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As Ted Hinnenkamp referenced in a recent letter, the local DFL has approached the Freeborn County Republicans with a statement they had written, wanting the GOP to publish it or something similar.

The point of the statement was in response to the Jan. 6 events at the Capitol and to declare Joe Biden as the lawful president. As it is, the local GOP has already publicly addressed both of these issues.  We’ve long and consistently condemned the initiation of violence from all sources, particularly over the past year and including January’s events. This has typically been met with criticism from the DFL in the past, so it’s refreshing to see them change their stance. We also seem to have an easier time referring to Biden as “president” than still does the local DFL in acknowledging that “Mr. Trump,” as they intentionally continue to call him, ever was. The irony of this point is not lost. 

According to the DFL, drafting a statement for their competitor was a purely motivated and thoughtful move to unify the public as per “President” Joe Biden’s repeated demand on national TV, so in that same spirit, I would like to extend an invitation to the Freeborn County DFL if they would care to publish a statement that the local GOP drafts for them. (Is what’s good for the goose, also good for the gander?) As an active Republican member, I’d be happy to help in such an endeavor. This would be a great opportunity for the DFL to state with conviction that President Trump won the 2016 election in a fair and legitimate process and that there was no Russian collusion with the Trump campaign, as confirmed by the Mueller report.  I’m sure they’d also wish to condemn the ongoing radical leftist violence we’ve seen explode since last summer, along with chastising those within their own party who have ignored, supported and even fundraised for such destructive and deadly efforts. 

Last, but not least, since the DFL is now concerned about the public losing trust in the 2020 election results (something the right warned about for months in advance), no doubt they will want to stand with the GOP in demanding common sense election security so that such a damaging situation can be avoided from ever happening again in the future. 

Such a statement would be an excellent start in reaching across the aisle and to the concerned general public, if that truly is the goal. Please let me know if I can assist in providing verbiage.

Robert Weiser

Albert Lea