In a press release issued today, the National Organization for Marriage (NOM) announced that Minnesota has become the next battleground state in its effort to defend marriage. In conjunction with its announcement, NOM has launched a new television advertisement campaign scheduled to air statewide in Minnesota. Some of the facts cited by NOM for its decision to come to Minnesota include:

a) Six bills were introduced in the 2010 legislative session to force homosexual 'marriage' upon Minnesotans. Senator John Marty, a sponsor of one of the bills, says it is his goal to pass a gay marriage law by next year.

b) In early May, six gay marriage activists filed a lawsuit challenging Minnesota's marriage law, the same tactic used to impose gay marriage upon the people of Iowa and Massachusetts.

c) Every major DFL and Independence Party candidate for governor has expressed support for homosexual 'marriage'.

d) While 31 other states have moved to protect marriage by amending their state constitutions, DFL lawmakers have repeatedly blocked attempts to allow the people of Minnesota to vote on the Marriage Protection Amendment.

NOM believes Minnesota voters should have the right to vote on the question of whether our state constitution should be amended to protect marriage as the union of one man and one woman, and we agree.

TAKE ACTION

• Sign the Marriage Protection Petition and automatically send a message to your state lawmakers asking them to make their position clear on this issue.
• Send a message to Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson asking if she intends to vigorously defend Minnesota's marriage laws in court.
• Review key facts about the homosexual marriage issue.

Penn State University's Michael Mann, one of the central figures in the Climategate scandal, has threatened legal action against Minnesotans for Global Warming (M4GW) over the group's popular satirical YouTube video "Hide the Decline." The No Cap-and-Trade Coalition, a group that includes M4GW, responded today at an event at the National Press Club, releasing Mann's threatening letter and an updated version of the "Hide the Decline" video.

"We understand why Michael Mann is eager to silence public discussion of the hockey stick scandal," said Jeff Davis of No Cap-and-Trade, "but truth is an absolute defense."

The original "Hide the Decline" video, which had more than 500,000 viewers, was removed today from YouTube by M4GW's Elmer Beauregard. It received national attention when Rush Limbaugh played it on his radio show and was later featured on CBS Evening News in the wake of the Climategate email scandal.

"Hide the Decline" parodied Mann, the Penn State professor who is largely responsible for the creation of the now debunked "hockey stick" graph, which purported to show a dramatic spike in average global temperature during the 20^th century after 900 years of relatively constant temperature. The video spotlighted a phrase from one of the central "Climategate" e-mails in which the University of East Anglia's Phil Jones explains how he used Mann's "Nature trick" to "hide the decline" of key temperature data. The hockey stick graph relied on "hiding this decline."

When asked why he removed the video, Beauregard said "Right now, the last thing I need is a lawsuit. I can barely afford my electric bill." Beauregard recently converted M4GW's world headquarters (a recreational vehicle parked in Northern Minnesota) from propane to wood heat. "Mann should be glad to know that we don't burn fossil fuels anymore - just trees," said Beauregard. "M4GW was started to poke fun at Global Warming because I knew it was a joke, it's hard to believe in Global Warming when you live in a place like Minnesota. During last winter we all wished we had some global warming, hence the name of our group," said Beauregard.

As global warming developed into a political issue, M4GW has tried to educate the public that CO2 is not harmful but part of the natural carbon cycle. Minnesotans for Global Warming did comply with Mann's cease and desist demand, taking the "Hide the Decline" video down from their YouTube account and webpage. The No Cap and Trade Coalition unveiled a new video they're calling "Hide the Decline II," however. It was screened at a press conference on April 20^th and is available on NoCapAndTrade.com.

