Recently Governor Doug Burgum signed House Bill 1503 into law. Previous to that, it passed 65 – 29 in the House and 35 – 12 in the Senate. It’s aim? To protect free speech on North Dakota’s campuses. At the national level we’ve all heard many stories about students who, whether it’s because of campus administration or harassment from…
If your video doesn’t start, try refreshing the page. A new ballot measure campaign seeks to amend North Dakota’s state constitution to make it harder to amend the constitution. Specifically, it would require a 60 percent supermajority for any constitutional amendment on the ballot to pass. It would also limit each proposed amendment to just…
If Donald Trump Was Guilty of Incitement, So Is Maxine Waters
MINOT, N.D. — In January, when a violent mob of Trump supporters attacked the U.S. Capitol, many, including your humble correspondent, held the disgraced former president responsible. That mob marched directly from his speech, where he was shouting many inflammatory and incorrect things about election fraud, to the Capitol where they proceeded to kick in the…
Minot-Area Lawmaker Cited for Drunk Driving
MINOT, N.D. — This morning Rep. Scott Louser, a lawmaker from Minot-area District 5, called me to say he’d recently been charged with driving under the influence. The details weren’t immediately available via the state’s online criminal records database, but Louser issued a statement owning up to the incident. “Transparency and accountability in public service…
Serious Talk About a Split in the NDGOP
MINOT, N.D. — One evening this week, I got a phone call from a Republican friend who asked me how viable I thought a third party movement breaking off from the North Dakota Republican Party might be. It was a surprise. This person is a Republican whose name most of you would probably recognize immediately. A serious…
Friday Mailbag: Cops as Soldiers, Performative Politics, Consultants in Governance, and That Weird Thing I’m Holding During Live Streams
MINOT, N.D. — I’m writing this column on Thursday because, this same day, I’ll be getting my second shot of COVID-19 vaccination. I chose Moderna, mostly because that’s what was available when I made my appointment, and the first shot knocked me for a loop for about 36 hours. I’m hoping this second shot won’t…
LIVE at 2 P.m.: North Dakota Vaccine Manager Discusses Johnson & Johnson Pause and Vaccine Hesitancy
The rollout of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine has been paused across the nation. North Dakota is possessed of some of the highest rates of hesitance in the nation when it comes to COVID-19 vaccinations in general. What does the pause mean for you? How do we persuade people who are skeptical of any of…
It’s About Politics, Not Academic Freedom
MINOT, N.D. — Wanna hear a joke? A noisy contingent from North Dakota’s university system, as well as their sundry apologists, are upset about an amendment to legislation that would withhold some matching tax dollars, under the challenge grants program, for state schools that partner with abortion providers. This is an affront to academic freedom, they tell…
Live at 10am: Rob Port and Demcoratic Activist Chad Oban Talk North Dakota Politics
Chad Oban is a long-time activist in North Dakota politics. He served as the executive director of the North Dakota Democratic-NPL and his wife, Erin Oban, is a state Senator from Bismarck. On this episode of Plain Talk Live, Rob and Chad will talk about the rise of the Bastiat Caucus in North Dakota, the…
Left-Wing Activists at Fargo Rally Acknowledge the Importance of Gun Rights
MINOT, N.D. — This last week a couple of hundred left-wing activists took to the streets of Fargo to protest because some anonymous person on the internet suggested they might organize a “White Lives Matter” rally. The left-wingers were out to preempt anything like that, though it’s not clear that any of the “WLM” folks…