Newspapers covering their own industry's collapse

Biting the dust: "Litchfield Independent Review"

A big fuss being made recently because of a batch of newspaper closures in MN. You have likely seen the stories, maybe even in a newspaper. I personally check out the Minneapolis and Morris newspapers at our public library. I used to check out the Willmar paper there. Then guess what happened to the Willmar paper? Well it became victim of the same headwinds that have wiped out so many papers. 

Here's a question that makes me smile: can newspapers be trusted to report in a fair and detached way on this death spiral that they themselves are experiencing? Well of course not. We are all motivated by self-interest. Should be elementary. 

A swath of newspapers has met the grim reaper. Sad? Remember the Brad Pitt line as Billy Beane in "Moneyball?" "Adapt or die." Things change, they do not necessarily get worse. 

Newspapers once had it made. I once read that owning a community newspaper was like "having a license to print money." Look at the huge family benefactor for UMM here in Morris: roots in the newspaper business. Nobody likes to lose such a position. Of course the family got out before the headwinds got worse. A regional chain took over the Morris paper and it lasted a few years. An old associate told me "the Forum never made money in Morris." No wonder the atmosphere there was so uninspiring. 

We have had covid since. That accelerated the trend but the trend would have continued anyway. The Forum is old news in Morris. It has a reputation for being pretty Machiavellian. But it's gone. And it's not just into newspapers. WDAY Radio of Fargo is a holding. I'm sure the diversification helps them greatly. 

The recent big news re. Minnesota newspapers, i.e. with the vultures circling, pertains to "Southwest News Media." What the heck is that? The company will stop publishing newspapers at the end of this month. 

Remember there was a time when the ice business phased out. I learned that Morris had an ice business up until the mid-1960s. I learned that Roy Lucken was involved in it, great guy and great public servant. I doubt that he pleaded about how we should continue supporting the business. Newspapers as they retreat are not so passive. If they truly practiced what they preached, they really could be dispassionate about this. 

 

In denial

Newspapers cling to the kind of influence they once truly had. They act self-important like they are in denial. I recently read the Star Tribune's article about the spate of newspaper closures. The writer just presumes that the owner of the "newspaper group" lacks a moral commitment. The writer assumes that newspapers have this mantle of intangibles for "serving the public." It sounds very nice, very worthy. 

Any business that chooses to pursue intangible things to be "nice" is surely welcome to do so. It's a free country this way. But you cannot blame any business for simply trying to do the best it can by the bottom line. 

The Star Trib and other sanctimonious voices from inside the business do a collective "harrumph." They ask re. the alleged carpetbaggers: How dare these impersonal and exploitative businesses just ravage what was once the proud newspaper industry? The industry that gave us the Watergate exposes? Nostalgia on steroids. Watergate was a story of a disgrunteld D.C. official Mark Felt of the FBI, funneling dirt to the Washington Post based on the oldest of human motivations: he was passed over for promotion. No stooge this guy, he could have found other means most likely to accomplish his mission. The Washington Post took risks for an extended time but decided to pursue the story. 

My thinking is that Washington D.C. is a "company town" and such towns always look out for their own interests. In this case the interest was the reputation of our national government. The welfare of the very prosperous city (thanks to government) was at stake. 

My, the '70s were the salad days for the established print media. Nobody questioned it because there were no storm clouds on the horizon for that business model. A dirty little secret is that newspapers did not thrive literally because of pushing this august news reporting tradition. All of that was quite cute. But the newspapers from their heyday carved out power because of their monopoly distribution model. And so, this is precisely why so-called "objective news reporting" became such a mantra. 

Whatever you do, do not offend anyone. We must keep the gravy train going. I'm talking the major metropolitan dailies of course. The community press tried as it might to ape their behemoth cousins. If the behemoths had this big "sports section," well then by golly let's do the same in Mayberry. The Morris paper has had its own sports section of course. 

 

The sports crutch

Why has sports occupied so much more space in our local papers, so much more than a reasoned mind would suggest? Well I do speak from experience: It's easier to fill a newspaper section with sports than to find alternative ways to fill it. The newspaper employees can fall back on a "routine" for covering the various teams. You know the material is coming in and will not be difficult to understand. It's not like a city council or county commissioners meeting. 

Your average small town newspaper publisher, I'm sure, shakes his head in private over how their staffs do cartwheels over sports. The Morris paper when the Morrisons were in charge had a company come in and do a survey or assessment once. One of the pronouncements made by this company was in response to sports coverage issues. And this read: "Be careful about this, the interest is limited." 

