From that land he went to Assyria, where he built Nineveh, Rehoboth Ir, Calah and Resen, which is between Nineveh and Calah—which is the great city. – Genesis 10:11-12

Today's Scripture Reading (August 11, 2024): Genesis 10

His name was William Langer, and he was the Governor of North Dakota, but the people referred to him as Wild Bill. Some have argued that Langer ran the Governor's office like a Mob-Boss. He was a populist leader, but it was widely understood that Governor Langer was corrupt. One of the schemes the Governor had put in place during his administration was that government workers were required to subscribe to a paper that was run by the Langer's wealthy friends. Langer asserted that this was allowable by state law. Where Langer got into trouble is that he required the subscription purchase from highway construction workers. These workers were being paid partially through federal emergency funds. And Federal law prohibited the practice.

Langer was charged and found guilty of a felony. Because of the felony charge, he was removed from office on September 19, 1934, but Wild Bill refused to leave. He barricaded himself in the Governor's mansion. Langer tried to declare North Dakota as a sovereign nation outside of the reach of the Federal Government and declared martial law in Bismarck. Eventually, he relented, and his Lieutenant Governor, Ole Olson, served the remainder of his term. His felony conviction was overturned, and Wild Bill was re-elected as Governor of North Dakota in 1936.

In 1940, Langer was elected to represent North Dakota in the United States Senate. But because of the trials and his track record, the Senate investigated Langer and eventually found him guilty of moral turpitude and unqualified to serve as a Senator. That charge was also eventually overturned because it could not get the required two-thirds vote of his fellow Senators. In the end, Wild Bill Langer would serve in the United States Senate for the next eighteen years. In 1958, he won re-election without making a single campaign appearance in North Dakota. A year later, he died in office.

The legacy of Wild Bill Langer is mixed. He seemed to be a born criminal, and yet much loved by the people, and the result of these two factors made Langer an unstoppable force. But that is a dangerous place to be. Wild Bill Langer found that there was no one to whom he was accountable except himself. Right and wrong was what Wild Bill thought right and wrong should be. And for Langer, right was whatever lined his pockets, as well as those of his friends. And whatever would keep him in power.

Nimrod seemed to find himself in a very similar position. He was so powerful that there was no one he considered an equal or to whom he considered himself accountable. Right was whatever Nimrod thought it should be. Louis Ginzberg, in his book "The Legends of the Jews," makes this observation.

The great success that attended all of Nimrod's undertakings produced a sinister effect. Men no longer trusted in God, but rather in their own prowess and ability, an attitude to which Nimrod tried to convert the whole world (Louis Ginzberg, The Legends of the Jews).

In the partisan politics that seems to dominate the world today, it is something of which we all need to be aware. We cannot come to a place where we trust our politicians more than our God. Or come to a place where politics becomes our religion of choice.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Job 1