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Editorials

Facebook and Trump

When Donald J. Trump was president, the presidency was not a bully enough pulpit for him (“bully” meaning excellent, as Theodore Roosevelt used it), he used social media as no president had before to spread his views and opinions to the public directly, to mock his opponents and praise his ...

Thumbs Up/Down

Win at any cost THUMBS DOWN: Politics has always been a messy business. “Politics ain’t beanbag,” wrote 19th century novelist Finley Peter Dunne, and he was right. Still, it has been practiced with a modicum of integrity in the past, but those days seem to be fading in the rearview ...

COVID rules to ease, power struggle remains

Gov. Tim Walz announced a timetable for the easing and ending of the state’s COVID-19 rules on Thursday. The argument over his ability to make such rules in the first place continues on, however. Here’s what will happen with the rules: As of noon today (Friday) there will be no more ...

Playing hardball on vehicle emissions

Republicans in the Minnesota Senate have decided to play hardball on the issue of auto emission standards in the state. Hardball is the only game available to them, unfortunately. Republicans are willing to shut down the state parks, indeed, much of of the state’s environmental ...

Auditor/Treasurer clarification

Recently, we wrote about the issue of converting the office of the Brown County Auditor/Treasurer from an elected position to an appointed position. We said that if Brown County Commissioners pass it, it would go to a referendum. That is not quite right. If the commissioners pass a resolution ...

Two weeks to go for Legislature

The Minnesota Legislature has about two weeks left in its current session. The DFL-controlled House and Republican-controlled Senate have been looking for compromises to reconcile their budget proposals. Will they be able to bridge the gap in time? If recent history is any indication, no, ...