Open Letter to Minneapolis for the Many

I see those of us who oppose the City Council’s DSA majority have been re-labeled by Minneapolis for the Many. We used to be – oh, the shame of it – moderates. Now you have taken to calling us conservatives.

Not sure whether we should consider ourselves promoted or demoted. But just to cite a couple of prominent examples of those working for a more responsible City Council, calling Tom Hoch or Kathy O’Brien a conservative would definitely come as a surprise to, say, Ronald Reagan. It would horrify Kristi Noem, but I guess we can live with that.

Of course, you are free to use whatever rhetorical flourishes you wish to oppose us, just as we are free to do the same. Under the precious but now-fragile First Amendment, you even have the right to be dishonest. However, many people, not just us, believe that in public discourse, honesty is to be preferred.

For the sake of honesty, then, let me point out some of the principles of conservativism most pertinent to local governance:

• Smaller government
• Less regulation
• Lower taxes

I’m leaving out some, like those concerning the conduct of foreign policy, that don’t apply to city government. (Come to think of it, if any of our DSA-majority council members read Minneapolis Times, they may find this surprising. But if you look at the Minneapolis City Charter, there is no provision for Minneapolis to appoint ambassadors to any foreign nation! True! You could look it up.)

So let me ask our Minneapolis for the Many friends to do one of two things.

Either identify any of the candidates who will oppose the DSA majority in this fall’s elections, or any of their high-profile supporters, who have come out in favor of, in principle, smaller government, less regulation and lower taxes.

Or if you can’t identify any, and you can’t, then please quit calling your opponents conservatives. They are progressive Democrats (the far-left likes to think, erroneously, they have a monopoly on the progressive label). Go back to calling us horrible moderates. Adjective optional.

William F. Buckley, Jr., was a true conservative, and possibly the most erudite one who ever lived. He liked nothing better than to lampoon those of us to the left, with bon mots such as: “Idealism is fine but as it approaches reality, the costs become prohibitive.” Or: “Though liberals do a great deal of talking about hearing other points of view, it sometimes shocks them to learn that there are other points of view.”

Minneapolis for the Many friends, we can all delight in reading Buckley’s barbs, but please don’t make the mistake in the second of his quotes. Those of us who oppose you, who oppose the disproportionate influence of DSA on our city and on our governance, who want our local elected officials to focus on making local government actually work well, who are fine with paying taxes but not so fine with our property taxes rising much faster than inflation, are not conservatives. We just want to elect people who we think will do a better job. No need to make it more complicated than that.

David Therkelsen has been a homeowner in Minneapolis for 50 years, and attentive to city and school affairs for all of that time. Professionally, he headed two American Red Cross field units, and at one time was co-chief of staff to the President of American Red Cross. Later he was executive director of Crisis Connection, a state-wide mental health counseling agency. Dave held faculty appointments at the University of Minnesota School of Journalism and Mass Communication, and recently co-authored a book about the history of transfusion medicine and blood banking.