Did you read Kersten on the Wellstone Memorial?!!!!

[MsAnthropy]

What a loathesome, disgusting, revolting bitch to commemmorate the anniversary of the deaths of 7 people with a piece of shit writing like this, still gloating over their deaths. I am so angry I can't see straight. The right has no shame and no conscience.



Event was proof that the personal isn't always political
The Wellstone memorial backfired when it exploited grief for political ends.
Katherine Kersten, Star Tribune
Last update: October 28, 2005 at 9:37 PM


Paul Wellstone's death was a tragedy that united all Minnesotans in grief. But as we remember the sorrow, it's also important to remember the "memorial service"--three years ago Saturday -- that went notoriously awry.

At the time of his death, Wellstone was locked in a close Senate race against Norm Coleman. As grief seized the nation, there was a widespread impulse to set aside politics as usual. Walter Mondale was anointed Wellstone's successor, and some Democratic leaders warned that criticizing him would amount to showing disrespect for the dead. Democrats began to talk of the "Wellstone factor," and to frame campaigns across the country as sympathy elections.

As Coleman sat paralyzed on the sidelines, Mondale appeared poised to glide to an easy victory.

Wellstone's memorial service on Oct. 29, 2002, was billed as the nonpartisan culmination of shared public grief. People around the country were glued to TV coverage of the four-hour event. What they saw was not a solemn ceremony mourning a human being, but at times a raucous political rally. Gov. Jesse Ventura walked out in disgust, as fist-pumping speakers urged victory at the polls in Wellstone's name.

The rest is here, if you can stomach it:
http://www.startribune.com/stories/191/5696342.html

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. Kersten is vile. I never read her crap.

She's a "Minnesota Nice" version of Ann Coulter -- and just about as well-informed. So I'm not going to read this column, either. I already know what she's going to say. The other thing about her is that she's spectacularly unoriginal in spewing her idiotic right-wing garbage.

[MsAnthropy]

2. Don't read it if you haven't already--it ruined my entire Sunday

She is unoriginal as well as a bad writer. She is so out of place in that paper and in our city.

[dflprincess]

3. I usually don't read her and why I did yesterday, I'll never know

I'd like to email her about the column, but everytime I try to write something it I just go ballastic.

[MsAnthropy]

4. Me too, I tried to write a LTTE but I'm too angry

[Demrock6]

5. That whole thing was blown out of proportion.

Saying keep the fight alive for Paul is not a political rally. It actually happens at a lot of memorials.

For example Rosa Parks who recently passed away. She is remembered and honored for he stand on civil rights. Fighting for the American people. Equality. Same as Wellstone. They are remember for what they stand for.

Because Paul Wellstone cared for people it is a political rally?

[MsAnthropy]

6. It was a large group of heartbroken, grieving people

trying to make sense of this huge loss and trying to help each other through it. Nothing was planned--it was a spontaneous outpouring of grief.

The right took it and twisted it into something ugly and have been gleefully throwing it in our face every since.

[Hong Kong Cavalier]

7. Kersten can go to Hell.

Seriously. She can go to Hell. (and probably will, if I actually believed in Hell)
She's the reason I cancelled my subscription to the Star Tribune.

[MsAnthropy]

8. I agree. How someone can be so callous and evil and still

sleep at night boggles me.

[ISUGRADIA]

9. She is evil

Apparently when the right hauls outs relatives of murder victims for press conferences to reinstate the death penalty (as they have done in Iowa) that is NOT exploiting tragedy.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

10. Like hell she was "united in grief"

:puke:

[preciousdove]

11. Perhaps someone with a clearer head could write something

about how the right is still flogging a young politically incorrect idealist overcome with grief for political gain. The memorial in it entirety was great considering a lot of folks felt that the "conscience of the Senate" had been murdered as warning to those who would oppose the Bush New World Order.

