Latest from SD Political Blogs

Lame duck Earth hater wants more gun control in South Dakota, Sioux Falls

larry kurtz — Fri, 24 Oct 2025 22:26:49 +0000

Earth haters like former Vice President Mike Pence and the lame duck christianic Sioux Falls mayor are speaking out on a marauding chief executive further splitting that political party.

But, in miserly Sioux Falls compassionate conservatism is very dead because Paul TenHaken is an Earth hating Republican mayor of a small city in a red flyover state who wouldn’t even vote for Jesus Himself if He ran as a Democrat. In the 2018 election TenHaken dominated the Sioux Falls general election in every area of the city but not in the core where unhoused people are trying to survive. Hizzoner wants the more fortunate to give money to religionist institutions instead of to the people who need it.

But, now that Donald Trump, Kristi Noem and Charlie Kirk have ginned up belligerents in their own party TenHaken is spooked.

Right now, there is no law that makes it illegal to bring a concealed firearm or weapon into any municipal building in South Dakota, which concerns TenHaken. “I think we’ve got to look at that from a state perspective and say, does the law need to change on that? Should we be afforded the same protection that state legislators and that county officials are given?” TenHaken said. The mayor said he’s had conversations with state legislators about possible changes to the existing law. [KELO teevee]

Learn more at Pew Research.

Trump has high praise for Senator Thune in working with him during shutdown

@SoDakCampaigns — Fri, 24 Oct 2025 19:27:48 +0000

From the Washington Reporter, President Trump has nothing but praise for the job that Senator & Majority Leader John Thune is doing in Washington:

As America careens towards the second month of the Schumer Shutdown, the Washington Reporter’s sources on the Hill have been remarking about the strength of the relationship between President Donald Trump and Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R., S.D.) — which was recently put on full display when the White House invited Thune and Senate Republicans over for lunch.

and..

“I want to thank the outstanding leadership team,” Trump told the assembled senators, “and you really do have that. Majority Leader John Thune, who’s been my friend. He really has done an amazing job. Thank you, John. Thank you…I didn’t get to know John as well in the first term, and I’ve gotten to know him very well over the last nine months, John, and you’re doing a fantastic job.”

and..

Thune’s partnership with Trump has cemented his status as the head of the Senate GOP, but it is also paying off for his constituents in South Dakota.

Read the entire story here.

Gov. Rhoden Announces Solution to Support Airport Expansion

@SoDakCampaigns — Fri, 24 Oct 2025 18:52:43 +0000

Gov. Rhoden Announces Solution to Support Airport Expansion

PIERRE, S.D. – Today, Governor Larry Rhoden announced a solution to support the expansion of the Sioux Falls and Rapid City airports. This upcoming legislative session, the Governor will bring legislation to provide 0% interest loans of up to $15 million for each airport to support their current expansion efforts.

“This investment will make a huge difference – not just for Sioux Falls and Rapid City, but for all South Dakotans,” said Governor Larry Rhoden. “We’ve seen huge increases in travelers coming through these airports. With more gates, more flights, and more destinations, we’ll able to draw more visitors and keep our state Open for Opportunity!”

Since the start of the Noem-Rhoden Administration in 2019, travelers through the Rapid City airport have increased by 30%, and travelers through the Sioux Falls airport have increased by 25%.

Governor Rhoden’s proposal utilizes the same funding approach that supported the Douglas School District during the 2025 legislative session and will not create any additional costs for South Dakota taxpayers.

In 2023, the Noem-Rhoden Administration set aside $200 million to support career housing in South Dakota – $100 million in grants that were quickly invested and $100 million in loans that have been partially utilized. That investment drove substantial growth in career housing across South Dakota. Of the original $100 million in loans, approximately $65 million remains. Governor Rhoden’s proposal moves this remaining funding into the Revolving Economic Development and Initiative (REDI) Fund, and some of that will support this airport investment.

From this funding, the Board of Economic Development may make 0% interest loans of up to $15 million for each airport. The loans must be closed and funded by June 30, 2030.

“Smart economic development involves doing the right thing, at the right place, at the right time. This proposal is a prime example of smart economic development, and it will lead to big wins for South Dakota,” said Bill Even, Commissioner of the Governor’s Office of Economic Development.

This announcement was made at a press conference at the Sioux Falls Regional Airport, where the Governor was joined by both Sioux Falls and Rapid City leadership.

###

Release: Secretary of State Monae Johnson wil host National Association of Secretaries of State 2026 Conference

@SoDakCampaigns — Fri, 24 Oct 2025 16:35:36 +0000

SECRETARY OF STATE MONAE JOHNSON WILL HOST NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF SECRETARIES OF STATE 2026 CONFERENCE

PIERRE, S.D. – South Dakota Secretary of State Monae L. Johnson is proud to announce that the National Association of Secretaries of State (NASS) has selected South Dakota to host its 2026 Summer Conference.

The event will bring Secretaries of State, senior election officials, business service leaders, and policy experts from across the nation to the Mount Rushmore State for several days of collaboration, networking, and discussion on key issues affecting state governments.

The 2026 conference will showcase South Dakota’s national leadership in modern election administration, business services innovation, and civic engagement, while also highlighting the state’s unique culture, hospitality, and natural beauty.

“It is an honor to welcome my colleagues from across the country to South Dakota,” said Secretary Johnson. “This conference is not only an opportunity to share best practices and strengthen partnerships, but also a platform to demonstrate the strength and transparency of our state’s election system, the excellence of our public service, and the incredible beauty that makes South Dakota a destination worth experiencing. We are excited to promote our state and show the nation why South Dakota is such a remarkable place to live, work, and visit.”

Secretary Johnson attended the NASS 2025 Summer Conference in Mississippi. The NASS Summer Conference serves as a platform for state leaders to exchange ideas, develop bipartisan solutions, and address challenges in elections, business services, and other areas overseen by Secretaries of State. South Dakota’s selection as host reflects its national reputation as a proven leader in secure, transparent, and efficient governance, and its commitment to promoting the state’s values, people, and opportunities on the national stage.

New Candidate rumors; Everything old is new again – Jeff Monroe for Treasurer, John Teupel for PUC

@SoDakCampaigns — Fri, 24 Oct 2025 13:49:07 +0000

New candidate rumors are popping up, and I’m getting a sense of deja vu with some of the names involved. As noted in the title, everything new is old again as there are two former legislators who appear to be considering jumping into statewide legislative races.

Former State Senator Jeff Monroe‘s name is starting to pop up in connection with running for South Dakota State Treasurer, a contest that had been completely wide open with Deputy Jason Williams going to work for Attorney General Marty Jackley in recent weeks.

Jeff served in the SD House from 1995-2002, and in the Senate from 2013-2020 for 16 total years of service. Long known as an indefatigable door-to-door campaigner, Jeff’s most recent stint in the legislature had him chairing Senate taxation during his most recent time at the State Capital.

Public Utilities Commission has had a lot of chatter this week as well; There is talk that Senator Jim Mehlhaff who had been favored to run started to tell people this week that he plans to remain in the Senate. But, at the same time, former State Representative John Teupel, who served from 2001-2004 and was a Majority Whip during his second term has apparently started calling people (I’ve spoken with two) to set the stage for entering the race for the Public Utilities Commission contest.

Teupel has apparently been at a number of the GOP Lincoln Day Dinners as of late, attending in Mitchell, Canton, Springfield, Meade County, and potentially others. And people had wondered why? Well, now you know that he’s looking at jumping in. Interestingly, Teupel was a member of the Farmhouse fraternity at SDSU during the same period of time that both current PUC Commissioner Kristie Fiegen was a “little sister” affiliated with the group, and PUC Commissioner Chris Nelson was a member as well. (It’s a small state.)

Rhoden kicks off fundraising efforts with event, fundraising letter

@SoDakCampaigns — Fri, 24 Oct 2025 12:57:41 +0000

If there was doubt about Governor Rhoden getting into the race for his current seat, this weekend‘s events in connection with the State of South Dakota‘s annual Governors Hunt should remove those questions.

For the Governor, this week kicks off a dual effort; including both a formal fundraising letter from his campaign, and a fundraising event this afternoon for a political action committee supporting him.

This afternoon’s pre-Hunt PAC event for the Arch Beal/Mike Derby fronted “Strong, Safe, and Free PAC” has no formal invitation noting major sponsors, but at least some people found themselves personally invited not by PAC sponsors, but the Governor himself calling them from his personal cell phone asking for their attendance.

