable Care Act has meant in her life.
What are you doing next Saturday? How about joining fellow Kossacks at our monthly meetup? Here are the details:
- The Twin Cities Kossacks will meet at 11 a.m, Saturday, Nov. 17 at Turtle Bread, 4762 Chicago Ave. So., Minneapolis (map here). Please note, there are two Turtle Bread locations, this is the one by the Parkway Theater. Look for a Daily Kos table tent/sign.
This is an open group that is always looking for new and returning attendees. It helps to know who can make it even if you are just a maybe at this point.
Please RSVP for the meetup below, or Kosmail me, idlemoments. I’ll update the list throughout the week. We usually meet on the third Saturday of each month, 11 a.m. at various rotating locations across the Twin Cities.
Twin Cities Kossacks Nov. 17 Meetup
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Mockingjay |
Slapshoe |
Judy |
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It’s Veterans Day. Thanks to all current and past Vets who have served to protect our freedoms, including our First Amendment right of free speech. This is an open thread, so exercise your First Amendment rights by posting away on whatever you want.