World Politics

India offers U.S. expertise in large scale disasters

Quixotic Prexy

Daniel Ellsberg: Beyond the Pentagon Papers

Anti-War Protesters Gather at State Capitol

The Bosom of Abraham

Ethiopian Jews return to the Promised Land at the Mixed Blood; Leopold and Loeb kill again at the Actors Theater of Minnesota

No Place to Hide

Plastics-related toxic chemicals are finding their way into everything--including baby milk

A Stake through the Heart of Three Gorges:

A Global Win for Greens

Minnesota's legislators didn't get Obama's Mideast memo

Divestment bill will withdraw pension funds from Iran's oil sector

Rush Limbaugh compares Al Franken win to corrupt Iran elections

Would you expect anything less from Mr. Big Fat Idiot?

Trapped Inside Burma

Would you expect anything less from Mr. Big Fat Idiot?

Trapped Inside Burma

Would you expect anything less from Mr. Big Fat Idiot?

Ouch: Pawlenty takes last in latest GOP 2012 poll

There's a new poll out from Rasmussen Reports on 2012 GOP candidates and Gov. Tim Pawlenty came in at a depressingly low 4 percent of the vote.

Michele Bachmann: Crazy like a fox

The Minnesota congresswoman gives Sarah Palin a run for her money

Palin trounces Pawlenty as GOP standard bearer in new poll

The governor has been racking up a lot of frequent flyer miles lately, but not a lot of love.

Forced repatriation of ethnic Hmong raises state senator's ire

Mee Moua joins the international outcry over the fate of 4,000 Hmong forced to return to Laos.

Tea Party Express: Who are these people?

Screengrab via Pargon/TeabonicsBehold the creative spelling​The tour buses of the Tea Party Express rolled into St. Paul for a rally this morning as part of a 48-stop 19-day cross country tour. So who are these guys?Last month Michele Bachmann complained that the media depicts Tea Partiers "as too ... More >>

Michele Bachmann's now an official 'Tea Party Hero'

Photo: Nick Vlcek​Surprised? Thought not. The Tea Party Express published its hit list today -- no Minnesotans are on it -- as well as its list of heroes. House Candidate And Incumbent Heroes Tom McClintock (R-CA) Tom Price (R-GA) Walt Minnick (D-ID) Mike Pence (R-IN) Michele Bachmann ... More >>

Shane Bauer's illness draws new White House attention

​There was a flurry of press coverage and official U.S. government statements following Friday's news that Swiss diplomats were able to visit Shane Bauer, Sarah Shourd and Josh Fattal in their Iranian prison cells recently. The latest concern: Bauer has a stomach ailment and Shourd has a serio ... More >>

Michele Bachmann says financial reform is fascism

Time for another "ism"​When it comes to delivering the crazy-town incendiary rhetoric, Michele Bachmann doesn't quit. She spent much of the spring spouting the now totally debunked assertion that President Barack Obama had nationalized 51 percent of the U.S. economy.Our pick for Best Villain h ... More >>

Satveer Chaudhary stripped of DFL backing over fishy vote

Photo: Minnesota SenateThe senator won special fishing protections for a lake at which he owns a cabin​So state Sen. Satveer Chaudhary gets language inserted into an omnibus game and fish bill in the waning days of the legislative session in St. Paul; he wants additional measures to protect th ... More >>

Bachmann: I'm the "receptacle" of the Tea Party

Michele Bachmann is queen of the Tea Party.​Michele Bachmann's crazy Tea Party Caucus press conference surpassed all expectations and was even loonier than we could have imagined.The first thing the Tea Party did was trot out their new Uncle Toms. Apparently stung by the accusation that they're a ... More >>

Norm Coleman rumored for Michael Steele's job, but can he match the flubs?

