MINOT, N.D. — The “great replacement” theory, for those of you who don’t know, is the idea that leftists are promoting the replacement of white, conservative-leaning Americans with immigrants through policies like open borders. Some people believe this because they’re bigots and nativists who don’t like immigrants. Others come to the belief out of misguided…
Traditional conservatives have a big money advantage in the NDGOP’s legislative primaries
MINOT, N.D. — In terms of races for partisan elected offices, North Dakota’s general election in November is going to be a snooze fest. There just aren’t that many competitive races. There are 35 legislative districts on the ballot this cycle (counting the new subdistricts on their own), which is more than usual thanks to…
Republican legislative candidate refuses to comment on federal tax lien
Minot, N.D. — According to state records, a candidate for the state Senate in District 35 has an active federal tax lien, but when reached for comment he refused to speak about it. According to public records available online, Ryan Eckroth has an active federal tax lien that was originally filed in 2013. “A federal…
How about we save the accusations of racism for actual examples of racism?
MINOT, N.D. — Knee-jerk, reactionary accusations of racism are not the reason why our nation’s politics are so dysfunctional. But they are a reason. Baseless claims of bigotry have become so pervasive that they allow actual bigotry to flourish in their shadow. That’s the danger of this sort of “crying wolf,” anti-Trump conservative Charlie Sykes argues .…
Democratic-NPL rips leaked Roe v. Wade opinion as ‘vile’ but their House candidate supports it
MINOT, N.D. — The political reaction to a leaked draft opinion that would overturn the U.S. Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade precedent has set off a furious political reaction. Much of it, here in North Dakota as elsewhere, breaking down on start partisan lines. For instance, House Minority Leader Josh Boschee, a Democratic state representative…
On Jan. 6, Sen. Cramer seemed to blame Trump for the riot
MINOT, N.D. — As a congressional committee continues to investigate the Jan. 6, 2021, riot — a Trump appointee on the federal bench just ruled a subpoena for the Republican National Committee’s emails to be valid — Americans are confronted with some dissonance from Republicans between how they felt about the riot on the day it happened…
Port: Tharaldson Ethanol deserves your mockery and derision
MINOT, N.D. — In Casselton, North Dakota, there is hot local debate about a proposed soybean crushing plant to be built on the community’s edge. Most of that debate has focused on perfectly reasonable zoning concerns. Will the plant be too loud? Too smelly? Will it create too much traffic for the community? I’ve written…
The roots of hate
MINOT, N.D. — I’m sure that many of you, like me, have watched disturbing videos of racist demonstrations, have seen the men, women, and even children holding signs with bigoted slogans, and wondered how it was that people could have their minds and their hearts turned to hatred. North Dakota may be getting an up-close…
Why did Sen. Ray Holmberg choose June 1 to resign?
MINOT, N.D. — Sen. Ray Holmberg announced on Monday, April 25, that he would be resigning from the state Senate. He had already announced, months before, that he wasn’t running for re-election this year, but after headlines about dozens of text messages he exchanged with a man jailed on child pornography charges, and the surfacing…
Is it too much to ask that North Dakota’s political campaigns be about North Dakota?
MINOT, N.D. — During the 2020 election cycle the race for treasurer between Republicans Dan Johnston and Thomas Beadle in the NDGOP primary, then between Beadle and Democrat Mark Haugen in the general election, was weirdly focused on abortion. There was much talk about who the “pro-life” candidate was in the race. This was weird…