I don't recall that we made any changes. 

The Morris paper had various people come and go through the years who made such a fuss about sports. Three times I remember an editor typing multiple pages of Byzantine ideas about organizing sports, what the "priorities" would be for example. This is truly like a cat chasing its own tail. The person in charge did not follow up on the first two of these documents. Why? Well I have a theory or thought: "If we're going to fire someone for not following all this, then we'll have to make sure the new person is held to all of the (Byzantine) requirements. If we don't do that, we're susceptible to being sued by the fired employee." 

Only with the third of these documents, written when the Forum was here, did management ultimately act like it would press the matter. But I think the Forum was starting to get nervous about a lot of things. They decided to start chasing shadows. Then they just got out of town. Through all that I resigned under considerable duress. 

The Forum loses no sleep about shedding employees, let me assure you. So it defends what it does even if it might seem draconian.

 

Towns like Morris
But fast-forward to the present, and the whole batch of newspapers closing up shop like even in Hutchinson and Litchfield. The "meme" promoted by the Star Tribune in a subtle way is that so many newspapers have been acquired by these "meanie" companies that just "gut the newsroom" and watch the papers shrivel away and die. 

I assume that death is never the desired outcome. 

So what's the story? The "meanie" companies would say they buy newspapers in a time when it's obvious the business is collapsing, and they can keep the businesses going for a time and be gentle with them, guiding them to a demise that is really minimally disrupting. The company would say it is providing a service. 

And if they bought up so many papers, who were the owners of these papers so willing to sell? Should we point fingers at them instead? Seems they are left out of the discussion. You might say they "crawled out from under the pile and walked away." Heh heh. 

 

Inevitability?

I wish we could eliminate the suspense and just have the Morris newspaper close up shop. We in Stevens County will just have to get with the program of having a fully functional news/info ecosystem online. The paper's demise would speed up this process. Businesses would no longer be asked to forfeit $ to support the "sucker ads" in the paper. Man, the Forum really went to the well with those. "Have a happy and safe Fourth of July," and then you see a list of businesses on the page. 

I remember when the Forum was here, the ad appeared on the Saturday of July 4 weekend when all the people who were traveling for the weekend wouldn't even see it! And if a particular business was not in the list there, did that mean that the business did not want people to have a safe weekend? Surely you know that the businesses listed on the page had to pay to be there. Heh heh. 

Recently the Morris paper had a "Music in our Schools Month" sucker ad/PSA. Not there: Sarlettes Music. You know why? It's because the paper sells these sucker ads as a package deal so you have to support a whole bunch of them. Del Sarlette did not want to do that. Of course a reader could get the wrong impression. 

If no Morris newspaper, then no more "district court news" with all the names of people who get minor traffic tickets. Good riddance, Morris newspaper. The Morris librarian tells me "I never see kids with the newspapers." That says a lot. Whistling past the graveyard, the newspaper industry is.

 

Addendum: Southwest News Media and Crow River Media were acquired in 2020 by Denver-based MediaNews Group, which also owns the St. Paul Pioneer Press. MediaNews Group is owned by the hedge fund Alden Global Capital, "which is known for buying and gutting newsrooms across the country," according to NPR. 

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

Lauren Hottovy's bat packs punch in 14-0 win

What a wonderful world in this late April of 2024, temperature outside only in one direction - higher - even if we have to wait some. We have to keep thinking "wonderful" in order to try to deal with the Trump trial. Weather cooperates for high school baseball and softball even if it's not ideal. 

As I look back on my many years in the local press, I recall spring weather for sports that really wasn't pleasant. I'd see parents in bleachers sort of "huddled" with coats and other items to stay warm. Parents can overcome this. At-large fans, not so much IMHO. 

But spring sports plunges on and we wish the MACA Tigers well. We might see wet grounds at least to an extent at the "softball complex." It's close to the river so the elevation is low. I wonder if fans are still choosing to sit out by the outfield fence. 

A weekend tournament can make things complicated. Thank goodness for the "Minnesota Scores" website. My blogging about MACA sports would be more difficult without it. It's a reliable home base for such things as scores, dates and locations. That's where you have to start. A key word here is "reliable." As the Internet proceeded through its fits and starts, you'd see websites set up which in theory would be a reliable source. But these sites needed cooperation from info sources, mostly coaches. 