This comes simultaneously with a fundraising letter dated 10/23 that went out from the Rhoden for Governor campaign:

With a light indication of his plans, and lamenting that “campaigns are too long,” but that “we would like to continue to serve,” Rhoden asks for “help” and asks recipients to “consider a donation so I have enough money to run a competitive campaign.”

The letter might be one of the lightest asks that I’ve ever seen in modern politics, omitting any indication of what he will use it for, eschewing a direct ask for a specific amount, or even summarizing the main points with a PS.

I did not receive any enclosures with this piece, so I am unaware if there was a donation card, or indication of a way to donate online which was not included in the main body of the letter. in fact, there is no indication of his website address on the letter at all!

But clearly the fact this went out is an indication that Governor Larry Rhoden plans to announce.

Separately from this letter, what I am hearing through the grapevine is that an official announcement will be forthcoming in the next 2 to 3 weeks, at which time we will see more on what Governor Rhoden’s election agenda will be and how it could play out.

And it will play out in a competitive field.

Considering that the leader of the House of Representatives, Representative Jon Hansen, is the trailing candidate in the race for Governor and prides himself on opposing nearly all forms of government encouragement for economic development, the governor’s declaration of South Dakota being open for business could find itself stymied when we hit the realities of the legislative session.

This will be a hard fought race, and Governor Rhoden is just getting to the starting line.

Thune Joins The Ben Shapiro Show

@SoDakCampaigns — Thu, 23 Oct 2025 21:20:15 +0000

Thune Joins The Ben Shapiro Show

“[T]his is a real losing hand for [Democrats] to play. It’s certainly costing people all over the country, big time, particularly federal employees. And the longer this thing drags on, the worse it gets …”

Click here or on the picture to watch the video.

WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) today joined The Ben Shapiro Show.

Release: Mike Crane Announces Campaign for Sioux Falls City Council

@SoDakCampaigns — Thu, 23 Oct 2025 19:56:48 +0000

Mike Crane Announces Campaign for Sioux Falls City Council

Trusted Community Leadership Focused on Safety, Sensible Growth, and Good Governance

Sioux Falls, SD — Community leader and longtime public servant Mike Crane today formally announced his candidacy for the Sioux Falls City Council in the Southeast District. With years of experience in city planning, business development, and public service, Crane is running to ensure Sioux Falls remains a place where families can thrive, neighborhoods are strong, and citizens’ voices are valued.

“As Sioux Falls continues to grow and change, we need leaders who understand where we have been, and who have a clear vision for where we can go,” Crane said. “I am ready to continue working for a city that listens to its people and puts them first.”

Crane’s campaign centers on three core priorities:

Safety
From the youngest to the oldest, residents deserve to feel safe at home and throughout the city. Crane will champion continued investment in police, fire and rescue services, and support programs that reduce recidivism and build trust with youth—like Project POSTCARD—which bring young people and first responders together to build stronger community relationships.
Sensible Growth.
Sioux Falls has seen extraordinary growth over the past decade. Crane will work to ensure continued success by strengthening existing neighborhoods and roads, safeguarding fair property taxation, and expanding affordable housing opportunities. “Good, clean growth keeps Sioux Falls thriving,” Crane said. “Not just growth for growth’s sake.”
Good Governance.
Crane is committed to transparency, accountability, and public participation in city decision-making. He will work to empower neighborhood associations, enhance access to boards and commissions, and expand parks and recreation opportunities for families. “Everyone who calls Sioux Falls home should feel they have a stake in our future,” Crane said.

About Mike Crane:

Crane grew up in South Dakota and earned degrees from SDSU and USD and served in the U.S. Air Force. A career opportunity brought him back to Sioux Falls as a city planning intern, allowing him to make the community his permanent home.

He has since built a distinguished career in business development, including expertise in both market-rate and affordable housing as Managing Member of Crane and Fowler Investments.

Crane and his wife, Candy Hanson, are members of Calvary Episcopal Cathedral. Together they share a blended family deeply connected to Sioux Falls and beyond.

Proven Leadership in Public Service
Crane is well known for his leadership on the Sioux Falls School Board, where he helped drive transformational improvements, including moving to the middle school model and constructing new high schools and elementary schools to support a growing student population.

His board service also includes:

• Mary Jo Wegner Arboretum & East Sioux Falls Historic Site (Board Chair)
• Children’s Inn (Chair) now the SD Children’s Home Center for Family Safety
• Downtown Parking Facilities Board(Chair)
• Southeast Technical Institute Council & Foundation (Chair)
• Sioux Falls Parks and Recreation Board (Chair)

Crane has also been a member of the Sioux Falls Area Chamber of Commerce Board, and Main Street Sioux Falls.

“This community is the closest thing to my heart. I am running because our residents deserve leadership they trust,” Crane said.

Contact:
Mike Crane
https://www.facebook.com/craneforcouncil

South Dakota Earth hater advocating for socialized medicine

larry kurtz — Thu, 23 Oct 2025 18:32:04 +0000

The South Dakota Republican Party isn't about growth; it's about keeping Social Security recipients alive long enough to pay the property taxes that sustain red state failure. The state is 51st in elder care.

Contending tribal nations enjoy racial preference lawyers and political appointees in the previous administration attempted to deny Medicaid benefits to some three million Native Americans even after Republicans cut funding to the Indian Health Service. Influenza preys on the elderly and the poor: two demographics South Dakota has in abundance so it comes as little surprise that South Dakota is failing its oldest residents.

There is a growing movement among Democrats and others to fund Medicare for all but I like the idea of rolling the funding for Obamacare, TriCare, Medicare, the Indian Health Service and the Veterans Health Administration together then offering Medicaid for all by increasing the estate tax, raising taxes on tobacco and adopting a carbon tax.

Yes, socialized agriculture, socialized dairies, socialized cheese, socialized livestock production, a socialized timber industry, socialized air service, socialized freight rail, a socialized nursing home industry, socialized water systems and now a socialized internet are all fine with Republicans in South Dakota but then they insist single-payer medical insurance is socialized medicine.

State Representative Taylor Rae Rehfeldt is an Earth hater representing District 14 in South Dakota's nutball legislature.

Taylor Rehfeldt For House
October 21 at 6:00 AM Austin B. Hoffman Announces Candidacy for South Dakota Attorney General

Eureka, S.D. – Austin B. Hoffman announced today that he is running for Attorney General of the State of South Dakota, vowing to stand with law enforcement, ensure trust in the office, and uphold the rule of law with fairness and accountability.

“As South Dakota’s next Attorney General, my duty will be to uphold the rule of law, and ensure justice is applied equally to every citizen.” Hoffman said. “That means standing shoulder to shoulder with law enforcement officers, preserving the conservative values that make South Dakota strong, and leadership that puts the law above politics.”

Hoffman’s campaign will focus on a clear set of priorities:

Backing the Blue: Strengthening partnerships with sheriffs, police, and prosecutors to ensure criminals are held accountable.

Recidivism Reduction: Implementing smart policies to reduce repeat offenders and help offenders successfully reintegrate into society.

Drug Trafficking and Fentanyl: Working with federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement to stop interstate and reservation drug distribution networks.

Protecting South Dakota Families: Prosecuting crimes against young victims to the fullest extent of the law, protecting rural communities, and defending South Dakota’s way of life from federal overreach.

A lifelong South Dakotan, attorney, and community leader, Hoffman brings experience in prosecution, public policy, and enforcing the law without political prejudice.

“Our justice system must work for everyone – rural and urban, rich and poor, Republican and Democrat,” Hoffman added. “South Dakotans deserve an Attorney General who will enforce the law without apology and without political games. I will defend our freedoms, protect our families, and ensure that justice is served from Sioux Falls to Buffalo.”

Hoffman is currently the McPherson County State’s Attorney and serves on the South Dakota Open Meetings Commission and the South Dakota Board of Elections.

Hoffman will be traveling across South Dakota in the coming months to meet with voters, law enforcement officials, and community leaders. “The Republican candidate for Attorney General will be chosen at the Republican State Convention in June of 2026. I hope to earn your trust for that nomination and your vote next November.” Hoffman concluded.

For more information, visit: HoffmanforAG.com

Marty Jackley for Congress fundraiser coming up on October 28 in Brookings.

@SoDakCampaigns — Thu, 23 Oct 2025 00:36:55 +0000

The Marty Jackley campaign is hosting a Brookings area fundraiser this next week on Tuesday, October 28th from 5-7 pm at the Innovation Center (and I’ve got the invite):

Check it out if you’re in the area.

