Dakota Beacon

Why are results of political polling such big news? Does anyone really believe that the polls this far out reflect the outcome of the elections? More to the point, will polling sway the electorate substantially this early in the campaign? It is likely that a constant drumbeat over time of lousy polling could influence a candidate’s defeat. Or, it could simply result in a lack of public confidence in polls. In the end, the only important poll is the one held on Election Day.

People may not recognize the term “push polling” but they do realize that polls can be used to generate news. Interest groups and campaigns are not above structuring polls so that biased results will be carried by a sycophant media to fit their own biased narrative. This is a form of surrogate negative campaigning on behalf of a candidate of the media’s choice

Returning to the metaphor of the first paragraph, President Obama was the lightning, and Congress (especially retiring “Republicrat” Senator Jeff Fleck and entrenched RINO Senators Murkowski and Collins and including all Democrat Senators seeking re-election in this cycle) is the dense underbrush. President Trump is the lightning-caused fire and the voters have a choice to be the controlled-burn that insures gradual renewal… or the Democrat fire truck that insures that a future fire (ignited by one of the lunatics of the left) will be CATASTROPHIC.

In today’s world, loud voices claim that free inquiry and open discussion are no longer part of the solution to society’s ills—this is especially so in higher education. On campuses across the country, humanities have been subject to ruthless politicization and concomitant trivialization over the years. In this article that first appeared at First Things, Grove City College professor Dr. Carl Trueman discusses his broad educational philosophy that includes the foundation: “I want to teach my students to think, which means the classroom must be a place where I challenge them and where they are free to challenge me. That is the only way true learning can be achieved in an ethical manner.”

APPLAUSE FOR THE TRADE DEAL; WILL ND BE A TECHNOLOGY LEADER?; SENATE RACE; MARIJUANA; MONEY STRUGGLE; HE WON’T GO FAR; SURPRISING MIDWEST CITIES; WHAT DRIVES THE GROWTH?; FISH STORY; GOING, GOING, GONE; SUPPORT IN SPIRIT; TRIBAL MEMBERS GET LEFTOVERS; DAKTOIDS

Consider a few of the many recent news stories. “Membership in the Democratic Socialist of America (DSA), which has been around since 1982, has grown from about 5,000 to 35,000 since November 2016, and dozens of DSA candidates are running for office around the country. In June, one of them, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, upset Joe Crowley in the Democratic primary, knocking off a ten-term incumbent and one of the most powerful Democrats in the House.” – “The Socialist Network,” Washington Monthly, July-August 2018.

       “She represents the future of our Party.” – Tom Perez, DNC co-chair, discussing Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on “The Bill Press Show,” 7/3/2018.

There was something curiously missing from Professor Christine Blasey Ford’s Thursday Senate testimony, something quite relevant to her basic claims. Please consider the following segment from her testimony about the alleged (circa) 1982 sexual assault by SCOTUS nominee Brett Kavanaugh:

Both Brett and Mark [Judge] were drunkenly laughing during the attack. …During this assault, Mark came over and jumped on the bed twice while Brett was on top of me. And the last time that he did this, we toppled over and Brett was no longer on top of me. I was able to get up and run out of the room.

Now please read the corresponding segment from her original letter, sent months ago to Sen. Diane Feinstein (D-Calif.):

Kavanaugh was on top of me while laughing with Judge. …At one point when Judge jumped onto the bed, the weight on me was substantial. The pile toppled, and the two scrapped with each other.

After a few attempts to get away, I was able to take this opportune moment to get up and run across to a hallway bathroom.

“We all ought to be burdened about the stories coming out about our public figures. We are now living in a culture with a broad consensus of worshipping hedonism,” writes Dr. Gary Welton. In this article, Welton looks at recent research that suggests there are strategies for changing the “hedonistic environment.”

LUCKY NODAKS; COULD GO EITHER WAY; MIKE JACOBS; NOTIFY ALL TROLLS; "THE UNIVERSITY'S MOST FAMOUS ALUMNUS"; THE JACKS ARE COMING; WENTZ IS BACK; IT'S A TOTAL MESS; OPPORTUNITY OR MYTH?; IN THE REAL WORLD; HARD TO FIND A MATERNITY WARD; REFUGEES; DAKTOIES

How will the Kavanaugh hearings impact the 2018 midterm elections? Pollsters predict doom for Republicans. But then, the pollsters were dreadfully inaccurate with a failure record in an attempt to forecast the outcome of several recent elections. Bad performance does not give them much credibility this time around.

Is Kavanaugh so vile, so ill-equipped, so devoid of character that his life and family must be destroyed and he not seated on the Supreme Court? Or, are the Democrats overwhelmed with a spirit of vindictiveness?

Leave it to the propaganda arm of the Democrat Party, the mainstream media, to run with speculative stories and commentary emphasizing the negative to shape the anti-Kavanaugh sentiment.

