Backbone in the storm

Recently there have been quite a few protests at some American colleges and universities, seeming to mostly back Palestinians and Hamas. Protest can be a free speech issue, but it gets interesting when being arrested is a goal of protesters. As a grocery store general manager for several years, I had a useful rule of thumb for unruly customers: If an employee felt afraid or in danger because of a customer’s actions or language, I got involved, sometimes even having that customer leave. If a student, any student, feels in danger just going to class or walking across a mall, that’s a real problem. Kudos to the U of M for turning a protest into a dialogue and hopefully settling an issue in an educated and peaceful manner.

There was a student strike while I was at the U in 1969 or ’70. Because I was married, working full time and going to school, I did not participate in the demonstrations. Heck, a strike seemed cool and I remember no longer attending my Latin classes. What a break. But one class I did not miss was a humanities class taught by Misha Penn. He was the best instructor I ever had at the U — even though I lived in terror that he would call on me for an opinion, which implied I had to THINK. That wasn’t all bad, to be sure. An introductory class of his pitted Reich’s “The Greening of America” against an essay by C. Wright Mills. (Mills trounced him.)

But when the strike came, protesters crowded around the door to the classroom demanding he stop his classes.

There was shouting and yelling and Misha yelled back, “You’re asking me to stop teaching which is exactly what the Nazis did. I won’t do it.”

That shut everyone up, and the class resumed. I thought that really was an amazing act on the part of Misha. He showed backbone in the face of noise. That kind of a backbone could be shown more often on campuses today.

There was yet another show of fortitude — this time by my Latin professor. He failed me because I didn’t come to class. Now, over half a century later, I can appreciate what he did. There was a rule, I broke it and paid the price.

Dialogue, critical thinking, and education are incredibly important in today’s world, but seem to be in remission. Maybe more colleges and universities need to stick to the principles they were founded on.

Mead Stone, Stillwater

Has anything gone well?

Allow me to pose a singular interrogatory: Name one thing that has gone well for this country since Biden arrived.

Afghanistan, Invasion and Inflation, the end.

Jon Swenson, Eagan

And the hostages?

While condemning the heavy-handed Israeli response in Gaza, the pro-Gaza protesters here at the University of Minnesota and elsewhere have not emitted a peep about the murderous attacks, rapes, hostage-taking and other atrocities committed by the cut-throat members of Hamas on Oct. 7.

Demands by pro-Gaza groups that Israel conform to the niceties of international law while the enemy makes a mockery of it is equivalent to a prizefighter adhering to the Marquis of Queensberry rules while the adversary is equipped with bare knuckles and other improper devices.

If Hamas were to release the hostages and actually abide by international law, Israel would assuredly curtail its counter-attacks that have had such regrettable consequences for non-combatants.

Marshall H. Tanick, Minneapolis

Will they speak out against Iran?

With the number one state sponsor of terror, Iran, jailing and killing known LGBTQ people, one has to wonder, where is the outrage from college students and others who side with Hamas in Palestine?

Iran financially supports the terror group Hamas, so do those who support Palestine support the inhuman cruelty against the LGTBQ in Iran? Will Ilhan Omar and those protesting Israel speak out against Iran?

Thomas McMahon, White Bear Lake

The TIF tool is broken in St. Paul, so other taxpayers pay

The story in Monday’s Pioneer Press states that the City will lose $6 million in Tax Increment Financing (TIF), if not used by the end of 2025. City officials say that TIF is a “good tool in their tool box” for development. They claim there is nothing to lose using TIF.

This tool is broken in St. Paul. It demonstrates a lack of understanding by those making these decisions for our future. Here are a few ways our taxpayers lose.

TIF is supposed to only be used for development of “blighted” areas, but TIF results in lost city tax base to pay for this debt, for a quarter century or more. We can’t think of any blighted areas in the 60 TIF districts we have already used for development.

Developers are smart enough to develop at our best locations, and doing so with TIF subsidies removes tax potential from future non-subsidized development.

TIF creates developments that require services like police, fire, road maintenance and schools, but don’t contribute to those expenses. This cost is shifted to other taxpayers.

TIF incentivizes unneeded development which competes both with tax-paying properties as well as other TIF projects. This further lowers tax base throughout the city.

We have had 40 years of digging a financial hole in St. Paul and have a reduced tax base because of it.  We don’t need to dig $6 million deeper.

John Mannillo and Julian Loscalzo, St. Paul

Soucheray Sundays

As a long time, Pioneer Press subscriber … on Sundays, when I bring in my rolled up / rubber banded edition and place it on my breakfast table, I always page past the front page and hope to see a Joe Soucheray column.

I rely upon Joe’s sobering parody of the contemporary political scene and its mainstream media groupies … in my ongoing attempts to optimally navigate daily life within our country’s 21st century.

Long live Soucheray Sundays.

Gene Delaune, New Brighton

Then and now and over and over

Thank you for reproducing the front page of the first issue of The Minnesota Pioneer in “St. Paul, Minnesota Territory, Saturday, April 28, 1849,” just 175 years ago, as well as reproducing representative front pages over the years in the premium section “History on the Front Page.”

I enjoyed squinting at the news that shared the front pages with the historic moments. That first issue published “AN ACT To establish the Territorial government of Minnesota.” Sharing that were “Items of Foreign News,” including word from England via folks on the steamship Niagara: “A bill is likely to pass in Parliament to ensure the Episcopal clergymen, who have renounced Episcopalism, to preach in dissenting chapels without incurring penalties and costs, for the non-payment of which Rev. Mr. SHORE is in jail.” It turns out Rev. James Shore had been punished by the Bishop of Exeter, despite the provisions of the Toleration Act.

The Pioneer story adds, “The political opponents of the present ministry do not aim to expel them from office.”

Over in France, “Every day discloses some fresh instance of the indefatigable zeal of the Socialists to overthrow the present order of things.” The writer blames “the Journal of M. Proudhon” – that’s Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, who became a member of the French Parliament after the Revolution of 1848. Proudhon favored workers’ councils and cooperatives as well as individual worker/peasant possession over private ownership or nationalization of land and workplaces. Sounds pretty mild for a zealot.

And in Austria, the first elected Parliament, called the Kremsier Parliament, abolished the feudal system, derived the emperor’s power from the people rather than the “Grace of God,” guaranteed a free press and religious practice and free government-paid education in “all languages.” It didn’t last. The prime minister of the Austrian empire quickly dissolved the assembly.

As someone wrote, in French, “the struggle continues.”

Hal Davis, Minneapolis

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