This inconspicuous little pair of buildings at the corner of Central Avenue and Constitution Drive has a distinctive quality: it’s the “home” of both of North Dakota’s US Senators. Or is it?

When I lived here, the nice lady who managed the property told me that these buildings are owned by “the Senator’s brother.” I originally understood that to mean Byron Dorgan’s brother because he’s the Senator that “lived” in my building, but further investigation at the County Records room showed me that the Conrad Brothers owned it. They filed a Quit Claim Deed in 2004 to form an LLC titled “GKC Apartments, LLC.” I assume GKC stands for Gaylord Kent Conrad, which is Kent’s real full name. So, apparently Senator Conrad has some ownership in these two buildings…and does his fellow Senator a favor by providing him a nominal North Dakota address as well.

Like I said, I used to live in one of these apartment buildings, and rather enjoyed my time there. One thing I never saw, however, is either of our esteemed Senators in the building. I’m not saying they were never there, but in the time I lived there I never saw them. I hardly think that this is where a United States Senator would live. That raises the question: are they really North Dakota residents, or just DINOs, Dakotans in Name Only?

In the building where I lived, mailbox #6 is reserved for “Sen. Byron and Kim Dorgan.” I did a lot of laundry out in the hallway, and spent a lot of time running out to my garage and back while wrenching on the motorcycles. I would have recalled passing a United States Senator in the hallway, or perhaps seeing his wife doing a load of the whites in those dependable washers & dryers in the hallway. Sadly, I don’t recall a single instance of either.

There is a mailbox in the adjoining building, reserved in for “Senator Kent Conrad & Lucy Calauitti.” While I wasn’t in the same building as Senator Conrad or Lucy, I never saw either of them near the buildings or in the enclosed parking lot, either. Perhaps I was just inattentive, I don’t know.

Scooter and I were wondering if perhaps the Senators had the same lovely olive green appliances etc. that the rest of us plebes had? I don’t mean to engage in class warfare or anything…I just thought it might be an interesting. As you can see, Scooter was rather fond of my green stove, and if the bird of the house is happy, everyone’s happy.

I’ve often thought of North Dakota’s senatorial delegation as Dakotans In Name Only, regardless of where they claim to live. When you examine the voting records of these Senators, you see that:

– Senator Conrad voted the same as Ted Kennedy 96.4% of the time, John Kerry 87.5% of the time, and Chuck Schumer 87.9% of the time.

– Senatord Dorgan voted the same as Kennedy 92.9% of the time, Kerry 84.4% of the time, and Schumer 87.9% of the time.

– Americans for Democratic Action, a group that claims to be America’s oldest liberal lobbying organization, rated Dorgan 95 out of 100 and Conrad 90 out of 100. Kennedy, Kerry, and Schumer all got 100s.

Maybe someone can shed some light on their actual residence. If these are just convenient places to “hang out” while back in ND on business, and not their residences, then I stand corrected. But would they list their wives’ names on the mailbox of such a place? Doubtful. Rather, I’d think that they would leave their names off the mailboxes entirely for privacy. In this case I think it appears as a thinly veiled attempt to maintain North Dakota residency on paper while living it up in Washington…in the company, I remind you, of east coast liberals with whom they vote the vast majority of the time.

I’m not typically in the business of political blogging, but the US Senate is where the playing field is even for North Dakotans. If North Dakotans vote to continue sending a couple of east coast liberals out there to fight for our interests, we’re doing our state a disservice. (I didn’t vote for either of these two when I voted early last week – scroll down a few posts). The only time I ever see either of these two guys is when they fly back to scare the pants off of old people and farmers. I’d like to see them lose their bid for re-election, and see how long they live at the corner of Central Avenue and Constitution Drive.

On the news tonight I was surprised to see the Democrat candidate for ND Secretary of State trying to propagate more lies that somewhat involve work I’ve done. I sat quiet the first time, but this time I’m calling her on it.

Tonight’s ballyhoo was about how the Secretary of State’s office has confused people into thinking they need a driver’s license to vote, and how suddenly people are approaching her to say they’re scared they can’t vote without a driver’s license. She implies that the Secretary of State’s Office is putting out false or incomplete information. That’s nonsense, and something specifically tackled by a series of voting videos produced by the Secretary of State’s Office and edited & animated by yours truly. These videos are produced for county officials and anyone else who wants them, for education purposes. The plan is that they’ll allow county officials to get up to speed so they can educate voters and answer their questions, and educate voters too…they work for everyone. Tackling voter education is the best way to increase turnout, and the SoS provides the tools to do so.