US Senator Mike Rounds’ WEEKLY ROUND[S] Up for October 5-19, 2025

@SoDakCampaigns — Wed, 22 Oct 2025 21:13:03 +0000

US Senator Mike Rounds’ WEEKLY ROUND[S] Up
October 5-19, 2025

Welcome back to another Weekly Round[s] Up. We have officially passed three weeks of being in a government shutdown. Democrats have now had 11 opportunities to reopen government but are refusing to do the right thing for the American people. The shutdown is having real, damaging effects on many Americans. Federal workers, including full-time uniformed members of the National Guard have missed a paycheck, food assistance is in jeopardy, some seniors are left without access to telehealth and air travel is growing more chaotic by the day.

On a positive note, the National Defense Authorization Act passed the Senate during the government shutdown. While we still have to conference it with the House version of the NDAA, the Senate version contains many wins for South Dakota. I’m particularly pleased that this version includes my legislation to ban individuals and entities controlled by China, Russia, Iran and North Korea from purchasing agricultural land and businesses located near sensitive military sites. The NDAA is a great example of bipartisan work in the Senate. As we remain in a government shutdown, I hope my Democrat colleagues decide to work with us to open the government up. After that happens, we can continue to work through the pressing issues that are facing the American people. More on the rest of my week in my Weekly Round[s] Up:

South Dakota groups I visited with: Merchant Payments Coalition; Kory and Ali Anderson with Dakota Foundry; Kelsey Lovseth, NEA Director for South Dakota, Stephanie Hageman, President of South Dakota Education Association; and the South Dakota Newsmedia Association, Flandreau Sioux Tribe, and Student Media Organizations students from Black Hills State University.

Met with South Dakotans from: Brookings, North Sioux City, Vermillion, Watertown, Webster, and Wessington Springs.

Other meetings: CIA General Counsel nominee, Joshua Simmons; Bill Pulte, Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency; Inspector General Michael Horowitz with the Federal Reserve Board, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau; Oleksandra Ustinova, Member of the Parliament of Ukraine and Anton Henov, F-16 Pilot, Head of the Ukrainian F-16 Program; Postmaster General David Steiner; Leadership with GeoExchange; General Kenneth S. Wilsbach, Department of the Air Force’s 24th Chief of Staff nominee; Major General Pirak; Javier Perez-Tasso, CEO of SWIFT; Paul Coussan with the National Parks Foundation; and Marissa Marshall from the Badlands National Park Conservancy.

Hearings: I attended 4 hearings last week including an Emerging Threats and Capabilities Subcommittee hearing, two Senate Armed Services Committee hearings, and an Open Nomination hearing for the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. During the open nomination hearing, I was able to give opening remarks for Peter Metzger, who I used to work with on the Select Committee on Intelligence. I know he will do great in this new role once confirmed. Watch a clip from the hearing here.

Briefings: Last week, I attended two briefings, one with the Senate Armed Services Committee as well as a closed Senate Select Committee on Intelligence briefing.

Senate Bible Study: I attended our Senate Bible Study, where the verse of the week was Luke 3:8 which speaks of repentance. I also attended our weekly Senate Prayer Breakfast with our speaker, former Senator Don Nickles from Oklahoma.

Votes taken: 32 – I voted again (several times) for the clean Continuing Resolution to extend government funding through November 21. As I’ve said, we need to open government back up. I also voted twenty times on different amendments to the NDAA, ending with the official vote to pass the FY2026 NDAA. I voted for Harold D. Mooty III, of Alabama, to be US District Judge for the Northern District of Alabama.

My staff in South Dakota visited: Aberdeen, Brookings, Lennox, Mobridge, and Vermillion.

Steps taken: 60,775 steps or 28.93 miles in week one, 45,472 steps or 21.36 miles in week two.

Video of the Week: Last week I joined Stuart Varney on Fox Business, watch the interview by clicking below.

Jensen: Trump shutdown curtailing chemtrails

larry kurtz — Wed, 22 Oct 2025 14:07:40 +0000

Exhaust gases from aircraft are indeed mostly water vapor that become visible as a function of the dew point then often form cirrus clouds at higher altitudes and alter microclimates and contrails also contain unburned hydrocarbons and other organic compounds that fall as pollutants but the sheer volume of air travel produces the de facto result of albedo modification intentional or not.

State Senator Kevin Jensen is an Earth hater representing District 16 in South Dakota's nutball legislature.

Witten Farms another Trump casualty in South Dakota

larry kurtz — Tue, 21 Oct 2025 15:34:16 +0000

In 2018 the Rapid City Journal blamed the South Dakota Republican Party for spikes in suicides and depression then a Sanford Health executive did the same in 2019. That year South Dakota ranked 6th highest in the nation for suicides reporting more than 22 self-administered terminations per 100,000 people or an increase of 59% since 1999 and the 11th highest increase in any state. But, during the Biden years even employment in the red moocher state improved and suicides decreased dramatically.

So, a cynical observer might suspect bankers provided gloomy outlooks to Creighton University's Rural Mainstreet Index in 2024 especially in midwestern swing states to sink Democratic Party prospects just as Republicans in congress stalled immigration reform because it makes sense to Earth haters that after he was elected again the Orange Julius would run America into the dirt so banks can foreclose on the whole dealio then massage auction price points.

Witten Farms received over $17,000 in federal subsidies in the last two years but it wasn't nearly enough to offset the harm done to it by the Trump Organization.

To ensure maximum flexibility for prospective buyers, the land will be offered in 20 individual tracts and combinations through a multi-parcel auction system. This system allows bidders to customize their purchases to perfectly suit their operational or investment needs. The auction will take place at 10 a.m. CDT on Wednesday, Nov. 19. The location of the auction is St. Mary's Hall, 305 W. Third St., Winner, South Dakota 57580. [Nov. Auction Features 5,508 SD Acres]

Learn more at NPR.

Ken Burns: E pluribus unum = DEI

larry kurtz — Mon, 20 Oct 2025 21:42:08 +0000

George Washington was a deeply flawed man and became a warlord because enslaved people afforded him cannon, muskets, powder and ball even as he excluded Black soldiers from his militia.

Ken Burns appeared in a live interview with Fresh Air's Terry Gross where he shared his perspective on the six-part, twelve hour PBS documentary series, The American Revolution, which he called the most consequential civil war in human history. He talked about how Washington and Benjamin Franklin simply seized tens of thousands of acres from the Indigenous population and why women, Native Americans and enslaved and free Black people were excluded from the declaration that "all men are created equal."

Burns lost millions of dollars to produce future documentaries after Donald Trump cut funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasing. During the interview he called diversity, equity and inclusion the same thing as E pluribus unum and that he would be denied by the Trump Organization to even talk about the series anywhere on properties held by the federal government.

An expansive look at the virtues and contradictions of the war and the birth of the United States of America, the film follows dozens of figures from a wide variety of backgrounds. Viewers will experience the war through the memories of the men and women who experienced it: the rank-and-file Continental soldiers and American militiamen (some of them teenagers), Patriot political and military leaders, British Army officers, American Loyalists, Native soldiers and civilians, enslaved and free African Americans, German soldiers in the British service, French and Spanish allies, and various civilians living in North America, Loyalist as well as Patriot, including many made refugees by the war. The American Revolution was a war for independence, a civil war, and a world war. It impacted millions – from Canada to the Caribbean and beyond. Few escaped its violence. [PBS]

Renville announces run for SD governor; maybe another primary for Dems

larry kurtz — Sun, 19 Oct 2025 20:32:02 +0000

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Allison Renville Announces Candidacy for Governor of South Dakota.
Native South Dakotan and Community Advocate Enters 2026 Gubernatorial Race
Sioux Falls, SD — Allison Renville, a longtime community advocate, political organizer, and outspoken voice for equity and rural revitalization, has officially announced her candidacy for Governor of South Dakota in the 2026 election.
Born and raised in Northeast South Dakota and based in Sioux Falls, Renville brings a unique blend of grassroots experience, cultural insight, and policy advocacy to the race. A citizen of the Oceti Sakowin (Great Sioux Nation) and a respected public speaker, she has been a leading voice in regional and national discussions surrounding civil rights, social justice, and sustainable economic development through political engagement.
“I’m running for Governor because South Dakota deserves leadership that listens to every voice—from our farmers and small business owners to our tribal communities and working families,” said Renville. “We need bold, inclusive leadership that focuses on real solutions, not politics as usual but with a legacy deeply embedded in South Dakota history.”
Renville’s campaign will center on key issues including:
Expanding access to healthcare across rural, the cities and underserved areas.
-Investing in education to strengthen rural and urban schools while supporting teachers and students.
-Protecting South Dakota’s natural resources while fostering renewable energy innovation including land, water and wind.
-Championing Tribal Sovereignty and building stronger partnerships between state and Tribal governments.
-Growing the economy through support for small businesses, agriculture, and workforce development that encourages systemic change and equity.
With a reputation for bridge-building and a deep commitment to community engagement, Renville is poised to bring a new kind of leadership to the Governor’s office—one rooted in transparency, inclusion, and a classic vision for the future of South Dakota.
More information about Allison Renville’s campaign, platform, and upcoming events will be available soon, for interviews or communications: allisonrenville@gmail.com. @highlight
#DakotasForAmerica #HiFromSD #VoteRenville #ResistRallyRise #RunRunRun #NoKings

