Rob Port moved from Alaska to North Dakota in 1990.  That Halloween, ten-year old Port dressed up as the phantom from Phantom of the Opera because he was impressed by the movie.

It’s been seventeen years since that first North Dakota Halloween, but Port is involved daily in a topic that could give some people nightmares:  politics.  

In addition to his day job, Port has been writing and editing www.sayanythingblog.com since the second anniversary of 9/11.  Before that, he said, he didn’t do any research before he voted and he never knew what individual politicians stood for.

“I was pretty much apathetic,” he said.  “9/11 kind of woke me up.  I realized this stuff was important.”

Port began taking an interest in how the United States is run.  He watched documentaries on it and read books detailing the founding father’s ideals, where their philosphies came from and how the country has changed since its birth.  As a result, Port became a citizen activist who began blogging about his political feelings just as blogging was taking off across the nation.

“I’m a controversial kind of guy,” Port said.  “Some people don’t like what I have to say.”

Maybe, maybe not, but Port’s blog has drawn plenty of discussions covering state, national and world politics.  Port said since he began blogging, he’s averaged 10 blogs a day, seven days a week (although it varies from day to day), and he’s got three guest bloggers who post on the site with him now.

Part of the SayAnything blog’s appeal is just that:  people writing comments can say anything (within reason–Port will edit for decency).  The site sometimes receives 400 comments a day, and those comments often become a mini-forum of their own.  Port approves, especially when the people posting do their homework. 

 ”You need to engage,” Port said, “But you can’t ge a good activist and not have any idea what you’re talking about.”

Port said the political commentary he provides educates people on different political points of view.  The guest bloggers help with that, as well.  One of the biggest advantages Port has seen is how blogging helps people become politically minded outside the legislative process.  Deciding what they think about political issues and discussing them can be followed by more concrete actions like writing to state legislators and congressmen.

Since he’s been studying politics, Port has come across some pretty scary subjects.  His top three:

1. Port is seeing more and more of what he calls nanny states, where people tend to believe the government is supposed to take care of them.  On it’s most basic level, it’s socialism.  He said it’s frightening to see people trading their freedoms for what they believe is security. 
2. Terrorism is second on Port’s list.  “It’s kind of hard to quantify,” he said, explaining that terrorism goes beyond the war on terror to include prejudice and discrimination among every social and racial group.  “We’ve got to be equitable,” he said. 
3. The third most scary thing Port sees is how Americans are taxed.  He said the United States has gone from a flat tax to a difficult tax code that most citizens can’t understand.  There is also a myriad of tax credits and tax exemptions given as incentives for certain behaviors that Port said works to manipulate lives as much as it does to raise revenue for the government. 

Besides the SayAnything blog, Port also writes for Dakota Beacon, a North Dakota conservative political publication.  His words have ruffled some feathers; one article he wrote got him banished from a local reservation, but Port said he felt like it was important to say his piece and bring his concerns to light.

“Sometimes the best cure is sunshine,” he said, although he admitted at times the feedback can be rough.  Port said it’s hard not to take some of the most cutting comments personally, but he feels it would be worse not to say what’s on his mind.

While not everyone agrees with Port’s philosophies or methods, the fact is that he is making an impact on North Dakota’s political culture.  Along with www.northdecoder.com and a few other political blogs in the state, he’s made a safe place for ordinary North Dakotans to speak up. 

The world would be a very spooky place without that.