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I spoke with Gene Dornink the other day and thanked him for returning my calls.

The purpose of my calling him was to attempt to understand why he doesn’t include in his newspaper columns how he can possibly support this president. How can anyone support a twice impeached, felon who was convicted as a rapist? A president, who unlike Joe Biden, seems to have no soul, and has a good half dozen billionaires as his cabinet officers, where Joe had none! As with most Republicans, the response I frequently get is comparing Trump to  what Joe  Biden did or did not do. This was not a contest between the left and the right.  Personally, I don’t see a lot of difference between the two parties at this juncture in our Republic. I believe there was a time in our history when the Republican Party was just that, the party of  John McCain and Mitch Romney.  These two men, in particular, were able to voice their opinions about Trump without fear.  This no longer seems to be the case. For this reason I really wanted to understand how Gene, a Republican, can be silent when it comes to how this administration is rapidly destroying our rule of law, our Constitution, our democracy and has a Supreme Court that  also seems to fear retaliation from Trump. He tried to make me believe that he doesn’t have a lot  to do on a Federal level and I understand that. But as I said to him, what comes down from Washington will manifest here for his constituents in Minnesota.  Just look at how gas, food, etc. will go up very soon. And Minnesota, Michigan and New York get most of their electricity from Canada. Compare your next Utility Bill. And do not count on  tax relief — that will only be for the 1% as it was in Trump’s last term at the White House.

I hope he will remind his  Minnesota constituents of the dangers that befall us in this country and that losing our democracy isn’t a trivial issue.  The dangers are before our eyes, as it was for decades in Nazi Germany.  I can only hope that the midterm elections will bring people to their senses and they will vote FOR Democracy to  flourish for all of us. Keep in mind that other than the Native population, we all have ancestors who were immigrants — all of us!

Roberta Mistretta

Austin, MN