Duehring lost, and returned to the Washington DC area. He served on the Bush-Cheney Transition Team, Department Defense Transition Team following the 2000 election, and was appointed as the Air Force's Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Reserve Affairs and Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Manpower and Reserve Affairs under the Bush Administration from 2001 through 2009.
Mr. Duehring is a 28-year Air Force veteran, having been commissioned in 1968 through Officer Training School. He is a decorated combat pilot, completing more than 800 missions during the Vietnam War as a forward air controller, including a tour as one of the Raven FACs in northern Laos. Mr. Duehring has flown more than a dozen types of aircraft, amassing more than 1,200 hours in the A-10 Thunderbolt II. He retired as a colonel in 1996. His final military assignment was U.S. Air Attaché to Indonesia.
Mr. Duehring has served on the Bush-Cheney Transition Team and the Department of Defense Transition Team. He was the Executive Director of the Patrick Henry Center for Individual Liberty, a non-profit educational and charitable foundation, and he was endorsed as the Republican candidate for the Minnesota 2nd Congressional District in 1998. Prior to his current assignment, Mr. Duehring served six years as the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Reserve Affairs. He performed the duties of acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for Reserve Affairs in the absence of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Reserve Affairs, including an extended period during and following the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. . . .
. . . While the war in Vietnam ebbed and flowed with alternating violence and boredom, there was a rumor of another war, somewhere else, where men flew long hours in propeller aircraft without markings into constant danger in a land where adventure reigned supreme, where common sense replaced the hated Rules of Engagement and where a man could finally test the limits of his abilities. These pilots were few in number and their call sign was Raven.
This is the wartime autobiography of one of the few pilots ever to fly under that now famous call sign. Craig Duehring lived and flew out of the guerilla headquarters at Long Tieng, Laos, in support of the iconic Hmong leader, Major General Vang Pao, for a longer tour of duty than any other Raven. During that time, he knew many of the most notable Ravens and participated in many tragic events of the day – including the famous “St. Valentine’s Day Massacre”.
This is the story of how one young man left the farm country of southern Minnesota and embarked on a career as an Air Force pilot during the height of the Vietnam War. Equally as important as the combat he experienced is his personal triumph over repeated obstacles and near disasters to achieve his dream that will be a source of inspiration for young readers everywhere. . .
Photo: Craig W. Duehring during a Pentagon press briefing, Sept. 14, 2001. Via Wikimedia Commons. Image was released by the United States Department of Defense with the ID 010914-D-9880W-047.
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From the outset, Donald Trump’s presidential campaign has been anything but conventional. Despite a litany of words, actions, and behaviors that would have ended any other candidate’s ambitions, Trump defeated a deep roster of Republican presidential hopefuls and remains, to the incredulity of many, a viable candidate for the most powerful office in the world.
While writing his success off as a product of luck or celebrity culture may be comforting, beneath the surface of his campaign lies a recognizable structure indicative of a strategy that is actually quite sophisticated. Indeed, it is accurate to characterize the Trump campaign as an example of hybrid warfare, and by analyzing the race in these terms, it is possible to find order in the chaos of his candidacy.
There is no single agreed-upon definition of hybrid warfare among military professionals, but all of the definitions coalesce around one characteristic: offsetting the conventional military strength of an opponent by reconceptualizing both the nature of war and the means used to wage it. Through a careful application of a mix of tools, including high-intensity military battles, low-intensity insurgent and guerilla campaigns, economic and political pressure, and propaganda, an adversary seeks to aggregate small victories into achieving strategic goals while avoiding the risks and costs of a more traditional confrontation.
The exact mix of tools employed is less important than the ability to be highly agile in their use and to confront the enemy with a mix of problems at every level of the conflict. Above all, hybrid warfare recognizes the military advantages in information, disinformation, and propaganda as instrumental in shaping the international and domestic political environment to help achieve war aims.
This definition of hybrid warfare may seem superficially vague, and dismissing the very concept of hybrid warfare as an inconsequential remix of already existing military tools and practices is tempting. However, the fact that describing the difference between hybrid warfare and older military ideas is difficult should not conceal the significance of these changes.
To illustrate the gravity of this difference, it helps to examine the emergence of the German blitzkrieg between 1939 and 1941. Although the exact nature of blitzkrieg is interesting in its own right, a detailed description of it is beyond the scope of this analysis. It is enough to say that when the Second World War broke out in 1939, every major nation possessed the physical tools of blitzkrieg—tanks, armored infantry vehicles, and close air support. Indeed, some of the nations targeted by the German blitzkrieg possessed these tools in greater numbers than the Germans. However, only the Germans had reconceptualized the use of these tools and put these ideas fully into the field.
Although hybrid warfare has only emerged in the last two decades or so, there are already several examples of its successful implementation, including the 2006 Lebanon War between Israel and Hezbollah, and recent Iranian efforts to exert power in the Middle East. However, the single most accomplished practitioner of hybrid warfare is Russia.
For at least ten years, Russia has used hybrid warfare methodologies to re-exert its power over its traditional sphere of influence, intimidate its neighbors, and generally diminish the power and credibility of the United States. This effort has included the 2008 Georgia-Russia War, the 2011 annexation of Crimea by “little green men”, and the ongoing conflicts in Syria and the Ukraine. While I have no evidence other than conjecture of the existence between the Trump campaign and Russian strategy, such a connection would not surprise me.
When viewed in terms of hybrid warfare, the actions of Trump begin to make a lot more sense. Trump has never bought into the conventions of electoral politics, and while this is a major factor in why he seems to be immune to the normal criticisms of a candidate, it also conceals differences with his opponent’s campaigns that are deeper and more significant. Traditionally, candidates see their campaigns in terms of two domains fought more or less sequentially.
The first of these domains is the nominating process, in which a candidate seeks to garner enough support by a major party to earn its endorsement. Following the successful conclusion of this fight is the battle for the next domain: the general election. Winning this domain requires appealing to a broader segment of the population. Consequently, the transition to this domain is characterized by a pivot from either the political left or the right (for Democrats and Republicans, respectively) toward the center of the political spectrum.
In contrast to this two domain model of U.S. presidential campaigns, Trump has always conceptualized this election as at least three separate domains, all of which he fought simultaneously instead of sequentially. We will call the first of these domains the white nationalist domain--that is, the largely white, largely rural voters who see the changes of the last fifty years as a departure from something better (this "golden era" is largely a myth, but let's ignore that for the moment).
These voters are alienated by the social and economic changes that began in the 1960s and continue to this day. Previous GOP candidates have done what they could to appeal to this segment of the population, because they are a significant conservative voting bloc. That said, these white nationalists have traditionally had little real political power; to some extent, Republicans took them for granted. Trump's campaign has flipped that script.
Literally, from the first day of his campaign, when Trump described Mexican immigrants as racists, he has placed white nationalists at the center of his entire election effort. His campaign slogan--Make America Great Again--speaks to this voting bloc in a language that they understand while avoiding at least some of the backlash that more extreme language would create. In this way, Trump has earned the loyal support of white nationalists while not stepping out-of-bounds of conservative voters.
The second domain is the Republican Party itself. By placing the white nationalists at the center of his campaign, Trump has created a powerful tool to manipulate both Republican candidates and the party elite. While it is clear that many in the GOP view Trump with distaste, fear of losing the white nationalist voting bloc that they need to win elections forces most Republicans to acquiesce to his campaign. Because of this, Trump’s support of this bloc is a powerfully coercive tool, as it forces other candidates to confront a set of choices they would rather not make. Moreover, if Republicans bail on him, Trump does not need to change his tactics a bit. He can simply lump them in with the elites he is already criticizing, strengthening his own election narrative while casting doubt on theirs.
The final domain is much broader, and it includes both traditional media and the Democratic Party. I feel comfortable lumping these together because, on some level, they have shown a reluctance to stray from the traditional tools of the trade. This is understandable in the case of the media, as they are ethically compelled to abide by a certain set of practices. As such, they are excellent foil for the Trump campaign's sophisticated use of propaganda. As far as the Democratic Party is concerned, for all of their claims of superior intelligence and flexibility, they tend to abide by a set of orthodoxies that, in the end, make them an utterly conventional opponent vulnerable to unconventional tactics.
Notice how much time Democrats have spent on the issue of Trump's tax returns. While this is a legitimate issue, and it has become somewhat more important in recent weeks, has the return on the investment been worth it for Democrats? At best, the answer is a qualified yes. Democrats have used large amounts of political capital attacking Trump on this and several other issues, but these attacks have yielded only marginal results. This asymmetry of return on resources invested is another hallmark of hybrid warfare.
You will also notice that, although Secretary Clinton's candidacy has been the primary beneficiary of the recent revelations of Trump's sexual misconduct--which, let's be honest, we all saw coming--the domain in which Trump is losing this election is the second of the three domains discussed above--within the GOP itself. There is finally enough evidence of Trump's behavior to give the Republican elite and many mainstream Republican voters abandon the candidate, come what may in the general election. While this is partly speculation on my part because the events have yet to play out and I have not yet seen enough polling since last Friday, I feel confident in this assertion. If the rise in Secretary Clinton's electoral chances is not matched by a fall in her unfavorability numbers, that would be evidence that I might be right.
Secretary Clinton will almost certainly win this election, and it is possible the Senate flips along the way, but there is a real danger that this will be a short-term victory. Another characteristic of hybrid warfare is that it takes a long time. The Crimean Annexation took place over two years ago. The Syrian Civil War has been going on since 2011. The Russo-Georgian War happened in 2008. As stated before, all of these events can be tied into a long-term campaign to weaken U.S. power in the world in general and in Europe in particular.
If Trump is indeed following a hybrid warfare model of electoral politics, this would indicate that this type of politics--whether with Trump at its center or not--is here to stay.
Samuel Twitchell is a PhD candidate in the Department of History at Iowa State University, where he studies the history of military technology and 20th century military history. He lives in Johnston, IA. This post is adapted from a Facebook post by Mr. Twitchell.
Photo: Donald Trump.
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QFM is "a Christian radio station licensed to Fosston, Minnesota with its main studio in Grand Forks, North Dakota and additional studios in Bemidji, Minnesota," according to Wikipedia. It's owned by Pine to Prairie Broadcasting (FCC ownership data here, here, and here).
