Dump Bachmann has the dirt:
Rep. Mark Olson’s former campaign manager Mark Swanson made two revisions of the Wikipedia page for Rep. Mark Olson using the nom-de-wiki Swanny123. (I created that page).
Here’s a still of Swanson talking to Bachmann in Blaine last month from this You Tube video.
Swanson changed the heading “Domestic Assault Arrest” to “Personal Legal Notes”.
Swanson also changed “Legislative staff complained of being abused” to “It was aledged that Legislative staff complained of being abused by Mark Olson in his first term and again in 1997. There is no record of this in pertinent legislative administrative files.”
Swanson also changed “Minnesota House Republicans voted to oust Olson” to “Minnesota House Republicans voted to suspend Olson”.
So, does the GOP care about Mark Olson or not? I’m having a hard time keeping track here…
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Mark was also Olson’s campaign manager, and chair of sherburne co. repbs.
Mark also believes the earth is a few thousand years old, Gays can be prayed straight, and children without health care should “pull themselves up by the boot straps.
Mark offered a “no comment” when asked by a reporter if he still supported Olson shortly after his arrest last winter. Of course at that time it was assumed that Olson would see trial before the session ended. It was also assumed and stated by the leaders of the GOP that they would remove him if found guilty.
What does this scrubbing mean comming from Mark?
It means the repbs think Olson has dodged a bullit. It means that Olson will not step down even after his conviction. It means the Repbs will endorse him again and he still has a lot of support.
This shows the real meaning of “pro family values” as seen by the repb chair of cd 6 and the sherburne co. chair. “Pro family” means wife beating is ok and even endorsed if she has it comming.
Maybe it just means that Republicans care about accuracy…..?
No, it means that Rep. Olson wants the world to forget what he did, and just hopes that everything will go away. I don’t see a larger Republican hand in this, unless Rep. Sviggum has changed his mind about calling for Rep. Olson to resign.
Randy,
I agree with you 100%. I just wonder how the same group of DFLers felt when Kevin Chandler (a former DFL legislator) beat the living hell out of his then-wife in the parking lot of O’Gara’s. There probably was significant outrage but I don’t recall whether Chandler was forced out of the legislature or whether he was defeated at the ballot box instead.
I do not condone Mark Olson’s actions at all and wish he would step aside.
Regardless of what your opinion is on Rep. Olson’s legal/ethical situation, Mr. Swanson’s Wiki changes made the entry more accurate. Wikipedia’s purpose is to provide information, not to make a political statement, remember?
I believe what Cleftor has posted is the most accurate characterization of what was done. What I changed is actually the unbiased truth and more accurate as required by the neutrality rules that are well established on Wikipedia.
The entries above by Tom Beckfeld (DFL activist and Jim Huhtala campaign manager) are completely inappropriate and false.
I would encourage people refrain from putting words in people’s mouths. I have never said any of what Tom ‘thinks’ about my opinions and find it offensive that he has posted it here.
Mark Swanson seems to be unaware that other folks have been caught trying to whitewash their favorite politician’s Wikipedia page… for instance the staff of Norm Coleman in January of 2006.
Jimmy Wales, Wikipedia’s founder, Jimmy Wales, Wikipedia’s founder, criticized the changes made by Coleman’s staff. “It appears to be a major rewrite of the article to make it more favorable,” Wales said. “If they’re trying to edit in such a way to change the public record, that’s a problem.”
Olson goes on trial Monday, June 4th at the Sherburne County Government Center.
Chris — Senator Chandler voluntarily resigned his leadership positions, and the Senate voted unanimously to reprimand him, provided he apologized to the Senate. Senator Frederickson (a Republican) argued against stronger penalties, saying it was a private matter.
That was after he pleaded guilty to the charges. It was his last term. I’m pretty sure he decided on his own not to run again.
I find Rep. Olson’s political positions reprehensible, but the legal process should play itself out before any disciplinary steps are taken.