The confirmation of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court could assure us that we are championing liberty for the next generation. We have frequently been disappointed by justices who appeared to be greater champions of life, liberty, and property when nominated than they proved to be once they were on the Court. Some of this is due to the decline in American jurisprudence over the past century, some is due to the unpredictability of the future decisions of justices, and some is due to the poor selections of nominees. In general, Judge Kavanaugh seems to be a friend of religious liberty, although some of his statements may disclose hints of positivist

SALES TAX COLLECTIONS IN ND; WHEN WILL THE BAKKEN RETURN?; NEED TO DIVERSIFY; TOO LITTLE, TOO LATE?; FUTURE OF GFAFB; AMTRAK; FARGO'S BLOCK 9 HIGH-RISE; J.R. SIMPLOT; ONLY IN ND; “YA GOT TROUBLE, RIGHT HERE IN NORTH DAKOTA” ; EDINA; DAKTOIDS

Have Republicans killed the pro-life movement on Capitol Hill? In this article that first appeared at American Greatness, Rachel Bovard, senior director of policy at the Conservative Partnership Institute, argues that Republicans have turned their backs on the pro-life movement. Bovard writes, “45 years after Roe v. Wade, after millions of dollars have been spent on advocacy, when more Americans than ever are pro-life, while thousands continue to march every year, after hundreds of members are elected to Congress on a singular promise to protect life, in only the second unified Republican government in 60 years, congressional leaders will have done . . . nothing.”

Major media outlets build on the story of Hurricane Florence as an entertainment piece at the expense of the unfortunate. CNN shows Anderson Cooper standing in a ditch of water for effect as his cameraman films the affair. The Weather Channel shows a reporter playacting leaning markedly into the wind while a couple of casual teens stroll effortlessly behind him. All for the entertainment value.

Much of this silliness is on display as a blame game based on the poorly informed, the hopelessly sentimental, or the ideologically hard core. At the far left environmental wackos capitalize on the weather to fabricate the climate change myth.

In truth, the US Energy Information Administration’s latest energy report states that from 2005 through 2017 US energy related CO2 emissions plunged by 14%. In the same period the rest of the world’s output rose by 21%. The US will neither choke, bake, nor flood the planet. Not only is the US the only major country cutting CO2 emissions, it is providing leadership showing others how to do it.

Over the past year, Dr. Jordan B. Peterson has gained notoriety for his forthright statements on our current cultural climate. In fact, a YouTube video with a UK journalist went viral over the summer. What is Peterson saying that has so many outraged? In this article that first appeared at the WhiteHorseInn.org, Dr. Carl Trueman looks at the premise of Peterson’s new book and argues that his ideas are not revolutionary and should not be as controversial as some proclaim. Trueman writes, “That this has proved so controversial is paradoxically both surprising and entirely predictable. Surprising because we live in an age where the individual is supposed to be sovereign over their own identity; entirely predictable because our contemporary individualism always assumes that our failure to fulfill personal potential is always somebody else’s fault. We live in a culture of sovereign individual victims.”

EYES ON ND; HEALTHCARE COMPETITION; WALLET HUB RANKS HAPPIEST STATES; HE DIDN'T MEAN IT; WAS IT WORTH THE HUMILIATION?; LOCAL PRIDE IN ND; THINK CRITICALLY; ENDDANGERED SPECIES ACT; KENT CONRAD; A RUGGED LIFE; THE PARADOX OF JOSEPH BRUCE SR.; DAKTOIDS 

Nearly every week media outlets discuss impeachment of President Donald Trump. This week is no exception—especially after the president’s former campaign chief Paul Manafort’s guilty plea and decision to cooperate with Robert Mueller’s investigation. In this article, Dr. Justin P. DePlato and Mr. Matthew M. Markulin examine the history of impeachment in America and argue that the best place to find answers is the Constitution. They write, “Now that impeachment is again the subject of headlines, it’s necessary and prudent to understand what impeachment meant to the Founders, as well as the historical usage of congressional impeachment power—rather than rely on the casual observations of journalists and D.C. pundits about the meaning of constitutional impeachment.”

Stop and think. Does it stand to reason that the continued resistance and over-the-top attacks on Trump will peel off voters to support radical Leftists to retake the House, much less the Senate? The Democrats lost the 2016 election because they followed the costal liberal elites who lost touch with the ordinary people of Middle America. Childish behavior by Democrats and the media merely confirms to the majority of voters and Trump’s base that Democrats still don’t get Trump and the people who support him. The Left’s contempt of Trump is the best thing that ever happened to the GOP.

Only if Republicans avoid voting in November will the Democrats win.

Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearing to the Supreme Court is underway. What have we learned so far—especially from the procedures on day one? In this article, political science professor Dr. Caleb Verbois reviews the hearing and argues that the “…circus hearings this week are not really about Kavanaugh, or even about Trump. Our judicial hearings have been a spectacle for three decades.”

Today, Judge Brett Kavanaugh will begin his confirmation hearing before the Senate. Kavanaugh, President Donald Trump’s nomination to fill the Supreme Court seat vacated by Justice Anthony Kennedy, will face tough questions throughout the week. In this article, Adam V. Nowland ’07 examines the process and offers insight into what expect this week.