These are just thirteen of the graphics I made for those videos indicating what counts as valid ID, stressing the need for a street address to vote in the proper precinct. These videos also stress that it is possible to vote without ID, and how. The audio of the videos repeats the information multiple times, with vignettes illustrating different circumstances. What’s so confusing about that, Kristin?

What Kristin is probably really upset about is that Secretary Al Jaeger thwarted her attempt to take credit for it on behalf of the Democrats of North Dakota. In a June 19th letter to the editor of the Fargo Forum, she praised the videos and said they were the “product of legislation initiated by North Dakota’s national delegation in Washington, D.C.” Secretary Jaeger then set the record straight in a followup letter to the Forum editor the following weekend. And while federal legislation made funds available, the current Secretary of State (not Conrad, Pomeroy, or Dorgan) is the one who took on the effort and produced the videos. Besides, the President signed it into law with a Republican majority in both houses of Congress. He gets the blame for every law the Dems don’t like…can’t he get any credit for the ones they do?

So then Kristin flattered herself to say that the videos were an “answer to her comments” about youth voting in ND. These videos were initiated long before anyone ever cared who Kristin Hedger is, as if anyone does now. People from all over put months of work into producing them, and their hard work shows. Heck, even in news articles online and her own press releases, Kristin praises the videos. But of course, she says, more must be done. As if the current SoS is sitting in an ivory tower at 600 East Boulevard.

There were a lot of talented people from a lot of different entities that cooperated to produce these videos. I was privileged to work with those people, yet their hard labor is only a tool for Kristin and her political ambitions. One of these videos targets the youth voter, one targets the elderly voter, and one targets all voters. Yet another helps educate pollworkers on the special needs of voters with disabilities. These are all good educational tools…so good, in fact, that I’m working on similar videos for OTHER states because they have seen what North Dakota’s SoS has done. Our work is not good enough for Kristin Hedger, though.

Kristin, if you expect anyone to take you seriously, don’t go after an incumbent with the usual Democrat ploys. Come up with something on your own and build yourself up, don’t try to knock someone else down. And quit trying to build a campaign using someone else’s hard work for it; it exposes you for the small person that you are. See you in November.

So there I was…minding my own business, sitting on the floor of Barnes and Noble and perusing Photoshop books. As if I don’t already own enough. Then I noticed a lot of foot traffic around me as people started to pile in for Senator Byron Dorgan’s book signing.

I took a couple of pictures out of curiosity, but I’m not a news service. I did, however, take the opportunity to take a look through a copy of the Senator’s book, “Take This Job and Ship It.” I’m a speed reader, so I plowed through it pretty quickly. It’s a light but enjoyable read, with lots of anecdotes in it that are a good read but typically have a sad ending.

I can’t say that I disagree wholly with the Senator or much of his book, actually. I vote Republican on moral and economic grounds and shudder at the thought of the Dorgans of this nation getting control of the government. I do, however, agree that he does make some good points in this book. Those points entail where the system isn’t working, and he’s got lots of anecdotal evidence to back it up. But that’s where our agreement ends. You see, Senator Dorgan has some pretty bad ideas about how to solve the outsourcing of jobs.

One of these brilliant ideas is an increase in labor unions. Labor unions are driving jobs out of this country…look at the airline and auto industries! Car manufacturers pay more per car for employee benefits than they do for the steel to make it. Meanwhile, union employees at General Motors get paid to NOT work. Literally. I was a union shop steward…I saw stoners get paid as much as (or more) for screwing around than guys who wanted to work hard and stay at their job for the long term. Unions don’t work any better than welfare. They cost a lot of money, nobody gets rich because they have a union job, and unions kill any incentive to work hard. Thus the unions are part of the problem, not the solution.

I remember hearing a story of a guy who got fired at Melroe for stealing tools, saw blades and drill bits, or something like that. As the story goes, by the time the union was done with Melroe, the guy was back on the job, with back pay to boot! Tell me again how labor unions make America great.

One problem he does NOT go anywhere near in the book, to my recollection, is illegal immigration. Back in Washington he did, however, try to attach an amendment to the Immigration Reform bill to limit worker eligibility. But his colleagues didn’t like that, and it failed when put to a vote. Why he can’t represent his state and take a hard line against illegals entirely is no secret; he’s towing the party line.