I am not unaware of those changes and your comments Avidor. As I stated above, I believe any changes made by me were well within the neutrality rules (your initial entries were not). I did not delete any content, nor did I change it in a way that the truth is not evident. If you disagree, please make the appropriate edits and we can appeal to a sysop for arbitration.
There is no foul here except you seem to be trying to make a story have legs where there are none. The truth will set you free.
Sorry, Mr. Swanson, that edit was a total whitewash.
Incidentally…
Someone with the IP address (208.38.99.19) has blanked Mark Swanson’s Wikipedia user page.
Maybe Mr. Swanson can tell us if that’s his IP address.
The IP address traces to Big Lake Minnesota.
Also, I just got an e-mail that Rep. Mark Olson fired his lawyer and will ask the judge to postpone his jury trial tomorrow.
Any comments or corrections, Mr. Swanson?
Thank you, Republicans all, for restoring dignity and integrity to our political process for the past few years. As I’ve heard many, many times, if you have nothing to hide, then what are you worried about?
What is the worry?? That people (like Mr. Avidor) distort the truth in their natural bias. You will see that Mr. Avidor himself admits his bias on the comment page and has refrained from editing the entry due to this bias.
If you believe any of my edits are untruthful or in any way change the the facts, please identify them and I will gladly edit them to correct.
As to his question above, I don’t know of the current status for Rep. Olson’s trial, maybe your politically motivated source would care to elaborate??
As far as corrections to your mis-statements, don’t worry as you have A Transportation Expert (ATE) on your trail to correct your inaccuracies (and bias) on PRT there are many of us out there to maintain the neutrality of sites like Wikipedia.
Keep your opinions on your own blogs.
“there are many of us out there to maintain the neutrality of sites like Wikipedia”.
BUZZZ!! (wrong answer)
Your definition of “neutrality”, I’m sure, is a twisted world of legal jargon that spins and deceives the American people.
Guess what? The majority of us see right through it, pal.
Again, thank you for restoring integrity, dignity, and accountability to the political discussion. You sure are “good” at that.
For your reference, Mark Swanson, here’s a link to the Republican integrity handbook.
http://www.nizkor.org/features/fallacies/
Oh and please, in the future practice what you preach, “Keep your opinions on your own blogs”.
Thank you.
Nitro, I challenge you as well to “inform” me as to how I changed the truth (or in any way skewed the content). Or do you think you are unbiased.
My blogging here is an attempt to reasonably point out the truth. If you are unwilling to hear that, that is your problem. As to my opinions, I do keep them within my regular blogosphere, I only come here to set the record straight.
As to your link provided, that looks more like your handbook than mine. Don’t let the fact (and actual truth) get in your way.
Regards, Mark
Ahh, I see Mark….and we are supposed to trust a Republican’s opinion as being factual because why? What record of honesty does your party and anyone in it really have? Me, my friends, family, neighbors, and co-workers, some of them Republicans, don’t trust your party anymore. Your party is eating their own, Mark.
You know deep down inside that the talking points you and every righty were shouting from the hilltop a few years ago have turned out to be tragically wrong. How many have died because of these mistakes? Why should we, the people of Minnesota, believe anything you say now is something beyond that right wing “end justifies the means” mentality that justifies political spin to the point of outrageousness.
Tell me about the Republicans record about being right about the issues. Tell me how right you all were about the war three years ago. Tell me how drowning government in a bathtub has well served the middle class. Tell me what has been accomplished by your Party. Didn’t the 2006 election serve up a “clue” to what we all think?
Let me tell you something. When the costs of the things we all HAVE to purchase skyrocket, such as health care, gas, utilities, food etc, and when our wages go down or stay the same, what good does god-damn cheap crap at Wal-Mart do us? When is the Republican Party going to fight for the Middle Class?
We’ve all had enough of the spin, Mark Olson. The track record of the right has been wrong after wrong after wrong. I urge you to work towards changing the ways of your party. If the elections were held today you’d all lose in a landslide, due to the behavior of people like you. I confidently give you this advise, because I know that your party isn’t going to listen to me anyway.
