{"id":37493,"date":"2026-01-05T10:40:46","date_gmt":"2026-01-05T15:40:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lincolndemocrat.com\/?p=37493"},"modified":"2026-01-06T22:57:53","modified_gmt":"2026-01-07T03:57:53","slug":"bonefides","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lincolndemocrat.com\/?p=37493","title":{"rendered":"Bonefides"},"content":{"rendered":"

Previous Post: IN DON WE TRUST<\/a>
\nNext Post: Resolution to bring to Minnesota’s GOP precinct caucuses on February 3rd<\/a><\/p>\n

One of my most observant political allies sent me a link to Ballotopedia which listed the three names of candidates besides Congressman Pete Stauber who will be speaking at the January 15th meeting to people interested in the Indivisible activities in Northeastern Minnesota. He commented that my name was conspicuously absent. I told him to check out my recent blog posts and wrote out the name of the blog because he regularly forgets what it is.<\/p>\n

I am still awaiting news whether I will be admitted to the forum. People can announce their candidacies anytime they want but the official filings are not until June of the election year. I’ve been thinking about being a candidate again just as the previous four filings to challenge Traitor Pete all began with my defeat in the preceding primary election. Suddenly the creation of the NON PARTISAN Indivisible movement makes a serious campaign quite possible.<\/p>\n

So I now provide any new reader\/followers proof of my early enthusiasm for the movement: This is an article <\/a>the Duluth Reader asked me to write for them in April of last year.<\/p>\n

Empty chair for Stauber at productive town hall<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"
\nThe town hall meeting that was held Saturday to discuss issues that have caused elected representative and Trump brownnoser Stauber to go MIA. Photo by Harry Welty.<\/p>\n

I am not a reporter. Neither am I a \u201cpaid agitator.\u201d I attended the Saturday \u201ctown hall\u201d at East High school, where Mr. Stauber\u2019s chair sat empty. <\/p>\n

As we met, Elon Musk, who collects tens of millions from taxpayers, was paying Wisconsin voters to elect a state Supreme Court Justice. <\/p>\n

I am a Republican who knows more about the GOP history than today\u2019s entire Congressional delegation. I challenged Mr. Stauber in the last four primaries. In 2024 I gave Pete a more odious and, I think, accurate description than his description of 800 constituents as \u201cpaid agitators.\u201d I called Pete a \u201cTraitor.\u201d <\/p>\n

I still have 10,000 bookmarks calling him that to pass out. <\/p>\n

This is my eyewitness account. It will tell you more about the citizens of Duluth than Congressman Stauber\u2019s reply to KBJR News.<\/p>\n

I thought the four blocks of curbed cars at my last Indivisible meeting was impressive but there were a lot more cars at Duluth East. Its lot was packed. Seven-hundred seats were available in the Myers Wilkins Auditorium. It was SRO, standing room only. I took the picture above before folding chairs were set up. 800 constituents is a modest estimate (a Practicing Democracy press release put attendance at approximately 900). <\/p>\n

Practicing Democracy is an offshoot of Indivisible. There are about 10 sister organizations in the Duluth area. A pre-addressed postcard to Congressman <\/p>\n

Stauber that was handed out had this disclaimer, \u201cPaid for by Practicing Democracy political action committee & not authorized by any candidate or candidate\u2019s committee.\u201d<\/p>\n

A lot of the people who showed up, like my wife, were not Democrats. To be honest, the stage bristled with Democratic pols. <\/p>\n

The emcee was two-time DFL congressional candidate, former legislator and university Economics professor Jen Schultz. <\/p>\n

Here is my disclaimer. When I lost my primary challenge against Pete two elections ago, I slapped Jen\u2019s name on my lawn signs. They were the quirky ones with Jabba the Hutt. When I lost in \u201824 I put Jen\u2019s signs up when I took mine down. <\/p>\n

Jen explained that Practicing Democracy got its initial grubstake from her campaign account when it disbanded. She will not be running against Pete a third time. <\/p>\n

When Republican congressmen began going back to their Red Districts a couple weeks ago, they found town halls full of furious constituents fearful of executive chaos. Social Security, vet\u2019s benefits and a long string of other guarantees were about to be pruned with a chainsaw. They were scared.
\nIn turn, the GOP congressmen were so shellshocked that all the other GOP reps were ordered to hide. Pete\u2019s good at taking orders. <\/p>\n

Pete\u2019s KBJR reply bragged that 17,000 listeners tuned into his telephone town hall. I pity his listeners. I listened to one a few years ago. An audience member at East calculated that 12 screened questions coming from 17,000 listeners gave them a .0007% chance to ask a question. <\/p>\n

