Can't you see the law doesn't apply to us liberals?!

On 4/30/05, the Red Star inexplicably chooses to print a story about parking tickets. Not just any parking tickets, but parking tickets given to liberals. Ok, the story doesn't say they're liberals, but we'll bet our next month's Starbucks budget they are. Here's the setup:

"The mourners gathered in the cold at the Peace [Peaaaace Garden, a nice place, but a known liberal hangout - Ed.] Garden at Lake Harriet in Minneapolis to support a couple grieving the death of their 6-day-old son. As Susan Parry and Bill Vann were reading letters to their baby, a Minneapolis park police agent 50 yards away was tagging nearly everybody's vehicle with $33 parking tickets. Even after they approached the agent to tell their story, she continued to write the last of her 20 tickets."

Here's how we know they're liberals; a quote from Mark Ahlmstrom:

""This was a very special event. People were dressed up in suits. They were crying and talking," he said. "There is no way the officer could have missed that this was a very somber occasion.""

Whaaa? A non-sequitor if we've ever seen one. The officer is there to enforce parking rules, not to judge the somberness of a group of scofflaws. LIBERALS DON'T CARE ABOUT THE RULES WHEN IT IS SELF-SERVING. Indeed they were offended by the officer, a bitter and callous public servant who has been waiting for this moment from the first day at traffic school. To wit:

"The officer who gave us the tickets was unbelievably cold about the whole thing," said Deb DeBruin, a bioethics professor at the University of Minnesota. "She showed complete disrespect."

A Professor! Someone smart enough to be a professor must surely be above the law. Let's see what the park police Chief Brad Johnson has to say about this:

While park police Chief Brad Johnson is sympathetic about the reason for the gathering, he said that doesn't mean the people can park illegally. Several people had parked at meters in the parking lot but didn't put in any money, he said. "I drove by and saw the group and some of them were laughing and joking," he said. "Don't say they were so bereaved that they couldn't plug a meter."

Pin a medal on Chief Johnson. More from the Chief:

Chief Johnson said the agent did the right thing. "She can't tear up the tickets. She would have to bring them back and put in a request for a dismissal that would have to be approved by me or a lieutenant," he said. "I'm sorry, but I wouldn't have been inclined to do it."

Pin two medals on Chief Johnson. And remember, LIBERALS DON'T CARE ABOUT THE RULES WHEN IT IS SELF-SERVING.

Uptown violence explodes, Strib gives clues

Today the Strib found itself reluctantly obligated to report the upsurge in armed robberies of persons in the Uptown Minneapolis area, which have escalated from "simple" armed robberies to shots fired and physical injury. Try as they might to suppress it, word is getting out in other media outlets, and, always the follower, the Strib prints an update - in the "B" section. The Red Star's initial story gave no suspect desriptions (even though the police had released pretty thorough information in that regard), so surely the update will have full information for the safety of the general public. Let's see what they came up with:

"In the other robberies, police say one to three young men accosted one to three victims, displayed a gun and took wallets, purses and cash cards. Robberies fitting that description (What description?) were committed every night last week between 9:30 p.m. and 1:30 a.m."

There you have it: Three young men. Again no useful information. What a shameful "news" organization. Because we follow the news closely from multiple sources, we know the truth. Because of the Star Tribune's penchant for social engineering and political correctness, the average visitor to the Uptown area won't have a clue what to look for. And they might get hurt. Thanks, Star Tribune.

Politically correct photography...

Marvel at the skill exhibited by Red Star photographer Renee (French?) Jones in the 4/28/05 edition, front page and the continuation on page 13 in the Metro Edition. The article in question is titled "Drugs and Gangs, On patrol in the North Side, State strike force drops its net". There is one large and one small photo of criminal perps being searched to accompany the article, yet the photographer and editor have managed to avoid showing any skin whatsoever. Hmmm. Not just obscured faces, but obscured skin! Surely this is not an accident? We really don't care what the skin color is, but isn't this just plain silly? Are you, Red Star, practicing social engineering? Isn't it obvious?

Be on the lookout for "three young men"

According to the Minneapolis newspaper of record (aka Strib, Red Star, Star & Sickle, or the corporate name Star Tribune), "three young men" are suspected of robbing more than a dozen people in the Uptown, Minneapolis area in the past three weeks. As locals know, the Uptown area is a major urban entertainment destination for all sorts of people from the city and the suburbs. Should be a page one story, above the fold? Not for the Red Star! Try "B" section, near the back. Here's the web link, which will likely expire soon:

http://www.startribune.com/stories/462/5364898.html

When your mission is to push a leftist agenda, small matters such as robbers-gone-wild in Uptown are barely on the radar. What ends up on the front page instead? An above the fold article on how Minnesota is now #1 in prison growth. While many celebrate this fact (more prisoners = less bad guys), we have a sneaking suspicion the Strib editors do not see this as a positive thing.

Back to the robbers. A responsible newspaper would publish helpful details, including descriptions of the crooks, right? Not the Red Star. "Three young males" is about the best you'll get. That eliminates about 10% of the Uptown crowd as suspects. Well, we said we'd give you the truth, so here it is, direct from the Minneapolis PD:

CRIME ALERT 4/26/05

Facts:
There have been 12+ robbery of person reports in and around the Calhoun Square area in the 5th Precinct (24th to 36th Streets, Lyndale to Humboldt Avenue S.). The suspect and vehicle descriptions are similar in these reports. All of the robberies are occurring after 11:00 p.m. Suspects usually approach the victims from behind or surprise them by running up or jumping out at them. In all robberies, the suspects displayed one or more handguns.

Suspect information:
· Suspect #1: Black male, 19-25 years, 6' 3", medium dark complexion.
· Suspect #2: Black male, 21-23 years, 5' 7", dark complexion with razor bumps on his face and neck area, muscular to stocky build.
· Suspect #3: Black male, 24-25 years, 5' 10", medium dark complexion, thin build, clean shaven.

Clothing: dark blue hoodie, red/maroon zip-up hoodie, dark knit caps, sports jerseys, light blue zip-up hoodie with dark blue patches, black and yellow zip-up hoodie.
Vehicles seen: compact white vehicle, blue Chevy Impala or Caprice, dark minivan. Weapons: silver semi-automatic handgun, black 6” revolver.

So tell us which information is more helpful. Did our newspaper do this story justice? Did they inform the public in a responsible manner? Did they investigate further? Is political correctness going to get us all hurt?