The Star Tribune began running Katherine Kersten's column last Thursday (May 26th); you can find it on page B1. Kersten is likely to get continuing trips to The Cucking Stool, since she was principally in mind when Spotty conceived the whole cucking stool/common scold metaphor. This post is actually from the initial post on a blog that turned out to be the first draft.
Kersten earns a dunking for her first column.
Right out of the box, Kersten criticizes Archbishop Harry Flynn, a guy who makes about $24,000 a year plus room and board, for suggesting that the governor and the rest of the Republicans who took the No New Taxes Ever, I Really Mean It, Cross My Heart and Hope to Die pledge ought to rethink their position. She goes on to say that all these layabouts we have in Minnesota really need a bracing dose of privation to become Better People.
Spotty really wonders who has put more energy into thinking about the poor, Harry Flynn who has been a Catholic clergyman all of his adult life, or Katherine Kersten who, according to an introducing article by a Star Tribune editor, can't seem to do that same thing for three years in a row.
In her column, Kersten says she is a Catholic, but she would make a heckuva Calvinist.
After setting us all straight on the immorality of taxes (someday Kersten will get Spotty's essay on the difference between morality and mere moralism, but that's for another day), she goes on to spout some numbers, and even make mere references to numbers, to support her position. In doing so, Kersten reveals to us why she is a writer, not an accountant, economist, or statistician.
She makes several references to the recently raptured Ronald Reagan and attributes many Miracles to Him. Of course, she makes no references to her sources, but then I suppose politics are a matter of faith for some. If there are sources, they are probably the right wing basket weavers at the Heritage Foundation (whose spawn did such a good job in bringing the Iraqi economy around) or the American Enterprise Institute.
Kersten was also apparently absent the day that causation and proof of it were discussed in law school.
Kersten's references to luxury boat taxes, West Virginia, western Europe, New York City, and Minnesota in the same breath are laughable. Spot is a little busy, so rather than taking her on directly, he suggests that you read these posts from his companion blog:
Yapping little dogs . . .
Oh and another thing . . .
Wow that saved spotty some work . . .
You really would think . . .
You will see from these posts and the statistics referred to in them (don't forget to follow the link to MN Politics in one of the posts), that Minnesota does quite well in national income and job growth. Spotty says this is not in spite of taxes in Minnesota, but in part because of them.
Spot also recommeds this blogger's take on the Kersten debut.
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