Minnesota Lawyer Blog

Senator Norm Coleman’s speech accepting the GOP’s nomination last Friday contained quotes from and allusions to the usual politician’s lineup of historical heroes, including Winston Churchill, Abraham Lincoln (twice!) and Benjamin Franklin. There was even a reference to an unconventional hero or two, such as Julius Irving (“Dr. J”). However, one named kept coming more than the rest -- Charles Lindbergh.

I counted four references to the famed Minnesota aviator. Coleman presumably wanted to make sure to include references to a local hero in his speech. Lindbergh, a farm boy hailing from Little Falls, Minn., apparently filled the bill. The only problem is that this local hero has a somewhat checkered past. Lindbergh’s aviation achievements -- including piloting the first nonstop solo transatlantic flight -- are beyond dispute. He was an air mail pioneer and an inventor. However, he also later became a public spokesperson for a controversial isolationist movement called America First that opposed the United States’ entry into World War II. In 1938, Lindbergh visited Nazi Germany and accepted a medal from Hermann Goring, a decision that would later come back to haunt him. A proponent of eugenics who was very outspoken in his views, Lindbergh was believed by some to be an anti-Semite (a charge he vehemently denied). Certainly some of his statements and writings on the subject of race would not pass muster today.

I don’t suspect that Coleman was thinking of any the darker stuff when he kept bringing up Lucky Lindy. Still, I couldn’t help feeling a wee bit uncomfortable when, in an otherwise nice moment, he referred to the 6-year-old cancer victim he brought up to share the spotlight with him as a “young Lindbergh.” But human beings are complex creatures, while heroes need be very simple ones. Lindbergh had a great spirit of adventure that is worthy of emulation. Let’s just leave it at that.

OK, OK, not really, but we had to give you at least one April Fool's Day headline on the Minnesota Lawyer blog. Ventura, of course, is not now, nor has he ever been, a lawyer, but he used to quip that he had "never lost a case." (Apparently a reference to the fact that he had gone to court representing himself once and "won." I have no idea whether his "record" remains intact.)

Ventura is a wrestler, turned actor (is there really a difference?), turned Minnesota's governor (again, is there really a difference?) and, most recently, I guess you'd have to call him an author. His latest book -- "Don't start the Revolution without Me!" -- was, appropriately enough, released today, on April Fool's Day.

Here is an excerpt from the books description on Amazon.com --"Ventura pulls no punches in discussing our corrupt two-party system, the disastrous war in Iraq, and what he suspects really happened on September 11. ... He reveals the illegal role of the CIA in states like Minnesota."

I have not yet read this scholarly tome, and surely do not intend to. I tend to shy away from books with exclamation points in the title. In fact, I haven't read any of Ventura's stuff since I leafed through "Do I Stand Alone? Going to the Mat against Political Pawns and Media Jackals." I didn't think that diatribe was very good at all, but I'm a media jackal, so you can take that with a grain of salt if you like. I note with some satisfaction Amazon is currently advertising the book with a "new or used" price starting at $ .01. Another book, "The Wit and Wisdom of Jesse 'the Body...the Mind' Ventura" is listed as starting at $ .90, which I think is 45x too much to pay for Ventura's two cents worth. But then again, it's probably a popup book, so maybe your kids will enjoy it.

I almost hate to say it, but from the legal community's perspective, Ventura was not a bad governor at all. He was good with court funding and made excellent, nonpartisan judicial picks. Much of the credit for the judicial appointments has to go to the efforts of the Commission on Judicial Selection and its then chair, Minneapolis attorney George Soule, but Ventura had the good sense to listen to their advice. As a result, Ventura's lasting legacy on the bench is one of the best of any Minnesota governor. That doesn't mean I'd want Ventura in the U.S. Senate though, something he coyly hints that he would at least consider ("Never say never.") It might make C-SPAN more interesting, but so would releasing a bag full of rabid squirrels with sparklers on their tails into the Senate chamber during a debate.

U.S. Senate hopeful Al Franken was a guest on Letterman last night. Dave, of course, asked Franken about the Eliot Spitzer call girl scandal, and Franken quipped that, if elected, he promised not to do anything that stupid.

When Letterman asked Franken how his campaign in Minnesota was going, Franken replied that his "chief rival" for the DFL nomination had dropped out -- an obvious reference to Minneapolis trial attorney Mike Ciresi.

"Why did he drop out?" Letterman asked. And then, without waiting for a response and apparently still in Spitzer mode, immediately added, "Whores?"

Kind of makes the real reason the Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi attorney dropped out -- not being able to garner the support of enough party delegates -- look a little, well, boring.

At first I felt bad that Ciresi's 15 minutes of fame had ticked by to the point that no one even bothered to identify him by name on the show. Then, reflecting on the tenor of Dave's joke, I came to the conclusion it was probably the biggest break he got during his entire campaign.

Lost this week in the hubbub over the retirement of Minnesota Supreme Court Chief Justice Russell Anderson and the ongoing hassle at the Attorney General’s office was the news that Mike Ciresi was dropping out of the Minnesota U.S. Senate race.

Actually, the way the Ciresi story got buried was a bit symbolic of his campaign in general. Despite his pedigree as a go-getter and an aggressive champion of consumer rights, Ciresi never quite inspired the table talk of his primary opponents, incumbent Norm Coleman, newcomer Al Franken, or even dark-horse candidate Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer.

Franken, for all his inexperience, has shown surprising aptitude when it comes to fundraising and engendering grass-roots support. In fact, as Minnesota Lawyer reported last year, a goodly portion of Ciresi’s individual campaign contributions came from within his own firm, Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi -- and that was before he dipped into his own pocket to lend his campaign $2 million.

Maybe Ciresi’s second failed attempt to storm the gates of Congress is a sign from the gods that his talents are better suited to the courtroom after all. Now that he’s no longer even in a position to play spoiler, it will be interesting to see if he throws his support behind Franken.

An article posted by the Star Tribune pegs the net worth of Mike Ciresi at about $26.7 million. The Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi attorney has successfully handled a number of massive cases -- including the state's suit against big tobacco -- so his wealth should be no surprise. (Although that's a lot of cigarette money!)

The money could come in handy for his senatorial bid. Ciresi is vying with Al Franken (nothing funny about that) for the DFL nomination and right to square off against incumbent Republican Senator Norm Coleman.

Larry Jacobs, a political science professor at the University of Minnesota, has a great quote in the Strib piece. Comparing Franken and Ciresi, he says: "Money is the big Ciresi advantage. He is not a comedian."

Hmmm. So its Funny vs. Money. If Franken wants to win, he'd better start laughing all the way to the bank.