I was somewhat neutral on Governor Rhoden’s State of the State address as I’m listening to it until a couple of passages in his speech.
First, as I’m sitting listening to it, the Governor had a call against currently public information remaining in the public domain:
To address this, my office is bringing forward two bills to protect the personal information of law enforcement, judges, legislators, and statewide officials by removing it from public voter files. We will also add doxxing to the crime of stalking and increase penalties when it targets law enforcement and public officials. South Dakota will not tolerate threats against those who uphold the law and serve the public.
As Arch Beal would say, “Whoa, whoa, whoa.” Governor Rhoden announces that he intends to bring a measure against open government? How exactly do they plan on wording this measure? And more importantly, how exactly do they intend to curb legitimate news gathering endeavors in the interest of “protecting personal information?”
I have a particular interest in how they they intend to implement this. In case you’ve forgotten, there have been instances – very recent instances – of legislators claiming residency at one location, yet clearly living at another, as I’ve gone into depth on:
First off, looking at Rep. Reder’s voter registration, the live data as of today indicates that he’s supposedly registered to vote at an address in Warner, SD:
Establishing where he claims to vote and supposedly legislates from is 13958 387th Ave, Warner, SD 57479, What else can we find out about that location?
and..
Reder’s foundation that had been at that farm address that he also uses as his legislative address? Interestingly, in filings with the Secretary of State, that Foundation seems to have changed Reder’s address in the corporate filings:
On January 19, 2025 when this document was filed, this document shows Christopher D Reder as hanging his hat in Bagley, Minnesota, or at least where his business is located. Reder would have been seated in the Legislature on about January 14th.
Was revealing what he claimed as his home address done so with nefarious intent that wished him harm? No, it was not. Was it a legitimate and germane question from the public as to his qualifications for serving in office? Absolutely. They can’t – or at least should not – have residency qualifications for office if they pass laws declaring that information as unlawful to publicize or hold as secret. It’s against the public interest, as well as that of a free press.
But depending on how this law is worded, will questioning the residency of a legislator, and presenting evidence of one’s thesis become a crime, punishable by law in the State of South Dakota? I’m sure there are some legislators affected who would like it to be that way. But this public information needs to remain in the public domain. Unless we’re now creating a separate class of citizenship for elected officials now.
Maybe I’m a little excited over nothing. But this is a question that the Governor and legislators need to carefully navigate if they choose to claim it a safety measure as opposed to censoring criticism that they don’t like coming from a free press.
—
Also as it relates to the State of the State speech.. I had a call from one of my readers asking me “did Governor Rhoden really talk about women being chaste? I had to look it up, and it means exactly what I thought it did.”
Err.. sorry. Yes, Yes he did.
We are able to enjoy our Black Hills today, in part, because of the foresight of one of South Dakota’s greatest leaders, our ninth governor, Peter Norbeck. As I close today, I would like to read the conclusion to his State of the State Address from 1919..
..I believe in her government, and in her institutions of home and church and school; I believe in the sturdy, intelligent manhood of her sons, and the chaste womanhood of her daughters..
Chaste womanhood. So you don’t have to look it up yourself.
chaste.[cheyst]/ tʃeɪst /
refraining from sexual intercourse that is regarded as contrary to morality or religion; virtuous. 2. virgin. 3. not engaging in sexual relations; celibate.
Yes, That was the Governor in 2026 quoting the Governor in 1919 (as part of his state of the state) believing in the virginity of South Dakota’s daughters.
In 2026, you might also believe that quoting speeches like that will elicit eye-rolling over the patriarchal statement by the daughters of South Dakota. Because in 2026, those women may have the attitude that their chastity is not the Governor’s business.
I have the feeling I’m going to have a lot to write about this legislative session. (In addition to funding for K-12 education not being mentioned in the speech today).
28 thoughts on “Rhoden State of the State address includes possible strike against open government. As well as a call back to virginal women.”
Maybe Tony is a mole for Dusty and has made it his easy mission to make Rhoden look like the old-fashioned hillbilly he is???
i wish
I wish I would have stayed awake for the speech, sad to miss that part.
Two things to consider: he is only talking about removing addresses from voter rolls – so they would still be available elsewhere, like property tax records? Second – he’s solving a problem that does not exist in South Dakota because of things that have happened in “other states.” It seems par for the course that a SD lawmaker would seek to solve a problem that doesn’t exist, and not even solve it correctly. Same as adding “doxxing” to stalking – big problem in South Dakota? No.
