Welcome back to The Flyover, your daily digest of important, overlooked, and/or interesting Minnesota news stories.
Canada Wants to Buy Minnesota AND Minneapolis
Diplomacy is dead. These days, instead of negotiating and building alliances, President-elect Donald Trump prefers to tweet threats claiming he’ll just acquire the country he’s beefing with. He’s already upset Greenland and Panama, and with recent tweets about "Governor Justin Trudeau” and Canada being the “51st state,” the U.S. is now on our northern neighbor’s shitlist, too.
But it turns out two can play this stupid, stupid game. “You know something, to the president I’ll make him a counteroffer: How about if we buy Alaska and throw in Minnesota and Minneapolis at the same time?” Ontario Premier Doug Ford fired back when asked about Trump’s promise to enact a blanket 25% tariff on Canada his first day in office. Don’t threaten us with a good time!
Of course, none of this is going to happen, and it’s all quite dumb. (Western Minnesota would rather defect to the Dakotas anyway.) And with Prime Minister Trudeau stepping down as the Liberal Party of Canada implodes, Canucks have their own political messes to deal with. But hey, it’s nice that Ford thinks of us as a state he'd like to buy. Canada seems cool; we’re already big fans of Winnipeg here at Racket.
Angie Craig Still Supports Act That Deprives Immigrants Due Process
U.S. Rep. Angie Craig may be a Democrat, but the Minnesota lawmaker's voting record sure could fool a casual observer. Take, as just one example, Tuesday's passage of the Laken Riley Act, which calls for the immediate detainment/deportation of any immigrant accused of any crime, regardless of conviction. Oh, the horrifying ways this kind of power could be abused. “Under this bill, a person who has lived in the United States for decades, say for most of her life, paid taxes, and bought a home, but who is mistakenly arrested for shoplifting would not be free to resume her life, but rather would be detained and deported, even if the chargers are dropped,” notes U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland.
The bill, named after a woman who was murdered by a Venezuelan migrant, was supported by the House in 2024, but stalled under a Democratic-led Senate. It’s now expected to make its way into law in 2025. Thirty-seven House Democrats voted “yea” for the act last March; 48 voted for it this morning. Both times Craig was the lone Dem from Minnesota in support of it. Always a centrist, Craig pivoted further right during last fall's election victory over Joe Teirab. “At times I watched her ads and asked, ‘Wait a minute, is she a MAGA candidate?’” Steven Schier, professor emeritus of poli-sci at Carleton College, observed to MinnPost.
Breaking: Two Restaurants "Just 95 Miles Apart" Have Different Vibes
Hanging out at a restaurant in Trump County versus one in Harris City offers a view into the psyche’s of two very different Americas, Dave Berger dramatically concludes in this head-scratching story for MinnPost.
Berger recently ventured out to Buckman, Minnesota, where the Buckman Bank Tavern displays a Trump 2024 flag and a poster mocking Gov. Tim Walz on its walls. The Morrison County city has a population of 307, and over 90% of ‘em voted for Trump—that’s, like, 276 votes! Meanwhile, George and the Dragon Pub in Minneapolis's East Harriet neighborhood hangs signs supporting social justice and food equity. While Berger, a retired sociology professor, says he found the patrons at both spots to be “friendly and open” as well as “insightful and amiable” (yes, he uses the same descriptions twice), it’s the bathrooms (George’s are unisex) and the menus that “reflect the mentalities of these two subcultures.”
“The tavern with simple comfort food like chicken strips and mini corndogs shows a desire for simple and clear politics without ambiguity,” he writes, “while the intricate Chicken Milanese and Steak Au Poivre of the pub shows a desire for diverse, complicated and involved political perspectives.”
That observation runs pretty thin, however. It's not difficult to find dive bars offering corndogs and chicken tendies in Hennepin County, and we're guessing residents of Buckman aren't exactly daunted by chicken and steak.
Your Childhood Weather, Illustrated
I’m from Columbus, Ohio, but I’ve lived in Minnesota long enough and heard enough Halloween blizzard stories to know that the weather here was very different 20+ years ago. Exactly how different was it? Find out using this super cute data generator from Jake Steinberg, Mark Boswell, and Bryan Brussee at the Star Tribune. Enter your region of Minnesota and the year you were born, and you’ll receive an illustrated story explaining how the weather of your formative years compares to 2024, complete with stats and drawings of snowmen. Neat!
