The Donald, the Dictator, Left Us Quite a Mess

Published 1/20/2021

Roanoke Times, Roanoke, Virginia

By John Freivalds

It’s no longer just pejorative or outrageous to call Donald Trump a dictator or someone with dictatorial tendencies; he is one. And this shakes many of us to our self-serving core. How did this person appear in our political system? Aren’t we better than that? This is a banana republic on steroids. TV shows, pundits, social media, snobbery of the elite, all led to a false illusion, if not delusion, of who Americans really are. All men are created equal? Here’s the dictionary definition of a dictator: ”A person who orders others about domineeringly, or one whose pronouncements on some subject are meant to be taken as the final word.”

Freivalds: The Lowdown on Higher Education; Can Remote Learning Reform It?

By John Freivalds

The Roanoke Times

Published 9/27/2020

Freivalds runs an international communications firm in Lexington.

There always comes a time in life when things change overnight. You had a bad diagnosis from your doctor or you just lost your job and the pension that went with it. Universities and colleges throughout the USA, there are some 3,000 of them, are learning almost overnight that the COVID-19 virus will forever change the way higher education operated.

Truth Is The Enemy of the People

By John Freivalds

Duluth News Tribune

In 1882, Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen wrote the well-regarded “Enemy of the People.” In it, a local doctor (the Anthony Fauci of his day) discovers that the water feeding his town's hot spa, a major tourist attraction, is heavily polluted. Intent on saving his town, he tells the town leaders, imploring them not to hide from the truth. But the good doctor is ostracized and declared an "enemy of the people" for threatening the town's tourism industry. Left alone by the town, the good doctor states at the end of the play, “Let me tell you, the strongest man in the world is he who stands most alone.”

When did Minnesota nice become Minnesota nasty?

By John Freivalds

Published 8/29/2020

Duluth News Tribune

When did “Minnesota nice” become “Minnesota nasty?”

Answer: Never was nice. The reputation was an ongoing urban legend that I actually always thought was strange after coming here from Washington, D.C. Since Minnesota was first populated (apart from the Native Indians) by taciturn Scandinavians, outsiders assumed Minnesotans were shy, quiet, respectful, and, deep in their hearts, nice — if not a little slow. You know, the well-meaning innocuous couple well portrayed in the Sven and Ole jokes.

Local View: Born again — my body, that is, thanks to US health care

By John Freivalds

8/2/2020

Duluth News Tribune, Duluth, MN

In April I had quadruple bypass surgery, but rather than let it mark the end of my life as I knew it, the surgery allowed a born-again new me to emerge.

The open-heart procedure was to improve the blood flow to my heart. One of my friends described it as a Roto-Rooter for the heart’s arteries. All four of mine were clogged. My wife was the one who realized I wasn't breathing. Sirens blaring, I was rushed to the emergency room.