There are still "dead" websites today that are not getting cooperation. They sit there, waiting. A good example is "Minnesota Basketball Hub." I do thank the MACA boys basketball staff for making at least limited use of the "Maxpreps" site. Keep at it, guys. Now with a new GBB coach, maybe we'll see more of an effort on behalf of that program too! Dale never seemed to be fired-up about this. 

The Morris newspaper? Newspapers in communities comparable to Morris are closing. How reliable is this going to be, compadre? 

The MACA softball team won a game 14-4 over WCA last Monday. Any info available anywhere? I assume there will be something in tomorrow's (Tuesday) print newspaper. But we have to wait way, way too long for this. Mary Holmberg should adjust to the times, harness an online-based system to get the basic review information "out there." C'mon Mary, show us you're attuned to the year 2024. 

I should note that I have never been able to win an argument with Mary. "There's something about Mary," you might say. 

So on Saturday, April 20, we learn that Holmberg's softball Tigers won three times. Wow! Scores of 14-0, 5-4 and 13-1. Action was here for the tournament of course.

Tigers 14, KMS 0

The Tigers took care of business in an efficient five innings. After a scoreless first frame, we took charge with a five-run second and four-run third. For good measure we added five in the fourth. Mission accomplished. Wow, we plated our 14 runs on 17 hits! A mere one error. 

Nora Boyle was the pitcher in command for the Tigers. She handled all five innings and gave up just five hits. She struck out four batters and walked one. Two pitchers saw action for KMS: Madison Anderson (pitcher of record) and Taylor VanHeuven. 

Three players hit safely for KMS: Anderson and Kya Oakes each with two hits and Abby Holtkamp with one. MACA had a hit parade with individuals. A real treat for the fans. 

Lauren Hottovy was almost unstoppable with 3/4 numbers, three runs scored, a whopping six RBIs, a triple and two stolen bases. Brianna Marty went two-for-four with three runs batted in. Amaya Raths was 2/4 with a ribbie. Cate Kehoe added to the mix with a run scored and a walk received. Boyle matched her pitching with sharp hitting: three-for-three including a double and a run scored. 

Ellen Reed scored a run, drew a walk and stole a base. Makenzie Konz was 2/2, crossed home plate three times, drove in a run and drew a walk. Haley Kill's contributions: three-for-three, a double, three runs and two RBIs. Kaylin Steen was 2/3 and scored two runs.

Hey, the individual hit totals actually add up to 17! Sometimes things do go right.

 

In the news

Here's a comment I posted this a.m. to a Yahoo! News article on the Trump trial. I was not commenting on his passing gas and defecating into his Depend underwear.

 

Lawyers can make arguments until the end of time but I think we know the underlying wrongdoing here. I should say "guilt" but people would pounce on me. So why does Trump continue having so much support and sympathy? Back during the O.J. trial a commentator said the American people "had allowed O.J. into their homes" for so long. As athlete and general celebrity. So a certain affinity builds up. "We allowed him into our homes" and of course this was with TV. The power of TV! More needs to be said about this. What if Trump had never been a celebrity on TV?

 

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

Trump trial makes local supporters ugly, racist

Material in my email account provides the fodder for this blog entry. The communications are a little more earthy, less formal. Nice insights? That's the idea. We're in late April as there appears to be a crescendo in Trump's legal trouble. So I worry: How will all the Trumpists react as the tenor of it all gets worse? Real civil disorder maybe? So I start here with an email I sent to Warrenn Anderson. I proceed from this subject to a couple others.

Hello Warrenn - I'm getting the impression today that the Trump trial is getting the Trump people more worked up than ever, all over the place. So I go to DeToy's this morning at about 8 a.m. and (name withheld) is in there. I'm prepared for his talk but it is getting more intense, kind of disturbing. I don't dislike him but I find the talk to be a little annoying. Like this morning when it got to the extent that he's citing "the black attorney general of New York." This is not a direct reference to the hush money case but it's all getting so complicated now. I told (name of server withheld) that when the talk gets racial, it's really not cool. Best thing for me to do, might be to stay away from that place for a while, or I'll park my car a couple blocks away. Don't want my car to be "keyed" or anything like that.

I say this in a non-emotional way but I really think Trump should have been put in jail by now. It may be too late now, as he has intimidated jurors. And Fox News says we can't trust anyone who gets their news from the New York Times or CNN. Disqualify 'em.

