I was surprised back in 2020 that the Kamala Harris campaign sent me a nice little bumper sticker just because I asked. They had made the offer. But would they really deliver, especially considering that they weren't requiring a financial donation? Gratis gesture. They were true to their word. Sticker maybe didn't arrive quickly but it did arrive. I had almost forgotten about it when I discovered it in the mail. It was on the back of my Chevy Malibu for a time.
Then very seriously I decided it might be too risky out here in Morris and the broader 7th Congressional District to be so up-front and against the grain. We're in MAGA country.
The 7th District Republicans never got around to endorsing Michelle Fischbach, did they? She wasn't good enough for them, not extreme enough for them. Fischbach is of course a Republican, the incumbent. She unseated the fossil Collin Peterson, Democrat.
Many have observed that ol' Collin seemed a "Democrat in name only." He called himself a "blue dog." Cute. In the end he acted like he really wanted to distance himself from his own party. If he was going to lose, like destiny clearly suggested he would, it would have been more honorable for him to approve of his party and its leaders.
One clear thing struck me as the reason for his loss: the posed photo of him and Nancy Pelosi side-by-side, all smiles, happy. Oh man that was a gut punch I guess. Pelosi of California is like Typhoid Mary to the people out here. Out here where we hear the packs of coyotes howl not far from town.
For whatever reason we no longer see any redeeming value in the Democratic or "blue" party. We are red as hell. We are Steve Boyd as hell. "Life begins at conception."
I'm sure if I were to meet Steve Boyd it would be pleasant enough, probably quite pleasant. I have written that if I were to have a cup of coffee with Michelle Fischbach, it would probably be quite pleasant. It disturbs me that these people have rolled over for Donald Trump. Where are their critical thinking skills? Trump was found responsible in a legit legal proceeding for sexual assault. Judge Kaplan clarified that the word "rape" would be appropriate "based on the common understanding of the word."
So an adjudicated rapist makes his followers gaga with enthusiasm out here amidst the coyotes. Gaga among the red state types filling up the pews in so many of our churches. Gaga to the extent that we might seriously wonder if these people have put DJT ahead of God and Jesus. I really do wonder.
Female factor
We can assume that half the people in the 7th District are women. Kamala Harris is the one campaigning for women's reproductive health rights. That has got to break through and resonate with some of the women. Perhaps a large number of the women?
But the real conservative couples such as what I presume exists in the Apostolic churches will have the man making the decision. Making the decision on who to vote for. Might some of the women defy that?
Democrats also make it easier with their programs to benefit young parents. Don't you think that would score points? Shouldn't all senior citizens be scared as heck of "Project 2025" of the Heritage Foundation? You can't be so naive as to think MAGA Republicans have not signed up for Project 2025. That's even if they have created a little plausible deniability for themselves. Trump claims to not be familiar with it. Maybe you think he will never tell a lie about anything. I believe Nicolle Wallace who says "Trump lies easier than he breathes."
It is so demonstrable.
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| Ted Storck |
I went to our Morris library Tuesday to look at new Morris paper. Letter to editor from Ted Storck. I might really like the guy if he hadn't dragged the community through the "cemetery chimes." Or maybe I really should point my finger at City of Morris officials who I think could have prevented that whole thing.
Oh, Storck "donated" the chimes. Let's back off because of that, right? A member of the cemetery board told me the whole argument for the chimes was that it was a donation. "Didn't cost us anything." I'll name-drop: Jim Morrison. You don't suppose his penny-pinching instinct emerged, do you? Can't say no to anything free?
Jim's family ended up pretty generous with the University of Minnesota for $. Bless the memory of Helen Jane. She inspired me to do the same kind of thing. Wouldn't have done it without her. I'll wager that Jim on his own would not have done it! Just a wager. I have some background.
Donors to the U might start wondering if these gestures are really going to be borne out with a reasonable level of vitality shown by our local institution. Anyone with a functioning brain would have to wonder about that. The wrecking ball is coming at St. Cloud State. The institution will survive at least for the foreseeable future. I wonder if their new top administrator is a specialist in overseeing institutions headed to their demise - his job will be to make the process as smooth as possible. He talks up the new "open space." When open space is all you're left selling, well. . .
But SCSU has quite good athletic amenities including a still-new (2004) football stadium, even though the school cut football! Amazing.
What about our campus here in Morris, bastion for liberal arts? I'll be blunt as is my wont: Are we out-dated?
Shopped around
The cemetery chimes are long-gone from Morris. An insider back in the day told me that Mr. Storck at first offered the chimes to UMM and UMM said "no." The guy had to shop around some more. Then he found a taker in the cemetery board which just had to accept something "for free."
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| East Side Park stage |
The chimes at the cemetery caused angst for so many people, the City of Morris should have formally apologized for putting us through it, because I think it was a "nuisance." A man's home is his castle.
I thought it depressing and strange that some of the pro-chimes people through their letters suggested that the real question was the merits of the music!
I remember one letter writer saying of the critics "are you atheists?" I'll use one of Sue Dieter's favorite words: the question was "asinine." I personally hate the word "asinine," just like "niggardly." But maybe Jim Morrison is "niggardly?"
Ted Storck's letter in this week's paper refers to "Michell Bachmann." He misspelled the first name, and also I think he might have been referring to Michelle Fischbach.
Addendum: Re. that Kamala bumper sticker on my car, I covered it up with duct tape because I feared the reaction all around Morris might be visceral. I choose to have breakfast at DeToy's Restaurant often.
Addendum #2: I quote here an email I sent to Jim Morrison on July 21:
Jim - We are deluged with political talk from all angles but there is only one thing that sticks out with me: Trump's statement that he wants "influence" with the Federal Reserve. And as I pointed out in a comment to Yahoo! News, we can assume that Trump would never use his influence to encourage a Fed rate INCREASE. Never.
RIGHT AT THE PRESENT Trump is saying the Fed shouldn't cut, and you aren't all children, are you? You know why he's saying that? A Fed rate cut right before the election helps the incumbent party. So Trump is anathema to that, but wait until he gets power.
Someone responded to me, predictably, saying the president cannot control the Fed. There is wiggle room there. I remember the CNN anchor who said during Trump's first term "it is unclear if the president can remove the chair of the Fed." So obviously, given Trump's demonstrated lust for power, he will try. He can remove the Fed chair "for cause." Well then he'll develop an argument there's "cause." Or his lawyers will. Powell shows such bad judgment he must have cognitive issues - something like that.
Trump gets his way as in getting Roe vs. Wade wiped out. There were skeptics before that who said Trump couldn't accomplish that, then he did.
So the billionaires like Elon Musk want rock-bottom interest rates. But their interests are not the same as for the rest of us, are they?
One of my favorite economic commentators, Michael Boldenaro, noted why the boomer generation has been in such good shape to retire. He said it was because they took advantage of "compound interest" back in the day. That is gone now.
I feel so offended by Bremer Bank in Morris. They are almost rude if I ask about a savings account like a CD, then they turn around and send me a letter promoting a "credit card." So that's all they're in business for, that and ag loans. In the long-ago past Mom and I had 5-year CDs from Bremer paying monthly interest, no sweat to ask for. Pat Kieffer would wait on us. Those days are gone.
What if Trump succeeds in getting interest rates pushed down to zero, against the better judgment of the Fed people? What will happen to us all? The financial media of course will say it's great!
- BW
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