Return of the MEME THAT WOULDN'T DIE

From today's Strib:

The Minnesota Vikings and Anoka County want to deny citizens the right to vote on a stadium tax. Hennepin County and the Twins want to do the same thing. Yet there's a state law in place requiring voter approval of all sales tax increases.

Hmmm. Wasn't there some tea tossed in a harbor over this very same issue?

Jerri Johnson, Minneapolis.

AGGGGHHHHHH!!!! This is the third time this year that someone has compared a tax proposal they didn't like to the Boston Tea Party.

Look, I don't like it either. So you know what? I'm going to take down the name of anyone who votes for it...and vote against them. That's kind of the point of that whole "representation" thing.

If you want to go dump wild rice into Lake Minnetonka in protest, you go ahead and do that. Just please don't write to the paper about it.

As long as we're bashing on the Strib, was anyone else annoyed by the high-handed tone of this editorial? How much money has the Strib taken from Ballpark Minnesota (or whatever the hell the Twins' lobbying arm is called)? I mean, let's count the lies in this paragraph alone:

Of the three, the Twins' need is most urgent. Their open-air ballpark requires no state money and competes with no state need. It is financed through a Twins-Hennepin County partnership based on $125 million from the team and a tiny slice (fifteen hundredths of a penny) of the county sales tax with no referendum. The infrastructure -- roads, parking, transit, hotels, restaurants -- is already in place. All that's needed is a legislative blessing.

"requires no state money"-bull. I guarantee they'll ask for a retractable roof as soon as the plan is approved. Where's that $100 million going to come from?

"tiny slice of the county sales tax with no referendum"-if it's so "tiny" why aren't they willing to put it to a vote? Do I need to go throw loons into the Mississippi in protest?

"the infrastructure is already in place"-anybody know how to get to HERC area? No? Think they might need to build a little bigger road to get to the stadium? Maybe new freeway ramps on to and off of 394 and 94? How about extending the light rail line down to the stadium? Do none of those items count as building new infrastructure?

Why must they turn my paper into a house of LIES?

Seriously, though, I think I had a momentary flash of what it's like to be a conservative. Here's the Strib telling me, quite snootily, that I should just give them my money and be quiet about it because they knew better than I did how to spend it. Thankfully, that moment passed quickly.