What We Don’t Know About The Presidents We Elect

Notes on the occasion of an inauguration

Like most Americans, I applaud the recent ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas that was approved today by the Israeli security cabinet, and I was glad to learn that the incoming Trump administration was directly involved in support of the Biden team in the most positive way: by telling Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that a deal had to be made.

I did not like much of the Biden administration’s foreign policy, and I worried a lot, as a journalist and a citizen, about what Donald Trump’s new team would do. But I learned long ago that you cannot tell a presidency by its cover.

In late 1967 I was a freelance journalist in Washington and totally hostile to the ongoing American war in South Vietnam. I was persuaded to join the then nascent staff of the only Democratic member of the Senate, Eugene McCarthy of Minnesota, who was willing to take on President Lyndon B. Johnson, a fellow Democrat, then running for second term, who had escalated the war he inherited with mass bombing campaigns. I would be the press secretary and, while traveling with the candidate, draft daily policy statements and work on speeches.

McCarthy, a member of the Foreign Relations Committee, was far from a shining star. But, as a devout Catholic, he saw the Vietnam War in moral terms and was troubled by the Pentagon’s decision to lower the minimal acceptable scores on the Army’s standard intelligence tests in an effort to enlist more young men from the ghettos and barrios of America, where educational opportunities were fewer, as they still are today. McCarthy publicly called such action “changing the color of the corpses.” He quickly became my man.

A few weeks into the job, I was traveling with McCarthy on a fundraising tour in California and found myself outside a Hollywood mansion where McCarthy was making a money pitch to the rich and famous. Such events were always boring, and I found myself hanging around outside the mansion with a few of the local and national reporters tagging along. One of those outside was Peter Lisagor, then the brilliant Washington bureau chief for the Chicago Daily News. He had joined our antiwar campaign out of curiosity, I suspected, since the chances of forcing Johnson to change his aggressive Vietnam policy seemed to be nil amid relentless US bombings. As I later learned, Lisagor had been one of the few journalists invited to fly in 1966 on Air Force One with the president on one of his early trips to Vietnam. The flight was kept secret until Johnson arrived in Saigon.

Lisagor told me a story—most likely he meant to cheer me up, since we were polling at 5 percent at the time—about time he had spent in 1961 at Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. I do not recall whether he was on a reporting project there—he had been a Nieman fellow at Harvard in 1948—but there he was on inauguration day of 1961, while in Washington the glamorous John F. Kennedy was being sworn in as president by Chief Justice Earl Warren.

As Lisagor told it, he was watching the swearing in with a bunch of MIT students and faculty members at a cafeteria that had a TV, and just as Warren pronounced JFK president a young faculty member named Noam Chomsky stunned the small crowd by saying, of Kennedy and his Harvard ties: “And now the terror begins.”

Chomsky’s point, as would become clear in his later writings, was that Kennedy’s notion of American exceptionalism was not going to work in Vietnam. As it did not. And Lisagor’s point to me, as I came to understand it over the years, was that one cannot always tell which president will become a peacemaker and which will become a destroyer. Lisagor died, far too young at age 61, in 1976.

Joe Biden talked peace—and withdrew US forces from Afghanistan—but helped put Europe, and America, into a war against Russia in Ukraine and supported Benjamin Netanyahu’s war against Hamas and, ultimately, against the Palestinian people in Gaza.

Upgrade to paid

Donald Trump is always talking tough but one of his first major foreign moves after winning the presidency was to order his senior aides to work with Biden’s foreign policy people to perhaps end a war in Gaza and save untold thousands of lives. And I hear serious talks are underway to bring an end to the Ukraine War.

One never knows.

Subscribe to Seymour Hersh.

For the full experience, upgrade your subscription.

Up Next

Taxpayers Federation calling on BC Government to scrap failed Carbon Tax

Don't Miss

Goodbye to Joe Biden, and Whoever Was President the Last Four Years

Todayville

Todayville is a digital media and technology company. We profile unique stories and events in our community. Register and promote your community event for free.