The calendar posting lists Tammy Godwin as the contact person (Godwin was responsible for asking Usama Dakdok to Bagley for speaking engagements in 2013 and 2014).
John Guandolo’s website is www.understandingthethreat.com I suggest you go to his website and click on “About John Guandolo” to access a pdf with 2 pages of information about John and his organization, an organization dedicated to providing strategic and operational threat-focused consultation, education, and training for federal, state and local leadership and agencies, and designing strategies at all levels of the community to defeat the enemy: Islam and the Jihadi Movement in the U.S.
UTT is the only organization in America which is briefing leadership at the national, state and local levels on the severity and dangers of the jihadi network here, providing training to law enforcement detailing the strategies and modus operandi of the jihadis (“terrorists”) while providing specific investigative guidance showing them how to locate and prosecute terrorists, (organizations and individuals) and working at the state level to create strategies to dismantle these networks.
John’s presentation will review the threat and the jihadi network in the U.S. and Minnesota, but will focus on the cooperation between the hard-left/Marxist Movement and the Jihadi Movement in the U.S. and practical actions citizens can take to defend their communities and take back ground.
County seat of Clearwater County, Minnesota, Bagley was home to 1,392 people at the time of the 2010 U.S. Census. Residents are represented by state representative Steve Green, R-Fosston, and state senator Rod Skoe, DFL-Clearbrook, in the Minnesota legislature--and by MN07 Congressman Collin Peterson in the U.S. House of Representatives.
A former FBI agent, Guandolo shares his version of his bio on his website's About page. Elsewhere, Guandolo's critics paint a different picture. Reporting in Salon in 2014, Josh Glasstetter of the Southern Poverty Law wrote:
[Guandolo] regularly attacks the U.S. government, claims that the director of the Central Intelligence Agency is a secret Muslim agent for the Saudi government and says that American Muslims “do not have a First Amendment right to do anything.”
Guandolo joined the bureau’s Counterterrorism Division in the wake of 9/11, but by 2005 he was posing as a driver for a “star witness” in the corruption case of former Congressman William Jefferson (D-LA). He made “inappropriate sexual advances” to that witness and soon was having an “intimate relationship…that he thought could damage an investigation.” He also unsuccessfully solicited the witness for a $75,000 donation to an organization he supported and carried on extramarital affairs with female FBI agents.
Guandolo’s actions risked tanking the government’s prosecution of Jefferson, and he faced an investigation by the bureau’s Office of Professional Responsibility. Though he later expressed “deep remorse” for his actions, he resigned from the bureau in December, 2008, ahead of an investigation by the Office of Professional Responsibility. Later that month, he became a full-time anti-Muslim activist and conspiracy theorist –– all under the guise of being a counterterrorism expert.
According to his resume, Guandolo became Vice President of the Strategic Engagement Group in December, 2008. He describes the tiny consultancy as the “only company in the United States aimed at identifying potential threats to homeland security.” This would come as a shock to the many U.S.-based consultancies and contractors who actually do this work, often for many millions of dollars – e.g.Booz Allen Hamilton, SAIC, Stratfor, Ashcroft Group. But that’s the thing about Guandolo, he actually believes that only he and a small cadre of allies – including the anti-Muslim ACT! For America, whose Thin Blue Line project he helped launch – understand geopolitics, terrorism and Islam.
In Guandolo’s mind, the U.S. government has already been infiltrated by the enemy –– Muslims. He raised eyebrows –– and was widely mocked –– a year ago with wild claimsabout John Brennan, who was later confirmed as director of the Central Intelligence Agency. Speaking on a far-right online radio show, heclaimed that Brennan had “interwoven his life professionally and personally with individuals that we know are terrorist” and given them access to top government officials. What’s more, he claimed Brennan “brought known Hamas and Muslim Brotherhood leaders into the government and into advisory positions.”
Why would Brennan do such things? Guandolo knows. It’s because Brennan was the target of a successful “counterintelligence operation against him” in Saudi Arabia and converted to “Islam when he served in an official capacity” there. And the conspiracy doesn’t stop there. Guandolo claimed a couple weeks later that President Obama had “made a significant effort to protect known members of Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood inside this government.” . . .
The SPLC also looks at Guandolo here and here, while Right Wing Watch has a John Guandolo category on its webpage. The Washington Post reports that author David Shipler has debunked the central tenet of Guandolo's conspiracy theory in hisbook "Freedom of Speech: Mightier in Than the Sword":
A compelling chapter depicts the community of self-appointed guardians who make a business of issuing impassioned, McCarthy-like warnings about Islamist conspiracies to take over the United States. Shipler introduces us to Frank Gaffney Jr. of the Center for Security Policy; John Guandolo, a former FBI agent; and Steven Emerson, who runs the Investigative Project on Terrorism Web site. All maintain that the Muslim Brotherhood is engaged in an international conspiracy, through a variety of front organizations, to insinuate itself into American life and achieve Islamist world domination. Shipler attends an all-day training session run by Guandolo on how to advance these anti-Muslim views in the media, and he tracks down the sources these so-called experts rely upon to back up their overheated claims.
He finds that the central document underlying most of the claims is a 15-page “explanatory memo” found in an FBI search of an Annandale, Va., home in 2004. Signed by Mohamed Akram, a member of the Palestine Committee of the Muslim Brotherhood, it describes the Brotherhood’s goal as “a kind of grand Jihad in eliminating and destroying the Western civilization from within” and includes a list of “our organizations and the organizations of our friends,” naming some of the most well-established, mainstream Muslim groups in the United States. Gaffney calls it “the Rosetta stone for the Muslim Brotherhood.” Shipler shows that in fact the document is nothing more than a thought piece drafted by a single individual in the early 1990s, and that there is no evidence it was ever considered, much less adopted, by the Muslim Brotherhood or anyone else. Shipler’s research shows that other supposed evidence of the grand Islamist conspiracy is similarly speculative.
This chapter, much like the book as a whole, illustrates the freedom of speech at work. Gaffney, Guandolo and Emerson are, of course, exercising their First Amendment rights, but in doing so they pose a real threat to the political freedoms of others, as they tar with unjustified suspicion Muslim civic organizations that are engaged in the promotion of civil liberties, religious freedom and Muslim identity, not terrorism. Shipler’s response is not to call for the suppression of the conspiracy theorists’ speech, but simply to demonstrate that their claims are vastly exaggerated and unsubstantiated. In short, he answers their speech with his speech. An objective reader cannot help but come away with a better understanding of the truth. This is the freedom of speech at its best.
A 2015 Guandolo talk in Little Falls
The seminar at Cragun's isn't the first time Guandolo has spoken in Greater Minnesota. Columnist Tom West of the Morrison County Record wrote:
. . . about a month ago, another speaker showed up in Morrison County. His appearance was by invitation only (meaning only those on the approved list were told the location), but about 70 people showed up at a senior center to hear what he had to say.
I was told that the reason for the secrecy was because the organizers were afraid that CAIR would attempt to disrupt the meeting.
The speaker was John Guandolo. If one runs a Google search on him, what one finds is interesting. Guandolo is a former FBI agent, and he is well connected to a group that includes a retired lieutenant general, a retired admiral, a former U.S. ambassador and a number of former CIA analysts.
Guandolo believes that the Muslim Brotherhood through various front organizations is working to overthrow the U.S. government from within and replace it with an Islamic caliphate governed by Sharia law.
That’s quite a bold statement, but Guandolo says don’t believe what he says, just listen to what U.S. Islamic leaders are saying. He has written a book, “Raising a Jihadi Generation,” which contains numerous excerpts from the documents of U.S. Islamic leaders to confirm his position. Many of the documents were seized during FBI investigations. . . .
. . . The writer’s information source, John Guandolo? He’s a “former” FBI agent because he resigned from the FBI after it became known that, while married, he had inappropriate sexual relationships with female agents and with a confidential source witness during a federal government corruption investigation. He now cruises the anti-terrorism speaker network looking for secret meetings and gullible Islamophobic folks.
The writer owns a bully pulpit from which is displayed editorial sloppiness that is cause for concern in this community. Even where it is legal to speak contemptuously about a religion, is it wise? Does it encourage intolerance? Is it compassionate? Should society encourage or oppose it? If we are going to move forward as a society, we must do all that we can to avoid denigrating the dignity of another human being.
We found no evidence that Guandolo's most recent [the one in January] visit was promoted to the general public--and so we'll have reserve judgement as to whether he actually linked Black Lives Matter to terrorism.
Critical thinking, hearsay, and policy
We believe Americans can say pretty much anything that we want--but shouldn't expect that our freedom from censorship includes freedom from criticism, ie, others' freedom to speak their minds. . . .
Photo: John Guandolo.
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After losing the Republican endorsement in Minnesota's Sixth Congressional District to sitting Representative Tom Emmer, rabid anti-refugee ranter AJ Kern continues to fight toward the primary.
Sixth District residents should probably be happy that she's running for Congress, rather than running a travel agency.
Minneapolis to Somalia flights. Book cheap flights to Somalia from Minneapolis. Search multiple flight deals from various travel sources with one click.
cheapflights.com
This is followed by sharing a 2013 post, Mogadishu's Best Popular Beach: Lido Beach, from Visit Mogadishu:
Kern would like to serve in Congress, but substitutes cheap shots for due diligence on her campaign page.
We'll help her out, since she doesn't seem able to help herself.
US State Department Travel Warning
Vacation in Somalia? Not recommended by the United States State Department, which issued this Somalia Travel Warning back in late May:
The U.S. Department of State warns U.S. citizens to avoid travel to Somalia because of continuous threats by the al-Qaida affiliated terrorist group, al-Shabaab. U.S. citizens should also be aware of the risks of kidnappings in all parts of Somalia, including Somaliland and Puntland. There is no U.S. embassy presence in Somalia. This replaces the Travel Warning dated October 1, 2015.