Nitro,
If you really think the democrats are any better than the republicans you need to get your head out of the sand. You two sound like drunk idiots in a bar screaming at each other over which quarterback is better.
From money in a freezer to rigging elections in Chicago and Teddy Kennedy killing a woman and getting away with not to mention starting and escalating the Viet Nam war and ignoring Rwanda the Democrats have enough blood and corruption to last a few lifetimes.
Exposing corruption and bad behavior you find is fine but linking it to all the ills of the world and claiming to speak to “what we all think” is juvenile and ignorant. Enough of the empty rhetoric on both sides. Grow up.
Saint Cloud Times:
ELK RIVER
“From money in a freezer to rigging elections in Chicago and Teddy Kennedy killing a woman and getting away with not to mention starting and escalating the Viet Nam war and ignoring Rwanda the Democrats have enough blood and corruption to last a few lifetimes.”
It’s great to see your in touch with what has happened to America over the last 6 years, “hat”. I don’t buy your “both partys suck” mentality, insults will not create One America out of the two Americas. The Democratic party has changed, and I say good riddance to the Democratic old school corrupt slick politician of 20 years ago. face it, “hat”, Ted Kennedy does not represent me, not to mention that talking point is 30 years old.
There are plenty of Democrats of substance who have won elections in 2006. I feel your disillusionment, however the massive swing to the left in America is no illusion. I’m going to do all I can to make sure we elect candidates committed to ending the stranglehold Corporations have had on our political dialogue, and returning to a strong middle class economy that can offer the average person a fighting chance to raise a family.
That is not “empty rhetoric”. Take off your tin foil asshat.
Mr. Swanson… If Olson is getting a divorce, why does Olson have a picture of his soon-to-be-ex-wife-and-step-kids on his campaign website?
Nitro,
Kennedy is still in office, the guy with the money in his freezer was only a just over a year ago, the son of the Chicago mayor that rigged the elections in the current mayor of Chicago and the front runner for the Democratic party nomination was the wife of the president during Rwanda. Nepotism and corruption are still as prevalent in the Democratic party as they are in the Republican party and you calling me crazy isn’t going to change that. Be critical of the Republicans all you want when they deserve it but unless you can except the truth about the Democrats you have no credibility. The Democrats take money just as easily from the big corporations you decry and get jobs as lobbyist for them as soon as they are out of office. You may not buy the both parties suck idea because you are so invested in one that you will overlook it’s flaws to make yourself feel better. To me that is less rational than understanding the flaws in both parties.
Avidor,
Neither you nor Nitro can answer a simple question. I continue to challenge the entire concept of this blog topic (if you can stick to it). What changing of the truth or falsehood did I make? How, in any way, did I violate the neutrality rule of Wikipedia? Do you dispute any of the facts that I added? Your lack of an answer points to what I believe the answer is, NONE, end of story.
If you can’t provide specifics, you have NO credibility at all, period.
Note to Avidor (on your last post): Many people file, but don’t get divorced. Why are you (and so many others) so ready to end the relationships of others? This topic of Mark and Heidi’s personal life is for them to figure out, not for you and I.
Nitro,
You have no sense of responsibility for Speaker Pelosi insisting on the creation of “Air Force 3” and all the money she spent on her ‘coronation’? For the guy with the money in the freezer now sitting as a committee chair in the US House of Representatives?
How about the local party, the first action they took in the majority was to vote themselves a pay raise (in a way to get around the constitutional requirements so they could get it now)?
Don’t let the fact get in you way here.
Additionally Nitro….It was NOT just Republicans shouting from the hilltops. Slick Willy and others we all onboard shouting those same warnings about Saddam Hussein back before this started. Your party is as much to blame for where we are today.
However, they (like you) just don’t have the b — -s to stick with it and actually defend freedom and democracy like the President.
