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It’s later than you think

"A lot of people tell me what they’ll do, or how quickly they will be back on their feet after the death of a spouse or child. Most of them have never previously attended a funeral of a spouse or a child of theirs.......” 21 years ago this month, 9/11/2001, we all can recall vividly, where we were and who we were with as we watched with disbelief, as planes flew into the twin towers and the Pentagon. I often wonder about the family members of people who were flying out that morning or working in one of the towers, or the Pentagon. “Is that the plane my spouse is on?” “About ...

Election perceptions feature Beast vs. Smiler

The playbook for every recent election, from dog catcher to President, is often won by whomever is able to achieve a certain perception in the majority of the electorate. This perception is that their opponent is a malicious beast ravaging the legacy and principles of the nation, while they are the warm benevolence that will redeem and restore the office and destiny of the American Experiment. British comic book writer Warren Ellis explored this dichotomy in his series “Transmetropolitan,” a futurist exploration of life, culture and politics in the overgrown urban hell of a ...

It’s time to recognize importance of pipeline workers

Since his first days in office, President Biden has undermined the hard-working women and men in the oil and gas sector who strive to make energy affordable and reliable across the nation. I began my career as a pipeline welder in 2008. Over the past 14 years, I’ve worked on numerous energy infrastructure projects across the country. Here in North Dakota, I worked on the now canceled Keystone XL pipeline, on a spread which spanned from Grafton to Fargo. I can personally attest to the jobs Keystone created and its economic benefits to communities throughout the state. The cancelation ...

Facts about term limits

The North Dakota Supreme Court ruled term limits should be on the ballot. As Chair of the term limits Committee, I want the facts to be known. Unproven allegations of fraud were rejected by an unanimous 5-0 majority of the North Dakota Supreme Court. The highest court in our state – consisting of North Dakota’s top legal minds – concluded that our ballot drive for term limits on the legislature and governor was conducted legally and voters will get to decide Measure 1 for term limits November 8th. The Court recognized that the requisite minimum 31,164 North Dakotans had ...

Patience, vision, and term limits

Term limits as a concept makes sense to most people. That said for nearly half of our nation’s existence our presidents operated on an honor system and followed the precedent set by the first guy to hold the job and called it quits after two terms. Heck, it wasn’t until FDR pushed the envelope that an actual cap was placed on the amount of time you can serve in that office. Further implementation of term limits continues to be a common refrain from disaffected activists and marginalized politicos around the country. Now we have learned that after a boatload of controversy and a ...

Does Legislature deserve term limits?

The North Dakota Supreme Court reversed the decision of Secretary of State Al Jaeger to throw out signatures filed to create term limits for the governor and members of the state legislature.  The Secretary of State apparently made an error in judgment — an error that could have some impact on the makeup of the legislature. Nevertheless, Al Jaeger continues to be a person of integrity and should not be judged harshly for this error. First of all, the measure is quite generous for those now sitting. All of the present legislators will be “grandfathered” in, meaning that all ...