Here in the land of one senator

I had the pleasure today of interviewing Minnesota Supreme Court justice, and football hall-of-famer Alan Page for a project I'm working on.

Outside of the formal interview we spoke about national politics, particularly the job the new president is doing. Page said he was glad we now had a president who was proud of his intellectual achievements, and not, like our last president, gloating about his anti-intellectualis.

Page may very well be on the panel who will hear Norm Coleman's plea to retain his role as Minnesota's Senator, against a tide of evidence and opinion, and so he couldn't and wouldn't offer an opinion on what has become a great embarassment to the voters of Minnesota.

Political comedy in Minnesota

I'm in the land of Garrison Keillor and Al Franken (where Franken is now leading in the Senatorial race), and the political theater is getting heated up as Norm Coleman, the incumbent, is being charged with ethics violations.

No, this is not a Saturday Night Live skit.

Prairie foreclosed home companion

Though I wish he would sing a little less on his show, I've always admired Garrison Keillor for his nerdish stardom (an inspiration to all radio nerds, famous and not, from Ira Glass to me). He's parlayed a brilliant mind, a gift for storytelling, a sense of the under-appreciated and a face for radio into a unexpectedly long, successful and lucrative career.

He has given a voice to the Lutheran farmer, and the precocious teen in a flyover state who cherishes The New Yorker.

He is also a brilliant essayist, and more so when he's angry. And he's angry now.