May 29, 2020 — Scott Johnson
When KSTP-TV’s Tom Hauser had a complaint or two about the daily press briefings conducted by the Minnesota Department of Health, he took to Twitter earlier this week to unload. I compiled a bunch of those tweets in here. Tom noted somewhere in his tweets that he hasn’t been blacklisted. I have. MDH included me on the press briefing conference call notices and responded to my questions by email until
»
May 29, 2020 — Scott Johnson
KSTP TV’s Tom Hauser made it onto the Minnesota Department of Health’s daily press briefing and got picked from the queue to ask a good question yesterday. His Twitter rant serve him well. Tom asked about the nursing home crisis that has remained the locus of the risk of fatality posed by the COVID-19 epidemic in Minnesota. Tom posed his question at about 18:00 of the briefing audio (below). Tom
»
May 29, 2020 — Scott Johnson
Riots, looting, arson, vandalism, violence, destruction, and robbery continued for a third night in Minneapolis following the death of George Floyd at the of hands of the Minneapolis police. We have quickly moved beyond “protests” to the shame and disgrace of a terroristic crime spree from which we will be a long time recovering. The Third Precinct police headquarters at 30th and Minnehaha was torched and burned to the ground
»
May 29, 2020 — Scott Johnson
Ammo Grrrll has some thoughts on HOW THE VAMPIRE CAN DEFEAT BUFFY. She writes: Long ago, in a galaxy that seems very far away now, SNL had a sketch with guest host Ellen DeGeneres playing the “Buffy” character. She had to fight a much larger, testosterone-laden being. And she not only lost, she got trounced. They used an Ellen rag doll dummy kicked and flung about the stage to dramatize
»
May 28, 2020 — Scott Johnson
Governor Walz turned up at yesterday’s COVID-19 briefing with Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan, Attorney General Keith Ellison, and Public Safety Commissioner John Harrington in tow to discuss to address the killing of George Floyd. (I got to know and respect John when he was St. Paul Chief of Police. I think he is a standup guy and ethical leader. He is out of place in this crowd.) I watched the
»
May 28, 2020 — Scott Johnson
George Floyd died at the knee of Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin on Memorial Day. Floyd was handcuffed and held to the ground with Chauvin’s knee on Floyd’s neck while Floyd complained that he could not breathe. The arrest and detention were captured on sickening video. Three other officers were on the scene. It all went down at 38th and Chicago in Minneapolis’s Third Precinct in south Minneapolis. The front
»
May 27, 2020 — Scott Johnson
At the American Thinker Andrea Widburg draws attention to the video below depicting Joe Biden’s “inappropriate behavior” or “violation of boundaries” with women of all ages, but especially with young girls. She explains that the video has been “paired with statements from Professor Anthony Zenkus (ironically enough, a die-hard leftist and anti-capitalist) who speaks in an old video about how pedophiles groom children[.]” I think guys like Biden used to
»
May 27, 2020 — Scott Johnson
KSTP-Tv’s Tom Hauser has a complaint or two about the daily press briefing conducted by the Minnesota Department of Health. He took to Twitter to unload yesterday afternoon. I compiled a bunch of those tweets in the adjacent post. Tom noted somewhere in his tweets that he hasn’t been blacklisted. I have. MDH included me in the press briefing conference call notices and responded to my questions by email until
»
May 27, 2020 — Scott Johnson
KSTP-TV’s Tom Hauser is an old-school political reporter. He’s a pro. He plays it down the middle. He is widely respected. Tom is the guy who asked this question at one of the daily press briefings conducted by the Minnesota Department of Health: what share of all deaths attributed to COVID-19 is accounted for by long-term care residents and others with serious medical conditions (as defined elsewhere by the CDC
»
May 27, 2020 — Scott Johnson
Yesterday’s Minnesota Department of Health press briefing set off an epic Twitter rant by KSTP TV’s Tom Hauser. I will take that up in a separate post. I have posted the 47-minute video (it’s all audio) of the briefing at the bottom of this post. KSTP’s summary of the briefing is here. The briefings have become a ritual farce. Pioneer Press reporter Dave Orrick asked a critical question about Minnesota
»
May 26, 2020 — Scott Johnson
In his American Greatness column “The doctrine of media untruth,” Victor Davis Hanson lays down a highly useful rule of opposites: As a general rule, when the New York Times, the Washington Post, National Public Radio, Public Broadcasting Service, NBC, CBS, ABC, MSNBC, and CNN begin to parrot a narrative, the truth often is found in simply believing just the opposite. Put another way, the media’s “truth” is a good
»
May 26, 2020 — Scott Johnson
President Trump sat for an interview with Sharyl Attkisson for her Full Measure show this past Sunday morning. The video and transcript are posted here. The good stuff is to be found in the second segment of the interview, which RealClearPolitics has now broken out and posted here. I have embedded it at the bottom of this post. This is the nub of it: I have a chance to break
»
May 26, 2020 — Scott Johnson
Pulitzer Prize-winning Star Tribune reporter Jeremy Olson took the Memorial Day weekend off. In place of Jeremy Olson, Rochelle Olson (no relation) gave us limited relief from the campaign of fear that the Star Tribune has waged in lockstep with the governor. The headline over Rochelle Olson’s story Minnesota is geared to spread the panic: “745 new COVID cases, 12 more deaths.” Somewhat less alarming truths creep into the subhead:
»
May 25, 2020 — Scott Johnson
I threatened to write the Star Tribune editorial supporting Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey’s recent mask edict if the Star Tribune editors didn’t get around to it by today. The editors of the Star Tribune have so far exercised their right to remain silent. I am therefore stepping forward to fill the breach. This is the brief editorial written in my sleep for the Star Tribune; this is what I think
»
May 25, 2020 — Scott Johnson
The authorities attributed 17 new deaths to COVID-19 yesterday, bringing the total to 869. Twelve of the 17 deaths occurred among residents of long-term care facilities and one in a group home. The total of deaths among residents of long-term care facilities and congregate care is 709. LTC deaths account for 81.5 percent of all deaths attributed to COVID-19 in Minnesota. The age breakdown of the 17 new decedents follows
»
May 25, 2020 — Scott Johnson
In observance of Memorial Day 2007 the Wall Street Journal published a brilliant column by the late Peter Collier to mark the occasion. The column remains timely and is accessible online here. I don’t think we’ll read or hear anything more thoughtful or appropriate to the occasion today. With the kind permission of Peter himself, here it is: Once we knew who and what to honor on Memorial Day: those
»
May 24, 2020 — Scott Johnson
Governor Tim Walz called a press conference yesterday afternoon to announce his limited stand down on religious worship. I have posted the video from the governor’s YouTube channel below. Walz takes the lectern at about 3:00. Walz is a force to contend with. He played a losing hand here to maximum effect and then smothered the resolution in a torrent of verbiage. No one is going to outtalk this guy.
»
