Official Newspaper of Eddy County since 1883
Official Newspaper of Eddy County since 1883
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Welcome to Campaign 2020! One unforeseen byproduct of the catastrophic COVID epidemic that has so far killed more than 160,000 Americans: It’s shortened the usual epic, endless campaign swings as candidates travel from sea to shining sea to kiss babies and press the flesh with assorted locals. One week, they’d campaign on their infrastructure platform; the next week would be about foreign policy; the following week would see them move on to talking about jobs and the economy; after that, hea...
I’ve been inundated lately with emails and calls and texts from friends and family from far away: Everyone’s been hearing reports about New York City, where I live, being a coronavirus war zone— one where everything’s closed and people are fighting over the few remaining rolls of toilet paper left. And it all reminds me a little bit of a long-ago Tran- script story about my father Jerome and his twin brother, Gerald, when they were stationed in New Guinea during World War II. My father told th...
That’s the current state of Republican explanations and justifications and bend-over-backwardifications about the explicitly criminal behavior of the President of the United State. If you’re a Fox News viewer, you might know this funny business by a different name, though that name keeps changing: One day it’s a “deep state conspiracy!”, the next day it’s a “Democrat witch hunt!” The latest word-salad—after Trump admitted, in public, yet again, that he in fact did exactly what he’s accused of—i...
Thought I’d try something different: Instead of the usual carefully researched and elegantly styled prose masterpiece, how about a handy clip-n’-save listicle to keep you up to date on all the news that fits. It’s been a busy stretch—way back in April, Trump passed the 10,000 mark for verified, 100% wrong statements. That’s ten thousand things he’s said that turned out to be entirely false—not an exaggeration, not a gaffe, not a mere misstatement: 10,000 things that are just plain wrong. People...
So where do we stand? Robert Mueller’s report to the Attorney General—well, a version of that report—was submitted weeks ago. That’s about the only reality everyone can agree on. What you think was in that report—or where you think we are as a nation where laws and a constitution still mean something—likely depends on where you’re getting your news. To hear our President talk about it—sorry, tweet about it; he hasn’t given a proper press conference where he stands in front of journalists and t...
Where do we sit, fellow citizens, as we reach yet another installment of the Ides of March? Let’s start with international diplomacy, shall we? Last time I checked in with you, our Fearless Leader had just headed across the pond to Vietnam to meet with the murderous North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un. How’d we do? Let’s start with what Kim Jong Un got: He was granted the place on the world stage he’s always yearned for; he got the entire Western world to look the other way about his massive and l...
What a glorious moment to be alive! It’s like the ancient Chinese curse: “May you live in interesting times.” Like millions of Americans, I watched, rapt, while Michael Cohen – Trump’s lawyer, confidante, and go-to fixer for a dozen or so years – testified in front of Congress. The night before, I sat, stunned, as Republican congressman Matt Gaetz threatened Cohen on the eve of his testimony. At the same time, our fearless leader – having finally overcome those debilitating bone spurs that ke...
“A shutdown falls on the President’s lack of leadership. He can’t even control his party and get people together in a room. A shutdown means the President is weak.” A prominent American made the above observation some years ago, and over the recent holiday season I’ve spent some time reflecting on his wise words as we’ve been suffering under our third U.S. government shutdown under the Trump presidency. Is Trump weak? Can he get people together in a room? Well, sure he can— he got Speaker-Elect...
There is a sad, almost poignant thing that happens when you present a series of actual facts and realities to the die-hard MAGA-forever Trump supporter. For those strong enough to accept the actual facts and realities, instead of merely waving them away with their magical hand while pronouncing them “fake news!,” there’s a fallback position many of them cling to. Okay, okay, they say: Yes, he lies all the time. Alright, so maybe he’s not that bright. And, yeah, I’m pretty sure he’s been up to...
On the weekend before Veterans Day, the assembled leaders of the western world gathered at Aisne-Marne, an American cemetery in France (where 2,288 Americans soldiers, mostly Marines, died in the Battle of Belleau Wood in World War I.) Trump skipped the ceremony – to commemorate 100 years since the end of World War I and 243 years since the founding of the Marine Corps – because it was raining. Later, a State Dinner was held to honor the occasion. Again, the heads of state of virtually eve...
It’s good to be reminded now and again what the all the idle chatter and endless political ads and social-media jockeying and viral (dis)information campaigns are all about: Your vote. Not the vote of the smartest guy in your office or on your crew— or the vote of the primary breadwinner in the family. YOUR VOTE. In the case of a whole bunch of political professionals, what they’re really after is for people NOT to vote. There is a long tradition of voter suppression operations in the U.S.,...
First things first: It’s not me asking the question— it’s Mitch McConnell, John Hoeven, Kevin Cramer and all the Republicans in Congress. They want to know if you’re dumb enough, or gullible enough, or distracted enough to forget that, after Trump’s election, they gleefully passed a $2 trillion tax cut. (Where’s that $2 trillion going? Mostly to large corporations and multimillionaires.) Oh wait— they also want you to forget all that gibberish they told you, back when they were about to pass...
