Opinions

By Reed Anfinson
Publisher
Swift County Monitor-News

“We can’t afford to lose this as a teaching moment,” President of the Council on Foreign Relations Richard Haas, who served in the George H.W., Bush Administration, said of the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S Capitol. “Countries need history. We need narratives. We need stories.”

He also said those words in response to a comment made by Pennsylvania’s Washington County Republican Chair Dave Ball who was angered by his U.S. Senator’s vote for impeaching former President Donald Trump. Pat Toomey was one of seven Republican senators who voted in favor of impeachment. The vote was 57 to 43, 10 short of the required 67. Toomey voted for Trump in 2016 and 2020, and voted for his proposals 87 percent of the time.

By Reed Anfinson
Publisher
Swift County Monitor-News

“Who are to be the electors of the federal representatives? Not the rich, more than the poor; not the learned, more than the ignorant; not the haughty heirs of distinguished names, more than the humble sons of obscurity and unpropitious fortune. The electors are to be the great body of the people of the United States.”

These words written by founding fathers Alexander Hamilton and James Madison in the Federalist Papers were meant to gain approval of the U.S. Constitution then being debated. We know from our history that we have often failed miserably to live up to these ideals.

By Reed Anfinson
Publisher
Swift County Monitor-News

As worldwide attention was transfixed by the rapid spread of COVID-19, Minnesota Democratic Gov. Tim Walz weighed the authority vested in him under the state’s Constitution for emergency peacetime action. When those powers were written, they envisioned natural disasters like tornadoes, floods, and forest fires. Would they apply to a disease? The answer would come quickly.

March 6, 2020, the first case of the deadly disease was identified in the state. Seven days later, with 14 confirmed cases, Walz declared a peacetime emergency. March 15 schools were ordered closed to prepare plans for reopening safely. March 16, Walz signed an executive order “requiring the closure of bars, restaurants, and other places of public accommodation.” Over the next week, orders would follow that postponed elective surgeries and for stay-at-home orders.

By Reed Anfinson
Publisher
Swift County Monitor-News

In an ominous early scene of the movie Jurassic Park, a cow is lowered into the velociraptor pen at the main compound. As it happens, archaeologist Alan Grant asks the game warden about deadly prehistoric predators’ intelligence.

“Do they show intelligence?” Grant asks game warden Robert Muldoon. “Extreme intelligence. Problem-solving intelligence,” he replies. He then goes on to explain how they are continually looking for ways to escape. “They were testing the fences for weakness systematically.”

While the coronavirus doesn’t have the intelligence “to test the fences” of our immune system, it has the sheer numbers to bring them down. Give it a million tries, a billion tries, and one of the hundreds of mutations will “learn” to get around our vaccinated immunity. It will learn to evade the antibodies our own defenses create when we contract the disease.

By Reed Anfinson
Publisher
Swift County Monitor-News

Three Three law professors who have studied rural issues for years have suggested five initiatives the Biden Administration could take to improve life in our small town and rural communities. They saw their recommendations “would go a long way toward empowering distressed rural communities to improve their destinies, while also helping bridge the urban/rural divide.”

They point out that despite the conservable power rural states have with each having two U.S. Senators, little has been done to turned the tide of economic and population decline.

Here are the recommendations of professors Lisa R. Pruit of California, Jessica A. Shoemaker of Nebraska, and Ann Eisenberg of the South Carolina, with a few edits and observations, to make them more meaningful for rural Minnesota.

 
High-speed internet for everyone

By Reed Anfinson
Publisher
Swift County Monitor-News

Many years ago, we were standing by a friend in the church at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter. He was in the college choir and had a beautiful tenor voice. As the congregation began singing a hymn, we remained silent. He turned to us asking, “Why aren’t you singing?” We replied, “You’re so good we would be embarrassed singing next to you.” His reply, “If the only birds that sang in the forest were those that sang best, it would be a quiet place.”

Through the harmony of many voices, America has created a nation that has been the envy of people across the world. In Washington, D.C., Jan. 6, the world saw that already badly frayed harmony shredded.

By Reed Anfinson
Publisher
Swift County Monitor-News

“I hate it to end this way. Oh, my God, I hate it.” These words came from Republican South Carolina U.S. Sen. Lyndsey Graham, one of President Donald Trump’s most ardent supporters during his four years in office.

And while he briefly applauded Trump as a “consequential president,” recognizing what he had done for conservatives on judicial appointments, taxes, and immigration, he outright dismissed Trump’s challenge of the presidential election results. He also laid the blame for the Jan. 6 storming of the U.S. Capitol by his most extreme supporters that killed a Capitol police officer at Trump’s feet. Four others died that day as well.

By Reed Anfinson
Publisher
Swift County Monitor-News

As a new year begins, we look with hope toward a time when our families will be safe from the deadly coronavirus, when our businesses can once again all be open to customers, and when we can gather with friends in public spaces.

We know that some of our local businesses have been forced to shut down during the COVID1-9 pandemic, and many others have seen their bottom lines turn from black to red. They are going to need help in the coming months from both individuals and local governments. Yes, we will be looking for aid from the federal and state governments as well.

By Reed Anfinson
Publisher
Swift County Monitor-News

Just maybe, this blizzard taught some Minnesotans a lesson. Those of us old enough to remember the more intense blizzards of the past have a deep respect for just how life-threatening the combination of snow, subzero temperatures, and wind can be. When winter’s early sunset combines with wind and snow, you can’t see past the snowflakes hammering your windshield.

We also know that when strong storm systems engulf us, there is brutally dangerous cold air lurking on the backside. It rushes in, creating wind chills that can take your breath away and cause frostbite in minutes.
We were fortunate to get through last week’s blizzard with no lives lost. We haven’t always been so blessed.

By Reed Anfinson
Publisher
Swift County Monitor-News

A moment we’ve waited for so anxiously for nine months arrived this past Friday with the emergency approval of Pfizer and BioNTech’s vaccine by the federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA.) Moderna’s vaccine could get emergency authorization from the FDA Thursday.

Medical staff and residents in long-term care facilities will start getting the vaccine within the next week. Essential workers, including teachers, first responders, law enforcement, firefighters, and those working in the food and transportation industries, will be next. Then people with preexisting conditions and those over 65.

After that, the general U.S. population will be getting the COVID-19 vaccine. It won’t be until spring that most Americans have had the opportunity to be vaccinated.