The Associated Press did an article which came out either today or last night, and a bunch of newspapers latched onto it.  Yeah!!!!

Actually, the article was better than I thought it would be. Overall he did a better job than most. The fellow asked some hard questions of me. Now, of course, the article first had my stuff and then had a legislator commenting (condescendingly) on what I was doing. So, though this reporter was the epitome of a good journalist when it came to me. He wasn’t when it came to the legislator. But to be fair to him, I have found this to be the case with every single member of the media. They like to make politicians happy in order to get future stories.

BUT WHAT HE MISSED IS THIS: He merely asked the legislator his thoughts.  He didn’t ask the legislator “is it true that a bill can be amended, passed by the Senate and passed by the House all in the same day? Is it true that the majority of legislators don’t read, thoroughly research and fully understand the bills that they vote in favor of? Mr. Legislator, let’s go to the government website right now and see for ourselves (it’s all there).”

Now, that is the real CONTROVERSY.  But this wasn’t done.  Who cares what a legislator says to you. They have mastered the art of telling you what you want to hear. That’s how they got elected. In fact, most people who meet their legislators, almost on a one-for-one basis, believe the legislator is a good guy. Now, how can that be? This is a mathematical impossibility. What you want is not legislator’s opinions, but stone-cold facts. Remember the old saying: How do you tell if a politician is lying? His lips are moving. Now that isn’t always the case by far. But to have put in your hands information on the fact that politicians are being negligent in their duties and then to not even investigate that and merely accept what comes out of a politician’s mouth…..

Our media for the “sake of a story” have chosen to be nice to politicians, in general. There are exceptions of course. But when it comes to our freedoms – when it comes to fixing a systemic problem existing at all levels of government, any journalist is remiss in not exposing the truth. For goodness sakes, that’s why the first amendment is the first amendment – so that the media can protest us by exposing systemic problems in politics – in government. This is what Ben Franklin and others did and which helped to result in our independence.

It is time for the media to stand up for us, for you and me, and not accept as gospel what they are told by politicians, but to investigate – are our politicians routinely making uninformed decisions about our lives?  Are they?  Let’s investigate. I look forward to meeting that kind of a journalist. You know, the types of journalists who aren’t afraid to expose a president, such as Nixon.

I miss Lil’ Abe.  Problem is that there is so much ice on the side runners that I can’t see if the penny is still there or not.

I know Abe was from cold, cold country and walked miles to and from school, but I suspect he is even going “damn!”  Well, he does have fur on his face, so maybe he is making out.

Note to self: Suit pants are clingy and also become high-waters when worn with long underwear. Wish I had have noticed this before the interview!!

Drove from Bismarck to Fargo and then back to Bismarck today – about 400 miles. The news said the winds could get up to 27 mph – seemed like they were stronger. On my way to Fargo, I was going at a pretty good clip, despite the wind, which wasn’t as strong on the way there. In the couple of weeks and couple of thousand miles I have so far driven in North Dakota, I have seen maybe three cars in ditches.  Today, I saw 7.  Yeah, 7!!

I’m blissfully driving along and see one. Well, OK.  I see another.  Hmmm…  I see two more…  damn!!!!   Note to self:  SLOW DOWN in windy conditions! If North Dakotans are ending up in the ditches, what chance does someone from California have?

Drove 400 miles today and was interviewed by two members of the press. One was a college paper and who knows whether or not they will write anything.

The other was by a fellow who I suspect has the ear of many legislators, or vice-versa (sp).  He asked some very intelligent questions and knew the political system well. He wasn’t asking off a list of interview questions.  They were off the cuff.  Very impressive.

At the same time, I got the distinct impression that the questions he was asking me and the article he is going to do will be slanted towards legislators. The impression I got was that he was asking questions to try to trip me up and gain favor with legislators rather than asking questions so that he could fully understand the benefits of this initiative to both the state and to the nation – just fully understand its possible potential. There were a couple of question he knew I couldn’t do a thing about legally. He wanted to know if I was going to force citizens to swear their vote hadn’t been compromised, when voting on this initiative.  As if I could do anything at all about this – a question that made me suspect his motives.

Imagine being able to brag that North Dakota has far and away the most transparent, accountable, honest, responsive and responsible legislature in the country.  That is the potential of this initiative, but something that didn’t seem to be of interest. Well, when the article comes out, we’ll see if he truly was trying to let the public know what is going on, the way Ben Franklin and others were doing in their time (also one of the reasons for the first amendment) or if he is just a part of the political machine doing someone else’s bidding.

Since he did an excellent interview, I am hoping he will stand up for the people of North Dakota and not settle for anything less than full transparency and accountability in the legislature, and not let himself be swayed by smooth talking politicians, or perhaps a boss who likes the status quo.

I’ll let you know.

Well, Saturday, though productive in just catching up on stuff was uneventful. Today will be the same. I need to find a place to rent. Staying in motels and hotels day after day gets very expensive. Talk atcha tomorrow.

