South Dakota War College

The Argus Leader was reporting on it's website last night that Stan Adelstein is attempting to use the Sutton allegations to gain attention.... for himself. Imagine that. Just like the abortion issue, the gubernatorial race, his primary loss, etcetera and so on... If there’s nothing new from a criminal investigation, Sen. Stan Adelstein says he will make a motion to adjourn as soon as the Senate convenes a special session next month. and... “I would make such a motion if there has been no prosecution from the state’s attorney or the attorney general,” he said. The Rapid City Republican believes the special session shouldn’t have been called until and unless criminal charges are filed. He blames Senate President Lee Schoenbeck – a longtime political sparring partner – for jumping the gun. Schoenbeck was one of the four senators who asked Rounds to call the special session. Read it all here . Apparently Stan has never read the Legislature's Joint Rules. Because there's nothi...

Bruce Whalen is running a new commercial. Kind of. It's new in that it includes a different person in the commerical scolding Stephanie Herseth over her oft repeated comments about being pro-choice and supported by NARAL, but it's almost identical to the first one. The title of this commerical is "melissa," where it has a young woman talking about being proud to be from South Dakota, and pro-life. Speaking of all of this, in an e-mail where Bruce's campaign announces this, they also provide links to the original audio (and a word trancript) of the call. According to this campaign update, in what they note as the "Most shocking quote on the conference call:" "I also wanted to acknowledge that Stephanie Herseth was one of the leaders who really encouraged this strategy of taking the abortion ban to the ballot. She believed in it early on and her chief of staff Jeff Navmin has been very, very active in helping to plan the strategy. So it...

I'm running late, so I'll make this quick. The Argus Leader this morning is reporting that the new bishop isn't wasting any time on getting involved in SD politics: Bishop Paul Swain came out swinging Thursday. Within an hour of being ordained a Roman Catholic bishop and installed as the eighth leader of the Catholic Diocese of Sioux Falls, he had spoken out on two issues on the Nov. 7 ballot. "I'm proud to say that the first vote I will cast as a South Dakotan will be yes for Referred Law 6," Swain said, to applause and a standing ovation. Referred Law 6 is the abortion ban, which was passed by the state Legislature earlier this year and will be decided by voters. It outlaws all abortions except those done to save a pregnant woman's life. "This law is not perfect legislation, but it will better respect and protect the vulnerable," Swain said.He also said he would vote yes on Constitutional Amendment C. Approval of Amendment C would amend the Sou...

I had a reader point me to this one tonight. My reaction... Oh my god. This guy ran for office after he'd written this kind of stuff? Catch this Drudge Report story entitled: ALLEN'S REVENGE: EXPOSES UNDERAGE SEX SCENES IN OPPONENT'S NOVELS ( adult content warning ) It's bad enough that I'm not quoting any of it here.

Diana Miller of No-on-E and Jake Hanes of the Amendment E crew go toe to toe at the public television debate tonight. Go watch the whole thing at SDPB.org as soon as it's posted.

Chad over at Clean Cut Kid and I were both interviewed for broadcast on Public Radio yesterday, and he beat me to the punch on making note of it . I hate listening to myself, so that's probably why I avoided listening to it live. As noted on CCK : The topic is blogs and their affect on the 2006 elections. You can listen online here: http://www.sdpb.org/archives/ProgramDetail.asp?ProgID=5571 Try to be kind.

Increased workloads and no pay increases. SDEA involvement. A strike. You'd think I was talking about teachers protesting their salaries, and SDEA is right there with them deploring the state of education in South Dakota. Nope. I'm talking about working conditions at SDEA as reported by Bob Mercer in his Statehouse Roundup today in a very telling turn of events. As written in today's Pierre Capital Journal , the professional employees are going on strike to call attention to their plight: What makes this funny, is that these are some of the same reasons that SDEA throws out at school districts when complaining about the inability of strained local education budgets to pay as much as teachers would like them to pay during salary negotiations. I wonder if that point is being driven home at the SDEA office? Probably not. As the next round of salary negotiations and not to mention the legislative session come around, it will likely be a case of "do as I say, not as I do....