Olson’s critics are not to blame for what happened to Heidi Olson,Mr. Swanson. Here’s a letter from Heidi Olson’s sister:
TO THE EDITOR:
I am proud of my sister, Heidi Olson, and her decision not to try to influence the public by making statements about the incidents which landed Mark Olson in jail. However, after attending the latest hearing on Feb. 9, I heard Olson’s lawyer tell a reporter the false story that Heidi “came after Olson and he was trying to control the situation”. Perhaps a weak case has led him to apply this tactic. It is misperceptions like that which hopefully will be brought out in court, when persons testifying are under oath.
It is my hope that the people of Sherburne County will agree that physical violence is never warranted or justified. In my 32 plus years of marriage, my husband has never been physically aggressive with me. I don’t think I could do anything that would cause him to act that way. Unless there is a common agreement and a standard about domestic violence, there is not much more that can be said.
Holli Rebney
Minnetonka, MN
Care to comment on that letter, Mr. Swanson?
The airplane for Pelosi was a rational expenditure that was suggested by the person in charge of security.
The vote to raise per diem and and housing allowances was slimy. I could have understood a straight vote to raise salaries but the back door method used by DFL leadership was an abuse of the system so they didn’t have to answer for raising their own salaries during the next election.
“If you can’t provide specifics, you have NO credibility at all, period”
All I can say, Mark Olson, is that you do a fine job sugar coating his Wikipedia entry to provide the least amount of damage to your Party. Great job!
If you find it difficult to see the ramifications of doing that to every political issue, well you behavior fits the Republican “spin to win” mentality that the American people are weary of.
As fas as my credibility goes, face it, your party has none, so your “accuse your enemy of doing the very thing that you are doing” strategy also fits the Republicans party opus operandi. It is very predictible, disturbing, and becoming more and more irrelevant every day.
Like I said previously, your Party would get more votes by changing their ways. You could start today.
Oh and by the way your sugar coating the Wikipedia entry of an alleged wife beater. Great job!!
How much has it cost the taxpayers of Sherburne County to have a jury trial scheduled, and postponed?
Add that to the cost to Sherburne County of Olson’s arrest, time in jail, processing and previous hearings.
WOW, do some people have a difficult time staying on subject! The fact is, this Mr. Swanson guy was accused in this blog of “sugar coating” the truth. It’s pretty obvious the original Wiki entry was biased and Mr. Swanson fixed it. It’s fine to spin on this blog, do it all you want, it’s what makes this whole experiment with democracy and free speach interesting. On Wikipedia, please stick to the unbiased facts. Good job, Mr. Swanson!
Smile, Mr. Swanson, you’re on MnSpeak… BTW, Why didn’t you have a comment on Olson back when Kiffmeyer was talking about running for 16b? Are you supporting Olson now because Kiffmeyer is no longer going to run in 16b?
From the Sherburne County Citizen November 25, 2006:
Chair of the Sherburne County Republican party Mark Swanson said the party would follow their basic political organizational constitution in the event a special election becomes necessary. It would fall to them to nominate a new Republican candidate.
“I can’t say anything about that,” Swanson said. “He (Olson) has talked to our organization.”
When asked if he still supported Olson, Swanson said, “No comment.”
While there is no official comment, the likely candidate would be Secretary of State Mary Kiffmeyer, who lost her bid for reelection this year.
Hey, Avidor! Might I suggest some time away from the keyboard for some anger management counseling?
Incidentally, I heard Olson’s trial has been rescheduled from June 11th to July 9th.
All these delays have got to be costing Sherburne County $$$$.
Not as much as that Northstar Rail project is (and will) cost us….BTW according to your profile, you are in Minneapolis and last I checked, Minneapolis is not anywhere near Sherburne Country, why do you care so much about what Rep. Olson is up to? I agree with Cleftor, maybe you need some counseling??
As to the topic at hand, all of this started because I applied the neutrality rules that are well established on Wikipedia. I asked you several times directly if there is any content that I edited that you can show me is false (or otherwise skews the truth). Neither you (nor anyone else) has given any reason for this blog topic even to exist. It is simply another example of how you try to attack those of us with a reasonable sense of fairness. Additionally, this exemplifies why I know you (and the great majority of your arguments) simply cannot stand up to the facts. Your tactic of overload on distraction (getting off of the topic) will not work. You can either substantiate the premise of this topic or admit your loss in this argument. Case closed.
