Boss Swanson, Part II: Shining light of hope

I have had bad feelings about Chris for a long time. This was a horrific read and the man is worse than I suspected. Your writing is eminently readable and your research is exhausting. This is your super power.

Thank you for shining ever more light on the darkness that is Chris Swanson.

This article strikes me as a very good example of why a person should not mix “God” with business dealings. A person needs to be well-grounded and have a clear head, being able to see what is happening in reality.

I have said it for years and will continue to beat the drum. CHRIS SWANSON IS A SNAKE!! Plain and simple, he is a liar, a narcissistic fraud, and has absolutely no vision in that peanut head of his.

For the love of god, how do people believe his endless amounts of self-promoting, genius-touting, born-again Christian sickening personality. Yet he sits in front of the city council members telling them they do not understand. It’s simple, genius: it’s not state law, as it falls to the local level, and no matter how much you try to sue, bamboozle and play dumb, the rules do not change.

Please pack up your junk from city hall and give someone that actually has genuine feelings a shot to HELP people get their lives started and not destroy them.

I genuinely found it interesting that this guy was noted on your Facebook page by a reader providing feedback. Do you know this Bolen guy? Have you or any of your associates ever had any interactions or dealings with him or his crew? I’m sure he was quite surprised by the locals “recalling” him in his bid for re-election. I wonder if he let that occurrence bother him, or if he had any pending behind-the-scenes deals with other regional power brokers that were impacted by his losing seat as Mayor? I’m just asking questions–you’ll probably censor it away. Politics…a word from which “optics” can be derived, if you leave out the “li”.

Ah, yes—the Randy Bolen conspiracy theory: the Monitor is writing its articles about Chris Swanson because we want Randy Bolen to be mayor again. We’ll add that to the Tall Ships conspiracy theory (we’re punishing Chris Swanson because he stole Tall Ships from Duluth), the Donald Trump conspiracy theory (we’re attacking Chris Swanson because he publicly supported Trump), the DFL conspiracy theory (the DFL hired the Monitor to take out Chris Swanson, because they feel threatened by his rising star), and the developer conspiracy theory (we’re attacking Chris Swanson because he’s standing in the way of powerful developers who want to do something—we’re not sure exactly how it goes—but something to do with the golf course something something), among other, less coherent, possibilities.

We don’t know Randy Bolen, so we can’t really comment on specifics, but let’s just say that the Monitor has never met a mayor that it wasn’t critical of. I’m sure we would have plenty of criticism for Mr. Bolen, if we looked into him. He just hasn’t been our focus. If he benefits from our articles about Swanson, that’s coincidental. Obviously, when you attack public figures, somebody will benefit. It’s unavoidable.

That’s the simple, plain truth. Sadly, we know it will mean nothing to the conspiracy people, who believe anything but what you tell them. In conspiracy-land, the Monitor SIMPLY CANNOT be writing Chris Swanson articles because it wants to write Chris Swanson articles. There have to be…other reasons.

Skeptics would at least acknowledge the possibility that what we’re saying is true, but conspiracists do not. The faster we answer their questions, the faster they come up with new theories. They’re just too darn smart to believe anything we say.

That is why they are conspiracists and we are journalists. We’re not that smart. We spend a lot of time looking for the evidence that conspiracists never need.

Interesting that Mr. Swanson didn’t include any anecdotes about some his other “youthful indiscretions” that are coming to light now. Just to be clear, however, the recall petition certificate lists only instances of malfeasance committed while in office—as is clearly spelled out in the city’s charter. There are six listed (more have come to light since the certificate was filed). Even the city attorney agrees that the mayor’s conduct in office has clearly violated city code and policy. This isn’t a conspiracy or a witch hunt; it’s simply the citizenry of a community, in the best traditions of civil engagement, saying “enough is enough,” and following the process that was put in place to remove a municipal official for clear malfeasance while in office.