Have you noticed how much we've been blogging lately, especially about what's going on in the Capitol Building?

Yeah. Me either.

And, by the way; it is two-for-ones -- or BOGO -- on Crazy this week in the Capitol. Just print out a copy of this blog post and bring it with you.

Also, I'd urge you to keep reading two other North Dakota blogs:  NDFreePress.com and dogWAGGER.com.

And... Speaking of capitols... Here's a photo I took of a statue in the old U.S. House chambers in the capitol building in D.C. a couple weeks ago, just moments before serendipitously bumping into my brother-in-law.

One week ago right now I was at the United States Capitol Building in Washington D.C., watching the lead-up to the re-swearing in of President Barack Obama.  I'd heard all the horror stories about people getting locked out of D.C. or trapped in a tunnel, and I wanted to make sure I got to where I needed to be, so I woke up that morning at around 4:30, showered, put on lots of layers (too many) and drove in around 5:30 a.m.

I got to Capitol Hill around 6:00 a.m.  Here's what the Capitol looked like at 6:00 a.m.

I stopped at the apartment where my inauguration date was staying and we headed towards our entrance around 7:15 a.m., stopping at a little corner market to pick up "breakfast."  (A dry-ish tuna salad sandwich for me.)  We probably got to our seats around 7:30 or 7:45 a.m., settled in and started to scope out our surroundings.

We had pretty good seats, thanks to Senator Heitkamp's office. We were on the North "blue" seated section. We weren't sitting with the senators, but we also weren't sitting behind the Washington Monument.  Here's a photo I took from my seat, for perspective.

You can only see the corner of it in the photo, but there's a jumbo-tron behind the person standing in front of me.  As it turns out, we pretty much watched the whole thing on the jumbo-tron. It was a lot like watching it on TV at home, only colder, and with a lot more people.  Oh, and awesome.

At some point my date headed to the ladies room and I was standing next to our seats, in the aisle, trying to stay warm. As I stood there, I couldn't help but overhear the woman behind me talking on the phone.  I wasn't paying attention to what she was saying, but eventually I heard her say the words "South Dakota," "law school" and "Tessa," all in about a two minute window. When she got off the phone, I turned to her and said, "I don't mean to be an eavesdropper, but I couldn't help but overhear you say two things: 'south dakota' and 'tessa'. Any chance that's [Heidi Heitkamp's campaign manager and Chief-of-Staff] Tessa Gould?" She said it was, and a whole conversation ensued.

At some point while we were talking she said Tessa had introduced her to someone at the Dakota Territory party the night before, and wondered if I might know who it was. She dug out her phone, showed me the picture. 

******

Side note, for context.

Some of you probably need some background here.  Jon Stewart did a bit on "The Daily Show" where he compared the homogenous attendees at the Republican national convention last year to the diverse crowd at the Democratic convention in Charlotte.  In his bit, he rattled off a variety of different types of people in Charlotte:

"You had Black people, Asians, Sikhs, Jews, Muslims, hippies, veterans, babies, 1940s boxing reporters, 1840s sheriff, Na'vi Americans, gay service droids, muppet Americans, and, of course, Newman."  

(See this video clip, especially at about 1:30 on the ticker)

Here's the photo Stewart showed with the "1840s Sheriff" guy.

******

I looked at the photo. It was of the woman I was talking to, and two other men. I pointed at one of them and said, "Oh, that's 1850's Sheriff guy."  [I was off by one decade.]

She said, "No, not him. That's my husband. I'm talking about the other guy."

<awkward>"Oh."</awkward>

I looked again and said, "Oh!  That's Earl Pomeroy."  

Anyway, we had a good laugh. She said her husband gets that all the time. People will approach him and want to have their picture taken with him. She works for South Dakota Senator Tim Johnson.  Her name was Sharon, and she was great company.  I saw her husband, Larry, at the DNC meeting the next day and went over to introduce myself.  They're both good people.  Turns out they're both friends with Tessa.  

Small world.

The title of this blog study may seem familiar to you.  I wrote a similar post in April of 2012 entitled "The Fargo Forum's Editors are Cowards."  You should go read that study.  (Click here.)  The study was about how the Fargo Forum gave one of its ridiculous "leafy spurge" awards to "North Dakotans, mostly of the conservative stripe, who revel in cursing the federal government from one side of the mouth but ask for federal aid from the other."  The Forum didn't have the stones to name any names. They were, of course, just talking about some generic conservative "North Dakotans."  

