Minneapolis' Moronic Convergance
3 Comments Published by Loosestrife on Tuesday, December 26, 2006 at 10:00 PM.
On Saturday, I was flipping through channels and there was convicted felon Dean Zimmermann sitting next to self appointed arbiter of Minneapolis racial issues, Bill McGaughey on the always low-quality broadcast of the Metro Property Rights Committee.
And of course Avidor already has it up on You Tube, albeit with McGaughey cut out to focus on the Evildoer's bête noir, Zimmermann.
It's a shame in a way that Avidor didn't keep Bill McGaughey in the frame, since McGaughey nods like a fucking autistic metronome while Zimmermann spins out the gossamer strands of bullshit. Occasionally spouting forth inane commentary in support of his hairy counterpart, McGaughey shares Zimmermann's cadence, that of the pompous populist. It's tedious but instructive to watch these two blowhards together.
Oliver Sacks, the famous neurologist, tells the story of aphasiacs in The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat who, watching Ronald Reagan speak, howled with laughter. Why? Because aphasiacs have lost all or most ability to understand words, and rely on "the expression that goes with words, that total spontaneous, involuntary expressiveness which can never be simulated or faked, as words alone can." Thus they have an uncanny ability to pick up "what is authentic and inauthentic."
As Sacks says, it is virtually impossible to lie to an aphasiac. The "Great Communicator" was hilarious to them, since his tics, inflections, and mannerisms showed that he was really the big liar, perhaps even a grand parodist, making fun of himself, the office, and the audience with a note perfect performance demonstrating his insincerity.
They would hyperventilate watching Zimmermann, "our" Ronald Reagan, tell the story of his "setup" by the FBI to a bunch of landlords. They wouldn't pick up on the inconsistencies of his narrative with the trial record painstakingly recorded by Liz McLemore at Minneapolis Confidential, but the "errs" and "aws" and "wells" with the hand gestures, the shifting eyes, blinking, and head wags would likely communicate to them what we "normals" (to use Sacks pithy description) often miss, total insincerity.
Bill McGaughey has his own problems, most notably his rather fucked up views on race, ethnicity, and gender, which he proudly displays on the web. That Zimmermann and McGaughey have found each other at this juncture is a beautiful thing, bringing together two white strands of a peculiar brand of illusory Minnesota populist progressivism.
Both these guys are decidedly minor league, their aspirations for the big time and their vanity intact although the heyday of their "careers" as public figures is over. They need each other. Even as I write tonight, McGaughey has posted on the Minneapolis Issues list, quoting himself in defense of Zimmermann.
The Quid Pro Quo of McGaughey's world is this: come to one of my lame ass Property Rights meetings and I will give you praise or at least stop attacking you. Just ask Chris Stewart.
I will be taking a closer look at these two men--Zimmermann and McGaughey--their rhetoric, their ideology, and their connections over the next couple of months as a way to consider Minneapolis progressives' peculiar tendency to tolerate what we from warmer climes would call "yahoos." McGaughey has emerged recently as an "activist" in the Independence Party, notably supporting Tammy Lee and writing a self-published book on the direction of the IP , and Zimmermann, ostensibly a "Green," proclaims his purity of intention loudly, even as he lunches with Republican developers or prepares for prison after being convicted of bribery.
--Loosestrife
And of course Avidor already has it up on You Tube, albeit with McGaughey cut out to focus on the Evildoer's bête noir, Zimmermann.
It's a shame in a way that Avidor didn't keep Bill McGaughey in the frame, since McGaughey nods like a fucking autistic metronome while Zimmermann spins out the gossamer strands of bullshit. Occasionally spouting forth inane commentary in support of his hairy counterpart, McGaughey shares Zimmermann's cadence, that of the pompous populist. It's tedious but instructive to watch these two blowhards together.
Oliver Sacks, the famous neurologist, tells the story of aphasiacs in The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat who, watching Ronald Reagan speak, howled with laughter. Why? Because aphasiacs have lost all or most ability to understand words, and rely on "the expression that goes with words, that total spontaneous, involuntary expressiveness which can never be simulated or faked, as words alone can." Thus they have an uncanny ability to pick up "what is authentic and inauthentic."