GOP 6 CD Chair Mark Swanson:
“I agree with Cleftor, maybe you need some counseling??”
Ken Avidor:
What do I need counseling for, Mr. Swanson?
Admitting that in this case that you are wrong as to the validity of my edits and that there was no foul here. That’s the first part toward recovery…admitting where you went wrong.
For Mr. Swanson…
Wikipedia’s guidlines on conflict of interest:
If you are involved in a court case, or close to one of the litigants, you would find it very hard to demonstrate that what you wrote about a party or a law firm associated with the case, or a related area of law, was entirely objective. Even a minor slip up in neutrality in a court-case article on Wikipedia for an active case-in-progress could potentially be noticed by the courts and/or their parties, and this could potentially cause real-world harm, not just harm to Wikipedia. Because of this, we strongly discourage editing when this type of conflict exists.
…also:
Wikipedia is “the encyclopedia that anyone can edit,” but if you have a conflict of interest avoid, or exercise great caution when:
1. Editing articles related to you, your organization, or its competitors, as well as projects and products they are involved with,
What’s false or misleading?
1. When a person is arrested it is a matter of public record and is not just a personal legal matter. Personal Legal matters involve may include such items as wills, estate matters etc.. Olson was arrested for Domestic assault 2 count’s. It is no longer just a personal matter, but a matter between the people as represented by Sherburne co against Mark Olson. To state that it is a personal matter is misleading at best. This case isn’t Olson v, Mrs. Olson but Olson v Sherburne co and the people who reside in Sherburne Co. Nothing personal about it.
2. While there may or may not be a legislative file on Olson’s earlier abuse toward staff there is a record of it happening. Once again slipping in the word “pertinent” makes your correction deliberately misleading which of course was your job and intent.
3. Re: why Mr. Avidor is interested in Olson when he lives in Mlps and is not represented by Olson. Maybe it’s because of the Prt which will affect Avidor and not the residents of Olson’s own district. Maybe the question you should be asking is why Olson is so bent on a project for the cities that will not be of any use to those he represents. Also what Olson does in the house affects all of us regardless of where we life. Examples can be found in his nutty votes against items like bilge dumping in the Great lakes, claiming diabetes has a cure (water) but docs are afraid of the Diabetes Foundation. The Tom Cruise like rant about mental illness and water is the cure. His home experiment involving freezing a picture of water and observing that when it melted the level in the picture dropped there for there is no need to worry about the melting ice caps. “Let em melt” he said.
Thanks Avidor for increasing awareness about the nuttiest representative maybe in the history of the state.
Tom,
Thanks for your response.
1. The title was appropriately changed because of all of the other information that was in that section. If you can think of a more appropriate section header, please edit it accordingly.
2. I would have a similar comment on the word ‘pertinent’. Although if it just said “legislative files”, that may be too broad of a statement which is why the use of the word ‘pertinent’.
As to the rest of your post, it is not relevant to this blog topic. Although I would comment that maybe your grasp of a technique known as sarcasm may need to be adjusted on that last one.
As to Mr. Avidor,
Thank you for the guidance. I will take the advise and excercise great caution, but your skewed entries must also be neutral. That you take the same guidance to heart would be nice to not put any of us at risk.
As to the topic at hand, I have yet to hear anything from you to indicate that the changes have any problem so I will again look forward to an admission of the wrong doing on your part and assume that you will be coming to me with an apology for all of your accusations??
Mr. Avidor,
I see that since you cannot defend your entries you have sent me the COI marker on Wiki. Should we refer this to ArbCom?
Go ahead.
Looks like I have been mostly vindicated by the Wikipedia admins and other editors. Ken, your COI has been noted. You should refrain from futher edits as I have and I advise if you have entries to add, pass them through to an editor first.