South Dakota War College

I had someone ask me a little while back who the people in the banner were up at the top of the page and I promised to make note of it. So, as requested - here's who's gracing this page for the moment. Lance Russell - Candidate for Circuit Court Judge Stephanie Herseth - Incumbent Candidate for Congress Jarrod Johnson - Candidate for the Office of School and Public Lands Russ Olson - Candidate for State House Frank Kloucek - Incumbent Candidate for State Senate Bryce Healy - Incumbent Candidate for the Office of School and Public Lands Elli Schwiesow - Candidate for State Senate Brock Greenfield - Incumbent Candidate for State Senate Rich Engels - Candidate for State House Brian Johnson - Candidate for State Senate Bill Napoli - Incumbent Candidate for State Senate Bruce Whalen - Candidate for Congress Eric Cartman as Stan Adelstein at the Abortion Task Force Samantha Stormo - Candidate for State House

I got to Brookings last night and found my daughter wearing her pajama bottoms. The first thing out of my mouth - I hope you didn't wear those to school. And from the front page of the Brookings Register this AM, apparently she did. (I guess it's a new trend*, but it doesn't mean I have to like it). It's actually a pretty good lesson for political candidates. If you're on the campaign trail going door to door, etc., you always need to look the part of a candidate, because you never know when you might be photographed. One candidate I know of had been going to events in a polo shirt, which is fine for casual events. Except it was a shirt several years old that was starting to fray at the edges. The first advice he was given? Make sure you're not wearing a worn shirt. You should be dressed conservatively, and neatly. Don't be flash or trendy, If you're going to an event, try to get a read on what people are expected to wear. Unless you are speaking, don...

From today's Rapid City Journal : A judge gave a Pennington County man an illegal sentence when ordering him to pay about $4,300 for tax evasion, the state Supreme Court said Thursday in a unanimous ruling. The decision overturns the restitution requirement for Steven E. Thayer, who pleaded guilty last year to a felony count of not paying sales taxes for Villa Cleaners of Box Elder. The written sentence was flawed because it unlawfully increased the sentence that Thayer was given in the courtroom, the state Supreme Court said, overturning the restitution requirement. Read it all here . How? How did us poor fools manage to right this judicial wrong without J.A.I.L.? Well, duh. Actually, it was pretty easy. It's called the appeals process. That's why we have it, and we managed to accomplish it without any Special Grad Jury or two star Jailers-in-chief. And it didn't take an amendment.

From today's Rapid City Journal : Republican state Sen. Stan Adelstein on Thursday defended his recent trip to Washington, D.C. to receive an award from the Planned Parenthood Federation of American for his work in defending reproductive rights. He also sparred indirectly with Elli Schiesow, his Republican opponent in the District 32 Senate primary in June, over abortion - which is likely to be key issue in their race. During a candidate forum hosted by the Pennington County Republican Women, an audience member asked Adelstein why he accepted the Planned Parenthood award. Adelstein said he attended the Planned Parenthood Awards Gala on March 30 to clarify the current atmosphere in South Dakota on the Legislature's recent near-total ban on abortions. "Yes, I did receive an award. I weighed carefully whether to go to Washington and decided that someone needed to tell a national audience that there is division in South Dakota on this issue," Adelstein said. Ok. Then this...

Rats. From looking at the post over at A Progressive on the Priaire tonight , and on the Amendment E , I think I've dropped in the ranks. No more do I hold the position of most annoying blogger or bliegger or whatever name they choose to use for bloggers exploring the multiple negative aspects of the South Dakota Judicial Accountability Act. Tim has clearly pulled ahead of me in the ranks of those annoying the Judicial Accountability Actors. Here's what they have to say about us in bold type (which makes it all the more important): Consider political operatives Larry Mann, Pat Powers, or attorney Tim Gebhart, (Gebhart blogs so often one wonders how many clients Aren't being served). To a one their relentless personal attacks against individuals , including Amendment E sponsor Bill Stegmeier, shows a desire to win-at-all costs. After a while, their campaigns of DIS-information, their relentless personal attacks so Un-American on Stegmeier, and his choice of employee...