As Sacks says, it is virtually impossible to lie to an aphasiac. The "Great Communicator" was hilarious to them, since his tics, inflections, and mannerisms showed that he was really the big liar, perhaps even a grand parodist, making fun of himself, the office, and the audience with a note perfect performance demonstrating his insincerity.
They would hyperventilate watching Zimmermann, "our" Ronald Reagan, tell the story of his "setup" by the FBI to a bunch of landlords. They wouldn't pick up on the inconsistencies of his narrative with the trial record painstakingly recorded by Liz McLemore at Minneapolis Confidential, but the "errs" and "aws" and "wells" with the hand gestures, the shifting eyes, blinking, and head wags would likely communicate to them what we "normals" (to use Sacks pithy description) often miss, total insincerity.
Bill McGaughey has his own problems, most notably his rather fucked up views on race, ethnicity, and gender, which he proudly displays on the web. That Zimmermann and McGaughey have found each other at this juncture is a beautiful thing, bringing together two white strands of a peculiar brand of illusory Minnesota populist progressivism.
Both these guys are decidedly minor league, their aspirations for the big time and their vanity intact although the heyday of their "careers" as public figures is over. They need each other. Even as I write tonight, McGaughey has posted on the Minneapolis Issues list, quoting himself in defense of Zimmermann.
The Quid Pro Quo of McGaughey's world is this: come to one of my lame ass Property Rights meetings and I will give you praise or at least stop attacking you. Just ask Chris Stewart.
I will be taking a closer look at these two men--Zimmermann and McGaughey--their rhetoric, their ideology, and their connections over the next couple of months as a way to consider Minneapolis progressives' peculiar tendency to tolerate what we from warmer climes would call "yahoos." McGaughey has emerged recently as an "activist" in the Independence Party, notably supporting Tammy Lee and writing a self-published book on the direction of the IP , and Zimmermann, ostensibly a "Green," proclaims his purity of intention loudly, even as he lunches with Republican developers or prepares for prison after being convicted of bribery.
--Loosestrife
If you didn't already know it, you should now.
Former Minneapolis City Council Member, Dean Zimmermann is corrupt to his very core.
Finally sentenced for taking bribes from a developer, he said everything but that he took a bribe and that it was wrong to do so.
He attributed his problems to carelessness, to pot, to not being paranoid enough, to being off his game, to being set up, to being very busy, to everything but his own corrupt actions.
Zimmermann will enter treatment, of course, as is customary these days for disgraced public officials. In treatment, he will be asked to take ownership of what he has done and the damage he has caused. Unfortunately, if he is in Yankton, SD at the minimum security prison (a former college campus) that sentencing Judge Montgomery recommended, he will be in treatment with his fellow white collar criminals.
I doubt seriously whether anyone will really push Zimmermann to consider the contradiction of his sleazy games with a shady developer and his professed leftist passion for social justice. No one will bemoan the damage that Zimmermann has done to to Minneapolis left as he arrogantly flaunted his power as a cynical elected official.
But in treatment, Zimmermann will be confronted with this: he has been surrounded by a bunch of enablers, folks who are seemingly his supporters and friends who lack the wherewithal to call him on his shit, who fail to make him follow the rules that most of us do, who refuse to tell him when he is wrong or in trouble.
I expect that Zimmermann will turn this to his advantage. Already, the Green Party is spouting forth the Mea Culpas rather than condemning Zimmermann's actions as reprehensible. And canny criminals often use prison treatment to absolve themselves by playing the game to shorten their sentence. Particularly white collar criminals. Just ask Basim Sabri.
The Minneapolis Issues List has been a metaphorical cacaphony of bleating Zimmersheep since his sentencing. The blindness to Zimmermann's obvious betrayal of his constituents and left wing allies as he sat with his briber for hours schmoozing and expressing disappointment that he wasn't invited to a Norm Coleman fund raiser is appalling. Don't you all get it? Zimmermann was very comfortable having his chicken wings and rum and cokes with Gary Carlson.
Annie Young, a compadre of Zimmermann, says that a friend of Dean is going to write Zimmermann's "autobiography." That's about right since rumor had it that he, whether stoned or not, did very little of his own work on the city council. If you can get someone to write your own "autobiography" for free, it just shows that you are a true leader.
