Taped from Vermillion – It’s South Dakota Focus!, and other miscellany
This year, I had an opportunity come up again that I had to pass on last year because of work obligations – I got to be part of the South Dakota Focus panel to talk about the issues that made 2007 the Best Year ever! (YEAH!)
It was interesting, and certainly a lesson. Todd Epp, Myself, Greg Belfrage, Carson Walker from the AP and Bill Harlan from the Rapid City Journal were empaneled for an examination of this year’s issues, as well as a hint of what this next year has to bring.
It was taped for broadcast this next Thursday on South Dakota Public Television, so please be sure to watch. (I just hope Todd’s and my “shout out” to the prince of the ozarks isn’t cut.). Big thanks to Richard Muller and Stephanie Rissler at public television for everything.
Speaking of Sibby, I see he continues to refuse to answer questions this morning, but does manage to man up and take a shot at my wife. (Bravo, tough guy.) Steve, I don’t think you want to do that. Bob Newland is still stinging from the last time she commented.
Revisiting an old topic, Tim Gebhart at a Progressive on the Prairie is still down because his webhost is dragging out the ten count as long as possible. I feel for him, since usually that’s my website. Watch for Tim to be back on the air as soon as he gets his site rebuilt elsewhere. (And that’s a good reminder to me to backup).
Always one of our favorite subjects, Stan Adelstein decided to make a visit to the SDWC last night and left a tribute to Dwight Adams under the post memorializing Dwight’s contributions to the GOP. Even though a lengthy portion ended up talking about himself. (psst Stan – Dwight never sent out flyers calling fellow Republicans wingnuts – an example you should follow).
The Governor has proposed a few cuts to the Highway Patrol in his upcoming budget, and it’s former director, State Senator Gene Abdallah isn’t taking it sitting down. According to the Argus Leader:
The cut, which lawmakers peg at $2 million, was part of the governor’s 2009 proposed budget. One state senator predicted Wednesday that the cut won’t stand when lawmakers convene in January.
“I don’t know why he would cut public safety when we’ve got the third-worst record of DUIs in the country,” said Sen. Gene Abdallah, R-Sioux Falls.”It’s senseless.”
Abdallah, who headed the patrol from 1995 to 2000, said the cuts would severely affect highway safety. DUI enforcement would suffer, and there probably would be fewer troopers on the road to respond to accidents or weather emergencies.
Read that all here. Senator’s Heidepreim and Jerstad also ring in on it as well.
And at the same time State Representative Mark Kirkeby is talking about closing a state University, the Rapid City Journal is running a poll to determine which one should be on the chopping block. Watch out Madison – DSU is currently in the lead at 57%:
| If the state considers closing a university, which would be your choice? | ||
| Black Hills State University | (67 Votes, 9%) | |
| Dakota State University | (425 Votes, 57%) | |
| Northern State University | (151 Votes, 20%) | |
| South Dakota School of Mines & Technology | (39 Votes, 5%) | |
| South Dakota State University | (24 Votes, 3%) | |
| University of South Dakota | (44 Votes, 6%) | |
| Total Votes: 750 | ||
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Comments
The Argus story today follows up on Mercer’s dead-tree (newspaper) column last weekend which detailed the highway patrol cuts (and Mercer’s column was following up on his own story from a week ago detailing the overall cuts and changes DOT is making including the HP cut).
Mark Kirkeby is a scientific curiosity. He is able to maintain an upright posture, eyes open and mouth running continuously with a total vacuum between his ears.
PP, I gotta tell ya, it’s pretty funny to hear you whine about Stan being critical of extremist points of view while you wail away at Sibby, CAC and Newland for being extremists. You know what they say, dude. “One man’s ceiling is another man’s floor.” Peace my brother.
This truly is batshit crazy from the Sibster:
“It should make conservatives wonder why Pat Powers is so sensitive about one who helps the conservative cause understand its enemy…the secular humanist movement. Perhaps it is because his livelihood includes his wife’s public education participation in the secular humanist movement.”
Clearly, Steve is off his meds again. These aren’t rants as much as pitiful cries for help.
Let’s shut down all state campuses except the School of Mines, SDSU and the Sioux Falls campus. Pull the curriculum out of USD and transport it to the hospital campuses and the rest in the Morrell’s facility. Give Smithfield 10 minutes to leave town before you send in the Guard.
Problems solved. Merry Christmas to all, and to Sibby, a thorough and fast-acting laxative.
BF – I’ve got to disagree with you on a couple of points. Sibby and the SDCAC and Stan are all entitled to their views. I’ve never said that they aren’t. The problem I have is their attempts to split the party and/or defeat Republicans.
It’s mainly about The Prince of the Ozarks and Stan as they both try to split the GOP and judge who is a fit republican and who is not. I do recall that before the end of the 2006 session, Stan (and his ego) called a few of his fellow Republican Senators extremists who should be thrown out of office.
And he’s certainly tried to defeat those he has and now wants to serve again with. As far as I’m concerned, no thanks. Fool me once…
In both instances, their Hubris has them self imposed as judge of some goofy standard of fitness. And I have a problem with that.
