Open and Civil Discourse
By: Gov. Larry Rhoden
September 12, 2025

Decades before the American Revolution, Benjamin Franklin wrote, “Without freedom of thought, there can be no such thing as wisdom; and no such thing as public liberty, without freedom of speech.”

Our Founding Fathers believed so strongly in civil and open public discourse that they put freedom of speech in the First Amendment. They knew that our American republic could only function if people openly shared their beliefs and the reason for those beliefs – and that had to happen at all levels of society, from statehouses and the U.S. Capitol to individual conversations between friends, family, and neighbors.

Recently here in South Dakota, we embarked on a process rooted in civil and open public discourse. When the previous prison plan failed during the legislative session, I started a prison task force to build consensus on this issue. I knew that the Legislature was very divided on the subject, so I included an even number of supporters and opponents of the original plan, as well as both Republicans and Democrats.

I challenged the task force to answer three questions: 1) Do we need a new prison? 2) How big should it be? 3) Where should it go? The task force met four times in open session and took hours of public comment. Through debate and negotiation, they came to unanimous agreement on each of the three questions.

The prison task force proved that civil and open public discourse doesn’t just make for a good process – it makes for good policy.

Just a few days ago, our nation lost one of our greatest advocates and examples of open and civil discourse. Charlie Kirk was a great champion of free speech. He would go onto college campuses, environments where most folks did not agree with him, and offer everyone the opportunity to debate him. He did not attack individuals personally. His answers were focused on his Christian faith, his conservative principles, and his reason and common sense.

We could sure use a lot more Charlie Kirks in the world today.

Charlie Kirk was killed doing what he loved: participating in open and civil discourse. He was shot for the crime of having a difference of opinion and practicing the very thing that the First Amendment protects. We can honor his legacy by continuing to talk to each other and focusing on reason and principle, rather than personal attacks.

As we approach the upcoming special session on the new prison, I hope that everyone takes the time to review the facts and make their decision based on common sense and the principles of public safety and fiscal conservatism. We had a good process, we have a good plan, and we have the money to pay for it. Let’s get it done so that we can focus on rehabilitating people and make our state a better, safer place to live.

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No More Delays: Republicans Are Restoring the Senate
By Sen. John Thune

Last year, the American people gave President Trump a mandate. Like every president before him, President Trump needs a team to help enact his agenda. But unlike his predecessors, President Trump has had to face unprecedented obstruction from Senate Democrats in getting members of his administration confirmed quickly. Republicans are putting an end to Democrats’ antics to ensure the Senate can do its job and President Trump can have his administration at full strength.

It takes more than 1,000 Senate-confirmed officials to fill a president’s administration. To get so many people on the job quickly, the Senate has historically bundled noncontroversial, lower-level nominees in batches and confirmed them by voice vote. But that’s not how things have gone this year. While previous presidents have had a majority of their nominees approved in this more efficient manner, President Trump is the first president on record not to have a single nominee confirmed this way. Because Democrats have refused to speed things up even for nominees who have bipartisan support, the Senate has had to consider all of President Trump’s nominees one at a time.

That stops now. Republicans have taken steps to restore the Senate’s traditional confirmation process so we can get the rest of President Trump’s team in place. What we’ve done is simply codify in Senate rules what was once understood to be standard practice, and that is confirming lower-level nominees expeditiously in batches. It’s an idea that Democrats actually proposed themselves, and it’s a step toward both the Senate and executive branch working more efficiently for the American people.

The status quo is simply untenable. The Senate has been in session longer and has taken more votes in the last eight months than any Senate has at this point since the 1980s. Yet, at our current pace, facing the same Democrat obstruction, there would still be hundreds of vacancies remaining when President Trump’s term ends. Not to mention the fact that the more time the Senate spends on nominations, the less time we have for working on legislation.

Eight months of petty partisanship is long enough. Democrats have broken the confirmation process. Republicans are fixing it, and we’re ensuring that, in the future, duly elected presidents are able to get their teams in place without unnecessary and partisan delays so they, and the Senate, can fulfill their responsibilities to the American people.

