I dare call it treason.

I've said it before: There are a lot of Minnesotans that do not consider themselves Americans.

“This hurts our feelings a little bit,” said Margaret Hayford O’Leary, chairwoman of the Norwegian department at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minn. Will the Midwest soon become “flyover land,” Professor O’Leary wondered, even for Norwegians?

Residents have sent letters to members of Norway’s Parliament. They have sought help from Norwegian-American leaders like former Vice President Walter F. Mondale and Roger Moe, a former Minnesota state legislator. A delegation arranged a trip to Norway to complain.

Some question claims that the issue is one of financial shortfalls. What, they ask, about the government pension fund of more than $300 billion that Norway has amassed in recent years from its oil exports?

“It’s silly to think that this place is somehow going to break the budget for Norway,” said Anne Kanten, a resident of Milan, Minn., which calls itself Norwegian Capital U.S.A. “What’s more Norwegian than Minnesota, anyway?”

Memo to traitors: When Walter Mondale is your last best hope, you're done.
How about assimilating already?