The Grand Forks Herald, today, joins the Forum in hiding behind vague references to nobody in particular when criticizing them.  Today's Herald has an editorial about how awesome USDA Rural Development loans and grants -- administered by former Democratic-NPL legislator Jasper Schneider -- have been for North Dakota's economy. Those loans and grants, the editorial notes, are funded in large part by federal stimulus money. Here's a snippet from the Herald's editorial today:

Often the loans are required for projects to proceed because private lenders are reluctant to take a risk without the federal money on the table. So developers and rural officials can leverage private money because of USDA Rural Development’s participation. Indeed, without the federal role, many projects would not proceed. That would have been the situation in recent years with the new Jamestown hospital and health care facilities expansions and improvements in Williston.

The irony in all this is that the agency can do what is has been doing so effectively because it is using so-called “stimulus” funding. That’s the federal money that has been savaged by some of the same people whose communities have benefited from the money, including legislators who decry the stimulus, but seem to have no problem taking center stage at ribbon-cuttings for stimulus-funded projects in their towns.

Grand Forks Herald (emphasis added)

Again, who are these people "decry[ing] the stimulus" and showing up for ribbon-cutting ceremonies?

How would a well-informed citizenry ever know? Isn't it the job of our newspapers to tell us things, and not just allude to them, or hint of them?  Why are the cowards in the editorial offices at Forum Communications so afraid to tell us who they are talking about? Is it because of threats from their papers' owners?  Is it because they're afraid they'll stop getting advertising dollars from friends of the unnamed politicians? Is it because they're afraid of losing their jobs?  

What are they afraid of?

[NOTE:  The picture of North Dakota Senator John Hoeven (R) at a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Jamestown Regional Medical Center, above, which was funded, in large part, by federal stimulus dollars through USDA Rural Development is unrelated to this blog study and purely coincidental.]

I've written a column for the first post-NDGOP/Scott Hennen-takeover issue of the Great Plains Examiner.  A few people have asked whether it's available online. It wasn't before now, but I've decided to post it here.  This is an un-edited version of what I submitted. 

*************************************

In 2013, North Dakota Democrats face three important hurdles:

“Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely.”  Lord Acton

“Whenever the people are well-informed, they can be trusted with their own government.” Thomas Jefferson

“Never argue with a man who buys ink by the barrel.”  Greener’s Law

In August of 2011, Lee Morris -- then the managing editor of the Valley City Times Record -- snuck a column into the paper in which he wrote about that newspaper’s out-of-state owners demands of the newspaper:  less journalism; “more coverage on events such as Chamber of Commerce luncheons and ribbon-cutting ceremonies.” Morris quickly resigned, avoiding getting fired.

In the November edition of the Bismarck Tribune’s monthly “Bakken Breakout” insert, publisher Brian Kroshus advocates for abandoning the Electoral College system and, instead, letting oil vote. Seriously.  (Google it.)

North Dakota’s elected Republican leaders have absolute power in state government. They own the Governor’s Office, super-majorities in the legislature, and four of five Supreme Court justices were appointed by Republican governors.

North Dakotans try to be informed. Many think it’s enough to read the local newspaper, and to watch the local news and some Fox News. We might listen to some talk radio. We think by doing so we are living up to Thomas Jefferson’s wish. We are not.

North Dakota’s progressives have left the “ink-by-the-barrel” business to Republicans. Our newspapers are all owned and operated by Republicans. The newspapers are so busy pandering to out-of-state businesses, they’ve forgotten the important role they used to serve by informing the citizens.

I was reluctant to write this column.  A controlling interest in the Examiner was recently purchased by a secretive investor group including the former chairman of state’s Republican Party. I’ve asked the paper’s founder who the investors are, and he won’t tell me. When I learned who some of them are, I predicted this paper would become just another right wing rag, and I am not backing off from that prediction. Upon making that prediction, I immediately heard from two of the Examiner’s principals that Republicans are afraid of, or don’t like, one of the investors -- the former chairman of the NDGOP -- possibly even more so than Democrats. Though an interesting talking point, it is not worth much. There’s a difference between being afraid of the far-right fringe, and being afraid of an objective, neutral news outlet. No doubt moderate Republicans fear the far-right fringe. That’s understandable. But that does not mean the Examiner will be neutral, objective, or even that it will be a worthwhile news source.