District 28 Democratic Candidate Ryan Maher was nice enough to send me a copy of his brochure (despite the savaging I've given a few). And actually, it's not a bad piece (for having been done by the local newspaper) Lots of photos, content, and information.. My only criticisms? Aside from him switching parties (come back to the dark side...) there almost seems as if there's too much to digest. He could cut down a couple of the group pictures, possibly drop a couple of the captions, and it would provide a bit more white space. I think then it would lay out in a less crowded fashion. I'd also like to see a background box with a drop shadow or something on the front side (side represented at the top). The white is a little stark. Possibly a lightly screened photo. One of the B&W photos on the back side would have worked great. But, this is being nitpicky. Overall, it's an attractive piece of literature. You can see that in the days of digital printing, full color ...

The Argus Leader has more on the special session issue this morning, withtheir attorney who has sued the state for open government talking about why it could be closed... But emphasizing that he thinks it should be open. Plus, more of a rundown on those who think it should be open, and those who think it should be shut: If a vote were held tomorrow on whether to close the proceedings, it's unclear which side would prevail. and... Olson says he wants it closed because of his relationships with the page, the page's father and Sutton. "I'm just really sensitive because I'm closer to it than most," he said. "Because of my connection to those folks, I don't want a circus." Sen. Gene Abdallah, R-Sioux Falls, said all meetings should be open unless they involve a personnel issue. In this case, he has mixed emotions. Witnesses could face humiliation in a public session, but, he added, many, if not all, of the players already are known in the public. ...

Sorry for the delay. I was ready to go, but Blogger died. I did manage to snag a scoop on this one. Here's Yes on 6's brand new ad, and its a doozy. Arguably, this is the icing on the cake for their media campaign. It's a testimonial from Patti Giebink, a former doctor for Planned Parenthood in Sioux Falls with a message that abortion on demand should end in South Dakota. It's anticipated to hit the airwaves in the next two days. But you can say you saw it here first! (And if anyone wants to give me a sneak peek at their ad, you know where to find me )

Despite someone accusing me of "spiking the story" because I was busy working on my computer instead of blogging (I do have a life you know) , the Argus Leader is reporting tonight that the special session looks like it's going to be open after all: A special session next month to investigate allegations of misconduct between a state senator and a legislative page will be conducted in public, according to proposed rules for the session. Those rules, which are still in draft form, could change. But as of now, Sen. Ed Olson said late today, the rules call for an open session. A majority of senators could vote to change those rules when the Senate convenes on Nov. 27. The proposed rules were sent to Senate members Wednesday. and.. .... the Senate is a product of representative democracy, and democratic institutions are supposed to work and deliberate in full view of the people who give them their power. Read it all here.

Just when I think I'm going to spend my bday working on computers, I get a call. In about 45 minutes, I'm hoping to have an exclusive first look for the readers on something at least 1 day if not 2 before the MSM gets ahold of it. Well worth putting repairs on hold! Watch this spot!

It will probably be a quiet night at the SDWC tonight, as the campus data center is being taken off line for a major upgrade! (Well, basically my computer parts got here in time for my birthday, so I'm reinstalling everything. It's likely to be an all evening affair.)

After Ed Olson weighed in on KELO and other media and said that he thinks the session should be closed, I'm pleased to note that in the KCCR/Oahe TV news this AM, Senator Bob Gray came out and indicated that he thinks that session should be open: District 24’s state Senator says the public has a right to know whether a fellow Senator behaved inappropriately with a male page. Republican Bob Gray of Pierre says he understands why Governor Mike Rounds has called for a special session of the Senate to consider allegations that Democratic Senator Dan Sutton of Flandreau may have had misconduct with a high school male. and... Gray says he expects that most of the proceedings will be held in public. Read it all here . (Link will change tomorrow) So far, we have public pronouncements from two senators. One says open. The other says closed. I've heard privately from a couple of others who are saying open, and since it was privately, I won't "out" them. But I think it...