It’s somewhat rare that North Dakota makes the national news. It used to happen only once in a blue moon—say, when the windchill dropped to a billion degrees below zero or, more recently, during the long standoff around the Dakota Access pipeline. Lately, though, it’s been happening whenever Kevin Cramer opens his mouth. Thanks to Kevin, the nation’s been made aware that North Dakota’s sole Representative to the House—the same man who proudly boasted that he votes the way Trump wants him to 100...
First things first: I’ve been of voting age for. . . well, let’s just say “several decades.” During those decades, I’ve always thought that one of the greatest parts of our democracy was any citizen’s ability to call up one of our elected officials now and again and (politely) tell the official, or someone in their office, either that they had grave concerns about an upcoming bill or vote and hoped they might take it extremely seriously—or (more often, frankly) tell the official that they ferven...
Some good news amidst this end-of-summertime insanity: The dwindling group of people gullible enough—or simply stubborn enough—to keep believing Donald Trump’s preposterous and relentless lies is dwindling even further. According to the most recent nonpartisan polls with the largest sampling audience, only 36 percent of Americans say they approve of the job he’s doing—a five-point drop from the previous month, and his lowest rating ever. Even Republicans, ever-ready to support the leader of...
Readers, I tried. I swear—I was going to give Donald Trump the week off and write about something else. . . I had it all planned out. . . and then, lo and behold, last Tuesday within a few minutes of each other, his longtime lawyer, fixer and right-hand man, Michael Cohen, pled guilty to eight felony counts, including paying off a porn star “at the direction of” Trump for the specific purpose of “influencing the election”—and then Trump’s longtime friend and campaign manager Paul Manafort (the...
Let’s just cut to the chase, shall we? Time and time again, arguments I’ve had about Donald Trump with his most fanatical supporters end up in the same way: Discussion begins around whatever the news of the day is—and since there’s usually a lot of news about Trump and his administration, this is an ever-changing subject. Maybe it’s the 82 documented contacts between the Trump team and Russia-linked operatives, not one of which was ever reported to the proper authorities, and all of which Tea...
So—can you hear me now? Ever since President Trump stood side-by-side with Russian president Vladimir Putin in Helsinki and told the world on live television that he trusts the word of the man who directed a long-term and still-ongoing attack against the United States over the combined word of the CIA, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the FBI, the National Security Agency, Justice Department, the House Intelligence Committee, and the Senate Intelligence Committee, it’s sud...
First things first: I was taken aback when I saw the first pictures of the damage and downed trees from the recent massive windstorm that hit the communities of New Rockford and Sheyenne. Then I saw more pictures and was more freaked out. And then I saw how many people stepped up to volunteer and organize and plan and work their tails off to get things as much back to normal as possible in a very, very short amount of time. It’s been nothing less than spectacular to witness, if only from a...
Note to readers: My deadline for this column prevented me from seeing the big Trump rally in Fargo, but let me play Carnac The Magnificent for a moment (kids, ask your parents if you don’t know what this means) and predict in advance—I’m typing this on Saturday, June 23—what he said to his adoring fans: He talked about how much he loves farmers and how great they’re gonna be doing thanks to him; he talked a little bit about what a joke Hillary is and how badly he beat her two years ago and h...
What’s a poor President to do? Let’s take the man at face value, for once, when he says he wants to meet with our country’s sworn enemies in an attempt to forge a lasting peace that will keep us all safer—and what does the press have to say about it? The President, they say, flabbergasted, “likes talking to dictators!” “He would meet with some of these madmen without preconditions!” they say, apoplectic. He is “bowing and scraping before dictators.” “All he wants is to get them back to the tabl...
Last Tuesday night, the President of the United States held a campaign rally in Nashville, Tenn. Well—not a campaign rally, exactly: Trump’s next election is two years and five months away. Heavily orchestrated rallies like this one are held, according to many members of Trump’s own inner circle, to boost the President’s ego. You see, after he was elected and forced to spend most of his time in the White House, Trump realized that he missed the adoring, fawning crowds from the campaign trail, wh...
On May 2, Congressman Cramer joined 17 of his colleagues in the House of Representatives in nominating that great diplomat of our era, Donald Trump, for the Nobel Peace Prize. “We can think of no one more deserving of the Committee’s recommendation in 2019 than President Trump for his tireless work to bring peace to our world,” they wrote in their letter, suggesting that the man more known for threatening “fire and fury” on countries he wants to punish should instead join the ranks of Martin Lu...
Last week I had the great fortune to be able to take a proper vacation with my family for the first time in what seemed like forever. Now that I’m back to work, I’ve been trying to figure out just what it is that made this time off so magical. Was it the warmer weather we headed off to? I’m sure that helped, but we’ve had warm-weather vacations before that weren’t this restorative. A break from my usual onslaught of emails and work deadlines? Yes, but ditto. The easy availability of chicken n...
There’s been a lot of talk lately—as there should be—about Donald Trump’s meeting at the White House with a group of governors and members of Congress from farm states to discuss American trade policies. Well, let’s be specific: Trump only invited Republican governors and members of Congress from farm states. So, Governor Burgum and Senator Hoeven: Present. Senator Heitkamp, with whom Trump enjoys a cordial relationship and whom he was earlier considering for a Cabinet position: Not present....