I was asked to write this column because I had made that prediction. The new owners wanted to put me in the untenable position of either writing for the paper, seemingly endorsing it, or declining to do so, thereby appearing to contribute to the problem I am criticizing.

In order to be a viable party going forward, it is not enough for Democrats to have policy or legislative vision.  We have had plenty of solid proposals in the past, many of which have been scrubbed of all Democratic fingerprints and enacted into law as Republican legislation. (See, for example, property tax relief.)  In order to get policy proposals adopted and recognized as their own in North Dakota, Democrats need to find a way to get objective news to the people. Until we do, our state’s newspapers and elected leaders will govern in a way that sends our money, resources and our educated young people out of state. You are advancing the problem by supporting the Examiner, and by subscribing or buying advertising in these pages.

***************

I've added the hyperlinks to the above.  They're obviously not in the paper edition.  

My column appears next to the column by ND GOP National Committeeman, Curly Haugland.  I like Curly.  We don't agree about much of anything politically, but he's an otherwise good guy.

My favorite (other) thing in this issue is that in the masthead on page 8, former Americans for Prosperity policy director Dustin Gawrylow is listed as "Assisant Publisher."  (See picture, above/right)  I'm not sure how to pronounce "assisant," but it seems like that's a position someone at the Examiner ought to have.

Campaigns & Elections magazine has put out a list of political power hitters in every state. I have to say that the North Dakota list is "interesting," to say the least. Here's the list:

First things first:  This is probably obvious, but nobody called me and asked for my opinion before putting this list together.  How would you know this?  Well, I've never even heard of three of the five listed Republican power hitters.  This "Jonathan Casper" fellow may know every donor in the state, but you have to wonder how many North Dakota voters have ever heard his name. And they've got "Lonnie Dietz" on the list.  That's interesting. If you're looking for something to point your finger at to explain how and why Rick Berg lost the "sure thing" Senate race that Nate Silver gave Berg a 90% chance of winning in North Dakota in 2012, Lonnie Dietz's face would probably be a good place to start. But I suppose the list of people who had "influence," and not necessarily "effective influence."

My list on the Democratic-NPL side would be different, too.  I'll give one example of why/how my list would be different:  I expect this could be taken wrong by some, but I don't understand why Pam Gulleson is on this list.  I like Pam, and I thought she ran an honorable campaign, but it looks like nobody on this list was a candidate in 2012.  Except Pam.  She was not a consultant in 2012. She's not a consultant now. And if we're going to pick a candidate from 2012 to include on the list as having been influencial, shouldn't it be Heidi Heitkamp?  Call me crazy.  And there's at least one other on this list I'd take off and would probably get some heat for doing.

And, again, if you're going to include candidates, on the Republican side wouldn't you include Berg over one of his consultants?  Or Cramer?

So anyway, though I like all the Dems on the list, I'd have to swap in other people for at least two of them.  In their place, I'd have to insert a few other people.  I'll have to think a little bit about who those people are/were, but a couple names immediately popped into my head as possibilities.

Assuming you agree with me that this list is flawed, who would you take off and who would you replace them with? For either party.

Or do you think the list is perfect?

Last night, outgoing North Dakota Congressman Rick Berg voted with the radical Teapublicans to send America into a huge, double-dip recession, favoring tax breaks for himself and his wealthy millionaire and billionaire friends over a more reasonable, balanced first step in resolving some of our country's financial problems.  

Luckily the radical Teapublicans ended up losing this time.  But they'll be back.

I was streaming the c-span.org video of the vote last night as it was happening and instant messaging with Adam B.  Adam's prediction was that Berg would vote for the bill (and against a double-dip recession) because, while "he may be evil," "he's not crazy."

Turns out he was only half wrong.

Here's a link to the roll-call vote.  

The North Dakota legislative session starts next week.  How excited are you to see what this session brings?

