Olson’s Cheers and Jeers: Eloquence, anger and vitriol after Minneapolis shootings

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The Minneapolis mayor eloquently met the horrific moment by redirecting clichéd commentary into a plea for something more. Frey singularly captured our exasperation and exhaustion in his comments outside the Annunciation Catholic Church, where two children were killed and 18 other people, mostly juveniles, were injured. “Don’t just say this is about thoughts and prayers right now,” the mayor said. “These kids were literally praying. It was the first week of school. They were in a church. These are kids that should be learning with their friends. They should be playing on the playground. They should be able to go to school or church in peace without the fear or risk of violence and their parents should have the same kind of assurance.” No one could have said it more clearly.

The Albertville Republican jumped on his keyboard Wednesday and mocked the mourning in Minneapolis. Among other things, Hudson called Frey’s reaction “incredibly insulting.” Not one to take a moment for reflection, Hudson also let loose on the Minnesota House DFL for a statement that read in part: “[W]e cannot accept a world where people face the threat of gun violence as they go about their daily lives.” In response, Hudson wrote, “they couldn’t wait even one day to make it about guns” and said the shooting was about “an ideology.” His posts went downhill from there, as they tend to do. Hudson shows little interest or ability to engage in nuanced thought.

They provided lifesaving care during an extraordinarily grim 24-hour stretch in Minneapolis this week. Listen to Dr. Thomas Wyatt, chair of emergency medicine at Hennepin Healthcare, talk about how they triaged the 11 most critical patients brought into the Level One trauma center at the downtown hospital. He provided a horrific clue to the weapon used and the injuries involved. “We are dealing with gunshot wounds, injuries from a fairly high-velocity weapon,” the doctor said. “And you know gunshot wounds can be very problematic because they can involve multiple body systems and, again, they require a lot of resources to manage.” Special thanks to these compassionate healers who don’t flinch in the face of horror.

The Little Falls Republican took to social media in the hours after the shooting to blame gun-free zones and weak fathers. He also cited the late shooter’s gender identity; court records indicate that Robin Westman had a legal name change to identify as female in 2020. Wesenberg declared that the young shooter needed “adults willing to stand firm in truth and guide him” through his mental health struggles. Wesenberg said that gun-free zones, such as schools and churches, become “hunting grounds” that “create soft targets where killers know they will face little to no armed resistance.” He also wrote that what’s needed now is “more masculine fathers present in their children’s lives, more loving mothers raising children in faith.” Clearly his toxic blinders prevent him from seeing a continuously lethal problem with easy access to weapons of war.

The senator has proved willing to be both compassionate and to fiercely call out lies. “It doesn’t have to be this way,” she said about the shootings in a video. She pledged to keep working to fight the proliferation of guns and violence. “In America, we are 10 times more likely to be shot in a school or playground than any other developed nation,” she also wrote. Then she swatted down an assertion by Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. that antidepressants cause violence. Smith dared him to go to Annunciation School and tell the community that guns don’t kill, antidepressants do. “You should be fired.” Thanks to the senator for always cutting to the heart of the matter.

While more than 100 challenges to the city party’s mayoral endorsement were pending with the state DFL Party, the city party sent out mailers with a slate of endorsed candidates. Prominently featured at the top: Mayoral candidate and DFL state Sen. Omar Fateh, whose city DFL endorsement was rescinded by the state last week due to the city party’s failure to properly credential delegates and count ballots. Early voting in the city election doesn’t start until Sept. 19, so the city DFL could have, and should have, waited until the challenge was resolved. The city DFL’s intransigence is increasingly staining the entire party in Minnesota.

Johnson is the designer of the fun red-white-and-black reusable bags handed out at the “Visit Bemidji” booth in the Education Building at the Minnesota State Fair. One of the more eye-catching freebies available and a full-on pop of fun with buffalo plaid. By day’s end, I’d already seen one of the Bemidji totes at my neighborhood grocery store. It turns out that many of Johnson’s designs are similarly mirth-producing. Cheers as well to the Secretary of State’s office for incorporating the laser loon into its “MnVotes” emblem on a stick. I would have preferred a laser loon sticker for my water bottle, but those are banned as fair freebies so fair employees don’t have to spend months scraping them off the streets and sidewalks.