“Peace on earth” has been a common Christmas pronouncement for as long as Christmas has been celebrated. In two days people all over the world will celebrate the most significant contribution to peace ever made but today I would like to thank the readers of SayAnythingBlog.com for one of their contributions to peace, namely, staying…
If Only Our Government Got As Much Coverage As Football
Bison football has become such a big deal in North Dakota that the media is now running coverage about how much coverage the football team gets. It’s all very meta. Not that it ever takes much for the Fargo media to descend into an orgy of preening. Everything from the Fargo television show on FX…
Matt Evans: Defending Kevin Cramer To Conservatives
Someone has kidnapped Matt Evans and written this column under his name. Evans, you see, is a tireless critic of government. He has no tolerance for politicians who don’t say what they mean. He is ready to throw anyone under the bus the moment they vote contrary to the way they’re supposed to. He likes…
Rod St. Aubyn: The "Divtactic"
I invented a new word, “divtactic”, which I now use to describe the diversionary tactic that I often see liberals use in political discussions and blogs. A couple of months ago I wrote a story on this blog questioning “Is Civil Political Discourse Extinct”? Based on the numerous comments and especially the content of some…
Rod St. Aubyn: What Is The Political Mood In North Dakota And Across The Nation?
North Dakota – With ND’s strong economy, vibrant oil production, good crops despite the late plantings, and very low unemployment, people appear to be satisfied with the overall political environment. Not to say that there aren’t some challenges that currently exist such as the Western ND infrastructure issues that politicians have made news with their…
James Kerian: Politics For Entertainment, Or Politics For Change?
For many people (who are not in political office) politics is a spectator sport. They enjoy discussing which party/candidate/policy is better in the same way they enjoy discussing which team/player/offense is better. They don’t, however, really expect to have any impact on who gets elected or what laws are enacted any more than the typical…
James Kerian: Fifteen Things You Hear In Politics (From The Same People)
In his book The Everlasting Man GK Chesterton once observed that “The history of prehistoric man” is “the sort of unreason in which only rationalists are allowed to indulge.” In a couple of decades of discussing politics I have come across a few other examples of this type of unreason. Following are fifteen things that…
Is Conservatism Hostile To Atheists?
I thought this clip from S.E. Cupp – an atheist and a conservative – talking about atheism in politics was an interesting one. She argues that conservatives are, on the whole, quite welcoming of atheists. Perhaps more so than liberals. First, I should point out that atheists are pretty unpopular in general, and not just…