House Concurrent Resolution #3002

Politico is reporting this was part of the negotiation process in the White House recently:

“Go f— yourself,” Boehner sniped as he pointed his finger at [Senate Majority Leader Harry] Reid, according to multiple sources present.

Reid, a bit startled, replied: “What are you talking about?”

Boehner repeated: “Go f— yourself.”

The harsh exchange just a few steps from the Oval Office — which Boehner later bragged about to fellow Republicans — was only one episode in nearly two months of high-stakes negotiations laced with distrust, miscommunication, false starts and yelling matches as Washington struggled to ward off $500 billion in tax hikes and spending cuts.

Politico.com

I'm guessing most rational people recognize the problem in Washington is not a problem with Democrats; it's clearly a Republican problem.  But that's not even what I want to say about this.

I have an 11-year-old 7th grader.  How am I supposed to teach my child that it is inappropriate to treat his friends, teachers, employers and complete strangers civily when we have Republicans in Washington acting like this?  Republican leaders apparently believe it is reasonable to talk like this while dealing with others.  John Boehner is second in line to be President of the United States of America, and this is how he treats the people we expect him to work with every day.  This is Kevin Cramer's leader. It's embarrassing.

And then he went and bragged about it?  

I do not understand how any reasonable, America-loving, rational human can continue to affiliate with the Republican Party any longer.  To those of you who do... You all should be ashamed of yourselves.  

You built this.

I'm going to the Presidential Inauguration in a few weeks.  I'll be in D.C. several days and plan to attend the "big event" and any fancy parties I can get into.  I'm planning to mix a little bit of business in with pleasure, too. I'm trying to decide whether to bring my fancy, expensive camera gear and shoot pictures at the inauguration and around D.C. while I'm there. I've got a handy little pocket camera that works fine for lots of things, but it doesn't have the best zoom and doesn't shoot great high-res photos. I'm also trying to decide how much of a travelogue and/or blogging to do. This break I've taken has been kind of nice.  I wrote a bit while I was in Charlotte and posted a bunch of photos. I tried to keep you folks up to speed on some of my "brushes with greatness" in Charlotte, too.  It's kinda fun to do that, but it's definitely work. Lugging my camera gear around isn't easy. And there's some obvious risk.

So anyway, this is my way of asking you folks whether you think I should shoot photos and blog from D.C. during my short stay out there later in January.  It's also my way of asking for donations to help defray costs for this trip. I'll have all kinds of expenses (e.g. plane ticket, cab fare, beer, metro tickets, food, coffee, event admission, beer, etc.) and I'm missing a few days at my real job.  Anyway, if you'd be so kind as to click the little "donate" button over on the right, and help a bruthah out, it'd make the trip hurt a little less financially, and would make it all the more likely I'll shoot pictures, blog and give "brush with greatness" updates, if I have any.

For the record, I tried to get press credentials for the Inauguration, but have been denied.  My thought was that if I got them, I'd have a little more mobility and could get some better pictures. Turns out... that's apparently not gonna happen. Apologies. If anybody has any strings they can pull, please help me out there, too. 

I'll also be attending the Democratic National Committee meeting on Tuesday, after the Inauguration. I'm not sure whether that'll be interesting enough to blog about. We'll see.

Years ago I lived in D.C. but I haven't been back in a while. I'm hoping to see some of the sites I never visited while I lived there, and hope to see some that I really like. I'll also try to find some of my old co-workers from 100 years ago, if they're around. I hope to get to Arlington Cemetery, the Lincoln Memorial, the Jefferson Memorial and to walk around the mall and downtown, if it's not too cold.

I gotta throw a quick "thank you" out to Senator Hoeven's Chief of Staff, Ryan Bernstein. Requests for tickets (I've been told) generally go through the senators' offices, and he's been very accomodating. 

Again, please consider making a donation to NorthDecoder.com by clicking on the "Donate" button over on the right. It'll really help make the decision whether to drag around my fancy camera gear a lot easier. You can use any major credit card or PayPal to make your donation.  It is not tax deductible, unfortunatly, but I promise that if I get a reasonable amount of donation money, I'll drag that camera gear around and will do what I can to make it worth everyone's while.

Oh... and Happy New Year!  

Stay safe tonight.