If you recall, about a month ago I spent a little time picking on District 6 GOP State Senate candidate Jim Holbeck who held himself out as "a moderate" to distinguish himself in the race against State Senator Brock Greenfield. My point was that Brock was going to kick his silly butt, because staking out "the moderate territory" in that district in a Republican primary was just stupidity, among other things. But today, Holbeck managed to demonstrate to the voters the kind of public policy material he's made of. Holbeck, the Superintendent of the Clark County School District was there as his School Board took a vote on whether or not they intended to participate in the lawsuit against the State of South Dakota to increase educational funding. As the discussion progressed, Holbeck himself was asked for his opinion on whether the school district should proceed with participating in a lawsuit against the State of South Dakota. And here's where he showed his me...

It's not often that you get seven or eight State Senators drug into one letter to the editor, but it happened in today's Rapid City Journal : Re-elect Napoli Stan Adelstein, during the 2004 Republican primaries, gave Senator Jim Lintz's opponent $6,906, Senator Bob Gray's opponent $1,000, Senator Lee Schoenbeck's opponent $1,000, and Senator Jason Gant's opponent $1,000. Adelstein tried to defeat conservative candidates in order to stack the Republican Senate with people supportive of his tax and spend agenda. All of Adelstein's candidates lost. Adelstein has served six years in the South Dakota Legislature and has sponsored or cosponsored 13 bills to increase the tax burden on South Dakota citizens. This election cycle Adelstein is trying to unseat a conservative Republican, my friend and colleague Senator Bill Napoli. Mr. Adelstein is using his financial resources to assist Senator Napoli's opponent in the Republican primary for state senator. If the v...

I got this notice from teh Hughes County GOP last night Bruce Whalen will publicly announce his candidacy for the US House of Representatives at 10am this Friday, April 21st at the SD Republican Party Headquarters in downtown Pierre. All Republicans are encouraged to attend.

I don't have a horse in this race, and I don't live in Sioux Falls, so it doesn't matter to me. But with that said, I have to point out something I caught for the first time about the Sioux Falls Mayor's Race in today's Argus Leader : Malloy owner Garry Jacobson, an old schoolmate, had invited the candidate to meet the 60-plus employees at the company. "He's eminently qualified," Jacobson said of his friend's mayoral aspirations. Halverson, who has a doctorate in theater, showed off the skills he picked up from the stage Monday. Before going to Malloy, Halverson faced off with Munson at a candidates' forum. Several observers at the Rotary function remarked that Halverson was indeed articulate. A doctorate in theatre eminently qualifies a person to run a city of that size? What in the hell was I working on a Masters of Public Administration for? Why did I get an undergrad in political science? I should have gotten a degree in dance . So if I ra...

Here's a good question for the attorneys out there as a postscript to the Judicial Accountability Measure 10 questions: If a constitutional amendment directly amends one part of the constitution, but another one is affected and not amended, is the constitutional amendment void, unenforceable, or is the entire constitution modified to comply? I did well on my LSAT, but never attended law school, so if someone would oblige me....

As I had noted a week ago, I offered the South Dakota Judicial Accountability people the opportunity to respond directly to some of the issues, concerns, criticisms, etc. that people, including myself have been raising about South Dakota's Amendment E. While I don't think this is going to change my mind on the measure, I'll give Bill a couple of points for responding. From the short bio I requested of him: Bill Stegmeier is a long time South Dakota businessman and father of three. While he has not experienced judicial misconduct in a personal way, he has witnessed it in court against others. Stegmeier's best answer to why he is spearheading the Amendment E effort is: For the sake of my children, I consider this my civic contribution to society. And with that said, on to 10 questions with...... Bill Stegmeier 1. Bill, your refusal to testify to the State Legislature seemed to many South Dakotans as somewhat odd, considering that you are the person responsible for placing...

