An Assassination in Minnesota

June 14, which is Flag Day and marks the birth of our Army, was a day of tragedy here in Minnesota with the assassination of Minnesota State Representative Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark. A gunman entered their home in the early morning hours and shot both of them, resulting in their deaths. The attacker had previously entered the home of State Senator John Hoffman and his wife and daughter and shot Hoffman and his wife. At this writing both are expected to survive.

The gunman posed as a police officer, dressing up in tactical gear and driving a vehicle that could be mistaken as a police vehicle at first glance. Here is a brief overview:

The June 14 Minnesota attacks

The suspect has expressed anti-abortion views in the past and the list of people found in his vehicle included not just Democratic legislators, but abortion rights supporters. A possible motive for his actions. One thing someone pointed out to me and that is interesting, is the time lag between when police found the Hoffmans at 2am and when they encountered the suspect at the Hortman home at around 3:30am. What was he doing for an hour and a half? The distance between the two homes wasn’t very far at all, certainly it would not take that long to travel.

This day was, as you know, the day for the No King’s protests around the country. While I had heard about the shelter in place order for Champlin and Brooklyn Park, I had no idea at the time what was actually transpiring. I did find it a little odd that I heard about it on CNN while having breakfast. Usually fly over country doesn’t really rate national attention. However, it was revealed that the targets of the shooting were state legislators. I had a few errands to run before the protest that I was attending was supposed to start, so I never thought to check my email, and only found out when I arrived a few minutes before the scheduled start of the protest that it had been canceled due to safety concerns. But there were people there and the person who told me about the cancellation said that they were still going. I never considered not going. I had anticipated this protest for too long. As I walked over to the rally point I saw others carrying signs and joining the group. I do not know how many came, or how many chose to stay away, but the crowd seemed to grow as time went by. While I can’t say how many there were, it was a decent size. And, like the other protest I attended, the cars drove by, honking in support or giving us the finger. I didn’t seem to see as many obvious Trumpers in big pick ups as before. There were some clever signs marking the No Kings event and signs for Melissa and Mark. There was, perhaps, a more somber mood than the earlier protest. But the people there, I think, were determined not to let fear rule them. We all seemed to feel that we needed to be there. This was bigger than a single tragedy. And, I suspect, those who died that day would have wanted us to continue on in our fight for our country’s future. From what I have heard there were still many protests around my state, including at the Capitol, where an estimated 25,000 showed up.

Here is one that was actually set to music. I loved the song.

You see, this is our country and we are taking it back.

As of now, the search continues for Melissa and Mark's killer. We will find him.

Update:  The suspect in the attacks on our legislators and their spouses, Vance Boelter, was arrested the night of June 15th.  Kudos to the great job done by our law enforcement. 

That Other America

It’s still out there. I know, I know, it’s been hard to find, but there have been glimmers of it for some time now. Yes, we saw it in my last post, and we see it in our neighborhoods. Yes, I am talking about a normal America where people actually care about one another and desire to help the less fortunate.

What with the oval office redecorated as a bordello and our Grifter-In-Chief accepting $400 million planes from foreign sources, with the draconian cuts to programs meant to help the sick, disabled, elderly and families just trying to survive being rolled out in order to cut taxes for those who really can afford taxes it’s been a dark few months. So much so that it has been hard to watch the news. But sometimes there comes a flicker of light, of hope, but maybe also of sadness over what could have been.

For anyone who watched the DNC, or who read the social media accounts and watched the YouTube videos, you may remember Gus Walz. He is the son of our governor Tim Walz here in Minnesota. His public display of emotion over his father’s being nominated for Vice President was either accepted as a very nice reaction to what for him was a wonderful thing or ridiculed. It is those who ridiculed his behavior who really should be ashamed. Since that time there has been no follow up, until now.

Gus Walz did an interview, speaking about his situation and what happened at the DNC. He really is an amazing person and should be heard.

I cannot help but feel a great deal of sadness that this family is not in Washington right now. They would have really helped America remain one of the greatest countries that has ever existed instead of a country where people do not desire to travel to.

A Shot Heard Round the World

It was 250 years ago that the American Revolution began. In the intervening years we have struggled to become a united nation. We have fought a civil war and struggled with issues of equality and justice. We have always muddled our way through despite our imperfections, striving to be better.

This snippet of video depicts the beginning of that revolution. While there is a question of Paul Revere’s ride, there is no doubt that this was the start of something massive in scope.

We have a tradition of standing up to kings and dictators. Let us hope that this still remains so. Because America was not meant to be one vindictive little man’s, and his fascist enablers, plaything to tear asunder as they will.

As it is also Easter let me leave you with a lovely song by some very special people.

We have always been a nation of immigrants. They have been the backbone of this country. In fact, one might say they are the people who helped create it.

A Protest

Yesterday was a day of nationwide protests against many of the policies of the Trump administration. Everyone had their personal issue to advocate for. Many had multiple issues to advocate for. I went to my local protest. I didn’t know what I would find, as my area is Trump country. Well, at least a good half of it is. So as I was driving into my town I started to see cars parked along streets blocks from the rally point. A couple was walking carrying a sign. That was my first clue that there may be more people there than I had anticipated. It didn’t help that I was 15 minutes late. I was having one of those kinds of days. So I started driving around searching for a spot to park. None of the usual suspects had a space for me. But fortunately my local bank, which isn’t open on Saturday, had room in its parking lot. Yes, the spaces were marked for customers only, but as I am a customer I grabbed one.