Before we got to audience participation a half-dozen local elected officials gave us a sense of the financial disruption Washington is about to unleash on them. Think of every local government in the United States as a renter waiting for a delayed paycheck while facing a landlord\u2019s eviction notice.
\nHaving served on the Duluth School Board for 12 years with at least 2 of the pols on the stage, I fully understand the abyss they face. I\u2019m 100 percent on their side, even though both of them voted to censure me for shooting my mouth off on the school board. Heck, I voted to censure myself. A man\u2019s gotta do what a man\u2019s gotta do. <\/p>\n

For Trump it means raping America. For me, it means pulling the bastard off the victim. I told you I\u2019m no journalist!<\/p>\n

No one on stage was a self-identified Republican. There hasn\u2019t been a Republican elected to local office for 20 years. But I saw only angels in that auditorium. <\/p>\n

Jen Schultz warned us that \u201cSilence in the face of a threat is taken to be assent.\u201d Sorry Pete. We made some noise.<\/p>\n

A month earlier it was announced that UMD would not host this meeting. After watching Trump unconstitutionally punish Columbia University by withholding a crippling $400 million unless they curtailed student\u2019s 1st amendment rights to free speech, I can forgive UMD. <\/p>\n

This assault on our world-class universities has not gone unnoticed. Our former European allies are extending invitations to our best scientists. Our post-WW II scientific miracle was itself propelled as war-torn Europe lost scientists to America. <\/p>\n

Move over America. China is eager to twist our beard into a bow.<\/p>\n

A troubling sign on Saturday was the anemic show of hands of people under the age of 30. There were only a couple dozen. What Trump is doing to colleges and free speech will bring them aboard.
\nAnother sign of the future were the hundreds of hands raised when we were asked who had switched from Elon Musk\u2019s X to Bluesky. <\/p>\n

Among the speakers were the school board\u2019s Rosie Loeffler-Kemp, Sarah Mikesell and Annie Harala, who is now a St. Louis County Board member. <\/p>\n

Duluth City Councilor Mike Mayou and the legislator for west and central Duluth, Pete Johnson, were also present. Pete gave us a chuckle when he described the sour looks he\u2019d get when door knocking and people saw his \u201cPete\u201d button. Frowns turned to smiles when he said he was Pete JOHNSON.
\nI knocked on a thousand doors too and can confirm Pete STAUBER is not popular in Duluth. <\/p>\n

Jen Schultz who spent time on the Duluth Port Authority, ominously warned that Trump\u2019s tariffs boded ill for the economic hub that is our seaway. I learned about the Smoot Hawley tariff\u2019s wrecking ball in high school while Trump was studying at the renowned Wharton School of Economics. I got As in History. Trump threatens to sue Wharton if they release his grades.<\/p>\n

In the audience the venerable Rep. Becky Laurie explained that Pete was scared of us. Her sincerity was sweet. <\/p>\n

Speaker Bill M said $1.5 million dollars in local NOAH spending was threatened. Its new head directed Trump\u2019s magic marker to change the predicted path of a hurricane on national TV.
\nSeveral veterans spoke vehemently about their shabby treatment by Trump. One said Signalgate put vets\u2019 lives in danger. <\/p>\n

A newer citizen from China broke into tears recalling the horrors of Tiananmen Square when she was a child and her perception that Trump is about to poison our democracy the same way. <\/p>\n

Loud boos erupted when it was announced that a University of Minnesota student had been arrested by ICE.<\/p>\n

My notes continue on but I\u2019ll stop here. A lot more than 12 people got to weigh in. I hope someone sends Pete the video.<\/p>\n

For more info, practicingdemocracy.ORG. <\/p>\n

Cowardly congressman is afraid to face constituents; claims paid agitators in attendance at gathering<\/p>\n

Congressman Pete Stauber released this statement about his refusal to attend the March 29 Practicing Democracy \u201ctown hall.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pete Stauber\u2026 \u201cwill \u2026 not appear at any event that is organized by left-wing extremists and primarily attended by paid agitators who are more interested in manufacturing outrage than having meaningful conversations about policy. The Congressman had a very successful telephone town hall on Monday, where he and 17,000 constituents had a respectful dialogue about a wide range of topics. Rather than continue to cover these dramatized protests and fake town halls, we encourage you to join and cover our next telephone town hall instead. These events are the preferred format for the majority of the residents in Minnesota\u2019s 8th district because of their ease and accessibility, and they also allow us to reach a wider audience than we ever could in person.\u201d<\/p>\n

Translation: Pete Stauber is afraid to face citizens angered by his subservience to the White Christian Nationalist MAGA movement led by the nincompoop Trump.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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