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Gov. Rhoden and Colleagues Urge Congress to Protect Nation from Unmanned Aircraft Systems

Governors Commend President Trump for His Action

PIERRE, S.D. – On Wednesday, Governor Larry Rhoden and 30 fellow governors wrote Senate Majority Leader John Thune, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, and Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer urging them to take action against Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) that pose an increased threat against our nation’s critical infrastructure and public safety. You can find the letter here.

“While the use of drones have proven valuable to governments for a wide variety of important purposes…these systems are also increasingly being used for things like espionage, stalking, and other kinds of attacks,” wrote Governor Larry Rhoden and his colleagues. “More must be done to ensure states have the express legal authority and capability to detect and mitigate drone activity over critical infrastructure and major events.”

The Governors specifically urged Congress to:

• Enact legislation that strengthens and clarifies the coordination between federal and state authorities, enhancing states’ capacity to detect and mitigate UAS threats; and
• Grant states explicit legal authority, similar to that of the federal government, to detect and mitigate UAS threats.

“Congress cannot wait for a catastrophic event to occur before taking action. This clarity is essential for effectively safeguarding our citizens and critical infrastructure,” continued Governor Larry Rhoden and his colleagues. “Recent incidents of drone intrusions over sensitive sites and high-profile events underscore the pressing need for robust legislative action to address these vulnerabilities and enhance security.”

Governor Rhoden and his colleagues also commended President Donald J. Trump’s action to address this critical issue through the signing of Executive Order 14305, “Restoring American Airspace Sovereignty,” and Executive Order 14307, “Unleashing American Drone Dominance.”

Governor Rhoden was joined in signing the letter by Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry, North Carolina Governor Josh Stein, Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy, American Samoa Governor Pulaali’i Nikolao Pula, Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs, Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Colorado Governor Jared Polis, Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont, Guam Governor Lou Leon Guerrero, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds, Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear, Maryland Governor Wes Moore, Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey, Missouri Governor Mike Kehoe, Nebraska Governor Jim Pillen, Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy, New York Governor Kathy Hochul, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt, South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee, Utah Governor Spencer Cox, Vermont Governor Phil Scott, U.S. Virgin Islands Governor Albert Bryan, Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin, West Virginia Governor Patrick Morrisey, Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers, and Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon.

 

4% Gubernatorial wannabe Toby Doeden was involved in an incident yesterday at the Northern State University game where a woman allegedly did something which found her charged with simple assault and released.

Yet if we’re to believe his campaign manager, there were threats on his life and the whole thing related to the Charlie Kirk assasination.

Considering the aggressive promotion that the Doeden dumpster-fire team is pushing this story with across social media where he was assaulted by some woman… I think I want to see the police report before commenting further.

From Facebook, is appears that John Marquardt is going to be taking another run at the legislature:

My wife was in DC meeting with our Washington delegation doing good work advocating for community-based services for the disabled this week. (At least, that what one of my Senators is saying!)

This popped up on my social media this afternoon:

Obviously, the Governor took umbrage at the USD Professor’s comments, and noted that the Board of Regents intends to end his employment.   What do you think about it?

Did it go beyond free speech, and cross the line of decorum and discourse that university employees need to publicly exhibit?  Should there be a line that instructors should not cross?  What is the line?

Whether crazy people are out there killing kids, political figures on any part of the spectrum, or those in the media, those are all things it’s entirely appropriate to be concerned about.  It’s ok to say crazy people should not be killing people.  I suspect the way he went about it that has the leader of the state highlighting his removal from employment.

But at what point do we say “this is too far” outside of the freedom of expression that we will allow?

Looks like there’s trouble in Rapid City, as Senator Taffy Howard and the Citizens for Liberty are now at war with a former ally of theirs that they used to be connected at the hip with.   If you’re not familiar with what’s going on, this is all surrounding the development of Liberty Land Amusement Park in Rapid City, and the Tax Increment Financing they were awarded to help make this huge Economic Development Project a reality:

The TIF would cap at around $125 million to support the development of Libertyland USA. Thirteen percent of the generated increment would go Rapid City to support surrounding infrastructure.

