Some Democrats have been coming after me lately. While most have been cordial, one or two have been belligerent beyond belligerent. It's funny when people you don't work for think they are your boss and have the ability to tell you what to do.
What has led to the hubbub? Fear. Fear can be a crippling thing. It chews people up on different levels and has a bad habit of creating solutions to problems which are haphazard at best, and (judging from the MAGA right) downright 'evil with a purpose' at worst.
I'm not saying people don't have a legit reason to be afraid at times. I AM afraid occasionally! Trust me, the litany of threats I've gotten while carrying the water for the Left has been at times terrifying, with direct threats to my wife and kids.
But I don't stop what I do. I could! I could walk away at any point and get a career in the private sector, disappearing into anonymity. But I do love what I do, and I will not let the fear control me. That's my personal choice. You make your own.
(image from Psychology Today)
Let me explain what happened:
A few weeks ago, Hennepin County Commissioner Heather Edelson had a piece in the Star Tribune where she criticized protestors coming to another commissioner's residence and protesting there. For the record, I think it's inappropriate to protest at a politician's house, but IF NO ONE IS BREAKING THE LAW, and they are respecting private property and only protesting on the public street/sidewalk, that is a Constitutional Right. If they had violated the law in regards to the commissioner's private property, I'd be for prosecuting them, but as of today, it doesn't sound like the protesters did.
If calling out the stupidity of protestors protesting at a politician's house was where this ended, I think Edelson and I would be in complete agreement, but she decided to take her argument in an unfortunate direction. She brought up the fear she and other politicians have in the wake of the terrorist assassination of MN Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark, as well as the shooting of MN Senator John Hoffman and his wife Yvette. According to the article, she linked the terrorist strike to legal protesting, which are two VERY DIFFERENT THINGS. Read the article for yourself:
https://www.startribune.com/commissioner-to-protesters-please-stay-away-from-our-homes/601450130?utm_source=gift
To my knowledge, she never said the Star Tribune took her comments out of context, nor did she come out and clarify that 'of course protestors protesting legally are not the same thing as Vance Boelter, the terrorist in the Hortman/Hoffman case.' My pointing this out doesn't mean that Edelson's (or anyone else's) residual fear in the wake of Boelter isn't real or legitimate, but to invoke his heinous crime while discussing peaceful protesting, even at a politician's house, is overreach, an over-villification of the nth degree to try to make your argument more pertinent.
Sigh...
Peaceful protesters are not the same thing as Vance Boelter. They aren't, and the overreach in both of these cases to try to add a false provenance to their fear-driven anti-protestor mantras is not only an insane exaggeration, but you're also actually diminishing the true horror of what happened to the Hortmans and Hoffmans to try to punch up a political issue WAY BENEATH the terrorist strike on Minnesota.
The assassination of the Hortmans and attempted murder of the Hoffmans is one of the worst things that has ever happened in this state, on par with the murder of George Floyd, the 35W bridge collapse, the Hinkley fires, the 1878 grain mill explosion in downtown Minneapolis, the abuse of the Native peoples, and the loss of lives of Minnesotans in the Civil War. If I were to say, "I think we should revisit Minneapolis parking regulations because of what happened to George Floyd," I'd be so out of line it would be inexcusable. I get you're afraid, but peaceful protesting IS NOT a terrorist strike.
The vilification of one group of people by invoking a far different, far more serious crime/individual IS SOMETHING REPUBLICANS DO ALL THE TIME!!! When I made that point, Edelson and a few other Democrats took umbrage with me, insisting I was WAY out of line. No, I wasn't. That's exactly what Republicans do. Look at Trump's immigration roundup of all minorities ("They're all criminals!") or the passage of the Laken Riley Act ("Because one person did this, EVERY non-citizen will do this!").
We just had the tragedy of the Annuciation school/church shooting and immediately Republicans are using that tragedy to target all transgender people. If you don't want me to compare your analogies to the MAGA Right, then don't make analogies like the MAGA right!
Let's entertain the argument of these Democrats and talk about stopping all protestors from protesting at the residences of politicians.
Let's start by defining which politicians. I will presume that we are talking about all statewide officials (Governor, Lt. Governor, Attorney General, Secretary of State, and State Auditor), the two MN US Senators, the 8 MN US House Reps., and every member of the Minnesota House and Senate. I presume this because the two people who are suggesting this are a County Commissioner and a City Mayor, so they must be talking about all political offices higher than theirs. And the nature of the position of the people making the suggestion means all county commissioners' residences, mayors' residences, and city council members' residences are off limits, too. That's A LOT of public roads and sidewalks now off limits. My guess is that this protection would be retroactive to all former politicians who served in any of the aforementioned positions. I would hope that we are also not going to loop in family members of the politician after that politician has passed away.
And then comes the question of how much of a no-go zone are we talking about. Judging by the arguments, it clearly is not just in front of a politician's house, but the full street the politician's house is on. Does that go for one block, two blocks in each direction (just to be safe)? What about a politician who lives in an apartment building? Does the entire surrounding block of the building become a no-go protest zone? Is it a full two-block radius around the entire building? And what about politicians who have a rental place in the city where they reside while the Legislature is in session? Are we going to have no-go zones there AND at their houses back into their districts even though they are not there at the time?
And what exactly constitutes a protest? Is it 50 people? Is it 10 or 12? Is it one person with a picket sign? Is it a car that is parked on the street with a lot of bumper stickers that are against the politician who lives on the block?
The state will have to release a map EVERY WEEK of no-go protest zones in the state, which could be upwards fo 20% of pubic roads and sidewalks. Congratulations, Democrats have just annihilated the First Amendment of the Constitution, while the Republicans who HATE public protesting laugh and laugh and laugh.
And I don't want to skip past the irony of a politician watching a beloved neighbor getting rounded up by ICE agents, wondering, "Where are the people protesting to stop this?" They're four blocks away, as you demanded. When you want protestors to show up for your cause, it will be a hoot watching you realize you've just torpedoed your own agenda because a member of the Park Board lives three houses down and hence the protest is illegal.
And even that far-right Supreme Court would laugh your attempted law out of court, wasting taxpayer dollars to defend the indefensible.
Once again, I think protesting at a politician's home is misguided, but I also understand that fear should not be used to validate violating other people's rights, no matter how many tragedies someone invokes in their argument.
One of the more depressing elements of this whole confrontation was having two Democratic politicians, when I brought up the point that I've been threatened too, dismiss that as irrelevant. The only fear they felt was valid was THEIR fear. And you wonder why the Democratic Party has a hard time relating to the masses (FFS).
Fear is nasty. It makes you irrational and untrusting. I know. I've gotten a lot of threats over the years defending the Left, but I don't use those threats to vilify any person who disagrees with me on a political issue. If I do that, the people making the threats win.
If you are afraid (and after Boetler, many people do have a very valid reason to be afraid), my best suggestion is to talk with someone about it. Get a counselor, or talk to a trusted friend. Talking it out helps you put everything in better perspective and helps you get past the shock, anger, and fear.
I will make this offer. If ANY politician wants to sit down and talk about their fear, I'd be happy to meet with you, buy you a coffee, and discuss it. I will listen to your concerns and feelings, relate my experiences, and let you know you are not alone. This is a serious offer, and it is open to anyone, Democrat or Republican, who is feeling fear control them. If I can help, I'm more than willing to try.
I'm not going to quit doing what I do. Most politicians like doing what they do. I understand that desire to serve and try to make our community better. Just don't fall into the trap of fear; proposing anti-American policies, invoking far more serious tragedies to try to add weight to your misguided reactionary agenda. If you do that, fear wins.
