Come Saturday Morning: The Corporate Blue-Greenwashing of Mark Andrew |
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| [Story provided courtesy of Jane Hamsher's FireDogLake] Saturday August 31, 2013 6:45 am |
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Photo by Karen Boros of MinnPost.
Andrew, whose second biggest claim to fame (after being a Hennepin
County commissioner and being its longtime chair) has been his mid-1990s
role in steering the Minnesota DFL (our local branch of the Democratic
Party) towards corporatism and Republicanism, is now going around
Minneapolis touting his homeboy status
while making himself out to be what looks like some Madison Avenue ad
agency’s idea of a nice soft and fluffy pro-environment, pro-99-percent
politician: Carrying a green manila folder while standing on a tree
stump talking up tree planting, all while his silver hair gleams and
blows gently in the winds. Seriously.
The consultants who dream up this sort of carefully-contrived greenwashing schtick don’t come cheap, so it shouldn’t surprise anyone to learn that at a nice homey hometown fundraiser held for him last Thursday the 29th, the following decidedly non-soft, non-fluffy, non-homey, and very much un-green and un-progressive entities were present:
John E. Derus, lobbyist for Minnesota Metalcasters, a metal industry group that claims to be green but seems to be more “green by assertion”.
Jason George, pro-sulfide union mining lobbyist (creating short-term jobs through long-term polluting of trout streams and groundwater).
Dan Gunderson, lobbyist for the American Petroleum Institute, which among other things backs the Keystone XL pipeline.
Tony Kwilas (click on “Public Policy”), prominent member of the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce and strong mining backer.
Duane Arens, until recently a lobbyist for Connexus Energy.
John Evans, lobbyist for Wells Fargo Bank.
The husband and wife team of Ron and Val Jerich, whose bread and butter comes from lobbying for the ethanol and Big Ag (especially Big Corn) industries.
Vic Moore, a lobbyist whose clients include the health insurance industry and anti-environmental “wise use” groups such as the Minnesota Snowmobilers Association.
Mark Oyaas, lobbyist for Minnesota CenterPoint Energy.
Erin Roth, yet another American Petroleum Institute lobbyist.
Brian Rice, longtime lobbyist for various local police and fire federations, groups not exactly known for their progressive natures.
And just in case you still aren’t sure whether Mr. Andrew really is just another corporatist DINO-saur dressed up in shiny new and ill-fitting progressive/green togs, check out this glowingly approving passage from a glowingly approving editorial titled “DFL’S NEW CHAIRMAN FACES DAUNTING TASK OF TURNING PARTY BACK TO MAINSTREAM”. The editorial was penned by the highly conservative Steve Dornfeld for the October 9, 1995 edition of the Saint Paul, Minnesota Pioneer Press:
Needless to say, Andrew’s effort to Third Way the DFL didn’t produce the electoral bonanza that was promised.
Meanwhile, there are other elements in his past — such as the FBI probe into plumbing work done while he was a Hennepin County Commissioner — that are surfacing again, despite all the lobbyist-enabled corporate blue-greenwashing:
[Unfortunately, Jane Hamsher and her FireDogLake urged support for other very corrupt and corporate-owned Democratic Party candidates in this article without encouraging readers to check out Doug Mann, the Green Party candidate: see details about Doug Mann below.]
******
Hopefully Jane Hamsher and FireDogLake, since they know who shouldn't become mayor of Minneapolis, will consider Doug Mann:
Check out the only real alternative for Minneapolis Mayor---
Doug Mann:
http://www.tcdailyplanet.net/news/2013/07/22/doug-mann-green-party-mayoral-candidate
I am endorsed by the New Progressive Alliance, and support its platform.
City Council member Cam Gordon also sought and received the NPA endorsement.
Last year I stood for election to the Minneapolis School Board, advanced to the
general election and obtained 31,300 votes, about 25% of the total vote, with
endorsements from the NPA, the Green Party, Democratic Socialists of America,
and Lavender Greens (the LGBTIQ caucus of the Green Party).
I am fighting for a stadium referendum this fall. On July 16, 2013, I filed a
petition for a writ of mandamus with the District Court, seeking an order
commanding the City Council to hold a Vikings Stadium referendum. A hearing is
scheduled on August 20, 2013, at 8:30 a.m. at the Hennepin County Government
Center. Shortly thereafter, I expect a ruling. I intend to give the judge no
choice but to rule that the Citizens of Minneapolis have the right to vote on
the use of City of Minneapolis tax revenues and other obligations imposed on
the City by the Vikings Stadium Act of 2012.
My top priority as mayor will be to eliminate systemic racism in employment,
housing, the Court system and the Public School System. I advocate the
establishment of a division in the City's Civil Rights Department empowered to
detect and prosecute those engaged in illegal, covert discrimination in the
employment and housing markets. I advocate an end to the war on drugs, which
has been extremely effective in criminalizing, marginalizing, and
disenfranchising people of color. I advocate steps to eliminate systemic racism
in the K-12 school system: Students of color are heavily exposed to less
qualified and less experienced teachers, and more heavily concentrated in
watered-down curriculum tracks. I oppose the corporate-style reforms,
charter-ization and de-unionization of the Public School system that is being
orchestrated at the federal level, and is being carried out by the State of MN
and the Minneapolis Public Schools.
Mann for Minneapolis Mayor
http://facebook.com/mann4mayor
Doug Mann's petition for a
writ of mandamus, demanding a referendum on the use of City of
Minneapolis tax revenues for the Viking stadium has a court date.
