“Privileged Farmers”- That’s an actual quote heard in a DFL legislative caucus meeting! Please send that lost DFL legislator out here where we can introduce them to farmers trying to make the payments on $10,000 an acre land and $100,000+ used “economy” tractors and combines with $3 a bushel corn! Truth is, farmers are at risk of losing multi generational million dollar and more investments while earning less than minimum wage feeding and fueling us.  That’s how out of touch the metro’s “democratic socialist” leaning legislators are with the rural economy they claim as their progressive roots. Heck, the Farmer-Laborites would have laughed them right outa the party!

Rural democrats have been getting diss’d by the Environmental Caucus too, I’ve been thrown outa their meetings for sticking up for farmers by reminding them that biofuels can reduce climate change as well as their Teslas, an inconvenient truth they deny. And while we respect their support for the BWCA, we wish they’d show the same concern for the “prairie potholes’ we canoe and fish in out here. This DFL legislator and caucus wouldn’t dare so boldly malign any other group, but apparently farmers and rural folks are fair game for them.

Article 9, Section 16 of the DNC Charter states “Democratic Party Credo.”… “At the heart of our party lies a fundamental conviction, that Americans must not only be free, but they must live in a fair society.”… :We believe it is the responsibility of government to help us achieve this fair society”…  “a society where the livelihoods of our family farmers are as stable as the values they instill in the American character;” Further, our DFL Party has authorized a Rural Community Caucus, validating that our struggles as rural residents are as valid as other groups.

Memo to that lost DFL legislator and community caucus: Your bias against farmers and rural folks is not a democratic value, and you’re certainly not helping us win elections!

Sunday was rainy so I watched the challenge hearing to the Minneapolis DFL convention that the “democratic socialists” took over and used to award a sham “endorsement” to their mayoral candidate, suffice to say their (mis)behavior was so bad the their own brief was enough evidence to revoke that “endorsement”. Their argument was that they botched the convention but it didn’t matter anyway, evidenced by their inability to keep up their end of a Zoom stream during the meeting. Take them seriously, the Minneapolis convention was practice for their plan to take over our state convention next year- We rural DFLers are the institutional memory that keeps our party stable and successful, so make sure we fill every delegate seat we have at SCC meetings and next years conventions.

Survival is winning… Many of you probably saw the video of a motorcyclist being attacked by several ICE et al goons in DC. Thanks to wearing a helmet he’s probably OK,, but one of the goons who was too manly to wear a helmet slipped, fell, and gave himself a concession while piling on the poor motorcyclist. Then his fellow goons shoved him in their SUV instead of calling an ambulance. While puffing up their chests with body armor the goons were too manly to wear a helmet, thought as a consolation prize this one might get a disability pension. Their face masks sure as hell ain’t N95s, and they’re probably too cool to get vaccinated too- As happened with the also unneeded wars in Iraq, the costs of treating and compensating injured personnel will push the federal budget deeper into deficients for decades. Outlast the enemy- Stay safe, protect yourselves, and live to see democracy again!

Respectfully submitted, Dyna Sluyter