2024: Will democracy survive this tumultuous year? A two-year check-in

(Note: This piece from 2024 was never published. It has gone up today.)

It's been awhile. I've not written on these pages since late 2022. Since that time, I've not been able to best describe what years 7 and 8 have brought since the unexpected death of my wife, Kim, on Nov. 23, 2015.

The best way to describe it is this: Kim, who died from unknown complications following a hysterectomy at age 58 after a 36-year marriage, so loved her role as grandmother. Yet, Kim was only able to hold four of our now 12 grandchildren. With each birthday, each family gathering, she remains with us. 

But the past dims and the future grabs our attention. 

So does survivor guilt. I've enjoyed some of the best years of my life since Kim died. While that may rub some wrong, the message is this: Tragedy and trauma often leads to a renewed purpose and drive. And it tests one's heart and soul. Basically, one needed to move on; but it was also critical to re-examine one's journey, where it was headed, and just maybe, where it should go.

I'm writing more, freelancing for the Mankato Free Press and its Mankato Magazine and Minnesota Valley Business magazine. I wasn't certain such opportunities would arise after leaving my "dream job" as editor of four weekly newspapers -- St. Peter, Le Sueur, Le Center and Waseca. But I've found the relationships with other journalists a lifeline for me. 

And you.

Truth matters. And good journalists doI their damndest to bring that truth to the surface. And more than ever, great journalists and great journalism are needed in 2024. We will all be tested this year, one of the most critical in U.S. history, certainly the most critical in my 67 years.

Living in St. Peter now, I visit pretty regularly with Ed Lee, executive director of the St. Peter Chamber of Commerce. The other day, I was explaining to Ed my passion for politics and public policy. I can legitimately tie it to 1968, another tumultuous year in America, with the assassinations of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Robert Kennedy, the Democratic favorite in a crowded field, as the country debated civil unrest and the Vietnam War.

As a sixth-grader, our class was dividing into three groups to provide research on the three likely presidential candidates: Republican Richard Nixon, Minnesota's own Humbert H. Humphrey, and the racist independent candidacy of Alabama Gov. George Wallace. 

I so wanted to lead the Humphrey group but was sick the day selections were made. I was stuck with Wallace. My group's job was to convince others that Wallace was the right choice for the country, whether we believed it or no. In researching Wallace and his racist history, my policy wonk days started.

We didn't win, but as I remember, the Wallace campaign in Winthrop's sixth-grade class finishied second behind Minnesota hero Humphrey. 

Unfortunately, the U.S. electorate didn't listen.

Now, dial this all up to 2024. Is the electorate going to listen to the truth? Can any of us actually deliniate what is true? The amount of disinformation and misinformation is startling. And it's led some to dig in their heels. splashing any piece of crap out there and hope it sticks. 

And it has. Consider the warring sides on the January 6 insurrection. It wasn't beautiful. Those convicted of assaulting police officers and/entering the U.S. Capitol are not hostages or political prisoners, as Donald Trump states.

Trump's damage to the truth, his words which are still inciting violence, his horribly disgusting personal attacks on fine people, his narcissistic ways and dilusion to his place in history, will likely cause additional damage to our democracy and common good.

I am not hopeful. But we must try to move forward with renewed passion and empathy. It's the only way.