Decoding Congresswoman Fischbach
But U.S. Representative Michelle Fischbach is something else.
Unlike my earlier Congresspersons, her newsletters are consistently grumpy, hyper-politicized and focused more on national politics than on what’s actually happening back home in western Minnesota. What’s more, I find myself confused about just what she’s trying to say. It’s as if she communicates in code language that leaves folks like me “on the outside looking in.”
Take Fischbach’s most recent newsletter, dated October 10, 2022. Here’s the first paragraph:
“Under current leadership, the government has become another arm of the Democrat party. They have politicized the FBI, proposed an IRS army to audit the middle-class so they can pay for their reckless spending, and targeted concerned parents as ‘domestic terrorists’.”
Say what? The government has become “another arm of the Democrat party”—what exactly is that supposed to mean? My best guess is that it bugs Fischbach when Democrats make legitimate use of the levers of governmental power to make good things happen for Americans: addressing real issues like climate change (which Fischbach denies), firearm safety and health for all. In stark contrast to her own “party of NO,” Democrats are working to build better schools, make it easier for persons to have the “necessities of life,” rebuild our economy post-Covid, and so forth.
And how have Democrats “politicized the FBI,” pray tell? My guess is that this has to do with the multiple ways leaders of our nation (including the FBI) are trying to hold Donald Trump and his whole MAGA army responsible for disasters like the January 6th insurrection—not to mention the current dust-up over governmental documents that Trump has been holding illegally.
Fischbach also raises hackles about “an IRS army to audit the middle-class so they can pay for their reckless spending.” This wild claim simply is not true. According to a CNN report, “Democrats, and [IRS Commissioner Charles] Rettig – who was appointed by former President Donald Trump – have said repeatedly that the intent is not to target the middle class but instead focus on making sure wealthy tax cheats comply with the law. It’s ultimately up to the IRS how the money is used.”[i]
Finally, what in the world is behind Fischbach’s allegation that Democrats have “targeted concerned parents as ‘domestic terrorists’?” This seems to be her way of lifting up various right-wing efforts to give parents—especially fundamentalists and other right-wingers--control over what public schools are teaching about matters such as America's long history with racism, sex education, gender identity and other “hot button” issues.
If Congresswoman Fischbach continues to express herself in such “coded” ways, I urge her to supply her constituents with a decoder ring or a computer program to “translate” what she’s trying to say. After all, not all of us in Congressional District 7 watch Fox "News" 24/7.
