Publisher’s Perspective

By Tim Douglass, Publisher of the Pope County Tribune

The  end of a Minnesota Legislative session is always tumultuous, but last week’s conclusion was a bit over the top.

DFLers tried to put all the unfinished bills into one 2,800-page omnibus bill after Republicans spent much of the week filibustering the bills that were included in that final package.  Then The DFL used a procedural move to bypass debate and go straight to a vote on the bill.  That’s when Republicans began yelling at DFLers and there was name calling and the body lost all semblance of decorum.  If you saw any of it, it looked more like teenagers yelling at the class president about a choice for school lunch.

Regardless, it was not something any of us, Republican or DFL, should be proud of, but it is indicative of how far from tradition and decorum our current partisan politics have taken many representatives in the legislature.

       

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According to Michelle Griffith of the Daily Reformer, who reports on the Minnesota Legislature, “the most memorable retirement speech of  the session came from Rep. Dean Urdahl, R-Grove City, who served in the House for 11 terms.  Dean was a good representative, in my opinion.  In his retirement speech, he performed a rap he memorized from his days as a teacher, but he also pulled back the curtain a bit on the state of politics in Minnesota.

Urdahl said when he was elected, he made decisions based on three “C’s” — his conscience, his constituents and his caucus. Today, he said, politicians only vote based on one “C” — the caucus.

“I am a center-right conservative. That’s not always been good enough for my fellow Republicans,” Urdahl said. “There are those in or on the fringes of my party who are not Republicans. They are attempting to take over my party and mold it into something else — something it never was — and they are the true RINOs.”

He then concluded his speech by joking that his next job will be as a Walmart greeter.

“Thank you all. If you happen by the Litchfield Walmart, you can pause, point at me and say, ‘There he is. The last Eisenhower Republican. He tried to do what he thought was right.’”

Urdahl then pulled off his jacket and revealed a bright blue Walmart vest.