South Dakota War College

I got my haircut this morning at Angel's Hair Salon (next to the State GOP Headquarters). Since Angel's is arguably one of the centers of information in Pierre, I had to ask - what had she heard about the lottery winner? The word around town? According to the hair salon info, the lottery winner is not a Pierre resident, but a gentleman from up around Ft. Thompson who had purchased his ticket in Pierre. But then again, not an hour later as I prepared to depart to Brookings, my dad informed me that the talk at Pier 346, another center of gossip around Pierre, the talk was that it was a group of employees at a local convenience store who held the winning ticket. I heard names on this stuff, but in the interest of not looking too foolish, depending on which story is true, I'll hold off on disclosing it. Regardless, Guy from Ft. Thompson, or local convenience store employees. It will be an interesting test to see which center of information is to be most trusted. All I know is...

"hhtp://?" "Find out the facts1?" Contacting a web address? Ugh. Nothing like your ad person making you look terrible with mistakes in your advertising.

Yeah, he's running. As noted on the Secretary of State's website Merlyn "Justice" Schutterle is running for the Legislature against Senator Jay Duenwald. Jay has my sympathy. Not because Merlyn stands the proverbial snowball's chance in hades of winning, but for the aggravation. Elections should be fun - a challenge of pitting your beliefs and abilities against a worthy opponent. Here, we have someone who's main goal is to be a pain. From his website at http://www.merlynschutterle.com , here's the Phantom Molester's views on education. When I was principal at Wolf Creek Elementary, I discovered the local bootleggers and drug dealers had more power than I did. I was an agent of change in a system that thrived on failure. I did not even complete the year. One of the most failed teachers I ever encountered is teaching in Shannon County. I gave him a test for the seventh grade and asked him to make an answer sheet for it. After thinking about it a ...

Last election, Jim Hundstad started off his campaign by dismissing his opponent out of hand, but by the end was running scared. If only but for the benefits he got from the GOTV efforts of Daschle and Herseth in the Aberdeen area in 2004, he wouldn't be calling himself Senator today. Tonight, his opponent from last eleciton sent out his press release announcing that the game is on, which comes on the heels of Hundstad getting absolutely pounded at a political forum on Amendment D. BRIAN JOHNSON ANNOUNCES RUN FOR STATE SENATE Brian Johnson, a Republican, has announced his candidacy for the District 2 Senate seat. Johnson, and his wife, Jamie, help operate their family’s fourth generation farm south of Frankfort. Johnson is a graduate of Redfield High School and South Dakota State University, where he received a Bachelor of Science degree in Ag-Business. Johnson is involved in numerous activities in his community, some of which include softball and basketball coaching and offi...

I'm banning Bob Newland from commenting on the blog for a while until he can learn some manners. Not everyone agrees with medical marijuana, and telling people to commit a carnal act on themselves doesn't encourage debate. Half of the people who comment here tell me I'm full of crap, and that's ok. They're entitled to their opinions. But they at least manage to do it thoughtfully without calling names. So, Bob can go abuse people over on Mt. Blogmore for a while. Regardless, he did send out a press release which I'll print for the South Dakota Libertarians who are holding their annual convention on June 3rd. The South Dakota Libertarian Party Convention... June 3 Al's Oasis, Chamberlain SD 1pm to 3pm: SDLP Business Meeting 3pm to ?: Eat, hang out, chat Agenda for Business Meeting 1. Nominate candidates for... Lt. Governor Secretary of State Attorney General State Auditor State Treasurer Commissioner of School & Public Lands Public Utili...

As most people in South Dakota have read by now , Someone in Pierre won the Powerball drawing for about 117 million before taxes. It wasn't me. I probably should have looked at my ticket before I told everyone to kiss my rear-end.

From the Rapid City Journal : The railroad is being unreasonable, Daschle said. “It just seems to me to be insensitive to the needs and concerns of arguably the finest hospital in the world to say there’s only one route and, like it or not, this is the only option we can agree to,” Daschle said. “I think there has to be more willingness to give and take and to find a win-win solution here.” And again from the Rapid City Journal : Alderman Malcom Chapman agreed, saying that he believes a solution can be found. “I think there’s some way to find a win-win solution to this,” he said. “I think there’s some solution; I’m not sure today what that solution would be.” Win-Win. An overused cliche' run into the ground by politicians everywhere. What ever happened to the poor ignored phrase "mutually beneficial?"

From today's Rapid City Journal : By 8 or 10 months, kittens typically begin to explore away from their mother. The kittens in captivity are estimated to be 8 months old. A family on Park Ridge Place in the Carriage Hills area of southwestern Rapid City discovered the 40-pound female lounging in a tree behind their house Sunday afternoon. Kanta and other GF&P personnel tranquilized and captured the cat, and the next day discovered its mother nearby. Because the adult cat had killed a deer and dragged it across residential yards and a driveway, and near a swing set, GF&P secretary John Cooper of Pierre determined the cat must be killed. PP of Pierre would prefer that more than one of those suckers become stuffed and mounted before it's something other than a deer carcass being dragged across residential yards and a driveway and near a swing set. Brrrrrrr . It just gives me the heebie jeebies thinking about when it happens. That's when , not if . At the rate they ke...

