Category: Politics

  • 100 years of fascism, here and abroad

    100 years of fascism, here and abroad

    My latest essay for the Minnesota Reformer is out today: “Fascism from Italy to Hibbing and back again.” In recent years I’ve avoided the hyperbole and repetition of our national political debate. My thinking has been that you don’t really need another Trump/Biden screed that only reinforces what you already believe. I seek instead to…

  • The labor movement strikes back

    The labor movement strikes back

    Last week, my oldest son and I were camping in the Badlands and Black Hills of South Dakota. It was an important trip for us; a rite of passage. It’s his last year in Scouting and he’s starting college today. More on that trip later. While I was gone, my latest essay for the Minnesota…

  • Good vibes only? To be determined

    Good vibes only? To be determined

    What, pray tell, are “vibes?” People talk about them. They fill the zeitgeist. Vibes dictate how we feel about everything. And yet we have precious little understanding of the highly emotional sentiments that influence our purchases, name our next government, and shape our state of mind today and tomorrow.  My latest piece for the Minnesota…

  • The persistent appeal of boondoggles

    The persistent appeal of boondoggles

    boon·dog·gle/ˈbo͞onˌdäɡəl/(1) work or activity that is wasteful or pointless but gives the appearance of having value.(2) a public project of questionable merit that typically involves political patronage or graft.~ From the Oxford Languages dictionary When a debate boils down to “doing something useful” vs. “doing nothing,” politicians often reach compromise in “doing something useless.” This represents…

  • When profits pile costs on people

    When profits pile costs on people

    My latest column for the Minnesota Reformer is out today, this one tackling the rising cost of housing and health care that most affects working class people. The piece is called “Cost of living is our harshest tax.” Here’s a taste: We’ve all experienced economic inflation this past year. Consumer costs rise along with commodity…

  • We are in the automated future

    We are in the automated future

    It started long ago. Big trucks and steam shovels replaced small hoppers filled by men with spades. Machines took over for pinsetters at the bowling alley. Before long we were pumping our own gas. Now we scan our own groceries, making sure to check the codes on the bananas before ringing up our purchase, paying,…

  • Bakk decision makes big news

    Bakk decision makes big news

    Thursday’s announcement that State Sen. Tom Bakk would retire from the legislature made big news around Minnesota. My blog post yesterday was reprinted in the Minnesota Reformer, so check that out if you missed it. I also appeared on CBS 3 in Duluth and KBJR with analysis about the race. You can check out that…

  • As Bakk retires, unpredictable new era begins on the Iron Range

    As Bakk retires, unpredictable new era begins on the Iron Range

    Though I have been on an extended hiatus from daily political blogging, I find it hard to leave certain events without comment. Thus, today, we observe the end of an era in Iron Range politics and the beginning of a shapeless and developing new order. This morning, State Sen. Tom Bakk (I-Cook) announced that he…

  • Clothing the next generation with independence

    Clothing the next generation with independence

    My latest column for the Minnesota Reformer is out today. The piece is entitled “A homespun stitch in time could save us.”  I like to blend personal stories with my commentary and often write about my family. I’ve written quite a lot about my dad and grandfathers, but today I get to highlight some of…

  • Northeastern Minnesota seat shuffle shows how it is when nobody knows your name

    Northeastern Minnesota seat shuffle shows how it is when nobody knows your name

    My latest column for the Minnesota Reformer is up today. Entitled “Shifting lines and changing times on the big lake they call Gitchi Gummi,” this piece explores redistricting outcomes here in northern Minnesota. Specifically I take a look at the expanding geography and unique political culture of the Eighth Congressional District. For instance, this observation:…

  • Navigating mining’s perilous boundary between enough and too much

    Navigating mining’s perilous boundary between enough and too much

    Today I have a new essay up with the Minnesota Reformer. It’s one that took a great deal of time and thought to write, and that leaves me yet unsettled. The title is “The troubled border between consumption and conservation.” For two decades, we’ve watched northern Minnesota’s mining debate bob up and down in the…

  • The 21st Century is a salvage operation

    The 21st Century is a salvage operation

    Junk is all over the news. Steel companies are buying scrap at big prices. And yet, recycling loses money for local governments across the country. The climate crisis is running headlong into our desire for more and more stuff. Worse, our economy currently depends upon us making and buying that stuff. My latest column for…

  • Labor navigates northern Minnesota political crosswinds

    Labor navigates northern Minnesota political crosswinds

    My latest column for the Minnesota Reformer is out today. Let’s call it a Labor Day think piece. Northern Minnesota has been a wellspring of the American labor movement for more than a century. However, in more recent years, organized labor has shifted into the role of mature old power, increasingly wedded to politics and…

  • ‘Generational amnesia’ helps us forget a past we would do well to remember

    ‘Generational amnesia’ helps us forget a past we would do well to remember

    My latest for the Minnesota Reformer is out today: The piece, entitled “These Old Timers Have Nostalgia All Wrong,” takes you on another of my journeys between past, present and future. This one explores what we forget. Our boundless ability to shed the past causes us to fear the future far more than we should.…

  • Truth about past nothing to fear

    Truth about past nothing to fear

    My latest column for the Minnesota Reformer is out. In “The history of what is not true” I add an entry to the recent debate over how Americans understand our past. Avoiding the well-worn tropes of the political controversy, I instead focus on my own research experience. About 100 years ago, powerful men created a…