South Dakota War College

I just finished up my half of a Christmas post for new blog left dakota/right dakota that you should be able to read as soon as Todd Epp completes his part. Where else can you see a statement like "And it's much cuter when you hang a sock monkey off of it" in it's proper context .

From a press release just out: SDFU Board of Directors remove Kloucek from District Post Sombke: "We have the responsibility to police our own ranks." HURON – In a vote today (Monday), the S.D. Farmers Union Board of Directors voted to remove Frank Kloucek from its board of directors. Doug Sombke, Conde, president of S.D. Farmers Union, said the board removed Frank Kloucek in a special teleconference meeting which had been convened after Kloucek, a state senator from Scotland, sent an email that attacked the organization and its involvement in promoting the Ridgefield Premium Hereford Beef project. Sombke said the vote followed a brief discussion of the publication and related issues. "Our objective is to uphold the good name of South Dakota Farmers Union and to assure the public that we agree that the statements in Mr. Kloucek’s letter are damaging and wrong," Sombke said. "At Farmers Union, we have standards we expect of our leadership. We also have the respo...

The "Kloucek doesn't play well with others" e-mail is starting to gain momentum with the mainstream media. Check out the interview Tony Mangan did with him at KCCR: .....Kloucek, who is considered a vocal Senator, criticized the expected hearing to be held next month against state Senator Dan Sutton of Flandreau, who is accused of groping a male page. Kloucek expressed doubt about the family that has accused Sutton of the misconduct, but also suggestd that he was troubled by Sutton’s behavior with the pages. In the e-mail, Kloucek also said he no longer wanted to sit next to either Sutton or B-J Nesselhuf of Vermillion because he didn't agree with their views. While not taking back the remarks, Kloucek says they were not designed for public consumption. Kloucek says he has an old e-mail system that requires him to cut and paste copy for e-mail messages. He says that part was not deleted as planned. Kloucek says he will not speculate on any possible punishment that may...

The argus leader is reporting this AM that legislators might be looking at undoing what the voters themselves did via initiated measures: State Sen. Garry Moore, who moves to the South Dakota House next month, said he might introduce a bill to reduce the tobacco tax increase that voters approved last month. Moore, a Democrat from Yankton, also said some lawmakers are considering making changes to a ballot measure passed by voters that places restrictions on the use of state aircraft. Read it here .

It's not on-line yet (look about 10:00 AM or so at http://www.capjournal.com ), but Senator Frank Kloucek's e-mail may be getting him into dutch, big time. You have got to go pick up the dead tree edition of the newspaper today for this top of the newspaper article, or wait to check out the website. The article talks about how Frank inadvertently sent private correspondence to newsrooms all over the state in an article entitled "Senator's e-mail airs dirty laundry." The first sentence? "A recent press release from a State Senator accidentally made his views known on everything from the Senate page scandal to who he refuses to sit by during the upcoming legislative session." Much of the rest has been recounted all weekend on this website, but Ed Olson adds a new wrinkle to it with his statement: "I just went 'my gosh' when I read the e-mail, and when we adopt rules (Kloucek) could possibly get a censure as well," Olson said. It's no...

Today's editorial cartoon in the Argus: http://jasonfolkerts.blogspot.com/2006/12/vultures.html One of today's above the fold front page stories: Johnson illness may alter Rounds' '08 plans Governor has expressed no interest in Senate run Sen. Tim Johnson was raising money and dropping hints that he would seek a third term in the U.S. Senate in the 2008 elections. Rep. Stephanie Herseth was eagerly looking forward to January when she, Johnson and their fellow Democrats would take power in both the House and Senate. And Mike Rounds, the popular Pierre Republican who never had to leave his hometown to ascend to the governorship, appeared satisfied to finish his two terms and then move back down the street to his insurance business.Or at least that's the way it seemed - until a leaking blood vessel Wednesday in Washington, D.C., clouded the political landscape of America and potentially altered the futures of Johnson, Herseth and, in particular, Rounds. and... Rounds d...

You could have knocked me over with a feather this AM when I saw this in my e-mail box. Senator Frank Kloucek, who is in dutch with several people, including the SD Farmers Union for the window into his personal thoughts (As provided by Frank to the Argus, Aberdeen paper, Yankton paper, Mitchell paper, Avon paper, etc.), instead of offering apologies to the SDFU is coing out swinging against them: S.D. FARMERS UNION BOARD MEMBER REQUESTS S.D.'S ATTORNEY GENERAL INVESTIGATE RIDGEFIELD FARMS, LLC SCOTLAND, SD--A Long-time South Dakota Farmers Union board member has requested S.D. Attorney General Larry Long to investigate the controversy concerning Ridgefield Farms, LLC. S.D. Farmers Union District 1 president and SDFU board member Frank Kloucek sent the letter to AG Long Saturday evening via fax and email through Kloucek's attorney, Todd D. Epp of Harrisburg, SD. "As a SDFU board member, I have been extremely frustrated in doing my duty of due diligence in getting answers a...

The Rapid City Journal is reporting this AM that apparently my rumor was 100% on the money. Congresswoman Herseth did get engaged about a week ago: Herseth, 36, is engaged to Max Sandlin, a former congressman from Texas whom she met in July of 2002. She became engaged last weekend and waited until Friday night to make the announcement, Olson Duhamel said. She said the couple has not set a date but will be married in South Dakota. “It’s good news,” she said. Read it all here .