Since for the most part, everyone is taking themselves waaaayyy to seriously under the comment sections , I thought I'd show a couple more ads I noticed in the newspapers this week. Claire Konold has an ad that's outstanding in it's design and it's quite good for most of it's content. I personally wouldn't have used the phrase "when a person can represent his district and his state without the distraction of having to learn how, that's experience." It might be just me, but that phrase rubs me the wrong way. Otherwise, "Dang" I like how this ad looks. I think it could have been phrased to come across more positively, such as "An experienced legislator who can hit the ground running." It's a little cliched, but I think it works better. But again, that might be just me. Another one I came across wasn't anywhere near as pretty. Dale Long down in Harrisburg has this ad in his race for County Commission. It's not as bad a...

Seth from over at CCK was trying to call me out as a member of the "far, far right" in the comment section of a previous post , and I spent a few minutes refuting him this noon. In order to make sure that people don't continue to misunderstand me, I wanted to take a moment to let you know....... What I believe : I believe that despite all the trappings of our modern society, one person can still change this world. I believe that people matter more in the political process than money does. I believe the original Van Halen was better than any of the following incarnations. I believe that conservative and liberal talk radio should not be taken seriously, and simply considered as the entertainment that they are. I believe parents need to be parents, and not the best friend of their children. I believe the Republican Party governs best. At least when it sticks to principles of guarding individual rights, and less government. Anything else gets us off track. I believe that prof...

State Senator Bill Napoli provides his thoughts on State Senator Stan Adelstein in today's Rapid City Journal Letters to the Editor : Disrespect Let's tell the truth! Not negative campaigning, but the truth! After 34 years of being involved in our state government, I've never seen such disrespect afforded by Adelstein to our Legislature. One year he missed the entire first week. Intolerable for the vice-chair of the Appropriations Committee. Adelstein did much posturing about the PBS issue and how he was going to restore the funds. Then he didn't even attend the last legislative day, citing he was out of town. Adelstein was nearly removed while serving as vice-chair of Appropriations for lack of attendance, late for meetings, not showing up for sub-committee meetings. Adelstein uses his money trying to control the Senate caucus. Threatening our president pro-tem if he didn't get the committees he demanded. Adelstein threatened Sen. Schoenbeck that he'd make s...

Could it have been in response to my lamenting over how both Democratic candidates were like different flavors of Vanilla Ice Cream ? It is being reported at Argusleader.com that Dennis Wiese has figuratively added some sprinkles on top to draw a slight difference between he and his opponent: Wiese, a Flandreau farmer and former president of the South Dakota Farmers Union, referred to his race against Jack Billion of Sioux Falls as “a classic case of David and Goliath’’ in a fund-raising letter released today. He noted that Billion is a retired orthopedic surgeon, and called him “an opponent with a great deal of personal wealth.’’ “Like me, I know you believe this is very winnable,’’ the Wiese letter said. “As a matter of fact, I think being the underdog makes us work harder and will lead us to victory.’’ Read it all here . So, he's portraying himself as the underdog to Billion's "great deal of personal wealth" and that he's the underdog in the race. Yes, I k...

Dave Kranz has an interesting story this morning - one of his better ones in a while - on how Democrats are divided over using resources provided by Steve Hildebrand: At issue is the state Democratic Party's contract with Steve Hildebrand, former campaign manager for former Sen. Tom Daschle. Hildebrand's backers say he provided a valuable voter registration file from that campaign to assist Democratic Party candidates. Several Democrats who voted for the abortion ban don't dispute the value of the list, but are concerned that Hildebrand is helping defeat their pro-life candidates in the June 6 primaries or in the November election. Letters are circulating from three players in the issue, but none of the authors made them public. They are state Sen. Julie Bartling, D-Burke, and former state Sen. James Hutmacher, D-Chamberlain, anti-abortion supporters; and pro-abortion rights state Rep. Elaine Roberts, D-Sioux Falls. Also objectionable to anti-abortion lawmakers is Hildebra...

Well, he didn't say it in so many words, but I'm getting the feeling he might think it from his writings. Tonight, the Headline over at the Northern Valley Beacon reads " Do you really have to be mean and stupid to win an election? " and the point of it is to disagree with me. The Republican blogger at South Dakota War College opines that Democratic candidates for governor Jack Billion and Dennis Wiese have to give up their gentlemanly good-will and resort to a Jerry Springer-like brawl in order to "differeniate" themselves from each other. The assumption behind this contention is that voters are too stupid to discern differences in policy and approach unless the contenders degrade into vicious ad hominem assaults on each other that render them unfit to hold democratic office. It happened four years ago in the Republican primary, and look what we ended up with. Jack Billion and Dennis Wiese have appeared in this county on multiple occasions at the same mee...

