Earlier this month, we reprinted a pointed Mankato Free Press editorial in a post, Mankato Free Press: Hagedorn's "No" vote on infrastructure bill hurts MN01 constituents.
The Star Tribune also reprinted the editorial as Hagedorn's inexplicable vote as Hagedorn' inexplicable vote in an Opinion Exchange on its op-ed page.
On Saturday, the Free Press editorial board concluded a four-topic Our View editorial with Degrading democracy:
Thumbs down to Jim Hagedorn and Michelle Fischbach, who represent southern Minnesota in the House of Representatives, for continuing to put tribal loyalty above the health of our political system.
This week Hagedorn and Fischbach joined all but two of their Republican colleagues in supporting and condoning the symbolic violence expressed by Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., who posted on his social media accounts an animated video depicting him killing Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y, and assaulting President Joe Biden.
The House Republican “leadership” couldn’t muster even a weak criticism of Gosar, and only two members of the caucus supported the Democrats on Wednesday as the chamber censured Gosar and stripped him of his committee assignments.
Meanwhile the party mutters about removing the 13 Republicans who voted for the infrastructure bill from their committees, and at least some of the 13 say they are receiving death threats.
Roads and water pipes bad. Violent threats good. This is the disgraceful level to which the Grand Old Party, with the concurrence of backbenchers Hagedorn and Fischbach, has sunk.
As the Sack cartoon from January suggests, this isn't the first time Hagedorn and Fischbach have embraced an alternate reality about civility and the rule of law.
On January 7, Forum Communications' Dana Ferguson reported in Hagedorn, Fischbach break with Minn. delegation, reject Electoral College vote:
The chairman of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party on Thursday called for Hagedorn and Fischbach to be expelled from Congress as they failed to abide by their oaths to defend the U.S. Constitution against enemies foreign and domestic.
U.S. Reps. Jim Hagedorn and Michelle Fischbach late Wednesday, Jan. 6, voted to reject the 2020 Electoral College results of two major states, hours after a mob of President Donald Trump's supporters stormed the Capitol building in Washington, D.C., forcing lockdowns and evacuations.
The two Republican lawmakers, from Minnesota's 1st and 7th Congressional Districts, respectively, broke with two fellow Republicans and six Democrats in the state's delegation. And they were among more than 100 House Republicans to reject Arizona and Pennsylvania's electoral votes in a last-minute attempt to overturn the election results in Trump's favor.
The pair of staunch Trump allies in separate news releases said they had concerns about the way the elections were conducted in Arizona and Pennsylvania and called for additional investigation into the contests there. They pointed to concerns about changes made to accommodate voting during the COVID-19 pandemic and said some of the changes were made without state legislative approval. . . .
The chairman of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party on Thursday called for Hagedorn and Fischbach to be expelled from Congress as they failed to abide by their oaths to defend the U.S. Constitution against enemies foreign and domestic.
“Yesterday’s mob breached the United States Capitol with the explicit goal of halting the certification of the 2020 presidential election and thwarting American democracy," DFL Chairman Ken Martin said. "It is unthinkable that any sitting members of Congress would share these aims, especially after that mob laid siege to the Capitol, yet Representatives Hagedorn and Fischbach have done exactly that and must face severe repercussions for their actions." . . .
As the pocket pundits say, they seem nice.
Cartoon: Hagedorn and Fischbach put in an earlier joint appearance on an op-ed page in a Steve Sack cartoon published by the Star Tribune on January 9.
If you appreciate Bluestem Prairie, you can mail contributions (payable to Sally Jo Sorensen, 600 Maple Street, Summit SD 57266) or use the paypal button in the upper right hand corner of this post. Those wishing to make a small ongoing monthly contribution should click on the paypal subscription button.
Or you can contribute via this link to paypal; use email [email protected] as recipient.
I'm on Venmo for those who prefer to use this service: @Sally-Sorensen-6
Comments