NOT A Quiet Week in Lake Wobegon…
Confused and Hurt, Minnesotans Face Their Demons
NOTE - PDF’s of referenced articles from the Minnesota Star Tribune can be found here
“It’s been a quiet week in Lake Wobegon, my hometown...” for 42 years Garrison Keillor spun tales of Minnesotans being Minnesotans in his fictional small town on the prairie… “Where all the women are strong, all the men are good looking, and all the children are above average…”
Keillor’s signature Saturday night greeting broadcast on every episode of “A Prairie Home Companion” spawned mixed feelings among the Minnesotans I know. Some laughed at his spot-on caricatures. Others sneered, believing he made them look stupid.
As the trailing spouse of a Minnesotan, I found Keillor’s lore and the mixed response telling this past week as the state faced its worst and best qualities. The “Minnesota nice” myth was broken by assassin Luther Vance Boelter’s murderous hunt of state legislators. Uncomfortably, his abhorrent acts laid bare what Minnesotans already knew.
That is, despite pride in a high literacy rate, strong civic engagement, and respectful political conduct, they aren’t immune from being sucked into the violent vibe driving a divided country. The murders of Speaker emeritus Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark, the attempted murders of Senator John Hoffman and his wife Yvette, the stalking of at least three other DFL (Democrat Farmer Labor Party) legislators demonstrated their high principles are endangered at best, and have likely been lost.
There Were Clear Signs
Frankly I don’t think they’d be so shocked if they’d look closely at recent and very clear signs. This is the third time in five years Minnesota’s political violence challenged its self-image.
It started with George Floyd’s murder in 2020, continued with the killing of Minnetonka-based UHC executive Brian Thompson late in 2024, then came last weekend’s assassination of a beloved public servant known for her gift of crafting compromise in passionate times. Political violence isn’t just all over America. It’s been roiling here for years, very much amplified by Trumpism, COVID policies, and resistance to state governance focused on delivering social welfare and social justice.
Just look at 2020. COVID-denial fueled open civil disobedience against restrictions across Minnesota. The backlash spawned a MAGA takeover of the state Republican Party by anti-science physician Dr. Scott Jensen. His QAnon-like campaign was crushed by Tim Walz in the 2022 gubernatorial election, but it didn’t go away. Jensen’s spanking pushed his supporters deeper into conspiracy theories. Their open hatred for Walz, for science, for Minnesota’s liberal abortion rights merged with anti-George Floyd, “back the blue” movements. Social media got very nasty.
Undeterred, in 2023 Governor Walz’s successfully pushed for a “Minnesota Miracle” built on expanded social safety nets. His wins fired up the ever-present “Taxisota” haters in rural areas and in conservative Twin Cities burbs. Notably, his partner in the push for services like day care subsidies, tuition waivers, and free school lunches was Speaker Melissa Hortman.
Walz and Blue Minnesota ignored the noise as his rising profile put him on Kamala Harris’ losing national ticket. Post-election he’s fought with MAGA via a national speaking and media tour using confrontational language aimed at recapturing angry White males. At best, it’s getting mixed reviews inside and outside Democratic circles. Among Walz haters, it’s kerosene on a fire.
Lake Wobegon Is Anything BUT Quiet…
Fact is, Minnesota’s anti-Walz, pro-MAGA movement is highly reliant on deep nativist politics fluent in confrontational, violent language. The practice energizes its mostly White, largely rural and suburban populace by feeding them over-the-top misinformation. Consider:
The 2024 release of a propaganda film entitled “The Fall of Minneapolis” claiming to expose a Left wing “cover up” of Floyd’s death. It alleges he died by his own drug abuse not at the hands of brutalist cop Derek Chauvin. The piece was kneecapped with a textbook fact check by The Reformer. Still it remains highly credible in MAGA ranks inside and outside the state.