The security situation in Somalia remains unstable and dangerous. Terrorist operatives and armed groups in Somalia continue to attack Somali authorities, the troops from the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), and other non-military targets. Kidnapping, bombings, murder, illegal roadblocks, banditry, and other violent incidents are common throughout Somalia, including Somaliland and Puntland. Al-Shabaab remains intent on conducting attacks against popular restaurants, hotels, locations known to be popular with Westerners, and convoys carrying Somali and other government officials. Last year, there were at least eight prominent hotel attacks located in the heart of Mogadishu, the Somali capital. One U.S. citizen was killed during one of these attacks. Munitions caches and unexploded ordnance exist in various parts of the country and remain a danger to civilians.
In addition, al-Shabaab has demonstrated the capability to carry out attacks in government-controlled territories, with particular emphasis on targeting government facilities, foreign delegations' facilities and movements, and commercial establishments frequented by government officials, foreign nationals, and the Somali diaspora. There is a particular threat to foreigners in places where large crowds gather and Westerners frequent, including airports, government buildings, and shopping areas. Inter-clan and inter-factional fighting can flare up with little or no warning.
There are continuing threats of attacks against airports and civil aviation, especially in Mogadishu. Al-Shabaab continues to conduct attacks against the Mogadishu Aden Adde International Airport (MGQ) using mortars and other standoff weapons. The group also has conducted attacks from within the airport’s secure perimeter and successfully detonated an explosive device concealed in a laptop on an airplane shortly after take-off.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has issued a Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) containing information on the U.S. prohibition against U.S. civil aviation operations in airspace over Somalia due to security risks toward civil aviation. For further background information regarding FAA flight prohibitions and advisories for U.S. civil aviation, U.S. citizens should consult the Federal Aviation Administration’s Prohibitions, Restrictions and Notices.
U.S. citizens are urged to avoid sailing near the coast of Somalia. Merchant vessels, fishing boats, and recreational craft all risk seizure and detention by pirates in the waters off the Horn of Africa, especially in the international waters near Somalia. Pirates and other criminals have specifically targeted and kidnapped foreigners working in Somalia, including two U.S. citizens in the past several years. Consult the Maritime Administration's Horn of Africa Piracy page for information on maritime advisories, self-protection measures, and naval forces in the region.
. . . Looking at the Facebook photos of Omar and Abdirahman together, I thought about the wave of violence eliminating my country’s young brains. I remembered my friend, engineer Abdullahi Barre, who was shot in front of his house in Mogadishu in April 2015. I thought about another school friend, Omar Afrah, who narrowly survived a car bomb. I counted the number of journalists, businessmen, aid workers, teachers and lawmakers who I knew and who had been targeted in attacks over the last few years.
The violence that dominates Somalia is as physical and emotional as it is gruesome and ghastly. Those who have the will and the way are either hiding behind barriers or leaving the country. However, through an unyielding veneer of persistence, people in Mogadishu wake up and go to work every morning. They defy the violence and try to have normal lives – until they don’t. . . .
Bluestem can't discern whether Kern is ignorant, cruel, or sadistically stupid. One thing the post clearly demonstrates--with its indifference to the brutal facts of the Somali Diaspora and current situation--is that she's not congressional.
Photo: People carry away a body away from the Lido beach (top, AFP via the Independent); Kern's Facebook post (middle); Lido Beach (via the Guardian, top).
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Today is Memorial Day--which was Decoration Day until 1971, when it became a federal holiday. Decoration Day grew from dozens of local ceremonies immediately following the Civil War, including the moving story of African Americans in Charleston who worked to give fallen Union soldiers a proper burial and remembrance.
Seventy-two years after he gave his all off the coast of Normandy, France, on June 6, 1944, U.S. Navy Motor Machinist Mate 1st Class John Emanuel Anderson was laid to rest Saturday in his hometown of Willmar, surrounded by family, veterans, dignitaries and members of the community. Under a rainy sky they came together, not only to say goodbye, but to say thank you. It was a somber occasion but one that was also a celebration. . . .
Anderson’s remains were identified by DNA testing in 2015 and disinterred for reburial next to his parents in Willmar’s Fairview Cemetery.
The memorial service took place at Willmar’s War Memorial Auditorium, followed by the burial at Fairview Cemetery. The Willmar Brass Quintet provided the music and the playing of Taps, while the Minneapolis Navy Operational Support Center and Army Reserve/National Guard Honor Guard were on hand to perform the military honors, including acting as the pallbearers, folding the American flag and providing a gun salute.
Retired Brigadier General Dean Johnson of the United States Army National Guard gave the open and closing remarks and prayers at the service.
“You waited, wondered and questioned. Now he is finally home,” Johnson said.
After his death on D-Day Anderson had been buried as an unknown in the Normandy American Military Cemetery in Colleville-sur-Mer, France. His family was told he was missing in action, lost at sea after his LCT-30 tank landing craft was hit by enemy fire. His parents and three sisters died never knowing what had happened to Anderson. It took years of research, letters, phone calls and hope for Anderson to be positively identified, a moment his family thought might never have come.
“The journey was long and arduous,” Franklin said, one of nine nieces and nephews of Anderson.
Helping along the way was Jon Lindstrand, curator of the U.S. Military Historical Collection, who worked tirelessly for four years on Anderson’s case.
“It means those who were lost will not be forgotten. John’s story offers hope. Hope that they will all come home,” Lindstrand said during the memorial service. . . .
About 1,000 people lined the street to honor the missing sailor during the procession home. A public memorial Saturday brought out hundreds to honor his life.
“After all this time, to know exactly where he’s at and to have him back here at home is just huge,” Lindstrand said.
John Emanuel Anderson was born in Willmar, Minnesota, on September 25, 1919, to Oscar and Anna Anderson. He was raised in Willmar and graduated from high school in 1937, after which he worked for his father as a painter and decorator,planning eventually to take over his father's business. Following the outbreak of W.W. II in 1941, John enlisted in the U.S. Navy. He trained throughout the U.S. as a Motor Machinist. After serving in North Africa, Sicily and Italy, John was sent to England to prepare for the Invasion of the European Mainland in January of 1944.
John was the couple's only son, the youngest of four children.
His return--and the generous public support by the regional center that's home to just under 20,000 people, none of whom now are related to the fallen sailor--is a reminder that many Americans still honor those who sacrificed for this nation. Rest in peace, John Anderson.
Photo: Citizens lined the streets to honor Anderson. Photo via WCCO news.
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Two Democrats have joined more than 200 Republicans in a brief urging the Supreme Court to stand behind elderly nuns, Catholic priests, and other religious groups in their fight against what the Members are calling the "oppressive" HHS abortifacient and contraceptive mandate.
"It is not the government's place to determine what a person's religion requires, and the government cannot justify trampling religious beliefs when it has readily available alternatives to accomplish its goal," said a letter to Members from Representatives Diane Black, R-TN, and Mike Kelly, R-PA.
In an exclusive interview this morning, Rep. Black told LifeSiteNews that "Obamacare’s HHS mandate sets up an impossible choice for countless ministries and faith based charities: deny their deeply held beliefs and provide coverage for drugs they deem to be morally objectionable, or face crippling fines that could force them to close their doors."
Members in both chambers have signed an amicus brief to the Supreme Court urging justices to respect both the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and the 1993 Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA). Along with 205 Republican Senators and Congressmen are Democratic Representatives Dan Lipinski of Illinois and Collin Peterson of Minnesota.
Three House Republicans on Wednesday voted against the reconciliation bill that would defund Planned Parenthood and repeal Obamacare while one Democrat voted for it. The bill passed the House of Representatives 240-181.
Republican Representatives Bob Dold (R-Ill.), Richard Hanna (R-N.Y.), and John Katko (R-N.Y.) broke ranks with 239 of their Republican colleagues and opposed the bill while Rep. Collin Peterson (D-Minn.) was the only House Democrat to vote for the bill.
The other is that although the so-called Obamacare tends to be a partisan flashpoint, it wasn't a party-line vote. Three Republicans and a lone Democrat crossed the aisle for their vote.
That sole Democrat was Minnesota Rep. Collin Peterson, who noted that the vote wasn't for a complete repeal of the Affordable Care Act. He wouldn't have voted for a whole repeal, he said.
Peterson said the fact that he was the lone Democrat is a sign of how politically split Washington is. He defended his vote in an interview with MPR News' Tom Crann on Thursday, and claims that provisions in the bill change Obamacare but don't repeal it. Peterson says Congress should be working to change the legislation to improve it.
"We have now wasted what — three or four years going back and forth on this repealing the whole thing or keeping the whole thing when what we should be doing is working to fix it," he said.
No Republican opponent for 2016 so far
While the conservative Democrat frequently shows up on national Republican hit lists, there's no new Republican candidate so far to file to run against him and the 2014 flavor of the year, Elbow Lake state senator Torrey Westrom, wasn't raising any money in 2015 to run again for Congress.
I have always believed that public service is a noble cause. Those of us who have benefitted from all that America has to offer have an obligation to give something back to our country. I want to bring a new voice to our political discourse and new leadership to the U.S. Congress.
The next step in this exploratory phase of a congressional campaign is to raise enough money to be seen as a credible candidate. I’ve asked you to contribute to some seemingly impossible things in the past. I hope I can count on your financial support again. Together, we can do the impossible once more.
We'll continue to consult the FEC website for filings.
SOTU guest ticket to parents of soldier killed in war
Rep. Collin Peterson, the Democrat representing Minnesota's 7th Congressional District, donated his [State of the Union Address guest] ticket to Rep. David Cicilline, D-Rhode Island, so that the congressman could invite both parents of a U.S. soldier killed in Afghanistan, a Peterson spokeswoman said.
That's a kind gesture.
Photo: Rep. Collin Peterson, circa 2014.
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Following the US-Dakota War of 1862, 38 Dakota warriors were executed the day after Christmas 1862 in Mankato, Minnesota. This remains the largest public execution on American soil in United States' history.
Hundreds of people gathered in the cold and the snow at Reconciliation Park Saturday morning, trying to heal.
Some of them traveled hundreds of miles on horseback. Others had spent the night running from Ft. Snelling. Many just wanted to take part in a ceremony honoring the execution of 38 Dakota warriors more than 150 years ago.
Continuing a decades-long tradition, Dakota, Lakota and other Native Americans traveled to Mankato to honor the 153rd anniversary of 38 men who were hanged at the end of the Dakota War of 1862. They also came to preach forgiveness for the U.S.'s persecution of Native Americans in the 19th century, and to move forward with their respective cultures. . . ..
