Are you familiar with the whole sovereign citizen movement?  Where people who have declared themselves to be sovereign citizens kind of pick and choose what laws they will and will not follow, and use a variety of conspiracy theories and falsehoods to justify their beliefs and their activities.

Well, the South Dakota Republican Party is facing their own sovereign citizen moment with the Yankton County GOP, where they’ve just up and decided that they’re going to pass some bylaws and by gosh, they’re just going to do what they want.  How do we know this? Because I’ve got a copy of the bylaws that they’re going to try to vote on this coming Monday night.  And of course, I’m an admitted over-sharer. So, here you go!

Yankton County proposed GOP Bylaws by Pat Powers on Scribd

Take a good read. Because we’re just starting up first hill for the carnival ride roller-coaster.

The first paragraph is where you start off with the crazy. Because you’ve got to see it in print to believe it:

1. Purpose:  Yankton County Republican members desire clarity in the Republican Party Yankton County operations.  While seeking to generally conform with South Dakota Republican Party Bylaws, these bylaws govern Yankton County Republican operations and responsibilities to its members first, and then to state and/or national organizations subordinately.  Should any challenge arise on any matter due to alleged and/or real discrepancy/difference between the Yankton County Republicans Bylaws and the state and/or national Republican Party bylaws, these county bylaws shall take precedence.

It’s the organizational bylaw equivalent of saying “Imma just goin’ to do what I want.” like a spoiled child.

And that’s just the beginning.   Because if you want to be a Republican in this county, they want to pass bylaws so you have to show up with a check in hand:

3. COUNTY GOP MEMBERSHIP– All DUES paying residents of Yankton County, who are registered Republicans are county GOP members.  

Dues…? This is new.  The new bylaws also demand that no one can be a party officer and hold public office above the city or school level:

5. YCREC: The elected officers of YCREC are the county chair and county vice chair, who shall be of the opposite sex, a county secretary, a county treasurer, a state committeeman and a state committeewoman, who shall hold their offices for a term of two years or until their successors have been elected. This group of officers is referred to as the YCREC. Each officer must be a registered Republican residing and voting in Yankton County and an active member in good standing in the Yankton County Republican Party. No officer may hold an elected public office at the county, state, or federal level.

No officeholders allowed!

Regarding the whole “Dues” thing and the “active member in good standing” part:

SECTION III —MEMBERSHIP

a) ACTIVE membership:  Persons who wish to actively participate in the Yankton County Republicans must be in good standing and their dues current.  He or she can provide input on regular business items and serve on committees. Active members will be notified of meetings and events.

b) INACTIVE membership:  Members are assigned INACTIVE status if dues are not received by January 31st.  Inactive members may not hold office, be on a committee, make motions, or vote on any items until dues are paid.

They are trying to place it into the bylaws that you have to pay dues to be considered as actively belonging to the Yankton County Republican Party?  An even more importantly, inactive members may not hold office?

So, how does that work?  And when I ask about the not hold office part, are they including the precinct people who make up the county central committee in that grouping?  I ask, because we get into some questions that the Yankton County people proposing this might not have a good answer for.

As a current (and hopefully soon to be re-elected) precinct person, my position is filed with the County Auditor. I’m one of those people who invariably ends up facing a primary election every year. After the primary election, the County Auditor certifies my election for the position and sends me a certificate of election. Meaning, I won the office, and it’s certified and recorded.   By noting that if  someone doesn’t pay dues, are these proposed Yankton County GOP bylaws claiming that they can remove me from the office? Because if I was elected, and certified by the county as having won that election, and the Yankton County GOP is trying to put further limitations on, that might be something I’d ask a judge to decide who is in the right.  The County GOP who is demanding dues, or the voters who elected me?

One of the many pitfalls that this runaway “sovereign Republican” County Committee is facing as they try to create their own breakaway party.

The Yankton County GOP also picked an interesting time to vote on their attempt to shakedown Republicans for money and telling people they’re not active Republicans unless they write a check.

I’m told their meeting is set to be held on Monday, June 3rd. The day before the primary election.

As opposed to helping candidates get elected on Monday, or getting out the vote, instead, they’re voting on a cash shakedown.

It might be a long convention next week.

Late today, I received the weirdest piece of campaign literature that I have the entire primary. The lone Jeff Struwe postcard.

An itty-bitty 4×6 card with rambling, itty-bitty type that another couple of hundred dollars probably would’ve made a 6 x 9, because the postage price is the same. But instead, we’ve got something that many people in their mid- 50s and up will struggle to read.

And it spends most of its time rambling against SB 201, the landowner Bill of Rights.

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Liz May’s Conservative PAC is blasting attack cards across the primary, including against several incumbents in the last days before the election.