Trump’s relentless 2024 presidential campaign depicted Minneapolis as out-of-control in the wake of George Floyd’s murder. It targeted Walz as incompetent and paralyzed. It’s evidence was an infinite video doom loop of the burning of the Third Precinct. The Trump campaign, especially Vice President J.D. Vance, stoked race-based fear among rural residents already afraid to venture into the Twin Cities for a ballgame or a concert.
MAGA’s anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim forces have true believers among Minnesotans who see its large refugee population – the product of Christian based outreach to resettle the Hmong here after the Vietnam War – as stealing state services not afforded to White people. Their Exhibit A is massive fraud in a Covid-era food insecurity program called “Feeding Our Future.” It resulted in prosecution and imprisonment of Somali business leaders. The Trumpers ignore data showing most of the Minnesotans using Medicaid and federal food stamp safety nets are White.
Ilhan Omar, Minnesota’s Congressional Representative for the 5th District and a Somali refugee, is the go-to target of vicious, racist attacks by MAGA and President Trump. She’s regularly called “a terrorist.” Omar’s decision to forcefully speak out against Israel’s actions in Gaza have some on the Right branding her antisemitic. Look for Omar to get scapegoated again as Trump tries to justify his illegal war against Iran.
Actions vilifying LGBTQ and erasing transgender people are highly visible in the state.
In a 2024 meeting to discuss special education funding, State Senator Nathan Westenberg of Little Falls threw a teacher out of his office when their discussion turned to books in the classroom. On social media Westenberg accused the educator of “teaching kids to be gay and to hate white people.” When the teachers union demanded the Republican caucus reprimand Westenberg, it declined to discuss the matter.
This spring, with the backing of the Right wing Christian Group Alliance Defending Freedom, three high school softball players sued the state, wanting to ban transgender athletes from women’s sports. The young women plaintiffs allege transgender participation is dangerous. The Minnesota State High School League permitted transgender athletes to compete beginning in 2014. The League estimates just 10 transgender students have played high school sports in the last decade with no injuries.
Minnesota’s grassroots anti-abortion movement rivals any in the U.S. For nearly 50 years, a variety of “respect life” billboards have lined county roads and state highways. Roman Catholic churches here deploy tales of baby killing to unify and activate their parishioners, especially in rural communities. Based on writings taken from Luther Vance Boelter’s vehicle when he was arrested, abortion rights was a major motivator in his rampage.
Contrition Early, Confrontation Later
With these events framing the assassination aftermath, with the high opinion Minnesotans have of their civic life, I was very curious how the public response would play out. I spent last week listening to conversations at public meetings and memorials, radio and TV broadcasts, and by reading two primary news sources, The Minnesota Star Tribune (The STRIB) and The Minnesota Reformer
These STRIB pieces resonated because they asked citizens to look inward for answers which may require them to justify their own biases:
Greater Minnesota (the communities outside urban areas) columnist Karen Tolkkinen opened with “A bit of Minnesota died Saturday. A myth, a belief in ourselves, a belief about ourselves. We believed we were better than this…”
She continued “Statewide high-speed internet access has delivered a double-edged sword, creating opportunities in rural areas but also turning us against our neighbors by stoking suspicion and hatred… We stand at a precipice. Some are trying to seize the narrative, to twist public opinion for their own purposes. They lay the risk of violence completely on the opposing party, but both sides harbor people capable of violence.”
Edina resident Tony Jones’s letter to the editor took on Walz – “I write as a left-of-center voter who agrees with Walz on most policy issues. In the wake of the political violence that has left us shaken and scared, I implore the governor to stop referring to Republicans with Nazi terminology….
17-year old Wesley Frieberg’s op-ed was direct – “My fellow young people are the future leaders. You will soon rely on us to carry our state and world forward. The circumstances are not of our choosing. You have given us a planet hurtling toward environmental ruin, an economy where we cannot afford college, homes or healthcare, and a political climate that leads to political violence. We mourn with you. But we also watch. We watch how you react and move forward from this tragedy.”
