Joe Bodell

I’ve made my home, my career, and my family here in Minnesota. But I’m originally from Boston, Massachusetts, born and bred. So I’ve been watching the news over the past week on a roller coaster of horror at the bombings, sadness for the victims, fear for friends and family back east, amazement at the tenaciousness of volunteers and professionals on the ground helping or tracking down the alleged bombers, relief that despite some close calls, all my friends and acquaintances are unscathed (despite some being a bit too close to the blasts for comfort), and a host of other emotions too.

There's a Republican running for Mayor of Minneapolis, and I'm going to rock your politicoblogging world with my next statement:

A longtime reader wrote in this week with a note about the twin Republican amendments we face in the fall (instead of the promised progress on jobs and reform, but whatever):