Senator gets 4 minutes of fame on ‘Daily Show’

Not only did state Sen. Mike Jorgenson attend the GOP national convention in Minnesota. But he made two cameo appearances in a 4:27-minute clip by “The Best (Expletive) News Team Ever” for Jon Stewart’s funny “The Daily Show.” Which isn’t something a conservative Republican from Hayden Lake might seek, in terms of his 15 minutes of fame. And oh did the TBFNTE news team of five pranksters have sport with Mike. Accompanied by “Andy Griffith Show” music, TBFNTE asked various R’s at the convention to define “Small Town Values” – a term used repeatedly by convention speakers to distinguish their cause from the Demos’. Delegates applauded the term. But they had a tough time describing it, including one giggly, baby-faced cowboy who defined Small Town Values to be traditional marriage and argued that gays have the same rights as everyone else – “all they have to do is marry a person of the opposite sex.” Another listed “Small Town Values” simply as “fishing.” His cameo was separated by Mike’s two appearances. With the cameras rolling, the local state senator stammered that STVs meant “traditional marriage” – and asked the interviewer to help him out when he couldn’t think of anything else. In the second clip, Mike added “church” to his short list of STV. When asked which one, he said: “Christian church.” Later, when pushed, he added, “Jewish church.” At that point, the laugh track took over. Understandably.

Sims, Macy deadline

Kathy Sims and Tom Macy of Concerned Taxpayers of Kootenai County are facing a combined $26,500 in penalties and interest for alleged campaign finance disclosure law violations, according to City Attorney Mike Gridley. And they now have a deadline to pay up after almost a year of foot-dragging and spotty communications with the city: Friday, Sept. 19. Gridley contends that Concerned Taxpayers filed incomplete and erroneous paperwork for the most part and completely missed a post-election deadline altogether. The pair was behind a last-minute flyer during the 2007 municipal election attacking CDA council incumbents Al Hassell, Ron Edinger and Dixie Reed for their urban renewal efforts. Of the potential cash penalty, Gridley said in a letter this week to Sims’ attorney Glen Walker (obtained by Huckleberries Online via a public records request Sept. 4), Macy is responsible for $3,400 for failing to appoint a treasurer before accepting contributions. And Sims is responsible for $23,100 for the late filing of the required reports. Gridley said there’s still room for compromise. Tick, tick, tick.

Huckleberries

Overheard (at a private function in the Rathdrum area by Berry Picker Cabbage Boy): “Is Sandpoint a development?” – one of several California/Sun Valley types discussing the local area … Put your hands together for – Moscow, Idaho – home of the now 1-1 Idaho Vandals and picked by Mother Earth News as one of the “9 Great Persons You Never Heard Of.” Certainly, the guys in the previous item haven’t … Bumpersnicker: “Jesus was a community organizer, Pontius Pilate was a governor” – Rum, Romanism & Rebellion blog site.

Parting shot

In the Prairie Voice Huckleberries Thursday, I told readers about Berry Picker TUBOB, who, tongue firmly cheeked, landed on the online fact-checker site Snopes.com after manufacturing Sarah Palin quotes for his blog, The Unbearable Bobness of Being (http://unbearablebobness.typepad. com). Stuff like: “God made dinosaurs 4,000 years ago as ultimately flawed creatures, lizards of Satan really, so when they died and became petroleum products we, made in his perfect image, could use them in our pickup trucks, snow machines and fishing boats.” The faux quotes lit up the Internet, landing on such major Web sites as MSNBC – before Palin detractors learned they were false. TUBOB became the talk of Huckleberries Online Tuesday night when he was interviewed for a segment about false rumors about candidates for Anderson Cooper’s national CNN show. TUBOB tells Huckleberries he doesn’t plan to make up more Palin quotes. Quoth: “I feel like I nailed this one out of the chute and purely by accident so it’s like I’ve already hit a home run why swing for singles?”