I agree with the Senator that it’s awful when the United States sells out to China, with its awful human rights record and all. But let’s not forget, the President he defended from 1992 to 2000 sold military secrets to China and tried to sweep it under the rug. Then Senator Dorgan attempts to hint at President Bush and the Republicans being the problem. He doesn’t do it outright, though… apparently someone reminded him how this state votes when it comes to Presidents and state legislators.

It’s one thing for Senator Dorgan to write a book outlining these problems, and another for him to vote the way his book makes him sound. By the way, 92% of his campaign money comes from OUTSIDE of North Dakota. From those evil corporations AND labor unions, too. Instead of voting with North Dakotans, he votes with ultra-liberals such as Ted Kennedy 82.8% of the time; John Kerry 88.5% of the time; and Chuck Schumer 95.8% of the time.

He does try to throw a bunch of this at the feet of the Republicans…but let’s be honest: all of Washington’s finest are up to their elbows in it. Al Gore owns oil stock while he’s out there telling us little people to stop using petroleum. Ned Lamont tells us little people that Wal Mart is unfair, yet personally purchased enough of Wal Mart’s stock to pay off most of my house. Hillary Clinton has the same anti-Wal Mart rant when she’s talking to her faithful, yet she served on the Wal Mart board of directors. Washington’s broke all around, and it isn’t the Democrats who are going to fix it.

I didn’t even realize this nonsense was coming to Bismarck. Today I was videotaping with the governor and I noticed that there was a press conference in the Great Hall of the state capitol building. It was some guy from Chicago who’s bringing all kinds of boots to stack out on the law in the capitol mall, hoping to bring attention to the human cost of the war. It was liberalism on display; they had a little feel-good session, the TV cameras rolled, then they all sat around for a half hour patting themselves on the back for all they’ve done. Yep, liberalism. Makes ’em feel good, accomplishes jack squat.

I came by the capitol later this evening to have a look and perhaps ask a few questions. They had boots for each National Guard soldier killed so far in the war on terrorism.

There were rows of soldiers’ boots, with name tags, then a little circle of civilian casualties…women’s and children’s shoes were in that area. One of the people running the event mentioned the number 150,000 in reference to civilians killed over there. “Documented?” I asked? She said no, that she really doesn’t know how many…but it must be a lot. I pointed out that the shoes of people that Saddam Hussein killed would fill the mall, but I don’t think that was the point of this “art,” as they called it.

There was a little tent set up with CD’s, buttons, etc…you know, that stuff that solves all the world’s problems without a shot being fired. Wear a button – make a difference! To whom, exactly, that hasn’t been proven…but it might make you feel good. Don’t forget a magnet or sticker for your Prius.

They were handing out fliers as well, with links to a bunch of peaceful, tolerant, level-headed leftist organizations…

For instance: Iraq Veterans against the War, who marched this spring for:
* No more never-ending oil wars!
* Protect our civil liberties & immigrant rights. End illegal spying, government corruption and the subversion of our democracy.
* Rebuild our communities, starting with the Gulf Coast. Stop corporate subsidies and tax cuts for the wealthy while ignoring our basic needs.
* Act quickly to address the climate crisis and the accelerating destruction of our environment.

Uh huh. Typical leftist talking points: class envy, Big Oil, and global warming. Oh, and demanding that illegal aliens get to vote and change the course of this country.

Or there’s Code Pink, whose website claims:
“The oppressive hand of the Bush administration is reaching women all over the world. In Iraq, women are dealing with increasing violence aimed at them by different groups jockeying for power. The new Iraqi constitution is being drafted under the eye of American occupiers, yet nothing is being done to protect women’s rights and freedoms.”

Women are enjoying unprecedented freedoms in parts of the Middle East thanks to what we’re doing. Of course, for the left, you can’t talk about “women’s rights and freedoms” without their right to murder unborn children falling into that description.

Or Gold Star Families for Peace, followers of the insane Cindy Sheehan:
“This war is a war crime, and our soldiers trying to survive are committing war crimes. We need to bring our troops home. We need to do everything we can to save our soldiers and to save the people of Iraq from our George III.”
I used to feel sorry for that wackbag. Maybe she really is just sick. But she’s a useful idiot for the enemies of this country, as are the rest of the above.

