We hadn't looked at the Minnesota 7th Congressional District Republican Party Facebook page for a while. A brief visit did not disappoint.
Looking forward to President Trump's statement about Iran's missile attacks on two bases in Iraq, the page admin shared a choice rant by Sean Hannity:
That aged well. As Fox News staffer Brooke Singman reported after the president's statement, Trump says Iran ‘appears to be standing down,’ missile strikes resulted in no casualties.
Fortunately, Minnesota's Seventh Congressional District Republicans still have a chance to exercise their bellicose tendencies. The Otter Tail County Republican Party is hosting a congressional candidate forum, an upcoming event which the CD7 GOP shares:
That's some mighty iconography for a Minnesota county political party. Not a visual communications choice we'd make.
It's a print by Ralph Heinz of The Battle of Prairie Dog Creek Western Kansas, August 21, 1867, commissioned as part of the National Guard's Heritage Series. According to the text accompanying the image:
. . . On July 15, 1867, four companies of the 18th Kansas Volunteer Cavalry were mustered into Federal service. Under command of Captain Horace L. Moore, the 18th set out immediately for a month of vigorous campaigning. Returning to camp at Ft. Hays, then in the midst of a cholera epidemic, the Kansans then joined forces with the 10th U.S. Cavalry, the famous black "Buffalo Soldiers." A combined force of 135 men, commanded by Captain George A. Armes of the 10th, rode down the Saline River; Captain Moore, with 125 Kansans, scouted upstream. The two groups had lost contact with each other when Captain Armes' group was struck by 300 to 400 Kiowas and Cheyennes under . . . Satanta and [Hook Nose/Vóhko'xénéhe]. As Armes' group of men held their ground through fierce fighting, the men of the 18th Kansas, hearing the noise of battle, managed to fight their way through to Armes. To break the stalemate, Captain Armes formed a party for a charge on the Indians. Led by Armes, the force of about 20 black regulars and regulars and Kansas volunteers moved first toward Prairie Dog Creek, and then, turning charged up the hill toward the main body of warriors. The Indians broke and scattered, ending the day's fighting. The cavalry had lost 3 men dead and 36 wounded; the Indians, 50 dead and 150 wounded. The Battle of Prairie Dog ended the U.S. offensive operations on the Kansas frontier for the year, and in the fall treaties were signed with the tribes of the Southern Plains. The proud tradition of the 18th Kansas Volunteer Cavalry is carried on today by the men and women of the Kansas Army and Air National Guard.
The Wikipedia profiles of Satanta and Hook Nose/Vóhko'xénéhe consider the indigenous warriors' side of the larger story about the colonalization of what the National Guard calls the "relatively empty lands of the Great Plains."
We're a bit dubious of framing Republicans going to a candidate debate as the cavalry, or Native Americans as opponents rather than as voters (or opponents as Native Americans fighting for their homes) but perhaps the Otter Tail County Republicans didn't think it through.
Nor do we understand the need to appropriate the valor of 19th Century National Guardsmen from Kansas, when Minnesota has its own fine tradition in its National Guard.
As for the candidate forum itself:
Saturday, January 25, 2020 at 2 PM – 4 PM
Light and Life Auditorium at the Broen Home 824 South Sheridan St. Fergus Fall
Candidates Attending: Dr. Noel Collis, Dave Hughes, Joel Novak, Jayson Sherman
Michelle Fischbach did not accept our invitation.
Moderator: Brad Schmidt of Knox radio in Grand Forks
Come and hear from the various candidates running for the CD 7 Endorsement. Cards will be provided so that you will be able to ask the candidates questions as well.
The Republican Party of Otter Tail will also have various items available to help support the activities of the BPOU. . .
We don't know why Fischbach isn't saddling up, but the guys will be there.
Screengrab: From Facebook.
Comments