News & Articles

Supports Dr. Seuss decision

Regarding the six Seuss books, they are not  “banned,” simply, the company is not publishing further copies of the books because of the racial stereotypes portrayed in the books. Publishing companies make these types of decisions all the time. I agree with this decision for the reasons stated by the publisher, Dr. Seuss Enterprises.

If you do not understand why books that portray racial stereotypes are being removed from libraries, especially children’s libraries, do a little research on how people develop unconscious racial biases.

Sandy Robinson
Duluth, Minnesota

Ask an Asian

About banning 5 of the Dr. Seuss books (editor’s note: it was six books):

Ask an Asian person while the “China virus” voices are still heard and are inciting violence.

Emily Brown
Ely, Minnesota

The enigma of Trumpism

Who can explain to me the phenomenon of Donald Trump, or the coward-ice of the political party that has chosen to embrace him, come hell or high water, to the detriment of the party and the country? Not for the first time I’m struck by the bizarre, twisted nature of Trump’s four years in power: the unprecedented combination of hubris, blatant corruption and mind-boggling incompetence.

With all the challenges we face as a nation, with all the issues we are struggling to address, I can understand why so many people are angry, feeling that the American dream has left them behind. In desperate times, it’s not hard to see how a glib, smooth, ambitious huckster could appeal to so many people. But Donald Trump?

There’s nothing glib or smooth about him. His entire adult life has been about privilege, excess, corruption and delusions of grandeur. The real Donald Trump has always been visible, there for all to see: an ignorant self-promoting bully, a textbook narcissist with a 3rd-grade vocabulary, a vicious, vile, vindictive fraud, a man described by ultra-conservative writer George Will as “all blemish.” And yet this horribly flawed man somehow managed to convince almost half the American electorate to vote for him – twice! How was that even possible? I’m obviously missing something here, something I guess I’ll never understand.

The craziness of the last four years, compounded by the absolute insanity of the past four months, strikes me as something straight out of The Twilight Zone. Rod Serling must be rolling over in his grave.

Lynn Scott
Soudan, Minnesota

A review of the Biden presidency

For four years I have read comments in this paper of how Trump made all the wrong decisions, etc. Mostly I passed it off as I realize the source.  But now, it is time to review Biden’s effect on the country in the past two months: Over 10,000 labor union fitters laid off stopping the pipeline.  This will cause us to transport the oil by truck, and, force us to buy from Saudi Arabia and Russia, thus stopping our idea of energy independence.  Thousands of illegals pouring unrestricted across the southern borders. While the government and you and I have been strict in masking and social distancing, these people come in without any medical clearance or protections. This is putting a strain on the state of Texas, in the schools, etc. Could be some will be shipped up here. How about the price of a gallon of gas? Up at least  50 cents where I live, just as Trump predicted. Lets talk about the 1.9 trillion bill just passed. Can any of us comprehend how much that is and where the money will come from. Sure, everyone wants an extra $1400. But are we borrowing the money from China again? Or does the U.S. have a big pot of money they can draw from anytime.

I thought China was our enemy.  And to top it off, only 9% of the money goes to Covid relief, the rest goes to special pet projects of the states the Democratic power players come from. I would bet not one of the legislators even read the bill or know what is in it. Washington government is totally out of control.

We all know that Biden is the Trojan Horse for the party and might not last four years. That is why the Democrats talk about the 25th amendment so often. Biden was the only moderate they could find so as a good soldier he agreed to stumble along hiding in his basement.

Jim Gerdes
Sturgeon Lake