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Jon Erik Kingstad

Afton, MN
Commenter for
2 years 45 weeks

Recent Comments

Posted on 05/02/13 at 09:58 am in response to How a heavy police presence in high-crime neighborhoods hurts democracy

A few years ago, I saw a film at a local "fringe festival" type event that addressed the issue of voting rights of felons. The subject or name of the film was "The last time I voted was in third grade." It was about a young man who looks up his third grade friend after many years and learns how his friend last voted for class president in third grade. The reason was he had been convicted of marijuana possession in Ohio which carried a felony penalty. The friend either had a long wait for his...

Posted on 04/25/13 at 06:37 pm in response to Legislators should rethink costly renewable-energy mandates

I agree with Mr. Gleason's comment. Mr. Westgard makes excellent points about nuclear energy. He doesn't need to bash renewable energy to do so. Mr. Westgard's established his credentials and bona fides as a nuclear power advocate and I think he makes excellent points there. Nuclear power is not going away any time soon and neither is coal power. For that matter, neither is wind and solar power.

Mr. Westgard claims that wind and solar are "intermittent", by which he implies "...

Posted on 04/25/13 at 09:07 am in response to Are caucuses stupid?

A lot of the problems mentioned are the kind of problems you have when you are dependent on volunteers who have varying levels of commitment to the process. I ended being a caucus organizer a few years ago. I had no experience. Most of the people were people who knew how the system operated so I doubt my inability to explain the rules, etc. turned anybody away. That's not always going to be the case. And the rules are often arcane and in many cases, they are downsright stupid.

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Posted on 04/23/13 at 11:20 am in response to Outlook promising for GOP to pick up seats in U.S. Senate

I'm glad to hear DINO Baucus is retiring. Baucus has warmed his Senate seat long enough. I know a lot of people will not miss him. He is the 21st century's version of the Dixiecrat which retarded civil rights and other progressive policies in the 20th century. Baucus is the guy responsible for the "filibuster-proof" majority because of his refusal to even consider a public option, much less single payer health care, in the ACA. His vote against mandatory background checks is an enduring...

Posted on 04/23/13 at 01:00 pm in response to Minnesota needs a bold framework to change its energy picture

I'm sure the proposals by Sen. Marty are all in the right direction. Just not enough. Until the use of fossil fuels is taxed to equalize the external impacts of carbon emissions and degradation, and we begin to subsidize the development and use of renewable energy, these initiatives will not get the job done in time.

Posted on 04/23/13 at 11:07 am in response to Why it’s increasingly likely Michele Bachmann will retire

what fuels her ambition and her psyche, like that of a lot of the Tea Party, is just PO'ing "liberals." I saw a poll being touted in the last few weeks by Tea Party people that found George W. Bush to be a "better" president than Barack Obama. The tout was that it really irritated "liberals."

Once one comes to the understanding that the Tea Party and its ilk like Bachmann are all about annoying "liberals", grandstanding, getting publicity and "winning an argument" and not about...

Posted on 04/22/13 at 06:41 pm in response to Boston bombings: Understanding Tsarnaev brothers and their intended audience

Professor Hayes makes some good points with this informative article. It's good to know a little more about the Chechnyan situation. It's not something I've spent more than maybe 30 seconds thinking about for the last five years. It may be a small world but Chechnya is still not far enough away from the USA for me. I hadn't even heard about the "Sochi Olympics." Maybe next year.

One doesn't have to sympathize with the alleged perpetrators to try to understand their motivations...

Posted on 04/18/13 at 09:37 pm in response to Tea Party Express on gun bill defeat: Constitution - 1, Obama - 0

Speculating about what could make some outfit calling itself the "Tea Party Express" gloat over its victory in defeating background checks to purchase guns is to peer into an abyss. A very dark and frightful abyss. These people remind me of Goya etchings.

Posted on 04/18/13 at 09:02 am in response to Trouble ahead: Justices’ rulings on gun rights raise thorny questions

"Reasonable to wonder whether future nominees view of the Second Amendment will be added to the list of litmus tests for future nominees"? I think you can put that in the bank. We can look forward to the worst Supreme Court ever becoming even worse.

Posted on 04/17/13 at 08:18 pm in response to Gun rights in the 1780s and today

I liked Eric's observation that:

"It’s hard for contemporary American to grasp the degree to which 18th-century Americans saw themselves as citizens of their states more so than the nation."

I'd add that 18th century Americans and Americans into the 19th and 20th century have had a hard time too but until the 14th Amendment was passed and the "Slaughterhouse Cases" decided after the Civil War, a human being was a citizen of a State first. That concept was in Article IV "...