politics – Page 4 – Dustin Monke

Democrats can’t afford to wait for candidates

The way things are shaping up, western North Dakota’s legislative elections are going to be one-horse races.

There is a little more than two weeks remaining until the April 7 filing deadline for party candidacy in the 2014 election and the Democrat-NPL party hasn’t had a single person announce their candidacy in western North Dakota’s five legislative districts — including the three that encompass much of The Dickinson Press’ coverage area.

If for nothing else than the sake of democracy, North Dakota Democrat’s need to get candidates lined up in the west and get them on the campaign trail.

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Property owners have right above all

Last fall, after two years of listening to input from the public, special-interest groups and government agencies, the North Dakota Industrial Commission got serious about creating a list of “extraordinary places.”

Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem in December designated a list of 18 special places in western North Dakota and crafted a proposed set of rules aimed at limiting the impact of energy exploration in those areas.

Great, right? Republicans working in harmony with the environmental groups to soften oil’s impact on the state? “Is this heaven?” we asked. “No, it’s North Dakota,” they responded.
Too bad it’s a little more complicated than that.

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Enough is enough with Keystone XL

I’ve always wondered about the people who protest certain topics. Are they really that upset? Does everything rile them up that much? Does somebody pay these people to protest? Is this their job?

Lately, every time there is political movement on the Keystone XL pipeline, there’s an environmental activist group there with a protest — though we don’t get to see it because the protests usually only take place in a coastal California city like San Francisco or Los Angeles, and, of course, Washington, D.C. Both places are so far from where the proposed pipeline would go that one has to wonder why people would protest for something they’ve likely never seen in a place they’ve likely never been nor ever plan to go.

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Wanted: Revolutionary politicians

Chris Christie was all the rage last week in the eyes of the national media’s political pundits. A Republican reclaiming his governor’s seat by a landslide in the blue state of New Jersey?

If he can do that, he may be the politician with enough moxie to unit a politically divided country, right? Well, at least he was on a single Tuesday night.

When the East Coast woke up the next morning, most media members realized they had actually championed and spoke highly of a Republican for a few hours and spent the rest of the day finding ways to poke holes in the Christie narrative.

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It is worth inviting Obama to North Dakota

In late June, I wrote a somewhat satirical column that generated more praise, criticism, website hits and social media chatter than anything I have ever written.

People still talk to me about it today.

It’s title: “Dear Mr. President, an invitation to visit North Dakota.”

I used sharply pointed — call it snarky, because a few of you already have — humor to breach the subject of why Obama has not visited North Dakota during his presidency and why he rarely, if ever, mentions the state despite all the positive things happening here.

Some people loved it. Others wanted my head on a platter. A few joked that my name is probably on a few watch lists and my application to MSNBC had been thrown in the trash.

But the invitation wasn’t real. I never sent it to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. It was only meant to raise a point.

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