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June 5th, 2020
Quote of the Week: “I will never agree with anybody disrespecting the flag of the United States of America or our country. Is everything right with our country right now? No, it is not. We still have a long way to go. But I think what you do by standing there and showing respect to the flag with your hand over your heart, is it shows unity. It shows that we are all in this together, we can all do better and that we are all part of the solution.”
Quote of the Week: “You have to dominate, if you don’t dominate, you’re wasting your time. They’re going to run over you, you’re going to look like a bunch of jerks. You have to dominate. Most of you are weak. You have to arrest people. And you can’t do the deal where they get one week in jail. These are terrorists. These are terrorists. And they’re looking to do bad things to our country.”
Quote of the Week: “Protesters I know are saying truck driver drove into a crowd and intentionally ran into them. Confederate flags and white supremacist insignia. Protesters stopped truck. Minneapolis police have shut down 35W bridge.”
In This Issue:
A HOUSE DIVIDED The events of the last four years have revealed that the country is once again deeply divided, a circumstance far more prevalent that most want to admit. Whether 1968, 1896, or 1861, the nation has been convulsed at times by bitter division, be it economic, social, religious, or geographic. But there is no doubt that there is a philosophical divide that maybe tough to overcome. It is clear that some don’t believe in American Exceptionalism. They don’t believe in capitalism. They don’t believe in the Rule of Law. They don’t believe in the First Amendment. They don’t believe in equality of opportunity, only an equality of outcome. They don’t believe that rights are natural, inherent in individuals. In short, they don’t believe in the precepts upon which the country was founded, unlike most Americans. That’s an issue for a pluralistic society. A RUDDERLESS SHIP The past three months have shown us what poor leadership looks like. Between COVID and the Minneapolis riots, Minnesotans have been harmed in a significant way by Governor Walz, House Majority Leader Ryan Winkler, and Minneapolis Mayor Jake Frey. While Winkler hasn’t had a direct hand in the pandemic nincompoopery or fiddling while Minneapolis burned, he represents what happens when you put a middle schooler in charge. Someone keep this guy off Twitter. His tweet last week that the tanker truck driver on 35W who was lost and not wearing a white hood, was the epitome of juvenile, reckless leadership. He repeated unverified, inflammatory gossip in the same way a 7th grader would tweet about the surfer guy who pulled a knife on Mr. Hand or the high schooler who heard Ferris Bueller needs a new kidney. Don’t forget about his tweet regarding Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, when he called him “Uncle Thomas,” a vile racial slur. Despite being a slur for well over a century, Winkler plead ignorance, shrugging that, “I guess my judgement was way off.” It still is Ryan. And don’t forget about yet another recent episode of sophomoric behavior when Winkler was caught on camera flipping off a legislative colleague who was conducting a television interview. https://twitter.com/mnsrc/status/1247604989389754368 On second thought, we apologize. We apologize to every 7th grade boy out there for insulting their maturity. And then there’s Governor Walz. Walz has been nothing short of a disaster regarding the primary issues he’s been tasked to handle since he took office. A couple of sobering (and appalling statistics) tell the woeful tale of Walz’s leadership. Take nursing homes. The administration made the fatal mistake, ongoing to this day, of forcing nursing homes to accept discharged patients recovering from COVID, placing the most vulnerable among us directly in danger. The results have been murderous. Over 80% of Minnesota’s COVID-related deaths have been among nursing home or long-term care patients. By far and away, Minnesota leads the nation in the percentage of COVID deaths coming from patients in these facilities. Worse than Florida, Georgia, Texas, and even New York, the epicenter of the pandemic. Chew on that for a while. Moreover, our COVID infection rate is higher than our neighbors, the same neighbors Minnesota liberals love to denigrate for their unenlightened views on issues like, well, handling COVID. Our neighbors are open for business while Minnesota is not. Yet, we’re worse off in combating the pandemic. Go figure. On top of that, Walz utterly failed the test regarding night upon night of mayhem and rioting in Minneapolis. Let’s be clear. The destruction