[a]: http://www.google.com/search?q=%22keith+ellison%22+site:powerlineblog.com
[1]: http://powerlineblog.com/archives/014383.php
[2]: http://www.kpmartin.com/?p=86
[3]: http://www.kpmartin.com/?p=92
[4]: http://www.answers.com/topic/kathleen-soliah
[5]: http://www.keithellison.org/
[6]: http://www.fineforcongress.org/
[Keith Ellison][5] is the DFL-endorsed candidate for Minnesota’s Fifth District congressional seat. Do not vote for him.
Ellison has been the subject of [pretty intense scrutiny over at Power Line][a], and in my opinion, that’s a very good thing. Power Line seems to be doing better investigative reporting than either of our local newspapers.
Sure, I can pretty much be counted on to prefer that a democrat doesn’t get voted into any particular office, but the thing that bugs me is when standard media outlets don’t seem to pursue investigating all sides with equal vigor (as regular readers [already][2] [know][3]).
One tiny little thing about [Ellison’s speech quoted today at Power Line][1] which made me want to post was this (the context is the alleged unfairness of prosecuting [“Kathleen Ann Soliah”/”Sara Jane Olson”][4] for her involvement in a fatal bank robbery among other things):
> The idea that the people who want to prosecute Sara Jane Olson have, well,they have a “June Cleaver” concept of what women are supposed to be about. They have a “June Cleaver” idea that Sara Jane Olson, women in general, were supposed to be in the kitchen cooking -SOMETHING. Right? And are NOT supposed to be engaged in political protest, laying out political thought, and certainly not breaking out of some concrete stereotype or image that they had. In the 60’s, when we fought for public housing: housing for people to live in, not shanty shacks or sugar ditches, and ghettos in Detroit, Chicago, so on.
Good heavens, what obtuse rhetoric. Interestingly, “political protest, laying out political thought, and [breaking out of concrete stereotypes and images]” weren’t on her indictment. “Conspiracy to commit murder, possession of explosives, explosion and attempt to ignite an explosive with intent to murder” were.
Call me a prude, but I hold to the high example set by June Cleaver that not carrying and using explosives and not intending to murder people is good.
What could possibly be Ellison’s point? Let’s (painfully) grant that all her causes were noble and her heart was pure as the driven snow. Should she not have been prosecuted?
Anyway, that speech alone would cause me to run looking for anyone else to vote for, regardless of party. But if you’re interested enough, the [other Ellison posts by Power Line][a] reveal someone who really wants to distance himself from his not-so-distant past views. And apparently our local newspapers are willing to help.
Ellison’s probably a perfectly nice guy. And he is out there in the public arena trying to get done what he thinks should get done. I always think a level of respect should always be given to those who take on public office – even if I disagree with them – and so I tip my hat to Ellison for being in the game. Even though I hope he doesn’t make it to the U.S. House.
And from a tech perspective, he has a [good web site][5]; standards-compliant and it looks like it was made with Adobe GoLive. :)
And though I’d urge you to consider [Alan Fine for Minnesota’s Fifth District congressional seat][6] instead, I gotta say the code behind *that* site makes me cringe. Microsoft Office indeed! {shudder}