Public schools and universities are known for many things, but teaching sound economics is not one of them. Whether this situation is by design or default it is both debatable and a debacle. Little wonder that public discussion of economics, if it takes place at all, is trite and inane. The education system has not prepared young people to form judgments and cast votes on programs of economic consequence.

To be sure, economics and finance are two totally different subjects. Finance focuses on the management of money and assets and emphasizes the maximization of wealth. Economics is the study of the use of scarce resources which have alternative uses and focuses on optimizing valued goals. Either way, everything of value has a cost. Nothing is free. Ever.

We should all honor a desire by the family that Mollie Tibbetts be treated with respect by her countrymen and by the press.  But she was not permitted to “die with dignity” by the man who assaulted her. He is the enemy, not those who recognize the relevance of her death to the discussion.  

The real tragedy of the Stupid Media is that, through their combination of profound ignorance and shameless propagandizing, they deceive people on a wide range of issues, some of which are of great import. This begets a civilization that’s out of touch with reality and can’t come to correct conclusions on matters of survival.

That’s the consequence of feeding misinformation into a system. As with a computer, it’s garbage in, garbage out.

It’s personal. Mueller turned the Manafort and Cohen findings over to the New York District Court because he had no evidence of Russian collusion. Now he has given the Trump Organization CFO, Allen Weisselburg, immunity and turned his findings over to the New York State Court in Manhatten. Trump has no pardon authority over state convictions. Defendants have families and the Mueller probe can threaten their families. They threatened Cohen’s wife because she was a cosigner on his tax returns. They can’t find Russian collusion but they still want to destroy Trump in any way possible whether through friends, family, or Trump Organization. The fishing expedition goes on.

ALREADY ANEMIC GRAIN PRICES; NEW WELFARE QUEENS; ARE FARM KIDS BETTER?; NATURAL GAS FLARING; BARGAINS WEST OF THE RED RIVER?; YEA FOR JCS; MIS AMERICA IS UNHAPPY; GRETCHEN CARLSON; MUND GETS SUPPORT; LET BUGS DO IT; DIFFERENT POLICIES; HOBO CRTIMES; CHASE IRON EYES; DREW WRIGLEY; DAKTOIDS

There is one group of voters to be aware of – illegal aliens. This block should not be voting. It is wrong, illegal, and immoral. Only citizens, those who are legitimately franchised, should be allowed to vote. Some of a certain political persuasion warmly welcome illegal voters for their own benefit disregarding the integrity of our democratic system.

There would be no current storm over security clearances if all such access ended the day people leave government service. In that case President Donald Trump lifting former CIA director John Brennan’s security clearance would be a non-issue.

In June, President Donald Trump imposed tariffs on steel and aluminum against America’s closest neighbors and oldest allies to match those he had already imposed on China and other non-Western countries earlier this year. In this article, economist Dr. Mark Hendrickson offers an update on the president’s tariff strategy and writes, “None of this is close to a done deal, but if the president eventually manages to negotiate overall lower tariff barriers that result in a restoration of jobs recently lost and thousands of additional American jobs to serve newly open foreign markets, it would be a historic achievement, both economically and politically.”

BIG SALES JOB AHEAD; IT'S NOT OVER, UNTIL....; ON THE FENCE; SPEARHEADING; GRAND SKY ON CUTTING EDGE; THE UPPER GREAT PLAINS; THE UPPER GREAT PLAINS; RADISSON HOTELS; CHRISTENSON FARMS; R.D. OFFUTT'S ELKHORN RIVER FARMS; U.S. CITIZENS RELUCTANT TO WORK IN RURAL ND; THE DEVIL IS IN THE DETAILS; THE BISMARCK PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT; DAKTOIDS

We didn’t love freedom enough. And even more – we had no awareness of the real situation…. We purely and simply deserved everything that happened afterward.”  Alexander Solzhenitsyn

The Red Army is gone. Russia does not have the large military ground force it once did. To sail from St. Petersburg to the Atlantic, the Russian navy must pass within range of 11 NATO nations. The Black Sea’s western and southern shores are now controlled exclusively by NATO.

Russia does not have a robust economy. Her economy has shrunk in size to that of Italy. One thing Russia does have is Vladimir Putin – a former KGB officer with the desire to reassemble the old Soviet Union as it existed during the Cold War. That is a Herculean task.

Now consider Thiessen’s contention that US troops in Poland would better position American forces strategically. It would certainly thwart Russian aspirations to reacquire the Baltic states of Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania. Aside from addressing deadbeat countries like Germany who only pay 1.24 percent of her GDP on defense, it also punishes Germany for blindsiding NATO in reaching an energy agreement with Russia. Germany pays Russia for gas sent by the Nord Stream 2 pipeline but it doesn’t pay her fair share for defense. Furthermore, the pipeline runs through Poland and Slovakia. Russia cannot afford to cut off gas supplies to Eastern Europe without cutting off lucrative deals with Western Europe and Germany. If Russia should accept that risk, the US, as a major energy exporter, could fill the void.