SD Earth haters backing Fetterman?

larry kurtz — Sun, 19 Oct 2025 17:02:18 +0000

If unwell US Senator John Fetterman (D?-PA) lives though his term he'll be jettisoned by his own voters but at least he has the backing of South Dakota's Earth haters.
Democrats who could run against Fetterman include Reps. Brendan Boyle and Chris Deluzio and former Rep. Conor Lamb, according to multiple political insiders in Pennsylvania. [Scoop: Dems plot Fetterman ouster]

SD Earth haters are squabbling over truthiness

larry kurtz — Sat, 18 Oct 2025 14:41:53 +0000

Summit Carbon Solutions wants to dig a ditch for a $4.5 billion pipeline vulnerable to rupture and rip up over two thousand miles of unceded tribal lands where thousands of Indigenous Americans are buried then pump carbon dioxide to some sacrifice zone in occupied North Dakota.
Ian Fury is Republican interim South Dakota Governor Larry Rhoden's communications director and an operative of the Council for National Policy - a manifestation created by the extreme white wing of the Republican Party. Fury used to work for Representative Jim Jordan (NAZI-OH) who is also a member of CNP.
But, a showdown between Howdy Doody Dusty Johnson and interim South Dakota Governor Larry Rhoden in the Earth hater gubernatorial primary will nominate Tubby Toby Doeden who would be the easiest for a strong Democratic nominee like Troy Heinert to beat. But, conventional wisdom purports that if Rhoden gets out Jon Hansen and Doeden will split the anti-SDGOP establishment vote giving Johnson the nod.
Update: The Governor’s Office approved giving this company $12M of SD taxpayer money.

This is another example of politicians and bureaucrats in the Governor’s Office of Economic Development getting duped by green-energy and other scams—abusing “economic development” programs to…
— Speaker Jon Hansen (@SpeakerHansen) October 18, 2025

Believe the company if you don’t believe me. pic.twitter.com/byrptiEFmF
— Ian Fury (@IanTFury) October 18, 2025

Guest post: Olson slimes Powers...again

larry kurtz — Fri, 17 Oct 2025 12:11:36 +0000

Editor's note: here is Shad Olson raining truth on Pat Powers.
Allegedly closeted sodomite and disgraced former South Dakota Secretary of State Office staffer Pat Powers continues his incurable obsession with Aberdeen District 3 Representative Brandei Schaefbauer.
In his typically awkward and anachronate bumbling style, the South Dakota TMZ blob-blogger has produced his latest sexually frustrated misadventure into Representative Schaefbauer's personal life, publishing documents confirming an apparent AirBnB investment real estate acquisition complete with several sentences of barely scrutable political speculation about Rep. Schaefbauer's future political plans.
Apparently, Powers learned nothing from the confluence of events in early July when he first published Schaefbauer's home address in Aberdeen, just days before the assassinations of two Democrat Minnesota lawmakers by a former Tim Walz staff member. Those shootings, which left two dead and two more wounded motivated South Dakota legislative leadership to immediately scrub lawmakers' home addresses from the state website.
When confronted Thursday by legislative leadership about his latest efforts to expose Schaefbauer to potential intimidation and threats of violence, Powers refused any accountability for the article or potential consequences and quickly ended the call.
Representative Schaefbauer, already the target of multiple death threats after her prime sponsorship of South Dakota's transgender bathroom ban law, says Powers has exhibited a long pattern of creepy and undue fascination with her personal details, previously publishing the terms and settlement of her divorce and allowing a moderated comment section full of defamatory remarks about her romantic life.
According to published reports, Pat Powers brief tenure as a low level staff member in the Secretary of State's Office came to an abrupt end in 2012 due to conflict of interest concerns surrounding Powers' online political retail outlet, The Campaign Store.
Blog posts contemporaneous to Powers' dismissal however seem to hint at an alleged incident involving a male intern inside a public restroom and alleged public homosexual acts as the alleged reasons for his departure.
Powers was fired as official blogger of the SDGOP in 2023, a post he had used obediently to lie about, smear, slander and defame conservative grassroots candidates in maintenance of the RINO political monopoly in South Dakota.
In recent months, Pat Powers wife, Dr. Michelle Powers has taken heavy fire over allegations of dysfunctional and corrupt leadership at Northern Hills Training Center in Spearfish, where Mrs. Powers serves as director, including complaints of special needs clientele mistreatment and the doxing and intimidation of staff members trying to shed light on systemic problems at the center.
More recently, Powers' South Dakota War College has become a go-to source for the scurrying and scurrilous Katie Hoffmann, whose own flurry of commentary demanding "credible sources" on her multiple political facebook pages apparently doesn't preclude the publication of Powers' RINO hit pieces against conservatives Hoffmann dislikes or cannot effectively debate.
Birds of establishment feather make for one homely flock.
Stay tuned.

Olson on Thune

larry kurtz — Thu, 16 Oct 2025 13:08:24 +0000

At least as long ago as 2020 South Dakota conservatives were furious with Senator John Thune (Earth hater-SD) but Shad Olson still holds a grudge probably because of an interview with MSNBC.

ABQ Sunport among others that won't air stupid Noem video

larry kurtz — Wed, 15 Oct 2025 13:36:11 +0000
Minneapolis-St. Paul International and airports in Tucson and Phoenix, Arizona or even Minot and Williston, North Dakota and the Denver International Airport won't air Kristi Lynn Arnold Noem's (KLAN) ridiculous video blaming Democrats for the Trump shutdown and neither will Santa Fe Regional nor Albuquerque's Sunport according to Mayor Tim Keller.
Our nation’s airports are not an appropriate venue for political messages, especially statements that will lead to confusion for the traveling public. Our focus at the Sunport remains where it should be: the safety, security, and experience of all travelers.

SD Earth haters are deeply conflicted over TIFs

larry kurtz — Tue, 14 Oct 2025 14:25:25 +0000
In South Dakota local control is Republican control.

Led in part by Rapid City legislator, State Senator Taffy Howard there is a mass exodus underway from the center of the South Dakota Republican Party especially West River. Recall longtime Republican stalwarts like Phil Jensen, Charlie Hoffman, Betty Olson, Florence Thompson and at least fifteen others threw up their hands in desperation with Earth hater, US Representative Howdy Doody Dusty Johnson and backed Elizabeth Marty May in the Republican US House primary in 2020.

Sen. Howard and her compatriots successfully put a hokum tax increment financing district to a public vote.

State Senator Erin Tobin is an Earth hater representing District 21 in the nutball SD Legislature where TIF districts is just one conflict splitting the SDGOP. Because of a TIF, Corsica is using the value of new growth to attract new families and businesses. TIFs give communities the flexibility to meet their own needs, because no two towns or cities are the same. Local vision. Local control. Local investment. Local success. This can be a blueprint for reviving small towns across South Dakota, and we must protect the one tool that empowers our communities to build their own future. [Tobin, Faceberg post]
It’s all related: a medical industry oligopoly, gender dysphoria, polluted waterways, subsidized agriculture, absence of medical insurance, cancer and an Earth hating legislature on the dole. But, applaud the nutball Republican efforts diverting attention from the party’s culture of corruption where murders and their covers up are commonplace by clogging the legislative session with christianic religionist argle-bargle.

Republicans will pay more for electricity in South Dakota

larry kurtz — Sun, 12 Oct 2025 14:16:55 +0000
Utilities are not your friends.

