South Dakota War College

In the prior post regarding the Grassroot Dems's, there was an excellent comment challenging my view of the GOP. I believe in limited government, and Anon#4 pointed out that I might be a little too much of an idealist: Anonymous said... Your Republican values are not in line with the party you continue to support. Your party once was a good and decent party that did more than just masturbate over limited governance. It followed it, at one time. But not any more. Republicans are all about big government. Only they skirt the issue by outsourcing everything to high priced people like KBR and Halliburton. They spend more money on stuff and somehow nobody calls them on it. I would be a Republican too if the party was as you describe in your post. It doesn't. I've quit lying to myself. Are you doing to do the same? Admittedly, it gives one pause to think. My response? Well, it was kinda harsh. But Anon #4, be encouraged, there are some of us true believers still left in the party...

I’ve been following this election since it started, simply because it’s an election, and I’m nosey and opinionated. In my newly adopted hometown, the place of my hazy and questionable collegiate career, there’s a big thing to do over the City Commission offering major incentives – as in millions – to entice their new girlfriend to come over to their dorm room… er, town. This measure has been fought mainly in the daily newspaper but otherwise, I haven’t noted much evidence of it. One of my neighbors who wrote a letter on it has one of the two yard signs I’ve seen in town in his yard. Otherwise, as outsiders who are new to town, let’s pick apart the election a little on the basis of what the various parties have been able to communicate to this uninformed voter over the course of the election. The “I need to take a course in graphic arts award” colloquially known as the “Fugly” goes to: The Citizens Against Retail Subsidies . They’ve been opposing it strongly, but ‘damn’. They have had...

Bryce Healy makes his recruitment pitch for Democrats in this weeks' Blue Note message. In an excerpt: Public service is truly a rewarding experience. Yes, our numbers in Pierre are small. However, I assure you, that it is possible to elect more Democrats in our state. I know the South Dakota Democratic Party has plenty of talent and many rising stars. We just haven’t discovered them yet. Who could have imagined 27 years ago that Tom Daschle would be the country’s most powerful Democrat? Would anyone who saw George McGovern wresting with a donkey at the South Dakota State Fair think that someday he would be the Democratic nominee for President of the United States? Both of these men have gone on to do many great things for South Dakota. Now is the time to honor their dedication to South Dakota by electing Democrats who will carry on their legacy of public service at all levels of government. We must start at the grassroots level. You must begin talking to Democratic f...

In the Mitchell Daily Republic today, there’s a huge article by reporter Kimberly Kolden on the Grassroot Democrats putting up a billboard to say how they are just like Jesus. You know, the “Jesus cares for the poor-So Do We” billboards. Actually, they are a pretty good attention getter – as evidenced by the big article. I thought they (the GD’s) did a pretty good job explaining their position. And they also noted that they’ve got 8 of those things around South Dakota, mostly in Sioux Falls. This is not new news. What caused me to stop and write about it was a quote in the article from Roger Berggren, the Grassroot Democrat Executive Director. His quote? “Give a man a fish and he eats for a day. Change the policies of our government and maybe Americans will never have to go hungry” he said. “We believe that taxes are a dividend, or investment in our country. The government (when) spending our dollars should be focused on our values. By spending some money and changing people’s views ...

From today's Argus Leader Dave Kranz Column : Timpany board member The Rev. Kathryn Timpany of First Congregational Church in Sioux Falls is a board member of Mainstream Coalition. Her name was omitted in Sunday's column. What, is that two board members with Reverend as their title? I thought they were against religion in their politics. Okay, with that in mind.... Here's a question for the MAINstream coalition governing board: Where do you stand on churches paying use tax in items purchased out of state, and where does the coalition stand on the church exemptions for property taxes?

You'll notice that I gave up on the audioblogging thing, because my heart wasn't really in it. I think I did a good job, but I want to do video. So, I'm doing my best to give this another shot. This is the same video as I used before, but it doesn't sound like one is abusing chemicals. I'm using the Turbine Video Encoder to get my video down to a managable file size through Mcaromedia Flash. I've got to figure out how to place a stop at the end of it, and then I should be gold. NOTE - To turn it off, right click on it, and select (removing the checkmark in front of) Play (Okay, I removed it. It was driving me nuts. I need to change it so it doesn't load until you click it.)

It's been a bad computer weekend. Right before I left for Brookings, I nuked a keyboard with diet coke, and my Internet was unhooked because someone thought I had moved. As opposed to calling and saying "PP, have you moved?" To which I would have answered, "no, not yet." But, we're cool now. Robbed a keyboard off of another computer, and just got my internet service restored. As always, I enjoyed spending time with the family. MP wasn't feeling well, so I cooked. I wasn't sure how sick she was going to be, so I pre-made meals for several days, and even made about 5 dozen cookies for the kids. By the time I left, MP was feeling better, and the kids tore through the cookies taking them down to 1 dozen by the time I got in the car. So, from scoping out my e-mail box and the news - what's up in the world of politics this week? * Aside from being "dissed" by J-Ro over at Straight Talk , the STOP petition drive is rolling along at over 30,000...

Hat tip to the Argus Leader . Dave Kranz in his column today reports on the gathering of MAINstream coalition members and observers in Sioux Falls this last week. He also points out who sits on the nine member board: Board members are David Volk, former state director for Rep. Bill Janklow; former Republican Rep. Jan Nicolay; former Democratic legislator Mel Olson of Mitchell; Bob Duffett, Dakota Wesleyan University president; Katherine Kinsman, former secretary of health; former Sen. Arlene Ham of Rapid City; Watertown banker Gary Schofield; and the Rev. Dave Zellmer of Pierre. According to the article, State Sen. Tom Dempster said“Some people will say this is a charge on the Republican Party, on the Democratic Party. Not at all. This is Republicans Plus and Democrats on Steroids,” he said. Republicans Plus? I'm not going to touch that one. I'll just leave it to the tender mercies of those who comment on this blog. (Although, "Republicans Lite" briefly came to mind)...