A University of Rhode Island professor “suspects” that there is a campaign under way by unnamed Justice Department officials to hound U.S. Attorney Rachel Paulose from office to punish her for her “aggressive commitment” to prosecute human trafficking cases.
She offers no details and no evidence, but Women’s Studies Professor Donna M. Hughes, who supports […]

Good Wednesday afternoon Fellow Seekers,
Columnist Paul Waldman of the American Prospect argues that coverage of Pat Robertson’s recent endorsement of Rudy Giuliani didn’t feature enough discussion of Robertson’s crazy claims over recent years nor enough (any?) demands from the punditocracy that Giuliani repudiate the claims and the man who made them. Wrote Waldman:
Try to imagine […]

From the Times writeup of the new poll:
“Iowa polls this early are notoriously unreliable in terms of predicting the outcome; that said, this poll suggested volatility on the Republican side, with evidence that Mr. Huckabee is well-positioned to present an intense last-minute challenge to Mr. Romney, who has worked for a year to assure himself […]

Without our reputation as a country that cares about human rights, respecting them in our own actions and advocating them globally, the United States loses its identity and becomes “just another superpower doing what’s necessary” to maintain its hegemony, Harold Hongju Koh, dean of the Yale Law School, told a Humphrey Institute audience Tuesday over […]

This scoop is very modest since Edina Mayor James Hovland had already said he was strongly leaning toward getting in the race for the open seat for the Third Congressional District, and my esteemed colleague Joe Bodell all but put him in the race this morning, but Hovland just informed me that he’s definitely running.
He […]

The New York Times went deep on the tale of Rachel Paulose’s appointment and tenure as U.S attorney for Minnesota. Regular readers of Black Ink won’t find much here that they haven’t seen before. But it can’t be good for Paulose to find herself identified (and on page one of the Times no less) as […]

Good Tuesday morning Fellow Seekers,
Last week, after viewing a YouTube video, created by blogger and GOP operative Michael Brodkorb, of four dinky alleged “gaffes” committed by state Sen. Terri Bonoff during her announcement event, I wrote a dour but heartfelt post regretting the way this kind of cheap shot diminishes our politics. I stand by […]

Good Monday morning, Fellow Seekers,
Last week, guest poster Karl Bremer revealed that U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann — who generally opposes big government, who has specifically denounced the impact of agriculture subsidies, and who recently voted against the big agriculture bill that would extend the current subsidy programs through 2012 — has also benefited personally from […]

Not really. I’m not even real sure what a cagematch is. And Michael Brodkorb (Republican operative, blogger of Minnesota Democrats Exposed, and part of the Saturday Northern Alliance Radio Network lineup) and I can usually talk to each other without hitting, spitting or titillating wardrobe malfunctions.
But I will be a guest on Brodkorb’s radio show […]

Good Friday noon,
Impeachment talk is back in the air. On Tuesday, a bunch of Republicans (who thought it would embarrass the Democrats) almost brought about a floor vote on an impeachment resolution against Vice Pres. Cheney by Rep. Dennis Kucinich. The Dem leadership got the resolution referred to the House Judiciary Committee instead. The leftier […]

Good Friday morning,
The U.S. Senate voted 53-40 last night to confirm the nomination of former federal judge Michael Mukasey to be attorney general. Minnesota’s Republican U.S. Senator Norm Coleman last week gave his reasons for supporting the nominations,
but Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., wasn’t ready to announce her plans until after the Judiciary Committee finished its […]

I was about to write “we’re entering the make or break period in the run-up to the Iowa caucuses.” But let’s stay calm and keep repeating some of the reasons Black Ink calls poll stories Crack for Political Junkies: “Caucus support is very hard to measure. The whole situation in Iowa changed in the […]

Apologies. Fell behind on emails. Missed this reflection from my friend Pasquino on a piece that ran 1A in the Monday Strib.
Does this story make you feel safer? Or does it make you uncomfortable? How about this quote:
“People can’t find out that they are in the database, they can’t do anything if something happens to […]