Empty victory for a hollow man How Norm Coleman sold his soul for a Senate seat.

Salon.com ^ | Nov. 7, 2002 | By Garrison Keillor

[jackbill]

Hey, Keillor, some people grow up when they grow up, and others don't grow up when they grow up. Hint. Hint. Hint.

Keillor is the kind of person that LBJ would have called a Piss Ant.

[ru4liberty]

Trick question, right?!? ;-)

[Congressman Billybob]

The sad thing about Kiellor is that he is brilliantly talented when he is talking about, or writing about, ordinary people in ordinary circumstances. I listen to and read as much as I can of his Lake Woebegone stories.

What I cannot understand is why a man who is quite perceptive about ordinary people, one at a time, becomes so blind and thick-headed when confronted with issues about millions of people in a state, or hundreds of millions in a nation. It must be that like most NPR types that his established politics come first, and all else is seen through that lens.

If he had gone to an ordinary funeral and seen behavior like that at the Wellstone orgy, I am certain he would have recognized it as an affront to decency -- like most of the nation did including many Democrats. He can see and speak the truth in ordinary circumstances -- his words are like Andrew Wyeth paintings.

But when looking at the Wellstone orgy, he could not see what was in front of his eyes, because this was political, these were the "right" people. Therefore, he must not notice that their behavior was "wrong," that they were simply and grossly inhumane.

Because he is incapable of honesty or perception on the subject of politics, he should stay away from that subject. But if he had the self-understanding to see that, he would not have written this article.

Sad.

Congressman Billybob

On American Politics

Click for "to Restore Trust in America"

[jackbill]

What`s the shot about Colemen`s home life all about?

Sounds to me like some "tolerant" liberal being a bit intolerant????

Hey, Mr. Keillor, I'm a member of the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy and I'll take Andrew Sullivan over Garrison Keillor any day of the week and twice on Sunday.

[RugerM77]

I don't remember the specific details-BUT a decade or so ago-Keillor left Minnesota for Denmark(?) and made some really nasty cracks about the provincialism and so forth of Minnesota.

[MadIvan]

Hey, Mrs. Kiellor, up your hubby's meds!

If I remember correctly, there have been several Mrs. Keillors, none of whom have stuck around for long.

Regards, Ivan

[Puddleglum]

Hemingway once remarked how he could read a Faulkner novel and always tell when the old guy stopped writing on inspiration and started writing from drink. Keillor, a no-talent compared to the authors he thinks he admires, must've been puffy-eyed and in his cups when he wrote this BS. What a sad pompous phony he is - like a broken-down pillow a spoiled dog might sleep on.

[gusopol3]

what did he do--come back for more money?

[John Lenin]

This is what the free market thinks about liberal ideology.

[MadIvan]

So far as I can tell Keillor wrote one good book, Lake Woebegon Days, which I enjoyed immensely. Beyond that the rest is nonsense - anyone who has read his other words can tell you he allows too many of his own neuroses play out in them, particularly those about sex (I shan't indulge describing them).

It must be bitter for him that a fellow named "Coleman" won the election. Apparently a former best friend of his was named "Coleman", and they had a falling out - if you look carefully, all mentions of any characters named "Coleman" in Keillor's books are entirely negative.

Regards, Ivan

[John Lenin]

This one is even better



The high flying Salon takes a dive.

[Congressman Billybob]

Keillor, as I understand, dumped his long-time wife, took up with a younger woman, and now has a new family. Does that make him reprehensible? No. But his politics make him reprehensible, only when he wanders into that area, as he did here.

If he would stick to what he knows and does best, we could respect him for his craft, and that would be that. Robert Frost, I understand, was lousy with his own family, but his work stands the test of time. e.e. cummings was even worst with his family. Woodie Guthrie was an abomination as a man, but his music survives (and his politics were to the left of Keillor).

I do not excuse the behavior of artists. Many of them are failures as men, or women, but still produce good work. I don't know and am not interested in finding out the story behind Keiller's swipe at Coleman's personal life.

Coleman was elected to be a Senator. Let's see if he's a good one, a bad one, or something in between. I don't expect radio show hosts to make good political decisions. I don't expect my Senators to tell interesting stories and sing occasional songs. Seems like a fair division of labor to me.

Congressman Billybob

[SarahW]

Totally agree with your assessment, from beginning to end - especially the sad at the end.

[FreePaul]

Poor old Garrison. He suffers from the Barbra Streisand syndrome. They think that being an entertainer qualifies them to think when just the opposite is true.

[Lancey Howard]

My opinion of Garrison Keillor just went right down the toilet along with his scumbag Democrat Party. Puke.

[Erasmus]

If I ever run into him I will punch his dumb nose down his dumb commie throat.

Be sure to have a footstool with you!

<>-<)B^)

[cornelis]

But he doesn't seem to understand

But of course he does. Count the number religious metaphors in this piece. He knows exactly what he is doing.

[CyberAnt]

Wow! You're not kidding.

But how absolutely in character are the comments - blaming Norm himself - instead of taking responsibility for their tacky and disrespectful "memorial" which DID cost them the election. Pathetic!

[terilyn]

Ladies and gentlemen...your tax dollars at work. Or at least they are if you live in Minnesota.

Garrison Keillor = MPR = Minnesota Public Radio...

[Paulus Invictus]

Keilor is a raving RAT with no class, another DP for sure ( yet another on my Despicable People list).