Remember WAY back when Noem was in DC passing laws regarding sex traffiking? Me too. I thought ‘what a great cause BUT how about you focus on SD issues because that doesn’t happen here!’ Guess what? It was happening here all along. If it happens in one state, it doesn’t stop at a border. I too was made a fool and recognized it. She was right all along.
And yet most people here continue to vote for them, therefore saying this is what we want. Maybe it is time to focus more on actual policy and our interests instead of taking the bait that the other choice is the enemy.
“chaster womanhood” gross. not words I need to hear from the Gov.
oops. CHASTE
Larry is a dinosaur.
Please do some research beyond taking the first hit off of Google. Chastity is the virtue of rightful use of one’s sexuality. It is refraining from unlawful sexual activity. It is not the same thing as celibacy. Thus a married person can be chaste without being celibate. Yes, it is old fashioned terminology, but it does not mean all women should be virgins, which would be an absurd statement in any generation.
I don’t need to look up the definition.
Having said that, I did review several for purposes of linking. They were all the same on what being chaste is.
Didn’t Rhoden make all voter registration public last year? Now he wants to make his private? I don’t think this is a good idea.
I’ve been looking up voter records by Name and Zip for over 15 years. What are you referring to?
South Dakota is on the wagon train back to 1883!
Get along little doggie!
Who knows where Reder is now. Colorado? Minnesota?
the funny thing is, men work harder when women withhold sex. Chastity might be what is needed to get young men to stop playing video games.
Them young men playing video games aren’t gettin any as it is. You think threatening them with abstinence is going to motivate them?
well first you have to cut the electricity
Then explain why incels exist.
I’m horrified and disgusted by his comments about women. Guess he’s gone full Project 2025 MAGA. Won’t get my vote for sure. No good candidates at this point.
Also disgusted by some of the comments on this article:
* Chaste is defined as not having sexual relations – look it up – he definitely did not mean it as having whatever sexuality you want. This is RED SD after all.
* Men would get more sex if they would treat their significant other as an equal AND take equal ownership of household and child rearing duties. It is their house and their kids too and we aren’t your slaves or your possessions. So glad my husband is my best friend and a great helper and therefore, you know what he gets! Try it sometime.
Don’t think it was an intentional thing as much as an unforced error.
We must have heard two totally different speeches. I’m a woman and I didn’t hear ANYTHING degrading as you suggest. Hmmmm
Let us not all get our clean panties in a bunch. The way grudznick reads it, the Governor, Mr. Rhoden, was quoting all of our favorite Governors, Mr. Norbeck.
It was Norbeck who lauded the state of virginity. At one point, Norbeck himself was as much a virgin as grudznick’s close personal friend Lar and my good friend Bill.
Re: public domain of data. I’m sick and tired of unsolicited mail, phone calls, and other methods of communication. I’ve had over 15 pieces of mail from those stupid home warranty scams and countless phone calls. Their scams and people right here in South Dakota are falling for the scams even one of our counties was taken for over $800,000. Make this stuff private or force entities to get a license or pay dearly for contact lists. Make the property tax stuff require a login. Something to make it harder to access. The SOS website looks like it hasn’t changed in 30 years, looks real secure to me. South Dakota needs to get with it and evolve.
“..even one of our counties was taken for over $800,000.”
Yeah.. pretty sure the scam (false billing) they fell for has been around since the time of mail and telephone.
Our state sells our driver’s license information think about that
Yes, Pat, much ado about nothing (“excited over nothing”). If they were his OWN words, it might be Haugaard’esque but when you quote someone, you quote them; not mince their words for today. Unless you paraphrase and then you lose the essence. Personally, I thought it was a great quote and I tried to view South Dakota through the original author’s eyes way back when. Another group should’ve been much more critical of one phrase used.
Chaste women aren’t the ones getting knocked up by deadbeats, producing children the rest of society has to support.
Chaste women have too much self-respect to consort with losers..
Chaste women demand respect.
If you are going to complain about women who respect themselves and demand respect in return, go F-yourself. Nobody else will.
Maybe Tony is a mole for Dusty and has made it his easy mission to make Rhoden look like the old-fashioned hillbilly he is???
i wish
I wish I would have stayed awake for the speech, sad to miss that part.
