In good hands

THUMBS UP: Thousands of mothers and babies in the last 33 years have been in good hands at New Ulm Medical Center with Dr. Marc Burkhart, OB/GYN. And patients in the operating room have received excellent care as well from Lori Burkhart, RN, Marc’s wife.

The husband/wife medical team retired this week, and we’re sure they will be missed in the hospital corridors. We wish them well, and hope the many, many babies delivered and patients who have been tended will wish them well, too.

A glancing blow

POINTER: Compared to the devastation Hurricane Dorian visited upon The Bahamas, the U.S. East Coast has sustained a relatively glancing blow. It was a hard blow nonetheless, with tornados spawned by the hurricane ripped through areas of the Carolinas. Four deaths in the Southeast were blamed on the storm. But the hurricane missed Florida entirely, grazed Georgia and pushed up along the Carolinas coastline, its strength weakening. Fortunately, 1.5 million people had evacuated, thanks to emergency orders.

We should be thankful the damage was not worse, and prepare to do what we can for the people of The Bahamas, who were not so fortunate.

Bad blood

THUMBS DOWN: Minnesota Republican Party Chairwoman Jennifer Carnahan was at the Brown County Republican Funraiser on Thursday, and she had plenty to say about the venom and abuse directed at her and at other Republican volunteers in the party booth at the Minnesota State Fair. Her accounts of being cursed at, spit on and harassed are not easy to hear. Minnesota Nice should not allow this.

There is no excuse for this kind of behavior among political rivals, but this heavily-charged political atmosphere has been growing darker in the past few years, and at least one Republican can assume some of the blame for that. Our president gained office by smearing his opponents and critics, calling them names and ridiculing them. His excesses continue to this day, and we hear very little from his party in the way of condemnation.

Again, that’s no excuse for those who abused GOP volunteers at the State Fair. A return to civil political discourse will not happen if everyone returns evil for evil.