Mayday...Mayday...Mayday..

I have been of the opinion that the Minnesota DFL is on much stronger ground than the national party. It seemed very strange when Brian Melendez attacked state Republicans using a national issue like Iraq, and in such a dishonest and divisive way, when people in Minnesota are so desperate for state government that moves at a reasonable pace. People perceive a "do nothing" legislature and are weary of extra sessions and political bickering.

The DFL seemed focused on that before Melendez called veterans and their families "un-America liars."

Things have degenerated since Melendez' remarks and today brings the news my former Representative, Democrat Loren Jennings, will do four years for mail fraud and money laundering. He earned it.

Last week, Senate Majority Leader Dean Johnson was nailed delivering assurances to religious leaders that the State Supreme Court would deliver a favorable outcome on gay marriage. Things have gone downhill for Johnson since then.

First came his teary-eyed apology for "embellishing" the turth.

Today, Johnson admitted that was not true. He said he had a casual conversation in the Capitol with one justice who made a fleeting reference to the marriage law but did not make a commitment to vote a certain way on it.

"I will admit the words that I said on that tape were poorly chosen," he said. "They were not totally accurate."

But Johnson said he did not "lie" about the matter.

Johnson's apology prompted a response from Chief Justice Russell Anderson, delivered even as Johnson was enjoying a vote of confidence in the Senate.

Calling from an out-of-state family vacation, Anderson told reporters emphatically that "I have talked with every member of my court, including the former chief justice and we have not had conversations with Sen. Johnson about DOMA (Defense of Marriage Act) or how we might decide any matter relating to it. This just never happened. It [the alleged conversation] never occurred."

Now it looks as though Johnson's embellishment story was simply more embellishment. Or...a total lie. No sign yet of the "fake but true" defense, but I've got a feeling about this one.

Via MDE, Republican Party Chair Ron Carey has now started a website designed to try and keep all of Johnson's stories straight. And - almost immediately and literally as I write this - "fake but true" indeed emerges.

"'But Johnson said he did not 'lie' about the matter. To lie requires 'intent to deceive,' he said, while 'embellishment is sanding off of the truth.'" (Bill Salisbury, "Tearful Senate Leader Sorry For Supreme Court Gay Marriage Flap," Pioneer Press, March 17, 2006)

See? Johnson was delivering the truth, but was forced to embellish it in order to make the truth more readily apparent. I hope he doesn't pull a muscle.

Somehow, the DFL has managed to go from riding high to sinking fast in but a few weeks since the unofficial election season bell tolled. How did they do that?

How do they do that?