Frey should forget about the DFL endorsement. Who cares. What he SHOULD do is tie Feeding Our Future around Fateh’s neck like a 2000 lb. boat anchor. ⚓️
Wonderfully informative. Thank you so much for providing much needed background for these politicians, while at the same time maintaining overall balance. Thank you!
I am pleased that Frey is challenging the convention. Not much of a democracy if we can’t trust the accuracy of voting systems; and it’s good that Frey isn’t ignoring the elephant in the room. The DFL response will be telling as go whether or not they actually believe in democracy that features fair and accurate voting.
AMEN, Terry, to the third party concept. The degree to which the state DFL party has been corrupted will be revealed by how they respond to the many challenges of convention results. Right now I don't have a good feeing about this.
Thank you for this piece. It also makes me question the people who accept and promote endorsements from Jamal Osman, given the obviousness of the corruption his wife (which is well-documented), and allegedly he himself, have been involved in. Here are the 2025 municipal candidates I have found touting Osman endorsements: Michael Wilson (DSA/DFL at-large Park Bboard candidate), Omar Fateh (DSA/DFL mayoral), Aisha Chughtai (DSA ward 10 city council candidate and incumbent).
"Even better would be the emergence of a second or third political party, providing voters with genuine choices and bringing more balance to our local government." True, and these parties already exist but people are propagandized not to support them, as third parties are attacked as "spoilers". We have the Green Party, Libertarians, Socialist Workers Party, just to name a few.
Those of us in third parties wage an uphill battle fighting a myriad of unfair impediments and electoral laws designed to keep us on the sidelines. This, along with the myth that people are "wasting their votes" unless they vote within the duopoly perpetuates our undemocratic system of governance. Ranked choice voting helps overcome some of these the obstacles, but more needs to be done to empower more parties and participation. I don't believe any of Minnesota's third parties had any connection whatsoever to the massive and unconscionable Feeding our Future fraud.
All the fraud is really jaw dropping, it's making the current cuts in Washington make sense. The problem is the DFL decided to not look at the increases in spending and just say, see there's so much more need than we thought, let's raise taxes. It's the belief again that the only thing that matters is intent, everything else is irrelevant.
Do you know how far back the DFL fraud goes, is it related to the merger with the DSA or is it more inbeded into the platform?
The DFL is the favored political party because it solves problems for the people of Minnesota. Politics is addition; it isn't the subtraction and division of the Republican Party. The fraud is largely in the Somali community and as you reported, most if not all are being convicted and sent to jail. That's the way the justice system works. Osman ought to bow out immediately. Just the perception that he's connected with his wife's fraud is enough. But the voting community might think power is more important than punishment. Who knows what cultural norms drive these criminal acts? I'm not voting for Frey or Fateh. My choice has nothing to do with Feeding Our Future. By the way, FOF is a federal program; no one in Minnesota government or its agencies mismanaged funds. Criminals did and now they're facing the consequences. We can have a long conversation about ethics anytime.
Actually former federal prosecutor Andrew Luger has publicly stated the government doesn’t have the resources to prosecute everyone criminally involved in FOF. At one point there were 299 different FOF meal sites claiming to serve 90 million meals over two years. So far the feds have prosecuted 70 people…so no, not everyone has been or will be prosecuted.
The Department of Education reported anomalies at least once, perhaps twice, to the Feds and it was told to maintain operations - in other words, to keep going. And so the DoE did what the Feds told it to do. Mind you, this was in the midst of a public health crisis, a COVID lockdown, and other public health measures to keep all Minnesotans safe from a virus that was killing millions of people.
Frey should forget about the DFL endorsement. Who cares. What he SHOULD do is tie Feeding Our Future around Fateh’s neck like a 2000 lb. boat anchor. ⚓️
Wonderfully informative. Thank you so much for providing much needed background for these politicians, while at the same time maintaining overall balance. Thank you!
I am pleased that Frey is challenging the convention. Not much of a democracy if we can’t trust the accuracy of voting systems; and it’s good that Frey isn’t ignoring the elephant in the room. The DFL response will be telling as go whether or not they actually believe in democracy that features fair and accurate voting.
AMEN, Terry, to the third party concept. The degree to which the state DFL party has been corrupted will be revealed by how they respond to the many challenges of convention results. Right now I don't have a good feeing about this.
Thank you for this piece. It also makes me question the people who accept and promote endorsements from Jamal Osman, given the obviousness of the corruption his wife (which is well-documented), and allegedly he himself, have been involved in. Here are the 2025 municipal candidates I have found touting Osman endorsements: Michael Wilson (DSA/DFL at-large Park Bboard candidate), Omar Fateh (DSA/DFL mayoral), Aisha Chughtai (DSA ward 10 city council candidate and incumbent).
"Even better would be the emergence of a second or third political party, providing voters with genuine choices and bringing more balance to our local government." True, and these parties already exist but people are propagandized not to support them, as third parties are attacked as "spoilers". We have the Green Party, Libertarians, Socialist Workers Party, just to name a few.
Those of us in third parties wage an uphill battle fighting a myriad of unfair impediments and electoral laws designed to keep us on the sidelines. This, along with the myth that people are "wasting their votes" unless they vote within the duopoly perpetuates our undemocratic system of governance. Ranked choice voting helps overcome some of these the obstacles, but more needs to be done to empower more parties and participation. I don't believe any of Minnesota's third parties had any connection whatsoever to the massive and unconscionable Feeding our Future fraud.
All the fraud is really jaw dropping, it's making the current cuts in Washington make sense. The problem is the DFL decided to not look at the increases in spending and just say, see there's so much more need than we thought, let's raise taxes. It's the belief again that the only thing that matters is intent, everything else is irrelevant.
Do you know how far back the DFL fraud goes, is it related to the merger with the DSA or is it more inbeded into the platform?
The DFL is the favored political party because it solves problems for the people of Minnesota. Politics is addition; it isn't the subtraction and division of the Republican Party. The fraud is largely in the Somali community and as you reported, most if not all are being convicted and sent to jail. That's the way the justice system works. Osman ought to bow out immediately. Just the perception that he's connected with his wife's fraud is enough. But the voting community might think power is more important than punishment. Who knows what cultural norms drive these criminal acts? I'm not voting for Frey or Fateh. My choice has nothing to do with Feeding Our Future. By the way, FOF is a federal program; no one in Minnesota government or its agencies mismanaged funds. Criminals did and now they're facing the consequences. We can have a long conversation about ethics anytime.
Actually former federal prosecutor Andrew Luger has publicly stated the government doesn’t have the resources to prosecute everyone criminally involved in FOF. At one point there were 299 different FOF meal sites claiming to serve 90 million meals over two years. So far the feds have prosecuted 70 people…so no, not everyone has been or will be prosecuted.
I'm sure you're correct...but they're making a dent. Between FOF and the daycare fraud scam, it paints a very bleak picture for the Somali community.
Julie, to set the record straight, Minnesota Department of Education had primary oversight responsibility for FOF. Failure to catch/stop the fraud was on MN, not the Feds. https://www.auditor.leg.state.mn.us/sreview/2024/mdefof.htm
The Department of Education reported anomalies at least once, perhaps twice, to the Feds and it was told to maintain operations - in other words, to keep going. And so the DoE did what the Feds told it to do. Mind you, this was in the midst of a public health crisis, a COVID lockdown, and other public health measures to keep all Minnesotans safe from a virus that was killing millions of people.