From a campaign release sent tonight, Former Legislator, Former Huron City Commissioner, and former Gubernatorial Candidate Ron Volesky warms up the Democratic Campaign by endorsing Jack Billion: Former state legislator and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Ron Volesky of Huron has recommended that the state Democratic voters support Jack Billion for Governor in South Dakota's June 6th primary. "When I stepped aside as a candidate for the Democratic nomination for governor, many people asked me who I thought would be a good candidate for our party," Volesky wrote in a letter. "I immediately thought of Jack Billion. Having served with Mr. Billion in the state legislature and having known him on a personal basis, I can strongly and wholeheartedly recommend him to the Democratic voters in this primary as the best person to represent our party in the general election." Dr. Billion said he was pleased with the endorsement. "Ron has been a strong and passionate ...

As related on Cruel.com , courtesy of eBay, you can bid on the bed that presidential assassin Lee Harvey Oswald was supposedly conceived in. Oddly enough, as of this writing it has failed to receive any bids. God forbid, are people realizing that even bad taste has it's boundaries?

As Scott Waltman reports in the Aberdeen American news , the Dakota Territory Political Items Club is gathering May 20 in Sioux Falls and hosting a political item show and sale.. The gathering will be the largest political memorabilia show ever in South Dakota, according to a release from the group. Collectors from Colorado, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Iowa, South Dakota and North Dakota are expected to attend. They will display political items and other items, including coins. The event runs from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at The Oaks Hotel located at Exit 81 just off Interstate 29. Admission is free. An auction of political items will begin at 1 p.m. I displayed in the past as the club was just getting going. I guarantee you that you will see some of the neatest political items you've ever seen in your life. I'm sure Dave Kranz (of Argus Leader fame) will be there, as well as Sandy Poindexter of Pierre, who I've known for years. Sandy isn't a politico, but she has on...

Terry Wostr at the Argus writes today on the rather amiable competition between the Democratic contenders for Governor: Democratic candidates for governor are directing their political venom at Republican Gov. Mike Rounds, separately faulting the incumbent's inability to generate revenue for public eduction, among other shortcomings, in an effort to draw attention to the campaign. But three weeks from primary day, Jack Billion of Sioux Falls and Dennis Wiese of Flandreau also are trying to convince Democratic voters they have ideas of their own. They are competing for the party's nomination June 6. Wiese would tap budget reserves and trust funds to boost spending on education in a state where rural school districts are struggling to make ends meet and where teachers are consistently among the lowest paid in the nation. Billion would draw more on interest money from a special trust fund to do the same. Neither will give serious consideration to a state income tax - long-forbidde...

Ethan Schmidt is running one of the few ads I wouldn't touch, because it's done right. I'm not partial to black, but that's a personal preference. Name and office, with a nice picture. It doesn't try to be all things to all people. It's a name ID ad. I think I'd mentioned it before that Ethan is running against Delores Coffing, whose most noticeable accomplishment on the Pennington County Commission seems to be the consumption of oxygen. She's also the one who had the Alcohol Tax issue handed to her for stewardship, and she let that whole thing wither on the vine. (So, no, I'm not a Delores fan) Regardless - good ad.

A plane carrying U.S. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy from western Massachusetts to his home on the coast was struck by lightning Saturday and had to be diverted to New Haven, Conn., his spokeswoman said. Read it all here at Yahoo News. And wait to see if a plague of locusts hits western Massachusetts anytime soon.

Check out today's Rapid City Journal : Schwiesow said protecting the unborn is important to all people in District 32. She denied distorting Adelstein’s position on abortion and said he was the one trying to avoid the truth. Adelstein should be judged by the company he keeps rather than his public statements and campaign brochures, Schwiesow said. By traveling to Washington, D.C., earlier this spring to receive an award from Planned Parenthood, Adelstein showed his true philosophy on the issue, she said. “The same Planned Parenthood that presented Mr. Adelstein with an award recently also opposes any restrictions on abortion for any reason, at any stage of development,” Schwiesow said. “Planned Parenthood has sued to prevent the (federal) legislation that outlawed partial-birth abortion from being implemented. This is the most extreme position one could take. “These organizations do not bestow honors on pro-lifers.” Schwiesow also said it was disingenuous of Adelstein to claim he d...

I think I've mentioned a time or two that sometimes candidates can commit cardinal sins with their political advertising. Ads with problems so glaring they should be cast to perdition. But there are plenty of minor sins out there (only 1 Hail Mary worth for us Catholics). If candidates could tighten things up, I think they might find themselves happier with the results. Take Arnie Hauge for instance.... This is a pretty decent ad. In fact, I like it. Name and office, attractive design, and bulleted points. But then he has to go and throw in that folksy crap with "Arnie says." I'm of the opinion that it didn't earn him voters. It didn't enhance his credibility. All it did was make him pay for 2 more column inches. If he wanted to do that, why didn't he make everything bigger? Exorcise that area from the ad, and you'll find not only is better, it's cheaper. Senator Duane Sutton's guilty of the same minor sin. Great design, Name and office are b...

Yes, I've been off the line for most of the weekend - trying to catch up with the family. Happy Mother's Day to all the readers out there. Don't spend it blogging/reading. Go spend it with your mothers, wives and children.