A series of treaties restricted the living space of the Dakota people to an area that could no longer sustain their traditional hunting economy. Promised payments and other remittance to compensate for the concessions were slow to emerge, withheld all together, or syphoned off by unscrupulous traders and others, leaving the Dakota people with nothing to live on—many facing starvation heading toward the long Minnesota winter.
With the Dakota people buffeted by the increasingly dangerous poverty and by the overt racism expressed by many of the white settlers and traders in the region (one trader infamously quipped “Let them eat grass” when informed of the pending starvation), it should not have been surprising when conflicts arose between the two races. The spark that would ignite the war came August 17, 1862, when four young Dakota hunters killed five settlers. In the past, wrote Carol Chomsky in her 1990 article “The United States-Dakota War Trials: A Study in Military Injustice” published in the Stanford Law Review, the young men might have been turned over to the Americans, but the Dakota people were in no mood for ignoring their situation. Instead, a war council was held that evening and a decision was made to go to war, though not supported by all the Dakota leaders. Even the war leader, Taoyateduta, Little Crow, reluctantly endorsed the action.
“In the 37 days of fighting, 77 American soldiers, 29 citizen-soldiers, approximately 358 settlers and an estimated 29 Dakota soldiers had been killed,” Chomsky wrote.
The Minnesota State Historical Society's US-Dakota War of 1862 section, Aftermath, includes a higher death count, but cites Chomsky's study in Trials and Hangings as well as chronicling the suffering of the Dakota people following the war.
Bluestem recommends registering at JStor and reading the scholarly article, “The United States-Dakota War Trials: A Study in Military Injustice” that LeMay cites in the Indian Country Today article, as Chomsky has conducted an exhaustive review of the primary historical sources about the war and trials.
What follows is a list, modified from Marion Satterlee’s “A Detailed Account of the Massacre by the Dakota Indians of Minnesota in 1862,” published in 1923. The spellings and translations are as Satterlee recorded them. A photocopy of her list and the hand-written list from Abraham Lincoln of those to be executed is found on a page of Minnesota Historical Society’s U.S.-Dakota War website. The two additional names are Dakota men tried and executed shortly after this mass execution, not on Satterlee’s listing.
Another list, posted by Gloria Hazell-Derby in connection with the 2013 Dakota 38+2 Memorial Ride, lists family heads and family members of the 3,368 Dakota people held prisoner at Fort Snelling in Minnesota after the war and many later forced on a march from Minnesota to the Dakotas. More than one-quarter of those who surrendered would die by the end of 1863, either in the camps or on the force march that followed.
Tipi-hdo-niche, Forbids His Dwelling
Wyata-tonwan, His People
Taju-xa, Red Otter
Hinhan-shoon-koyag-mani, Walks Clothed in an Owl’s Tail
Maza-bomidu, Iron Blower
Wapa-duta, Scarlet Leaf
Wahena, translation unknown
Sna-mani, Tinkling Walker
Radapinyanke, Rattling Runner
Dowan niye, The Singer
Xunka ska, White Dog
Hepan, family name for a second son
Tunkan icha ta mani, Walks With His Grandfather
Ite duta, Scarlet Face
Amdacha, Broken to Pieces
Hepidan, family name for a third son
Marpiya te najin, Stands on a Cloud (Cut Nose)
Henry Milord (French mixed-blood)
Dan Little, Chaska dan, family name for a first son (this may be We-chank-wash-ta-don-pee, who had been pardoned and was mistakenly executed when he answered to a call for “Chaska,” reference to a first son; fabric artist Gwen Westerman did a quilt called “Caske’s Pardon” based on him. [Photo of the Westerman quilt at the top of this post].
Baptiste Campbell, (French mixed-blood)
Tate kage, Wind Maker
Hapinkpa, Tip of the Horn
Hypolite Auge (French mixed-blood)
Nape shuha, Does Not Flee
Wakan tanka, Great Spirit
Tunkan koyag I najin, Stands Clothed with His Grandfather
Maka te najin, Stands Upon Earth
Pazi kuta mani, Walks Prepared to Shoot
Tate hdo dan, Wind Comes Back
Waxicun na, Little Whiteman (this young white man, adopted by the Dakota at an early age and who was acquitted, was hanged, according to the Minnesota Historical Society U.S.-Dakota War website).
Aichaga, To Grow Upon
Ho tan inku, Voice Heard in Returning
Cetan hunka, The Parent Hawk
Had hin hda, To Make a Rattling Noise
Chanka hdo, Near the Woods
Oyate tonwan, The Coming People
Mehu we mea, He Comes for Me
Wakinyan na, Little Thunder
Wakanozanzan and Shakopee: These two chiefs who fled north after the war, were kidnapped from Canada in January 1864 and were tried and convicted in November that year and their executions were approved by President Andrew Johnson (after Lincoln’s assassination) and they were hanged November 11, 1865.
Wakantanka Taku Nitawa
We close with a clip from the movie, Dakota 38 + 2, of a montage of the names and consequences, set to variations on Wakantanka Taku Nitawa (Many and Great, O God, Are Your works), set to the tune Lac Qui Parle. The Dakota language lyrics and music were composed by Joseph Renville and published in the Dakota dowanpi kinhymn book in 1842.
As a consequence of the war and public policy about indigenous language (and the religion and culture that it sustained), only a few elders have Dakota as their first language, though the Dakota Wicohan in Morton and other programs work to help new generations to cherish the language.
Photo: "Caske's Pardon." Mixed media sculpture/quilt by Gwen Westerman, 2012. Purchased from the 2012 "Ded Unk'unpi - We Are Here" exhibit. Minnesota State Historical Society.
In her artist statement, she writes, "'Caskes Pardon' is a response to some of the discussions today about obtaining a federal pardon for Wicanhpi Wastedapi, also known as Caske. He helped protect Mrs. Sarah Wakefield, the doctor's wife, during the war but was charged with murder and condemned to die. His name was not on the list of those to be hanged. In the style of retablos, or devotional paintings, this piece incorporates the traditional star quilt with 38 + 2 blue glass beads and represents Caske's prayer for those who executed him in retaliation."
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Mike Huckabee said in an interview on John Gibson's Fox News Radioshow today that the United States shouldn't be taking in Syrian refugees because it is cold in Minnesota. . . .
The best thing about this statement is that it refutes itself. Minnesota is actually one of the most welcoming states in the country when it comes to refugees. In the 1980s, the Minneapolis–St. Paul area became the top destination in the US for Hmong refugees from Southeast Asia after the Vietnam War. And starting in the 1990s, Minnesota has been one of the leading destinations for Somali refugees as well. . . .
Those of us fortunate enough to have been born in Mankato, home of children's author Maud Hart Lovelace, know that there's nothing new in people from hot places coming to live in Minnesota and liking it.
Lovelace loosely fictionalized her own childhood in Mankato in the "Betsy, Tacy" books, transforming the lovely Minnesota River Valley town into "Deep Valley, Minnesota."
Take the residents of "Little Syria" in Lovelace's 1942 book, "Betsy and Tacy Go Over the Big Hill." The blog, 100 Books That Every Child Should Read Before Growing Up summarizes the book in a post:
Betsy and Tacy Go Over the Big Hill includes the added richness of a foreign culture set down in rural Minnesota. During a picnic, Betsy and her friends happen upon Naifi, a lively Syrian girl who is out herding her goat. With black braids, earrings, a long skirt and longer pantaloons, she could not be more exotic. Her lunch is a chunk of cheese and round flat bread, her grandfather smokes a narghile, her grandmother pounds lamb for kibbee, her father writes Arabic from right to left. She lives in Little Syria, a ramshackle community of unassimilated immigrants who fled their country because of religious persecution. Now in Minnesota, they encounter prejudice of a different kind. Betsy, Tacy, and Tib come to Naifi’s aid when she is set upon by a nasty mob of boys taunting her with “Dago! Dago!” Lovelace does not belabor this zenophobia, neither does she whitewash it.
Betsy and Tacy Go Over the Big Hill is the third book in the Besty-Tacy series and was originally published in 1942, but the story takes place in 1902. Betsy, Tacy, and Tib each turn 10 years old in the beginning of the book, and hitting the double digits is a big deal for the girls. . . .
While Besty, Tacy, and Tib dream up ways to make Tib queen, Betsy’s older sister, Julia, has plans to become Deep Valley’s summer queen on account of a song she sang at school. A signature drive to allow the residents of Deep Valley to choose the queen leads to Betsy, Tacy, and Tib going over the big hill to a neighborhood known as Little Syria for its large population of Syrian immigrants. The girls learn that the things they’d heard about the residents of Little Syria are not all true, and they discover a new culture and new friends. But their trip over the big hill causes the fight between Betsy and Julia to grow bigger than before, and they must think about whether crowning a queen is more important than their relationship.
Betsy and Tacy Go Over the Big Hill is the first book in the Betsy-Tacy series to have a plot that creates tension and lasts more than a few pages. At age 10, the girls are growing up, and of course, with growing girls there’s bound to be drama. Maud Hart Lovelace’s characters seem so real, and getting to watch them grow up and evolve over the course of the series makes them feel like friends. When I’m reading the Betsy-Tacy books, I feel like a kid again, and I lose myself in Betsy, Tacy, and Tib’s adventures. Lovelace keeps the story light, though she touches upon a heavy topic — discrimination. Young readers can learn a lot from Betsy, Tacy, and Tib’s willingness to stand up for the young Syrian girl they met on a trip up the Big Hill. Lovelace describes the Syrian immigrants’ desire for the American dream and their hopes for the younger generation, and she shows how taking the time to get to know someone and not brush them off because they are different can create long-lasting relationships.
Our Grandfather Sorensen went to Americanization School with a number of Lebanese fellows, promptly learning enough Arabic to haggle at Mocol's grocery (not exactly what the American Legion had in mind with the classes, but these things happen).
Whatever the details--and Lovelace's fictionalizing--people from the Middle East and other hot places came to Minnesota. They liked it and one of the Mocol family became a much-loved mayor of Mankato.
Image: An illustration from Betsy and Tacy Go Over the Big Hill.
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Responding to a personal Facebook page post by Lakeland Broadcasting News Director/News Anchor John Cola calling for a ground war against ISIS, Minnesota state representative Tim Miller commented "counting the days when [Obama] can no longer cause destruction to the United States."