Two things to consider: he is only talking about removing addresses from voter rolls – so they would still be available elsewhere, like property tax records? Second – he’s solving a problem that does not exist in South Dakota because of things that have happened in “other states.” It seems par for the course that a SD lawmaker would seek to solve a problem that doesn’t exist, and not even solve it correctly. Same as adding “doxxing” to stalking – big problem in South Dakota? No.
Remember WAY back when Noem was in DC passing laws regarding sex traffiking? Me too. I thought ‘what a great cause BUT how about you focus on SD issues because that doesn’t happen here!’ Guess what? It was happening here all along. If it happens in one state, it doesn’t stop at a border. I too was made a fool and recognized it. She was right all along.
And yet most people here continue to vote for them, therefore saying this is what we want. Maybe it is time to focus more on actual policy and our interests instead of taking the bait that the other choice is the enemy.
“chaster womanhood” gross. not words I need to hear from the Gov.
oops. CHASTE
Larry is a dinosaur.
Please do some research beyond taking the first hit off of Google. Chastity is the virtue of rightful use of one’s sexuality. It is refraining from unlawful sexual activity. It is not the same thing as celibacy. Thus a married person can be chaste without being celibate. Yes, it is old fashioned terminology, but it does not mean all women should be virgins, which would be an absurd statement in any generation.
I don’t need to look up the definition.
Having said that, I did review several for purposes of linking. They were all the same on what being chaste is.
Didn’t Rhoden make all voter registration public last year? Now he wants to make his private? I don’t think this is a good idea.
I’ve been looking up voter records by Name and Zip for over 15 years. What are you referring to?
South Dakota is on the wagon train back to 1883!
Get along little doggie!
Who knows where Reder is now. Colorado? Minnesota?
the funny thing is, men work harder when women withhold sex. Chastity might be what is needed to get young men to stop playing video games.
Them young men playing video games aren’t gettin any as it is. You think threatening them with abstinence is going to motivate them?
well first you have to cut the electricity
Then explain why incels exist.
I’m horrified and disgusted by his comments about women. Guess he’s gone full Project 2025 MAGA. Won’t get my vote for sure. No good candidates at this point.
Also disgusted by some of the comments on this article:
* Chaste is defined as not having sexual relations – look it up – he definitely did not mean it as having whatever sexuality you want. This is RED SD after all.
* Men would get more sex if they would treat their significant other as an equal AND take equal ownership of household and child rearing duties. It is their house and their kids too and we aren’t your slaves or your possessions. So glad my husband is my best friend and a great helper and therefore, you know what he gets! Try it sometime.
Don’t think it was an intentional thing as much as an unforced error.
We must have heard two totally different speeches. I’m a woman and I didn’t hear ANYTHING degrading as you suggest. Hmmmm
Let us not all get our clean panties in a bunch. The way grudznick reads it, the Governor, Mr. Rhoden, was quoting all of our favorite Governors, Mr. Norbeck.
It was Norbeck who lauded the state of virginity. At one point, Norbeck himself was as much a virgin as grudznick’s close personal friend Lar and my good friend Bill.
Re: public domain of data. I’m sick and tired of unsolicited mail, phone calls, and other methods of communication. I’ve had over 15 pieces of mail from those stupid home warranty scams and countless phone calls. Their scams and people right here in South Dakota are falling for the scams even one of our counties was taken for over $800,000. Make this stuff private or force entities to get a license or pay dearly for contact lists. Make the property tax stuff require a login. Something to make it harder to access. The SOS website looks like it hasn’t changed in 30 years, looks real secure to me. South Dakota needs to get with it and evolve.
“..even one of our counties was taken for over $800,000.”
Yeah.. pretty sure the scam (false billing) they fell for has been around since the time of mail and telephone.
Our state sells our driver’s license information think about that
Yes, Pat, much ado about nothing (“excited over nothing”). If they were his OWN words, it might be Haugaard’esque but when you quote someone, you quote them; not mince their words for today. Unless you paraphrase and then you lose the essence. Personally, I thought it was a great quote and I tried to view South Dakota through the original author’s eyes way back when. Another group should’ve been much more critical of one phrase used.
Chaste women aren’t the ones getting knocked up by deadbeats, producing children the rest of society has to support.
Chaste women have too much self-respect to consort with losers..
Chaste women demand respect.
If you are going to complain about women who respect themselves and demand respect in return, go F-yourself. Nobody else will.