Make time for your kids

As the school year is progressing, I am reminded of the time when my granddaughter was in 5th grade choir at Forest Lake School in Grand Rapids, Minn. My family went to her spring concert and sat in the front row so we could see all that was happening. At one point I noticed my granddaughter, Taiya, talking to her friend and I could see her say, “That’s my dad, my grandpa, my great-grandpa and great-grandma.” She then sat up to sing with the biggest smile on her face. It brought tears to my eyes and a choke to my throat to know OUR presence was that important to her. I recalled then for a moment when “I” was in school band. I searched and searched the auditorium to see where MY folks were sitting. I knew they were there – I just had to CONNECT with them.

Later, at Forest Lake School, we had milk and cookies with the kids. My granddaughter introduced me to her friend. Her friend simply said “NO ONE from my family came.” Need I say more as to how hurt that made me feel? If you are a parent, grandparent, uncle, or aunt. MAKE TIME to go to these events and support your kids. Give them hugs that they deserve. Do it TODAY.

Brian Carlson
Grand Rapids, Minnesota

The archaic practice of accepting the truth

Earlier this morning I saw a group of commentators on Fox News chuckling about the supposed idea that Democrats are lying about the Covid-19 virus (and its variants) to promote a false emergency and make unsuspecting people think that Trump is to blame for its spread by denying the need for vaccinations, face masks and social distancing, allowing Democrats to peel votes from Trump’s base. The Fox News panelists also chuckled and said, “Of course there is always an uptick of cases in the fall.”

So here’s what’s really going on: As of today there have been 48,106,615 cases of Covid in the U.S. and of those, 776,070 deaths have occurred, not to mention many millions of deaths worldwide. So if this is true, why do Republicans ignore the fact that during the approximately 10 years that U.S. troops were in Vietnam, more than 50,000 of our soldiers died – 15 times (less), than the current number of American fatalities caused by Covid-19. The GOP knows that such numbers emphasize the dangers of Covid and its variants! And that, if not for Trump’s abysmal handling of the Covid-19 epidemic he might have won in 2020. But Instead, he suggested that drinking bleach could kill the virus in saliva or respiratory fluids within five minutes, and that isopropyl alcohol could kill it even more quickly?

So, if you believe that Democrats and scientists are lying about the numbers, or about the existence of Covid itself (just to discredit Republicans), how do you explain the fact that millions of covid deaths, have occurred worldwide, and that many times the number of (U.S. cases), exist all over the world, which are being mitigated with masks, social distancing and vaccinations – the way that virtually all scientists recommend! Also remember that the world’s governments are Democratic, Socialist, Communist or even Authoritarian, the latter being ruled by one person and his minions. Yet virtually all of them acknowledge Covid’s deadliness and are now taking measures recommended by scientists!

 So, is Biden conning the entire world – even though many other countries’ scientific knowledge equals or surpasses that of American scientists? How could such a massive global conspiracy secretly exist? And why did leaders, besides Trump, recognize the dangers of Covid and its variants easily? Have Russia, China or even North Korea joined an alliance with American Democrats just to discredit Trump?

Their bizzarro world logic was employed by Hitler, Stalin, Idi Amin, Khadaffi and Mussolini, among others, who all denied real facts, vilified the press and claimed their enemies were responsible for the atrocities that they themselves committed. So, while deniers are advancing the notion that Trump did not lose in 2020, and that Covid is being lied about by Democrats, to “defeat” Republicans, can any of what they say be objectively proven? And if not, are their lies really being used in order to give the GOP full control over factual knowledge itself – like Kellyanne Conway, who thinks it’s perfectly reasonable to use “alternate” or “convenient” facts, instead?

Peter W. Johnson
Superior, Wisconsin