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The instinct to be politically correct was on display again. This time a comedian's insulting joke led to audible gasps in a Hollywood elite audience and then, finally, to laughs...

The federal government in 1858 set aside two sections of every township in the state of Minnesota for the benefit of the state's schools. Since then, however, the school trust...

There is an untold story about the failed effort to recall Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, and it centers on Hooters. The restaurant known for its immodestly attired waitresses played a...

I'm counting on last autumn's funeral to help me put Father's Day in the proper perspective. The day after Thanksgiving our beloved 14-year-old cat Mewsilla surrendered the last of her...

The Obama administration is no friend of farmers, and the recent stunt involving the Environmental Protection Agency sending spy planes over the state of Nebraska to keep an eye on...

Incredibly boring white guy. Vanilla, wonky and unflappable. Bloodless technocrat. Dry as dust. Those are some of the phrases used recently to describe Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio, and in...

For all the hype about the Wisconsin recall election echoing across America, dear reader, you wouldn't know it ended with a whimper, not a bang. The pollsters were saying Gov...

One of the most frequent questions we receive here at the Pioneer comes from groups and organizations wondering how to get information about their events into the newspaper. Recently, in...

No wonder Republicans can't even get 40 percent of Latino votes in a presidential election. When Mitt Romney made his first big push to appeal to Latinos earlier this week...

A few weeks ago, I wrote a column about my attempt to become a vegan -- that is to say, one who partakes neither of meat nor fish nor dairy...

Not all campaign books are treated equally. Just look at Edward Klein and J.H. Hatfield. Klein, of course, is the author of the new book "The Amateur: Barack Obama in...

Here's a noncontroversial question: Are voters really as simple-minded about economics as politicians and pundits appear to think they are? Conversation on the sports page, by way of comparison, tends...

An old joke about a guy who dies and goes to purgatory reminds me of Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012. The dead guy is given a chance to choose...

With the stroke of Gov. Mark Dayton's red veto pen, the Minnesota House Republicans' sweeping education reform measure fell by the wayside during the recently concluded legislative session. Had it...

Weaker nations, Take our lead; Or we go And intercede. Whew! The United States finally seems to have gotten the globe pretty much under control. Sure, it's messy, but empires...