There are plenty of reasons to be critical of President Donald Trump, from valid critiques of his policies to the disappointment we should all feel for how he comports himself while holding our most prominent elected office. Unfortunately, valid criticism of Trump very often gets undermined by shoddy reporting and vapid sensationalism. We had another…
Plain Talk: Armstrong Says Congress Does Do Other Stuff Besides Talking About Mueller, Trump
It can be hard to tell at times, but Congressman Kelly Armstrong says Congress does actually do things aside from hold hearings about the Mueller investigation and President Donald Trump’s alleged obstruction and collusion. On this episode of Plain Talk he describes progress on bipartisan legislation to address opioid abuse, but acknowledged that the Democratic…
Plain Talk: “I Couldn’t Really Care Less What Somebody in New York Says
Recently a New York Times columnist teed off on proposed legislation here in North Dakota which would ban any government sponsored and/or taxpayer funded gun buyback program. Nicholas Kristof called it “dumbest bit of legislation so far this year.” “I couldn’t really care less what somebody in New York says,” the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Luke…
Reminder: North Dakota Democrats Also Attempted “Russian Tactics” During Election
“As Russia’s online election machinations came to light last year, a group of Democratic tech experts decided to try out similarly deceptive tactics in the fiercely contested Alabama Senate race, according to people familiar with the effort and a report on its results,” the New York Times reports. What were these tactics? The project’s operators…
The News Media Should Hire More Conservatives
There is a lot of consternation of late about the demise of The Weekly Standard, a right-of-center publication founded by Bill Kristol and Fred Barnes and owned by Rupert Murdoch from its founding in 1995 until 2009 (right around the media mogul purchased the Wall Street Journal). The Standard is hardly the first ideologically-driven publication…
New York Times Uses Same Misleading Photo of Soybean Pile the Heitkamp Campaign Got Caught Using
Farm state Democrats like Senator Heidi Heitkamp have attacking President Donald Trump’s trade policies, arguing they’ve been bad for the agriculture industry. Which is fair. We can debate the point, but promoting contrasting views on important policies like trade tariffs is exactly what campaigns should be about (and aren’t nearly about enough). Still, a specific…
Podcast: That Anonymous New York Times Op/Ed
I spent a lot of time talking about that controversial and anonymous op/ed in the New York Times on the radio show today. Give it a listen below. Tax Commissioner Ryan Rauschenberger also joined me, chatting about the state’s efforts to implement the sales tax to online purchases in the wake of the Supreme Court’s ruling…
Apparently the Only Good Republican Is a Dead Republican
Over the weekend our nation lost one of its heroes. Senator John McCain, whose resume of accomplishments hardly needs recounting here, would have been 82 on Wednesday, the day he’ll be laying in state in the Arizona capitol. Throughout McCain’s career he was described as a “maverick” by a national press corps which loved him.…
This Is the New York Times Admitting That They’re a Left Wing Newspaper
Today the New York Times decided to dedicate their letters-to-the-editor section entirely to Trump supporters. A group of people that, by my reading, range from enthusiastic supporters to those skeptical of the President’s behavior but none-the-less supportive of his agenda. But more interesting than the letters is the explanation from the Times for why they did this.…
You Can’t Write Sad, Sad Stories About Women’s Hockey at UND Without Talking About the Money
The New York Times recently published a story about the end of the women’s hockey program at the University of North Dakota. It was published in the Times on the 10th, and has been republished here in North Dakota by my employers at Forum Communications today. The story aims to evoke sympathy over the demise…