Maybe you're aware that the activities/athletic director at school has bolted from here to go to Minnewaska. My source on this says it's most likely because of the salary issues that the teachers have been making such a huge deal about. The librarian tells me the problem is "Republicans on the school board." Oh my. You and I probably wish the personnel at the school had been more fluid back in the '80s! So now there's a new girls basketball coach. I hope that when Kaylee Harstad starts playing college ball, she can still reach her potential. I don't think she has yet. Cate Kehoe made four 3-pointers in a game two years ago.

Jim Carlson RIP made the Jazz Fest

I tried going to the Jazz Festival at UMM. Walked into the Oyate building and there was a crush of people. It took a few moments for me to realize this was a "line." They must have only had one person selling tickets at the entry. Line hardly moved at all, and there was a woman at the front yakking back and forth with the person at the desk. I had to wonder "how is it so complicated to buy a $10 ticket." Unfortunately I did not have the patience to stay, sorry, so I departed. Ticket was $10. Toward the end when Jim Carlson was here, I remember paying $18 but of course he brought in such great clinicians. A source informed me that the Fest had become too expensive for the institution then. But of course Bob Bruininks loved it! Well, they can afford to pay Sue Dieter's salary.

What are things going to look like next fall at UMM? The forces working against UMM are not letting up, only getting worse IMHO. Has the new U president visited here yet, to give a speech so dripping with admiration about the liberal arts that I'd want to gag? It's time to stop pretending that the liberal arts are so great. Imholte's days are long gone. The Internet has changed everything, like it or not.

I wonder if UMM graduation will again be extremely low-budget? No print program, no band, no choir, a recording of Pomp and Circumstance? Sadly, we all once took for granted all the special features of graduation. I was present for the first UMM graduation in 1964, U of M president here. It was held outside. I seem to recall a pleasant evening, I was nine years old.

Michael Lackey's guest was quite good, her presentation kept my attention.

Yes Caitlin Clark is incredible, no doubt. Some people might start suggesting she's a better 3-point shooter than the men, and to that I'll immediately repeat that the women use a smaller ball! I suppose the smaller ball was part of the design of the women's game when they hadn't caught up yet. But now they have? Again, it'd be neat to see the men play with the women's ball! And you thought Dan Majerle made long attempts!!!

I haven't seen this week's Morris paper yet but I'm informed that it butchers the spelling of "Humane Society," presents it as "Human Society." Bob Dylan could write a song called "Human Society," eh? Can you imagine what people around town would say about me if I did a misspelling like this? Paper misspelled Janet's name in the inauguration coverage, plus misspelled Grayson Gibson's name as "Gipson" in a headline. I would be called a hundred kinds of dumb if I did this, by the Mary Ann Scharfs of the community.

- BW

 

I share heads-up with friend Randy Olson of Bonanza Valley. I quote from the newspaper's Facebook page:

"In this week's print edition, the headline and body text incorrectly reads 'Stevens County Human Society.' We apologize for this error."

So it was headline AND body text?

 

From Del Sarlette:

Yes, I saw that, too. I laughed out loud when I read that. 

 

Communicating further with Del:

Just had coffee with Brent Waddell. I guess there's more to the teachers' complaining than we are aware. It has to do with how payroll is managed for the school. Sounds pretty bad, people who don't know what they are doing. An old truism: "Money never comes easy." Interesting how when "mistakes are made," it's always on the side of paying people less rather than more.

 

Here I communicate with fellow First Lutheran Church member Ward Voorhees. Choppy seas, you might say, for FLC these days.

First Lutheran Church, Morris

Hello Ward - I can't help but watch how FLC is doing, just in terms of basic vitality. I told Del yesterday that I am very firm on this: if I ever arrive at FLC at 10:15 on Sunday and find that coffee hour is "canceled," that's it and I'm done for all time at FLC, won't even enter the building again. I have always been very concerned when coffee hour is canceled. I remember this happening a couple times when the great Todd Mattson was here. Like it or not, coffee hour is an equal attraction to the service if not greater. People wouldn't want to admit that. Since covid we are more restricted in our social movements, so it's nice to be around people at church coffee. I think Ken Keller and Lynn Riser attended because of coffee hour. The Thraens greatly enjoy it.

It is a huge change for coffee hour to be at 10 and the service at 11.

We're not supposed to think about "competition" between First and Faith but I'm sure we do - how can we help it? So I'll admit it. Here's a thought: sometimes when a church starts getting crowded like Faith is, people will find it a relief to go to a less-crowded place like First. You might feel more important or appreciated there, your kids too.

