MINOT, N.D. — I take no pleasure in saying this, but we told you this would happen. By “we,” I mean those of us who view as foolhardy policies aimed at closing down coal mines and coal-fired power plants through punitive regulations alongside massive subsidies and mandates for intermittent renewables like wind and solar. By “this,” I…
We can’t subdivide legislative districts only for Native American communities
MINOT, N.D. — The redistricting process is in full swing. One idea that’s been kicked around is subdividing legislative districts. Currently, we all live in districts that are represented in Bismarck by one senator and two representatives. All three serve four-year terms, get elected on the same ballot, and represent the entire district. Subdividing the districts, under…
The Mother of Exiles
MINOT, N.D. — With news that North Dakota will be accepting 49 refugees from Afghanistan, I suspect we’re going to see a lot of vocal proponents of our war there, people who have castigated President Joe Biden for his abysmal handling of our catastrophic retreat, complaining about our state taking them in. Let’s ignore these people. Our country, and…
Gordon Kahl Republicans
MINOT, N.D. — In 1983, Gordon Kahl left a Posse Comitatus meeting in Medina, North Dakota, and ended up in a gunfight with U.S. Marshals attempting to apprehend him for a parole violation. The violent conflict ended with two cops dead, three injured, and an ugly blight on our beautiful state’s history. Kahl, on the run, would end his…
Millions unaccounted for, and almost zero scrutiny
MINOT, N.D. — Tara Houska was a campaign advisor to Sen. Bernie Sanders’ 2016 presidential campaign and is currently a prominent anti-pipeline activist. She’s currently involved in the activism against Enbridge’s Line 3 Replacement project. On Sept. 4, she appeared alongside four far-left congresswomen — Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Rep. Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts, Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, and Rep. Cori Bush of Missouri — who were…
North Dakota school board members are giving up
MINOT, N.D. — Across our sports-obsessed society, the grownups who make youth sports possible — the coaches and the referees who are rarely paid much if they’re paid at all — are quitting. They’ve had it. They’re fed up. It’s not the kids; it’s the parents. I don’t have to explain this to you. You’ve seen it, as I…
‘We need to renounce the conspiracy theorists and the truth deniers’
MINOT, N.D. — Recently the NDGOP chairman from a Minot-area district called me to ask if I’d participate in a fundraiser for the Minot Area Republicans. What he had in mind was a dunking booth. Attendees could make a donation — he suggested $500 — to get three attempts to dunk me in the water.…
The last time we were united
MINOT, N.D. — I was 21 years old and working for my father when the planes flew into the Twin Towers and the Pentagon. We watched in the little coffee-and-toner scented kitchen in our office. It was the first time I’d seen my father, a Vietnam combat veteran and retired cop, look scared. We watched…
Insured unemployed rate is lowest in states that ended expanded benefits early
MINOT, N.D. — It shouldn’t be a particularly controversial argument that expanded payments from the government to unemployed people might result in a higher rate and longer duration of unemployed people. But we live in the age of election truthers, anti-vaxxers, and flat-earthers, and so, of course, it is. When the pandemic lowered the boom…
With his approval polls sagging, Biden changes the subject by declaring war on the unvaccinated
MINOT, N.D. — President Joe Biden has issued sweeping mandates for vaccination, announcing that his administration will try to force private-sector employers with workforces over 100, as well as federal contractors, to get shots. He’s also mandating shots for health care workers and federal employees. I say try, because this mandate will be swiftly challenged in court, and…