Willmar City Council member Ron Christianson might not have been willing to tell people last week at a contentious council meeting why he voted to fire popular City Administrator Charlene Stevens, but over on his person Facebook page, he's freeing sharing his opinion of feeding poor people.
Dr. Annette Bosworth, an unsuccessful candidate in last year's South Dakota Republican U.S. Senate primary, posted the same image to her Facebook pagein May 2014. Typical of the coverage at the time is Huffington Post's GOP Senate Candidate Likens Food Stamp Recipients To Wild Animals.
With one minor difference, the "joke" is the same tired comparison between feeding hungry people and feeding wild animals that state representative Mary Franson (R-Alexandria) shared in a legislative update YouTube the Republican House caucus taped for her in 2012 as she talked about a bill to reduce the time families could qualify for public assistance.
Franson was widely criticized for the moment; now in her third term, she's the chief author of a bill to raise monthly payments to families receiving assistant via the Minnesota Family Investment Program.
It's not likely that Christianson, now in his sixth term, will become self-aware quite as rapidly as Franson has. However, with over 50 percent of children attending Willmar Public Schools receiving reduced or free school lunches in 2012 (ability to receive the lunches is linked with eligibility for SNAP), perhaps Christianson might want to soften his opinion.
In the meantime, we suspect he'll continue to promote himself as a guy who builds trust, consensus, neighborhoods and communities--by comparing his neighbors to animals:
The Ron Christianson. Willmar City Council. Ward 2 Facebook page features photos of the same individual as the personal page, so it's the same guy.
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When the Republican Implosion finally hits (despite all the favorable coverage the Kochs and their friends can buy), it will be people like Franson who will be left to pick up the wreckage.
Posted by: Phoenix Woman | Mar 25, 2015 at 07:39 PM