As regular readers know, I participate in a weekly radio show on 1280 am the Patriot in the Twin Cities. The show is also streamed live on the internet from 12 to 3 of Saturdays (central time) and replayed through the week. The Patriot can be, on occasion, a rinky-dink organization, but sometimes they do things really well. Like yesterday's picnic at a park in Eden Prairie. A remarkable number of Patriot listeners showed up to watch Taxpayers League Live and the Northern Alliance and eat free food, which was excellent. We broadcast from under an awning on the stage of an amphitheater; from left to right in the photo below are me, Brian "St. Paul" Ward, Mitch Berg and Captain Ed Morrissey (click to enlarge):

Here I am, during the show:

By the time we got well into the program, the amphitheater had filled up considerably. But you can see which had the stronger lure: shade and free food, or sitting in the hot sun to get a better view of the Northern Alliance guys.

I thought it was one of our best shows, too. In the first hour's Week In Review, we talked about the GOP's legislative successes in Washington and debated the budget deal that Governor Tim Pawlenty made with the Democrat-controlled Senate; we also explored the financial scandal that threatens to engulf Air America in more detail than you will see on any mainstream outlet. Second hour was devoted to an excellent interview with Congressman Mark Kennedy, whose effort to win the open Senate seat being vacated by Mark Dayton wiill be the most-watched (and, perhaps, most heavily contributed to) Senate race of 2006. Mark did a terrific job; he will be a formidable candidate, but will face a tough race in a state that still leans slightly Democratic. Third hour was devoted mostly to a hilarious audience participation quiz show, conducted by Mitch Berg, Chad the Elder and the slightly crazed but hysterically funny St. Paul Ward of Fraters Libertas. And, hey, I didn't even mind when they read a quote from my article defending (sort of) the Kelo decision, and asked who wrote it, with the answers being Karl Marx, Fidel Castro or John Hinderaker.

I listened to the show's third hour while en route to a vacation in the north woods. This is my kind of vacation spot: lots of walleyes and northerns, bald eagles and loons everywhere, the occasional black bear--and wireless internet service. I'll still be here next Saturday and won't be participating in next week's Northern Alliance radio show, but if you haven't tried listening to it on the internet, you should check it out.

UPDATE: By the way, notice that Mitch Berg is wearing a "Reagan Revolution" t-shirt made by the folks at thoseshirts.com, the conservative t-shirt company featured on our sidebar. They make a nice Power Line shirt, too; check them out!