Interestingly, Liz is going to have a tougher general election than usual against incumbent house member Rep. Pourier, and Elsie Meeks, who was the 1998 candidate for Lieutenant Governor, who later was state director of USDA in South Dakota from 2009 to 2015.

Liz does have things in common with Meeks, as I’m sure just like Liz, Elsie was also a donor to Hillary Clinton.

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There’s other weirdness out there, but I’m waiting for copies to head my way. I’ll post as I get.

The Dakota Scout has a story on it’s website today noting how when Toby Doeden reported a $100,000 donation to his Political Action Committee that he didn’t intend it to be a donation, and was rather “a loan.”  And of course, it’s everyone else’s fault:

“I spoke with the folks from the finance team and they were already aware of this and working on filing the amended report,” Doeden said in a statement. “Earlier this month, I executed a loan of $100,000 to the Dakota First Action PAC. This was mistakenly classified as a contribution rather than a loan, due largely to the fact that the South Dakota (secretary of state’s) finance portal is extremely outdated and fails to function properly. As soon as I was notified of the error, we began the process of filing an amended report.”

Doeden said he hired a business to establish and oversee the PAC.

and..

Doeden’s PAC has spent $25,000 on data acquisition, according to the pre-primary report. Only about $45 in other expenses were paid for, and no donations were made to individual campaigns, though Dakota First has sent out text messages in support of right-wing candidates across the state. One such text was sent in the District 25 Senate race, where Sen. Tom Pischke is fending off a bid from former lawmaker Jordan Youngberg. There, in a text message campaign, Dakota First Action dubbed Youngberg “Young Biden,” and accused him of supporting “the LGBTQ agenda,” illegal immigration, and abolishing constitutional rights.

Youngberg, who had high grades from anti-abortion and pro-gun groups during his three years in the Legislature, dismissed the allegations in a series of social media posts Wednesday.

Read the entire story here.

Last I knew, for all their faults the SOS does take campaign finance forms that are filled out on paper, if necessary. Toby Doeden might be able to do some creative accounting, and attribute the money to a loan, but the lack of disclaimers is a bit tougher to explain away.

But, based on the investigation the Attorney General is conducting, it appears that he will get the opportunity to do so.

Tackling the Tribal Public Safety Crisis
By: Governor Kristi Noem
May 31, 2024

I have a deep sense of compassion and respect for our Native American population here in South Dakota. And I firmly believe that we solve problems best when we work together and communicate.

This is why I have made it a priority to call attention to the public safety crisis on our tribal reservations.

The smuggling of drugs and trafficking of humans into sex slavery across our Southern Border has increased dramatically because of President Biden’s open border policies. The criminals committing these acts have found a haven on South Dakota’s tribal reservations and impact all families who live in our state. The responsibility for upholding law and order on tribal reservations lies with the tribal government and the federal government. As Governor I have no jurisdiction on tribal reservations. But, just like the warzone at our Southern Border, Joe Biden is turning his back on our tribal communities.

In turn, I have taken unprecedented action to help South Dakota’s tribes. The immediate challenge is a huge shortage of law enforcement officers. I have urged the Biden Administration to adequately fund tribal law enforcement. I’ve also pushed for comprehensive, transparent, public audits to determine exactly what that need is.

It quickly became clear that we needed to continue to take matters into our own hands when it comes to helping our tribes. That’s why I launched a tribal-focused law enforcement training course in partnership with Attorney General Marty Jackley. This is the first training course of its kind in the country, and it will allow our officers to receive their training without having to leave their families for an extended period of time.

I also announced that I will be hosting a Tribal Public Safety Crisis Summit in Pierre on Monday, June 24^th. I have invited a number of elected leaders and law enforcement officials at the federal, state, local, and tribal levels to join us. It is my hope that this Summit will allow us to start an important conversation and get the ball rolling towards real solutions.

We will proudly celebrate the 100^th anniversary of Native America citizenship on June 2^nd. I will continue working to improve life not only for our tribal members, but all South Dakotans. Those efforts will include our Stronger Families Together initiative. It is important for Native American foster children to grow up in a home that reflects their culture and heritage. With Stronger Families Together, we are prioritizing recruiting more Native American foster families across our state. Tragically, suicide disproportionately impacts Native American communities. I am constantly working with many of our state agency to disseminate suicide prevention information.

One of the best things we can do is join in mutual aid agreements with our tribes. These agreements allow State law enforcement to work with tribes to enforce tribal law, help those in need on our reservations, and combat the public safety crisis we see across our state. I have repeatedly urged all nine of South Dakota’s Native American tribes to join in mutual aid agreements with the State of South Dakota, and I will continue to encourage them to do so.

I remain open to any additional solutions that others may propose to address this serious crisis. Through these efforts and collaborations, I am confident we can continue moving forward and building a stronger future for South Dakota.

