The First SDWC Wiener Award Recipient: State Representative Tom Van Norman
You all know what a wiener is, don’t you?
It’s a conglomeration of animal flesh which has been pulverized, liquefied, and reconstituted into something resembling the likeness of meat as contained within the thin sausage skin which give it form. Yes, you can try to make a meal of them. But after a too much wiener ingestion, their lack of nutrition and your own personal gag reflex will cause you to realize that you can’t make them your main source of sustenance. Because they’re not “real meat.” Just a simulacrum of something with substance.
The idea for this award came to me this morning after reading an article in the Argus which I had commented on before, except I touched on the earlier update which was now a more fully developed story in print.
What did I see which gave me cause to revisit it? I saw State Representative Tom Van Norman pissing all over a nice gesture of education directed at his own constituents:
A Minneapolis lawyer enrolled in the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe wants young Native Americans in South Dakota to grow up involved in politics and public service.
and…
One goal of the Reifel scholarship is to encourage young Lakotas to become active Republicans, LeBeau said, but “if they get interested in politics and public service in any way, that’s a good thing for them and for the state.” (my emphasis - pp)
Rep. Tom Van Norman, D-Eagle Butte, says he admires LeBeau for being willing to get involved but doubts significant shifts in the Democrats’ traditional strength in Indian Country.
“And maybe if he’s involved, he could focus on career skills or job skills for young people, not partisan issues,” Van Norman said. (again, my emphasis - pp)
Read it all here. Encouraging an interest in politics is partisan? Great. That’s just great. Because it’s not how he (as a Democrat would do it) it’s painted as less than the noble act it was.
Unfortunately, this attitude is all too familiar among Democrats. Remember Dale Hargens and how he jumped for joy over the Sanford gift at Homestake?
House Democratic Leader Dale Hargens of Miller questioned the need for facilities to be named after Sanford, as had been done for the University of South Dakota’s medical school.
“If he wants to spread his money around the state, that’s fine,” he said. “Most of us will settle for our names in granite in the cemetery.”
(As it was related in my post as quoted from the Argus Leader.) That one isn’t going to come back to haunt him any.
Not.
I noted at the time Hargens made his backhanded slap at Denny Sanford, I thought “What an @$$****.”
But if you think about it, he wasn’t being an @$$****, he was being a big wiener - a mushy conglomeration of processed meat within a thin skin pretending to be something of substance. A perfect description of what State Representative Tom Van Norman is doing in today’s Argus.
So Representative Van Norman, for your act of publicly urinating on an act of generosity intended to instill an interest in politics and public service for kids in your district who might not otherwise have the opportunity, shame on you for being named the first recipient of the SDWC Weiner Award.
The only thing I want to know now is where I can send a check to support Reid’s good works. Because he deserves support in his efforts to encourage interest in the process. Much more than he’s getting from Tom.
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Comments
BF, twice in a single post among 2500 posts is frequent? What are you reading?
Otherwise, I think Ted deserves much more than a mild scolding (which this is).
If I voiced what I really think Ted deserves for the things he’s already admitted to, I’d probably sound barbaric.
No, PP, twice in a single post where you’re trying to disclaim what you mean by weiner.
Besides I was just pulling your…um…leg, man.
BTW, are you now going to “out” everyone who posts here anonymously from now on, or just me? I guess by now you know that I don’t care, but some people might, you know? BF
I suppose I shouldn’t post this but who could resist?
A guy everyone calls “PP” proposes a contest whereby everyone in SD politics is subject to being designated a “wiener”. Then he talks about pissing and moaning and who knows what elses. I’m sorry, but that’s just too much for words. What a dick. PP is the obvoius recipiwnt of the first award, IMO, regatdless (because hey, this is the internet… who says he gets to decide?
I can see this post going off at right angles. Simply put, a person wants to do some good for Indian youth and get them interested in politics and hopefully thereby better their living conditions, and because he’s a Republican instead of a Democrat, the idea gets slammed by the Dem congressman.
I read this story earlier and thought great. Actually I didn’t know if the guy sponsoring the thing was a Dem or Rep, just that it was a great thing to do for the Indian youth.
