TO THE EDITOR:
Charlie Kirk was a husband, a father, and a believer in God. He was a man who stood for faith, family, and order. He lived with conviction, believing he was serving something higher than himself. His assassination shook us not simply because of the loss of one man, but because it marked a deeper fracture—a society losing its ability to speak, to reason, to listen. When dialogue dies, division rushes in. And even those who seek purpose can become casualties of rage. Look at the reaction from the Left. Many celebrated his death. That’s not disagreement, it’s dehumanization. It reveals a disturbing psychosis, where some believe that thinking differently warrants death. That’s projection in its rawest form: people hating in others what they cannot face in themselves. On the Right, the dominant energy is clarity and boundaries, faith in God, the nuclear family, a sense of order. Our ideals reflect natural law, not the chaos of identity-hopping and rage that has overtaken the Left. But here is where compassion must enter. The Left’s rage doesn’t come from nowhere. It’s the scream of wounded psyches. People lost in identity politics because they don’t know who they are. Trans ideology, perpetual victimhood, labeling anyone they disagree with a “Nazi”. These are symptoms of souls terrified of their own emptiness. Which is understandable if one believes the world came from nothing and will end in nothing. So where is the truth? The Left today is unmoored, chaotic, and divorced from reality. The Right is more grounded, but not without its own flaws. Too often, we respond with judgment—“you’re insane,” “you’re evil”—and that only feeds the very psychosis Charlie was trying to confront. We must speak truth with clarity and compassion. We must be both the stern father and the healer. Because even those who rage are still human—and not beyond redemption. The tragedy of Charlie Kirk’s assassination proves his words to be true. “When people stop talking, that’s when you get violence.” If we want to save our culture, we must hold the line of truth without becoming poisoned by the same rage Charlie, and now we, seek to expose. We must learn to speak again. Not just with those who agree with us, but especially to those who don’t.
Dan Schonhardt, Chairman Republican Party of
Wright County
TO THE EDITOR:
When a person earns a pension, one assumes other retirement benefits align. Not always. Many MN National Guard members who served more than 20 years receive only a check. Only those who were activated for 181consecutive days, usually overseas, are the “true” veterans who qualify for medical benefits. That means those that served in the military to protect Minnesotans on our own soil against foreign and national enemies, that protected private and public property at the time of riots and/or strikes, that maintained order following natural disasters, that were on call 24/7 to defend fellow citizens are not really veterans, as per the federal and state governments’ qualifications for recipients of medical benefits. Do soldiers who served years/decades with valor and were honorably discharged fit the descriptions of federal politicians: Obama-- “bitter Americans who cling to their guns and their religion.” Clinton-- “an irredeemable basket of deplorables,” Biden: “the dregs of society.?” Walz maligned the MN National Guard that he reluctantly activated in the riots of 2020 as “19-year-olds who are cooks!” In 2025, MN legislators determined that foreign fighters are entitled to burial benefits that are denied to National Guard soldiers. Will YOU contact our federal and state politicians to award benefits to all who have bravely worn the uniform to defend our land and our citizens?
Dr. Phyllis E. VanBuren
Clearwater, MN