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In case you were looking for some light afternoon reading, the Attorney General’s office is reviewing the situation in which Toby Doeden appears to have made a donation which is WAAAAAAY over what South Dakota Law allows, based on my affidavit noting there’s some trouble in the hub city:

SD AG Letter Regarding Alleged Violations of SD Law and Political Action Committees by Pat Powers on Scribd

From Facebook today, apparently D21 House candidate Lee Qualm does not care for a card that has arrived in his legislative district:

Waaah, waaah, waaah… Of course, Qualm claims it to be all dirty politics, and he’s crying because he now has to spend the weekend before the election explaining why he believes it’s ok that his family had to file a lawsuit against him for “attempted conversion” of the family farm corporation they all inherited… as Qualm’s shares in the corporation allegedly grew larger.. and larger.. before he bothered to tell the fellow stockholders about it. (People generally hate it when that happens.)

In case you wanted to see the card, I have a pic:

As opposed to taking Lee Qualm’s word for it, or the card’s characterization of it as Gospel, you can read the lawsuit that was filed, and judge for yourself, as taken from my February post on the matter:

Lee Qualm Conversion Lawsuit by Pat Powers

I would say that if this is something that might affect how you vote in that District, read the lawsuit (which was VERY quickly settled before Lee had to give a deposition), and make up your own mind.

Before you decide whether or not to trust him with taxpayer money.

The Choice to Protect and Defend our Country
by Congressman Dusty Johnson

Life is a series of choices. Some of these choices determine the direction of our life from a young age. Eleven brave South Dakotans, who made the decision to attend a service academy and join our nation’s military, are about to begin their military training at the United States Air Force Academy, the United States Military Academy, and the United States Naval Academy.

One of Jackson Coberley’s big decisions was to remain in Japan to complete his senior year while his family transferred to Ellsworth Air Force Base. Last year, Maya Lee of Dell Rapids chose to accept a scholarship to attend a military preparatory school, knowing she would likely spend five years at college instead of the common four. Soon, both will enter the Air Force Academy’s community of like-minded people with a shared mission to serve.

Sometimes our choices are informed by childhood dreams, and sometimes our childhood dreams come true. Jhett Waltman of Rapid City was influenced by his father’s and grandfathers’ military service and set his eyes on the service academies when he was in fifth grade. That dream will soon be a reality – he will be attending the Military Academy to study aeronautical engineering. Since middle school, Ryan Fiechtner of Aberdeen has wanted to pursue a career in the nuclear field. He believes the Naval Academy will afford him unique opportunities and he views the mandatory service after commissioning as an officer as an honor, not a requirement. Aleydis Bruening also plans to study nuclear engineering at the Naval Academy, following her father’s lead into the armed forces.

Approximately thirty percent of Naval Academy graduates commission as Marine Corps officers. Nicholas Hanson of Dakota Dunes aspires to do so and will be the fifth generation in his family to be a sailor or Marine.

Each of these students excel academically and athletically, but what really sets them apart is their involvement in school, community, church, and the workforce. Trey Murray from Gregory volunteered in his community, played five sports, and was in band and choir. Nicholas Gray of Fort Pierre played competitive hockey, volunteered, and served as a page for the South Dakota Legislature. Dale Kinyon II from Rapid City was active in school groups, church, and comes from a military family. I’m confident they will continue to grow at the Air Force Academy and Military Academy.

I also want to mention Aubrey Fraasch and Caleb Pitsenberger, who will be attending preparatory schools. They have a great opportunity to prepare for the Academy next year.

I’m confident these young men and women will succeed because their choices so far prove they are incredibly motivated and stand ready to protect and defend our great country.

If you know someone interested in learning more about the service academies, direct them to my website at dustyjohnson.house.gov/services/service-academy-nominations, and check out my video with South Dakotan cadets and midshipmen.

How did this happen? An election themed event with live music that’s entertaining for families? That sounds awesome!

This Friday night at the Black Lab in Winner, South Dakota at 6 PM check out the event with Jim Halverson and State Senator Erin Tobin because it looks like a fun time to be had by all!

(Is this getting to be the trend?)

Gov. Kristi Noem Responds to Wrongful Conviction of President Trump

PIERRE, SD – Today, Governor Kristi Noem responded to the wrongful conviction of President Donald J. Trump.

“Massively conflicted, Biden donor and Liberal judge + stacked jury with unconstitutional jury instructions + radical leftist prosecutor = wrongful conviction.

“President Trump did nothing wrong, and even the liberal media knows it.

“The judge violated Trump’s constitutional rights and did everything in his power to get this outcome despite the clear evidence Trump was innocent.

No doubt Trump will be easily vindicated soon as the case will obviously be overturned on appeal.”

Governor Noem’s response was initially posted on X.

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