Woof, Woof, or Norm Coleman chases the stick

I used to think that Tony Blair was the ultimate lap dog, doing whatever his master in DC wanted in order to receive treats and lovin'. But Norm Coleman is an even better model. He is the darling of the RNC, because he comes from a blue state (sort of), and even used to be a Democrat (sort of), and pro-choice (sort of). But ol' Norm has religion (sort of). Today in the Strib, he was shown to have floated a "don't let all the states become California" measure to stop individual states from taking a stand on carbon emissions and, by extension, global warming. Nuts, but, given his current willingness to follow along two steps behind his master, fetching sticks and chasing random squirrels, not surprising.

But I do think Norm's tail has not felt the Minnesota change in the wind. The RNC has pulled out of Minnesota, except for the Michelle Bachman-Patty Wetterling race. Michelle is the kind of right-winger we secular humanists (haven't heard that for a while, have you) love to hate. Anti-choice, anti-public schools, anti-gay, anti-immigrant, Michelle stands only for turning back the clock to about 1880. And she still has a chance, in a district that is consistently Republican and a tough slog for any Democrat. So the RNC is in there fighting. But they don't seem to be bringing Norm in to stump for her. As the Strib observed today, Michelle is genuinely nuts, whereas Norm is only nuts because that's what his master wants. It's a head shaker--what happened to this nice Jewish boy from Queens?