Right now Faith has the problem of being next to where the fire happened and that place looks terrible. I have told friends it looks like bombed-out Germany at the end of WWII. Right next to church entrance.

I don't know who the pastor will be this coming Sunday. I'm still concerned about Federated pastor visiting. You say he'll stay away from sensitive social issues, but is that just an assumption? Don Reicosky says that only 25-30 people are at Sunday services at Faith.

 

Here's from an email I sent to Jim Morrison on April 10. I comment on the recent news of several community newspaper closures in Minnesota. Some closures are of "suburban" newspapers which might not raise eyebrows out here, but what about Hutchinson and Litchfield? Hmmm.

Jim - I went to library yesterday to see Morris paper. Last week it was the very minimal 14 pages, this week 16. Still tiny compared to overall what we did. Of course we're in totally different times now. Imagine no Internet!

I am aware that the "suburban" newspapers were a completely different animal from out here, not really comparable though I'm not sure why. But Hutchinson and Litchfield? And Reed makes it sound like those papers just reflected the suburban model, i.e. owned by big impersonal distant company.

The "Stevens County Times"

Well, my friend Randy Olson of Bonanza Valley told me that when the Forum left here, it was going to close the Morris paper just like it did the Hancock paper. He said he had contacts that made this certain, and I believe him. I wonder if Sue Dieter had knowledge of that but kept it to herself, so maybe when Morris community leaders got wind of it, they insisted she be "out" there. I have assumed that the Anfinsons did not give Sue the option of staying there, but that's just an assumption. I figure no way could she accept being subordinate there, because she's such a know-it-all about everything. She laughs at people and belittles people all the time - I witnessed it.

So here's my question for this morning: Is there SUCH A HUGE DIFFERENCE in the business models for the Litchfield/Hutchinson papers as compared to Morris, and isn't Morris really kind of a chain paper in the sense it's the Anfinson chain? But why the disparity in business models? And if the big companies find the situation so hopeless as to close papers, how can the more local papers be so much more different?

I thought the big companies had the advantage of "synergy." Remember Bill Marcil? You accused me of being good at "chatting him up." Well yes this is a trait I have.

- BW

 

Faith Lutheran, Morris

An asterisk with "free meal"

I attended the free community meal at Faith Lutheran on April 8. My day-after reaction in an email to Del:

I'd never complain about a free meal! But, the serving line had its definite challenges last night. First I got the bowl of soup. Put it on the plate? Well I did. Then I got two nice little tacos and some nachos. That filled up the plate. Now, I could have held the soup bowl separately but that would start to get difficult. Really the best system would be to have TRAYS. There was a whole other table ahead of us. I wasn't even sure what we were supposed to do there. I just passed and ate what was on my plate. It was a decent little lunch. Then after being seated I went to the beverage table to get a glass of milk. And then I noticed the dessert table where I could have gotten rice pudding, but I had already returned my silverware. I wonder what comments they got on this.

One of my favorite economic commentators says "young people don't realize how health care expenses accumulate for older people." And Marianne Williamson has said "we don't have a health care system in this country, we have a sickness care system." Man, how incredibly true. When Dr. Unger in Willmar diagnosed my hernia, he said "do you think you can live with it?" Well, I think it was more expensive and a bigger hassle for me to wait until an emergency.

When a doctor has a Medicare patient, I think they're real conservative on treatment. Well they don't have to worry about me now, I have disengaged. If they are lucky I will just suddenly drop dead sometime.

 

Del responds. Good to get his mind off his store building issue of bricks falling down to sidewalk!

I didn’t have any problem negotiating the food line at the Community meal last night. The second table was just for the toppings for the soup and tacos. The only problem was that the tacos had been fried shut, so one couldn’t apply the toppings directly. I looked around, and others were dealing with that by dipping the tacos into the toppings piled on their plate, and that worked. Not sure why you couldn’t eat the rice pudding – you could’ve gone back to the line, said “pardon me” and reached through to grab a spoon. You missed a great dessert.

The “bombed out Germany from WWII” to which you referred is the result of a garage fire. The property owners probably have to wait for insurance to work it out before they can have it cleaned up. I didn’t even notice it when we arrived at the church.

Shoeshine guy says that there’s lots of positive buzz from the parents of middle-schoolers relative to the soccer program starting this fall at MAHS. I’m sure you read about that in the Fishwrap report on a recent school board meeting. I hope it does better than the orchestra program that was pushed for back all those years ago. It’ll probably bleed some kids from the football program, which isn’t all bad.

