We can never forget that our first responders of police, firefighters, and EMTs put their lives on the line every day. Responding to domestic disputes can be the most dangerous.
Per The Guardian today. A desperate call for help from a home in suburban Minneapolis early on Sunday turned deadly for two police officers and a firefighter who were fatally shot at the scene, according to officials. City officials identified the slain officers as Paul Elmstrand and Matthew Ruge, both 20. The firefighter was 40-year-old Adam Finseth, who was also a paramedic.
The deaths of the two Burnsville police officers and the firefighter were confirmed by the Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association, which represents public safety professionals in the state. A third officer was wounded in the shooting.
“Horrific news from Burnsville,” Minnesota governor Tim Walz said in a post on Facebook. “While responding to a call of a family in danger, two police officers and one firefighter lost their lives, and other officers were injured. “We must never take for granted the bravery and sacrifices our police officers and first responders make every day. My heart is with their families today and the entire state of Minnesota stands with Burnsville.”
Officials said Finseth was killed while providing aid to Elmstrand and Ruge after they had been shot. The third officer shot was Sgt Adam Medlicott, and he was treated for wounds that were not believed to be life-threatening.
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When I read the following story in The Guardian today, I started reflecting on the state of politics in our country. How did we get to this point? It is a sad state of affairs.
For Clint Hickman, an official who helped lead Arizona’s largest county through some of the most difficult moments of the pandemic and the 2020 election, the current moment in American life feels like the right one to quit.
Amid yet more tumult and tense division in American public life, the Maricopa County supervisor announced this week that he’s not running again, choosing instead to prioritize his family – and get rid of the endless harassment that’s been a feature of his job the last few years and put him more than once in the national spotlight.
“After the election in 2020, it’s gotten worse and worse,” he said. “I started to feel like all I get to do is play defense in this job any more … I thought I was looking way too much in the rearview mirror.”
Hickman, a Republican, voted to certify Maricopa’s elections in 2020 despite an aggressive campaign from former president Donald Trump and his allies to reject the results and throw the state toward the Republican candidate over Joe Biden, the Democrat who narrowly won there.
The threats arrived at Hickman’s door at one point, with people protesting outside his home while his wife and three kids, now teenagers, were there. “This is poor behavior brought to my doorstep, and I would like to think it hasn’t impacted my kids,” he said.
Hickman, just shy of 60 years old, said his upcoming milestone birthday made him reflect on what he wants out of life now, and that’s more time with his family. But the threats he faced at work and the punishing environment in his role as a supervisor played a role in his decision to exit.
He faced credible death threats, one of which resulted in a two and a half year prison sentence for an Iowa man. The threats amped up both in response to elections and in response to the county’s decision to institute a mask mandate during the pandemic, a fault line for conservatives in the purpling county.
“Those [threats] didn’t just arrive to myself. It arrived to county workers, county elections workers, people in the county clerk’s office. During the pandemic, people were making threats to anybody wearing Maricopa county badge when it came to the mask mandate.”
He’s still receptive to the idea of running for office someday again, but for now, he wants to get his kids away from the vitriol he’s faced. Hickman’s family is one of the Phoenix area’s biggest business families, running a giant egg farming operation. For now, it’s back to the eggs for Hickman.
When it comes to the former president and his followers, if one is not willing to bow to the former president’s every demand then one is the enemy, regardless of one’s party affiliation or previous support of the former president. Just ask former VP Mike Pence and now Clint Hickman.
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On Friday Caitlin Clark received the Orchid of the Day for breaking the all-time NCAA women’s basketball scoring record. Today I am giving the Orchid of the Day to Sabrina Ionesco of the WNBA who gave the greatest shooter in the history of the game, Steph Curry, all he could handle in a three-point shooting contest at the NBA all-star festivities. Ionesco made her first 7 shots and ended up with a score of 26 to Curry’s 29. Which makes Sabrina’s effort even more amazing is that she was shooting from the men’s three-point line and not the women’s three-point line. See my Video of the Day.
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Quote of the Day: “Anyone who participated in that game last night, should be ashamed of themselves” ESPN sportscaster Stephen A. Smith after the lack of effort by the NBA players in which 397 points were scored.
Orchid of the Day: Sabrina Ionesco, see my Video of the Day
Onion of the Day: The NBA All-Star Game. 211 points by the winning team and 397 points in total. What a joke!!!!!!!!!!
Question of the Day: Newt Gingerich was the Republican Speaker of the House, during the three government shutdowns in the early 90’s. The government shutdown ended when Gingerich and President Clinton worked out a compromise solution. In today’s political environment, would Gingerich be able to keep his job as Speaker in today’s political environment?
Video of the Day:
In answer to your question, NO. However, I’m opting to still have faith in the majority of Americans to understand the risk to the country and the life they know. We are not broken (yet) to the point of no return. We are not embolden by the constant barrage of negative comments about our country that some politicians make. We are not as dumb as some politicians believe as they try to gaslight us with lies. We do not want a civil war as some keep encouraging. To what end? We want a nation of political practitioners who know and have an allegiance to the constitution, can think for themselves and who value truth no matter who speaks it.