Sometime in the distant past, when David Strauss and I were managing the campaigns of the North Dakota Democratic-NPL Party, I received a note from David with those words. They struck home. I went looking for their source. I found the actual quote, ironically, from President Calvin Coolidge, who said this: “Nothing in this world … Continue reading “Persistence Alone Is Omnipotent”

"The first thing we do is, let’s kill all the lawyers.” You might recall that memorable line, uttered by Dick the Butcher, from perhaps the least memorable of Shakespeare’s plays, Henry VI. I’ve been thinking about it because I’ve been thinking about lawyers. And Governors. It’s been 40 years since North Dakota had a lawyer in … Continue reading A Lawyer In The Governor’s Office? Maybe.

Thank God for the Summer Olympics. I’ve been mostly laid up for a few weeks with a recurrence of the strange leg infection that kept me in the hospital much of the summer two years ago. I rode it out at home this year and was entertained in my recliner by watching the world’s best … Continue reading When An Asset Becomes A Liability

I really hate to be critical of my Governor. But c’mon, Doug, give us a break! Start acting like a Governor. (More about the lakes in a minute.) The quotes from Burgum in Friday’s Forum Communications Company papers were as unbecoming of a Governor as anything I’ve ever read. Well, maybe I could drag out … Continue reading Sour Grapes, North Dakota Nice, and Minnesota Lakes

In the olden days, when I was a young reporter for The Dickinson Press, one of the assignments for the newsroom staff was to check with the Police Department every day to see if there was any news. We’d wander across the street to the station and take a look at the daily log. Once … Continue reading Missing Girlfriends, Drunks and Locked Doors

Sometime later this month the State Historical Society of North Dakota is going to officially announce the approval of a new historic neighborhood in Bismarck. I’m pretty excited about it, because I live in it.             Two years ago last week, the Highland Acres neighborhood in west Bismarck was named to the National Register of … Continue reading YAY! I Live In A National Historic District!

This is a story of a tragic, ironic, almost unbelievable, twist of fate. Some of you remember I wrote a series of stories, beginning in July of 2017, about an illegal bridge across the Little Missouri State Scenic River west of the Killdeer Mountains, built by a fellow named Wylie Bice, a wealthy rancher with … Continue reading The Bridge That Should’ve Come Down

I should have been in Wahpeton today. I should have been at the funeral of my best childhood friend, Max Reinke. But I just couldn’t take another funeral right now.  I’ve been to too many lately. But, luckily, my friend Kevin Carvell says, none of them were mine. I know, it’s just a function of … Continue reading Too Many Funerals. Sorry, Max.

Well, I could write about the election just past, or I could write about bacon. I like politics—most of my readers know that. But ALL of my friends know of my bacon fixation. I’ve liked bacon all my life, but never so much as when we moved into this house 15 years ago with its … Continue reading Screw Politics. Let’s Talk About Bacon.

I’m stuck at home for a few days nursing some bruised-up ribs and a cut-up hand after a tumble in the Bad Lands, but I can type, so I’ll a share a few political thoughts with you in the days leading up to the June 11 North Dakota Primary Election. Congress First, you need to … Continue reading Election Thoughts