The consultants who dream up this sort of carefully-contrived greenwashing schtick don’t come cheap, so it shouldn’t surprise anyone to learn that at a nice homey hometown fundraiser held for him last Thursday the 29th, the following decidedly non-soft, non-fluffy, non-homey, and very much un-green and un-progressive entities were present:
John E. Derus, lobbyist for Minnesota Metalcasters, a metal industry group that claims to be green but seems to be more “green by assertion”.
Jason George, pro-sulfide union mining lobbyist (creating short-term jobs through long-term polluting of trout streams and groundwater).
Dan Gunderson, lobbyist for the American Petroleum Institute, which among other things backs the Keystone XL pipeline.
Tony Kwilas (click on “Public Policy”), prominent member of the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce and strong mining backer.
Duane Arens, until recently a lobbyist for Connexus Energy.
John Evans, lobbyist for Wells Fargo Bank.
The husband and wife team of Ron and Val Jerich, whose bread and butter comes from lobbying for the ethanol and Big Ag (especially Big Corn) industries.
Vic Moore, a lobbyist whose clients include the health insurance industry and anti-environmental “wise use” groups such as the Minnesota Snowmobilers Association.
Mark Oyaas, lobbyist for Minnesota CenterPoint Energy.
Erin Roth, yet another American Petroleum Institute lobbyist.
Brian Rice, longtime lobbyist for various local police and fire federations, groups not exactly known for their progressive natures.
And just in case you still aren’t sure whether Mr. Andrew really is just another corporatist DINO-saur dressed up in shiny new and ill-fitting progressive/green togs, check out this glowingly approving passage from a glowingly approving editorial titled “DFL’S NEW CHAIRMAN FACES DAUNTING TASK OF TURNING PARTY BACK TO MAINSTREAM”. The editorial was penned by the highly conservative Steve Dornfeld for the October 9, 1995 edition of the Saint Paul, Minnesota Pioneer Press:
“Hot-button issues” that Dornfeld said were the province of “liberals, gays, feminists, environmentalists and others who wield great influence within the DFL”.Andrew is upbeat about his chance of turning things around. He calls his own election “a gesture of political pragmatism” by party activists.
“I want to build the party so that it matters again, and has an impact on people’s lives,” Andrew says. To do that, he says the DFL must develop “a mainstream agenda” that emphasizes bread-and-butter issues such as job creation and tax equity, and avoids “the hot-button issues that have torn the party apart for years.”
Needless to say, Andrew’s effort to Third Way the DFL didn’t produce the electoral bonanza that was promised.
Meanwhile, there are other elements in his past — such as the FBI probe into plumbing work done while he was a Hennepin County Commissioner — that are surfacing again, despite all the lobbyist-enabled corporate blue-greenwashing:
We don’t need to see this slickly repackaged shill become the next mayor of Minneapolis. There are other, better choices out there. Any of them would be better than the Blue-Greenwashed Man.Not only is Mark Andrew divisive, but he’s the only candidate who has been investigated by the FBI for corruption after his service as a Hennepin County Commissioner. I really wish some more of his history would come out, especially his mandated work-for-welfare program that got unions upset that unskilled laborers were being put next to union professionals on road construction projects, and his single-handed advocacy FOR the downtown trash burner. Do your research of his time in office, people!
[Unfortunately, Jane Hamsher and her FireDogLake urged support for other very corrupt and corporate-owned Democratic Party candidates in this article without encouraging readers to check out Doug Mann, the Green Party candidate: see details about Doug Mann below.]
******
Hopefully Jane Hamsher and FireDogLake, since they know who shouldn't become mayor of Minneapolis, will consider Doug Mann:
Check out the only real alternative for Minneapolis Mayor---
Doug Mann:
http://www.tcdailyplanet.net/news/2013/07/22/doug-mann-green-party-mayoral-candidate
COMMUNITY VOICES | Doug Mann of the Green Party is a mayoral candidate
City Council member Cam Gordon also sought and received the NPA endorsement.
Last year I stood for election to the Minneapolis School Board, advanced to the
general election and obtained 31,300 votes, about 25% of the total vote, with
endorsements from the NPA, the Green Party, Democratic Socialists of America,
and Lavender Greens (the LGBTIQ caucus of the Green Party).
I am fighting for a stadium referendum this fall. On July 16, 2013, I filed a
petition for a writ of mandamus with the District Court, seeking an order
commanding the City Council to hold a Vikings Stadium referendum. A hearing is
scheduled on August 20, 2013, at 8:30 a.m. at the Hennepin County Government
Center. Shortly thereafter, I expect a ruling. I intend to give the judge no
choice but to rule that the Citizens of Minneapolis have the right to vote on
the use of City of Minneapolis tax revenues and other obligations imposed on
the City by the Vikings Stadium Act of 2012.
My top priority as mayor will be to eliminate systemic racism in employment,
establishment of a division in the City's Civil Rights Department empowered to
detect and prosecute those engaged in illegal, covert discrimination in the
employment and housing markets. I advocate an end to the war on drugs, which
has been extremely effective in criminalizing, marginalizing, and
disenfranchising people of color. I advocate steps to eliminate systemic racism
in the K-12 school system: Students of color are heavily exposed to less
qualified and less experienced teachers, and more heavily concentrated in
watered-down curriculum tracks. I oppose the corporate-style reforms,
charter-ization and de-unionization of the Public School system that is being
orchestrated at the federal level, and is being carried out by the State of MN
and the Minneapolis Public Schools.
Mann for Minneapolis Mayor
http://facebook.com/mann4mayor
Fill the Courtroom to demand a stadium vote!
08/20/2013 - 8:00am