Young alludes to a previous period of Zimmerexile, 3+ years after the infamous Minneapolis co-op wars. What she won't say is what some co-op war survivors will tell you: that Dean Zimmermann was a thug who physically beat his perceived enemies, helping to create an atmosphere that left the local progressive community fragmented and disillusioned for years, some would say even to this day. Dean joined the weird Minneapolis leftist political cult "the O."--an offshoot of the Co-0p Organization (C.O.) --described in detail in Alexandra Stein's book Inside Out: A Memoir of Entering and Breaking Out of a Minneapolis Political Cult, for a time.
Interviewed by the Star Tribune in 2003, Zimmermann justified his involvement in the O.'s cultish psychological brutality thus:
Same as it ever was. Dean Zimmermann always justifies his behavior, no matter how odious, by invoking his concern for the downtrodden and his leftist politics. The cant changes little. On the Left, that, not patriotism, is truly the last refuge of a scoundrel.
--Loosestrife
Former Minneapolis City Council Member, Dean Zimmermann is corrupt to his very core.
Finally sentenced for taking bribes from a developer, he said everything but that he took a bribe and that it was wrong to do so.
He attributed his problems to carelessness, to pot, to not being paranoid enough, to being off his game, to being set up, to being very busy, to everything but his own corrupt actions.
Zimmermann will enter treatment, of course, as is customary these days for disgraced public officials. In treatment, he will be asked to take ownership of what he has done and the damage he has caused. Unfortunately, if he is in Yankton, SD at the minimum security prison (a former college campus) that sentencing Judge Montgomery recommended, he will be in treatment with his fellow white collar criminals.
I doubt seriously whether anyone will really push Zimmermann to consider the contradiction of his sleazy games with a shady developer and his professed leftist passion for social justice. No one will bemoan the damage that Zimmermann has done to to Minneapolis left as he arrogantly flaunted his power as a cynical elected official.
But in treatment, Zimmermann will be confronted with this: he has been surrounded by a bunch of enablers, folks who are seemingly his supporters and friends who lack the wherewithal to call him on his shit, who fail to make him follow the rules that most of us do, who refuse to tell him when he is wrong or in trouble.
I expect that Zimmermann will turn this to his advantage. Already, the Green Party is spouting forth the Mea Culpas rather than condemning Zimmermann's actions as reprehensible. And canny criminals often use prison treatment to absolve themselves by playing the game to shorten their sentence. Particularly white collar criminals. Just ask Basim Sabri.
The Minneapolis Issues List has been a metaphorical cacaphony of bleating Zimmersheep since his sentencing. The blindness to Zimmermann's obvious betrayal of his constituents and left wing allies as he sat with his briber for hours schmoozing and expressing disappointment that he wasn't invited to a Norm Coleman fund raiser is appalling. Don't you all get it? Zimmermann was very comfortable having his chicken wings and rum and cokes with Gary Carlson.
Annie Young, a compadre of Zimmermann, says that a friend of Dean is going to write Zimmermann's "autobiography." That's about right since rumor had it that he, whether stoned or not, did very little of his own work on the city council. If you can get someone to write your own "autobiography" for free, it just shows that you are a true leader.
Young alludes to a previous period of Zimmerexile, 3+ years after the infamous Minneapolis co-op wars. What she won't say is what some co-op war survivors will tell you: that Dean Zimmermann was a thug who physically beat his perceived enemies, helping to create an atmosphere that left the local progressive community fragmented and disillusioned for years, some would say even to this day. Dean joined the weird Minneapolis leftist political cult "the O."--an offshoot of the Co-0p Organization (C.O.) --described in detail in Alexandra Stein's book Inside Out: A Memoir of Entering and Breaking Out of a Minneapolis Political Cult, for a time.
Interviewed by the Star Tribune in 2003, Zimmermann justified his involvement in the O.'s cultish psychological brutality thus:
People wanted a dramatic change in our society. And this co-op organization with the left-wing dogma exploited that deep, burning desire to transform our society in a way that would make it better for all and not just the privileged. We looked to Cuba, which had health care for everyone. We looked to China, which eradicated starvation. We thought we could transform our society and eliminate the chasm between the rich and the poor.
Same as it ever was. Dean Zimmermann always justifies his behavior, no matter how odious, by invoking his concern for the downtrodden and his leftist politics. The cant changes little. On the Left, that, not patriotism, is truly the last refuge of a scoundrel.
--Loosestrife
