It's Wednesday morning amidst a most gray and windy setting and we experience "adventures in anti-lock brakes," eh? It has surely been a while. Anyone who can just spend all day inside today is fortunate. Wind is a trait of our setting out here. One trait that was missing last year is snow. Not enough today to be much of a factor. But the overall conditions suggest "winter" as we head toward Thanksgiving.
The idea is to eat on Thanksgiving. We're blessed having access to an abundance of food. Inflation worry you any? Or is it like the "boiling frog" thing where it happens too slow to shock us? Actually I think over the last five years or so, it has been concerning. And if you read the economic analysis now, we could really truly be heading into a "perfect storm" of inflation.
Multiple factors at work. Much of this has to do with pledges made by the incoming U.S. president. But if I imply he's a problem in any way, shape or form, most people will tune me out instantly. We are in "red" western Minnesota where our congressperson has total allegiance to Trump. I could refer to DJT in a manner of levity as "the orange man" but again, people would scoff at me, would surely discontinue reading this piece. If you've gotten this far, bless you.
Maybe you're one of those people who can react to Trump in a rational way, as you should with any president. But Trump gives meaning to the word "atypical." He is associated with the mainstream of the Christian faith in America. I would suggest that is a monumental irony. I shouldn't have to "suggest."
It is abundantly clear on this stormy Wednesday morning that Republicans have no shame. They have "jumped the shark" to the point where Trump can suggest anything, nominate anyone, and then we see the likes of Lindsey Graham go on the Sunday shows and not only support it, but cast aspersions on all doubters. As if the doubters are clueless and blinded by some sort of left wing fog in their heads. "Far left" as Rudy Giuliani would put it.
Giuliani must now know how he is going to be remembered. Ruining the lives not just of two people but of two women. Where's the chivalry? If he's expected to put forward evidence, why doesn't he just do it? Doesn't he know what evidence is? Does he know anything about the mindset of a prosecutor? Wasn't he a prosecutor once? And people like Graham think people like me are the ones who are deluded.
Congressperson Fischbach is hopelessly locked in that way too. Did you know that Forum Communications, the Republican-leaning newspaper group of the Upper Midwest, did not endorse for 7th District congressperson? So they did not give the nod to Fischbach?
Forum of course once owned the Morris newspaper. What a failed venture that was. I don't know, maybe they had a businessman's tricks for exiting here with gold in their saddlebags. But it had nothing to do with serving the public which is the only measuring stick I would care about.
I was not a favored employee toward the end, that's for sure. Remember, Forum Communications never hired me, they inherited me from the previous ownership.
I joined the Morris paper full-time in 1980 which I must remind you with great emphasis was "different times" totally. Talk about the "boiling frog." The years crawled by and along came "digital" which created a whole new world. A whole new way of living life, and we aren't done with the changes yet.
Back in 1980 it was hard to find people with an interest in writing. For one thing, to even use a typing keyboard was an unpleasant chore. The only way to share with a mass readership was to get your writing in a "newspaper." Which I did from time to time as a young person. Because, I felt the natural inclination. Newspapers had more reach and power back then. They brought down a U.S. president, Richard Nixon.
Today? My, it seems the kids learn the typing keyboard almost when they're out of he cradle. All kinds of electronic communication platforms are available to them. So there's incentive, and my, do they take advantage of it!
You'd think it was a boon for society, a boon for America. But we go and elect Donald Trump. Now we're "debating" whether we should allow these clowns like Matt Gaetz, RFK Jr., Pete Hegseth and "Dr. Oz" to hold some of the most important positions.
We have learned to accept the inevitable with Trump. It's uncanny but he stays on his pedestal with the reverence he commands, primarily "Christian."
Would you be red-faced if Jesus came along to actually pronounce judgment on Donald Trump?
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| David Brooks |
We are now hearing a very cogent explanation for the hold that Trump has on us. I was very excited to learn of this: it is from David Brooks the columnist. He happens to write for the New York Times but don't be turned off by that. It's an elite eastern newspaper of course. But isn't DJT himself a New York City guy? And J.D. Vance is a Yale graduate with a wife who isn't even a Christian?
But you don't care about any of those points, do you. Just like you don't care about Gaetz being floated out as - ahem - attorney general of the U.S. Maybe he'll be rejected but it would be at the end of an arduous process. But why does it take an arduous process?
The MAGA people will only say "listen to Trump, follow Trump." So why is this? Brooks says it's because of something that happened in our educational system long ago. It was when the "meritocracy" based on measured intelligence took over. It replaced a system where the Ivy League schools were based on "bloodlines."
Well you know what? They still are, in a way. People in our society with the most advantages will be able to obtain the resources for their kids to do well by academics, by "standardized tests," and I'd like to say "damn them." We created a privileged level in this meritocracy based on ability to perform academically.
You might say that's fine? Isn't it better than bloodlines? Isn't it objective? In a way it is. But it is also rather heartless because by necessity there will be below-average kids. Who lack value? Well of course they don't lack value. There are many kinds of intelligence. And to be frank, some of us really are below-average. We can all find our niche and be responsible citizens providing a service for someone.
But many people don't like this implication that there is a "blessed" top class of people including the scientists who tell us about climate change or push the facemasks during a pandemic. So people say "quit preaching" and leave us regular folks alone. The "regular folks" who line up in Christian church pews on Sunday. Quit bothering us about the "trans" kids.
We have barely gotten over gay rights. And by now these folks have come to terms with basic gay rights. It's just that they don't like being preached to on such matters. Preached to by an elite section of society that did the best by "academics."
Our UMM was a leader in paving the way for gay rights. And in the short term, UMM made hardly any friends with this - most certainly it was the opposite. But UMM is the pinnacle of smartness, right? So there's an implication they must know so much more than the rest of us. And the Trump supporters push back with resentment, saying "no," we really do know how to live our lives. They will not like the inflation that will come about with Trump's policies.
At the peak of UMM's pro-gay rights zeal, there was an info booth on the mall with a poster of Eleanor Roosevelt on the side. Did Ms. Roosevelt ever publicly disclose she was gay? Is this verifiable? If not, it didn't seem like a very academic thing to do.
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| Michelle Fischbach |
I share here the Forum Communications (Fargo) non-endorsement of Michelle Fischbach for re-election:
The race for western Minnesota’s 7th District is a choice between a career politician — Rep. Michelle Fischbach, of Paynesville — and AJ (John) Peters, a political rookie and small business owner and educator from Long Prairie. Neither presents much of a choice for 7th District voters. ...
In 2020, Fischbach was elected to Congress. Since then, she has continued to avoid media across the state. ... Though she is only one member of Congress, she has had virtually no impact on passing a new farm bill — or even getting an extension of the current bill, which expired in September 2023. ... Finally, Fischbach, as a freshman congressperson, put her party first in joining the majority of Republicans in Congress to dispute the 2020 presidential election outcome.
Peters has run a computer repair business in Long Prairie since 1989. He ran unsuccessfully for state Senate in 2020 and 2022, so he has no legislative experience. ... This DFL candidate does not display a lot of political depth.
As such, neither the GOP’s Fischbach nor the DFL’s Peters has earned our endorsement in the Minnesota 7th District race.
- BW
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