IN FLANDERS FIELDS By John McCrae In Flanders fields the poppies blow Between the crosses, row on row, That mark our place; and in the sky The larks, still bravely singing, fly Scarce heard amid the guns below. We are the Dead. Short days ago We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, Loved and were … Continue reading The Wars, Remembered On Memorial Day

(NOTE: This article first appeared in the May issue of High Plains Reader.) I am an old man. I have been a politics junkie most of my life. I have been involved in many campaigns, but have not run for office myself. Each time someone has suggested I do that, I tell them the same … Continue reading SHOTGUNS, DEAD DOGS, LIARS AND COURTROOMS

What has been will be again,    what has been done will be done again;    there is nothing new under the sun. Ecclesiastes 1:9 Hmmm. Nothing new under the sun. Perhaps North Dakota Governor Douglas Burgum needs to spend a little time with his Bible. Wise man, that Solomon. I’m referring to Burgum’s much ballyhooed announcement of the … Continue reading Much Ado About Nothing

In an attempt to share with you what’s going on in my phone’s text messages, without offending your sensibilities, I’m going to keep this short. As I mentioned in an earlier column, I continue to get text messages from the Trump campaign after North Dakota’s failed Presidential candidate Doug Burgum shared my personal contact information … Continue reading Headed For Mar-A-Lago?

I’ve been moping around the house most of this cold, wet, windy, dreary, week, feeling sorry for myself because I can’t get out in the garden. I managed one garden day early in the week, and planted about half of what I hope will be this year’s potato crop, but I’ve got a big bag … Continue reading Just How Rich Is Billings County?

When residents of Billings County in western North Dakota, home to the Bad Lands and Theodore Roosevelt National Park and Medora, head to their mailboxes sometime this week or next, they’re going to find a letter from their County Commissioners. That’s unusual. About the only time county government sends you a letter is with your … Continue reading Does the Governor’s Office Have A “Slush Fund?” Well, Not Really . . .

Humorist Will Rogers once said “I am not a member of any organized political party. I am a Democrat." North Dakota Republicans left Fargo mumbling something like that Sunday morning, changing the last word, after the fiasco that was their purported state convention. Democrats, meanwhile, trickled out of town knowing they had at least three … Continue reading And Then The Conventions Were Over . . .

Saturday morning. The first Saturday of April. Time for Spring. I’ve played a lot of golf on the first Saturday of April over the years.  Not last year, of course, when there was two feet of snow on the ground outside my bedroom window. But this year the grass is getting a green tint out … Continue reading Convention Notes . . . So Far

Okay, Doug Burgum, this time you’re on thin ice with me. It’s that time of year. The ice is getting thinner and thinner. But YOUR ice is really thin right now. Last summer you used your thick billfold to try to become president, by offering to send $20 gift cards to anyone sending you a … Continue reading Thin Ice

“The crux of this case is the preservation of the untouched and dramatic beauty of the Shorts’ property in the North Dakota Bad Lands while the underlying legal issues are resolved. Theodore Roosevelt once described this area in compelling terms: ”From the edges of the valley the land rises abruptly in steep high buttes, whose … Continue reading Little Missouri Bridge Work Halted. Judge: “Taking Property By Eminent Domain Is An Odious . . . Process.”