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| Michelle Fischbach (minnpost image) |
The political turn in western Minnesota is hard for yours truly to figure. Veteran U.S. Congressman Collin Peterson got backed into a corner where he shied away from sounding much like a Democrat any more. He was in fact a long-time Democrat. A photo of him posing with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was used against him. As if Pelosi was seen as rather a poison out here.
My suggestion to Collin was that he roll the dice and not be intimidated by the red state fragrance. Yes, he could have lost anyway, probably would have. Stand forward as a proud Democrat and you could at least be true to yourself. Isn't that what life is all about in the end? Sticking with your principles and your well-grounded loyalties? Switching parties wouldn't work for him, because he would be overwhelmed, pummeled by a GOPer who exudes the fragrance. I would suggest the fragrance is not like flowers.
Meanwhile, Michelle Fischbach is entranced by the fragrance in spades. The Democrats are whimpering out here in western Minnesota. Forget trying to mimic Republicans because it's the card-carrying Republicans who own that turf. There is no equivocation.
You thought Tom Emmer was rock-ribbed? Fischbach is worse. She directly helped foment what happened on January 6 at the U.S. capitol. Guess what TV outlet she utilized? Well, I guess it could have been Newsmax but it was the old standard, Fox News, the favorite of our president from 2016 to 2020. Fischbach asserted that the Democratic Party manufactured votes. In the aftermath of the Jan. 6 incident, she tried denying that certain parties were even responsible.
Even with the nation stunned by what happened, Fischbach refused to calm the waters, as she voted to challenge the counting of electoral votes. Even Emmer did not do that. White supremacists and fascists had laid siege to our precious capitol. We needed leadership to maintain a steady course, to preserve our basic institutions. I thought stability and temperance were hallmarks for political "conservatives." They once were, to be sure.
I remember conservatives from my childhood who were bastions for proper behavior. It was part of what defined them, actually. Gone with the wind, eh? Today these unbalanced folks drop the F-bomb and use the coded expression "let's go Brandon." Signs outside of Brandon MN have been defaced to promote the disgusting message. A residence by East Side Park in our Morris MN has had a sign, "Biden, stick your unity up your (blank)." The sign did not fill in the blank - it didn't have to. Young children play in the park right across the street. Very recently I have seen "for sale" signs outside the place. Maybe they'll move to Brandon.
Fischbach got on board with the effort to disenfranchise millions of voters, many in minority elements of the population, by voting to challenge the electoral college. Elections are run by the states in this country. States have the responsibility to investigate "irregularities." The latter is a buzzword used by people of Fischbach's stripe. It's deliberately vague.
Zealous Trump-ite Fischbach along with Jim Hagedorn were Minnesota Republicans who voted late on Jan. 6 to reject the electoral college results of two major states. Mere hours had passed since wild-eyed Trump supporters had stormed the capitol building. We saw lockdowns and evacuations.
Fischbach is the Seventh District congressperson, Hagedorn is the First District.
Fischbach read a carefully crafted statement that could be absorbed into the ether of vagueness. But it was good as a pep talk for those of her ilk: "This election was shrouded in allegations of irregularities and fraud too voluminous to ignore."
Allegations, irregularities, voluminous. But where's the beef? It was a smokescreen, a rhetorical tactic that comes off largely as posturing. The problem here, in spades, is what was at stake. My old high school civics teacher, the late Andy Papke, might faint from disbelief re. it all. He'd seek to share with his students the prima facie fact that the capitol rioters committed a disgusting act. He'd impress upon his students the need for civility and reason. And he'd probably be sent on his heels by local red staters who would practically lose their minds. You've read about people showing up at school board meetings and raising hell?
I fear that the church life in Stevens County contributes a lot to this. You all are not doing Christianity a favor by echoing the likes of Fischbach and Hagedorn. Look for Christianity to begin fading as a new generation gains maturity. I have "stuck it out" in my ELCA church which has resisted the tide. A friend of mine was only half-kidding when he told me I attend "the communist church." I can be friends with these people because I still hold out some hope for them. Heaven help us all if we lose hope.
Ben Franklin asserted that "we have a republic, if we can keep it."
The attempted coup d'etat of Jan. 6 should have been seen for what it was. The emperor had no clothes. If we're thinking of Donald Trump, I wouldn't want to see him naked. Stormy Daniels has. Karen McDougal has. Trump supporters celebrate his moral shortcomings because of the Christian presumption of sinfulness. We can go forth and weigh the pronouncement of Mississippi Republican governor Tate Reeves, who stated that dying from covid isn't that bad because Christians can count on eternal life. Such stuff is an advertisement for just leaving Christianity.
Tom Emmer is the Sixth District representative. He and fellow Republican Pete Stauber, Eighth District, voted to certify the election results. Emmer displayed the simple wisdom of asserting that election challenges fall within the purview of the courts, not Congress. There would be danger in federalizing the election.
Voting against money
Representative Fischbach was contrary to the infrastructure bill. Our own city manager has commented that the measure would "result in billions of dollars going to Minnesota for infrastructure projects." The city manager explained that the city already has a number of projects in the works that would quality for the federal dollars. Minnesota is set to receive $7 billion across the next ten years.
Emmer and Fischbach were both naysayers this time. Minnesota would have been a loser. And Morris.
And we're so uptight about Collin Peterson being photographed with Nancy Pelosi! Ours is not to wonder why. My friend Del Sarlette finishes the quote thusly: "We're only here to mop and dry." And, to maintain our republic.
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com
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