Miller's comment appears to be framed around President Obama's remarks at the National Prayer Breakfast, which drew criticism from some conservatives.
It's time for the world to grow some balls, and launch a ground war against Isis. Wipe them out like the cancer they are. But the US cannot go in there alone, they must be part of an equal force that includes European forces, and Arab forces. Isis says they have trained 4000 people and sent them back to the United States and Europe to launch individual terror attacks. We are at war with Isis, and they must be stomped out. politicians are too afraid to commit to a ground war, but it must be a three-legged stool… US Europe and Arab nations.
Our own President has said they are doing nothing more than what Christians did during the Crusades. While this is untrue and also should have no bearing on decisions made against ISIS today, his statements do block any rational and right decisions by the US. This man finds new ways every day to frustrate and embarrass me as an American. I am counting the days when he can no longer cause destruction to the United States.
Whenever he has a chance to take a stab against whites, the police, Christians or America, he takes it.
Here's a screenshot from Monday night as we created this post:
Miller is repeating criticism by some conservatives of the remarks. though their objections were not universal. Bluestem finds more common ground in Washington Post columnist Eugene Robinson's column, At the prayer breakfast, President Obama struck a patronizing tone:
I must immediately dissociate myself from the bombastic critics, mostly Republicans, who have accused Obama of grievously insulting Christians by noting that “terrible deeds” have been committed “in the name of Christ.” Obviously, this is true. Anyone who believes otherwise needs to crack a history book.
My objection is that Obama — in drawing parallels between past atrocities perpetrated in the name of Christianity and current ones by terrorists acting in the name of Islam — constructed an all-too-pat narrative that lets everyone off the hook, including himself. The admonition not to “get on our high horse” about jihadist terror as a “unique” phenomenon rings hollow, coming from a leader who routinely sends missile-firing drones to blow suspected militants to bits.
For the record, Obama’s history lesson was also incomplete.
“In our home country, slavery and Jim Crow all too often was justified in the name of Christ,” the president said. Indeed, slave owners claimed to find justification for their hideous crimes in the Bible, citing passages in both the Old and New Testaments that appear to authorize slavery and describe how human chattel should be treated.
But it is also true that the abolitionist movement grew out of Christian belief and the Christian church. William Wilberforce, the great British activist who spurred the abolition of slavery throughout the empire — and greatly inspired abolitionists in the United States — was a born-again Christian. Long before the Civil War, the religious and moral argument had been won by the anti-slavery side. Perpetuating the horror was, for slave owners, essentially an economic imperative. . . . .
Read the rest at the Washington Post.
For ourselves, we think that much foolishness could be avoided if we took this guy's advice about how and where to pray.
Just saying.
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In a pleasant surprise, Senator John Marty (DFL-Roseville) sent a note back:
For the past couple decades whenever the subject of environmental review comes up at the capitol, it is invariably described with negative adjectives.
Public engagement and environmental review are attacked as “burdensome” or unnecessary, and virtually all of the legislation on the issue is aimed at weakening the review process or exempting projects from environmental review.
It is time for the legislature to take a step back and look at the purpose of environmental review. This hearing will look at what environmental review is, why environmental review was established and how it enables local residents to ensure that their communities, their health and the environment are protected. [emphasis in original]
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Just in from First District Congressman Walz' office in Washington:
Today, the Democratic Steering and Policy Committee appointed Representative Tim Walz (D-MN) to serve on the influential House Armed Services Committee. In addition, Walz will continue to serve in prominent roles on the Agriculture and Veterans’ Affairs Committees. Walz is the highest ranking enlisted soldier to ever serve in Congress.
“I’m honored to be selected by leadership to this influential committee and look forward to this new challenge and responsibility,” Representative Walzsaid about his selection to the House Armed Services Committee.
The Armed Services Committee retains jurisdiction of all subjects listed in clause 1(c) of rule X of the Rules of the House of Representatives and retains exclusive jurisdiction for: defense policy generally, ongoing military operations, the organization and reform of the Department of Defense and Department of Energy, counter-drug programs, acquisition and industrial base policy, technology transfer and export controls, joint interoperability, the Cooperative Threat Reduction program, Department of Energy nonproliferation programs, and detainee affairs and policy.
Photo: First District Congressman Tim Walz, DFL-Mankato.
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So the Minnesota Republican Party issues a press release announcing how offended it is that Sen. Al Franken recently held two road cones to his chest as if they were female breasts.
Really. Is that the biggest issue they can come up with?
Does anybody realize that the race between Franken and Republican challenger Mike McFadden is not for homecoming king?
West points out:
Check out the campaign web sites of Franken and McFadden. Look under issues. Neither one has a word to say about foreign policy. Not one.
One would think a gratuitous sentence or two describing their visions for America’s role in the world would be merited.
West, the columnist, does not appear to approve of the withdrawal, but mostly what he's asking for is a debate, questions asked and answered.
Looking at two congressional races
We visited campaign and official websites for two other taces we've been watching more closely to see what the candidates and incumbents say about foreign affairs. In MN07, the campaign website issue pages for Congressman Collin Peterson and challenger Torrey Westom do not include a category for foreign affairs. Peterson doesn't have an issues page, focusing instead on his legislative work.
Briefly put: Hagedorn wants to "bug out" immediately; Walz supports the President's timetable for withdrawal, which other Republicans wh've actually been elected for office denounce as being too fast to satisfy strategic needs.
After nearly nine years, the war in Iraq has finally come to a responsible close. Moving forward, we must redouble our efforts to make certain our veterans have access to the best health care possible, are provided with ample opportunities for education and well paying jobs, and are becoming fully reintegrated into the lives they once knew.
Unlike the war in Iraq, the war in Afghanistan was not a war of choice. It has been a war forced upon us by the terrible attacks on September 11, 2001, and reinforced by the subsequent attacks on innocent civilians in nations across the world. In general, I support the President’s overall strategy for Afghanistan to remove combat troops from Afghanistan by the end of 2014. We must continue to remain vigilant to ensure that Afghanistan and Pakistan do not provide terrorists a safe haven.
While the language about the close of the Iraq War's close is subject to question, it does spell out a clear priority for addressing the needs of the conflict's veterans. What of the Afghanistan withdrawal?
President Obama, declaring that it was “time to turn the page on a decade in which so much of our foreign policy was focused on the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq,” announced on Tuesday that he planned to withdraw the last American troops from Afghanistan by the end of 2016.
Under a new timetable outlined by Mr. Obama in the Rose Garden, the 32,000 American troops now in Afghanistan would be reduced to 9,800 after this year.
That number would be cut in half by the end of 2015, and by the end of 2016, there would be only a vestigial force to protect the embassy in Kabul and to help the Afghans with military purchases and other security matters. At the height of American involvement, in 2011, the United States had 101,000 troops in the country. . . .
Republican critics in Congress said that even though Mr. Obama accepted the recommendation of his generals to leave behind a substantial residual force, the rigid deadline for the troops’ departure could expose Afghanistan to the same violence and instability that has erupted in Iraq since the pullout of the last American soldiers in 2011. Military commanders had recommended leaving at least 10,000 troops in Afghanistan for several years after the formal end of the combat mission in 2014. . . .
On his webpage and elsewhere, Hagedorn has focused his foreign policy attacks on Walz's position on Afghanistan. Hagedorn favors the immediate withdrawal of troops from Afghanstan, a position he reiterated on Facebook on August 26.
In Afghan War, he writes in part of a statement we believe to be from December 2013:
“The Afghanistan War has become a war of diminishing returns,” said Hagedorn. “Rather than prolong U.S. military involvement in Afghanistan and sacrifice more blood and treasure, as President Obama has proposed, we must end the war, bring our troops safely home and cease throwing good money after bad,” he said.
Read the whole thing at the site. He includes some characteristic graceless prose that he considers clever:
Hagedorn said Congressman Tim Walz has been silent while overly restrictive rules of engagement led to needless loss of life and injury in Afghanistan. “Tim Walz is proficient at issuing partisan press releases, but on this critical foreign policy and veteran’s issue the Congressman has been AWALZ for seven years - Away Without Authorized Leave Zzzz (snoozing),” Hagedorn charged.
Hagedorn said he advocates for the immediate withdrawal of all U.S. combat troops and personnel from the country. He said he also advocates for ending all funding to Afghanistan for the purposes of "nation building," such as constructing schools and hospitals. He said he opposes the security pact because it would lengthen U.S. involvement in the country.
“I think our time in Afghanistan has come to an end. We need to move on. Just bug out,” Hagedorn said.
Moniz reported on Walz's reponse:
Democrat incumbent U.S. Rep. Tim Walz declined to release an official position on the agreement until the final version is determined.
However he did send a letter to President Obama on Feb.13, urging an accelerating schedule for the withdrawal of U.S. combat troops from Afghanistan after 2014.
“The American people are tired of this war. I have heard from a number of my constituents who ache to see their friends and family return home. I have heard from others concerned that this decade-long war is unnecessarily debilitating our economy,” said Walz in the letter.
. . .Hagedorn pledged that while serving in Congress he will vote for the immediate end of U.S. Middle East combat operations and oppose the costly and discredited practice of nation-building. Hagedorn said he would work with like-minded legislators to implement a foreign policy based upon the Reagan Doctrine of Peace through Strength and assisting those willing to fight for their own freedom. “People who build their own institutions and battle for a better way of life are in the strongest position to create and foster meaningful democratic traditions,” said Hagedorn.
“Both political parties have mismanaged Middle East foreign policy these past 14 years and the result has been an uprising of radical Islam, the loss of U.S. prestige and the slaughter of Christians,” said Hagedorn. “The recent implosion of Iraq and rise of radical ISIS Islamists proves the policy of nation-building has failed.”
“Brave U.S. military personnel fought and died to create an opportunity for the Iraqi people to fight for their own freedom and defend democratic rule; unfortunately, it appears many Iraqis would rather live in a radical Islamic state than defend a democratic form of government,” he said. . . .
Read the whole thing to learn the policy he would urge the rest of Congress to adopt.
Hagedorn's "bug out" position puts him at odds not only with Congressman Walz, but with many leaders in his own party and the United State military who are critical of the President's policy, thinking that the withdrawal comes too soon.
