Last week state Auditor Josh Gallion announced his re-election campaign. A number of the state’s prominent Republicans helped in that announcement, including Senator Kevin Cramer, Insurance Commissioner Jon Godfread, and others. But buried at the end of my colleague Jeremy Turley’s article about Gallion’s announcement was this sentence: “A spokesman for Republican Gov. Doug Burgum,…
Let’s Hope the NBA’s China Debacle Removes Our National Blind Spot From That Country’s Monstrous Abuses
I’ve never been enamored with America’s fascination with celebrity punditry. The bulk of it comes from the left, if or no other reason than because the politics of our entertainment and media industries lean so heavily that way. The right also has no problem becoming enamored with the blustery pronouncements of some famous person. I…
A part of the 2019 Hong Kong anti-extradition bill protests, the Tsuen Wan March took place on August 25, 2019. Studio Incendo
Our Nation’s Political and Business Leaders Don’t Have the Luxury of Ignoring China’s Suppression of Democracy Any More
A few days ago former North Dakota Senator Heidi Heitkamp wrote a column critical of the Trump administration’s approach to China. It wasn’t a particularly insightful piece, meandering as it did through the typical Democratic talking points on that issue. What was notable, actually, is what wasn’t in the column. Not a single mention, anywhere,…
I Guess Maybe the Kids Really Are Dumb?
Jim Shaw’s columns often make me laugh, though I’m pretty sure it’s not for reasons he intends. Over the last couple of weeks I’ve been excoriated by critics, in various mediums, for suggesting that maybe teenagers like Greta Thunberg and the kids who participated in the protests she inspired are not the best people to…
Greta Thunberg to Visit Site of Violent Protests Against the Dakota Access Pipeline
According to a press release from the Lakota People’s Law Project, child activist Greta Thunberg will be visiting North and South Dakota this week. She will visit the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota on Sunday, October 6. On Tuesday, October 8, she’ll visit the Standing Rock Indian Reservation. Standing Rock straddles the North…
Heidi Heitkamp Rails Against “Ultra-Conservative” Judges, but She Voted for Most of Them
Since I write about politics for a living I end up on a lot of political email lists. I also have a lot of political emails forwarded to me. Which I don’t mind since it allows me to kind of monitor the zeitgeist of campaign messaging in a given moment. Today a reader forwarded me…
Turns Out the Anti-Vaping Hysteria Was Unwarranted
In recent weeks – amid a drip-drip-drip of stories about illnesses and, tragically, deaths among users of vaping products – there has been an almost palpable glee emanating from the ranks of the professional anti-tobacco activists. With tobacco use rates at historic lows, the anti-tobacco people have been looking for a new dragon to slay…
Who Are North Dakota’s Most Conservative Lawmakers?
Who are the most and least conservative members of North Dakota’s state legislature based on the 2019 session? The folks at the American Conservative Union want to tell you. They’ve ranked the lawmakers based on their votes on pieces of legislation selected by the ACU as bellwethers. I’m always a bit dubious about these sorts…
Iowa Biofuel Plant Shuts Down as Government-Mandated Demand Dries Up
Earlier this month I wrote about the struggles of North Dakota’s ethanol industry due to actions taken by the Trump administration to waive mandates from the federal Renewable Fuels Standard. Those mandates require refiners to blend a certain amount of ethanol into the fuels they sell. Refiners don’t like that for various reasons, not the…
Socialist State Lawmaker May Be Considering a Challenge to Republican Congressman Kelly Armstrong
It’s fall in an odd-numbered year, and that means we need to start thinking about who may and may not be running for elected office in this election cycle. I’ll be honest with you, the news on that front is a little slow in North Dakota, owing mostly to the dominance of the NDGOP and…