Readers Write: Minneapolis DFL, speed limits, antisemitism, politics at the State Fair

Opinion editor’s note: Strib Voices publishes letters from readers online and in print each day. To contribute, click here.

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It’s not just that the Minneapolis DFL couldn’t run a lemonade stand. It’s that they would require a meeting in which membership would debate the colonial legacy of lemons, deplore the destructive environmental impact of sugar beet farming and processing, demand that any materials used in the production of this hypothetical lemonade not be produced in Israel and declare a need for a citywide, city-run network of grocery stores to furnish an equitable mechanism for distribution. After eight hours, the meeting would adjourn with everyone angry at each other for no reason. Meanwhile, Donald Trump is still president. It’s long past time for the Minneapolis DFL to be dissolved.

Dan Norman, Minneapolis

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In 2026, the DFL has a chance to take back control of the Minnesota House of Representatives and retain power in the state Senate and executive branch. The absurd decision of a few state DFL Party insiders to overturn rank-and-file Minneapolis DFLers’ endorsement of Omar Fateh in the mayor’s race has shriveled this chance. Their decision reinforces nonvoters’ perception of the GOP and DFL as the same: handmaidens of millionaires uninterested in lowering the cost of living or stopping genocide.

By overturning the endorsement, state DFL insiders spat in the face of Minneapolis DFL volunteers, delegates and alternates like me who showed up to participate in a democracy we perceived as fragile, but legitimate — a party we thought would hold a place for us and our interests as Minneapolis residents, not one that would bend to suburban and outstate donors. State party insiders may have overturned Fateh’s endorsement, but they cannot change the fact that Mayor Jacob Frey only received 31.54% of the delegate vote on the first ballot. They cannot change the fact that they need nonvoters, Minneapolis DFL voters and volunteers to win statewide and outstate races.

Elise Steichen, Minneapolis

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The decision by the DFL to revoke state Sen. Omar Fateh’s endorsement in the Minneapolis mayoral race is a shortsighted, foolish and self-defeating action that will do nothing but alienate progressives and the Somali/East African base — two key parts of the Democratic base that are absolutely essential to keeping Minnesota blue. And for what? So that an incumbent mayor who could only get roughly 30% support of city delegates, has no achievements in his seven years in office and notoriously is incapable of building any coalition with the City Council, state or county officials can stay in power?

Frankly, the only people Frey is capable of winning over are those who helped overturn Fateh’s endorsement, which makes sense: Both sides seem to believe rules apply only when they’re winning, and the rules and process don’t count when they aren’t the ones benefiting. Frey owes the city delegates and DFL volunteers who worked so hard to make the DFL convention work an apology, though I won’t be holding my breath for it to happen.

Hangatu Omar, Minneapolis

As a Minneapolis resident, I’m not understanding how the Democratic Socialists of America has co-opted the DFL in Minneapolis. I understand from talking to neighbors this has been a gradual phenomenon. We now have a DSA candidate for mayor who was — rightly or wrongly — endorsed by the city’s DFL.

Germany has several political parties. On the left, the Greens. On the right, Alternative for Deutschland (AfD). There are centrist parties like the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and Christian Democratic Union (CDU) that lean a little bit left, a little bit right. The Greens don’t infiltrate the SPD. The SPD doesn’t infiltrate AfD.

In Minneapolis, why does the DSA not identify itself as a unique party? Why does it expect the DFL to oblige its entry? What am I missing?

Skye Smith, Minneapolis

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I voted for DeWayne Davis the first round. He was then wrongly dropped for the second round, which left only Jacob Frey and Omar Fateh as the two remaining candidates. I voted for Fateh over Frey because I am opposed to Frey continuing as mayor. Any of the three may have emerged as the endorsed candidate had the convention been better conducted.

The party can do one thing to repair this mess: Share the party data that usually goes to the endorsed candidate with all three candidates. Treat them all as endorsed. There are too many people who worked hard and gave their time for this process to be erased.

Paul Rozycki, Minneapolis

It’s been interesting to read about speed laws, scofflaws and speed limits. The Aug. 22 letter “Change the sign, change nothing” was especially cogent. We all want speeders to change their habits. However, much as we want enforcement for speeding drivers, I note with some amusement how difficult it is to keep track of the actual speed limit.

For example, a frequent road trip for me starts on W. 54th Street in Minneapolis heading west, where the limit is 25 mph. Crossing Penn Avenue S., still heading west, the limit changes to 20 mph. When I hit Xerxes and turn right (north), the limit moves to 30 mph. Cross 50th Street, still heading north, it changes to 25 mph. This limit maintains down Xerxes and west on 39th. Once I reach France Avenue, however, and turn right (north), the limit is 30 mph. This takes me to a left turn (west) on Excelsior Boulevard, where there is a sign stating that 20 mph is the rule unless otherwise stated. About a block later the limit is marked at 35 mph.

Carol Henderson, Minneapolis

An Aug. 19 letter repeated the demand for a permanent ceasefire between Israel and Gaza (“Why are we contracting with an Israeli survey company”). Just a reminder, there was a ceasefire on Oct. 7, 2023 when more than 1,000 Israelis were massacred by members of Hamas. Many Gazans were working in Israel, and Israel was actively sending supplies to Gaza. Instead of using the material for infrastructure, however, the Hamas government used it to build a wide grid of tunnels; tunnels that, according to a Hamas official, were to protect only Hamas members, not civilians.

The writer identified himself as a Jew. Has he wondered about the sudden spread of antisemitism worldwide? Condemning Israel started immediately after the attack, before Israel fired the first shot.

Has he realized that while many claim to be antizionists and not antisemites, such a distinction does not exist, as evidenced by attacks on synagogues and harassments of Jewish worshipers on their way to service?

Is he certain that, once protests become violent, he will be spared?

The least Minnesotan thing about an otherwise perfect first day Thursday at the Great Minnesota Get-Together: the booth distributing handheld cardboard fans that said “Walz Lies.” Some people can’t let a day go by without bringing the nasty.