Two Dakotas, one political color — but very different shades. While South Dakota’s Republican Party has veered toward populist upheaval, driving out its more traditional members, North Dakota’s GOP has mostly held its ground. That divide is now shaping billion-dollar decisions, with[...]
Category: Commentary
Commentary |
Trust in the news is crumbling. One city has a plan to fix it
Trust is the lifeblood of journalism, and it’s draining fast. Once, most Americans believed the press played fair. Today, barely a quarter still do — and among Republicans, that faith has nearly vanished. In Indianapolis, one experiment hopes to change that. A[...]
Commentary |
Do government programs have to be our solution to everything?
As talk of new farm payments circulates, one agricultural columnist asks whether the industry has grown too dependent on government help. With crop prices lagging and trade disputes fueling uncertainty, some producers are once again looking to Washington for relief. But do[...]
Commentary |
Port: Our problem is the kids have been watching
A troubling pattern is repeating itself. Two years after reports exposed a North Dakota political chat filled with slurs and hate speech, similar stories are emerging nationally — this time involving Young Republicans from several states. As columnist Rob Port notes, the[...]
Commentary |
Editorial: President Trump, don’t fall for Putin’s bullsh*t — again
ThisKyiv Independent editorial doesn’t mince words — and it doesn’t need to. With biting frustration, it lays out what feels like a recurring pattern in global diplomacy: President Trump edges toward a move that could finally pressure Russia to end its war,[...]
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Commentary |
Port: Does the First Amendment protect quackery?
North Dakota nearly rolled back its restrictions on conversion therapy this year — a reminder that old battles rarely stay settled. Now, a case before the U.S. Supreme Court could decide whether states have the authority to regulate such practices at all.[...]
Commentary |
Bulletin Board Lessons For Elected Leaders
I recently attended a meeting held at the Business Department on the campus of Minot State University. Because I arrived early, I checked out what was posted on the bulletin boards in the hallway outside our meeting room. The poster that was[...]
Commentary |
Being Wrong Is a Scientific Superpower
Science doesn’t fear being wrong—it depends on it. The latest issue of Scientific American celebrates that spirit, exploring discoveries that challenge what we think we know. From a geochemist’s claim that complex life began hundreds of millions of years earlier than believed,[...]
Commentary |
Opinion: Why I’m handing in my Pentagon press pass
For the first time in decades, NPR reporters — and many of their peers across the media — are being shut out of the Pentagon. The Defense Department is demanding that journalists sign a new document restricting how they gather even unclassified[...]
Commentary |
Port: Wrigley says he’s not yet certain about legality of Trump’s National Guard deployments to states
When politics and the military mix, the questions get thorny fast. On a recent Plain Talk podcast, a discussion about President Trump possibly deploying the National Guard to Minnesota raised a deeper one: what would North Dakota’s leaders do if asked to[...]
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Commentary |
Plain Talk: ‘We’re getting precipitously close to having a significant issue with access to health care’
Chris Jones has seen America’s health care system from every angle — in North Dakota, in Washington, and now from the inside of a system he calls “broken.” In a new episode of Plain Talk, the former state health chief argues that[...]
Commentary |
Point: Why We Should Ban Single-Use Plastics
For an alternate viewpoint, see “Counterpoint: Single-Use Plastic Bans Make No Sense.” Plastics are woven into every aspect of our lives, but what was once the poster child for convenience is fast becoming a pariah product. The era of single-use plastic must[...]
Commentary |
Counterpoint: Single-Use Plastic Bans Make No Sense
For an alternate viewpoint, see “Point: Why We Should Ban Single-Use Plastics.” Nobody wants plastic pollution. That doesn’t mean poorly considered and heavy-handed governmental actions are the solution. This includes misguided single-use plastic bans (e.g., bans on plastic straws and single-use plastic[...]
Commentary |
Herald Opinion: Appreciate newspapers for what they mean to a community
When the Crookston Times printed its last issue earlier this year, it marked the quiet end of nearly 140 years of local storytelling — and a warning for towns everywhere. As National Newspaper Week arrives, it’s a reminder that communities without local[...]
Commentary |
Poaching Is Stealing From Hunters
Even if you’ve never been a hunter, you’re likely familiar with the term poaching. Poaching is theft, plain and simple. It’s the illegal taking or killing of fish and wildlife. It’s stealing from legal hunters and trampling on the public trust. It[...]
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Commentary |
Conservative distrust of journalism threatens to spread among liberals
During office hours last week, one of my University of Kansas journalism students asked a great question. I am paraphrasing: “What do we do with all of these journalism companies bending to the Trump administration? It seems like it’s time to discard[...]