(For those who still think that the BFEE wouldn't do it I give you everything that has happened since. This was the second attempt. The first was in South America failed. Dear Fitz, please, please watch your back)

[dflprincess]

13. It's like Al Franken says in "Wellstone!"

"Here's a guy who lost his best friend, his best friend's wife and daughter and three other friends. Most people would cut him some slack."

If they hadn't had Rick Kahn's speech to yell about, they would have yelled about Tom Harkin's speech. And if not Tom Harkin they would have gone after Wellstone's son's speech. If not that, they would have found something to spin. I'm sure the wingnuts watched the memorial soley for the purpose of finding something to whine about. If worse came to worse, they would have screamed about how the crowd behaved and was dressed.

And, while I'm ranting, Coleman was not "paralyzed". Anyone remember the pathetic interview he gave to the Today show, while standing in front of a small plane? You can bet the weasel spent the first few days after the crash working on his new commercials.

[MnFats]

19. Coleman was NOT 'paralyzed on the sidelines'

this is re-writing of history that would make Stalin proud. Franken made clear -- others did too and if you were observing with half a brain in gear you knew it....Colman SAID he had suspended his campaign when in fact he was campaiging harder than ever. All that sappy bullshit he said.....god this is infuriating.

[Hong Kong Cavalier]

22. I remember seeing Zipper Coleperson on the TV for the next three days

Telling everyone "I'm not campaigning".
Every 30 minutes for the next three days, Norm was on somewhere saying he wasn't campaigning.

May your political career die screaming, Norm, and may you slunk back to Hollywood to live with your D-list actress wife.

[MnFats]

20. and even RAMSTAD, who might have had reason to be hacked, said

'Let it go."


god but this pisses me off.

[northernsoul]

12. Still gotta flog that horse, eh KK?

She has to write about the one thing that Minnesota Repubs feel like they can gloat about because frankly, what else have they got? Iraq? The economy? Hurricane Relief effort? Libby indicted and more to come?
It's a lot easier to fight battles that ended three years ago.

[dodger501]

23. You gotta wonder

Like her soulmates Ann the Mann, Ingraham, etc. . . .
Does this crazy bitch really truly believe the tripe she writes?

[katinmn]

14. I can't read it.

Someone else emailed me and sent me a link. But I just can't. I know what Kersten is all about and I never read her.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

15. And here's the rebuttal!

http://www.startribune.com/stories/1519/5700261.html

:toast:

It's already 5:45PM November 1 here in Japan as I'm sitting around in the Kansai (Osaka-Kyoto-Kobe) Airport waiting for my flight back to the States and taking advantage of the fact that this whole airport is a wireless zone--unlike, say, O'Hare. (It's like 2:45 AM November 1 for you guys, isn't it?)

[MsAnthropy]

16. This is fantastic! Thanks for posting it.

She said everything I wanted to say. Made me cry.

[katinmn]

17. There were some other letters, too. I bet they only published a

small number of those that were sent.

http://www.startribune.com/stories/1519/5700330.html

[MnFats]

18. we need to pour the heat on the S-T over this wretched harpy

Goddamn it, were you there, you zombie lockstep christofacist?
I was!
90 seconds were beyond the pale. people looked at each other, heard Kahn ask Ramstad to work to elect a DFLer, said something like 'Yeah, like that's going to happen," and moved on.

It was the RIGHT WING RESPONSE THAT WAS preplanned. I was in my car 15 minutes after the memorial was over and the RW talking heads were ALREADY harping on the talking points that went on for days afterwards.


McClatchy apparently wanted to shift its image to the right and handed this moronic RW STepford Wife to help them get there.

ST should get thousands of complaints over this. literally thousands. Bastards. Fucking bastargs.

[MsAnthropy]

21. I asked the S-T if they publish her just to illustrate how ignorant

and evil the right wing is, using her column to make the entire right wing look ridiculous. They didn't publish that one--I have a feeling it's closer to the truth than they want to admit.