By Jeff Erding
Wykoff, MN
Integrity of our institutions is vital to the successful existence of a Democratic Republic.
Citizens need to be well informed by truthful entities.
America needs an airtight voting system so every legal vote is rapidly and fairly counted.
We need originalist judges who interpret the Constitution and laws as they were written.
A legal system that is blind to race, gender and religion.
Do Americans feel those essential elements are in place in America today? Some do, some don’t. But certainly the commentary by Norm Omodt published in Fillmore County Journal August 7, 2023, is thought provoking and worthy of further analysis. Mr. Omodt declares a desire to correct the thinking of a few million misguided souls who support Donald Trump.
Next he states that Mr. Trump is incapable of introspection and therefore unable to grasp reality. Hmm. This from a guy who states he is writing “to reeducate a few million people” with a commentary in a paper with a circulation of about 60,000.
Maybe Mr. Omodt needs a reality check of his own?
Then he impugns the character of Mr. Trump by repeating the unverified report that he {Trump} called Gold Star veterans buried in France “suckers and losers.” Yes, we all read that whopper in The Atlantic, the New York Times, and WaPo, attributed to “four anonymous persons who had knowledge {not personal knowledge} of the alleged statements.” Sounds like hearsay to me. To date, five years after the alleged incident, I am not aware of even one identified witness who said, “Yes, I heard him say that.”
Meanwhile those present, {Dan Soavino, Sarah Sanders, John Bolton, Jamie McCourt, Robert Wilkie and Zach Fuentes}, deny Mr. Trump said that or anything like it.
Engaging in character assassination by repeating unverified slander seems like improper behavior to me, especially from a retired pastor. But then I {and 71 million others like me} am just an “obsessed, deceived hard liner following a cult leader that shares the same deplorable borderline personality traits,” according to Omodt, so who cares what I think?
Mr. Omodt goes on to lambast Mr. Trump for doubting the integrity of the 2020 election by stating “Homeland Security declared it the most secure election in history.” So I guess we are supposed to have implicit faith in our government agencies. You know, the ones who persecuted conservative political groups in 2015, told us falsely that Mr. Trump was a Russian agent, told us COVID started in a bowl of bat soup, exerted tremendous pressure on citizens to take a vaccine that “will prevent COVID and keep it from spreading” when it does neither, allowed states to change election laws without consulting their legislatures as required by the Constitution, shut down sporting events, churches, schools, and small business but left big box and liquor stores open, and allowed riots and protests to proceed because apparently BLM riots cannot spread COVID, to say nothing of the government that buried the damning evidence on Hunter’s laptop, even soliciting 50 high ranking FBI officials to sign a letter stating the laptop was a fake when they had verified it was real months earlier. So of course the election was perfectly fine, move along folks. Nothing to see here!
Regarding the relationship between law abiding Americans and their government, there are many fences to mend… and mended they must be if government of, by, and for the people is to continue.
Before closing, I want to thank the patriotic members of the Kingsland School Board who are doing their best to stem the tide of bad behavior and mediocrity that has plagued District 2137 for years. Your efforts on behalf of the students are much appreciated. All of you deserve our heartfelt appreciation.
God Bless until next time.
Anonymous says
First amendment!,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
Anonymous says
First amendment bites the dust again
Donna Hasleiet Halvorsen says
For right wingers to accuse so-called liberals of impugning Trump,s integrity or character is just silly. He’d have to have integrity and character, and he has neither. Would a person of character have said Gen. Milley should be executed? A former president who wants to be president again? Who still doesn’t accept that he lost the 2020 election? Who told 30,000 lies during his presidency? Who said, “when I can, I tell the truth” and “if you say something often enough people will believe it.” Narcissists aren”t big on character. At the beginning of his piece Erding says that “citizens need to be well informed by truthful entities.” Then he goes off his anti-everything rant, impugning the integrity of the Rev. Omodt, who is telling the truth as he sees it. Can we have some integrity — and honesty — in letter writing?
Steve Ellis says
I’m not sure it’s possible to “impugn the character of Mr. Trump” beyond what he has done himself in that regard with his own words and actions. His followers (“believers” might be a better word) happily ignore the many examples of verified evidence that demonstrate his unsuitability for public office. They appear to have bought into the absurd theory that all of the indictments against him are part of the “deep state conspiracy” of child traffickers and devil worshippers who persecute him.
For these folks Trump could indeed shoot someone down in the street and they would refuse to believe the evidence of their own eyes. Even conservatives like Dick Cheney have rightly said that Trump is a danger to democracy and to the United States. Trump’s language of violence and retribution is that of cruel dictators in the world today and in the past.
Anonymous says
Define irony. Two individuals complaining about Trump disparaging words when they are doing the same.
Anonymous says
I would suggest not posting anonymous – no guts in posting the name.
NATHAN DAVIDSON says
Well said Greg. Not only that, lives have been threatened/hurt/or died due to the thread that leads back to this evil golden boy who never grew up to be a real man. Sad and shameful human being.
Greg Rendahl says
We all want a good, fair election system. Trump set up a special commission to investigate our election system. The Republican House has done the same. They found nothing worth reporting. So, if there truly are problems, then are Republicans simply incompetent and stupid? Or perhaps our election system worked just fine. Yet there are those who seek to destroy our democracy. Fake electors have been indicted in Georgia. Concerning your covid vaccine skepticism, the worst covid death rates per capita are mostly Republican led states. The worst 5 are Republican led states. The vaccine rates for these states are among the lowest in the nation. Republican led states have done a fair job at killing off their supporters. Yes, we can pretend there are more than nude pictures on Hunter Biden’s computer. Hunter Biden received about $10 million sitting on corporate boards in Ukraine and China before Joe Biden was President. On the other hand, Jared Kushner, as a member of Trump’s inner circle, spent considerable time in Saudi Arabia and other Mid East nations. Mr. Kushner received about $3 BILLION from these nations during and soon after the Trump Presidency. Trump received plenty of foreign money through Trump properties and especially through the Saudi golf connection. By the way, Trump also gave us the largest US deficit in the first 4 years of Presidency than any other President in our history. Was Trump a Russian agent? Well, in a press conference Trump said, “Russia if you’re listening…” in hopes of hackers coming up with Hillary Clinton e-mails. He asked. He got. It is illegal to solicit help from a foreign nation to influence an election. Several Trump associates pled guilty or were found guilty of lies and illegal Russian involvements including Michael Flynn, Paul Manafort, Roger Stone and several more. I don’t know if Trump disparaged those who died in Europe or not. Trump did say of John McCain, “He’s not a war hero.” “I like people who weren’t captured. Trump’s mouth is like a garbage train disparaging people both right and left. This along with Trump’s 30,000+ lies and misstatements while President, his 91 felony charges, and his often mentally unhinged remarks makes me realize how many Americans admire and support liars and those who love to blame and disparage others.