From the Lefthand Corner

We as a society like to waste a lot of time complaining about our government. Overall, our multi-tiered government (with notable exception) is pretty good. It has been quite stable over almost two and a half centuries. We have had a quiet, free and safe environment over the years....

The Minneapolis Trib had a lead guest editorial a couple weeks ago on, what else? President Trump. It was entitled, "My president? Yes. My leader? No." It was about the first six months of the Trump presidency. What else?

President Trump, Gov. Walker and others of their ilk are making a big deal over Foxconn coming to Wisconsin to manufacture electronic equipment. Some of us see the "big deal" another way. For some of us who like comparing Minnesota favorably with Wisconsin whenever we can, this looks...

Whenever I encounter anyone of my elder age grouping, single or a group, once we get past the weather and grandkids and the horrible political climate, and ask what is of most important concern to them, No. 1 is their present and future health care, and No. 2 is Social Security, or...

The U.S. Supreme Court recently agreed to decide whether the U.S. Constitution limits how far lawmakers can go to redraw voting districts to favor one political party over another in a case that could have huge consequences for American elections. The justices will take up Wisconsin's...

This is a column I hate to write. It will likely be somewhat boring and quite repetitious. I believe I wrote on the same subject a couple of years ago, if not before that. Still, nothing has actually occurred to alleviate the dire circumstance. Forget "Minnesota Nice." Once again...

I don't know who came up with "the first 100 days" of a presidency, nor why it is deemed of such importance. I guess FDR came sailing in in early 1933 with a lot of dramatic and drastic changes that the populace of the time direly needed and much appreciated, except those he tread...

We've had a few months to reflect and wonder how our country could ever come to such a combination of apathy and stupidity, even for one day, to elect Donald Trump as our president. A side effect and consequence of that day of infamy was to re-elevate the already too high status of...

It's health care assurance that we need in this country, not health care insurance. What our society needs is the assurance of good health care for everyone, affordable and accessible for all. What our society does not need is the wasteful practice of pouring huge amounts of our government...

Whenever people in your midst get uppity about their own heritage, or continue our lessening but still existent discriminatory actions and attitudes toward black folks, remind them that by long heredity we are all Africans - including them. The current issue of Discover magazine contains...

We consider a silent treatment quite negatively, whether it is as a punishment in prison, in a family grouping or in a close, personal relationship. Some of us, however, endure a sort of silent treatment all the time. It is far more unintentional than deliberate. We are fortunate...

Hello out there. This is another insignificant cry from our wilderness, our ever lessening wild, as our Minnesota is passing steadily from rural to urban. Our Earth is getting warmer. The ones who know the most about our warming are warning that it is dangerously so, that with our...

As I sit in my comfortable rocker recliner this snowy Friday, I think of a concluding quote from a layperson"s sermon a few years ago. As she said, I can truly say, "Thank you, God, for everything." This is an easy Thanksgiving column to write because I have so much to be thankful...

I'm ever hopeful of a government that is caring, constructive and compassionate. I wish George Bush could have fulfilled his self-label of "compassionate conservative." I want a foremost objective of government to be acknowledgment that we are our brothers/sisters' keepers. Another...