As it happens, Isanti is located in a place that bears deep scrutiny -- that is, the 6th Congressional District. Rachel Stassen-Berger, suitably aghast, notes why in her most recent Star Tribune dispatch:
The quest to take U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann’s seat when she retires is deeply unsettled in the starkly Republican suburban and outstate Sixth Congressional District.
Emphasis mine. Not to put too fine a point on it, I wonder what that means. "Starkly" is an adverbial form of the word stark, an adjective, which has the following definitions:
stark [stahrk] adjective, stark·er, stark·est, adverb
adjective
1. sheer, utter, downright, or complete: stark madness.
2. harsh, grim, or desolate, as a view, place, etc.: a stark landscape.
3. extremely simple or severe: a stark interior.
4. bluntly or sternly plain; not softened or glamorized: the stark reality of the schedule's deadline.
5. stiff or rigid in substance, muscles, etc.
In the time we've spent in the area, we haven't found it to be particularly harsh, grim, or desolate, although it is a little windy this time of year. In fact, the countryside near Isanti is actually pretty lush. I don't suspect the first meaning is what Stassen-Berger was after, either, since Bachmann almost lost her last bid for Congress in the district, which would have been impossible if the area were completely, or even sheerly, Republican. From what I can tell, "extremely simple or severe" isn't right, either, although I don't doubt that Stassen-Berger finds certain 6th District Republicans to be simple and severe in their unreasonable demands to participate in the political process. There's probably some glamor in the District, but we've been too busy with the project to seek it out, although we might check out the "Beef-O-Brady's" in St. Francis some time and see if that fits the bill. I'd be willing to support the final definition, since I've personally been feeling plenty stiff in the muscles after helping to dig out about two 35-foot long, two-foot wide, two-foot deep trenches (Benster's project is building dugout enclosures for a church softball field).
So, what I'm suggesting is that Stassen-Berger might have chosen the wrong adverb to describe the area. I live in the 4th Congressional District, which has not sent a Republican to Congress since the Truman administration, but I wouldn't describe it as "starkly" DFL. So, what I'd like to suggest is that we do a little editorial crowd-sourcing and help the intrepid reporter out by giving her a new adverb to describe the 6th. Choose one of the following, or feel free to add your own in the comments section.
2 comments:
I answered in a way that would allow Rachel Stassen-Berger to use it without betraying her beliefs. I may be a patriarch of pallor, but I would hate for a reporter to be forced into writing something accurate or unbiased when that goes against their conscience.
Recalcitrantly Republican.
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