As a Republican, I would naturally hope that the kids learn there are other ideas out there than the Dem ideas that obviously are not working on the reservations. But if the kids still prefer Dem ideas, they are at least getting exposed to the idea that they can better their own situation, and that is GREAT.
Get back on topic, posters. The above comments aren’t worthy of the gesture this man is making.
5. lay off PP, he’s twice the man you’ll ever be and can write about whatever he wants on his own internet.
and if he starts outing all anon posters then well he’ll kill his web
Do you really think that a scholarship to the teen Republican camp is more useful to Native youth than job training, or college scholarships? Really?
Anna -
it’s what Reid WANTED to do, and what he COULD do with what money he had. If it inspires one kid out of a dozen to be interested in government, it was money well spent.
If you think job training, or college scholarships would be great - I agree entirely. I’ll certainly applaud you when you get your checkbook out to make it happen.
What Reid is doing might not be perfect, but he’s DOING something.
And in my book, he deserve praise for it.
3. I’m not PP and I know who you are almost every time, BF. I’m the one who guessed correctly about you before, and I knew you were the first post. You have a certain way of saying things that is pretty much unmistakeable, so you might as well keep signing your name, because if PP doesn’t “out” you, I can. Ha.
10. I think that’s cool of you. It means you are an astute reader. I admire people who can do that. Kudos.
9: I’m pretty sure you don’t donate lavish sums of money to help Native American children either. The thing is, TVN does do those things. So I don’t get why he’s a ‘wiener.’ I think he has the perfect right to criticize.
12. OMG. You used the term “astute” to describe my ability to “out” you…even though I’m also a wingnut, according to you (I voted for HB1215 and count Bill and Peggy Napoli as friends of mine). OMG. An astute wingnut! Guess you’ll take it back now…not that I care.
13. Hey, smart is smart. Wingnut doesn’t mean stupid. Lots of radicals and reactionaries are intelligent. What do you want me to take back, BTW? Are you ashamed of who your friends are?
So, it’s Hebrew National Van Norman now?? No, he’s not kosher. It must be Oscar Meyer Van Norman or maybe Ballpark Van Norman. But does he plump when you cook ‘em?
Tom is your typical democrat. Spew venom and pessimism. Own defeat. Hate America and all that has made our country the greatest in the history of mankind.
Would it be crass to suggest that Tom comes from a sovereign nation where they have free rein to continue to try to promote the agenda that has failed them for decades?
PP, calling Tom Van Norman a weiner is an insult to all the weiners in the world.
Everybody looking at this from the outside, can’t see the basis for Tom Van Norman’s comments.
Tom Van Norman lives on the reservation. He deals with people there every day, represents them the way they want to be represented, and helps them every way he can. He’s not there indoctrinating them, he’s helping them with things they need and want.
Along comes a person from Minneapolis who is connected by tribal membership, but couldn’t be any farther removed from people on the reservation - economically, politically, socially - he’s not walking in their shoes. Instead of helping them with what they want and need, as Van Norman is, the outsider tells them that what they really need is a political indoctrination program. Then he goes home to Minneapolis.
It reminds me of the 1988 visit of VP GHW Bush to Sioux Falls as he campaigned for President. I was there at the Holiday Inn when a Native American man stood up and pleaded with him to bring jobs. That man was immediately removed from the room by secret service agents. Bush never referred to the man’s comment for the rest of his time there - just pretended it didn’t happen. Bush never did visit a reservation in SD as our last 2 Democratic Presidents have done.
What Tom Van Norman said was what everybody in Eagle Butte is probably thinking. Next time you fly in from Minneapolis or DC or wherever - just show us a little concern and we’ll decide for ourselves how to think.
So what if the last 2 dems visited the reservation? What’s more important: a visit or a free market that will help cure some of the economic problemson the res?
Tell me why many American corporations won’t do business on the res? Well: because reservations refuse to honor contracts and stiff the company for the work done. Tribes refuse to set up legitimate tribal courts that will fairly adjudicate legal issues. Thus causing instability in the system and scaring off business, i.e. jobs.
Also, what jobs did Tommy D bring to the res? A government health center? So what. Indian reservations need true economic reform. One way to do that is to create new thinking children who will go outside of the current way of Indian thinking and bring those ideas back home to the reservation.
