Bob Collins
The claims of voter fraud across the nation have been debunked by authorities, but that has never come close to stopping the assertions, nor the attempts to make voting more difficult under the assumption that it exists. Read more →
MPR News Reflections and observations on the news
Politics
What if Donald Trump’s biggest accomplishment turns out to be the fact he made Saturday Night Live funny again? Read more →
When it comes to health care, Minnesota is the nation’s teacher.
The Boston Globe reports that a contingent from Massachusetts, a state that usually ranks fairly high in health care innovation, is finishing up two days of meetings with experts in Minnesota to figure out what this state knows that others don’t. Read more →
North Carolina is the latest location to provide an example of bare-knuckle politics that leads to the kind of cynicsm among voters that politicians like to criticize Read more →
The Democrats’ search for a savior — a party chairman — is tilting toward Minneapolis congressman Keith Ellison, but it’s not hard to miss the clear dissatisfaction with the choices party leaders have been given, Politico indicates in a survey of them today. Read more →
You’ll have to work hard to find any significant logic in the interviews Vox’s Sarah Kliff did with residents in Kentucky, who apparently voted for Donald Trump because they didn’t think he and the Republicans would really take away their health insurance coverage.
He was, you may recall, the candidate promising to repeal Obamacare. Read more →
The White House’s video touting the website where people can shop for health insurance is a little like John Belushi’s last attempt to rally his beaten frat brothers in Animal House.
But as a “bit”, it’s got legs. Read more →
‘The new brand will increase recognition, build trust (especially around cyber security), and change the story about what it means to work for and do business with the State of Minnesota,’ MnDOT said on its website. Read more →
Anyone who’s ever covered the DFL knows that it can’t get along. More than a few DFL chairpeople have decided that there are better ways to get the pain of a sharp stick in the eye than trying to herd the diverse interests in the party into a cohesive group with an actual strategy.
Still, it was a touch surprising — and a little entertaining, we’re ashamed to say — to read the blowtorch that long-time Minnesota pol John Gunyou took to the party today in his Star Tribune op-ed. Read more →
He had a war record, looks, was a national hero, had experience, and was still married to his high school sweetheart.
By all accounts, he was the perfect candidate, and just what voters say they want. But voters fib. What they say they want isn’t what they’ll vote for.
There’s good reason for data privacy laws in Minnesota, though city and school officials around the state have often appeared to use them to hide behind while settling scores, unaccountable to the people. Read more →
We can only imagine what goes through the mind of politicians like Newt Gingrich, who this afternoon, on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the attack at Pearl Harbor, chose to issue an incredibly tone-deaf tweet, even by today’s standards. Read more →
The must-read story of the day is NPR reporter Asma Khalid’s, an Indiana native who signed on to cover the presidential campaign. Read more →
It was one year ago Sunday that Canada’s prime minister greeted a planeload of Syrian refugees from Lebanon, welcoming them to his country. Read more →
It’s hard to imagine a quicker path to a civil war than if a legally elected person were denied the presidency. Read more →