 

I respond to Del:

Did you use the church entrance on the other side of the building? If you failed to notice the bombed-out rubble on the north side, then I'd have to say you're on drugs.

OK, so we were supposed to put a bunch of stuff on top of the soup? I guess I'm scared about making a misjudgment and having people laugh at me. "You dumb s--t."

OK so I was confused. No one could have carried everything in one trip without a tray. So my complaint stands about the meal, although we shouldn't complain if it was free. I might not want to take the chance of being confused again, so I might not go: fear of social rejection. Just like with women.

I'd like to see Pope's football program die because he is so openly antagonistic toward the school board. That's not the way it should be in America. The teachers unions are like organized crime IMHO.

Another official inflation report (CPI) today. It's discouraging how dependent our whole nation is on these numbers. There has to be a better way to live, where we can just have some long-term assurance about our quality of life.

Interesting how soccer looks like a much better "sell" now than it would have been ten years ago. Soccer has been around for time immemorial. In phy ed we considered soccer to be a boring unit, remember? I was actually hoping to see boys volleyball get the go-ahead by the High School League. But football should die. You cannot "spin" football positively, I won't even listen to it.

 

Addendum: Del followed up by saying they had in fact used south entrance at Faith. So he's drug-free.

RIP

Kenny Van Horn had his last rites at Faith Lutheran. There's a man who knew the value of a dollar. Just like my dad.

Oh my, Tom Carrington! Just got word Saturday morning from Hallie my server at DeToy's. I should not have felt shocked because I knew he had health issues. But I was shocked. And we have lost Rodney Bratton too. Death is the great equalizer for all of us.

 

The great Earl Wilson closed out his newspaper columns by saying "That's earl, brother."

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

It's Friday so let's have modicum of cheer

Steve Boyd speaks (action 4 liberty image)

It is Friday morning which should give us an uplifted feeling, at least. The ties between rural America and right wing politics appear to only be growing. Is this sort of a powder keg? We unseat our long-time congressperson Collin Peterson in favor of the GOPer and now the GOPer may be forced on the defensive some. That's because of this Steve Boyd fellow. 

The phenomenon of "getting primaried from the right" is something that GOPers fear greatly. And certainly it prevents them from ever compromising with the other side on anything. Not even security at the southern border. The GOP leaders rush to consult with Donald Trump and then they follow his directions. This in spite of the fact that it's so clear that Trump's overarching priority is self-preservation. 

You thought the daily headlines about Trump were bad before? They most certainly were bad before. Where does the time go? He "came down the escalator" in 2016. Do you realize how many years have rolled by? Trump schemes daily to keep his base of support solidified. The Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, this Mike Johnson, cannot even think for himself. He has to go get marching orders from Trump even though Trump no longer holds office. And there is zero percent chance that Trump would ever approve of a bipartisan agreement on anything. 

The right wing media continues to flex their considerable muscle. Can't you all see? They have just made a game of all this. They have constructed a make-believe world where their kind has the monopoly on truth and anyone who disagrees ought to be rejected on the most caustic terms. It is the equivalent of bullying and teasing on the school playground. Absolutely demonize anyone who tries to point out flaws in Republican Party thinking, if you really want to call it thinking. 

 

And I actually respect the conservative political philosophy. Lawrence O'Donnell of MSNBC does too. O'Donnell who is near the top of the list of MAGA targets has said conservatives "play an important role in our political process." Oh indeed they do, as they can stand in the way of largesse. They can point out the folly of thinking that government can come to the rescue on anything. 

 

Liberalism got carried away through the 1970s. America had to reject Nixon who had carried the banner for the GOP and "conservatives." At least that's the way they presented themselves. Yes a lot of it was just rhetoric. Rhetoric can go a long way. We heard from blowhards like actor John Wayne who found that his pronouncements reached a "base" of support. The "silent majority?" 

 

Problem was: that was then, this is now. 

 

America went through the excruciating process of getting extricated from the Vietnam war. Getting committed to war makes it arduous to get out. The protracted nature of Vietnam became the millstone around Nixon's neck. As this sank in, like with my generation that just absolutely refused to go over there and "fight," we needed to regurgitate the bad stuff. Finally we did. The Democrats with Jimmy Carter filled the void. 

 

The 1970s became a strange time of feeling conflicted, in denial to an extent. Had we all really been hoodwinked by the pro-war crowd? The crowd who cheered John Wayne, the movie "The Green Berets" and the song "Okie From Muskogee?" The song was written as parody. It ended up being taken seriously. The music makers were happy to collect their profits. 

