Cross-Posted from DaleGlading.com
Minnesota has a long and storied history. Once the home of the Dakota and the Anishinaabe (or Chippewa) peoples, modern-day Minnesota was part of Spanish Louisiana from 1762 to 1802. The portion of the state east of the Mississippi River became part of the United States at the end of the Revolutionary War with the signing of the Treaty of Paris, and the land west of the Mississippi was acquired from France as part of the Louisiana Purchase.
Perhaps that is why Minnesota’s state motto is L’Étoile du Nord, which means “The Star of the North”.
Minnesota was considered part of the Territory of Missouri (1812-1821), an unorganized territory (1821-1834), part of the Territory of Michigan (1834-1836), part of the Territory of Wisconsin (1836-1848), and part of the Territory of Iowa (1838-1846). The overlapping years were when Minnesota was divided along the Mississippi River.
After Iowa became a state in 1846, Minnesota was again considered an unorganized territory until 1849, when it became the Minnesota Territory. Minnesota was admitted to the Union on May 11, 1858, becoming America’s 32nd state.
Although Minnesota has had a number of Republican governors, most notably Harold Stassen (1939-1943) and Tim Pawlenty (2003-2011), as well as a few independent governors such as former professional wrestler Jesse Ventura (1999-2003), it has been a bastion of Democratic liberalism for decades. Since 1932, Minnesotans have only voted for the Republican nominee for president three times: Dwight Eisenhower in 1952 and 1956, and Richard Nixon in 1972. In fact, Minnesota was the only state in the country not to vote for Ronald Reagan in both 1980 and 1984.
That tells you something right there!
Politically, Minnesota has had three “favorite sons” run for President of the United States. Harold Stassen, a liberal Republican governor, was considered the frontrunner for the GOP nomination in 1948, but he ultimately finished third at the convention behind Thomas Dewey of New York and Robert Taft of Ohio. Undaunted, Stassen sought the presidency in 1944, 1948, 1952, 1964, 1968, 1980, 1984, 1988, and 1992, becoming a toupéed caricature of his former self.
The other two Minnesotans that rose to such prominence were Hubert Humphrey and Walter Mondale. Humphrey, the liberal Democratic mayor of Minneapolis (1944-1948) and a highly respected U.S. Senator (1949-1964 and 1971-1978), also served as Lyndon Johnson’s vice president (1965-1969). In 1968, Humphrey lost the presidential race to Richard Nixon in one of the closest popular vote contests in American history.
As for Walter Mondale, he was elected Minnesota’s Attorney General in 1960, served as a U.S. Senator from 1964 to 1976, and as Jimmy Carter’s vice president (1977-1981). Mondale ran as the Democratic nominee for president in 1980 but got shellacked by Ronald Reagan in both the popular and electoral vote tallies. President Bill Clinton appointed Mondale to be the U.S. Ambassador to Japan, a position he held from 1993 to 1993.
So, Dale, why the longwinded history of Minnesota and its political heritage? Well, let me answer that question as simply and directly as possible.
Until now, Minnesota has elected some men to statewide office who were liberals, but not lunatics. Stassen, Humphrey, and Mondale were all left-of-center, but not dramatically so. All three men were also men of honor. In fact, Stassen had made a pledge that if America went to war, he would resign his position as governor, which he did, rising to the rank of captain in the U.S. Navy. Humphrey tried three times to join the military during World War II, but the Army turned him down twice due to his color blindness and the Navy did likewise because he was diagnosed with a double hernia, color blindness, and calcification of the lungs.
As for Mondale, he enlisted in the Army shortly after graduating from college in 1951, serving with the 3rd Armored Division Artillery at Fort Knox, Kentucky during the Korean War before was discharged as a corporal in 1953.
Despite some extensive research, I couldn’t find a single example of Stassen or Mondale inflating their military service for political gain. And Humphrey, who was unfairly criticized as a “draft dodger”, did everything in his power to don a military uniform and serve his country in wartime.
Unlike the aforementioned liberal heroes, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz is a far-left radical who despises – and has tried to undo – virtually everything that Stassen, Humphrey, and Mondale once stood for. I cannot picture any of those three men initiating a statewide Covid lockdown that included a vaccine mandate and a toll-free “Snitch Line” for citizens to rat out their nonconforming neighbors. Nor can I conceive Stassen, Humphrey, or Mondale placing tampon dispensers in boys’ restrooms in elementary schools.
Most of all, I cannot fathom Stassen, Humphrey, or Mondale lying about their military rank or deployment, which is the most despicable thing a veteran can do.
And yet, those are all things that Tim Walz did – and continues to do – in his obscene obsession for power. Despite the DNC’s attempts to portray him otherwise, “Coach” Walz is nothing but a two-bit liar who wants to indoctrinate and inoculate our children in the anti-God, pro-LGBTQ+ Progressive movement.
Perhaps the biggest lie that the media is telling about Tim Walz is that he represents wholesome Midwestern values. On the contrary, “Tampon Tim” would be far more comfortable in San Francisco, Seattle, or yes, Minneapolis-St. Paul (a city that he allowed BLM rioters to torch in 2020) than in America’s true heartland.
Minnesotans – and Americans as a whole – deserve a lot better than Tim Walz and Kamala Harris.