News & Articles

Hearing others
 
Judging from the real anger expressed by Trump Republicans it’s clear that they believe very much in the conspiracies theories their leaders spread, so in that sense, it would be wrong to consider Trumpers evil. But imagine the difference if, from the more than 60 court cases brought by Trump, at least a handful offered objective evidence of the existence of widespread fraud on the parts of democrats. You could use that affirmation to vouch for the existence of various conspiracies and some of your beliefs would be harder to refute. But when any side accepts “facts,” without any proof, only confusion and disrespect will result.

If you’re convinced that your children are being brainwashed with CRT or taught to hate themselves, then invest in your own private schools and assert your indisputable right to hire those whom you want to hire, and to set your own standards about what can be taught. You could even arrange for a portion of your property taxes to be used to fund private schools instead. But please don’t expect those of us who prefer public schools to be vilified for our beliefs.

When you threaten school board members and give them no chance to speak, your complaints only reinforce the perception that you are unreasonable and that your views are madness. Have you ever thought of really explaining why you feel so persecuted? The white middle class is sociologically among the least persecuted groups in America, so If you can calmly and rationally explain the origins of your unrest you will point our polarized animosity towards true and mutually respectful social discourse. If not, you only perpetuate antagonisms towards “them,” in service of your own “us.”

Peter W. Johnson,
Superior, Wisconsin

We love crackpot math, so of course we’ll print this
In the Oct. 27 issue, a letter from Goodland MN says Cuba does 90% fewer abortions then the US, and they “... are provided free and without question.” Taken at face value this means that Cuba does 10% as many abortions as the US. Sounds impressive, they must be way smarter then us. But, the US has about 350 million people, and Cuba 11.2 million. So, Cuba has 3% of the US population, which means if they abort at a rate  less then we do they should abort less then 3% of the time, not 10%. Put another way, this means their abortion rate is at least 3 times greater then ours. And to back this up, we see in the later 1970s their abortion rate was 420 per 1000 pregnancies, and after 10 weeks only with the permission of a committee. And even today they rate among the highest abortion rates in the world, bordering on 60% of pregnancies. 

I send this only as a point of education, knowing full well it will not be printed and call into question the Communist Paradise to our South. We  cannot have data intrude on a good story. But I have to ask, does it ever bother you that the views expressed in this paper are utterly and demonstrably disconnected from reality?

Steve Langer
Winona, Minnesota

Stop the Republican violence
Some guy in San Francisco broke into the Pelosi home hollering, “Where’s Nancy? Where’s Nancy!”, and beat Paul Pelosi in what might be charged as attempted murder. Nancy Pelosi is the Democrat Speaker of our House. During the Jan. 6 violent insurrection attempting to overthrow our government in support of the former Republican president, some of the seditionists were video-taped hollering much the same about Speaker Pelosi.

MN Republican Rep. Tom Emmer has a Tweet (Face the Nation 10-30-22) showing him shooting a rifle, then calling to “fire Nancy.” Also prominent on the ad is jive about the Second Amendment, which is just one of the 27 amendments to our Constitution (which has 7 Articles). I mention this because I seriously doubt if most “Second Amendment” people are even aware of that.

At this point things are so obvious it’s a case of “the King’s New Clothes.”  One can ask, without bias or prejudice, what has become so mentally wrong with today’s Republicans? They aren’t living in reality. Being Republican seems to require self-induced hallucinations, much like users of “acid” (LSD) experience. They’re living a total denial of the existence of reality.

When did hate become a political talking point with them? There’s a place I pass by on Wise Road with a sign, “Honk if you hate Walz.” Walz is our Democrat governor. If I lived next door to this sign, I’d put up my own saying, “Honk if you’re an idiot.”
A. Martin
Merrifield, Minnesota