 

The pro-war people ended up having to eat crow. It took time and spasms of re-thinking. These people hardly knew how to react to amnesty for draft-dodgers. The rhetoric that spurred them on for years was being revealed for what it was. It was so much hot air. Yes it struck a chord with a certain considerable element of Americans. But it was vacuous. 

 

Posturing by glory-seekers? Is that what it was? And aren't we seeing a complete repeat performance right now, spring of 2024, the spring of Caitlin Clark of Iowa, so as to file this away in your memory properly? 

 

Americans really did want amnesty for draft dodgers. They didn't "support the war" nearly as strongly as certain strident voices tried to imply. Again we are talking about a certain "base" of people just like we have the base of Trump and Steve Boyd now. However, Americans really do not want a national abortion ban, absolutely not. They do not want substantial cuts to the safety net as with Social Security and Medicare. We should be trying to improve our lifestyle and not cut back on it. We should have a good enough understanding of economics - we don't - to know how inflation happens and how to control it. Hell, why just "control" it? Why not wipe it out or reverse it some? 

 

Instead there is a considerable swath of Americans who always want the "heroin fix" of lower interest rates. Choose your poison, y'all. 

 

TGIF?

Well it's Friday. I haven't checked the morning's headlines yet. I know what will be there. Trump and his ridiculous legal entanglements. Why does America put up with this? Well it does. The Trump phenomenon remains so strong out here in rural Flyoverland of western Minnesota. Will Steve Boyd be elected? Will we get the "nationwide abortion ban" that Lindsey Graham and so many others want? Why can't Graham just lose an election? Is that so difficult to accomplish? 

 

Is America dying as I write this? Do you watch "Jesse Watters" in the evening? Well then y'all have it coming, don't you. And so many of you go to church to reinforce your political beliefs. It appears many of you put Trump ahead of God and Jesus. It never got this bad with John Wayne and Richard Nixon, it really did not. 

 

Remember when Social Security was the third rail of politics? Will we start seeing euthanasia of old people? Will we become too expensive to take care of? 

 

"Make America Great Again." 

 

The Orange Man (wikipedia)

I can see it now like I'm truly prescient: Trump taking office again, setting up a justice department to go out and arrest all kinds of people on trumped-up treason charges, people who have disagreed with Trump or tried to obstruct him. Then we'll hear of summary trials and executions. As always there will be initial shock, there always is. Then we'll be forced to accept the norm. We always do. I am too old to try to leave the country. Well, I have had a good life.

 

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

Spring sports waits for no one

("Winchester Community Music School" image)

"It Might as Well be Spring" is a song from the 1945 movie "State Fair." My generation of the boomers is much more familiar with the 1962 "State Fair." That movie starred Bobby Darin and Ann-Margret.

 

Stardate April 15, 2024. Halfway through April. On a course toward warmer weather regardless of any bumps in the road. And remember, there is no such word as "irregardless." 

Attended church at Faith Lutheran yesterday. Nice place with nice turnout of people. Meanwhile the other ELCA church in town does not show a whole lot of stability. How did we get here? How did we get to where the once-proud and prosperous First Lutheran Church, home of the Eidsvolds, became so, well, floundering? What's up? 

The town does not even need two ELCA churches. But if we have two, it is human nature that we will compare how they are doing versus each other. 

Spring has sprung so we must surely have outdoor spring high school sports. Seems like this all started on the very first day when it was practicable in terms of weather. "Practicable." A word favored by Robert E. Lee of the Civil War. And did y'all catch the news reports about Donald Trump's speech near Gettysburg? Why do we continue subjecting ourselves to this? All we'd have to do is to reject considering Trump as a top national leader. In line to possibly become president again. Maybe even likely to be president again. 

He is mentally floundering at this time. There are so many dangers to be associated with another Trump term. I could go down the list but there's really only one that I choose to emphasize. The biggest peril in my view would be Trump's attempts to take control of the Federal Reserve. We never think enough about the Fed's influence on our lives. The effect is profound and maybe even existential. 

 

He'll do it

I remember the CNN anchor one day who said "it is unclear if the president can remove the chair of the Federal Reserve." If factual which I sense it is, this means that Trump would definitely want to do it. Toward what end? I mean, to make America a better place for everyone? Surely you know that has never been his agenda. Trump thinks of himself and secondarily about the billionaires and super-rich. And actually these two aims are connected. 

