It was a year ago today a tornado skittered through North Minneapolis, killilng one, injuring 30, and spreading damage throughout a neighborhood that didn’t need any more damaging.
Government sprang into action…
…and a year later, the neighborhood is still pocked with damage, with some damaged buildings still scattered about the place.
Congressional candidate Chrs Fields, writing in the Strib, takes Keith Ellison to task over the government’s response:
A continual lack of focus by U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison, a Democrat representing the Fifth District, led to a failure in making the case for the North Side in Washington. Who else is there to make the case? Instead, Ellison focuses on issues in the Middle East concerning Palestinians, Syrians and Egyptians. They are not the 99 percent of constituents, are they?
To be fair, at least North Minneapolis is free of Syrian tanks, so far.
To be honest, an Israeli bombing raid would probably get Representative Ellison’s attention better than his constituents’ calls.
Fields (with emphasis added):
We live in a political age when, if you live in a politically one-sided congressional district or state, an administrative department can afford to ignore you. Why? Because if a member is from a “safe district,” voters cannot punish the congressman for his neglect.
But if we were one of those “hotly contested” congressional districts or “swing states,” we not only would have gotten federal assistance promptly, it probably would have come with a marching band and a presidential visit.
Behold the exposed id of liberalism, and of the DFL. As with the gay marriage debate – where one week liberal pols solemnly intone “we don’t play politics with civil rights”, and the next week they whinge about the President’s politics of civil rights harming their poll numbers – government is all about doing what it takes to get and keep power.
As a 21-year combat veteran of the Marines, I know that our community needs a combination of focused leadership and policy changes.
And again to be fair: Ellison’s leadership is focused – on keeping Keith Ellison in the national media: posturing intently over the Middle East, furrowing his brow at “Occupy” meetings, seeing his mug on MSNBC.
Dear North Minneapolis: Are you better off the you were two, four and six years ago?
Insanity is repeating the same thing over and over and over and expecting a different result – in this case, sending Keith Ellison to Washington.
When I hear Lefty complain about the Tea Party, the complaint redounds to the thought that if the “teh teabaggers get their way, why we’ll have no firemen, no police, no government at all”. The was recently illustrated by the television program, ‘The Family Guy’ (crudely illustrated, both literally and figuratively). In the episode, the Tea Party takes over the town and mayhem ensues. In the end, the lead character appeals to all that maybe we could just come together and combine our money to do things for the community like provide basic services we’d all be much happier (as if the Tea Party is advocating mayhem over smaller, efficient government).
Conservatives may disagree on or at what level government should aid or assist people. In my opinion, state or federal government should aid a community injured (physically, financially, etc.) by an act of God (or Gaia or global warmenism or whatever your particular belief system holds) where the loss overwhelms a community’s ability to respond. (I’d make an exception here for the coastal areas or known flood zones. Love being right on the water? Self-insure!!).
Somehow, Keith Ellison (as Jim “Bikepath Jim” Oberstar before him) will get all kinds of accolades for helping fund the bike coordinator job in Minneapolis (we’re #2 in biking and yet #1 for bike shorts, go figure) but the Strib will look the other way at the results Ellison brings to real needs of his constituents.
Good Luck Mr. Fields.
Were there any proposals from either party as part of the bonding bill this spring?
Been listening to Matt McNeil at the Air America 950 in the morning. He really went off on this opinion piece and said it was all the Republicans fault.
Ellison is Congressman for life. I don’t see this changing until Ellison dies, is imprisoned, someone more radical comes along or MN loses a Congressional district after the next Census and Republicans grow a pair and combine 4 and 5.
if Fields gets 40% consider it a victory folks, longterm building. If you build from the ground up things can get done. I’ll let you know if Ellison calls my office for help, Fields has openly denied support from the DDE, he wants to do it on his own. More power to the man.