BY ED FELIEN What happened? For about two days, a state of war existed between the United States and Iran. On the first day of summer, Saturday, June 21, President Trump sent three B-2 bombers into Iran and bombed three sites: the Natanz Enrichment Complex; the Isfahan Nuclear Technology Center;…
BY ED FELIEN My wife and I went to the No Kings demonstration at the State Capitol on Saturday, June 14. We drove around the Capitol for more than half an hour and finally found a parking place behind the Capitol at the bottom of Arch Street. We climbed up…
BY ED FELIEN When I was on the City Council more than half a century ago, John Derus, the Majority Whip, came into my office to complain about my bringing up all sorts of resolutions at Council Meetings that didn’t have the votes to pass (like Rent Control or municipalization…
BY ED FELIEN Thanks for being there. Former Police Chief Arradondo and Mayor Frey weren’t at the Third Precinct when it burned in 2020, but you were there last month at Lake and Bloomington to personally stand between angry demonstrators and armored troops, some wearing ICE badges, and to escort…
BY ED FELIEN The tragic murder of Melissa Hortman has left us with another great emptiness in the progressive leadership of the Minnesota Legislature. She, as Speaker of the House, along with Kari Dziedzic, as Senate Majority Leader, led the Minnesota Legislature in 2023 to pass the most progressive legislation…
BY ED FELIEN In 1968 Hubert Humphrey thought he had it in the bag. LBJ had signed the Civil Rights Bill, started the Great Society and began a War on Poverty. It looked like Happy Days were going to be here all over again. LBJ decided to not run for…
BY ED FELIEN I confess to a mild case of transference. My best friend, until his death last year, was Tony Bouza. He was Chief of Police for Minneapolis from 1980 to 1988. He was tough on cops and would not tolerate racist and inappropriate behavior from any of his…
BY ED FELIEN The Mayor’s race is the big one. After that, people notice candidates for City Council, and only after that, and only if they follow local government very closely, do they pay attention to Park Board candidates and candidates for the Board of Estimate and Taxation. So far,…
BY ED FELIEN Where I grew up, around Roosevelt High School, folks in our corner of the City were considered very conservative, and folks around Kenwood and Loring Park were considered very liberal. That’s changed. The 12th Ward DFL Convention rejected a challenge from a middle-of-the-road, law and order liberal…
BY ED FELIEN Early Saturday morning, May 24, someone smashed the front plate glass windows of the Minnesota Anti-War Committee at 4200 Cedar. The AWC believes this to be a targeted, politically motivated attack. At a press conference at the damaged office Monday, Meredith Aby said, “Our spirit can’t be…
BY ED FELIEN Shir Tikvah, one of the more progressive synagogues in the Twin Cities, says, “We represent a diversity of backgrounds, perspectives, and experiences regarding Israel/Palestine. We are dedicated to the value of B’tzelem Elohim (the sacredness of all human life). We lift our collective voice to support, advocate,…
BY ED FELIEN The race for DFL endorsement for Mayor of Minneapolis is tightening, but so far, the leading candidate among City Convention delegates is Uncommitted. The big news in the contest is that Council Member Emily Koski dropped out. We thought she could get as many delegates as Frey. It turned…
By Ed Felien In an interview with ABC Trump, admitted he could free Abrego Garcia, “I could,” but, in defiance of a unanimous decision of the U.S. Supreme Court and the rule of law, he said he wouldn’t. Habeas Corpus, the right to a hearing before a court of law, is…
BY ED FELIEN The 11th Ward Convention will be May 31 at Washburn High School, but it’s beginning to look more like a Coronation of the Homecoming King than a normally raucous DFL Convention. Jamison Whiting played cornerback for the Washburn Millers before he graduated in 2013. He currently coaches boy’s football at…
BY ED FELIEN I believe the people who live on the land must be recognized as the rightful owners of that land. No foreign army should determine their sovereignty. There must be plebiscites to allow the people of Crimea, Luhansk and Donetsk to vote on whether they want to align…
Columns by Ed Felien