Plays a doctor on TV

Dakota County Attorney James Backstrom thinks he knows medicine better than physicians, apparently. As physician David Lang wrote in a recent letter to the editor:

Now a top-notch study, published in last month's issue of the peer-reviewed journal Neurology, has come to the exact same conclusion that my patients have been telling me for years: Medical marijuana is an effective treatment for this kind of pain.

So I had to shake my head when I heard that Dakota County Attorney James Backstrom testified that there are "no scientific studies" supporting marijuana's effectiveness. In addition to this very recent article, supportive studies have appeared in respected journals like the American Journal of Surgery, the British Journal of Cancer and Molecular Pharmacology, among many others.

If Backstrom feels that his training is sufficient to debate with the researchers, doctors and patients who have firsthand knowledge of medical marijuana's benefits, that's his prerogative. But to claim that "no scientific studies" demonstrate those benefits is demonstrably false.

So is Backstrom an egotistical, arrogant jerk, or just a fucking moron? Why is it that politics seems to select for idiots?

When the going gets tough, Minneapolis gives up

The bonehead politicians in Minneapolis are about to commit historical hara-kiri. They seem to be all together on ramming the idiotic idea of giving the city library system to the county. Is there any other major city in the USA that has been unable to run their own library system, especially if that city happens to be the largest city in their respective states? If so, I'd like to know about it, because of all them that I'm aware of seem to be able to accomplish this seemingly insurmountable for Minneapolis task.

I'll bet even Omaha (as in "Cold Omaha") does a better job.

One library board member speaks out at this link: http://www.buzz.mn/?q=node/861

Then there is this little editorial in the Monday Star Tribune which demonstrates just what a bunch of bullshit the city hall argument about not enough money to run the libraries is. They currently spend far more to pay for the convention center than the libraries need, yet dollar for dollar, the libraries return a much higher economic value to the city.

Well said, Jim Lynskey

In a letter to the editor, write Jim Lynskey gets it spot on with regards to idiot Ron Carey, state Republican chair:

When state Republican Party Chair Ron Carey claimed that the goal of voter registration should be "quality, not quantity" (Star Tribune, Feb. 25), he confirmed my suspicion that Republicans still don't understand the word "democracy."

I bet Ron would be happy if we just went back to having a poll tax -- and maybe taking the vote away from blacks and women, too.

Dear Taxpayer: BOHICA

Dear Taxpayer: BOHICA

Here's a little proposal I'm sure all Minnesota taxpayers and voters would support unanimously: spend tax revenue on building and supporting websites for family members of elected officials. After all, the minor quibble about the voters not having voted for those family members can't be enough to complain about, right? And the state has plenty of extra money, right? All the school districts statewide are fully funded, every city and park has all the money it needs, and all the highways and bridges are in top-notch repair, are they not? Those family members would never use state resources simply as a ruse to generate positive propaganda for their elected parent or spouse.

So why not? We're a generous state, right?

What's that you say? Family members of elected officials are simply private citizens like the rest of us? And they shouldn't be abusing and using state resources that we taxpayers worked so hard to provide? (Anybody out there want to pay more taxes?)

Well then...

What the fuck is up with Mary Pawlenty, the governor's wife, having a state-created and maintained web site?

Miss Construed

Miss Construed

Nut job U.S. Representative Michelle Bachmann is living up to her reputation as the premier kook from Minnesota. Joe Bodell's article on the Twin Cities Daily Planet sums up the latest contretemps (to put it lightly) Bachmann has managed to create. As one respondent put it, one has to wonder if she thinks she's hearing voices from God.

Follow the link for Bodell's spotlight story.