Will Democrats just ignore that ‘autopsy’?

COVID hubris

There was a glaring omission to the DNC report and that omission was COVID (“DNC tries to move past autopsy debacle as Martin faces calls to resign as chair”).

In print at least it is still difficult to criticize the COVID response, i.e, lockdowns, mandates, and the unparalleled obedience to a party’s single thought which now, oddly enough (the pot calling the kettle black), is the Left’s very characterization of MAGA supporters. And among a laundry list of bad choices, the “vaccine” and its effectiveness. In Democratic circles you still cannot criticize “IT” and here that means anywhere within the state of Minnesota.

What really backfired then in DNC strategizing, and what should have been in the report, was the vilifying of those who questioned lockdowns and the like. This is where four years worth of “negative firepower” was overwhelmingly pointed — at them! For speaking the truth.

The great Independent swing of 2024 was the result of the Democrats’ COVID hubris. THAT is why they lost. And don’t count on finding that any time soon in a party autopsy report.

— Julia Bell, St. Paul

The Autopsy

The DNC just released the “Autopsy Report” on the 2024 elections. A primary point was that there was too much anti-Trump rhetoric. Please inform Angie Craig. Her commercials are barraging us with old news on President Trump and blasting Kristi Noem whom he fired months ago. Are the Democrats going to ignore their Autopsy?

— Mary Mackey, Maplewood

Put a stop to fraud. All of it

I am no fan of fraud, and I think that those who commit it need to be punished. But the latest estimated/alleged $90 million Medicaid Fraud (Minnesota autism programs) and the now infamous Feeding our Future ($243 million) pale in comparison to the $1.8 billion (with a B) Insurrectionist Reparations fund being proposed by the Trump DOJ. That’s 20 times the Autism fraud and seven times the Food-Aid fraud amounts. Think about that.

And this is being offered up as somehow normal and legal.

This is stealing and rewarding terrible behavior. Why are some being prosecuted and given jail time (41 years in the case of Aimee Bock) while others pardoned and rewarded? History will look back on this period of time and line it up with the “best” of the “worst” as it relates to fraud and abuse of public trust. We have to wake up from this nightmare and put a stop to it. On all fronts.

— Dennis Williams, New Brighton

That alone should have been a red flag

Minnesota’s new state flag continues to fall flat with the public, and it’s time to acknowledge what most Minnesotans already know: the old flag should be reinstated. The process that produced the new design was rushed, overly controlled and did not reflect the will of the people. A handful of committee members made a decision for millions, and the result shows it.

Across the state, cities, counties and even private businesses are quietly returning to the old Minnesota flag because it actually represents our history and identity. The new flag, meanwhile, has been widely criticized for looking nearly identical to several foreign national flags. That alone should have been a red flag for the commission.

Minnesotans deserved a transparent, statewide vote — not a top-down decision. The Legislature should correct this mistake and restore the flag that Minnesotans recognize and respect.

— Bobby Reardon, Pelican Lake

Don’t be that guy

As our USPS carrier delivered our mail 30 minutes ago, I heard him, from my window, hollering on the phone, his curse words punctuating the discussion. To catch up with him after he pulled away, I scurried across three lawns. I told him that he wasn’t necessarily offending me, but that he might offend people in our neighborhood, and that there are little kids around. I assured him that I wouldn’t rat him out, but that someone else hearing his cussing might.

A welcomed, normal response, as I see it, would have been a thank-you for the effort to address the issue, an apology, gratitude for not reporting him, and a promise to choose better behavior, especially when he was on the job, driving a government vehicle, wearing a USPS t-shirt, and certainly within earshot on his route. Instead, he acknowledged my statements with a stare, a few nods and some “OKs.” It was, I thought, a defensive and mocking response. And I told him so. Clearly, my TED Talk was bombing, so I turned around and began walking home, hearing his sarcastic, “Have a nice day.”

Two things:

1. U.S. Postal Service has received an undeserved bum rap. Things I’ve sent, and things sent me, have always arrived, and I’ve been aware of this system since I got my first pen pal in the early ’70s. We put a sticker on the corner of an envelope, knowing it will arrive across the country in two or three days. We drive to USPS locations with almost any shape and size of package, wait a few minutes in line before paying a nominal mailing fee, and exit the premises with nearly 100 percent certainty the addressee will get it.

More importantly, I cannot recall a time in which a USPS employee — in a mail truck or at a counter — has been anything but gracious, accommodating and helpful. This fellow shattered the record, and is a disappointment. (And maybe I’m being petty here, but my federal income taxes help pay his salary.)

2. We’ve got a grim job market here, and folks are wound up as it is. To our recent graduates, and anyone looking for work: Don’t model this guy’s behavior. Watch the mouth. Be patient and polite to all, including your neighbors, supervisors, coworkers, clients and customers. Consider all feedback strategic. You, and the rest of us, will be better for it.

— Catherine Condon, Mendota Heights