Republican criticism of Obama's determination to withdraw from Afghanistan
While Hagedorn views the situation in Iraq as a reason to leave Afghanistan immediately, he appears to have little company among his party's leaders for bugging out.
Rep. Howard P. “Buck” McKeon (R., Calif.), chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, said the White House risked leaving Afghanistan in the same situation as Iraq. U.S. officials in 2011 failed to secure a long-term agreement for a minimum troop presence in Iraq, where sectarian violence has now reached its highest levels in five years without the assistance of U.S. forces.
“I’m pleased the White House met the military’s request for forces in Afghanistan,” McKeon said in a statement. “However, holding this mission to an arbitrary egg-timer doesn’t make a lick of sense strategically.”
“Does the president seek to replicate his mistakes in Iraq where he abandoned the region to chaos and failed to forge a real security partnership?” he continued. “We are in Afghanistan because it was the spawning ground of al Qaeda and the devastating attack on American soil. Those threats still exist. We leave when the Afghans can manage that threat, rather than on convenient political deadlines that favor poll numbers over our security.”
Sens. John McCain (R., Ariz.), Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.), and Kelly Ayotte (R., N.H.) also noted that Obama had previously announced dates for troop withdrawals regarding his surge strategy in Afghanistan. The president’s decisions to set fixed timetables without consideration of conditions on the ground harm U.S. credibility, they argued.
“The president came into office wanting to end the wars he inherited,” they said in a statement. “But wars do not end just because politicians say so.”
“The president appears to have learned nothing from the damage done by his previous withdrawal announcements in Afghanistan and his disastrous decision to withdraw all U.S. forces from Iraq,” they continued. “Today’s announcement will embolden our enemies and discourage our partners in Afghanistan and the region.”
Speaker John A. Boehner says it’s time for President Barack Obama to reassess his strategy for withdrawing from Afghanistan after an attack left a general dead.
“What happened today is not only a personal tragedy, but a setback that demands leaders in Washington and Kabul take time to assess the state of our shared campaign and the necessary steps forward,” the Ohio Republican said. “The Taliban’s recent campaign of high-profile attacks is calculated to accompany a global PR strategy highlighting the fact that U.S. and coalition forces will soon be leaving Afghanistan and abandoning its weak and ineffective government. The Taliban wants everyone to know it will soon dominate all aspects of life in Afghanistan once again. . ..
Boehner has long been a hawk on Afghanistan and Iraq.
And as far as the situation in Iraq goes, the Washington Post reports today that Senator Rand Paul, a leader of the more libertarian wing of the GOP, favors severe military action in Iraq:
Republicans pounced on the statement. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), speaking Friday in Texas, said, “If the president has no strategy, maybe it’s time for a new president.” He said in a later e-mail that he would call a joint session of Congress to seek authority “to destroy ISIS militarily,” using another name for the Islamic State.
Earlier in August, the New York Times reported that while Congress remained wary about intervention in Iraq, Republicans were warming to the idea:
A growing number of Republicans are criticizing Mr. Obama for not doing more. Senator Marco Rubio, Republican of Florida, said, “President Obama continues to appear unwilling to do what is necessary to confront ISIL and communicate clearly to the American people about the threat ISIL poses to our country and to our way of life.”
Representative Mike Pompeo, a Kansas Republican who is also a member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, said: “The president’s current path of action has been far too limited to make a difference. We must do what is necessary to eliminate ISIS, protect the innocent, and keep Americans safe.”
But few of these Republicans have laid out exactly what they want Mr. Obama to do to intensify the battle. . . .
Senator John Barasso wrote in the Wall Street Journal on Thursday:
• Afghanistan. The administration says it still intends to pull out the remaining 30,000 troops by the end of 2016. If it does, the country will quickly become a terrorist haven once again. As with Iraq, the timetable seems to be mostly about the political calendar. The Obama administration seems to have lost the will to win. The terrorists have not.
These conservatives would all seem at odds with Hagedorn. Will Hagedorn's double-plus "zero option" find favorwith them--and the financial backing to promote his message on the Afghan war as a means to getting to Congress? Will voters agree? Or will he shift to be more in line with his party?
Update: While we were working on this post, Heather Carlson posted Hagedorn, Walz disagree on immediate troop withdrawal at the Rochester Post Bulletin. Carlson did not frame Hagedorn's demands for an immediate withdrawal in terms of his national party's leaders' position.
Photo: Foreign troops in Aghanistan, via BBC.
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A reader calls our attention to a commentary in the Morrison County Record about the four-way primary for sheriff in the central Minnesota county. Editor and general manager Tom West applies an interesting standard for the candidates in Big differences hard to find in sheriff’s race:
On another topic, I asked the candidates for their views on the position of Pine County Sheriff Robin Cole, who said in 2012 that he would refuse to enforce any federal mandate, regulation or rule that he believes violates the Second Amendment right to bear arms and is not approved through the legislative process.
Gun owners have little to worry about in Morrison County. All claim to be strong supporters of the Second Amendment, at least for law-abiding citizens. Strack wants gun owners to be adequately trained and qualified; Larsen said his department wouldn’t enforce federal law, that’s up to the feds. Justin and Rocheleau agreed with Cole. Rocheleau said, “We are really the last stand for the people.”
However, Bluestem has to wonder if liberty-loving patriots would still want to see Robin Cole he;d out an the exemplar of the Second Amendment defender, since the Pine County Sheriff's department obtained a government surplus MRAP (Mine Resistant Ambush Protected) troop carrier last year.
Addition of military equipment to civilian law enforcement agencies has been criticized by the conservative Cato Institute and others concerned with blurring the line between public safety and war. Cole, who is not seeking re-election, told Watchdog's Tom Steward that the vehicle will "be used only within the constraints of the Constitution of this country."
We have to wonder though, reading SWAT team attends Z.E.R.T. training in the Moose Lake Star Gazette, if the framers of the Constitution really had this in mind:
Some residents of Pine County are questioning Sheriff Robin Cole for taking part in a non-government training exercise in southern Minnesota last weekend.
A total of four members of the Pine County SWAT team were in Morristown last weekend with their MRAP (Mine Resistant Ambush Protected) troop carrier for an event called Outbreak: Omega 6! at a Z.E.R.T. event.
Z.E.R.T. stands for Zombie Eradication Response Team.
According to its website, it is an organization that uses the Zombie as a metaphor for any natural or man-made disasters that will occur. Hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, criminal attacks, or any type of situation where being prepared, trained and, most importantly, armed with the proper mind-set, is required to see you and your family through to safety. . . .
According to Cole, they traded out with the organization to bring the MRAP down in exchange for working with instructors, who typically charge $1,000 per instructor. Cole said the training they received was valued at $4,500 in exchange for “a couple tanks of gas.”
Cole said the training they received was from special forces type of people and they were required to sign all appropriate waivers limiting the liability of Pine County in case something went wrong.
“We came out better on the deal,” Cole said, who spent two days in Morristown. “It was a good deal for the county.” . . .
Cole said the SWAT team members said it was one of the best trainings they have gone through. The sheriff said the training budget is $20,000 per year, which doesn’t go far.
“If we can do some horse swapping, we do,” the sheriff said.
Photo: Sheriff Robin Cole (right) and the MRAP at the zombie training.
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Bluestem has been writing about the need to complete the Lewis and Clark Regional Water System in Southwestern Minnesota almost as long as the blog has been around.
Unfortunately, the tristate infrastructure project has been caught in federal political games, enough though the support in all three states has long been bi-partisan. This spring, the Minnesota legislature approved funding to extend the pipeline into Minnesota, although finishing the pipeline all the way to Worthington will require more federal money.
Gov. Mark Dayton traveled to Luverne on Friday to meet with local officials and area legislators to discuss the next steps in advancing the construction of the Lewis & Clark Regional Water System.
Dayton listened, asked questions and offered his continued support to ensure the project continues on course toward completion.
Worthington Mayor Alan Oberloh opened Friday’s discussion by explaining that while the area did get hit hard with recent flooding, it didn’t solve the water issues that Rock and Nobles County are currently facing.
“Even though we had the amount of water that we did just recently, the wells in the Worthington area have not recovered and the need is still there,” Oberloh said. “(However) without your help, we wouldn’t be where we are at with the $22 million without your support.”
The Minnesota Legislature approved $22 million in May for Lewis & Clark in its biennial bonding bill. Troy Larson, executive director of the water system, told Dayton and others at the meeting where the $22 million will go in terms of the project’s timeline.
Globe staff writer Erin Trestor reports that Luverne should be online by the fall of 2015, while the line should make it to Worthington by 2018, provided federal money flows.
Read the rest at the Globe.
Photo: This will stop being the pipeline to nowhere by the fall of 2015. Photo via MPR.
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Three prominent Washington, D.C. lobbying outfits, representing rival political factions in Ukraine, continued lobbying for their Ukrainian clients through the last quarter of 2013, the most recent reports filed recently with Congress show.
Two of the companies, the Washington-based Podesta Group Inc and the Mercury public relations firm, have been registered with Congress for the last two years as lobbyists for the European Centre for a Modern Ukraine, a Brussels group whose financial backing is obscure.
Opposition activists and news reports in Ukraine have described the group as tied to Ukrainian President Victor Yanukovich's Party of Regions. . . .
Mercury, whose team working on Ukrainian issues is led by former Republican Congressman Vin Weber, reported $70,000 in fourth-quarter 2013 income from the European Centre, bringing its 2013 yearly receipts from the Brussels-based group to a total of $280,000.
Former Minnesota Congressman Vin Weber has had quite the career as a"revolving-door" D.C. lobbyist. But as one of Mitt Romney senior foreign-policy advisers, he's now under scrutiny for being a registered lobbyist for the European Centre for a Modern Ukraine.
The ECFMU was founded in January by a senior member of parliament for Ukraine's ruling Party of Regions, which is led by Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych. A 2011 special report from a D.C.-based human rights group concluded that Yanukovych "has become less democratic and, if current trends are left unchecked, may head down a path toward autocracy and kleptocracy." A followup published just a week ago found that "a year later, most of those key concerns remain, and in some cases the problems have grown considerably worse, especially in the area of selective prosecution of opposition figures and corruption."