Minneapolis-based Xcel Energy screws customers in Colorado, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, North Dakota, South Dakota, Texas and New Mexico. In 2013 the firm cashed in on its own vulnerable downed power lines it fixed with federal money in Minnesota after a record snowfall linked to climate disruptions it's partly responsible for. In my home state of South Dakota Xcel proposed the remediation of contaminated areas to permit unrestricted use of the Pathfinder nuclear site and spent more than a million bucks on ballot issues.

In Colorado alone the company and its shareholders got rich growing cannabis by burning coal and in 2014 Xcel gave nearly $20,000 to South Dakota's Republican congressional delegation. In 2015 the Minneapolis-based utility even sued to prevent the hookup of a solar generating station for a Minnesota company and enjoys frequent rate hikes from the South Dakota Public Utilities Cartel (SDPUC). That same year Xcel slow-walked grid ties for subscribers with home grown solar in its home state and in Colorado the syndicate charges homeowners .17 a kWh in base rates but only pays .08 cents per kWh to subscribers with rooftop solar.

In 2016 an Xcel principal engaged in a violent crackdown of pipeline activists. In 2017 Xcel used federal production tax credits to build South Dakota's biggest bird and bat killer. In 2022 a proposed ballot measure, called Initiative 93, would have required Colorado's investor-owned utilities — Xcel Energy and Black Hills Energy — to pay at least five percent of their revenues back to customers. Here in New Mexico Xcel Energy adds a surcharge for customers who choose a photovoltaic power grid tie.

In 2014, Xcel gave $10,000 to Mike Rounds, $2,500 to John Thune and $4,250 to Kristi Noem. Xcel's PAC gave far more to Earth hating Republicans in both 2022 and 2024 according to Open Secrets and Howdy Doody Dusty Johnson got $5,000 from Xcel last cycle.

No corporate taxes, a compliant regulator, a dearth of environmental protection and cheap labor make South Dakota the perfect dumping ground for earth killers like coal and eyesores like wind farms.

Today, Xcel Energy has agreed to pay $640 million for its role in Colorado's Marshall Fire so the utility wants to raise rates some nineteen percent on 107,000 mostly Republican South Dakota subscribers.

Read it all here.

Olson on Bendagate

larry kurtz — Fri, 10 Oct 2025 21:01:16 +0000

Editor's note: Republican South Dakota former Governor now US Senator Mike Rounds began courting Chinese money in 2004 but so far has escaped a thorough probe of EB-5 crimes committed on his watch. On advice of counsel Rounds has never released the names of his Future Fund and Bendagate scandal cronies because he's shielded by South Dakota's lack of ethics oversight.
In 2014 Republican former Deadwood mayor Chuck Turbiville fled an economic development post ahead of a lawsuit seeking information about criminal activity committed during Gov. Rounds' administration resulting in the suspicious death of Richard Benda. Turbiville died in 2018 but not before endorsing Marty Jackley for governor. China hates South Dakota because the state screwed Chinese job creators out of at least $100 million and in 2019 after 64 of the 65 investors received visas and gained permanent residency a settlement was reached.
At his Faceberg page Shad Olson called out Pierre's culture of corruption and the following is an excerpt.
If the full truth had ever been told about the EB-5 scandal, Richard Benda's death, Joop Bollen's sweetheart plea deal, and the Northern State University Foundation's involvement in housing Chinese money for U.S. VISA's for Chinese investors, and the resale and transfer of U.S. and Canadian immigration documents on the black market, opinions about South Dakota's ranking among the most corrupt states in the nation would not be so dimly informed.
Why did 33 Chinese nationals sue South Dakota to get their money back for VISA promises bargained, paid and reneged?
Why were South Dakota voters never told about the pay-for-play Chinese investment portal that left dozens of CCP members in good standing emptyhanded and seeking legal redress?
Why were there two conflicting coroner's reports involving a "suicide" hunting misadventure that prevented a full vetting of deeper questions about the EB-5 program, the Canadian version of which was canceled by the crown after it was revealed as an unlimited money laundering and bribery operation involving Canadian politicos and joint investors in Chinese business ventures?
Why did the South Dakota legislature exhibit precisely zero curiosity about these events and the real story behind Chinese Triad and CCP money that was funneled into South Dakota shell corporations that were mysteriously erased from the ledger between 2018 and 2021?
If you've never heard about any of this and are still fulfilling the marketing wishes of the Pierre establishment, Pat Powers and a bunch of equally stupid and compromised mouthpieces of the phony grassroots resurgence in South Dakota, perhaps take a chair while the adults speak about things that Grok won't illuminate.

Trump is targeting South Dakota

larry kurtz — Fri, 10 Oct 2025 15:32:31 +0000

South Dakotans are suffering under the Trump Organization's march to authoritarianism from 11% car loans or a nearly 2% increase to the destruction of ag markets. Besides, why would China buy contaminated soybeans and livestock?
Source: WalletHub

Rhoden missed the mark with salad comment

larry kurtz — Fri, 10 Oct 2025 13:37:01 +0000
A federal judge blocked Donald Trump's attack on Chicago as Cardinal Blase Cupich pushed back on plans to raid churches and schools in Pope Leo's home town.

But, a showdown between Howdy Doody Dusty Johnson and interim South Dakota Governor Larry Rhoden in the Earth hater gubernatorial primary will nominate Tubby Toby Doeden who would be the easiest for a strong Democratic nominee like Troy Heinert to beat. But, conventional wisdom purports that if Rhoden gets out Jon Hansen and Doeden will split the anti-SDGOP establishment vote giving Johnson the nod.

But Rhoden chose to target billionaire Illinois Governor JB Pritzker instead of reminding voters that Doeden, Lt. Gov. Tony Venhuizen, Isabel legislator Ryan Maher and South Dakota blogger Pat Powers and his wife are hugely obese.
“Maybe he should clean up Chicago,” Rhoden said. “Or at least eat a salad.” [SD Searchlight]
Learn more at WBEZ.

Earth hater Johnson turns to socialism

larry kurtz — Wed, 08 Oct 2025 15:27:45 +0000
Republicanism isn't self-reliance; it's moral hazard.

Earth hater Howdy Doody Dusty Johnson survived on food stamps but now he shits on poor people because he's a Republican but why should China buy contaminated soybeans?“There are concerns and these are legitimate concerns. We know that right now to my knowledge there’s not a single order of soybeans from either South Dakota or North Dakota that is headed to the Pacific Northwest,” Johnson said. “I’m open to the idea that some of that revenue, that tariff revenue should go the American farmers, who are on the frontlines. They are the tip of the spear. They’re getting the short end of the stick,” said Johnson. “I’m okay with the idea that we maybe need to do something to spare them some of that pain,” said Johnson. [KOTA teevee]

Colonialism on trial in Las Cruces

larry kurtz — Wed, 08 Oct 2025 13:34:32 +0000

The United States was founded on the backs of slaves as systematic genocide became a way of life for white christians quoting scripture as they slaughtered their fellow humans.
Here's an alternative to the horrific story that is American history that was perpetrated in the name of manifest destiny.
The University Art Museum at New Mexico State University presents Necessary Futures, on view now through March 7, 2026. This show highlights three New Mexico-based artists - sheri crider, Haley Greenfeather English, and Szu-Han Ho - whose work shares the strategic use of color, irony, joy, and hope as proposals for confronting and subverting the ongoing impacts of mass incarceration, capitalism, and colonialism. [KTEP]

Guest post: South Dakota Democrats are showing up!

