Central Minnesota Political

Sometime last week Donald Trump reached an awful milestone. His public lies since being inaugurated as president of the United States exceeded 10,000. I don't know if his lie that Juan Guaido is the elected President of Venezuela was made before Trump reached his shameful land mark or after, but it is remarkable for its brazenness. Here is the statement that was made on White letterhead on May 1st: “Juan Guaido  indeed is the duly elected constitutional leader” of Venezuela, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said today. “Our task is to continue to support all those who are supporting Juan Guaido.” The truth is that Guaido's political party boycotted  last year's election and President Nicolas Maduro was re-elected. Furthermore, the United States meddled in those elections to the extent that it is difficult to sort truth from fiction. The election was irregular and is contested  but one thing that is true is that Guaido was not elected president. Hugo Chavez - Wikiped...

Newsletters from the elected representatives in Senate District 9 arrived in my in-box late last week. Representative Kresha's newsletter was enigmatic. Representative Posten was predictably disappointing. I say Representative Kresha's newsletter was enigmatic because all his constituents learned was that his daughter was going to go to prom and that the legislature took some votes last week. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy for the Representative's daughter, but the folks in the district didn't elect Ron to give them weekly updates on his kids. I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that Representative Ron is using his weekly reports on his kids, and the kids in Little Falls in general, to brand himself as the "nice-boy-next-door" who we sent to St. Paul to --- what? --- practice his extreme politics? Well, we won't worry about the latter. It's the "nice guy" part that counts. Right?! Below Rep. Kresha's warm familial ...

I wrote a column about the reactionary non-vision of M.A.G.A. and the Trumpists for the Long Prairie Leader a couple of weeks ago. Then, the Intercept published the video "Message from the Future" by Rep. Ocasio Cortez. In it Ocasio Cortez looks with a clear vision toward a hopeful future that can be. It is a stark contrast to the Trumpists looking backward to a past that never was. I urge you to look at AOC's inspiring video and, if you care to, to read my description of M.A.G.A. the follows. "Message from the Future"   https://theintercept.com/2019/04/17/green-new-deal-short-film-alexandria-ocasio-cortez/ I saw a photo of Donald Trump on his golf course the other day. He was wearing one of those red caps with M.A.G.A letters on it. Make America Great Again was the whining complaint that got Donald Trump elected and it’s the same absurd complaint he imagines that will get him re-elected. What the dickens does it mean to Make America Great Again? W...

Will regressive Minnesota legislators leave Minnesota in the energy Dark Ages. The end of the age of non-renewable carbon based fuels is near. It is, as my brother Patrick suggests, like a cornered beast thrashing about and causing great damage, before its final demise. But its end is inevitable and not that distant. The strongest evidence for the truth of this is that, in spite of the destructive thrashing about in the American White House, one hundred and thirteen towns and cities in the United States have committed to converting to 100% renewable energy within the next fifteen to thirty years, according to a count being kept by the Sierra Club ( https://www.sierraclub.org/ready-for-100/commitments ). In addition this group, there are already six communities that have made the transition. Georgetown Texas, a city of more than 60,000, has been powered by 100% renewables since last year and tiny Greensburg Kansas, which was leveled by an EF5 tornado in 2007, got off the gr...

Everybody in the neighborhood has been busy cooking maple sap this week so there's not been time for much else. I did take a few minutes to read an article at Common Dreams about Tax March. Here's the article   http://tinyurl.com/y6eat3lu Rep. Ocasio Cortez and Sen. Warren have put forth wonderfully bold plans such as the Green New Deal and free college tuition. To pay the bills they've proposed having corporations and the ultra-rich pay the bill. Of course the Trumpians are hollering, "Socialism! Socialism!"  It turns out that Americans are just fine with that brand of socialism. They seem to think that the rich have had more then their fair share of the American Pie for too long. Below are some polling results, obtained via the Common Dreams article, that bear that out. You can sign up to be part of the virtual -  so far - Tax March at the website below the graphic. Tim Central Minnesota Political PS: Anybody want to buy some maple syrup! On b...

A bill, known as Worker Safety and Energy Security Act, is being considered by the Minnesota Senate and House. The Worker Safety and Energy Security Act, which is also known as HF 2241 or SF 2011, offers no protection to Minnesota workers. Instead, it proposes imposing draconian fines, and even prison time, on water protectors and environmental protestors. Although energy infrastructure such as power plants are included in the bills text, the authors dedicate much of their energy to oil and gas pipeline resistance. The bill exists because of the strong resistance to the Dakota Access pipeline and the anticipated protests if Line 3 construction starts next year.   This week I had the honor of working with a group of people from MN350, the Sierra Club, The Land Stewardship Project, and the Minnesota chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union to develop a communications strategy to oppose this nasty piece of 1st Amendment busting legislation.   It was very satisfying ...