I just had this dropped in my lap. It's still at the status of rumor , as it has not been officially confirmed, but I heard from a very reliable source that Congresswoman Stephanie Herseth has/may be getting engaged to her boyfriend, former congressman and now lobbyist Max Sandlin. Why am I giving this creedence? I hear there's lots of chatter about it around her home grounds, and among some of the DC crowd. It might turn out to not be true, but it's a little more than the average politico chatter - to the point where I think we can note it as something more than goofy specualtion. If it isn't true, sorry about that. My source is usually uber-reliable, so I feel comfortable enough to go with it. And if it is true? Well, then congratulations to the Congresswoman, and best wishes for the holidays.

I just heard a good one. One of the dozen or so reporters who had Kloucek's press release sent to their employer was trying to get ahold of him all afternoon. And, not having much success. Apparently, Frank's voice mail is full at the moment. For the life of me, I can't imagine why. Just because he trashes his colleagues and others. Just to be a helper, in case any of you miss him at home this weekend, don't forget the first part of his press release. You know, the part that says: On the Monday Jan 15th and Tuesday Jan 16th our Czech Royalty and Supporters of Tabor Czech Days will be traveling to Pierre. Frank will be at the Pierre discovery center, among other places, where I'm sure you can contact him and ask him why he sent the other half of the press release out to the Argus Leader, the Yankton paper, the Aberdeen paper, and many others, with such entertaining statements as: At the last two state farmers union convention Dennis weise had people follow me around ...

The Argus Leader is reporting this afternoon that the accusations against Dan Sutton for allegedly fondling a high school boy won't be heard until week 2 of the legislative session: The Senate had planned to begin a hearing to decide whether to discipline or expel Sen. Dan Sutton, D-Flandreau, as soon as the session opens Jan. 9. But Sioux Falls lawyer Jim McMahon, who will handle the hearing for the Senate, has a scheduling conflict, so the hearing will not be held until at least Jan. 16, Sen. Ed Olson, R-Mitchell, chairman of the Legislature’s Executive Board, said today. Read it all here .

The Argus is reporting that as South Dakota watches and waits, Tim Johnson is continuing to improve from the medical event he suffered: Sen. Tim Johnson continues to make slow improvements as he recovers from emergency brain surgery, and staff and family remain optimistic about his recovery, his spokeswoman said minutes ago. The senator’s condition is expected to remain classified as critical but stable throughout the weekend, said Julianne Fisher, spokesperson for Johnson. He was able to move more limbs last night than he had previously, Fisher said. Read it all here .

There was an article that I read in the Madison paper the other day that I wanted to make sure I got back to. Outgoing Democratic Rep. Gerry Lange had his chance to cap off his career nicely and exhibit class as he ended his public service. Instead, the first thing he did was to spit in the pie plate, and spoil an easy recipe for showing grace.: Lange, a Madison resident, had planned for a fourth term in the state House, after which he would have had to leave the chamber under legislative term limits. However, his intentions were pushed aside last month when he placed third in a three-way race for district 8’s two House seats. A month after the election, Lange remains a bit annoyed with the results. Looking back at his time in Pierre, he sees himself as a Democratic thorn in the side of Republican interests - an annoyance that was pulled so Lange would no longer bother the state’s majority party. Lange had offered bills that would have changed the state’s tax system. In particular he s...

WOW! I just got a copy of a really interesting e-mail that Frank Kloucek sent to Scott Heidepreim. And for some reason, he copied nearly everyone under the sun, including the media. And it's not just that he sent an e-mail out to the media that may or may not have been intended to go to the media. He used it to completely trash a lot of people. And several of them are in his caucus. I heard tonight from a good source that it's already costing Frank. Supposedly the Farmers Union people are so mad over it that they're considering kicking him out. Here's the first part: From: Frank Kloucek [mailto:fkloucek@*******] Sent: Wednesday, December 13, 2006 9:05 PM To: (A very extensive list including several bloggers, people at the argus, the Mitchell paper, the Yankton paper, etc, and so on) Subject: Trip to Pierre - Promoters of Tabor Czech Days Needed! News release December 13,2006 for immediate release! Contact Senator Frank 583-4468 Are you interested in going to Pierre to p...

As I try to play with the campaign aspects of the on-line social network of facebook myself, I note that there's actually a facebook group called " I would SO move to South Dakota for Senator Thune ." Is it just me, or does that border on being stalker-ish?

MSN - Today Show Link on what might have happened to Senator Johnson.

Returning State Representative Rich Engels has an apology today in the Argus Leader for his comments to Gordy Swanson regarding working with the county. Not that you can find it on-line in the A.L.'s horrible mish mash of a website. So here's a couple of blurbs I'm typing in: As I mentioned to Argus Leader reporter Josh Verges, I immediately regretted my comments to Deputy State's Attorney Gordy Swanson, as they did not reflect the way I truly feel about working with the county. and... I had already decided after talking to many people that I would not introduce a bill (requiring county jails to allow weddings). I did post a comment to that effect on the Dakotawarcollege.blogspot.com blog which you can read yourself, even before the Argus Leader editorial. Go read it all in the Argus' dead tree edition on page 3B. Otherwise, as Representative Engels noted, you can read his comments here on this website.

From the AP: Democratic Sen. Tim Johnson was in critical condition early Thursday and recovering from surgery. and... A person in the hospital's media relations office, who declined to be identified by name, said George Washington University Hospital was preparing to announce that Johnson's condition was critical. Read it all here .

Latest report on Senator Johnson from CNN as noted on KELOland.com: Senator Johnson Suffers Health Emergency Two Democratic sources tell CNN that Senator Tim Johnson was undergoing brain surgery Wednesday night at George Washington University Hospital. The senator was taken to the hospital Wednesday for stroke-like symptoms, but his Communications Director Julieanne Fischer tells CNN, Johnson did not suffer a stroke or heart attack. Read it all on KELO here.

See MSNBC: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16191212/ Apparently, Johnson's spokesman is saying it might not be a stroke. More to come.