Brainerd keeps Columbus

Brainerd won’t be joining Red Wing and Minneapolis in putting Columbus out to pasture.

The City Council has tabled member Chip Borkenhagen’s proposal to change Columbus Day to “Native Peoples’ Day.”

The move comes after Borkenhagen sent a memo to his colleagues with one of the greatest put-down lines since the Nina, Pinta and Santa Maria got lost.

“Clearly our community is not ready to move forward to this on this intellectual level,” he said.

Ouch.

“Clearly, the vocal minority has moaned loud enough to foul the air to the degree that I don’t wish to pursue it.”

Borkenhagen said if Columbus were alive today, “he would be tried as a terrorist and war criminal.”

He didn’t say a lot at this week’s Council meeting, Forum Communications reports, although he said many residents aren’t aware of history, which speaks to a larger failure.