The liberals, including Tommy D, didn’t do anything for these alleged soveriegn nations, who still want subsidies from a federal government they despise and detest and do not recognize.
We ought to do what Jesse Ventura said, give Indian reservations true soveriegnty which means cutting the funding ties as well.
Further, the Lakota tribes could end their financial problems forever by agreeing to forgo claims on the black hills, which they are never getting back, and agreeing to the terms of the land settlement offered to them in the 1980 US Supreme Court case in which they were offered 100 million plus interest, which 20 years later would more than 1 billion dollars.
1 billion per lakota tribe would be over 100 million per reservation.
We won’t solve tribal problems here today, however Ried should be congratulated for helping bring new ideas to the tribal areas and Van Norman should be scolded for continuing to embrace a broken philosophy that has led tribes to where they are today.
What the last commenter said about legal systems on the reservation and how businesses view their legal systems is true.
What the last commenter fails to understand is that people want to be listened to - not talked at. But here’s your approach: First, you’ll tell them what their problems are. Second, you have all of the solutions, right? If those darned tribes would just do what you say? Third, if they won’t do what you say then you’ll make them!
If you really want Indians to prosper, that’s not how to do it.
Just to be clear, “One goal of the Reifel scholarship is to encourage young Lakotas to become active Republicans, LeBeau said.”
This isn’t some general “get involved with politics” program. This is a Republican recruitment program.
21. So what? The present day programs etc aren’t working. How could a fresh approach or fresh ideas harm anything? IMO they should be welcome. Continuing to give handouts is not the answer, except to Dems. Giving the reservation a hand up instead of a hand out would go a long ways to imrpoving their lives.
And what post 19 said is right on. 20, how would you change things so that businesses are able operate successfully on the reservations? How would you ensure a productive work force? How would you change the legal system to make people accountable both on and off the reservations?
If the Indians want to remain a separate nation within a nation with their own laws etc, then IMO they should forgo all aid and assistance from the federal gov’t. I’ll bet they would never agree to that. So then they should agree to be part of this nation, and then they just might get a little of their pride and self-esteem back.
22: They wouldn’t agree to that and they shouldn’t. Our government signed treaties with them guaranteeing all the “handouts” they received. If you don’t like that, move out of South Dakota and cede whatever land you own to the Native Americans.
Tigerman, you didn’t read my post at 20 did you - because you’re just repeating what 19 said.
You have a group of people who collectively and individually have been killed, pushed around, lied to and cheated by government for 175 years which still continues today with the mismanaged BIA trust funds. (Don’t even try to dispute this).
The questions you ask demonstrate that you just don’t get it. The question should not be how I would impose my will upon the reservations and their people, but how can we can engage them and assist them in bringing about change. We need to listen more and talk less.
Agreed that change needs to come to the reservations. The status quo isn’t working and has destroyed a once proud people. So look outside the box for some answers.
I have a relative who worked with businesses trying to operate on the reservation. They failed because of the reasons cited above plus the fact that the Native Americans aren’t always a reliable work force. And don’t dare say I’m biased; I’m not. Ask employers on the reservation and elsewhere (even Native American employers) about this. Example, they hire more than needed in order to ensure the needed number show up each day.
Handouts do destroy self-esteem, work ethic, etc. Why not end the reservation system and bring Native Americans to a par with other Americans legal-wise?
If there isn’t a job for them on the reservation, what is stopping them from moving where a job is? Most people do not get to live where they want; they live where they can find employment and support their families. This is what develops feelings of self-worth, pride, etc.
It’s time to stop blaming Native American problems on actions from 200 or so years ago. It’s time to realize they are true Americans equal with the rest the races in this great land and to treat them as such. That would solve a lot of the problems. Just maybe giving them responsibility would be better than any handout they could receive.
A little free therapy.
What with your frequent references to urination, piss, etc. PP, one could easily take your “weiner” metaphor in a different context (as in “hand on weiner”… remember that?). Be careful what you wish for, Hot Dog. There are those who might think you’re just chokin’ the old Republican gopher with this idea.
Besides, Klaudt is a much better first candidate for it, don’t you think?