Despite State Senator and Executive Board leader Ed Olson appearing on KELO news last night talking about how the legislative session was going to be a closed session, Senator President Pro Tempore Lee Schoenbeck confirmed with the Associated Press in an article appearing this morning that a determination has yet to be made whether it's going to be open or closed. As stated in the Rapid City Journal: Sutton’s lawyer, Mike Butler of Sioux Falls, has said the proposed special session “borders on an anti-Democratic power play” and that some people were trying to influence the November elections. Sen. Lee Schoenbeck, R-Watertown, president pro tem of the Senate, said Tuesday that the special session most likely would involve the Senate sitting as a committee of the whole to hear evidence and determine what happened. The Senate could then take formal action, he said. “Any rules about how the process will be conducted will be adopted by the full Senate when we get to Pierre,” Schoenbeck ...

Let's see. First Jack can't decide on what his position on the death penalty is . Then, Billion criticizes Rounds for ducking a debate that he himself declined dates on. What else is out there to see on Billion's record? As I was browsing his website tonight to find the "Rounds ducked the debate press release", I noted with particular interest his blog with the Michael J. Fox commercial against the Republican Missouri politician. Which is kind of out of place in a South Dakota website, but Billion uses the opportunity to take a shot at Rounds over stem cell research. Here's what it said : Mike Rounds banned stem cell research in South Dakota in 2004. Even worse, his ban goes so far as to criminalize receiving benefits from stem cell research. This is yet another example of poor leadership by the Governor. This is the type of research that can save the lives of South Dakotans and our scientists should be allowed to explore its possibilities. We owe it to our ...

A couple of days ago, Jack Billion had put out a press release making the claim that Governor Rounds was less than eager to debate him : Governor Mike Rounds made a decision last night to duck out of the Nov. 2 gubernatorial debate on KSFY, only minutes after a dismal debate performance on South Dakota Public Broadcasting. The announcement from KSFY that Rounds ducked out the Nov. 2 debate arrived 40 minutes after Rounds’ weak showing against Billion on the South Dakota Public Broadcasting debate Thursday evening. On Sept. 25, KSFY had announced that all of the candidates for governor, including Rounds had confirmed their commitments to participate in the debate. A couple weeks later, Rounds’ staff told KSFY that a staff member “had made a mistake” with the Nov. 2 date, yet the date was accepted by the Rounds’ organization. Last night, KSFY announced Rounds’ decision to duck out. “Mike Rounds has decided he can’t defend his record of poor leadership for the last four years,” Billion...

Two weeks from tonight, those who haven’t voted absentee will be going to the polls to cast their ballots for the direction of South Dakota. Will they go strongly “R,” will they go “D,” or will it be a mixed bag? I think the Dems are probably wishing that the Sutton allegations had come out a few weeks earlier or a few weeks later. Right at the time they were starting to launch their common ground platform , the long simmering allegations boiled over with the complaint being officially filed by the page’s father. And instantly, it sucked all of the oxygen out of their earned media efforts. If you go to the SDDP's website, you see 1, maybe 2 press releases since everything broke. And now as we cruise into the last two weeks, it's going to be tough to get any momentum back. Before the finger pointing starts from anonymous commenters, don’t think it’s a great thing for Republicans either. Right at the time when some of our challenger candidates need some exposure, it’s taken the ...

SDSEO (South Dakota State Employees Organization) announced today via press release that they are going to be coming to the legislature asking for a 4% raise for state employees (plus another 2.5% for those below midpoint). KCCR covered this one as well: The South Dakota State Employees Organization plans to ask next year’s state Legislature for a 4 percent across the board pay hike. and.. SDSEO executive director Corey Landeen says a 3 percent pay hike was a good idea when first introduced in the 1980s by the late Governor George S. Mickelson. But he says cost of living has far exceeded that increase now. Landeen admits changing the mindset of the Governor and those legislators who have supported a 3 percent pay raise will be a challenge. But he says an extra one percent will not add that much cost to the state budget. Landeen says the SDSEO board also will push for an additional 2-point-5 percent pay raise, which is traditionally given to get employees to the midpoint of their salary...

