MINOT, N.D. — It takes a lot of chutzpah for someone like Senate Majority Leader Rich Wardner, a Republican from Dickinson, to say that the Legislature has “opened it up enough” when it comes to business hours for the hospitality industry. Is Wardner blind to what’s been going on in the world? The pandemic has, rightly, prompted limitations…
Mugshots Shouldn’t Be a Public Record
MINOT, N.D. — When you see a mugshot, do you immediately think “criminal”? You probably do. Who could blame you? The mugshot is an iconic sort of image. That staring-into-the-camera perspective, usually alongside a second image taken from the side, with some sort of a placard usually visible toward the bottom, is unmistakable. Shots of…
The Importance of Not Dismissing People You Disagree With
MINOT, N.D. — I write a lot about the importance of engaging with people you disagree with. It’s not healthy for any of us to live in a bubble. Yet there are so many sources — from social media algorithms to cable news programming — which are feeding us only what we want to hear.…
The Bastiat Caucus Is an Embarrassment to the NDGOP
MINOT, N.D. — Last year, Bastiat Caucus founder, Rep. Rick Becker of Bismarck, in an indignant letter to the editor, claimed there are “30 dues-paying legislators in the Bastiat Caucus this biennium.” That’s a big number. If it’s true, it would mean that this rump caucus of Trump-aligned politicians, while representing only a minority of the NDGOP caucus,…
The Electoral College Serves America Well
MINOT, N.D. — There are many undemocratic aspects of the American system of government. It was designed that way. These are not bugs, as a coder might say. They’re features. The Senate, for instance, is not a democratic institution. Senators weren’t even popularly elected until the 17th Amendment came along. It usually takes something more than a…
Legislature Should Say ‘no’ to Money-Grubbing Municipal Courts
Did you know that most municipal court judges in North Dakota don’t even have law degrees? Continue reading…
Legislature Should Absolutely Overturn Fargo’s (Already Illegal) Restrictions on Gun Sales
MINOT, N.D. — Some of Fargo’s city leaders need to be reminded that their community is not some autonomous city-state. Fargo is, in fact, a political subdivision of the State of North Dakota. I’m writing in the context of the debate over a Fargo ordinance outlawing transactions for firearms in private homes. We aren’t talking…
Conservatives Need to Get Out of the Ghetto
No longer feeling welcomed by Hollywood, or our nation’s campuses, or even the national news media, conservatives went and carved out their own space. In some ways, that’s healthy, a perfectly natural reaction to the sort of institutional gatekeeping that was locking conservatives out. It’s also had a curdling effect on the movement. Continue reading…
Catholics Fighting Bill Requiring Priests Report Child Abuse
I cannot imagine a scenario in which any decent human being would, in any circumstance, want to withhold from the appropriate authorities evidence of a child being harmed. Doing so only prolongs the injury or exploitation taking place. Yet the Catholics are out to fight the bill. They’re concerned about priests being required to report…
Bill Would Deny Public Officials Their Pay if Businesses Restrictions Are in Place
Rep. Rick Becker’s bill, had it been in place over the last year, would mean that every statewide elected official, not to mention nonelected people who head agencies like the Department of Health and the Department of Transportation, would have been expected to work without pay. Or they could resign, I guess, though who would…