Steele is always ready with a colorful quote. We review some of the best blips of Steele's short career:

Keith Ellison says, yep, there's "extreme racists" in the tea party

Photo: cometstarmoonKeven LawWhat about racism at tea parties?​The Republicans, led by Michele Bachmann, are trying to figure out how to co-opt tea partiers, and the Democrats said yesterday they're happy to let the Republicans do it. You want to stand with folks determined to end Medicare, pr ... More >>

Michele Bachmann dodges tea party smackdown with sick day

Graphic: Matt BardinsTea partiers in Missouri were spoiling for a fight with Michele Bachmann​So much for the smackdown with Missouri tea partiers: Michele Bachmann called in sick. Instead of showing up in the Show Me state in a dialing-for-votes effort with Rep. Roy Blunt, she went home after ... More >>

Operation Streamline: An immigration boondoggle

Project Costs Millions, Tramples the Constitution, Treats Migrants Like Cattle, and Doesn't Work

Minnesota Majority urges volunteers to flout the law

Watch out for people wearing buttons--they're breaking the law. ​Minnesota Majority is urging supporters to commit civil disobedience by wearing their "Please ID Me" buttons at the polls today. A federal judge banned the buttons Monday, but the conservative group told followers to go ahead and ... More >>

Minnesota Majority poll watchers accuse themselves of voter fraud

Election Integrity Watch got its wires crossed.​It was a relatively peaceful day of poll-watching by a conservative group that appointed itself Election Day big brother...aside from a few hilarious blips. All that the volunteers of Election Integrity Watch wanted was to make sure that voting sta ... More >>

Scott Walker defends union busting, gutting public school spending

Walker defends his budget.​Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker stood before Wisconsin lawmakers yesterday, defended his union busting tactics against public workers, and then announced he wanted to gouge $1.5 billion out of the state's public school and local government aid spending. If he keeps this ... More >>

Scott Walker wins: Wisconsin Republicans through union-busting bill [UPDATE]

Sue Peacock/FlickrLet the recall efforts begin.​Republicans in the Wisconsin Assembly finally dropped all pretenses about Gov. Scott Walker's union-busting bill having anything to do with balancing the state's budget. Wednesday night, with 14 Democrats still on the lam trying to block a vote, the ... More >>

Is Michele Bachmann smarter than a high school sophomore?

Let Amy debate! Let Amy debate!​Michele Bachmann is famously reluctant to put herself in positions where she might have to talk to someone who disagrees with her. But Jesus God do we hope she makes an exception in this instance. Amy Myers, a high school sophomore from Cherry Valley, New Jers ... More >>

Tim Pawlenty and Michele Bachmann will debate in New Hampshire

So friendly looking.​Will he call her a "pain in the ass" and threaten to "rip her lungs out" in person? Will she remember to look into the right camera and get her Revolutionary War history straight? Those questions and more may be answered when Michele Bachmann and Tim Pawlenty show up fo ... More >>

Minnesotans blame Legislature, Dayton equally for shut down

​Throwing cold water on claims of popular support by both the Republicans running the Legislature, and DFL Gov. Mark Dayton, Minnesotans in a new poll are blaming both sides equally for the budget battle that may force a state government shutdown. They also largely disapprove of the job the L ... More >>

Bachmann warns Obama to fear the Tea Party, who are not all toothless hillbillies

Michele, prepared to lead her red, white and blue hillbillies into battle.​Michele Bachmann has issued a warning to Barack Obama and the Democrats that they should "be afraid of the Tea Party."Bachmann, the self-anointed queen of the Tea Party, said the Democrats have the wrong idea about the grou ... More >>

Michele Bachmann's congressional record

C-SPANMichele Bachmann: Representation without legislation.​With so much written about the wild things Michele Bachmann says, City Pages thought we'd take a look at what she has actually accomplished in Congress. Despite Bachmann's early success in the presidential polls, her congressional record ... More >>

Michele Bachmann: Tell Joe Biden I'm not a "terrorist"

Not only is Michele not a terrorist, she's a charity case.​Michele Bachmann is not a terrorist, and she needs your money. Bachmann sent out a fundraising e-mail yesterday attempting to raise money off of Joe Biden's reported comment that Tea Party Republicans "acted like terrorists" in the run-up ... More >>

Minnesota GOP fined $170,000 for FEC violations

The state GOP failed to report nearly $1 million in debt.​The worst time to owe someone money is when you're in debt. That's the case with the  Republican Party of Minnesota, which is already in debt, but now owes the Federal Election Commission $170,000 for campaign finance violations. Funny ... More >>