In case you wanted to wish him happy birthday, I'm probably a little late with this message. But, Governor Mike Rounds did turn 52 today. Why on earth do I know when his birthday is? Mine is tomorrow, so it's easy to remember. (I turn the dreaded 40 tomorrow, myself) Brrr.. I feel my hair getting grayer already as I start the great downhill slide..

Tony Mangan of KCCR news is one of the local guys newsmen covering the Sutton affair, and today on KCCR News/OaheTV.com had statements from Governor Rounds and Tom Maher Jr., the Democratic States Attorney who's office has been in charge of the investigation since it was first reported. First the States atty: Stanley County’s states attorney says it is too early to tell if any criminal charges will be filed stemming from an alleged incident involving a state legislator and a male page. State Democratic Senator Dan Sutton of Flandreau is accused of groping a male page who was supposedly staying with him in a Fort Pierre motel. Sutton has denied any inappropriate contact. Stanley County State’s Attorney Tom P. Maher says his office and the South Dakota Attorney General’s office is investigating the incident. He says a Division of Criminal Investigation agent is conducting the investigation. Maher says there is no timetable on how long it will take to finish the investigation. He say...

Statement of Gov. Rounds on the request to call a special session of the South Dakota Senate PIERRE, S.D. – Gov. Mike Rounds issued the following statement on the request he received to call a special session of the SD State Senate: “I have received a letter from Sen. Garry Moore, Minority Leader, Democrat; Sen. Gary Hanson, Asst. Minority Leader, Democrat; Sen. Lee Schoenbeck, Senate President Pro Tempore, Republican; and Sen. Eric Bogue, Majority Leader, Republican, jointly requesting that I call them into a special session of the SD Senate on Monday, Nov. 27, 2006. I will honor their request and call the SD Senate into special session for the purposes expressed in their letter.”

Run, don't walk to read a hard copy of today's Aberdeen American News to see the full letter. But, just to whet your appetite, here's a a couple of snippets as printed in the paper from the letter that Senate President Pro Tempore Lee Schoenbeck sent to Senator Dan Sutton notifying him of the accusations where he allegedly "sexually groped the young man.": And later in the letter, it sets forth pretty clearly what the actions are that the senate does and does not have the ability to take - which I think it of the utmost importance to note in this case. The thing to keep in mind which I think has been lost on much (all) of the media coverage, is that this is solely a determination as to whether or not Senator Dan Sutton violated Senate rules. This is not a hearing to determine if he violated criminal statutes. That's an entirely different process with (what I would argue is) a much stronger burden of proof. I'm not sure what the legal standards are for hea...

Revisiting the topic I had touched on yesterday, Ed Olson is commenting in this AM's edition of the Argus Leader that in his capacity on the executive board, he's requesting that the session be closed: As chairman of the executive board, Olson said he will request the session be closed to protect the privacy of witnesses. "There's no way in heck I would ever condone deposing an 18-year-old kid" in public, he said. The session would be fair to all involved, Olson said. "My thinking is, it's going to be full of decorum," Olson said. and.. The Legislature's executive board was scheduled to meet Nov. 27-28. Olson said those are now the proposed dates of the special session, so the executive board meeting might be moved to December. The executive board's vice chairman, state Rep. Gordon Pederson, R-Wall, said the issue involving Sutton "is something for the Senate itself, the Senate leadership and the Senate body." "I don't kno...

If you recall, yesterday I was posting in a slightly humorous vein on the grumpy phone call that Jonathan Ellis made to Todd Epp's answering machine, calling him out over his questioning their coverage : ... I got a rather heated phone message yesterday from the Argus Leader's Jonathan Ellis complaining to me about my coverage and comments about MSM coverage (or lack of coverage) of Pagegate. In the message, Jonathan also questioned my manhood, saying I could call him back "if I were man enough." Like some reporter at the Argus Leader gives me the willies. Yeah, right. And you know, the more I think about it, I really have to call into question the possibility of an editorial double standard for our state's largest daily newspaper. Possibly, it's because people are starting to ask things, such as the one I read on a website where a blog poster called into question why we hadn't heard much about this from our state's 'premier newspaper' after ...