Follow Author

Manhunt on for suspect in shooting deaths of Minnesota House speaker, husband

Canadian Energy Centre / 3 hours ago

Cross-Canada economic benefits of the proposed Northern Gateway Pipeline project

Alberta / 3 hours ago

Albertans need clarity on prime minister’s incoherent energy policy

Crime

Former Tim Walz appointee wanted for Minnesota shootings

Published on June 15, 2025

Duane Rolheiser

MxM News

Quick Hit:

Vance Luther Boelter, a former appointee of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, is wanted for Saturday’s targeted shootings that killed a state lawmaker and seriously injured another.

Key Details:

Authorities say Boelter first shot Sen. John Hoffman and his wife at their Champlin home before killing former House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband in nearby Brooklyn Park.
Dressed in police-style gear, Boelter reportedly exchanged gunfire with officers before retreating from the scene and escaping.
Investigators found a list of targeted politicians, including Gov. Walz and Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, as well as anti-Trump flyers reading “No Kings.”

Diving Deeper:

Law enforcement sources said Saturday that Vance Luther Boelter, 57, is the primary suspect in a string of targeted shootings that left former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband dead, and Sen. John Hoffman and his wife hospitalized. First reported by The Blaze, Boelter—a former appointee of both Gov. Tim Walz and former Gov. Mark Dayton—has not yet been apprehended.

The violence began early Saturday morning in Champlin, where the gunman reportedly posed as a police officer, dressed in black body armor and carrying a Taser, badge, and radio. Surveillance footage showed him knocking on the Hoffmans’ front door while wearing a cowboy hat and wielding a flashlight. The couple was shot multiple times and rushed into surgery. Both are expected to survive.

Shortly after the Champlin attack, police were dispatched to check on Hortman’s Brooklyn Park residence. According to Police Chief Mark Bruley, officers encountered what looked like a marked police vehicle in her driveway and a man in uniform exiting the home. When they approached, the man opened fire and retreated into the house. Officers returned fire but did not apprehend him. Hortman, 55, was found dead inside, alongside her husband. Their family dog, Gilbert, was also shot.

Police say Boelter left behind a manifesto naming 70 individuals—ranging from elected officials like Walz and Flanagan to abortion providers and Planned Parenthood affiliates.

The suspect also carried “No Kings” flyers, referencing a national day of protest against President Donald Trump. These same flyers were promoted online as part of anti-Trump demonstrations across the country on Saturday. In response to the shootings, the Minnesota State Patrol urged residents to stay home.

Boelter reportedly ran a private security firm, Praetorian Guard Security Services, which offered armed patrols for a steep monthly fee. He held appointments under two Democrat governors—first in 2016 on the Workforce Development Council, and again in 2019 when Gov. Walz tapped him for the state’s Workforce Development Board.

His apparent political motivations are under review, especially following recent controversy surrounding Hortman’s vote to strip state health benefits from illegal immigrants. Just days before her murder, Hortman had broken with her party to side with Republicans on the issue—providing the deciding vote after a tense budget standoff. “They’re right to be mad at me,” she told reporters after the vote, acknowledging anger within her caucus.

Crime

Manhunt on for suspect in shooting deaths of Minnesota House speaker, husband

Published on June 15, 2025

Todayville

Vance Luther Boelter, wanted in the murders of former Minnesota House speaker and her husband, shown in image from video Saturday.

From The Center Square

By J.D. Davidson

Second lawmaker, his wife also shot; suspect remains at large

Two Minnesota state lawmakers who are members of the Democratic-Farm-Labor Party were shot early Saturday by a person posing as a law enforcement officer just north of Minneapolis.

House Speaker Emeritus Melissa Hortman and her husband were shot and killed in what Gov. Tim Walz called a politically-motivated assassination. The suspect, identified as Vance Boelter, 57, remains at large and a manhunt is ongoing. Authorities said he no longer is in the area of the shootings.

Gov. Walz on Shooting of Minnesota Legislators: ‘An Unspeakable Tragedy’. 6/14/25

Source: Minnesota Department of Public Safety

“My good friend and colleague, Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark, were shot and killed early this morning in what appears to be a politically-motivated assassination,” Walz said at a news conference. “Our state lost a great leader, and I lost a dearest of friends.”

State Sen. John Hoffman, DFL-Brooklyn Park, and his wife also were shot about 2 a.m., and Hortman and her husband were found about 90 minutes later.

Walz said the Hoffmans were each shot multiple times but he was hopeful for their recovery.

