A Grand Fork-Up If I Ever Saw One

From Yahoo News:

Meet John Rolczynski: The Grand Forks, N.D., resident has been trying to tell his legislators that an error in the state's founding document means that technically, North Dakota is not a state.

Sounds like the ravings of a grumpy old man, but as it turns out, Rolczynski was right. News of uncertain statehood has put North Dakota in the spotlight and garnered big buzz.

Here's the story: Back in 1889, North Dakota was carved out of the Dakota Territory and admitted to the Union at the same time as South Dakota. Or so everyone thought.

But the state founders who drafted the constitution left out the key requirement that the governor and other top officials take an oath of office, putting the state constitution in conflict with the federal one. So Rolczynski has been arguing for the last 16 years that the omission made the state illegitimate.

The thing is... he is right.  Senator Tim Mathern has made steps to correct it once and for all.  It's amazing to think something of this magnitude went undiscovered all this time.  I guess it's a reminder that no matter how incredible it may seem, everything should be checked out with an open mind.  Speaking of open mind, the correction has to be put to a vote.  Worst case scenario, this could get really weird really fast.


There also appears to be an issue with the state's eastern border.  More to follow.