Weber's ties to the ECFMU stand in tension with his history as an advocate for greater democracy in Ukraine--in 2010, the National Endowment for Democracy, an organization that makes grants to democratic non-governmental organizations throughout Ukraine, awarded him the endowment's Democracy Service Medal. He's also worked as chairman of the endowment. . .
McFadden has so far vastly outraised Ortman, though she hasn't reported a total for the last three months of 2013. At the end of the year, McFadden —who estimated his personal wealth at as much as $57 million on financial disclosure forms — had $1.7 million in campaign money in the bank. He's attracted support from national GOP figures like Karl Rove and Vin Weber, as well as former Sen. Norm Coleman, whom Franken unseated by the narrowest of margins in 2008.
Minnesota Historical Society bio of Vin Weber
Weber's congressional files were donated to the Minnesota State Historical Society. For those many Minnesotans who don't remember Weber's service, here's the historical biography:
Vin (John Vincent) Weber was born in Slayton, Minnesota on July 24, 1952. After graduating from Slayton High School he attended the University of Minnesota (1970-1974), where he studied political science. In 1974 he worked on Tom Hagedorn's campaign for Congress and, later, became Representative Hagedorn's press secretary. In 1976 he made an unsuccessful run for a seat in the Minnesota State Senate. Weber was co-publisher of his family's newspaper, The Murray County Herald, from 1976 to 1978. He managed Rudy Boschwitz's 1978 campaign for the U.S. Senate, and later served as Senator Boschwitz's senior Minnesota aide (1979-1980).
Weber was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1980 in what was then Minnesota's Sixth Congressional District. He was returned by the voters five times as the representative from the Second Congressional District, which was created in an early-1980s redistricting and included most of his old Sixth District. Weber's committee assignments included Science and Technology, Small Business, Public Works, Transportation, Budget, and Appropriations.
Weber was associated with a rising group of aggressive young House neo-conservatives (sometimes referred to as the "young turks") that included Rep. Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.). Calling themselves the Conservative Opportunity Society, they were anti-tax, anti-welfare state, and anti-communist and saw themselves as high-tech, futurist, populist, and conservative. They sought to win Republican control of the House of Representatives, and to reshape the post-Reagan Republican Party in their own image.
Weber retired from Congress in 1992 in the wake of the so-called House Bank Scandal. . . .
Rock County resident and traveling union goon Dale Moerke, a field staff member for Minnesota's West Area Council/Red River Valley, just shared a screen shot from Jeff Backer for MN House's Facebook page:
Bluestem's readers may recall that Backer scolds incumbent State Representative Jay McNamar for being "Metro" Jay.
Minnesota House District 12A is located on the South and North Dakota borders, in the Minnesota side headwaters of both the Minnesota and Red Rivers, thus putting citizens at risk of Iranian warship attack from either direction.
However, given that a series of locks and dams might stymie the warships ascent up the Mississippi, while the hydroelectical dam at Granite Falls might make for one heckova portage on the Minnesota, Bluestem thinks that the threat would have to steam south on the Red River of the North and so, global warming not withstanding, the peaceful residents of The Bump are probably safe until spring.
We hope that Mr. Backer can connect with our friend Natalie Warren, who traveled the river to its mouth. Perhaps her firm, Wild River Academy, can procure a naval contract to patrol the channel.
Those who have be following the progress of Mr. Backer's quest for endorsement by district Republicans know that he has gained many Facebook followers in Bangkok and Istanbul in the past week or so, while condemning Hollywood over an Oscar nomination kerfuffle. Between threats from Hollywood and the Iranian Navy, it's a wonder the good citizens of the district sleep at all.
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Coming soon to your local sheriff: 18-ton, armor-protected military fighting vehicles with gun turrets and bulletproof glass that were once the U.S. answer to roadside bombs during the Iraq war.
The hulking vehicles, built for about $500,000 each at the height of the war, are among the biggest pieces of equipment that the Defense Department is giving to law enforcement agencies under a national military surplus program.
For police and sheriff's departments, which have scooped up 165 of the mine-resistant ambush-protected vehicles, or MRAPS, since they became available this summer, the price [free] and the ability to deliver shock and awe while serving warrants or dealing with hostage standoffs was just too good to pass up. . . .
But the trucks have limits. They are too big to travel on some bridges and roads and have a tendency to be tippy on uneven ground. And then there's some cost of retrofitting them for civilian use and fueling the 36,000-pound behemoths that get about 5 miles to the gallon.
The American Civil Liberties Union is criticizing what it sees as the increasing militarization of the nation's police. ACLU affiliates have been collecting 2012 records to determine the extent of military hardware and tactics acquired by police, planning to issue a report early next year. . . .
An Associated Press investigation of the Defense Department military surplus program this year found that a disproportionate share of the $4.2 billion worth of property distributed since 1990 — everything from blankets to bayonets and Humvees — has been obtained by police and sheriff's departments in rural areas with few officers and little crime.
In addition to the MRAP now in St. Cloud, a half dozen are now controlled by sheriff outfits the Minnesota counties of Dakota, Pine, Sherburne, St. Louis, Olmsted and Wright.
Dakota and Wright Counties are suburban-to-exurban places; Olmsted is home to Rochester, the state's third largest city, while Duluth's in St. Louis County; part of Sherburne is in St. Cloud. Only Pine County counts as purely rural, although its proximity to I35 allows some residents to commute to the Cities for work.
The Wright County Sheriff’s Office has obtained a surplus military armored personnel carrier and is getting the heavy-duty law enforcement vehicle ready to roll.
“It’s basically a big dump truck that’s got a lot of armor on it,” said Lt. Todd Hoffman. “”We picked it up at Fort Bliss, Texas. It came back from overseas.”
The Wright County Sheriff’s Office was placed on a short list for acquiring the 2008 International Navistar MaxxPro Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicle because it plays a key role in security planning for the Monticello Nuclear Generating Plant in Monticello, Hoffman said.
“We’ve been working with the federal government ever since the nuclear plant has been here,” he said. “The Monticello pant, whether we like it or not, is considered a national asset. We have different types of plans for security, and there are different types of contingencies we have to be able to address. This vehicle fit nicely into our plan.”
The Military Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) operates a program called the Law Enforcement Support Office (LESO), Hoffman said. The LESO program assists local law enforcement offices across the country in acquiring surplus military supplies and equipment for no or little cost.
“These surplus fully armored vehicles are now being given to local law enforcement agencies at no cost. The sticker price on a brand-new vehicle is $658,000,” Hoffman said.
Wright County’s armored vehicle arrived Sept. 23 with 13,000 miles on it, he said. The Wright County Highway Department is currently working on the armored vehicle and giving it a thorough tuneup. Once operational, the vehicle will be used by the sheriff’s office and its emergency response team as part of its security plan for the nuclear plant. The vehicle will be used at other incidents if needed.
The Wright County Sheriff's office did remove the gun turret, a spokester tells the paper:
“There are two different types of vehicles,” Hoffman said. “The St. Cloud Police Department decided to keep the gun turret. We decided to take that off as well as some of the armor. Basically, it’s a transport built on an International dump truck frame. It doesn’t have any gun ports.”
Bluestem knew that St. Cloud State's Homecoming got rowdy, but this seems a bit overboard. Over at the Wright County Tea Party ally Wright County Watch, Tom McGregor approved the acquisition, although he had some reservations:
Troubling, in that there now seems to be a 20 year practice of distributing military-grade, assault weaponry to the local level. Here is a description of the Law Enforcement Support Office ( LESO ) program on the MN state web-site
“HSEM is the state administrator for the Minnesota Law Enforcement Support Office (LESO) program established by the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) through the Defense Logistics Agency. It allows law enforcement agencies to obtain surplus military weapons, tactical vehicles, aircraft and other equipment for any bona fide law enforcement need at no cost.
All transferred surplus items must have a direct application to the law enforcement agency's arrest and apprehension mission.
Since the inception of the program in 1993, more than $25 million worth of equipment has been transferred to Minnesota law enforcement agencies including the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA), the Department of Natural Resources' (DNR) Enforcement Division, along with 85 county sheriff's offices and approximately 325 local police agencies.”
But ultimately, he's down with it:
In the end however, I guess that until I hear that a 50-caliber machine gun has been mounted in the turret of that armored vehicle, I believe that we are still a long ways away from any danger of Wright County Sheriff’s department becoming an instrument of tyranny and oppression and I have to say that the acquisition of this vehicle is a good thing for the citizens of Wright County and for the men and women in Wright County Sheriff’s department who risk their lives on a daily basis protecting our freedoms and keeping Wright County safe.
That MRAP and the direction of a citizen energy rebellion
Meanwhile, the Wright County Watch is rallying the citizenry against a request by Geronimo Energy LLC to install three solar projects that will supply energy for Xcel Energy, which also operates the nuclear power plant at Monticello.
So, here is your chance, citizen of Wright County, to make your voice heard regarding solar energy in Wright County, but act quickly as a vote on the issue will be taken next Tuesday's Wright County Board meeting. One question that seems germane is: Do we really want our county commissioners, in essence, lobbying for something that ( will most likely be funded with tax dollars ) when there are serious questions about the effectiveness of alternative energy production?
The Commissioners voted to withhold support for the project until the boards of the townships form opinions about the projects, three of thirty-one sites in the distributed solar energy project.
It's curious to see the local Tea Party ally, like legislative Republicans, kvetching about solar energy, while remaining mute about Monticello. Earlier this month, the Star Tribune's David Schafer reported in Xcel Energy seeks a $291 million rate hike:
Xcel Energy asked for its largest-ever Minnesota electric rate hike on Monday but offered ways to soften the pain, including spreading it over two years.
The increase of $291 million is slightly more than what Xcel sought in its 2013 rate-hike request, which utility regulators slashed by two-thirds. This time, Xcel proposed smaller, single-digit increases over two years for its 1.2 million electric customers in Minnesota. . . .
In its regulatory filing, Xcel attributed 37 percent of the requested increase to investments and expenses related to its nuclear power plants. The company’s oldest reactor in Monticello was recently refurbished and one of the two units at the Prairie Island nuclear plant in Red Wing, Minn., is now undergoing a major upgrade.
