I have family in Minneapolis. If you are tough enough to endure the winters, Minnesota is a wonderful state to raise a family.
Minnesota consistently ranks within the top 10 states for public safety. Similarly, the state ranks in the top 10 for public school quality. Minnesotans are well educated.
Minnesota ranks 13th in terms of household income. It is a beautiful state.
Driving along the Mississippi River toward Minneapolis from the Iowa border, the scenery is breathtakingly beautiful. If you include rivers and lakes, Minnesota ranks second behind Alaska in terms of shoreline with over 180,000 miles.
The "Land of 10,000 Lakes provides boatloads of fun for water skiing and fishing in the summer and ice fishing and snowmobiling in the winter. The great outdoors beckons.
The tourism slogan: "Minnesota Nice" accurately, though stereotypically, denotes a culture of kindness and politeness.
ICE is not nice for Minnesota. Polling indicates that broadly speaking Americans are appalled by the apparent lawless actions of ICE. Americans actually like the First, Second and Fourth Amendments and want court orders to be followed....you know, checks and balances. The pretext for the massive surge of agents to Minnesota was billions of dollars of Medicaid fraud. The goal of the surge now appears to have been intimidation. That seems to have backfired. They should leave. The pretext, the investigation of Medicaid fraud, actually requires careful detective work to build cases, which would hold up in court. Any fraudsters should most definitely be prosecuted. However, those investigations are setback with the mass resignation of federal prosecutors who resigned rather than investigate the two shooting victims instead of the shooters. People want justice and accountability, as well as affordability. Americans want border control enforcement, which is legal rather than extralegal.
In speaking with customers and friends from Minnesota I am heartened by their resolve and discipline to peacefully resist the unlawful intrusion into their state. Minnesota is setting a good example for the rest of the country to follow. Kudos to Minnesota.
At a local protest, a high school student held up a placard which read; "Seems like a Pretti Good time to speak up." Normally, I steer clear of saying anything about politics. It is not good for business, but there is nothing normal about this situation.
More timeless quotes:
"Who Ya Gonna Believe Me or Your Own Eyes?"
—Chico Marx in the movie Duck Soup
"Sometimes I wonder whether the world is being run by smart people who are putting us on, or imbeciles who really mean it.
—Mark Twain
Photo Credits: Nikki Stewart