Stan crusaded against those he thought unfit, as Sibby does. And adding insult to injury, when Stan was found to not represent what the electorate of his party wanted, he turned traitor.
Newland’s problem is that he wants to legalize drugs, and anyone who disagrees is a heretic. (The rest of us call people like that zealots).
8. So you’re trying to tell me you’re being reasonable about this, and not obsessive?
Ok.
Whatever you say, partner.
Like I said, it’s pretty funny…
I’m just sayin’.
“In both instances, their Hubris has them self imposed as judge of some goofy standard of fitness.”
and
“[Stan] certainly tried to defeat those he has and now wants to serve again with. As far as I’m concerned, no thanks.”
Those sentences are right next to each other. Can’t you see even a little irony in that?
I don’t disagree with your right to support who you want to support, but it’s pretty clear you are imposing a “standard of fitness” based upon Stan “turning traitor,” and Sibby’s personal attacks. You have a pretty clear idea of who should, and should not be welcomed as a Republican. If Stan and his ilk want to work with the party, you tell them “no thanks” based upon their past transgressions. They are currently a part of the party, you want them to leave. That is the precise definition of creating a division in the party.
Bill Janklow said some awfully nice things about Tom Daschle, and has said some awfully not nice things about Larry Pressler and Jim Abdnor. Tony Dean has been very vocal of his support of Tim Johnosn. Are they traitors?
Rob Regier and Leslee Unruh have opposed Republicans that didn’t meet particular criteria on particular issues. In some cases, they supported Democrats and opposed certain Republicans who disagreed with them on abortion issues. Are they trying to divide the party?
The problem, Pat, is that many of the things you say about Stan and Sibby are applicable to you. You just see yourself differently and think that the same kinds of rules shouldn’t apply (hubris?). The things you say sound good, but your “rules” are fudgible,depending on who you’re talking about. Tony Dean (a personal friend) can be forgiven because he’s served the party for a long time, even though has more recently supported Democrats. Stan has obviously served the party for a very long time in a variety of capacities, but in your mind he can never be forgiven for recently supporting Democrats.
Sibby is a wingnut who divides the party because he deems some Republicans too liberal. When you deem Stan and the Mainstreamers as too liberal, you’re not dividng the party, you’re standing up for “principle.” When Rob or Leslee attack pro-choice Republicans, that’s fine because it’s based on “principle.”
In the end, you do exactly what you accuse the others of doing — you have applied a standard of fitness, one that is so aribtrarily applied that it can only be considered goofy.
1 – PP, really just stop talking about Sibby at all.
2 – I liked this part of the RCJ story on Kirkeby in particular: “Randall Morris of Spearfish, who has served on the Board of Regents for six years, said that the regents have discussed consolidations and eliminating duplication… The most pronounced duplications of service in the university system, Morris said, were in engineering programs at South Dakota State University in Brookings and the School of Mines in Rapid City. ‘I’m not sure Mark wants to open that door, Morris said.”
That is called a “shot accross the bow.”
#11 again. Sorry, I answered my own question by googling this. It is absolutely absurd to think that the SD Republican parties “enemy” is non-Christian, or atheist, or agnostic, party members. It would appear to me that the SD Republican parties biggest threat is exactly that which Sibson thinks is its greatest support. Religion has a strong place in the Republican party, but it certainly doesn’t represent everyone and it certainly should not be the greatest driver of policy. Less bureacracy, fair taxation, less government interference, that is the Republican party I belong to and the wing of the party I will continue to support.
Sorry for being off topic. But I need to clear something up. There was a recent post about abortion in which the words fetus sandwich eaters was used. My name was at the bottom of this post. I happen to agree with quite a bit of the post , BUT, The post was not mine. I am not suprised that some of you Bloggers that think you are the smartest people in the world are so gullible. The purpose of blogs is to allow free and open discussion without fear of personal attacks. Therefore it is okay, no, encouraged to use fake names. anonymous, or even another persons name. WHY would anyone believe any name is correct? Since you so quickly jumped to the conclusion I wrote the post, what will be your response when someone posts in your name and you get trashed for a post that is not yours? I will take my lumps for my own comments, I don’t need others to help me with posts that are not mine. So all you Napoli haters lighten up I will give you more reasons to hate me later.
Sib claiming to be a conservative in many respects. But it is secondary to his acting like a lunatic.
I commented long ago that PP views himself as arbiter of good and bad republicans, and apparently still does. Sib does also, he’s just way more radical.
Sib taking a shot at Mrs. PP is pathetic but does it surprise anybody. He and the CAC are big on getting school vouchers so the homeschoolers can have the guvmit pay for them to go to the Rush Limbaugh Institute and Prepatory School – Go Thumpers!
By the way Sib, I never knew your employer had so many liberal, secular and humanistic tendancies.
http://www.toshiba.co.jp/csr/en/index.htm
How do you stand it?
Anon, when I refer to Stan it is done so specifically, not for “his ilk,” as you’ve stated.
And when I say “As far as I’m concerned, no thanks,” that is with regards to any support I’d lend him (and encourage others to do), not with regard to whether or not I think he deserves to be a Republican. Last time I checked, it’s not up to me.