People were lined up on both sides of our main street carrying signs, with cars honking their support as they drove by. Many cars. Many more than is normal for a Saturday afternoon. I walked down the street trying to find a place to set up shop and display my sign that I had manufactured the night before. It was the first protest sign I had ever made. It held up quite well in the wind, I must say. I had struggled to decide what to say. There was so much I could have said. But I stuck to a more general plea, “Hands Off Our Future” read one side and “Stagflation Affects Everyone” on the other. My intent was to send a message, even if it fell on deaf ears, to the Trumpers that I figured would show up. They don’t seem to care about our democracy, but maybe they would care about their wallets and their children’s future.

There were the usual signs, “Dump Trump”, “Hands off *insert favorite issue here*, but also one apologizing to Canada, one alluding to the fact that while Trump has raised tariffs on many of our allies, he has not put any on Russia. One of my favorites said, “It’s so bad even the introverts are here”. I saw one Ukrainian flag walking around, and went up to that person to thank her for bringing it. She said many people didn’t know what it was. I showed her my shirt, which had the Ukrainian trident symbol on it. There was a Canadian flag and a penguin walking around. The meaning of the penguin didn’t dawn on me until the next day when I was watching a CNN news show talking about the tariffs Trump put on the island occupied only by penguins. Very clever.

I moved around a bit taking pictures to send to friends who couldn’t attend. I eventually migrated to the main rally point and stood behind a couple, holding my sign above their heads. As I mentioned cars would drive by, honking if they supported us, or giving us the finger if they didn’t. There were quite a few of the supporters in cars who had signs of their own plastered to their windows and many waved. I think there were some who just got caught up in the protest without realizing it was there. They were just going somewhere. Those people just ignored us. The couple in front of me left, so I moved forward. There was a feisty little lady to my left who was waving two signs. She must have been in her seventies, maybe a child of the sixties, used to protests. Anyway, there were at least 3 rather large trucks of Trumpers, tricked out with Trump banners or flags that drove up and down, revving their engines and burning rubber, literally. This lady would scream at them as they went by “cowards”! I just flashed my “Stagflation” sign at them. It probably won’t do any good, but when the economy tanks and we slide into stagflation, maybe they will remember my sign.

What I found at the protest were people who are just as concerned as I am about the survival of our democracy and the health of our country’s economy. They worry about the gutting of so many of our critical agencies. You may have noticed that we were nowhere to be found in Myanmar. I read that while we still have some response teams, Trump had eliminated funding for travel.

Protests:

 

Protests in Chicago:

I just grabbed a couple videos, but these protests were happening across the country. I had a glimpse of America again, and it was a welcome relief from the horrors of the Trump administration.

Elon Asks a Question

I am sure you are aware of the protests at Tesla dealerships around the world, as well as the attacks on Tesla vehicles, using various methods.

In this interview Elon Musk appeared to be totally bewildered as to why anyone would attack his Tesla's, calling the act “domestic terrorism”. The interviewer in this video tries to sound so reasonable, even as he spouts the nonsense used in the propaganda being peddled by the far right.

Perhaps you should ask the people who live in the country you are helping Donald Trump destroy in the guise of cutting out “waste and fraud”, Elon.

Unfortunately, there are the owners of a Tesla vehicle who bought them pre-Trump election who are now stuck with their purchase. Not all are wealthy enough, or have the desire, to just walk away from a vehicle they bought for other reasons. The irony of this whole thing being that many Tesla buyers are probably Democratic, and democratic, voters.

Some people are going to great lengths to protect their investment.

It is a sad state that we have fallen into, but perhaps attacking a car or truck, is preferable to attacking other things. You do not marginalize so many people in your thirst for power and wealth and suffer no consequences.   When no one in government cares to listen to the people of the country they are responsible for caring for then people will start to act out in ways that you may not like.

March 14, 2025

 This Friday, March 14, 2025 there will be protests in all of the state capitals and in Washington.  These are protests in support of our veterans.  

If you are able please show them your support.

No Buy Friday, Feb. 28, 2025

Consumer spending makes up approximately 70% of the U.S. economy. There is a challenge for all US consumers, that is to not spend anything at a major corporation on Friday, Feb. 28, 2025. This protest is against the anti-DEI measures that Donald Trump has been taking and corporations have been following.  But it could apply to anything pertaining to his actions against our economy.  While this one day will not have much of on impact on current economic conditions, it will perhaps send a message to those who have the power to halt or modify Donald Trump’s actions in allowing DOGE to remake the US economy into that of a third world nation’s.

No Buy Friday

Make no mistake the policies of indiscriminate cuts, massive firings, whole scale sweeps removing immigrants, marginalizing people for whatever reason, cutting mandatory government programs, like Social Security, Medicare & Medicaid, reneging on contracts to farmers etc., will eventually have a detrimental impact on our economy. All of this will affect everyone.  So even if you are indifferent to the inequality, injustice and down right simple meanness that permeate Donald Trump's actions this will affect you.

So on this one day, perhaps reminding people of what a depression can look like may wake some people up.

Or not.