Watching the news lately has been surreal, especially for someone who has spent a lot of time traveling through Minnesota and the Midwest. In my mind, those places have always represented calm, kindness, salt of the earth small town charm and a certain grounded, neighborly decency. God-fearing, friendly Americans. The kind of places where people …
Here in Big Bear Lake, California, are our high school students sitting in class today, learning algebra, writing essays, or at least pretending to care about either? Nope. They’re standing on “Freedom Corner,” shivering in twenty-degree mountain air, wrapped in kaftans, Doc Martens, and the unshakable confidence that comes from having never paid a utility …