I had a nice chat with Karen Van Fossan of the ND Peace Coalition for a few minutes and videotaped the conversation. If I get it encoded among all the other stuff I’ve got going on, I’ll post it here. It wasn’t confrontational or anything…we just shared a pleasant discourse and parted ways politely. I did ask why, among the organizations whose links she posted, I didn’t see the Patriot Guard riders, she just said that it would be a good organization to list. I asked why there were no shoes for the 3000+ victims of the second World Trade Center attacks, or the first one in 1993, or perhaps something in remembrance of the people beheaded by Muslims overseas, and I didn’t really get a solid answer. The answer is because that doesn’t fit the agenda. You see, while they won’t come out and state it here in good ol’ Red State, USA, the idea behind this sort of “art” is that the United States is responsible for everything bad happening in the world. The rest of the world gets a pass.

I also asked her why the ND Peace Coalition would associate itself with organizations who state that “George Bush is the world’s biggest terrorist” or accuse our troups of being war criminals, and she didn’t have a solid answer for me there either. It’s been said that you can tell a lot about people by the company they keep. I think the same applies to the ND Peace Coalition, especially since one of their tolerant and inclusive members flipped off our church group last week. The North Dakota people weren’t acting like hate-filled loonies like the people whose links appear on the fliers, but yet they did put links to those organizations on the paper.

I don’t think these protesters (oops, they’re calling this “art,” not a protest) are bad people…Karen, for instance, was quite pleasant to talk to. They’re just horribly misguided. I dare say that if they tried to take this little circus on display in Saudi Arabia, Syria, Lebanon, Somalia, or any other country with dominant Muslim rule, it would be THEIR heads that roll next. And that’s the truth that these people are not equipped to face.

Everybody’s hopping on the bandwagon when it comes to this illegal immigration nonsense. It’s a new Civil Rights movement, according to Senator Ted Kennedy. The media will not dare mention the word “illegal” in reference to these people. The NAACP is helping carry the banner of the illegals, although they’re wary of them taking away the NAACP’s spot at the table of political power. The unions are having a crisis of conscience because the illegals drive wages down and jobs overseas, but yet a big mobilized workforce could present a big pool of new members. But the biggest salivation seems to be from the Democrat party, which is using these protests as recruitment rallies:

They’re handing out these flyers (printed en espanol on the back) at rallies in Texas. Notice how Texas seems to suddenly be part of Mexico! You can find more of these pictures here.

By the way, if you move to Mexico and become a citizen there, you are NOT allowed to vote. You are subject to immediate deportation if you get involved in politics. The immigration laws in Mexico are far tougher than those of the United States, but they want us to give them the keys to our country.

Oh, and let’s not forget – A.N.S.W.E.R. is elbows-deep in this thing. They’re the group put up my Ramsey Clarke, the guy who supported “ethnic cleansing” of Serbs in Bosnia and Kurd in Iraq.

Thankfully, here in North Dakota we arrest these people when they show up on the job site. It’s happened in Bismarck, Fargo, and now Washburn. I’m sure it’ll only get worse as the politicians on both sides continue to cater to illegals in the hope of more votes.

And for once, our ND Senators are actually voting in the interest of North Dakotans!

I don’t like hypocrisy. Perhaps that’s why I have such an aversion to the American left; they don’t have a single belief that’s based on defensible logic, therefore they have to take a fluid position on just about everything. That’s one reason why they claim there are no absolutes. Are they absolutely sure?

Take, for instance, the current theater in which many of us have friends or family serving from the 112th here in Bismarck. They’re flying helicopters in assistance with a NATO peacekeeping force, basically. Do they teach enough history in schools for our kids to know exactly why they’re there? It’s the mess that Bill Clinton started and didn’t clean up.

I’m going to generalize here…the area of Bosnia-Herzegovina is part of what used to be Yugoslavia and consists of Bosnians, Serbs, and Croats. Seemingly they just can’t get along. There was awful “ethnic cleansing” (is “genocide” not politically correct?) under Slobodan Milosevic and it had to be stopped. So, in we went. Did we do it to distract from one of Clinton’s many sex scandals? Who cares…we’re there. Let’s kick butt.

