Governor Kristi Noem has an op-ed on the Federalist website in which she lays out her vision on what the Republican Party needs to do moving forward:
Republicans got our butts kicked in Georgia on Tuesday. A 33-year-old with no accomplishments and a smooth-talking preacher wiped the floor with us. The idea that Georgia, of all places, could elect two communists to the United States Senate was ridiculous.
Our country has changed. We have failed to educate generations of our children about what makes America unique. Few, if any of them, have been taught the history of our decades-long fight to defeat communism. Meanwhile, the left’s indoctrination takes place every day with kids all across America from the time they walk into a school at age 5 to the time they graduate college at 22.
PIERRE, S.D. – Today, Governor Kristi Noem signed an executive order pertaining to the Amendment A litigation.
Executive Order 2021-02 ratifies the ongoing litigation regarding Amendment A, brought by plaintiffs Colonel Rick Miller, Superintendent of the South Dakota Highway Patrol, and Kevin Thom, Pennington County Sherriff.
Several lawmakers were identified as participating in the protests at the US Capitol, with at least one breaching the building:
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A West Virginia lawmaker who filmed himself and supporters of President Donald Trump storming into the U.S. Capitol is facing bipartisan calls for his resignation as federal prosecutors step up their pursuit of violent perpetrators.
State Del. Derrick Evans was among lawmakers from at least seven states who traveled to Washington, D.C., for demonstrations rooted in the baseless conspiracy theory that Democrat Joe Biden stole the presidential election. Wearing a helmet, Evans ultimately joined a screaming mob as it pushed its way into the Capitol building, and livestreamed himself joyfully strolling inside.
A tenured professor at the University of South Dakota School of Law, Thomas Simmons concentrates on trusts, estate administration, and the estate tax. Prior to joining the legal academy, he was a partner with the law firm of Gunderson, Palmer, Nelson & Ashmore, LLP
Released in November, The Reagans is a four-part documentary produced by Showtime. It is comprised of film clips of President Reagan and others close to him along with an assortment of journalists, activists, biographers, and former Reagan aides. The President’s son Ron Reagan Jr., journalist Lesley Stahl, and attorney Maya Wiley get the most screen time. They heap blistering and often unfair criticism upon President Reagan. Other interviewees, such as George Will, James Baker, and Robert McFarland receive less screen time, but also contribute their perspectives.
The younger followers of Dakota War College (by which I mean the under-40 crowd) who do not recognize names like Don Regan, Robert McFarlane, Ed Rollins, and George Shultz (all Reagan appointees or advisors) will be enriched by studying this film. It’s a slick production, accessible, and addictively binge-worthy, clocking in at under four hours in total running time.
Make no mistake. This is a thoroughly biased production which sets out to paint a very unflattering portrait of Ronald and Nancy Reagan. A number of the film’s jabs do land solid punches on the deficiencies of Reagan’s legacy. One would be surprised if any human being who served two terms as Governor and two as President didn’t commit a few blunders. Some of them serious.
Within the first three minutes of the first episode (“The Hollywood Myth Machine”), we hear three different interview subjects proclaiming (1) that Reagan acknowledged that “if you cannot be a good actor, you cannot be a good president,” (2) that Reagan “was kind of a strange fellow to be President of the United States,” and (3) that his own cabinet had to “protect him from himself.” The last of those three quotes comes from General Colin Powell. So, do not expect a nuanced assessment of Reagan’s accomplishments. At least the film broadcasts its intentions right from the start.
Still, I recommend this film – even to those who hold Reagan in high regard. It’s instructive to see where the liberal attacks can score a few points and where they’re simply clawing at air. There is, for example, an unsupported assertion ribboning through the quartet of episodes that the claim that “government is part of the problem and not part of the solution” is not only a falsehood in whatever context it might appear within, but a fantastic myth – an unadulterated lie. There is another dishonest assertion that every time a conservative makes reference to local empowerment or state’s rights, it is simply code for diluting civil rights protections (i.e., “dog whistle politics”).
The film’s structure also contains a dishonesty of its own. In the first half or so, it portrays Nancy Reagan as shrewd and caring, an essential and positive component of Reagan’s political achievements – indeed, of Reagan himself. In the second half or so, the supplied narrative turns on her. It viciously vilifies her for relative trivialities like her loaned designer dresses and her selection of expensive White House place settings. The allegations of governance by astrology horoscopes, however, are more serious. If you’re unfamiliar with these allegations, then this documentary is a decent starting point.
Although the film is upsetting in several respects, it’s refreshing to see the kind of serious emphasis that was once placed on fiscal conservatism. It’s inspiring to see Reagan speaking honestly about the proper role of government. But ultimately, the film’s agenda renders its narrative incomplete and misleading.
Still, for the documentary viewer with his or her thinking cap firmly in place, The Reagans presents an opportunity to consider, in a condensed format, a summary of Reagan’s alleged shortcomings. Even within a framework which lambasts Ronald Reagan, the man’s warmth, empathy, and genuine love for his country are infectious. It’s a productive enterprise to reflect on what he accomplished for the United States.