Jessica Nathanson is an English instructor down at Augustana. On the Statewide news and political scene she’s been operating with relative anonymity. But with her entrance into the Democratic legislative primary in District 12 this year, with the harsh glow of the spotlight upon her, she may find that some of her views and politics are going to be called into question. As in “What in the hell is she teaching kids at Augustana?” An article from April 7th’s edition of the Augustana Mirror (page 11) on the topic of the University’s Gay-Straight Alliance campaigning in the community on this year’s marriage amendment has a quote from Professor Jessica. And this quote is such that I suspect it’s going to have several people scratching their heads : Jessica Nathanson, writing assistant professor at Augustana, believes that society must first examine the institution of marriage. “It is ownership,” she said. “Marriage is an oppressive institution.” Nathanson wants society to understand the orig...

Today in 1978, California Governor Jerry Brown refuses a request from then Governor Bill Janklow to extradite American Indian Movement (AIM) leader Dennis Banks to South Dakota to stand trial. Governor Janklow's response? In 1981, he offered parole to some of South Dakota's felons, conditioned upon their "deportation" to California. "If Jerry likes our felons," Janklow reportedly said, "he can have them all." (And I'd venture that Brown didn't try that one again)

Up on Mt. Blogmore, Kevin Woster is reporting that the Campaign for Healthy Families is only about 10,000 signature away from a referral: Taking it to the people — Mount Blogmores @ 1:19 pm By Kevin Woster This just in from the South Dakota Campaign for Health Families: The petition drive to refer HB1215 to a public vote has 6,300 signatures. The drive needs 16,728 valid signature by June 19 to refer the law, which was approved overwhelmingly by the state Legislature and signed by Gov. Mike Rounds. If I think of it, we're about due for an update on all the ballot measures. I'll try to get that accomplished over the next few days.

Revelations 6:1 : I saw that the Lamb opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures saying, as with a voice of thunder, "Come and see!" The Tomkitten has arrived . Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes, the high-profile pair dubbed "TomKat" by the media, had a baby girl Tuesday, said Cruise spokesman Arnold Robinson. The baby, named Suri, weighed 7 pounds, 7 ounces and measured 20 inches long, he said. Hopefully, the four living creatures described in the apocalyptic passages of the Bible in Revelations were not publicists. But just in case, I'm glad I made it to Easter mass.

I'm jealous. Bruce Halverson seems to have something I'd love to get a copy of. I had a reader who happens to be a recent Augustana graduate send me a copy of the above letter and asked "Are all the Augie Grads getting these?" Just on it's surface, when he's writing "Dear Augie Alumni" it sure seems like he's got a copy of the alumni list and he's writing to all the grads (at least SF grads) looking for moral support and a vote. Like I said, I'm jealous. Why? Have you ever tired to get a University list for political purposes? Do you know how tough it is to get your hands on an electronic SD University alumni list with addresses? I've tried for years - it isn't easy. In fact, I had bought the SDSU alumni directory one year with that purpose in mind (and asked the telemarketer if it was ok). When i got it, the disclaimers said that it couldn't be used for political mailings - and I was steamed. I ended up getting my money ...

As if there isn't enough Republican bashing on a daily basis over on Mt. Blogmore, today's topic is trying to channel all the love that's exhibited towards the GOP: So, former state Rep. Jack Billion makes it official this week, kicking off his campaign as the Democratic candidate for governor. Dennis Wiese has already made the statewide tour. And both of them, while obviously facing each other in their party’s primary in June, are already aiming their criticism at Republican Gov. Mike Rounds. If you were campaign managers for one of the other, how would you attack the sitting governor? Read it here . Actually, if it were me, I'd ask the question which is possibly more pertinent. If you were Billion or Wiese, how would you differentiate yourself from your opponent and win the Democratic Primary?