These came early in the week, but by the end, I could sense the tone drifting from introspection to open political prejudice:
Ostego’s Jeff Schneider defended President Trump and Republicans, apparently tone deaf to the vitriol MAGA floods the zone with daily – “I knew it wouldn’t take long before I read a letter to the editor that blamed President Donald Trump for the horrific shooting…. In the past eight years Republicans have been called deplorables, fascists, racists, homophobes, transphobes, Nazis, threats to democracy, sexists and many other insults by Democrats and the liberal media…”
Apparently Mr. Schneider missed the inexcusable conspiracy smears by Utah Senator Mike Lee. Lee used the assassination as an opportunity to traffic a Right wing falsehood, that Governor Waltz somehow ordered Hortman’s assassination. He’ been called out not only by Minnesota Senators Tina Smith and Amy Klobuchar, but by his hometown newspaper, The Salt Lake Tribune. Mr. Schneider also forgot Trump and MAGA thrive on ridiculing opponents using demeaning, bullying, inappropriate language.
There was also this revelation from STRIB business columnist Evan Ramstad about Melissa Hortman’s recent efforts to compromise with Republican legislators on the state budget. Ramstad quoted Hortman as telling :
“This is a new kind of Republican…The party is just so far from its roots. I would relish a real debate over line-by-line spending in the state budget. That’s not where we are. It’s these culture war issues, right?... This othering of people is more important than the issues that used to drive the party.”
Will Lake Wobegon rise above culture wars?
Don’t think so. I’d bet my house more violence is on the way. While history shows the Left is highly capable of killing – witness The Weather Underground and Students For A Democratic Society (SDS) – I have zero confidence the Right will bring down the temperature
This is more than a gut feeling, because unfortunately, this isn’t my first rodeo involving political violence. I was still covering daily news on January 8, 2011 when a “Congress on your corner” event in Tucson left a 9-year-old, a federal judge and four others dead. Democratic Representative Gabriel Giffords was severely wounded and forever changed, despite her courageous, gritty recovery. The shooter, Jared Loughner, had exhibited signs of deepening mental illness. Court filings revealed his politics to be anti-government and anti-abortion. Sound familiar?
The aftermath of the Giffords shooting was similar to this past week, as rational voices of Republican and Democratic leaders asked for calm. Unlike the moral failure of Utah’s Mike Lee, Arizona Republican U.S. Senator Jeff Flake was in the forefront of the post-Giffords peacekeepers. When Flake heard of the shootings, he rushed to the Tucson emergency room where Giffords was being treated. In a scary coincidence, Flake would be at a ball field in suburban Washington practicing for the annual Congressional baseball game when a disturbed Bernie Sanders supporter shot Republican lawmakers. The senator rendered lifesaving aid to wounded Representative Steve Scalise.
Unlike what followed Minnesota’s shooting, President Barak Obama came to Tucson to offer leadership and support for a grieving community. Compare Obama’s actions with Trump’s failure to even call Governor Walz last weekend. Compare Flake’s actions with Mike Lee’s disgusting social media posts. Unfortunately, the moral imperatives driving President Obama and Senator Flake are absent from the MAGA mindset. Equally unfortunate, both Obama and Flake have left public life, their voices silenced by the hateful noise that’s an SOP for Trump and MAGA.
So, no, I doubt “quiet” will return to Lake Wobegon or anywhere in America. And, I agree with the New York Times Editorial Board who this past Friday, implored the Right and the Left to make peace, then laid the responsibility exactly where it belongs:
“Although Mr. Trump has personally been a victim of this violence, he also deserves particular responsibility for our angry culture. He uses threatening language in ways that no other modern president has. He praises people who commit violence in his name, such as the Jan. 6 rioters, many of whom he has pardoned, despite their attacks on police officers and others. He sometimes seems incapable of extending basic decency to Democrats. Instead of calling Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota to express condolences about the killings of two of his friends, Mr. Trump insulted Mr. Walz. It is no coincidence that hate crimes have surged, according to the F.B.I., during Mr. Trump’s decade as a dominant political figure.”