"If Doctor Mann decides to sue," said Davis, "we would welcome the opportunity to do legal discovery. I believe he's hiding more than just 'the decline.'" Speaking at the No Cap-and-Trade Coalition press conference was M4GW spokesman "Chicken Little," a man in a chicken suit who goes to rallies crying "The globe is warming, the globe is warming!" When asked about the situation, Chicken Little said, "I used to believe in global warming - of course, I used to believe the sky was falling too, but Elmer set me straight." Chicken Little went on to say, "I think it's horrible that Elmer had to take down the video. Can't a person have a little fun on YouTube anymore? Those Global warming guys sure don't have any sense of humor."

At the press conference, the No Cap-and-Trade Coalition handed out a historical review of the hide-the-decline controversy entitled, "Michael Mann: Defamed or Defined by Hide-the-Decline?" as well as mini-hockey sticks that read "Mann-Made Global Warming: Why We Should Be Worried About the Intellectual Climate."

On Saturday, March 27, Minnesota Majority launched a second newspaper advertisement campaign in the Rochester Post-Bulletin to educate voters on Rep. Tim Walz's vote in-favor of Obamacare.  The new advertisement employs the same 'blue dog' theme used in Minnesota Majority's first ad that appeared in the Post-Bulletin just prior to the critical vote.  Our last ad was met with many letters to the editor of the Post-Bulletin that were critical of the ad.  But most of the online comments submitted in response to these letters defended our advertisement.

TAKE ACTION:  Write a letter to the editor of the Post Bulletin in support of our ad.  Letters should be 225 words or fewer and include the name, hometown and daytime phone number of the writer. Anonymous letters will not be published. Letters should be submitted to letters@postbulletin.com (no attachments allowed - letter must be in the body of the email).

Minnesota Senator Al Franken demonstrated utter intolerance towards some basic inquiries regarding the health 'reform' bill for which he recently voted.  Franken appears to have little knowledge of what provisions were actually in the 3,000-page bill passed by Congress.  A frustrated Franken tells the interviewer to "shut up and listen."  This is the same arrogant attitude Franken exhibited toward his own constituents, a majority of which objected to the passage of Obamacare.

Rep. Paul Ryan (R, Wisconsin) offers his opening comments in the Reconciliation Markup House Budget Committee on March 15, 2010.  He exposes the mockery that the Democrats are making of our legislative process in order to ram a government takeover of health care through Congress.

TAKE ACTION: A vote on this health care bill is expected to occur on Sunday.  Call your Representative NOW and tell them to vote "NO" on this sham of a bill.

Approximately 4000 people attended the Kill The Bill Rally at the Minnesota State Capitol today, braving temps in the 40s to demonstrate their opposition to ObamaCare.  Check-out Ed Morrisey's post on the rally on Hot Air.  Here is a slide show of photos from the rally.

Thank you to all the volunteers who helped to make the rally a success, includig Derek Brigham who donated the banner art for the event.

Minnesota Majority has launched a newspaper advertisement campaign in the Rochester Post-Bulletin designed to put pressure on Minnesota Congressman Tim Walz on the upcoming vote expected in the House on ObamaCare.  Click on the ad's image to see a larger version of the ad that includes links to supporting details. 

The advertisement has created quite a stir,resulting in dozens of phone calls to Minnesota Majority's offices both for and against the ad. Several callers have reported having difficulty contacting Walz's office because his voice mail is full.  Constituents can also try calling Walz's Rochester district office at (507) 388-2149.

Minnesota Majority is seeking contributions for concerned citizens to run similar ads in other targeted Congressional districts in Minnesota.

TAKE ACTION: Time is short, so make an online donation today.

Everyone should watch this video by Jerry Day before answering census questions this year.

Ronald Reagan defeated President Jimmy Carter in November 1980 to become our nation's 40th President. At the time, America was facing significant economic woes, just as we are today. However, it is important to note the differences between how Reagan saw the problem in comparison to the current Administration. This video contains excerpts from Reagan's first inaugural address on January 20, 1981. His words ring out as true today as they did nearly 30 years ago.

UPDATE: Check-out this recent opinion column entitled "What Would Reagan Do?'" on Fox News.