Now, as an outsider, it seems that going the multinational route (in this case NATO / UN / EU) is a sure way not to get anything accomplished. We’re still there. But is the mainstream press crying “quagmire?” Were there rallies this week saying “get out of Bosnia?” Do we get a regular casualty count on the news? No. Our guys are risking their lives over there for a worthy cause, but it’s not advantageous to those who seek to go after our current President to exploit it the way they have Iraq. Plus, it might point out that the last Democrat we elected President never could handle his role as Commander in Chief. Remember those that lamented that 9/11 didn’t happen during the Clinton Presidency, so he could have had a chance to shine?

Now…as far as “supporting the troops, not the war…” that’s nonsense. They’re inseperable. I support what my friends are doing in Bosnia. Regardless of whether the decision to go over there in the mid-90s was a Clintonian diversion, we needed to be there. Nobody else in this world has the sack to stand up to genocidal maniacs. And you won’t find conservatives running down the action in Bosnia because it wasn’t done by their President. By the way, we’re defending Muslims from extermination over there…that’s being conveniently swept under the rug as well.

There were thousands rallying to mourn the death of Milosevic, by the way. That’s the kind of hatred that’s over there. But who do you suppose gave him support in the USA? A Democrat, Ramsey Clark. He was AG in the Johnson administration, was on the Milosevic legal team, and is now defending Saddam Hussein. But his political allies like to compare President Bush to Hitler. On the one hand, Clark formed ANSWER (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism)…seems well-meaning, right? But on the other hand, he was quoted last week as saying, “History will prove that Solobodan Milosevic was right.” Only a liberal can pretend to reconcile those two. And while Clark claims to want to stop war, he defends the Palestinians whose idea of a good time is to blow up a Jewish kindergarten.

I don’t like hypocrisy. That seems to be all that the liberals in this country have to work with, however. It’s up to those of us with common sense to point that hypocrisy out wherever we see it, and it does affect us here at home. Let’s keep those guys from the 112th in our prayers and await their safe return from their brave and worthwhile mission.

…but you have to make it look that way. Yet we’ve got the 21st century version of the carpetbagger in North Dakota. I consider Dorgan a Virginia resident, although I’m sure he has a nominal address here in ND to hang on to his cushy Washington gig. He comes around to express concern about all the problems his fellow North Dakotans face, then zips back home. Yet our water intakes along the Missouri River system are sucking mud, farm prices and inequities with Canada haven’t gotten better, and he votes with his California Cronies™ instead of in line with the more level-headed folks he’s supposed to represent.

So what about Senator Conrad? At least he cast North Dakota’s vote when it came to confirming Judge Alito, but would that have happened in 2004 or 2005? I think it was an election year vote. The biggest thing about politics is being there…whether you’re a Republicrat or a Demican. So I trust all Congressmen to vote in one way: whatever lengthens their stay.

Back to the point of this post: Check out this picture. Supposedly our Senators Conrad and Dorgan inhabit these two meager little 8-unit apartments paired up in North Bismarck. It’s not exactly prime real estate. They’re not even security buildings. I lived here once…I wonder if the Senators and their wives have the same 70s-throwback olive green carpeting and appliances I did?

Hardly the kind of digs you’d expect for United States Senators, unless only their names live there. I’ve never seen them there. I haven’t lived there in years, but their names were on the mailboxes when I got there in the mid-90s and it’s still there today. So, I guess that makes them North Dakota residents…technically. Unless it’s some random schmucks with the same name (and living with a Lucy Calautti and Kim Dorgan. It can happen…right?)

I recently looked up who owned these buildings, and they’re owned by GKC Apartments, LLC. It appears to be a partnership set up by Kent Conrad, and I don’t know who else is involved. When I lived here the lady managing the property told me that the Senator’s brother owned them; I originally thought that would be Dorgan’s brother, but a little further investigation showed that “Conrad Brothers” was listed in the county records. In 2004 a quit-claim deed was filed to transfer the property to GKC Apartments. I assume GKC stands for Gaylord Kent Conrad, which is Kent’s real full name.

Anyway, it’s good to see that our two Senators get along so well that they decided to be neighbors. After all, that will help them coordinate their efforts to bring all those federal dollars home. Maybe then we won’t care if they sell our state’s soul to the devil and Nancy Pelosi.

Note: I promised (see the upper right panel) that this isn’t going to be a political blog, although I might be prone to a rant infrequently. Chalk this one up. Now it’ll be a while until you see another.