Dakota Beacon

Halloween and Veterans Day 2024 are history. Autumn marches on. In this season many folks assume an attitude of gratitude for what we have and how we got it. Not surprisingly, this sentiment of “giving thanks” involves overindulgence at a well-set table. But that is another story.

Our situation is unusual in that the public has resoundingly rejected this Vice President and the policies this administration has represented.  We are about 2 months away from the swearing in of the person that was elected to replace this mess.  Will we last that long with the “Biden” administration pursuing war full steam ahead?  

“The temperature is rising!” “The temperature is dropping.” The temperature is staying the same.”

We argue the “facts” of climate change (even as parts of New Jersey were just buried under 11 inches of global warming). One side wants the facts to show that man is disrupting the climate, while the other wants them to show that he’s not. But an almost never posed question should be asked:

Let’s say, for argument’s sake, that our industry is causing global warming. So what?

Character matters - even in 2024.  It always has, and for good reason.   Our country suffers when our leaders pursue a lifestyle of libertine abandon.  Firstly, we are compromised along with them, and secondly, if we decline to be we are denied the talents they would bring to important positions.  No one is perfect, no one has led a perfect life, but there must be some kind of acknowledgement and accountability and reform or we should not allow them to lead.

Why do the “scientific community” around these scientists referenced herein seem to have blinders on, ignoring such consequential research? Why didn’t the Wijngaarden and Happer research come to the attention of politicians and higher education leaders who direct research funding? Or did they just ignore their research because it may take away a portion of their funding?

Are these researchers correct? If so, how many trillions of dollars have been wasted globally on climate studies, their politicization, the attempted global destruction of the fossil fuel industry, and associated CO₂ sequestration? Will there be any accountability for the globalist Klause Schwab, his World Economic Forum, or the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) if these researchers are correct and Anthropogenic (caused by humans) Global Warming (AGW) is a myth?

Today’s cultural stress does not compare with the Great Depression or World War II. Those American experiences strained the public fabric but did not destroy its underlying unity. By contrast, today’s society has descended into the stress of divisiveness not seen since the Civil War.

For those who still read, a calm and refreshing reflection of better days gone by will be found in the gentle rhymes and verses we knew as young people growing up. Some may object by calling such an exercise a form of escapism. They contend that we will never return to the “good ol’ days.” But a counterpoint must be voiced. Such reflection is no more an escape from reality than would be any form of entertainment.

This could explain the discrepancy in the polling numbers. Pivoting to North Dakota’s election, there were no surprises.

Why? 

Because Republicans have built on North Dakota’s most successful politician in history, Ed Schafer. 

Ed Schafer’s campaign theme “Schafer Means Business” was pivotal in North Dakota’s political direction.

In the present case, “nowhere” is central North Dakota.  The ND Public Service Commission has given approval for the laying of 333 miles of this CO2 piping, destined to a storage tank west of Bismarck.

Let’s insist that our senators stop the irresponsible spending.  Let’s make sure that they are called to account for the waste of our money in Ukraine.  Not only the waste of the money, but the use it was put to.  Our money accrued to the misery and destruction of the Ukrainian nation.  It was not Putin who wreaked havoc on Ukraine.  It was Zelenskyy, and with our money.  Money that is not there now for recovery of Americans.

Valiant avengers they may all be, but who has the power to stop them?  Trump's dream team may be navigating white water for the next four years.  Will he succeed in saving America?  Not if the departing Senate Majority Leader gets his way.

America appears to be mutating from a republic into something despotic.

Over recent decades America slowly drifted into a quagmire of laws the public does not even know exist. But the 3 million federal employees forming the administrative state know their slice of a given statute and stand ready to enforce compliance. On November 5 America elected new leaders. Priority must be given to cutting laws, rules, regulations, and the administrative state.

Government employees control healthcare, food production, education, social media, energy, and more. They watch the population through manipulative eyes. Whether curtailing oil and gas production or mandating alternative energy use or managing the people’s healthcare, elites force their preferences on the American people with the rationale that it is for their own good.

“If freedom of speech is taken away, then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter.”

The predictable but weird reaction of many in the Harris camp to a clear decision by the voters last Tuesday really should be examined.  There are symptoms here of a very sick segment of our population.  I'm sure most Harris supporters are not in this condition. While I'm sure they feel disappointment, they are not all exhibiting these strange and disturbing behaviors.  Something is very wrong with some of these people - it's not normal.

The left media sees the increased vote of youth for Trump as a shade of right-wing white supremacy. The truth is, it is the result of organizing efforts of legitimate conservative organizations like Turning Point USA and Leadership Institute on college campuses over many recent election cycles.

These and other misconceptions of media due to the influence of “democratic socialism” will destroy the Democrat Party before the “democratic socialists” achieve their over a century long goal of destroying American Capitalism. This is the primary lesson of this election cycle. Are you listening, Democrats? Do ALL Democrats believe you have to destroy America to “Save it”? I hardly think so.