larry kurtz — Tue, 07 Oct 2025 13:59:42 +0000

Editor's note: in 2010 an ACLU lawsuit sought evidence of Indian Health Services (IHS) coercion in Pitocin-induced births on the Cheyenne River reservation.
Military personnel love TRICARE, veterans mostly like the Veterans Health Administration and most Native Americans won’t support a copay because We the People are responsible for their medical care by treaty. This interested party likes the idea of rolling the funding for Obamacare, TRICARE, Medicare, the IHS and the VHA together then offering Medicaid for all by increasing the estate tax, raising taxes on tobacco and adopting a carbon tax.
South Dakota State Representative Eric Emery (D-District 26A) is Assistant Minority Leader. His column appears at the SDDP's Substack.
Háu mitákuyepi! Cante’ waste’ nape ciyuzapi yelo. Eric Emery emáčiyapi.
I serve as a proud Native American legislator and a Democrat in the South Dakota House of Representatives. Now, some people ask me what that’s like, being Native, being a Democrat, and being in one of the reddest states in the country. The truth is, it means carrying the voice of my people into a Capitol where those voices are too often absent. Native Americans make up about 8% of this state, yet our representation has never matched our population. For me, every time I stand up in Pierre, I carry the stories of Rosebud, of small towns, of rural South Dakota. Whether you live in a city or on a reservation, you deserve to have someone fighting for you.
Now, let’s be honest, the numbers aren’t in our favor. Democrats hold just a handful of seats in the South Dakota legislature. But what we lack in numbers, we make up for in determination. This past year, we showed that even a super-minority can deliver wins when we build coalitions. We stopped bills that would have criminalized librarians. We defended landowners from out-of-state corporations trying to use eminent domain for carbon pipelines. And we passed a budget that reflected not just one party’s priorities, but the values of South Dakotans across the board.
That’s how progress is made here by building relationships and finding common ground. Potholes don’t ask if you’re a Democrat or a Republican. And when an ambulance is needed, nobody cares what party funded it, only that it comes.
And that brings me to something I know deeply as a paramedic: our state is in a crisis when it comes to EMS. In too many rural communities, we are one broken-down ambulance or one burned-out volunteer away from having no emergency coverage at all. Entire regions risk being left without timely help in their darkest moments. This year, I introduced legislation to declare EMS an essential service, just like police or fire, and although it didn’t pass, it sparked something. It created an interim committee where Democrats and Republicans are working side by side, and it proved one thing: we all agree that when someone calls 911, help must come. And we will get there together.
This isn’t just about ambulances; it’s about rural healthcare as a whole. In Sisseton, moms now have to drive an hour to deliver a baby because their local birthing unit closed. On reservations, something as basic as a mammogram has been unavailable when staff shortages hit. And in Bison, it took nine months to replace a retiring doctor. One person leaving shouldn’t mean a whole community loses care.
But we are finding solutions. Telehealth is expanding, especially with new broadband investments that Democrats delivered through the infrastructure law. Medicaid expansion, something South Dakota voters demanded, has already brought coverage to nearly 30,000 people, many of them in rural towns and tribal communities. That means fewer unpaid hospital bills, stronger clinics, and healthier families.
So here’s the truth: Democrats are showing up for rural South Dakota. Broadband for farms. Healthcare for working families. Investments that keep small hospitals open. These aren’t just policies; they are lifelines.
I want to remind us all: being a Democrat in South Dakota isn’t about the size of our caucus, it’s about the size of our purpose. We are bridge-builders. We are truth-tellers. We are fighters for communities too often left behind. And we are proof that this party does not write off rural states.
So let’s keep standing up. Let’s keep building coalitions. Let’s keep telling our neighbors that we’re fighting for their schools, their healthcare, their safety. Because when Democrats speak to those values, the values of fairness, opportunity, and dignity, we win.
Being a rural Democrat, being a Native Democrat in South Dakota, is not a weakness. It is a strength. And together, with hope and grit, we can build a future where every South Dakotan, on the reservation, in the countryside, or in town, has a fair shot at a healthy and thriving life.

South Dakota among least safest states

larry kurtz — Mon, 06 Oct 2025 13:53:29 +0000

Source: WalletHub
35th safest, 47th in workplace safety, 39th in emergency preparedness rank and tied for 45th in climate disasters per capita South Dakota is truly a failed state. Students in South Dakota are fifth in overall rank of those in debt and suffer that load at the highest proportion in the US. The Bendagate state is 37th in grant and work opportunities rank and is tied for 42nd in student work opportunities. 113,750 people in South Dakota don’t have enough food including 1 in 5 children.

Pope calls out Earth haters who claim to be 'pro-life'

larry kurtz — Sun, 05 Oct 2025 20:27:10 +0000
"Someone who says I'm against abortion but is in favor of the death penalty is not really pro-life," Pope Leo said. "And someone who says I'm against abortion but I'm in agreement with the inhuman treatment of immigrants in the United States, I don't know if that's pro-life." [NPR]
Born in Omaha, Blase Cupich was raised in a catholic household, attended a Benedictine elementary school, a diocese high school then graduated the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul. When this interested party lived in Rapid City in 1998 he was made bishop by John Paul II and was consecrated in a ceremony at the Rushmore Plaza Civic Center. In 2004 when some in the cult wanted to ban Senator Tom Daschle from the Eucharist because of his defense of reproductive rights Cupich called it "cherry picking" and in 2008 he called racism a sin and was named Cardinal by Pope Francis in 2016. Today, Cardinal Blase Cupich of Chicago is pushing back on plans by the Trump Organization to raid churches and schools.

Substack: purges just first steps to Trump totalitarianism

larry kurtz — Sun, 05 Oct 2025 16:13:03 +0000

Check out The Exposed Nation: Why Trump May Be Setting America Up for Attack...On Purpose The Purge Nobody Should Shrug Off
Let’s run the scenario forward. You’ll see how neatly the pieces align:
Step 1: Purge the prosecutors, watchdogs, and generals who might resist. (Already happening.)
Step 2: Fill the gaps with loyalists who won’t raise alarms. (Already happening.)
Step 3: Allow an external strike—terror, cyber, border, or sabotage.
Step 4: Let the country reel in shock. Citizens panic. Markets collapse.
Step 5: Step forward as the only “strong” figure promising order.
Step 6: Demand emergency powers, martial law, suspension of elections, “temporary” authoritarian control.
Step 7: Never let go.

LTE: Daily Mining Gazette, Houghton , Michigan

larry kurtz — Sat, 04 Oct 2025 14:28:48 +0000

Editor's note: the following was submitted by William Wanhala to the Daily Mining Gazette, Houghton, Michigan.
Donald Trump walked into Quantico Tuesday expecting a rally. He got a funeral.
The generals sat in perfect silence, faces locked in the kind of grim stillness that comes from years of watching idiots talk and choosing not to react. Trump, of course, couldn’t handle it. “I’ve never walked into a room so silent before,” he confessed, his voice trembling somewhere between wounded pride and panic.
Then came the kicker, “If you want to applaud, you applaud.”
This wasn’t leadership. This was a washed-up Vegas act begging the crowd to clap. The Commander-in-Chief turned into the Clapper-in-Chief, reduced to prodding the nation’s top brass like a sad carnival barker who forgot his punchline.
A campaign rally in uniform.
Instead of strategy, Trump delivered his usual medley of grievances: Barack Obama ruined everything, Joe Biden ruined it twice as hard, and only Donald J. Trump, self-proclaimed “two-term, maybe three-term president” could save America. It was less a military briefing than an episode of The Apprentice: Pentagon Edition.
The generals, trained to withstand battlefield chaos, sat stone-faced through the barrage of nonsense. They have endured artillery fire with more enthusiasm.
Enter Pete Hegseth, America’s Pastor-in-Arms. Trump’s “Secretary of War” took the podium with the intensity of a man who thinks Tom Clancy novels are actual military doctrine. He promised “fire and brimstone,” called for purges of “fat generals,” and announced he wants the next war to look exactly like the Gulf War, because apparently it’s still 1991 and CNN is running that same grainy footage of tanks in the desert.
But Hegseth wasn’t done. He led them in prayer. Yes, prayer. The nation’s top generals, summoned by presidential ego, now folded into a forced altar call like extras at a megachurch revival. The separation of church and state? Obliterated. Constitution? Shredded. Jesus, apparently, is now Commander-in-Chief. Trump can play Vice.
Weakness on parade.
Trump likes to brag about firing generals who “aren’t warriors.” But on Tuesday, the real firing squad was silence. Not one clap. Not one cheer. Just the steady hum of contempt vibrating off the brass like feedback from a dead microphone.
These men and women have seen actual combat. They’ve buried soldiers. They’ve lived with the weight of real command. And now they’re expected to cheer for a man who brags about moving “a submarine or two” like it’s a toy in a bathtub, or who lectures about “two N-words” as though nuclear strategy were a stand-up routine.
No wonder they didn’t clap.
The pin-drop presidency.
What happened at Quantico wasn’t just awkward. It was diagnostic. Trump’s presidency is a hollow shell propped up by applause, and when the applause disappears, so does he. And Hegseth? He’s the zealot-in-chief, delivering sermons about war and Christ in equal measure, a man confusing the Book of Revelation with the Pentagon’s operations manual. Together, they make quite the duo: one desperate for claps, the other desperate for amens.
The generals gave them neither. Instead, they gave silence, the most cutting judgment of all.

Banner at National Forest websites is a lie

larry kurtz — Sat, 04 Oct 2025 13:29:27 +0000

Click on the image for a better look.

