Burgum Shmergum

Doug Burgum is running for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.  He's the governor of North Dakota.

These jokes write themselves, folks!

Burgum made something of a splash when he announced his candidacy last week, mainly because no North Dakotan has ever run for President before - so there was the, um, historic angle.  Burgum thinks he has a chance just because he founded a computer software company out of Fargo (right, I understand that Fargo is the Silicon Valley of the Great Plains) and became a billionaire when he sold it to Microsoft.  So, that's likely why he thinks he can govern this country despite governing fewer people than the borough president of Staten Island does.  So what if he's the richest billionaire in North Dakota - he's the only billionaire in North Dakota!

Burgum's platform is the typical Republican plate-boiler biz - low taxes, pro-life, and small government - well, he has the small-government thing down.  How?  Perhaps you weren't paying attention - he's the governor of North Dakota.

I predict that Nia-Malika Henderson will laugh at her own mention of his name - and not because it sounds like a character from "Li'l Abner." I also predict that Molly Ball will pretend to forget his name.  Yes, I predict that Doug Burgum will be the Martin O'Malley of 2024.  But at least Maryland is a more substantial state, with a real city with two major-league sports franchises and a world-class university.

As for laughing at the mention of Doug Burgum's name, I'm laughing at it right now.

As for what happened to Martin O'Malley in 2016 . . . I'm not laughing at that.

Victory

The battle is won.

Yesterday, the Army Corps of Engineers went to  Dave Archambault, chairman of Standing Rock Sioux Indians, that the current route for the Dakota Access pipeline is being denied and so the pipeline will have to be re-routed elsewhere . . . if it's built at all.  This means that the Dakota Access pipeline will not go under the Missouri River, which serves as the drinking water for the Standing Rock Sioux. 

The tide is turning.  It means that the oppressed peoples of this country will not be pushed around any more.  First gays, now the native peoples, next, blacks and Hispanics . . . plus a few other groups whose pursuit of happiness is threatened by the Republicans.

Watch out, Trump.    

Standing Their Ground

After four hundred years of being pushed around, the native peoples of North America have had enough.

The Dakota Access oil pipeline, which was planned to go through land in North Dakota sacred to the Sioux and cross the Missouri River - and would thus contaminate the Sioux tribe's drinking water if it were to leak after being so routed - has aroused ire and indignation among the Sioux and their Native American allies.  They've occupied the point where the pipeline would cross the river - at Standing Rock - and they have been protesting the pipeline's proposed route.  In the time that has passed since the protests began, authorities have arrested many protesters and have used violent means to get them to disperse - much to the shock and disgust of the American people.  Law enforcement has treated white men who occupy federal land with kid gloves but has brutally tried to suppress Indians claiming what is rightfully theirs.

President Obama's position on this interesting, to put it mildly.  Saying that his administration is "monitoring this closely," the President  has stated that the Army Corps is examining possible ways to re-route the pipeline. 

"We're going to let it play out for several more weeks, and determine whether or not this could be resolved in a way that is properly attentive to the traditions of the First Americans," Obama says.  Let it play out?  Given that the protest site is looking like a war zone, that doesn't look like - no, isn't - a strategy.

In any case, the native peoples of this country - this country that was stolen from them - have made it clear.  They will not be pushed around any more.

Senator Schultz?

One last thought for today. . ..

MSNBC continues to promote Ed Schultz and his show, showing a promo clip with a fiery Schultz passionately standing up for the plight of the American worker. But with the new, more corporatized MSNBC showing more disregard for such an issue - not good for business - how long can Schultz last as a commentator? Keith Olbermann announced the arrival of his fellow German-American liberal to MSNBC with great fanfare on his own show, with Schultz at his side, back in April 2009, and it looked like Ed would be around for a long time. Now, with "Countdown" down and out for the count, some folks are wondering if "The Ed Show" will survive long enough to mark its second anniversary.

While Schultz still has a radio show, his future at MSNBC suddenly seems uncertain. And if his MSNBC show were to go down, his radio show could just as easily follow. I think Big Eddie should seriously consider running for the U.S. Senate from North Dakota, where he has lived and worked during his broadcasting career. The suggestion had been made before by liberals who wanted him to run in 2010 to replace Byron Dorgan, the retiring Democratic senator in that state. Schultz declined, and North Dakotans elected its first Republican senator (John Hoeven) since 1980. Another Republican may be elected to the other seat, which noted budget nerd Kent Conrad, another Democrat, is vacating after 2012. North Dakota is becoming more Republican these days, and the Democrats lack appealing candidates for office there. Schultz would make a perfect candidate for Conrad's Senate seat; Schultz knows the state, he knows its people, and he has a huge following in and out of the state that he could count on for help to win the election.

Ed Schultz should seriously consider this second opportunity. With his broadcasting presence already being whittled away at, it could be another door opening in place of one that may be closing. And we need Ed Schultz to speak in some capacity for those who have seen one door close and another door slam in their faces.

Fade Out

Two Senate Democrats have decided they will not seek re-election to their seats. Last night it was Byron Dorgan of North Dakota, who decided he wanted to pursue other interests. As I type today, though, Christopher Dodd of Connecticut is announcing his own decision not to seek another term.

The Dorgan announcement was unexpected and unwelcome. Dorgan has been a reliably progressive senator, fighting for cheaper imported drugs and working to help small family farms. Chris Dodd is a different case. His poll numbers in Connecticut are below forty percent, and he hurt himself by running for President in 2008 and practically moving to Iowa with his family the previous summer. All he did was anger his constituents and make himself a running joke for Jon Stewart. However, his role in getting lenient treatment for executives of the bailed out insurance giant AIG and questions over a reportedly favorable deal he got from the scandal-plagued mortgage giant (he was cleared of any wrongdoing) in the midst of a subprime mortgage crisis proved to be no laughing matter.

Dodd's withdrawal - possibly encouraged by the Obama administration - may be a blessing in disguise, as it has cleared the way for Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal to seek the Democratic senatorial nomination. Blumenthal is a popular figure in the Nutmeg State, with a reputation for fighting for the little guy -sort of like Eliot Spitzer without the sexual peccadilloes (I hope!). He is likely to be a heavy favorite. If Democrats can get enough congressional candidates like Blumenthal - candidates to inspire the party base - perhaps they can regain the momentum and excitement from the Obama campaign that has since been lost.

As for Dorgan's seat, North Dakota John Hoeven, a Republican, is an early favorite, though MSNBC commentator Ed Schultz has been urged to move back to North Dakota to run for Senate. (He can't; he has to be a North Dakota resident for at least two years to qualify.) Although it's a Republican state, Democrats are very good at winning Senate elections there because of their ability to connect with voters on a personal level. It's not only one of the least populated states, it's one of the most rural. That may be in part why no Republican has been elected to Congress - House or Senate - since Mark Andrews won a single Senate term in 1980.

More intriguing is Democratic Colorado governor Bill Ritter's decision not to run for a second term this year. He was considered a rising star in the Democratic Party.