J-Ro at SD Straight talk wants Napoli to join the herd.

Former State Republican Chairman Joel Rosenthal blogs over at Straight Talk that he thinks Bill Napoli should not be governing.

While I agree with Senator Napoli’ proclivities on limited government, government can be and is necessary and useful. The problem is that Napoli just hates government. Consequently he should not be governing. While that is my opinion, he is duly elected and that is the decision his electorate makes not me.


I guess we know which side of the Napoli/McCoy battle he's going to be sending a check to.

And I'm not sure with which parts of his argument I disagree more with. It's as if at the same time they were both laying a wreath Ronald Reagan's grave, and Joel turns to spit on Bill's because it's not the same as his.

It's a big stretch to assume Napoli hates government. And so what if he's a maverick? Innumerable historians describe Teddy Roosevelt with the same word. And despite angering his peers and his party, he's remembered long after his go-along contemporaries have been relegated to the rubbish heap of history.

What's the matter with questioning "the way it's always been done?" I don't know if Bill is the best politician in the legislature. I'm sure he'd agree he's probably not the smartest. But he's one of the few who isn't afraid to ask unpopular questions. And sometimes those unpopular questions are the most important ones, because they require politicians to pull their fingers out of the wind and put away weak rationalizations and examine the basic values voters supposedly elected them on. (You know, those principles of leadership and integrity.)

Anyway, I think one of the statements Joel uses in closing says it more than anything:

"Bill should quit throwing the bombs and join the herd."

Ugh. The last I knew, and the last I hoped, the Republican party was not about the herd mentality. That's supposedly a criticism we Republicans have of the Democrats. Republicans are about the power of the individual. I always thought Republicanism was about Government only doing those things for people that they could not do for themselves.

Is Bill a bomb thrower? If rugged individualism and challenging the status-quo is bomb throwing, I'll ask him to hold on while I light the fuse. We need more people like that, not fewer.

If Joel wants his politicians to be just another sheep in the herd, that's his choice. Not mine.




"The nine most terrifying words in the English language are, 'I'm from the government and I'm here to help."
- Ronald Reagan
"Government is not a solution to our problem, government is the problem."
- Ronald Reagan

Comments

Anonymous said…
J-RO,,,What a waste of skin
Anonymous said…
What's this I hear about J-Ro and sheep?
Anonymous said…
PP ... for the record, herding Democrats is about as easy as herding cats.
PP said…
Chad -

HA! Good one. I've heard about some of those legendary caucus meetings during session.
Douglas said…
Even liberals and conservatives should agree that there be at least one guy in every legislature who just plain hates government or at least government excess. And Napoli is at least interesting even when he is wrong..or perhaps especially when he is wrong. How could anybody hate a guy who is pissed off about city pigeons crapping on his used cars?

Speaking of "every legislature", it is time for a Unicameral in SD.
Anonymous said…
I'm with Douglas on this.

Napoli stand for everthing that I am against, but he is perhaps the most colorful politician in the state right now. Frankly, one of the first things I do every morning is open the Rapid City Journal to see what he's saying. He's a maverick, yes, but at least an interesting one.
Anonymous said…
Rosenthal believes that everyone should just tow the line no matter how stupid the leadship is. That is exactly what we do not need. We need open debate of divergent ideas. Following someone only because he got a title in a fluke election is just plain foolishness. The laptop idea is an irresponsible political ploy and republicans should be "men" enough to stand up and say it. I commend Bill Napoli for bucking the incredible pressure to just go along with anything so as not to embarrass someone who has no real vision other than trying to buy his way through another election.
Anonymous said…
The people of South Dakota will never see any new scenery if Sen. Napoli "joins the herd", flock, pack or gang. My thanks go to Sen. Napoli for his independent thinking. At last the Republican party has found one.
Anonymous said…
Napoli seems to me to be the "Terrell Owens" of the GOP. He may be talented, articulate and even colorful. However, the pain he causes is not worth the gain.

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