In his farewell address before a joint session of Congress on April 19, 1951, General Douglas MacArthur referred to the refrain of an old ballad that proclaimed "Old soldiers never die, they just fade away." True enough. But until he fades away, the Vietnam Vet will always remember his malignant reception home.

When someone thanks me for my service, my heart softens and the familiar lump returns to my throat. I can only murmur, "Thank you for acknowledging."

Tension is high.  Tomorrow is Election Day in the U.S.  Anything is possible, but it looks as though Americans want a change.  Will we "turn the page"?  At least it has been an interesting and novel ride.  The Republican candidate has been making and serving McDonald's french fries, riding in a garbage truck and dodging bullets.  The Democrat candidate has been tossing word salads and appearing somewhat tipsy on occasion.  Her V.P. nominee has some irreconcilable discrepancies in his whereabouts on a trip to China, said he has made friends with school shooters and has, in fact, been on a watchlist of our State Department for several years for his appearance of closeness to the CCP.  The final chapter involves a man's cowboy hat-wearing pet squirrel.  What will be next?  We'll know very soon.

The State of North Dakota is blessed with abundant revenue from its God-given natural resources that should benefit ALL of its citizens, not just those that receive the Farm Residence Property Tax Exemption or similar business-related temporary or permanent property tax exemptions. A farmer or rancher with a half million-dollar home should not be treated preferentially to the city dweller who works hard to make a living for the family.

Today we are hearing from both sides about P'Nut the Squirrel and Fred the Raccoon.  On the one side is outrage and hearbreak and on the other a callous indifference because, after all, P'Nut was "just" a squirrel.  That is NOT the point.

Before proceeding, I’d like to point out that I’m not one of those PLINOs (Pro-lifers in Name Only) who may render prescriptions such as what follow because, in their heart of hearts, they’re not authentically pro-life. Were I king, prenatal infanticide would be illegal — and, yes, this includes in cases of rape or incest. (Logically, you lose the debate upon saying otherwise. The contrary position involves the idea, after all, that you can kill an innocent unborn child because of the circumstances of his conception. Accepting this tacitly negates the “All human life is sacred” argument.) And what of the life of the mother?

While direct prenatal infanticide is never morally permissible, operative here is a principle called the “law of double effect.” In other words, you are allowed to take actions necessary to save the mother’s life if its legitimately endangered. If this results in the child’s death, this is known in theological/philosophical circles as “a negative unintended consequence of a morally licit action.”

So that’s the standard that, again, I’d apply were I king. But I’m not king.

Why you should vote YES on Measure 4.

It’s all about how you vote on election day.  Your vote makes a difference. Exercise your right to vote in the most consequential election in the short life of our country.  

This sounds like me -- because it is me. I looked back on some old columns from past election cycles and sure enough the reason my kids and other family members say I sound like a broken record is because it probably RINGS TRUE.  

Is this an important election? Yes. Will it matter who becomes President? Yes. Will it have consequences?  Yes. But those things won’t be as important as some of the other things going on behind the scenes.

What am I talking about?

Election Day arrives with hype and hoopla. How times have changed! New England ministers at our founding are forgotten men of the American Revolution. If remembered at all they are pictured as witch hunters, bloviating evangelists, and divinely ordained Colonial Gestapo. In fact, they were the most educated advocates of liberty leading up to and through the Revolutionary War. Following are extracts from Election Sermons taken from “They Preached Liberty” by Franklin Cole, Coral Ridge Ministries.

So keeping this piece short and sweet, I’ll simply say to the undecided voters, Trump the deep state and adVance toward freedom. Your kids, both born and unborn, are counting on you.

People almost never dispute the observation, “There are good people on both sides.” While the numbers on one side may be gigantic, large, in the majority, a minority, small, even infinitesimal, I have never found a “side” without at least one and usually even a few good people. This goes for countries as well. Good people can be found, even in a most tyrannically brutalized country.

This is why former President Trump famously said “There are good people on both sides,” obviously referring to the honest disagreements over removing statues and re-naming army posts. He was not referring to white supremacists, neo-Nazis, or Marxists and socialists that are trying to tear our country apart by capitalizing on those honest disagreements.

Since the attack on New York’s Twin Towers, America has waged war on terror. The military component knows what to do and how to do it when dealing with terrorists. They developed the doctrine, the tactics, and the training to accomplish the mission. Unfortunately, the political decision-makers have their collective heads where the sun does not shine. The political class will receive the best military advice. But, if ignored in favor of political gamesmanship, if used to besmirch and attack political opponents rather than terrorists, then the advice becomes worthless. Why should the American people volunteer their sons and daughters to a military run by an incompetent political class along with woke generals and admirals? Who wants to become a pawn for someone else’s political gain and career enhancement?

Afghanistan under the control of the Taliban now harbors al-Qaida and Isis currently being re-constituted, reorganized, and re-equipped with US material and munitions. We will hear from them soon enough within US borders.