and mayhem had nothing to do with peaceful protesting. It was lawlessness, plain and simple. In the face of this crisis, Walz dithered and delayed, resulting in unneeded destruction. That destruction will harm, for years to come, some of the poorest Minnesotans. For these people, the burned down grocery store means a food desert. For them, the destruction of public transportation infrastructure means no way to get around. It means no place close to see a doctor or dentist. All of this because of a naïve, childish, mistaken viewpoint that these rioters were simply aggrieved people who needed “to be heard.” Indeed, they spoke. With gas cans, bricks, and baseball bats. The core obligation of government is the protection of life and property. That obligation was ignored. To make matters worse, Walz engaged in a ham-handed attempt to blame “right wing” forces for the destruction. This was a pathetic effort to distract accountability and blame from its true source. That source is the far Left. The same people radical Democrats cheer on when the destruction is aimed at pipelines and construction workers. When the mob started burning the property of liberal Minneapolis, then it became a problem. Finally, Mayor Jake Frey. He was clearly not up to the crisis and failed miserably. He melted down and had no answers, much less leadership. He was effectively fired by Walz, who didn’t do much better but at least was late, as opposed to never. Now, Frey has found his voice again, this time to begin the demands that state and federal taxpayers foot the bill for his incompetence. This wasn’t a natural disaster like a flood or tornado. It was a man-made disaster made all the worse by his dallying, delay, and cowardice. Before any state aid is delivered to Minneapolis, legislators should ask what Minneapolis is prepared to do. Or is the mayor proposing that the city be held harmless, to preserve city funding to forestall layoffs to the diversity office? What local matching dollars will the city be putting up? What additional resources will Minnesota’s wealthiest city be putting up? Or is the expectation that the middle-class folks in Anoka, Saint Peter, and Fergus Falls pony up every dollar? Maybe it’s time for Minneapolis to institute an income tax. Of course, the city has no compunction about raising property taxes. Sales taxes should be out as that tax is borne mostly by people who don’t live in the city. Legislators need to ask if Minneapolis gets additional riot dollars, who loses? What community loses a water treatment plant upgrade? What community loses a planned fire station? What students return to facilities in need of upgrade that won’t happen (if Walz lets students return to the classroom, that is.)? The reality is that extra dollars sent to Minneapolis will come at some community’s expense. These state expenditures may be desperately needed to counter-act the misery Walz has visited on Minnesota. The Iron Range doesn’t have mining jobs, in part, because of his challenges to mining projects. People are out of work because his unilateral executive orders have closed, forever, thousands of small businesses. Medical help is needed more than ever at precisely the time health care professionals have been laid off, with thousands of Minnesotans dealing with delayed medical treatment and mental health issues brought on by the pandemic shutdowns. Disney’s “The Lion King” is in part an allegory about feckless, oppressive leadership. Who knew Minnesota would get both a Governor Scar and a Mayor Scar? |
 Harold Hamilton
Welcome to my web site!
I created this website in response to governmental waste and abuse in Anoka County. Many taxpayers don’t know that our local governments spend millions of tax dollars every year on things like public relations teams, lobbyists, and junkets to places like Hawaii. Since there seemed to be no place to turn for the “other side” of these issues, I created the Anoka County Watchdog. My intent is to create a one-stop-shop where concerned taxpayers can find fact-supported information and other resources to counter the governmental machine. Many people want to confront their elected officials regarding waste and abuse but feel they don’t have the information they need to make an effective argument. This web site offers that information. Some of our elected officials in Anoka County have become arrogant and unresponsive, forgetting that they work for the very people who put them in office. It’s high time to hold them accountable for their decisions. Sincerely, Harold E. Hamilton (harold@anokacountywatchdog.com) Email: harold@anokacountywatchdog.com
US Mail: Anoka County Watchdog C/O K Solutions LLC 3083 Victoria Street Roseville, MN 55113 (Anonymous submissions accepted!) |
