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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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, ...

In October 2001, following the horrific 9/11 terrorist attack on the U.S., American military forces invade Afghanistan to overthrow the Taliban regime that had harbored the Al-Qaida organization responsible for the attack. Our goal was not just to punish the Taliban, but to establish a free, ...