Dear Democrats: I'm the guy who's moving heaven & earth to get the tax credits extended, and...

rss@dailykos.com (Brainwrap) — Thu, 11 Sep 2025 15:36:22 +0000

...I’m telling you: DON’T CAVE FOR A SHORT-TERM FIX.

This is gonna be one of the stranger references I've made on this site, but bear with me.

Back in 1996 there was an HBO movie called "The Late Shift" which told the story of the Late Night TV show battle between David Letterman and Jay Leno over who would succeed Johnny Carson as host of The Tonight Show. As stupid as this may sound today, this was actually a Really Big Deal in the '90's...one of those absurd pop culture stories which dominated the headlines and the tabloids for several years.

The movie itself was decent, with some interesting casting including Kathy Bates and Treat Williams, but nothing special. The main problem is that the audience is expected to root and feel sympathy for a couple of dudes who were already rich & famous and who would both continue to be rich & famous no matter how the story played out. The stakes weren't exactly the fate of the world, is what I'm saying.

However, there was a scene near the end of the film which seems relevant to me today. After months of all sorts of legal & PR shenanigans, Letterman's producer manages to finally get NBC to give Letterman an offer to take over the Tonight Show...maybe. Sort of. The wording of the offer has a lot of loopholes and vague language.

Letterman, who has spent his entire life dreaming of hosting The Tonight Show, is anguishing over whether to take the offer or not, and has this discussion with his producer:

Dave: "I'm still thinking of taking it. I want that show!"

Pete: "What show?"

Dave: "I deserve that show!"

Pete: "Johnny's show? Don't you get it David? They are not offering you the Johnny Carson Tonight Show; that's gone forever. They're offering you damaged goods. They're offering you the Jay Leno show. And they're not even offering it now; they're making you wait."

Dave: "I lost that show once, Pete. I'm not gonna do it again. I can't..I just can't say no."

Pete: "Then don't say yes yet. Make one more phone call."

Dave: "Jeez...why are you doing this to me? Don't you understand? I don't care. I cannot lose the Tonight Show twice...once to Jay Leno, and once because I was too dumb to take a second chance. They're offering me a second chance, Pete!"

Pete: "David, you don't understand: I'm the guy who moved heaven and earth to get you that second chance, and I'm telling you...it's not right. It's leftovers. It's shoddy."

x

x
YouTube Video

I thought of this scene, and Pete's final words, as I read stories about the upcoming federal government funding battle in the U.S. Congress. As Josh Marshall puts it over at Talking Points Memo:

...there’s a big argument among Democrats about the looming shutdown fight. Senate Democrats seem set on making it a negotiation about Obamacare subsidies, the biggest part of the BBB cuts that kick in before 2026. Meanwhile, you have a growing chorus of people who aren’t Senate Democrats saying this is wrong. It’s not time for small-bore policy revisions. You’ve got to do something dramatic to rein in Trump’s increasingly dictatorial rule...

...But if you’re going to have a confrontation, you need to make that stand on the issue where your issue advantage is the greatest. And that’s on the health care subsidies.

...There’s already a slice of Republicans who very much want to [extend the subsidies...temporarily]. That’s mostly the endangered members in the House and to a degree in the Senate. The leadership and White House won’t say so of course but they’d probably like to kick those cuts past the 2026 midterms as well.

...If the optimal plan is to force a confrontation on the most salient and Dem-leaning issue, then what Senate Democrats are planning is the exact opposite of that because they’re trying to avoid a confrontation.

I don't think it's an exaggeration for me to say that there's literally been no bigger champion of extending the ACA's enhanced Advance Premium Tax Credits (eAPTC) which have been in place since 2021 than me.

I've spent years pushing for the formula to be made dramatically more generous, and I've spent the better part of the past year obsessing over exactly how many enrollees will be damaged and by just how much in every state across the country if the current APTC structure reverts back to where it was prior to 2021. Tracking this sort of data is the very DNA of ACA Signups, after all.

This is also true on a personal level: Both my wife and I are self-employed and have relied on ACA exchange coverage off and on over the years (we switched to her university plan when she went back to school to get her counseling degree a few years back, but moved back onto an exchange plan after she graduated a year or so ago).

I'm not going to go into the specifics of our income beyond stating that it varies widely from year to year, generally ranging between 300 - 500% of the Federal Poverty Level.

Furthermore, one of us has a fairly expensive chronic medical condition which requires ongoing treatment.

While we're definitely better off overall than millions of other ACA enrollees, this means that the elimination of the much-hated "Subsidy Cliff" at 400% FPL was always a constant fear of ours, as moving even $1 over that cap used to mean the difference between paying less than 10% of our income in premiums, or having to pay full price, which (given our requirements) can still top 25% of our gross income as it stands...and assuming eAPTCs do expire, our provider network requirements mean that our current plan would likely end up costing us at least $6,000 more next year.

Since there's no way we can afford that type of hit (especially on top of the other Trump tariff inflation swirling around every other purchase in our lives), we'd have to downgrade to a worse plan with far higher deductibles & co-pays.

My point here is that while there are certainly many families in an even worse situation than ours, this is not a case of us living in a golden tower while dictating the sacrifices that the masses should make either: If the eAPTCs expire, we're seriously screwed right along with millions of other families.

EVEN SO...

And a confrontation isn’t just good in the abstract or the way to have some kind of blue-state catharsis. Without a big confrontation, it’s just a Senate sausage-making deal like every other continuing resolution negotiation. No one who’s not very plugged into politics and thoroughly committed in their politics will even know it happened. Most of the people who are going to be hit by those subsidy hits don’t even know about it yet. And if Democrats “win” this it will be as though it never happened at all.

... So that whole plan is one that does nothing for Obamacare recipients or for Democrats electorally or to help the country try to fight off an authoritarian takeover.

If the decision is that you make this fight over health care coverage, you’ve got to up the ante substantially. That means bringing back the Obamacare subsidies on a permanent basis and the Medicaid budgets that were cut as well. They’re both really really important.

...I’ve already made my argument for why you want to get in the authoritarian takeover issues too...But if you want to draw the line on bringing back everyone’s health care, you need to do it like this, by pushing for everything. A lo-fi bit of horse trading to bring back the subsidies for six months only to cut them again after Democrats have no chance to do anything about it is bad on every front.

One minor quibble: The "agreement" is supposedly for a 1-year extension of the eAPTC (thru 12/31/26), not 6 months, but the point is made.

As he says, ideally Democrats shouldn't raise a finger to avoid a government shutdown this time around without ironclad guarantees that the Trump Administration's worst abuses of power and lawlessness will be reined in.

This includes things like:

ICE gestapo running out of control;

His military invasions of U.S. cities;

Deporting civilians and non-civilians alike to torture prisons both locally and abroad;

Imposing tariffs left & right without Congressional approval;

Being required to actually spend Congressionally-allocated funding on the projects and programs that Congress, you know, allocated them for.

HOWEVER, if you're going to focus on "kitchen table economic issues" and the like, for God's sake at least don't go small bore on those.

You know I'm a pretty mainstream Democrat. I'm not demanding Medicare for All here. What I am urging on the healthcare front is for three clear demands:

Restore the massive funding cuts to the NIH & other critical medical/scientific departments of the federal government;

Repeal the draconian cuts to Medicaid (especially the disaster-as-a-feature-waiting-to-happen "work reporting requirements;" and...

Make the enhanced ACA premium tax credits (eAPTC) permanent so we can avoid this Sword-of-Damocles worry which is paralyzing carriers, providers and enrollees every few years.

At a bare, bare minimum, do not settle for a one- or two-year extension of the eAPTCs.

Kicking this particular can down the road for only one or two years would not only be an absolute gift to Republicans politically (since it would push the pain out until just past the midterms, which is of course the only reason why any Republicans are willing to discuss doing so at all), but it would also mean we'd be right back here with the exact same scary headlines a year or two from now, with 24 million people never knowing whether their health insurance premiums are going to skyrocket from year to year.

Nothing is worse for the insurance industry than uncertainty, and anytime they're uncertain about anything you can be sure they'll jack up rates as a "just in case" cushion.

WITH ALL THAT SAID, I could see at least some room for negotiation on the specific parameters of the permanently extended enhanced ACA tax credits.

For instance: One legitimate criticism of how the ACA functions which was first reported on by Julie Appleby of KFF has been the rise of broker fraud, in which unscrupulous health insurance brokers have apparently been secretly either enrolling people into ACA exchange plans without the enrollee's knowledge or permission, or switching them from one plan to another without their knowledge/permission, in order to pocket the commission.

