Peace at the Morris library now?

Our library director

Just got back from downtown where I stopped at the library (or "libery" as some people say). 

Always a relaxing place to visit. I guess that's part of the idea as long as taxpayers wish to keep supporting it. I am familiar with the place going all the way back to when it opened. It was previously in west Morris. Mom would walk me to the old Carnegie library. Keep quiet there or Ms. Grove would "shush" you. But she was a good-hearted person. 

Libraries had an expectation of quiet in long-ago times. I guess my childhood could be described as long-ago. 

Was pleased to see today that Ms. Grove's counterpart in the present time, Ms. Barber, was there. I was happy to exchange hellos. So sad to see that her Stone's Throw Restaurant is only referred to in past tense now. Sad that the place could not be jump-started for new life and vigor. A popular hangout for the - ahem - highbrow crowd. Oh, bless those people. A friend described the clientele as "the NPR crowd." 

I could mix with those people but then again I've always been adaptable. Maybe I'm like the Woody Allen character in the movie "Zelig." I can pretend I fit with many types of people without being a genuine member of any group. It's really not an enviable place to be. 

So, Anne Barber is in control from the library director's chair. Such a strange episode she was through not long ago. It was a strange episode for the whole community. I know many others thought it strange. Is the city at present proud to have her as director? Well I think the city most certainly should be proud. 

I was scared for a while that Ms. Barber may truly have done something bad. Frankly we can never rule this out with anyone. I dreaded the thought. We all come across news articles where a trusted person somewhere is found to have absconded with $. Not to say this was the particular suspicion with Anne. But if it wasn't, then what was it? After the City of Morris led us along with sensational news tidbits - "allegations of misconduct" - the thing ended with a whimper. 

My, did it even end with a whimper? What was the deal with the whole ordeal? And it really truly was an ordeal. So now Anne sits with apparent confidence in her position. And the city appears good with that. 

But Mayor Wohlers and others would have to admit that the whole question as it hung out there was not good for the city, quite the opposite. The city must attend to its image. I will give every benefit of the doubt to Anne. And if there was any "wrongdoing" worthy of acknowledgment, the city should acknowledge. 

I have written previously that Anne has been one of those people "in the arena," an expression used to describe people who can hold their own through a public storm. Kudos to her, 100 percent. 

Now, who was the "villain" in that whole thing? I am open to being enlightened. 

 

Watch my back?

It is the afternoon of June 17 as I write this first draft. I normally write early in the morning. It is with mixed feelings that I am writing at all. I have evidence that the political right wing is aware of me and my writing, is probably trying to inflict harm. This in a time when right wingers have become so unhinged, they might pick up a gun and kill people. 

Can't you all see that the tone of rhetoric from the top of our government is causing this tendency? I mean for the president to now call the chairman of the Federal Reserve a "numbskull?" And the way he talks about certain Democratic governors like our own Walz. 

It was often said during Watergate that "a fish rots from the head down." Not sure that parallels with Watergate are so apt now. Nixon had a fundamental respect for the rule of law. We have a president now who never worked his way up through government, to learn the ropes as it were. We chose this. Trump probably surprised himself with how he was able to win. 

We must conclude that this is not the America of old. This is a panicky America that has gotten so insecure because of lost jobs due to globalization. Ross Perot talked about the "giant sucking sound" of job losses. That was from NAFTA, right? And maybe we could have seen this coming. And things are getting worse because of the inroads of "AI" to wipe out swaths of jobs. This after the Internet itself wiped out swaths. 

It was many years ago that the great libertarian John Stossel wrote a book that noted how the whole class of "middlemen" across the country was being wiped out by efficiencies. If you want to grasp what the old middleman calling was like, watch Chris Farley in "Tommy Boy." Schmoozing a lot. People spun their wheels but they had jobs. 

Sen. Mike Lee

We see the fish rotting from the head down with the public statement just yesterday from the senator Mike Lee from Utah. Making light of the assassinations of Minnesota political leaders. Democratic leaders of course. These are my stripes at this particular stage of my life. 

Prior to Sen. Lee of Utah it was the Iowa senator Joni Ernst making a crass statement which she should have immediately walked back. There was a time when this would be assumed. Joni Ernst was confronted with the very real conclusion that "people will die" because of large cuts to Medicaid, to which she responded "well, we all die." Yes, then so maybe dying would help save the government $ with health care. In the days following she made matters worse with her sarcastic apology, a total non-apology. 

I have a track record of writing certain things. I have been concerned with our congressperson's total unquestioning loyalty to Trump. I emailed her a question a couple weeks ago to which she did not respond. So I'm not worthy of even a conversation. 

 

Stigma maybe?

I really wonder if one of the things that put Ms. Barber under a cloud at the library was that she really is known to be progressive. Or shall I say "liberal." So yes she might think there is something to climate change science. As I do. She and I would be profoundly concerned about someone like RFK Jr. being in the position he has. 

So conservatives really want to embrace someone like RFK Jr. who was a heroin addict for 14 years? When I was young, it was the "lefties" who were associated with drug use. The right wingers of today appear to have no scruples whatsoever. 

I have no influence to change what is going on. Still, for me to even write about it makes me a marked person. So maybe certain people do in fact feel threatened? I only wish to edify people, not intimidate or threaten them. But look at the environment we're in now. Consider the literal political assassinations in Minnesota and the behavior of Mike Lee in the aftermath. 

Trump uses the mindset to insult Gov. Walz. A headline in the Star Tribune noted recently that Gov. Walz was "shifting to the center" politically. You think any right wingers would give him a break because of that? Look how Trump treats Gavin Newsom of California ("Newscum"). Look how Kristi Noem's people treated a U.S. Senator of California. And I know all the "spin" from the right on that. The senator did in fact identify himself. So the guy gets taken down and essentially beaten up by thugs and goons. 

And then we got the Minnesota assassinations, people literally shot dead. 

And might some harm be done to yours truly? I have been denied membership on Facebook. Because, "violation of community standards." Really? I have never belonged to Facebook. Where is this allegation coming from? There are powerful tools for discrimination online. Should I cease writing because of this? Or, maybe it's too late to even do that. 

Trump should not have won the 2024 election. Think of what a loving and accepting place America could be now. Close your eyes and imagine. Because that's all we can do. 

I might have violated community standards by just quoting DJT when he has a foul mouth. Are parents trying to shield their children from this?

From an email I just received from a friend: "If you get shot because of your blog, at least that means somebody was reading it. I hope you have your affairs in order, just in case."

 

- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com