Law enforcement issued a shelter-in-place order for an area around Edinburgh Course that continued into the hours Saturday but has since been lifted. The suspect was seen wearing blue pants, a blue shirt, body armor, and reportedly driving a dark SUV with lights meant to make it appear like a police vehicle.

The suspect, Boelter, was appointed by Walz to serve on the Governor’s Workforce Development Board in 2019. Various media outlets reported that he is the director of Praetorian Guard Security Services, where he had access to police-like security equipment. Media outlets also reported that Boelter had a list of about 70 names in his vehicle which included the lawmakers who were shot, other lawmakers and abortion providers.

State officials are encouraging residents to not attend “No Kings” protests at the state capitol and across Minnesota. “No Kings” flyers were found in the suspect’s vehicle, law enforcement said.

FNF The scene near a shooting of Minnesota lawmakers — Law enforcement at the scene of a shooting in Minneapolis

J.D. Davidson | The Center Square

The “suspect exploited the trust of our uniforms, what our uniforms are meant to represent,” Public Safety Commissioner Bob Jacobson said. “That betrayal is deeply disturbing to those of us who wear the badge with honor and responsibility.”

According to authorities, the gunman allegedly escaped through a back door of Hortman’s house following an exchange of gunfire with police.

President Donald Trump also released a statement on X, posted by White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.

“Our Attorney General, Pam Bondi, and the FBI are investigating the situation, and they will be prosecuting anyone involved to the fullest extent of the law,” Trump said. “Such horrific violence will not be tolerated in the United States of America. God Bless the great people of Minnesota, a truly great place!”

The FBI said it is offering a reward of up to $50,000 for information leading to the arrest of Boelter.

Drew Evans, superintendent of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, said Saturday that officers arrived at the Hortman residence as part of a routine check on lawmakers in the area and exchanged gunfire with the suspect, who managed to flee.

Brooklyn Park Police Chief Burley said officers knocked on the Hortmans door and were met by what appeared to be a police officer wearing police gear, a gun, a taser and a badge. Officers and the suspect exchanged gunfire in the home before the suspect fled out the rear of the house.

Burley also said the suspect was driving an SUV that looked like a police vehicle with lights. The car was impounded, and Burley said the suspect is on foot. He encouraged citizens to not answer the door for police officers and instructed Brooklyn Park police officers to not approach citizens alone, only in groups of two or more.

Burley said several people have been detained, and police are looking for others of interest.

Burley said a manifesto was found in the suspect’s vehicle that identified several other lawmakers. Both Hoffman and Hortman were on the list of people found in the car, Evans said.

Life-saving efforts were given to the Hortmans at the scene, Evans said.

“This was an act of targeted political violence. Peaceful discourse is the foundation of our democracy.We don’t settle our differences with violence at gun point. We must all stand against political violence,” Walz, also a DFL party member, said. “This tragic act in Minnesota should serve as a reminder that democracy and debate is a the way to settle our differences and move to a better place.”

The shootings happened seven miles away from each other, and law enforcement officials have called both shootings “targeted.”

Law enforcement was dispatched to the homes of several other state lawmakers – both Democrats and Republicans – in the Twin Cities area for protection overnight. Those lawmakers were told not to answer the door if an officer comes to it, but confirm with 911 before answering.

U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuhar, D-Minn., was shocked by the news.

“This is a stunning act of violence. I’m thankful for all the law enforcement who are responding in real time. My prayers are with the Hortman and Hoffman families. Both legislators are close friends and devoted to their families and public service,” Klobuchar said on social media.

Republican House Speaker Lisa Demuth, R-Cold Spring, called the shootings evil and asked for prayers.

“I am shocked and horrified by the evil attack that took place overnight. Please lift up in prayer the victims along with the law enforcement personal working to apprehend the perpetrator,” Demuth said on social media.

Walz activated the state emergency operations center early Saturday.

Hoffman was first elected to the Senate in 2012 and currently chairs the Human Services Committee.

Hortman was first elected in 2002 and was elected as speaker of the house in 2018. She is the current speaker emeritus.

She was also one of four DFL members to break with the party Monday and join Republicans to pass a state budget and end state health care services for noncitizens after a long and contentious special session.

The initial budget vote ended in a tie, before Hortman and three other DFL members broke ranks and joined Republicans to pass the legislation.