News & Articles

Smilin’ Pete should have the big orange dummy stump for him

I strongly urge my representative Pete Stauber to ask Trump to come campaign for him. Trump can tell us all how wonderful everything is going and how he has made everything so much more affordable and safe for us all. Trump can thank Pete for his unwavering support to accomplish all this wonderful work in just two short years. Thanks Donny and Pete for making America so “great” once again that the whole world, especially  Canada, loves and respects us again.
Ross Nelson
Esko, Minnesota

A prescription for progress

This nation of ours used to be strong and respected. People died trying to follow their hope here. It’s all of them; all of us, that made this country enviably strong,
Here’s how we can fix all that, and not have to send in the feds, after Trump’s disastrous White House sit. My recommendations (about stuff that’s been missed since the first Pilgrim boot touched soil in North America, by all the billionaire leeches on the public teat) are as follows:
There are problems to solve. The working class (Tradesmen, skilled workers, nurses etc.) need to see an increase in their quality of life. Societal minorities (black, brown, Indian, Asian) need a better life too, and feel like they’re part of it all. There is no real reason to withhold that from any of them.

Since I believe in the absolute separation of church and state, there is no real reason to persecute other social outsiders (LGBTQ, for example). Other countries manage universal healthcare and retirement pensions. We’re the richest nation on Earth. Why can’t we?
Remember: by fostering racism and class warfare, talent that otherwise might add to our prosperity cannot emerge, leading to an atmosphere of frustration, distrust and potential social upheaval and violence. Police the courts. Address blatant feudalism and legal inequity – which may offer profit in the short term – so that it can increase the potential for better, more secure wealth in the future. Open the doors for those wanting to strive, to accomplish. Good law lubricates social energy and prosperity.

Remember: a happy, contented worker is an ally, and in the long run all that profitability will add to the flow into the coffers of the ruling elite too. In general in this country, those groups previously mentioned, as well as the rest of us, deserve better than we’ve been given.
Raymond Allard
Duluth, Minnesota

Too bad it took gas prices for so many to sour on the Orange Menace

Historian and fascism expert Ruth Ben Ghiat has said that Trump has not achieved his goal of becoming a dictator before he became too unpopular. That is great news though it comes with the caveat that Trump becomes more desperate and dangerous as his power and popularity wane.
Regardless, one poll has shown that only 29% of Americans approve of Trump. MAGA is fracturing, the lower courts are mostly holding the line, and, though the Supreme Court’s rulings have been hit-and-miss, it has not completely capitulated to the Orange Menace’s attempt at an authoritarian takeover. It’s pathetic that it took expensive gas to flip so many Americans’ opinion of Trump, but their change of heart is welcome news nonetheless.

Now comes the tsunami of lies and dirty tricks leading up to the November 3rd elections. Cautious optimism is hard to maintain after all this country has been through in the past decade, and big money and gerrymandering still distort our democracy, but most Americans have finally soured on this fascist shit-show. Now we must double-down on our resistance and head to the polls as if our democracy depends on it, because it does, whatever the price of gas. 
David A Sorensen
Duluth, Minnesota

No elephants were hurt in the writing of this column

I write to give my appreciation to our editor. In a recent piece I repeated a piece of information I picked up long ago and believed based on the fierceness of the struggle between DC and AC electric proponents. Much was at stake. It did not surprise me that in the manner of the times the AC people would have electrocuted an elephant to make their point. I believed that and I was wrong. Jim the Reader editor caught the error and alerted me. So, I’m thankful for him and hope you’ll be as well.
PS – I mourn the loss of electric fried elephant burger, etc. Damn. Large loss.
Harry Drabik
Reader columnist, Open Pits

A PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT FROM THE READER
What walks like a lame duck, quacks like a lame duck and is about to become duck a l’orange after learning the facts of life from the American people on Nov. 3?
No need to answer. It was a rhetorical question.
OK. One more question, this one not rhetorical: How is that felonious idiot still in office?
Remember the Third of November!