Alongside the planned theme park are plans for a neighboring retail and commercial center. The proposed district now heads to the full city council for approval. Rapid City Tax Increment Financing Planner Mike Dugan says the city says the project will be a great economic driver for the city.

Read that here.

But did I say there’s trouble in Rapid City? Possibly because South Dakota has a BANANA problem as of late, where we’re infested with people who insist upon “building absolutely nothing anywhere near anything.”  So, of course, the huge liberty themed project has run up against a roadblock of the Citizens for Liberty, who have come out against Liberty. Liberty Land, that is. They’re going to war with the patriotic themed amusement park.

As noted in the Rapid City Journal:

Two strong opponents since the first time Libertyland passed are state Sen. Taffy Howard, R-Rapid City, who represents District 34, and Tonchi Weaver of South Dakota Citizens for Liberty. Both have taken to the podium many times at council, finance committee and planning commission meetings to express their concerns with the Tax Increment Financing District. They’re spearheading the petition drive.

Read that here.

In the article on-line is a picture of Tonchi Weaver, and Julie Frye-Awful of the legislative suckling scandal who are both out campaigning against Liberty (land).  Citizens for Liberty has also taken to social media to campaign against Liberty (land):

 

So, in the face of the Citizens for Liberty’s opposition to Liberty (Land), what do the Liberty Land developers do? Apparently, they have gone and hired someone to organize the anti-petition effort, which has started with social media…

Umm… why does that design work look familiar? Overly wordy, and the identical same all-caps font that I could spot from a million miles away that is used time and time again?

We can assume that would be the same person that the Citizens for Liberty claimed in their post that “The developer of Libertyland has hired a political operative who is now working to impede the petition signature-gathering process.”  In a social media post that was flagged for me today, my suspicions were just confirmed, and this just got much, much funnier.

Senator Taffy Howard just confirmed that she and Tonchi Weaver are now at war with self-styled ultra-conservative political consultant Jordan Mason.  And it gets more hilarious from there. Why? Let me explain.

Jordan has had a business out collecting petition signatures in Rapid City, including the measure to place increased tobacco taxes on the ballot in 2018. Who has been a long-time petition circulator for Jordan? Tonchi Weaver.  But it just gets better.  Who has Jordan done quite a bit of work for, most notably in her run for Congress?   Taffy Howard.

These are all people who have had a somewhat close association with each other for some time. Yet, now it seems like Jordan is on the outs with Tonchi and Taffy, as everyone is fully on the attack.

Get your popcorn. And see if you can figure out if you want to cheer for Satan, Lucifer or Azmodeous in this battle of the far-right in Rapid City.

In an article today at Dakota Scout, the candidates were interviewed with regards to wild-ass allegations that Toby “Dumpster Fire” Doeden was making on facebook claiming there was a nefarious plot to buy off Governor Rhoden in the race.. well, for Governor.

The unsubstantiated accusation, made in a social media post Tuesday and amplified through a paid Facebook ad, underscores the intensity of the high-profile clashing of candidates in an election still nine months away; also signaling South Dakota could be headed for its most combative gubernatorial battle in decades.

and..

Johnson refuted any insinuation of bribery or unethical political jockeying outside of the public eye. His campaign dismissed the charge as “just another tall tale from Toby.”

and..

Johnson has about $7 million in political contributions, while Doeden has pledged to spend “as much as it takes” to match that total. The Groton native, who touts a broad business empire that includes gas stations, truck stops and real estate, has said he is willing to put $10 million or more of his own money into the contest as he positions himself as the conservative alternative to the Republican establishment.

Read the entire story here at Dakota Scout.

Understanding that Doeden does not really have any popular support or donors… If you have to declare you’re going to spend 10 million of your own money, can one really claim one’s self as “the conservative alternative?”  It doesn’t really seem he’s walking the conservative walk when he flies his jet into his events (while Logan Manhart and Cole Heisey log highway miles driving the bus), and says he’ll spend $10 million of his own money on the campaign.

If you or I had ten million dollars of our own money? Who in their right mind would spend it on a political campaign?!? That doesn’t sound as if a person is conservative. That sounds more like someone has an unchecked ego that they want to unleash on the state.