Daily Dialysis

• Embattled Chicago mayor Richard Daley was in St. Paul last night campaigning for Randy Kelly's reelection bid. Daley, however, was not the most notable name in the room. There were two large elephants invited as "special guests": Republicans Norm Coleman and Teflon Tim Pawlenty. Why Randy Kelly insists on this bipartisan ruse is beyond me, but he has now awakened the Recall Randy folks (who started a campaign to bring him down after he endorsed Bush last year) from their hibernation. E-I-E-I-uh-oh!
• Minnesota Attorney General Mike Hatch (aka Father of the Hatch Girls) is back in the news with a case that has potential to give his office dramatic power over nonprofits. Back in 2001, Hatch brought a case against Allina - one Minnesota's largest nonprofits - alleging that executives were wasting millions of dollars on perks and consultants. Hatch won and Allina was forced spin-off Medica as a separate entity. Hatch also replaced the board members with his own choices. Now, the case is back. Hatch wants to replace Medica's board yet again because he alleges corporate shenagins in the form of faulty board elections and other mismanagement. Will this set a precedent for other nonprofits? Stay tuned...
• Ilya's native city, Sioux Falls, S.D., has decided to regulate the "sport" of cage-fighting, in which grown men are locked in a chain link cage and beat each other bloody. Ilya, obviously, has openly wondered what he will do with his weekends now.
• A September special session of the Minnesota Legislature is a distinct possibility, although Pawlenty's office just wants to chill out. Sviggy Sviggum and DFL Dean Johnson are urging a controlled, productive session that would attend to pressing issues such as the Twins stadium, Gophers stadium, a new Maple Grove hospital, and a lifeline for Minneapolis teachers' retirement fund. Controlled and productive? Oh what short memories our politicians have.
• Teflon Tim had the pleasure of announcing to almost 2,600 Minnesota National Guard troops that they will be deployed to Iraq in October, the largest overseas deployment in more than 50 years. Pawlenty also claimed he wouldn't discourage anyone - not even his two young daughters - from serving in the armed forces. And its distinctly possible that we'll still be in Iraq when his two young daughters are of military age. Watch what you ask for, Tim.