Katherine Kersten makes Strib debut

In her maiden effort as a new metro columnist at the Star Tribune, Katherine Kersten answers in kind Archbishop Catholic Archbishop Harry Flynn’s “sharp moral rap on the knuckles to Gov. Tim Pawlenty” -- the claim that if the governor understood the plight of the poor better, he would raise taxes. That way the state could spend more on government programs for single mothers and other needy Minnesotans. Writes Kersten --

For years, there's been a saying in the Catholic Church: "The poor belong to us." The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis could do a lot to help the poor become truly self-reliant.

In that spirit, I have a proposal for Archbishop Flynn. The archdiocese will soon put St. Gregory and St. Therese parishes up for sale. Both sit on valuable land in St. Paul's Highland Park.

Would the archbishop consider donating the proceeds from these sales to such efforts?

Kersten’s piece is good read with lots of documentary evidence for those commenting on my post about the Liberal American Dream. Archbishop Flynn is a good example of a victim of liberal thinking -- he’s gone so far as to advocate ceding the properly religious function of providing charity and compassion to the coercion and entitlement mentality of government.

In introducing Kersten to Strib readers, publisher Anders Gyllenhaal sets some expectations --

The Metro columnists have always been among the signature positions at the paper. Part storyteller, part opinion maker, the columnist carries on a conversation with readers that puts the life into the pages of the paper. We can all look forward to watching Katherine go to work this week.

Although her first effort is a strongly reasoned and logical piece, as is her style, Kersten’s first piece reads more like an OP ED piece and doesn’t have the strong story-telling elements of a metro column -- something, which quite frankly, Nick Coleman does very, very well. Although the expectation is she will proceed with more dignity than phraseology like “YOUR SCHOOLS ARE BURNING,” there is an expectation in the conservative community (and with Gyllenhaal) that Kersten will mature into a conservative counterpoint to Nick and Doug Grow in the story-teller, metro-columnist genre.

I wish her well in her quest for the holy grail of metrocolumnhood -- simian independence.