Olson: Civility after tragedy from Minnesota Republicans in D.C. was welcome, but the bare minimum

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Heading into last weekend, I was on vacation across the international date line in Sydney, Australia, which wasn’t far enough to shield me from our grim political discourse.

I was fixated and outraged — yes, even on vacation — at how Gov. Tim Walz was treated in his appearance before Congress along with fellow Govs. Kathy Hochul of New York and JB Pritzker of Illinois.

The hearing before a House oversight committee on Thursday was a disgusting spectacle. Two days later, we saw horror beyond our worst nightmares that left former House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, dead in what should have been the haven of their home. Their dog, Gilbert, was seriously injured and later put down.

Shortly after the deaths and what charges say was the attempted murder of Sen. John Hoffman, DFL-Champlin, and his wife, Yvette, Minnesota’s congressional delegation issued a rare unified statement.

“Today we speak with one voice to express our outrage, grief and condemnation of this horrible attack on public servants,” the statement read. “There is no place in our democracy for politically motivated violence.”

That’s too little, too late, and the rock-bottom minimum of what we should expect from our so-called leaders.

A sense of community, compassion and shared vision for a better Minnesota were nowhere to be found when Walz, a man who has twice been fairly elected governor by a majority of Minnesotans, spoke to the congressional panel about immigration.

The Minnesota Republicans on the panel weren’t interested in a productive dialogue or a search for common ground with Walz. They sought to humiliate Walz and perhaps to produce a viral clip of themselves mocking a Democrat. Instead, they created a shameful spectacle that aged horribly two days later.

As one of the top leaders in Congress, House Majority Leader Tom Emmer, who represents Minnesota’s Sixth Congressional District, got things started with a sarcastic welcome back to D.C. for Walz, a former member of Congress.

Emmer lost no time shifting hard into an aggressive prosecutorial tone that most juries would find far too abrasive for anything but the most blistering cross-examinations.

Rather than look ahead with an eye on what they could accomplish together for their districts, Emmer, along with Republican Reps. Michelle Fischbach and Pete Stauber appeared to gleefully tour the low points of Walz’s tenure.

They went back five years to fault Walz’s handling of the riots after George Floyd was killed by the Minneapolis police. Stauber brought a visual aid, a large photo of the burning Third Precinct in Minneapolis — as if any Minnesotan needed to be reminded of that day.

Our esteemed members of Congress revisited the oft-used critique that Walz should have called up the National Guard sooner. Then they moved into the present day, blaming Walz for crimes committed by undocumented immigrants. Emmer called the governor disgraceful and an “utter failure.”

“You have sent a resounding message that if you are a hardworking, law-abiding citizen of Minnesotan, your safety and well-being are not the priorities of Tim Walz and his administration,” Emmer said. “But if you’re coming to our state illegally, you’re not only welcome with open arms, you’re entitled to free stuff on the taxpayers’ dime.”

Does Walz have such singular powers? Of course not, and Emmer knows that unless his fealty to President Donald Trump has completely eroded his faculties beyond the obvious.

Surely, Emmer is aware that many Minnesotans support Walz and consider his policies to be humane, cost-effective and worthwhile investments. Emmer surely also knows those policies became law because a majority of the Legislature, who represent more than half of the state, voted for them.

This wasn’t a one-time show by Emmer. His social media shows that he’s been on the leading edge of nasty attacks against Democrats.

Fischbach, who represents northwestern Minnesota, and Stauber, who represent the northeastern part of the state, followed Emmer’s lead with their display of outrage at Walz. One had to wonder why the governor bothered traveling to D.C. for this reception.

It was disheartening. I tried to imagine our politicians from 20 to 30 years ago treating a colleague with such disrespect, but it wasn’t possible.

Then two days later, after the tragedies, came the terse bipartisan statement from our D.C. delegation.

Walz himself reflected and called for more civility in our discourse. “It’s not about hatred, it’s not about mean tweets, it’s not about demeaning someone,” Walz said.

If only our Republicans in D.C. were similarly reflective and pledging to do better. We find hope where we can, so I’m holding onto the sentiments of second-term state Sen. Zach Duckworth, R-Lakeville.

“Empathy isn’t weakness,” he wrote on social media last week alongside an image of himself laughing with Hoffman. “Civility isn’t surrender. Blame isn’t healing. The past isn’t an excuse. We can find common ground among disagreement. We can be united by a sense of duty, service and decency — if we choose. It’s possible — the future is ours to write. Our kids are watching.”

In an interview, Duckworth said that he, too, is disheartened by scorched-earth congressional hearings. “Those are supposed to be the leaders of our country, going at each other, calling each other names,” he said.

He differentiated D.C. from the Legislature where our politicians are more respectful. Of course Duckworth sees room for improvement, including in himself, even though he’s never been the problem.

We can hope that, maybe now, others will be as aspirational as Duckworth who said he tries to remember the collective responsibility of laying the foundation for the future.

“It can be a strong one or one that is barely standing,” Duckworth said. “What do we want that to be? We get to make that decision together.”