The Argus Leader reported this AM that the rhetoric in the mayor's race is starting to heat up. Or it's going from slightly chilled to tepid. From the Argus: Bruce Halverson raised the level of rhetoric in the mayor's race on Monday by criticizing Mayor Dave Munson's management and leadership skills. It was the first time that Halverson - or any other candidate - publicly criticized Munson for some of the issues that dogged him during the past year. Munson, meanwhile, continued with the central theme of his re-election strategy by highlighting the successes of his four-year tenure. Halverson listed several events that he said were examples of weak leadership in City Hall. He questioned Munson's organizational and communication skills, and he pointed out that Munson presided over an administration that saw controversies about overspending, campaign finance, a failed recreation center and a major funding increase for the zoo. "I agree that Dave Munson is a good ...

I was just checking, and tomorrow will make it one week since I sent off my '10 questions with..' to Bill Stegmeier on the topic of the Judicial Accountability measure. As you might recall, I said I'd give them about a week to respond.

I just got this from State Senator Bill Napoli. Now THAT's what I like seeing from Bill. And it's darned funny.

In a masterful rendition of "yeah, what he said" Jack Harriman of Salem reprinted the words of Fred A. Bostick of Sioux Falls in support of the Judicial Accountability Amendment. My first reaction when I saw this? What's their gripe with the legal system? And I didn't have to look hard at all to find the answer. Fred A. Bostick of Sioux Falls had initiated an action while in state Prison for escape from the Minnehaha County Jail. In the meantime, he was paroled, and a very technical argument was made to the Supreme Court about what constitutes custody. Needless to say, he lost. Jack Harriman of Salem apparently had a contract dispute with the new owners of Feterl Manufacturing. It went all the way to the State Supreme Court, and he lost. I'm not going to comment as to whether or nor their claims were valid. The Supreme Court did them the credit of reviewing their cases, so there had to be issues involved in their cases that merited concern. And they chose to d...

The Aberdeen American News had a cute story this weekend about KSFY News Director Mitch Krebs and his wife, Republican State Representative Shantel Krebs.: On his Saturday night show, "KSFY This Week," Mitch has made it a point to mention that he's married to Shantel. He believes he owes it to the viewers to be honest. But on KSFY's daily newscast, Mitch does not mention his wife's name. If Shantel is included in sound bites, he has co-anchor Nancy Naeve read those stories "just so there's no hint of impropriety," Mitch said. "I have a standing rule with the people that cover the Legislature. That's, 'Don't go out of your way to interview her because she's my wife and don't ignore her because she's my wife.' If she is the story, then we talk to her. If she's the prime sponsor on a bill or she does something in Pierre that's newsworthy, then we cover it." Shantel notes that Mitch has to tr...

From today's Rapid City Journal Senator J.P. Duniphan announces her re-election campaign, and lists numerous things she's proud to have done on her resume. But where's the MAINstream coalition?: She is chairwoman of the Senate Local Government Committee and serves on the Health and Human Services Committee. She is chairwoman of the State Corrections Commission and chairwoman of the Interstate Compact of Prisoners Commission. Duniphan previously served eight years in the state House of Representatives, where she was a majority whip and a member of the legislative Executive Board. “One of the bills I am most proud of that I sponsored was the one that set up a training program for all the 911 dispatchers across the state that allows them to go to Pierre for professional and consistent training regardless of the size of the community they came from,” Duniphan said in the news release. Duniphan has served for three years on the Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Serv...

From today's letters to the editor in the Rapid City Journal : Killed for convenience Some absurd things have been said about me, now we need to consider the truth. Simple rape (my words) is defined by State Statute, SDCL 22-22-7: "Statutory Rape" is consensual sex with no violence involved; the age difference is no more than three years, i.e., 19-year-old and 16-year-old lovers, yet still considered rape. How in the world could someone accuse me of forcing a woman to marry her violent rapist? That's the most ludicrous statement of all. Some will say anything, no matter how crazy it is. I've worked very hard for years for the mothers, children and families of South Dakota. When I've asked those not screaming obscenities long enough to talk: "If rape and incest was in HB1215, would they be OK with the bill?" "Absolutely not!" "We want abortion on demand, as a means of birth control, for convenience, taxpayer funded abortions." ...