I had a few of my readers call or drop me a note on this weekend's/today's Bob Mercer column which intimated that there were political motivations behind the allegations of impropriety against State Senator Dan Sutton. And I feel more than a bit guilty about it, because the whole thing pretty much broke loose after I first reported on it . I tried to be careful about it, and report the facts as I could best confirm it. I first got a whiff of the story via a phonecall (not a legislator) about a letter that had been allegedly issued to a senator regarding a violation of rules. So I followed up on it. What details did I hear about it from Lee? Nothing. I asked him for the letter, or at the very least what was in it. And I was very matter of factly informed that at that point, it would be inappropriate for him to provide me a copy of the letter, or to disclose it's contents. (Heck, I still don't have it.) And my pursuit continued from there where I queried a Democratic lean...

(Click on letter to enlarge) And while it may not be printed at taxpayer expense, I don't see a disclaimer, either. When they hold the special session (supposedly at the end of November) , since he's left them already, I think his colleagues should expel him from the caucus. Sure. At that point it's only going to be symbolic. But since he's already said he's running again in the near future, sometimes symbolism is enough.

Kate Turnbow touched on a story thig morning that's been reported on in the blogosphere before. In the Pierre Capitol Journal she let everyone know what's coming up next from Bill Stegmeier and his friends in the JAIL movement: A Texan seeking a 2008 presidential nomination has his eye on South Dakota to propose a ballot measure he calls the "American Anti-Communist Act." Gene Chapman labels himself a "hard core anti-communist," and he is seeking the Libertarian, Constitution, Ten Southern Parties and Boston Tea Party presidential nomination for 2008. "It's called the Abolitionist Alliance, meaning the legal end of slavery," Chapman said. "Scholars tell us that slavery is the taxation of labor, taxation of property and the counting of people like cattle for the purpose of controlling labor and property." In regard to the state or states chosen to try to pass Chapman's anti-Communist Act, he said that right now he is looking at all...

The No-On-E campaign just issued a press release with their own poll results. And guess what - Amendment E is going to be massively crushed in a couple of weeks. According to a poll commissioned by the No on E Coalition and released today, South Dakotans are overwhelmingly opposed to Amendment E. The survey found that 46 percent of voters oppose Amendment E, 42 percent are undecided and only 12 percent say they support the measure. The survey simply asked: “Based on what you know or have heard, if the election were held today, would you vote yes to adopt Amendment E, or no to reject Amendment E.” “It is clear from our polling that the more South Dakotans learn about Amendment E, the more they reject it,” said Bob Moore, president of Moore Information. “After hearing the Attorney General’s explanation, the percentage of registered voters opposing Amendment E increases to 64 percent.” Amendment E, known as the jail for judges amendment, would allow jurors, county commissioners, city cou...

In the Rapid City Journal , there's an article this morning over Initiated Measure 3. It terms itse'f the "Save our South Dakota Summers" act. Funny, I've always called the 'save our cheap student labor' act: A ballot measure that would prevent South Dakota’s fall school term from creeping into the summer months has drawn strong support from South Dakota’s tourism industry but remains opposed by education groups such as the South Dakota Education Association and the Associated School Boards of South Dakota. and.. The measure would also allow more time for summer vacations, help students and teachers alike avoid super-heated classrooms and likely boost South Dakota’s retail economy, according to the “Save Our South Dakota Summers” initiative committee. and... Those who oppose the measure say it would put students and teachers at an educational disadvantage by hindering teachers’ attempts to continue their own education during the summer and abandon...