I am pretty sure that the penny is still stuck to my car, but with all the snow, I just don’t know. If it isn’t, I will miss looking at Abe in the mornings when I go to start my car.

I got up the next morning knowing that breakfast is all ready for me!

I start for my drive of 100 miles for my next appointment and reach over to the seat for my “to go” food wondering is the deer sausage froze and what else was in my “to go” bag.

Much to my delight, I discovered a bag with 6 large home made cookies in it. Be still my heart.  So, I pulled out the deer sausage and it was not frozen. In fact, it was just right. I didn’t gobble them, because who knows when I’ll next have a home cooked me.  Poor me.  I ate them slowly and once done, I couldn’t get those cookies out of my mind. I’ll have just one. After all, there are four basic food groups and meat is just one of them. I needed grains. Then I wondered what the four basic food groups were.  I think dairy is one of them, right?  If so, it would mean 3 basic food groups in one meal. That is eating healthy. So, I had two more cookies and tossed the bag away from me, because clearly I have no self control.

By the way, part of the winter survival kit includes plenty of water. I have a 1 gallon jug, 2 liter bottles and an 8 ounce bottle.  I asked you this. Why would the 3 largest bottles of water freeze before the smallest one begins to freeze?  These are all bottles purchased from the store. Water is water, right?  I’m suspicious of the small water bottle that takes so long to freeze.  Any ideas?

Had two really good meetings today. Met with a local DJ in Dickinson, ND for coffee and then went over to his studio for an interview. Yeah!  Then met with a woman for an interview at the Dickinson Press – nice long interview.  Then spoke to a fellow from who works with a local anchorwoman on the evening news.  He told me that as soon as I am ready to file this initiative with the Secretary of State, for me to call and then would be there with me for this “historic event.”  I anticipate that when I file this, there will be a lot of media there. Yeah for our side!

I am at one of my appointments today seeing the general manager of 5 radio stations. We conduct our business and at the end he asks me if he has an accent.

Now, so you know, people in general in North Dakota take offense to the movie “Fargo.”  They feel they aren’t properly portrayed in the movie, and they are right. They also don’t like Frances MacDormand’s (sp) accent. They don’t feel like her accent matches theirs. They are right. I think they might also be a little upset because the movie wasn’t shot in Fargo either.

So, the general manager asks me about his accent, not believing that he has one. On the average the accent is very slight.  It is only in their expressions (sighs, interjections, etc.) that you really notice the accent and their accent isn’t near as strong as the ones in the movie, but they are similar.

Just thought you’d like to have that little bit of trivia.

Another piece of trivia – someone on the blog suggested that to blend in a little better, instead of saying “North Dakota,” I should say “nodak.”  MISTAKE. They don’t care for it. Folks from Montana and some other states sometimes use it, but not people from North Dakota. This is according to the family I stayed with.

Talk atcha tomorrow.

Traveling 200-400 miles a day, going to meetings, going to a hotel and working can be kind of hard on the system.  One friend asked, “who feeds you?” My answer, “taco bell.”

Now, isn’t that just sad?

Well, tonight I had the opportunity to see the sister of a very good friend of mine. My 30 year friend, Nancy, no longer lives in ND, but that is where she was born and raised. So, I had the opportunity to have a home cooked meal in a family environment (sister, her husband and one of their daughters). The sister cooked steamed greens, potatoes, salad, wall-eye fish (sp) and deer sausage. The meet of course, was not store bought.  Hmmm, hmmmm, hmmmm.  Wish you could have been there.

Then, after a very stimulating and just plain enjoyable conversation, the sister gave me some food to go. But I have no refrigerator in my motel. Fortunately, the weather hasn’t reached about 20 degrees in who knows how long. So, I did what any responsible, careful person would do who doesn’t want to get sick from spoiled food.  I left it in my car.

I was interviewed on Prairie Public Radio yesterday and it broadcasts through all of ND. I was interviewed by the Fargo Forum, established 1878, a respected newspaper, and I also had a meeting with the COO of 6 radio stations. Then last night, I met with a fellow (historian by education), who I think is going to jump on board.

My first meeting yesterday morning was with a former governor and that was interesting – a competent fellow.  He told me a couple of things.  One thing he remembers is a very important piece of legislation that came across his desk. He found a huge flaw in it. He told me that he and his legal aid were about the only people who actually read it in detail. The legislators, more than 100 of them, apparently never even read the bill. Ugh! But he caught it in time and corrected it. If it hadn’t been for at least someone reading the bill, it would have passed and been a very bad law.

Then he told me of a time he gave this long speech along with some other officials and someone in the crowd said (paraphrased), “You have all talked about businesses, corporate things and money, but none of you have mentioned the People. What you do affects living breathing people.”

These two examples are precisely why we need legislators reading the bills and having the final version of the bill posted online enough days in advance of the vote, so that citizens can do more than just sending a threat to the legislator. It gives citizens the time to provide thoughtful insight to their representatives so that they can learn and grow and be better legislators. Government is supposed to serve the people, not the other way around.