A definition of pro·bi·ty found on the Internet: the quality of having strong moral principles; honesty and decency. “financial probity”
It was inevitable that the Tribune would endorse Pete Stauber and today they did. Just how they would justify their decision was not as easy to predict.
Ironically, they have endorsed him as the Non Trump. Trump divisive? Not Pete. Trump anti union? Not Pete. Trump anti-tax? Not Pete. On the other hand where gun conrtol is concerned Pete punted arguing, according to the Trib’s endorsement, that ” “We need to respect life. Every life matters. … Why are we looking to Congress to fix school violence? That’s fixed at the kitchen table. … Every school needs to be safe. Let the local people make those decisions about how.” How novel, Pete turns “Gun violence” into an issue of school violence which should be solved at the home at the “kitchen table.” Thank’s Pete. Thanks DNT. What a simple way to prevent more Sandy-hooks.
I can’t exactly complain about my treatment. I am mentioned without brickbats despite my long tradition of harassing the Trib’s editorial board. But the Trib does limit my contribution to the debate by reducing it to two seemingly contradictory convictions regarding Pete. To wit:
“What we don’t need is to have a whole lot of people elected to Congress who are going to be little Donald Trump clones,” he said. “That’s why I’m running, because right now there’d be no challenge for Pete Stauber, who is a decent and honorable man.”
A key point missed is the historical fact that some of history’s worst catastrophe’s were the result of “decent and honorable” leaders being so reasonable as to zip their lips when things got ugly. That’s Pete’s form of decency. To his credit Pete tells the Trip hopefully that “I’m not going there [to Congress] to be a robot.” My honest reaction to that campaign promise is, Bullshit!
Pete is like most politicians I know. His finger is stuck up into the wind to see which way the wind is blowing. Should he be elected he will bend over backward not to draw fire from the Freedom Caucus driven Republicans. That means he will only rarely tippy-toe away from Donald Trump’s worst actions. And those actions keep multiplying. A look at the headlines in today’s New York Times showcases just the most recent of them:
Trump considers 100 billion tax cut for the wealthy
A Federal shut down. “I would have no problem” says Trump
Migrant boy rejoins his mother but he is not the same
And if you go deeper in the Times dozens more stories will jump out and assault your brain ….. but the Red State owners of the Trib have as compliant an editorial board at their flagship paper, the Tribune, as Donald Trump has a candidate in Pete Stauber. That’s why, putting Pete’s personal decency aside, I told KBJR’s Dan Wolfe that under no circumstances will I support Pete after he beats me in the August 14th primary. (I’ve got my fingers crossed that the interview will show up on the internet. The widow of one of Duluth’s most respected School Superintendent’s told me at Church Sunday that I sounded great.) As I told the Trib, we don’t need more “little Donald Trump clones” in Congress.
The DNT editors like to project the illusion of probity to cover their asses but I’ve seen their myopia up personally on an issue of critical importance to Duluth’s public schools. The Trib’s editors let the Public Schools finances get sucked into a ruinous public building plan because the powerful people in our community was determined to push it down an unhappy public’s throat without an election. And trust me. The DNT editors will never forgive me for being an ungracious “I told you so” about their myopia and their complicity. When I ran for reelection last year the editors enjoyed throwing their endorsement to a couple newbies who took my place. The newbies are currently overwhelmed by the District’s financial pathologies that are leftovers from the part the Trib played in bankrupting the District. Such is the Trib’s “probity.” Pete Stauber’s endorsement is yet one more manifestation of the Trib’s illusory probity.
The Trib’s endorsement of Pete is one more offering to the seven-year-old narcissist wreaking havoc on America in the Oval Office.
