Bob CollinsAs sure as the day is long, a sign of the end of the free press is its refusal to stand against an assault on the institution by people who make their living by calling themselves journalists.
MPR News Reflections and observations on the news
Politics
An investigation is underway in Thief River Falls to determine if a City Council member really did swing a chair at another member during an apparently heated discussion about a splash pad project.
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It doesn’t take much, really, to get to the top of a list of president’s in one’s lifetime. Not many presidents serve during the average lifetime. Read more →
Most every reason that people have given for not voting is a dodge, and lacking any real data, it’s hard to say whether efforts to increase the percentage of registered voters who bother to go to the polls will ever pay off. Read more →
The Hutchinson Ecumenical Ministerial Association is out as coordinators of prayer before Hutchinson City Council meetings, ending — for now — an ongoing controversy in the city over prayer and politics. Read more →
It’s pretty unusual to see an opinion coming from the hallowed halls of NPR, so it’s a little surprising to see Scott Detrow, NPR’s congressional correspondent, conveying an opinion on the brouhaha over Sarah Huckabee being asked to leave a restaurant in Virginia the other day, even if he’s right. Read more →
Indignant Minnesotan, the hilarious Twitter account that demands adherence to the notion that we’re #1 in everything, will need a defibrillator today. Rolling Stone is out with its assessment of Duluth, following this week’s appearance there by the president.
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United Airlines and American Airlines are standing up against the Trump administration’s policy to take children away from parents who cross the border. You’re up, Delta. CNBC says the two airlines have asked the government not to fly the kids to detention centers on their airline. Read more →
The New York Times is under fire in some quarters for spiking an on-the-record audio interview with Stephen Miller, President’s Trump’s senior policy adviser. Read more →
The Iron Range is much like America itself. No matter what is shown on TV that’s happening between families seeking refuge in the United States, if the times are good in the wallet, politicians and voters can shake just about anything else off. Read more →
What’s the opposite of Ronald Reagan’s famous “Morning in America” campaign ad which proved that with some slick marketing, you can put lipstick on a pig?
Minnesota U.S. Senate candidate Richard Painter’s first campaign ad, which he released on Sunday. Read more →
The hardly-used Silver Bay (Minn.) airport is providing a good glimpse into the problem with grant money dangled by the federal government. Read more →
Rob Rogers’ anti-Trump editorial cartoons had been the source of a months-long dispute. Read more →
When’s the last time a T-shirt, a bumper sticker, or a lawn side influenced your vote? Read more →
It’s not that “George” doesn’t like the news he gets from the Star Tribune. It’s his inability to articulate why. Read more →