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ENGER PARK – Friends, this is a bit of a tough week. In the middle of it and based on the major dysfunction of one former political figure, we have now put our national political lunacy on global display.

Not that the rest of the world didn't already know, but now we are forcing it to go through the same idiocy that we are forced to deal with on a 24/7 basis. This particular issue has been consuming all of the oxygen in the room here for far too long.  

While I toyed with the idea of writing about my thoughts on this matter, I did decide to speak up. If there is one thing that interests me as much as the sports world does, it would be politics. Sports and politics do have some parallels don't they?

But to examine that, it would require us to be engaged in some actual politics and have those efforts be put towards working on some of the all too real issues that face us at this time. We aren't doing so, and that whole process has been mostly ground to a halt based upon the behavior of a 77-year-old from New York that had any emotional development he may have received stunted somewhere around the age of two.  

Next year based upon the grace of the Universe I'll turn 70. It's safe to say I've never witnessed anything like our current political environment in my lifetime, and believe me I've been following how we do things in that arena since around the mid-sixties. At this point I'd much rather be at a hockey arena as opposed to studying indictments in the wee hours of the night, but here we are.

In the past handful of years I have been forced by the events of the day to entertain the thought that this country might fail. There exist many reasons for that, but as of right here, right now, there is no individual that deserves more of the blame for that possibility than Donald J. Trump.  

While many of this person's enablers are happy to blur the lines between politics and criminal wrongdoing, that is the wrong way to view it. That is a disservice to this country. You'll have to take my word for it that I can understand most viewpoints and opinions on this matter and what they may be rooted in. And none of them are as important right now as protecting this country and our democracy itself. Do we have a lot of problems that need some urgent attention? Yes we do.  

But I know that none of them will be repaired via corruption, coupled with a lack of ethics and integrity. In 1992 Ross Perot told us that the DC "barn" needed to be cleaned out. The guy from NY City told us in 2016 that the "swamp" in DC needed to be drained. In 2023 the barn has never had more manure in it and the swamp is more infested than ever. If you are looking for any reasons for such, go find the nearest mirror.        

Americans love to complain about our politics. We are quick to decry all that our Government does and doesn't do. But who is our Government? We are. The reflection you see in that mirror is. And until we find some emotional maturity, along with the intellect needed to tackle all that ails us, we ain't fixing or repairing anything. That's the absolute truth. It can begin by holding to account those who would damage our democracy. Then it continues forth with a major reckoning that we cannot have the Government we desire until we have a massive citizen engagement. It should be abundantly clear by now that too many of those that we send to DC to "represent" us, actually do not.  

I don't care if the perpetrators are Republicans or Democrats. When it comes to the successful operation of our country for ALL of its citizens, if you have, or have attempted to damage what I thought we used to stand for, then you need to pay a price for that so we can get on with our business at hand.   Right now we have one of "us" that has determined he is so omnipotent relative to everyone else here that he has awarded himself the right to keep all lights and cameras focused on himself so he can waste massive quantities of our time and resources so he and his dysfunction can be fawned over endlessly and needlessly. He brings absolutely nothing positive to our national table.  

It's time for justice to be delivered. It's past time for the Orange jack-in-the-box clown to be placed back into the box with the lid shut and the handle torn off so that he can never "pop up" again and do any further damage to us. If you support him, that's fine. But I'd urge you to seriously reevaluate that. The future of this country is dependent on it...  

SOME SPORTS QUICK HITTERS...

NHL, Twin Cities native and PIT Penguins star forward Jake Guentzel has had an ankle procedure in the Metro and may take up to 12 weeks for adequate recovery. I really like this player and consider what the WILDs recent history may have looked like had he been wearing Forest Green and Iron Range Red...   The WAS Capitals have agreed on a contract extension for forward Tom Wilson. It is a seven-year deal for $45.5mil. This player is 29, has a recent injury history and plays a style of game that would lead most to believe that his body will fail him long before this contract expires. What in the H-E-double hockey sticks were the Caps thinking here?          

After agreeing to a 3-year-$11.25mil deal with Netminder Filip Gustafsson, the WILD now have 20 of the available 23 major league contracts signed and have $1,643,079 of cap space left. I still think that someone with a somewhat substantial contract is going to be calling for a Mayflower moving van before the season. Otherwise, the team will have no cap flexibility this year and few options for any potential roster maneuvers.  

MLB, the TWINS just took 2 of 3 games from the STL Cardinals and now hold a 2.5-game lead over the CLE Guardians in the Central division. This evening the club begins a three-game series with the ARI Diamondbacks at Target Field. CLE will face the hapless CHI White Sox over the weekend, while the other Central contender, the DET Tigers will be meeting the Tampa Bay Rays. I don't think DET will fare well against the RAYS and the TWINS will have to perform against ARI to maintain their lead. And as I thought they would, the club sat on their hands on trade deadline day earlier in the week.  

The VIKINGS are hard at it in training camp, and in examining their roster, one of my first concerns is what will happen to the team if starting QB Kirk Cousins goes down to injury. The backups are Nick Mullens with 17 total NFL game starts, (24 GP) and rookie draft pick Jaren Hall. (0 GP) My first thought? Yikes! PEACE