Thomas E. Simmons
University of South Dakota School of Law
Vermillion, SD
All of the views and opinions Professor Simmons expresses here on are his as an individual and do not reflect the views of the Board of Regents, the University of South Dakota, its School of Law, their employees, faculty or administrators. The foregoing editorial represents only his views as a private citizen.
Have you ever seen something that you have difficulty putting in words a sense of something …being askew? The Stop the Steal rally in Sioux Falls last Saturday was unlike anything I’d ever seen before in politics over the past 30 some years.
As far as I can tell, the organizers of last Saturday’s event in Sioux Falls don’t have any ties to the SDGOP organization. According to the facebook page, there were just a few people who supported Trump and they organized the rally on their own.
This was a group gathered together with the notion that in some states there may have been some issues with balloting. (And, ok, that notion could be possible, but that’s really up to those individual states to police because we shouldn’t federalize our elections).
So here was this rally in Sioux Falls rallying over alleged balloting inconsistencies several states away.. with a paramilitary group speaking and providing security for the speakers at the stage.
I’ve been to a lot of political events in the last 30 years, and I can’t say that I’ve ever experienced one in Pierre, Sioux Falls, Rapid City or elsewhere where they felt the need to have an armed paramilitary force ring the speaker for security reasons for an outside gathering in a park bandshell in January.
It’s one of those things you look at… and go “what the **** is going on?” (insert your favorite declarative expression here)
At the political events I’ve attended, there have been plenty of pro-Second Amendment people. Some with guns, and on occasion, you’ll see a person is open carrying, but no big deal. It’s South Dakota, and fairly common. But never before have I been aware of a local political event where someone felt the need for security like this, as provided by “The Proud Boys,” who have been accused of promoting and engaging in political violence.
It’s not exactly a South Dakota nice image.
I mean, what if someone had shown up and started shouting or being a jerk? Would they have drawn on them? Nevermind that the local police were on the scene, so it’s not as if an official response was remote and untimely if someone was going to be a pain in the rear.
The organizers in the center certainly had no problem affiliating themselves with the Proud Boys, as you will note from the picture above with a few of them flashing a certain hand gesture. However, while these organizers were ok with it, I don’t think any Republicans want that kind of image affiliated with the party, and I don’t think many local county GOP groups in Huron, Mobridge or Pukwana are interested in having a paramilitary group affiliated with them (as Antifa groups associate with the left) show up and ring the speaker at their dinners.
In the realm of politics, I believe there are 20% who are always with you, 20% who will never support you, making it your job to convince the 60% in the middle that you provide better leadership than the other person or group. So, when there’s a rally with that kind of imagery, it might make it more challenging to convince that 60% that you share their beliefs and gain their trust to lead South Dakota. You actually have to convince the soccer moms and state workers to vote for you along with the local gun club members.
I have to believe that the need for this kind of thing in a Sioux Falls bandshell is as much an aberration as the attack on the US Capitol was yesterday.
So I’m sitting in the Dr’s office today waiting for a regular checkup when I get a text from Gideon Oakes, chair of the Libertarian Party. In the note, Gideon wants to clarify:
“To be 100% clear, the Libertarian Party is the party of peace, and of principle. To join the national party, one must sign a pledge not to use force to achieve their political or social goals. The non-aggression principle is what binds all Libertarians together, and it is what drives our decisions and policy directives.”
And with that caveat, I question why he’s reaching out, and my thoughts immediately go to their communications director/ former PUC candidate Devin Saxon, or their East River Regional Coordinator/former Senate & momentary Gubernatorial candidate CJ Abernathey.
Because, of course. Getting back to my desk, I see..
The Libertarian Party’s recent PUC Candidate Devin Saxon disagreeing with his national party, and agreeing with a nut who thinks there a constitutional right to overthrow the government. And Libertarian Party’s “East River Regional Coordinator” being equally nutty and claiming that “the government started the violence” and that all of our elected officials should be charged with war crimes.
Brought to you by at least part of the Libertarian Party.
Despite writing a letter to our federal delegation over their insistence that there must be some sort of issue with the November election, a couple of our State Representatives seemed a bit behind yesterday after the chaos at the US Capitol:
On Wednesday, reached by Forum News Service, the letter’s lead author, Rep. Elizabeth May of Kyle, said she condemned the mob violence in Washington, D.C. Pushed whether Congress should certify the Electoral College results today, something lawmakers say they intend to do, May demurred.
“Well, I’m not up-to-date,” May said. “I can’t make a comment on that. But the process needs to work its way through.”
South Dakota’s outgoing Speaker of the House Steven Haugaard, a Sioux Falls Republican who signed the letter and attended a protest airing election falsehoods in Sioux Falls over the weekend, was also reached by Forum News Service but declined any comment.
“I really haven’t followed the news enough to know what’s going on there,” Haugaard said. “I heard something about some issue in Washington. But not enough to make a comment.”
According to reporting from the Washington Post, when the Senate Chambers were being evacuated Wednesday, "Republican Sens. Ben Sasse of Nebraska and Mike Rounds of South Dakota helped parliamentarians grab the election certificates and take them to a secure location."