Part of the differentiation between my criticism of Stan and say someone like Tony, is that Tony is a private citizen, and not anyone with a relationship with the GOP at the time he supported Johnson.
The key difference is when Stan was urging his fellow GOP Senators be thrown out of office, calling others wing nuts, etcetera, Stan was a) an elected Republican officeholder, or b) announced his intentions to run as a candidate. My grumpiness is that he now wants the support of GOP after crapping all over them. It’s hard enough to elect the candidates of your party, without one of your own making it tougher.
(Same criticism I had for former State Party Chair Randy Frederick and his “do-not-help” list, btw)
Frankly, you’re chastising me, and saying I should keep up and pass judgment on everyone. And then go back in history and do the same. Guess what – that’s not my place. And frankly, I have no interest in being the GOP judge.
Obviously you haven’t read this website from earlier times, because you’ve missed many of the points I’ve made in my questioning and criticism of both the Mainstream Moderates and the SDCAC – they are both party dividers in a time when we need to work towards the common goal of electing Republicans.
My concern is, and always has been, in electing Republicans, period. Do I have those who’s views I prefer? Absolutely, yes. But that doesn’t mean that I won’t support those I disagree with on some issues at the time of the general election.
At the very least, once the party has made their choice at the primary, I’m not going to work towards their defeat if my guy didn’t win.
I don’t speak for anyone but myself, but you will note that I don’t use terms such as “wing nuts” and “extremists” in referring to fellow Republicans, because I don’t think that help the cause from either side of the ideological coin.
You might try to paint me with the same brush as others who might use those terms, but in doing so, you’re wrong.
And Bill – I did take that post down as soon as I heard about it last night. If I can identify who did it, I’ll let you know.
Was Kirkeby one of the sheep who voted to create a seventh university in Sioux Falls, which is less than one hour away from three state universities?
15. From the Toshiba Social Contribution 2007 report – Toshiba Group’s management is grounded in three principles: “respect people,” “create value,” and “contribute to society.”
Sounds just like Sibby…
Governor William Napoli would shut down these stupid state colleges. Let the private sector suck up the cost. Also fire that jackass in charge of the Bored of Regents, Tad Perry. He’s a double-dipper getting his retirement plus full salary from state government and that guy can think new ways to bankrupt our state faster than all the Democrats in the legislature.
Let’s pay as we go in South Dakota, and I don’t mean go broke. Keep the money in the taxpayers pockets and send those state-financed smarty-pants secular humanist professors packin’ to get a real job.
Hey Bill, why don’t you just announce today your in it to win it for governor!!!!
I went to the Journal to vote to close The University of South Dakota at Sioux Falls, but they didn’t give that option. I didn’t vote, as I believe each of the other universities service a niche or a geographic section of the state. I don’t remember Kirkeby speaking out about the newest university in the Sioux Falls. This sounds a little too late.
To Old Coot #20
Let’s look at some numbers since you bring up an interesting point.
In FY 2006 Tad Perry was making $191,572
In FY 2008 he was making $201,151
In FY 2009 in the governors proposed budget Tad Perry is making over $310,000.
Is this a good investment of the States Resources? Who else gets a $110,000 pay raise in one year on our tax dollars.
So, will all of you haters apologize to Napoli now that you know he was not the author of the fetus sandwich remark? I’m guessing that you won’t.
Tad Perry isn’t worth $31,000. What has this guy accomplished other than another university that doesn’t yet call itself a university? The Governor is so inept it is simply pathetic. I am absolutely disgusted by the facts set forth by 22.
23. The person who posted under Napoi’s name should apologize to him — and then turn himself in to the authorities for criminal identity theft. And if Napoli ever finds out who did it he should sue them. And any reader here who thinks the phrase “fetus sandwich eater” is funny should probably get medical help.
There should be no talk of closing any university because the traditional universities serve a completely different group of people. I can tell you that any mention of that was and will be poo-pooed.
For example, the SF university center serves mostly non-traditional students and they don’t have dorms, sports teams etc. The discussion was never which one will be closed first but the legislature supported the SF center with the understanding that it would never morph into a traditional university. Multiple studies confirm that we need a better educated work force that mostly includes people over 25. This need was very clear in SF where there is a huge need for more educated workers.
Kirkeby can offer the study but we all know studies are a joke and a waste of time.
26.
Sioux Falls already had colleges and was within one hour of almost all of the resources of the existing university system. The University of South Dakota at Sioux Falls was an unnecessary and expensive political ploy at the expense of not only the other universities and colleges of the state but also all of us taxpayers.
Anoymous @10 Wrote: “Tony Dean (a personal friend) can be forgiven because he’s served the party for a long time, even though has more recently supported Democrats.”
Please name the other Dems you believe I have supported.
I have supported Lee Shoenbeck and Steve Kitrby and Walt Miller in the Past.
Tom Daschle asked for my help, and I turned him down. Still, like Janklow, I like Tom and think he served us well.
And I have been effusive in my praise of John thune in recent months because he has completely turned around his conservation voting record.
So when the going gets tough, Steve Sibson picks on women? I pity his wife. We can only pray she can escape back to the country he purchased her from.