In 1991, for House Bill 1126 (An Act to prohibit abortion as a means of birth control), Campaign for Healthy Families co-chair Jan Nicolay offered the following amendment. And another medical procedure that some might consider painful (Well, I would, at least): "The performance of a hysterectomy does not constitute the performance of an abortion pursuant to this Act. Any woman who desires a hysterectomy, but who is unable to have a hysterectomy for medical reasons, is entitled to demand a vasectomy of her spouse." I'm pretty sure the measure failed. (Ow. )

*note - The size on this one is a bit different because they're using a different service other than "You Tube," where I figured out how to make it fit a little better for various browser sizes.

Well. If they want to stop the lies, why don't they start by telling South Dakotans who is paying for their campaign.

About a week ago, Americans For Prosperity's South Dakota's State Director, Duane Sand, was kind enough to stop by my house in Brookings on his way home to Bismarck, North Dakota, and filled me in on their issues and what plans they have in South Dakota. I've been extremely remiss in getting to this. Mainly because there was a small story that broke immediately thereafter , and it's kind of sucked the momentum away from anything else political in South Dakota. If you're not familiar with AFP, go check out their website at afphq.org, or you can click here for a direct link to the South Dakota chapter of the organization. They're in about 22 states and the organization is continuing to grow as people hear about their focus: Americans for Prosperity (AFP) and Americans for Prosperity Foundation (AFP Foundation) are committed to educating citizens about economic policy and mobilizing those citizens as advocates in the public policy process. AFP is an organization o...

I made a phone call while I was on the road tonight, and I'm going to attempt to get a copy of the all time funniest South Dakota TV News Blooper as "oopsed" by KELOland. It's several years old, but it's still al classic. I think it was Angela Kennecke reading the news, and as she read it, a news footage clip was shown. A horribly wrong clip , I might add. Not just a little wrong, but as incredibly inappropriate as possible. Viewers were treated to Steve Hemmingsen with a deer in the headlights look, and I think we also catch him making a slashing motion across his neck as if to say " oh my god, cut from the clip ." I'm going to try to have it before the election, and if I can, it's well worth the laugh.

I heard about this from Todd directly. My first comment? "Tell me you saved the message." Unfortunately, he had already erased it, because I think it would have been hilarious to post the recording of a message from an Argus reporter calling out a blogger because his pride was injured. Anyway, here's what Todd had to say about the whole incident: ... I got a rather heated phone message yesterday from the Argus Leader's Jonathan Ellis complaining to me about my coverage and comments about MSM coverage (or lack of coverage) of Pagegate. In the message, Jonathan also questioned my manhood, saying I could call him back "if I were man enough." Like some reporter at the Argus Leader gives me the willies. Yeah, right. Read it all here .

In the Mitchell Daily Republic this weekend, Bruce Whalen explained that he has workable solutions for fixing the rampant unemployment and other problems on the reservations. And that he himself is an example that it can be done: To improve conditions, Whalen said, reservations must decrease the percent of employment supplied by the government and increase the percent supplied by private businesses. He said Republican leaders are more likely to make that happen. Whalen touched briefly on his background, saying he was born in Pine Ridge but moved away with his family when he was a child. As an adult, he served in the National Guard, worked in the private sector and then began to make life changes when he became a born-again Christian in 1995. He moved back to Pine Ridge in 1999 and earned a degree from Oglala Lakota College. In recent years, he has actively campaigned for several Republican candidates. “I’m living proof that you can leave that 90 percent unemployment, the poorest area...

I'm browsing through some of the pre-general election financial reports which appear to be starting to trickle in. I'm not reading anything too earth shattering into them... yet... XCEL Energy seems to like Republican candidates. Alot. (Not that I'm complaining about that) As you can see from their donation list, there's a distinct lack of D's flavoring it. That stands in direct contrast to SDEA's cash cow of a Political Action Committee, SD-EPIC. (Click on list to enlarge) Doling out over $111,000 to political candidates, with only one or two of the token Republicans that they support who got more that $1000. Billion got $25,000. (I hope you remember that next legislative session when they come calling, guys). SD Insurance Agents were a little more balanced , but there seemed to be a bit of more favor towards the GOP. Keep reading - more to come on this as reports come in!