J.D. Vance is a "Wall Street investor." He and others like him want interest rates pushed way down as fast as possible. Make a killing. But with  "collateral damage" that could be existential for the U.S. Maybe you do not care about the collective welfare of Americans. If that's the case, you will feel comfortable voting for Trump. 

The nice thing about the ELCA is that we are quite divorced from MAGA. Maybe this is in fact hurting us. The "evangelicals" got Trump elected in 2016. That and James Comey. Ironically Comey will always be remembered as the FBI chief who got fired by Trump. Conservative commentators might describe him as "disgraced." But of course he greased the skids for Trump becoming president, was quite essential. 

And so that set the stage for what we have now: The Trump "hush money" trial although the description may be misleading. The problem wasn't the hush money per se, it was preventing the U.S. public from having the info it might have wanted to weigh. 

So the "Access Hollywood" tape was not enough? Would it have really mattered if all the sordid stuff about Trump and his curvy female companions had come out? Would it have really mattered to the Bible-thumpers like what we have in Stevens County churches? With the exception of Federated Church in addition to the ELCA ones? 

I want my thoughts on record for how I have reacted to the whole Trump phenomenon. I am embarrassed that in a couple of my early posts, I took him seriously as a president, as a person motivated by policy. My early writing will stay "out there" just like what I'm writing now, as I try to wrap my head around what Trump was saying near Gettysburg. 

Meanwhile a guy like Dean Phillips never even gave any speeches. Well, none that were readily available to be seen in the usual media places. If we want the forces for good to win out in the end, we need an orator or two. Until then we just have the unbalanced demagogue in Trump. He gets attention because the media realizes he attracts eyeballs. Like a train wreck would. 

 

Old song, new verse

Eight years on, and so little has changed. Nothing, really. So the stage is now set for the "hush money" trial. Trump used his wealth to set up sexual trysts. A porn star and a Playboy model, so maybe men would be envious. That's not the way to look at it IMHO. Surely I have learned that I cannot argue with certain people. All through the coming weeks with the sordid details to be revealed, that will not change. 

"Make America great again." Yes, let's have Trump as president, watch him seize control of the Federal Reserve because he wants control of everything. Watch him put his army of attorneys wearing suits and ties to work. It will take time because Trump always seeks time. Maybe he'll just wear everyone down. I would not bet against him in the end, getting the central bank of the Fed under his control and then pushing interest rates down to zero (again) for an indefinite time. 

Really, can the U.S. even sustain another blast of inflation? Another broadside? The country may just collapse. There are early signs of this potentially happening now, for example with law enforcement in many places giving up on shoplifting. Just let people stake stuff. 

"People have to eat." It is something we simply need. We need to feed our kids. 

Trump is trying to de-legitimize our whole legal system. And you don't care? You don't care that Marco Rubio, a lawyer, says he has "lost faith in America's jury system?" You don't care? So you don't care if this whole country just flounders and ceases to exist as we've known it? 

I am trying to be prescient. I really do care about all Americans' welfare. We have a MAGA Republican representing us in this Seventh Congressional District of Minnesota. Does she care? I mean, about all of us? We can vote her out.

 

A comment that I posted to a Yahoo! News article this morning:

 

It's Monday morning, start of another week, but "Groundhog Day" relative to all the Trump-centered articles coming at us here. Along with, pictures of Trump with his varying expressions. An article about his Gettysburg speech which was so rambling and absurd. Do we need these continual reminders of this strange existence we have fallen into? So now Sununu is in a trance too. Imagine being in a normal world again with Haley as the conservative GOP nominee and Biden as the progressive. Just imagine. Real debates etc.

"Douglas C." responded:

On a positive note, Brian: I'm almost 81 years old now and have seen a lot of things come and go in my life. I will say this: Everything cycles. After this Trump MAGA thing, things will cycle back to normal common-sense government again. I don't know how "normal" or how hearty the "common sense" will be, nor do I know how long it will last before it cycles back to the dumb side again, but it WILL cycle - you can be sure of that.

 

"James" responded:

Haley would probably smoke Biden, so I'm happy the Republicans are nominating someone who's really secretly a member of the Egomaniac Party.

 

"John S." responded:

Sununu has gotten a severe case of MAGAitis, loss of a functioning mental capability and severe memory loss. He seems to be at a loss of integrity, honesty and mental acuity.

"Larry" responded:

His rambling is called "flight of ideas" and is an indicator of dementia.

  

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