Minot — Back in June I noted that, as the first anniversary of Fargo’s hate crime ordinance was looming, it had resulted in precisely zero convictions. At the time, just one individual had been charged under the ordinance. Now April Baumgarten reports that this individual, a Lake Park, Minnesota, man named Wesley Jensen, has been acquitted. The charges against…
One culture warrior isn’t any better than the other
MINOT, N.D. — While observing, during my recent time off, the eruption of public opinion over the decision by the Fargo School Board to cease reciting the Pledge of Allegiance at its meetings, I found myself feeling much the same way as Randall Wehler, who wrote, in a letter to the Forum of Fargo-Moorhead, that he felt…
Don’t blame anyone but the Fargo School Board for this Pledge of Allegiance mess
MINOT, N.D. — Members of the Fargo School Board decided to pick a culture war fight. They axed the Pledge of Allegiance from their meetings, and then they reaped the whirlwind. Some of the criticism they’ve received has been measured and reasonable. Much of it — that which came from people ranting about “communists” and…
Still waiting to find some substance in Cara Mund’s nascent congressional campaign
MINOT, N.D. — No, Cara Mund, you will not be the first female to run for Congress in North Dakota. “I think people are excited to see another name on the ballot and to see a woman for the first time ever in that role or position as someone you can vote for,” the former Miss…
The most patriotic thing you could do today? Stop listening to idiots
MINOT, N.D. — On a recent episode of Stephen Colbert’s talk show, Jon Lovett, a former speechwriter for President Barack Obama who is today one of the hosts of a wildly popular left-wing podcast, said Republicans support “a bunch of terrible stuff that makes life worse and shorter for a lot of people.” He said the Republican…
The war on misinformation may be about as futile as the war on drugs
Minot, N.D. — I have been following, very close, the legal proceedings between wildly successful conspiracy monger Alex Jones and the parents of children killed in the Sandy Hook shooting. The Sandy Hook parents appear to be winning as their trial begins, and those of us who are interested in truth, and not cozy lies that slake…
Would term limits for the Supreme Court make things better or worse?
MINOT, N.D. — For decades the American left has relied on the courts reading new “rights” into the constitution, and not voters and legislatures making law, to deliver the policy outcomes they desire. Then the Supreme Court threw a monkey wrench into the works. They struck down the Roe v. Wade precedent, noting, correctly, that…
Democratic-NPL candidate for attorney general a ‘top fan’ of Facebook bikini model
MINOT, N.D. — Since he was appointed earlier this year to replace Wayne Stenehjem, who passed away, Attorney General Drew Wrigley has been a busy man. His office is handling the investigation of officer-involved shootings. He’s been tasked with certifying North Dakota’s abortion ban which was triggered by the U.S. Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade. He’s…
Fired NDSU president enjoying a lavishly compensated sabbatical before beginning professorship
MINOT, N.D. — Can you imagine your employers paying you to sit around for 15 months and think about the job you’re going to do? All while collecting a full paycheck? That’s the gig former North Dakota State University president Dean Bresciani finds himself in after getting fired by the state Board of Higher Education.…
Maybe the answer to Fufeng and China should just be ‘no’
MINOT, N.D. — If there’s anything we can learn from the controversy over a Chinese-owned wet corn milling plant to be built near Grand Forks, and near the Grand Forks Air Force Base, is that we need a more rigorous process for this sort of thing that is beyond the scope of local and even…