Bob CollinsYou don’t typically see a campaign ad for a president one year into his term, but these are not normal times, particularly with a government shutdown underway and efforts by both parties to tag the other with responsibility for it. Read more →
MPR News Reflections and observations on the news
Politics
Mass transit is as much about economic development as it is moving people. A developer has modified original plans for an office park at the 494/94 intersection and shifted to a mixed-use, transit friendly development, just the kind of thing that scared Lake Elmo but keeps Oakdale chugging along. And on Friday, the project cleared an important hurdle in its funding. Read more →
In a poll during the 2013 shutdown, most of those surveyed blamed Republicans. In the subsequent election, Republicans made big gains. Read more →
This is the third edition of the NewsCut Guide to a Government Shutdown in its 10-year history, a fact of trivia that underscores how dysfunctional democracy and representative government actually is. Read more →
Jorge Garcia didn’t get a say when his family brought him to the United States illegally. He was only 10. Although that’s too old to qualify under the so-called DACA program, he’s the new face of the deportation program that is rounding up people and sending them to a country they don’t know. Read more →
In the end, it was easier for NPR to use an obscenity than it was during the presidential campaign to use a word that is far less offensive: ‘lie’. Read more →
In a video editorial today, the Rochester Post Bulletin (the Post Bulletin no longer publishes a paper on Friday) asks whether it’s acceptable for public officials to discontinue their social media accounts. Read more →
For sure we in the business actively engage in self-delusion when using words to substitute for obscenities. There’s good reason for that. Read more →
People in Russia — Russia! — are more likely to feel their news media is doing their job well than Americans are, the survey says.
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Why doesn’t Douglas County want to pay for the drivers who help veterans get to their medical appointments? Read more →
Sen. Neal Tapio, R-Watertown, charged the interfaith day at the S.D. state capitol on Wednesday used ‘terrorist style bullying tactics in the press ‘ and constituted ‘a slap in the face of every patriotic American service member that signed up to defend freedom.’ Read more →
The rural Wisconsin county that borders Minnesota makes a great lab rat for a divided America. Read more →
The first days of January are an inspiring time when new political leaders take their shot at changing the world. In Cincinnati today, Tamaya Dennard took the oath of office for the City Council. Read more →
Minnesota has a well-deserved reputation for transparent government but it’s not beyond being sneaky and keeping its citizens in the dark when it comes to spending their money for private business. Read more →
A photo of a billboard purported to be sponsored by a Republican group appears to actually be the work of a Democrat. Read more →