Xcel said 17 percent of the rate increase stems from transmission investments, 11 percent from wind and other generation projects and the remainder from an array of investments and expenses. Overall, Xcel said its been investing about $1 billion a year in Minnesota.
Earlier articles indicated that the refurbishing of the nuclear power generating plant at Monticello went way over budget, while Xcel sought to pass these expenses on to ratepayers. Shaffer reported in August in PUC slashes Xcel rate hike, votes to probe reactor upgrade:
One question getting special attention is how much Minnesota ratepayers will end up paying for the $655 million project to extend the life and boost the output of the Monticello nuclear power plant. The project ended up costing more than twice the 2008 estimate of $320 million.
Minnesota regulators are hiring a nuclear expert for their investigation of Xcel Energy Inc.’s massive cost overruns during upgrades to its Monticello nuclear power plant.
The state Public Utilities Commission on Thursday decided that a consulting engineer would help the state Commerce Department review the $665 million spent to extend the plant’s life and boost its output. The final cost was more than double the original estimate.
The PUC in August decided to investigate whether the investment was prudent — and whether ratepayers should pay for the overruns. The Minneapolis-based utility last month submitted to regulators a lengthy explanation, asserting that the five-year project turned out to be more complicated than first envisioned, but still worth doing. . . .
The cost-overrun investigation is expected to last into 2014, and is likely to play a role in the PUC’s eventual decision on Xcel rates. The company in October asked for a $291 million rate hike that will raise customers’ bills 4.6 percent increase in January, with a slightly larger increase possible in 2015.
If the PUC declares some of the Monticello costs imprudent, Xcel investors, rather than ratepayers, would pick up the tab.
And there you have it, gentle readers: the local Tea Party watchdog in Wright County is calling citizens to the barricades over three small solar installations, while remaining silent over the potential rate-hike spiking overruns.
Doesn't look like the Wright County Sheriff's Office will have to roll out its armored dump truck for that.
Photos: Generic MRAP via the Wright County Watch blog (above); Proto angry peasant mob from the Frankenstein movie (below). We can sorta guess who wins this fit, so maybe it's a lot safer to protest small solar projects than ginormous cost overruns (and simultaneous demands for a higher rate of return for investors) at a nuclear plant. Just saying.
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Klayman told Jones that participants in his rally will issue a new Declaration of Independence “because if you read the Declaration of Independence it is exactly identical to the situation we have today.” “We have to rise up,” Klayman continued. “We will succeed in the end but we need to show force.”
In the accompanying video, Klayman calls not only for President Obama's resignation, but said, ". . .we want [Speaker] Boehner's resignation, we want [Senate Minority Leader] McConnell's resignation, we want them to go."
The day before the rally, Klayman will be in U.S. District Court Judge Richard Leon's court, which will consider oral arguments for and against a broad preliminary injunction request to block some National Security Agency surveillance programs, US News and World Report reported. According to the USNWR article, "The American Civil Liberties Union is also suing to stop the NSA phone-record collection. . . .Leon scheduled the Nov. 18 hearing after U.S. District Court Judge William Pauley scheduled Nov. 22 oral arguments for the ACLU's preliminary injunction request."
Perhaps Klayman will be able to provoke an uprising and avoid the embarrassment of the April Fools Day 2015 trial--or maybe mediator Winston T. Churchill, II, will convince both sides to avoid fighting on the beaches, on the landing grounds, in the fields and in the streets, in the hills of the Ocala Division of the Middle District of Florida, and settle this one out of court.
An Austrian Catholic who immigrated to the United States in the early 1950s, Werthmann was 12 when Germany annexed her native country. By her own account, she witnessed Nazi oppression first hand, but was never sent to a concentration camp or jailed herself. Prominent horrors of Hitler's regime for Werthmann, president of the South Dakota Eagle Forum, include equal rights for women (historians have discovered a rather different story about women in the Third Reich than what Werthmann recalls).
The Republican Party of McLeod County sponsored a talk by Werthmann in Hutchinson during October; Yvonne Piker wrote in Speaker warned of perilous path, a letter to the editor:
. . . I was a child at that time but I remember some of the stories I overheard the oldsters talk about. Remember “The Sound of Music”?
Hitler’s fear was going through all of us and throughout the world. He wanted the whole world to be at his feet and obey his every word.
She compared those incidents to present day and our country. It is almost uncanny, the very thoughts and actions our government is taking from us and the path we have just gone through with the banks, health care plans now being dumped on us, crosses and flags taken out of our schools, as well as being deprived of public displays of Bibles, prayer, the Ten Commandments, Christmas scenes and even not being able to wear a cross necklace. . . .
. . . Kitty Werthmann was not Jewish. She was Catholic in a predominantly Catholic country. . . .
While no state-sponsored prayer in schools has been the law of the land since a Supreme Court ruling in the1960s, Piker and Werthmann seem confused about flags being "taken out of our schools." As for banning wearing of crosses, that seems to be related to bone-headed, if well-intentioned, anti-gang efforts; such restrictions have been condemned by both the American Center for Law and Justice and the ACLU.
In the Oct. 11 Leader, Yvonne Piker wrote glowingly about her experience hearing the touring speaker Kitty Werthmann in Hutchinson earlier that week. Ms. Werthmann lived in Austria during the Nazi occupation before and during World War II and emigrated to the U.S. in the 1950s. I had occasion to meet her while she was in town and she is a very nice lady. The parallels she attempts to draw between the Nazi regime and the present day United States, however, I find specious and, frankly, insulting to the memory of the victims of the Nazis and those who fought for the cause of democracy and freedom from oppression.
She uses the tragedy in her past to rail against a vision of the present that simply does not exist. She compares the worldwide depression to our current economic difficulties, which are real but in no way comparable to the global hyperinflation and desperation that characterized the 1930s. She cites the secularization of public education and equal rights for women as horrible legacies of Hitler when, in fact, these are both fully consistent with our own founding Constitution and have served to make America greater and more free.
I understand that Ms. Werthmann was invited to speak to a class at Hutchinson High School while in town. I respect her right to express her ideas about the state of American politics and will look forward to the high school also bringing in some progressives to lecture the students with opposing perspectives.
Hitler was not evil because he promoted equality for women [BSP's note: he did not in fact do so] or universal health care. He will always be equated with evil because of his remorseless irrational hatred toward Jews, Slavs, homosexuals and everyone he considered to be inferior.
In his letter in the Oct. 16 Leader (“Comparison to Nazis is insulting”), Chris Leonard apparently did not hear Kitty Werthmann speak as I did.
He must also be years younger than myself and did not hear from actual firsthand victims of the torture that Hitler’s Nazis did to women, men and children of any race and color. You can’t begin to understand what all these people went through unless you had an opportunity to listen to them. The whole world was appalled at his antics and some did not even know all the horrors that he did until the war was over.
I had a dear friend who was so sweet and gentle. She became a doctor after fleeing from the German camps and came to to United States. Her name is Dr. Vera Schlamm and her book is “Pursued.” You have to visit the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C., and also the one in Jerusalem. Women were always used as a test vehicle for medical experiments. People were murdered for their religion and race.
I have visited countries with bullet holes in the walls, and Nazi symbols on the buildings and the Jewish “Star of David.” There are areas that have cemeteries with Americans and others who fought the Hitler bunch, willing to die for you and myself and all the rest of us.
My uncle was on a ship in the Atlantic and shot in the arm while in the Navy, My other uncle was in Iwo Jima and watched the bullets connect with his buddies, blowing their heads off. Being so mad he shot back everything he carried and also what his buddies carried. He told me a few years ago that “I must have killed 20,000.” One cousin was killed the day the Japanese invaded Hawaii.
Some day we will meet, Chris. You don’t live far from us. God bless and thank you for reading my letter.
Dare to challenge a sketchy analogy between Obama and Hitler made by a non-Jewish Austrian Catholic who survived the German annexation without being imprisoned?
Then you must have forgotten the Holocaust. Or just be too young to remember.
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First District Congressman Tim Walz (DFL-Mankato) has come
out against a proposal for American military action in Syria, according to a statement issued by his office.
The decision comes three days after a "Congress on Your Corner" listening session in St. Peter dedicated to the question. Around 150 constituents showed up to share a universal sentiment: vote no. Walz showed up to listen. One wannabe opponent, Jim Hagedorn of the Beltway and Blue Earth, showed up to argue.
Hagedorn posted his whole bit with Walz at the St. Peter event on Syria.
[Walz] absolutely lays waste to the guy. It's great.
Here's Walz's statement:
Walz Opposed to Syria Proposals
Travels back to DC with message from southern Minnesotans: No on Syria
“While I believe the use of chemical weapons is despicable and the world must take action to ensure that cruel dictators are not allowed to use such weapons without repercussions, at this time I cannot in good conscience support current proposals to take unilateral, military action.”
Walz cited his skepticism that even limited military action would stay limited due to unforeseen consequences and his concern that it could result in American boots on the ground with no defined strategy to bring them home.
In the past two weeks, Representative Walz has reached out to southern Minnesotans for their input, participated in a classified briefing in DC, and studied proposals for intervention. On Friday, residents from across southern Minnesota, of varying political beliefs, showed up to share their opinion with Representative Walz at his Congress on Your Corner event in St. Peter. The message has been clear and consistent: oppose unilateral, US military intervention.
Representative Walz commended President Obama for seeking Congressional approval before launching military strikes saying, “After 12 years of war, the American public has every right to weigh in and expect that their views be represented in Congress.”
In August, Representative Walz joined over 100 of his colleagues in sending President Obama a letter urging him to consult with Congress before taking military action in Syria.
Here's the video of Hagedorn seeking to insert his campaign into the listening session, which was an official gathering rather than a campaign event.
Like the tipster, we're totally impressed at the way Walz doesn't let Hagedorn troll him with abstract kvetching about policy (not that Hagedorn can mention a specific Walz vote or position) but brings the conversation back to the subject at hand.
All of the statements, opinions, and views expressed on this site by Sally Jo Sorensen are solely her own, save when she attributes them to other sources.
The opinions, statements, and views of contributing writers are their own.
Sorensen, editor and proprietor of Bluestem Prairie, serves clients in the business and nonprofit sectors. While progressive in outlook, she does not caucus with any political party.
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