May 25, 2026 — Scott Johnson
Students of ancient history may recall that the New York Times played a familiar role in the rise of Fidel Castro before he overthrew the Batista regime. The paper supported “Señor Castro” with the rosy tint supplied by reporter Herbert Matthews. (“Señor Castro” is how Matthews referred to him.) Matthews’s work is accessible in the archive maintained at the Times site online. This brief summary provides a useful reminder of
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May 25, 2026 — Scott Johnson
Aaron MacLean is the host of the School of War podcast, national security analyst for CBS News, and a columnist for the Free Press. He was a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and the Hudson Institute. Before that, he worked on Capitol Hill as senior foreign policy advisor and legislative director to Senator Tom Cotton and served on active duty as a U.S. Marine for seven
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May 25, 2026 — Scott Johnson
Today remember and honor all those who died in military service to the United States. Leo Thorsness is the Minnesota native who was awarded the Medal of Honor for unbelievable heroics in aerial combat over North Vietnam in April 1967. Within a few days of his heroics on the Medal of Honor mission, Col. Thorsness was shot down over North Vietnam and taken into captivity. In captivity he was tortured
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May 24, 2026 — Scott Johnson
This site has now been around for 24 years. In Internet time, we are like Mel Brooks’s 2000 Year Old Man. Borrowing from and supplementing previous anniversary posts, I want to highlight themes that continue to resonate with me. As these reflections have grown over the years, they have come to rival “Chimes of freedom” in length, if not euphony. • It was 24 years ago this weekend — 24
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May 24, 2026 — Scott Johnson
Bob Dylan celebrates his 85th birthday today. When he snagged the Nobel Prize for Literature a few years ago, I pulled out all the stops by posting a big set of my favorite covers of his songs. I don’t have any stops left to pull, but I’m adding another cover or four (again) this year in honor of his milestone birthday today. Dylan is first and foremost a songwriter. See,
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May 24, 2026 — Scott Johnson
Today is the birthday of Minnesota native son Bob Dylan. He turns the ripe old age of 85. It’s not dark yet, but it’s getting there. I want to celebrate him as long we’re both still around to enjoy the occasion. He is a remarkable artist, self-invented, deep in the American grain. A few years back I visited Dylan’s old home at 2425 7th Avenue East in Hibbing. The house
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May 23, 2026 — Scott Johnson
I might have overlooked Sean Trende’s RealClearPolitics column about his developmentally challenged son if it weren’t for Tim Alberta’s post on X (below). The headline on Trende’s column doesn’t give a clue to its riches: “Judson’s last ride.” We already have a lot to think about this Memorial Day Weekend. You may nevertheless want to make time for this moving column about parenthood, teachers, life, love, and family. Can’t remember
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May 22, 2026 — Scott Johnson
I wrote about Douglas Murray’s appearance at the Temple of Aaron earlier this week in “From Saint Paul to San Diego.” This year’s annual temple fundraiser honored retiring executive director Ken Agranoff after 39 years of service to the congregation. Ken interviewed Murray on the raised temple pulpit for about an hour, when Murray exited stage left. At the outset of his remarks Murray refers to two of the speakers
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May 22, 2026 — Scott Johnson
Sometimes the Twin Cities feel to me like the highly improbable center of the universe. Once upon a time Prince created his own musical world here. It’s been downhill from there. Prince’s tragically premature death in 2016 may have been an early warning signal. By 2016 Minnesota had became a fertile source of recruitment for foreign terrorists. Serving as counsel for TCF National Bank’s Minnesota operations, I was repeatedly told
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May 21, 2026 — Scott Johnson
I erred. I confess. Please don’t turn me in to PolitiFact! Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche did not come to town. He was otherwise engaged when he was advertised to appear at the press conference the Department of Justice advised us he would attend at 11:00 a.m. this morning in the Office of the United States Attorney for Minnesota. The press conference did not begin as scheduled either. I have
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May 21, 2026 — Scott Johnson
Feeding Our Future fraud ringleader Aimee Bock will be sentenced at a hearing before Judge Nancy Brasel at 9:00 this morning. The government has asked for a sentence of 50 years. Bock has asked for a sentence of time served or a maximum of 37 months. Judge Brasel has the discretion to depart from the recommended sentence under the federal sentencing guidelines, but she will take them into account in
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May 20, 2026 — Scott Johnson
The government has filed its sentencing memorandum in the case against Aimee Bock, the convicted ringleader in the massive Feeding Our Future fraud. The government seeks a sentence of 50 years. Although the memorandum has been widely reported, I haven’t seen any story that actually links to it. It is accessible online here. Dated May 18, the memorandum is filed under the signature of Assistant United States Attorney Rebecca Kline.
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May 20, 2026 — Scott Johnson
RealClearPolitics has collected yesterday’s primary results here. I focused on the race featuring Ed Gallrein against incumbent Republican Rep. Thomas Massie in the Kentucky Fourth Congressional District primary. Massie lost by ten points, 55 percent to 45 percent, or about 10,000 votes. Massie has turned massively erratic in a Tucker Carlson sort of way. He gave a hint of his post-congressional career in his graceless remarks conceding defeat by…well, you
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May 19, 2026 — Scott Johnson
As I have noted a time or two before, Aimee Bock will be sentenced by Judge Nancy Brasel this Thursday. Bock is the convicted ringleader of the massive Feeding Our Future fraud. Awaiting sentencing, Bock is cooling her heels at present in the Sherburne County Jail. The Star Tribune’s Jeffrey Meitrodt caught up with Bock for this past Sunday’s disgraceful “new documents” story. The New York Post has joined in
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May 19, 2026 — Scott Johnson
We support law enforcement and we supported Operation Metro Surge. However, certain incidents that went down in the course of the operation are virtually inexplicable. The operation contributed to the departure of DHS Secretary Kristi Noem from the Trump administration and the assignment of Tom Homan to right the ship here. Unfortunately, one of the Metro Surge incidents gave rise to a charge Soros-supported Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty can
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May 19, 2026 — Scott Johnson
President Trump said Monday that he’d planned to strike Iran “tomorrow” (i.e., today), but was persuaded to give peace a chance, or one more chance. He atttributed this decision to the request of Arab leaders in the region. “I have been asked by the Emir of Qatar, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia and the President of the United Arab Emirates to hold off on our planned Military attack of
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May 19, 2026 — Scott Johnson
On Sunday afternoon we went to see Douglas Murray speak at the Temple of Aaron in Saint Paul. Douglas spoke in conversation with Ken Agranoff, who is retiring after 39 years as the temple’s executive director. The event was held to honor Ken’s service and his retirement. Ken has kept the trains running on time at the temple through rabbinic administrations dating back to the great Rabbi Bernard Raskas, of
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