Republican Lies I Didn't Know Were Lies (until Mark Ritchie told me so)

Just for the edification of it all, I attended a MN DFL fundraiser last night in St. Cloud, called the "Minnesota DFL Local & Sustainable Foods Dinner."

Before I begin, let me say that my DFL hosts were more than gracious. The event was largely apolitical in nature. It consisted of a meal prepared from "sustainable area ingredients," consisting of yak meat (no, I'm not kidding--and it was quite tasty, as well), squash, tiny cherry tomatoes, a couple of pasta dishes, and a fantastic apple cobbler. The meal was followed by the local producers of the food, explaining how they grow them organically, as well as the chef (a fantastic chef, to be sure), who told how the meal was put together, and also gave a presentation as to chemicals present in non-organic foods. I sat with a DFL official from Cold Spring and his wife, and we had a great chat about a number of issues, including Iraq and my son's service there. They were very gracious, and wished my son well.

All well and good, and interesting.

Then came the keynote speaker of the evening, Minnesota Secretary of State, Mark Ritchie. Since it was an evening that had to do with "sustainable" foods, Mark Ritchie was invited, ostensibly due to his work with the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy.

Basically, what it all appeared to boil down to is that Ritchie applied his experience as a lobbyist for the organic food industry to advancing liberal/neo-socialist political causes. After taking some obligatory, uncalled-for swipes at former Secretary of State Mary Kiffmeyer, and telling the obligatory tales about blacks in the South being murdered on their way to vote, Ritchie went on to talk about large corporate food operations' alleged propaganda war against "sustainable" organic food operations, and applied the same process to supposed republican propaganda (read: lies). Said Ritchie,

"There's a whole propaganda machine out there that says you know better what to do with your money than the government, or that home schooling is better than public schools."

"Gee. Maybe the government does know best!" (/sarc)

Later, Ritchie loudly proclaimed another Republican lie; or rather the neo-socialist version of the "truth," saying:

"Just like Greenspan said, the Iraq war was all about oil!"

I thought to myself, "The minute Greenspan begins commanding our soldiers, I might give him credibility in that department."

Ritchie's comments drew cheers from some, silence from others.

Ritchie also brought up the supposed propaganda machine with regard to the use of oil, implying that ethanol was the end-all and be-all of liquid energy.

Ritchie went on to say with all the disgust he could muster,

"On my way here, I saw a Burlington Northern train, just spewing out black smoke, and carrying rail car after rail car full of coal!" "I hate oil." "I hate oil and coal!"

But, much to my surprise, not all DFLers present were prepared to drink the ethanol kool-aid! There were several who brought up the problems associated with using corn for ethanol, and one in the audience even went so far as to in effect say "the ethanol emperor had no clothes," and called the ethanol movement "a disaster." People also noted that switchgrass would be a viable alternative, citing that the ethanol-driven increase in the price of corn was increasing the price of food. Ritchie downplayed and/or dismissed the notion altogether, saying that,

"Americans don't eat corn; Americans feed the corn to cattle, and then Americans eat cattle."

Hmm. I guess that last piece of corn on the cob I ate must have been a figment of my imagination. But I digress.

Another in the audience went on to cite that in Mexico, where corn is a staple, much of the corn now growing there goes toward ethanol, rather than food; which resulted in a substantial price increase in food with which Mexicans were ill-prepared to deal.

Again, Ritchie dismissed this, saying "They grow a different kind of corn in Mexico, than they do in the U.S." But the audience member retorted, "But they're still growing corn for ethanol now, instead of food." Ritchie went on to say that if everyone pastured their cattle vs. feeding them corn, it wouldn't be a problem.

Finally, another DFL audience member stated, "Will there ever be a time when the DFL can have an open and honest debate about this?

Ritchie replied,

"Well, as you know, the DFL has always had open and honest debates about everything!"

A portion of my cup of Peace Coffee just about came out of my nose when I heard that.

Yet another DFLer asked Mark, "Seeing all the environmental and other problems that have come about as a result of ethanol production, do you still endorse corn-based ethanol as a viable alternative?

Ritchie replied, in a loud, forceful voice, "ABSOLUTELY!" and went on to say, "When you go about things, there's always the possibility that you'll do it wrong," [Tell me about it--ed.]. "But it's just like the Texas Instrument Calculators when they first came out--they were clumsy and didn't work too well--now look at them."

Yes, Ritchie proved himself a regular Mr. Bojangles on this topic.

He sidestepped, two-stepped and tried to tarantella his way out of it, but everyone saw through him like the combined wardrobe of Britney Spears and Paris Hilton.

As a sidenote, on my way out, I had a chance to compliment the gentleman who brought up the "honest, open debate," comment; he smiled and said that he knew that Ritchie wouldn't be able to answer his question, for he and the DFL were too beholden to the ethanol interests.

Ritchie then went on a spiel about how Republicans are fearmongers, and always try to play the fear card to maintain their power.

Incidentally, Ritchie followed those comments with,

"You gotta be careful, cause this is an armed country! Remember 1968, when our nation was willing to use bullets to stifle dissent! This isn't like Canada, or England. This is an ARMED country!"

If nothing else, it was a perfect example of the psychological defense mechanism known as projection. Not to mention a short memory, given that the 1968 riots occurred in Chicago. During the Democrat Convention. Under a Democrat Mayor who gave the orders to "shoot to kill;" and to utilize mace to detain youngsters.

Mark's comments suggest, in no uncertain terms, that the elitist Mark Ritchie wishes to portray conservatives in America as gun-totin' shootem' up paramilitary folk who are just chompin' at the bit to pick themselves off a few of dem dere hippies.

Puhleeeeze!

At the end of the evening, I approached Secretary of State Ritchie, and confronted him about his gratuitous Iraq war statement. Specifically, I told him about my son's service, and stated in no uncertain terms that Ritchie's comments served to demean his service. Ritchie immediately retorted with, "But Alan Greenspan said," to which I said, "I don't care what he said. The soldiers aren't there for oil! My son has helped the Iraqis build irrigation systems; he helped them get running water; he was protecting those people! Your statement deeply offended me."

Ritchie responded by stating something to the effect, "You're right, I should have been more careful of what I said."

I wonder if he'll remember that next time.

If I see pigs flying in the near future, I'll be sure and let you know.