Rick Santorum and Bradlee Dean talked about gay sex last weekend

Bradlee Dean, Rick Santorum: Track suit, empty suit.​Rick Santorum, the former U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania, announces that he's running for president every few days, waiting for someone to finally notice. With Mitt Romney, Rick Perry, and Herman Cain (Herman Cain!) vacuuming all the oxygen from ... More >>

Gov. Scott Walker: Recall election is likely

Screen shot from CNBC.Scott Walker welcomes a recall. ​It's been little more than two weeks since foes of Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker began petitioning for a recall, and they've already surpassed 300,000 signatures -- more than half of the 540,000 needed by the January 17 deadline. If they ke ... More >>

Bachmann not pulling punches as Iowa Caucus nears

​With the Iowa Caucuses less than a week away, the 2012 Presidential campaign's preseason is not for long, and Michele Bachmann is far behind Newt Gingrich, Rick Perry and Ron Paul in the polls. Republican candidates will begin to drop like punch-drunk boxers as the primary process moves from Iowa ... More >>

Kent Sorenson betrayed Bachmann for 30 silver shekels, she claims

Kent Sorenson's defection is driving Michele Bachmann nuts​Michele Bachmann's hopes for an improbable late rally in Iowa received the unkindest cut of all.  Yesterday, apparently just hours removed from campaigning with Bachmann, her Iowa campaign co-chairman pulled a Brutus and publicly thre ... More >>

Michele Bachmann channels Sarah Palin, accuses CNN of "Gotcha!" journalism [VIDEO]

Screenshot from Mediate (via CNN)Michele Bachmann channels Sarah Palin in CNN interview. ​In an interview on CNN's Starting Point this morning, Michele Bachmann quickly turned defensive after host Soledad O'Brien recited some of the candidate's comments about homosexuality. Bachmann accused ... More >>

Michele Bachmann bombs in Iowa caucus, finishes in sixth place [UPDATED]

Has Michele Bachmann hit bottom?​Michele Bachmann did not get the miracle she was praying for in Iowa Tuesday night. With 99 percent of votes tallied in the Iowa caucus, Bachmann has officially finished in a distant sixth place, losing to every candidate but John Huntsman, who didn't even ca ... More >>

Michele Bachmann quits presidential race

Screenshot from The Uptake.Michele Bachmann says she's quitting the race. ​Michele Bachmann has officially quit the 2012 presidential race. After a dismal sixth place finish in the Iowa caucus last night, Bachmann has finally read the enormous writing on the wall and effectively ended her il ... More >>

Ron Paul focusing on MN caucus, buys "substantial" airtime in state

Ron Paul: focusing on Minnesota while Romney and co. slug it out in Florida.​Ron Paul, for one, isn't overlooking the Minnesota GOP presidential caucus, coming up on February 7. Paul's campaign recently announced that it has purchased "substantial" airtime in Minnesota in advance of the oft-incons ... More >>

Mitt Romney's dubstep anthem has arrived

"Willard Mitt Romney Song": for Florida's many glowstick-waving voters.​Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has a new song dedicated to him with a message he probably won't approve. "Willard Mitt Romney Song" by Minneapolis electro-hop act the Sicko Pervs arrived over the weekend -- just ... More >>

Ron Paul glitterbombed at Minneapolis Convention Center [VIDEO]

There's something in the air the night before the caucus. ​As Republican candidates descended on our fair state for today's caucus, the glitter was inevitably not far behind. At a campaign rally in downtown Minneapolis last night, Congressman Ron Paul became the latest conservative presidential c ... More >>

Rick Santorum glitterbombed in Blaine [VIDEO]

roberterickson1Rainbow-colored Santorum. Ick.​The streets of Minnesota are running rainbow with glitter! In the waning hours before Tuesday night's caucus, the glitterati struck one last time at a Rick Santorum event in Blaine, showering the famously anti-gay former senator in sparkles. "I thin ... More >>

Santorum's low-turnout, symbolic Minnesota victory signals Republican dissatisfaction

Santorum is Minnesota's unofficial choice, but that could signal bad news for GOP prospects come November.​Well, with Romney finishing a distant third, T-Paw is looking less influential than ever, isn't he?Rick Santorum crushed his Republican presidential competitors during yesterday's Minnesota G ... More >>