There are various ways this has been taking place, and there have been a variety of measures taken by both HelathCare.Gov and state-based ACA exchanges to crack down on this issue, but one reason the instances have grown over the past few years is because the eAPTC also mean millions more Americans have become eligible for $0-premium plans.

While this is a good thing in terms of administrative burden and affordability for very low-income enrollees, it does make it easier for brokers to commit fraud as well, since if the enrollee never actually receives an invoice (even for just $1 or so), they're far less likely to find out that they're even enrolled in an insurance policy (at least until they file their taxes the following year and have to reconcile their income vs. the APTC via IRA form 8962, that is).

One of the measures the Trump Administration is imposing on enrollees next year is a $5/month mandatory premium for current $0-premium enrollees who auto-renew their policies. This is supposedly being put into place to root out fraud, but a) the way it's being done has had a hold on it for being unconstitutional; and b) making it $5 is unnecessary if the sole point of the measure is to make sure enrollees know that they're enrolled early on.

One possible thing I could see Dems agreeing to would be to add a $1/month minimum net premium regardless of how much in APTC enrollees are otherwise eligible for. I'm not saying I'd be thrilled with this, but I could see that winning over support.

A second potential negotiation point would be at the upper end of the spectrum. The pre-2021 Subsidy Cliff kicked in at 400% of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL), which is $62,600/year for a single adult or $128,600 for a family of four. As I make crystal clear in my "Subsidy Expiration by State" project, this will go back to being absolutely devastating for families earning more than that.

The current sliding scale looks like the following:

100 - 150% FPL: 0% of income paid for benchmark Silver plan

150 - 200% FPL: 0 - 2% of income

200 - 250% FPL: 2 - 4% of income

250 - 300% FPL: 4 - 6% of income

300 - 400% FPL: 6 - 8.5% of income

> 400% FPL: 8.5% of income

Here's what the sliding scale is currently scheduled to look like starting January 1st, after the enhanced thresholds expire and the Trump Administration's tinkering with the PAPI formula go into effect:

100 - 133% FPL: 2.1% of income

133 - 150% FPL: 3.14 - 4.19% of income

150 - 200% FPL: 4.19 - 6.6% of income

200 - 250% FPL: 6.6 - 8.44% of income

250 - 300% FPL: 8.44 - 9.96% of income

300 - 400% FPL: 9.96% of income

> 400% FPL: n/a (full price)

One criticism of the elimination of the "Subsidy Cliff" is that it's theoretically possible that a family earning up to, say, $500,000 or more could still qualify for tax credits. This is true (especially in states with insanely high gross premiums like Alaska, West Virginia and Wyoming), but it's also disingenuous since:

a) the amount of eAPTC those households qualify for is pretty nominal (literally $5month or less in some cases);

b) those instances are extremely rare since you'd almost certainly have to be older than 55 or so for the benchmark plan to cost that much of your income, and almost everyone 55+ with that high of an income likely has employer benefits anyway; and

c) people who have a corporate job which pays half a million dollars or more are likely receiving far more in tax credits via the Employer Sponsored Insurance Tax Exclusion anyway.

HOWEVER, if Republicans really want to be absolutely certain that there's no possibility whatsoever of Bill Gates or Elon Musk sponging $5/month in ACA tax credits, fine: Bring back the "Subsidy Cliff" at a much higher income threshold.

The graph at the top of this diary is what these look like visually...this is based on a 64-yr old couple in Oakland County, Michigan enrolled in the 2025 benchmark Silver plan; the actual 2026 plan will likely cost around 17% more at full price.

You see that orange area? That's where legitimate negotiations could take place.

While I'd prefer that the Subsidy Cliff not return at all, I could see negotiating to bring it back at a much higher income threshold...say, 1,200% FPL.

While I'd prefer to keep the high-end 8.5% of income cap locked where it is, I could see compromising at a max of 9% at 400% FPL, or perhaps adding a tier at 10% around 800% FPL or whatever.

There's a number of other wonky, in-the-weeds technical tweaks you guys could debate, of course, but the larger point is that as long as it's made permanent, there is some wiggle room between the two...assuming an honest debate is on the table which, let's be honest, seems unlikely these days.

But if Trump is allowed to continue to ignore Congress and the Constitution whenever he feels like it, none of this will matter by the time the midterms come around anyway. Take a stand.

Maintaining ACA Signups takes a ton of time & effort; if you’d like to support my work you can do s

Cranky Users: CLOSED Image Recovery Opportunity - New Deadline Sunday Night

rss@dailykos.com (belinda ridgewood) — Sat, 09 Aug 2025 21:07:47 +0000

Hello, my cranky friends! This diary is a follow-up to one I posted early this past week: Cranky Users: Great News for the Image-Bereft. You can refer to that diary if you want WAY more detail. But here’s what I’m on about today:

This is about a time in 2019 when, because of a legal threat to the site, all the Image Library contents uploaded through 2015 (from its beginning in 2012) had to be removed. They were not discarded, just impounded, and there was supposed to be a way you could reclaim your images, but that never worked for a lot of people. (You can already see that, if you didn’t join Daily Kos until after 2015, you don’t need to worry about this.)

Fast-forward to kos’s recent announcement about Daily Kos moving to a WordPress platform. In that comment thread, someone asked about the impounded images. Upon checking, kos found they still existed, and agreed to restore them to people who asked, but on a very short timeline, just a few days. I am charged with collecting the signup list to get those old images back.

Wherever you are, tomorrow we are all antifa

rss@dailykos.com (Meteor Blades) — Sat, 05 Apr 2025 02:02:26 +0000

More than 1.5 million people from 1200 communities have signed up with Hands Off! organizers to say they will show up locally Saturday in support of federal workers and to protest the fascist goons terrorizing the country by implementing deeply damaging and frequently illegal actions and policies (as well as performing a mad tariff experiment).

If you go to one of these events, please take a few photos and post them here in your own diary or one of the many that I suspect other people will write. This spontaneous upsurge of bottom-up resistance to the anti-democratic oligarchs is a crucial moment of solidarity. Such moments of broad unity rarely occur. We should celebrate and build upon them. This is, after all, about a lot more than Donald Trump and Elon Musk. There’s a bunch of these guys plus their armies of sycophants eager to turn the social and economic gains of the past century into dust. Joining together against these would-be rulers and in support of democracy, flawed as it may be, is an historical moment not to miss if you can help it.

In case you haven’t yet decided whether to go to an event, it’s not too late because they are just about everywhere. Here’s a link to the Hands Off! site where you can find an action somewhere in your vicinity.

Let’s show the rest of the world that America isn’t completely crazy.

They sure don't make it easy

rss@dailykos.com (ZenTrainer) — Thu, 30 Jan 2025 19:30:33 +0000

The DNC is voting for a new Chair on Saturday. Many articles have been written about Ben Wikler on DK, he has a lot of fans here. I wrote a piece at the beginning of the month laying out how to contact DNC members in each state and ask them to vote for Ben. www.dailykos.com/...

Turns out that is easier said than done and was a lot easier a few years ago than it is now. I live in TN and the website for the Democratic Party has changed. There used to be a link to all the officers contact info right by their pictures.

Yeah, that’s not happening anymore. I was able to find one DNC members info but only because she is also a county chair. That didn’t stop me though, I have been sending emails to the generic TNDP website. All month I’ve gotten emails from the TNDP asking for money and I’ve responded by asking them to contact their DNC members and please get them to vote for Ben Wikler. TNDP- 615-327-9779 — hello@tndp.org You can do the same in your state.

We better hurry, the next election is February 1st.

rss@dailykos.com (ZenTrainer) — Sat, 04 Jan 2025 19:36:29 +0000

A lot of pieces have been written here about Ben Wikler lately. The successful chair of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin has entered the race for head of the DNC. I’m thrilled! I think he is fantastic and agree that he would be great as chair of the DNC. I thought I’d provide some info on what we can do to help make that happen.

We used to have “Meet-Ups” here at Daily Kos. Gather in our cities and meet-up to eat (of course) and also to do some politicking. I miss those meetups but here is something that can be done online to help guide the course of the Democratic Party.

It’s the 448 members of the DNC who will be voting on the position of Chair so one thing you can do is contact the DNC members of your state party.

I googled “virginia democratic party steering committee” and got this link vademocrats.org/…
At that link there is a list of the members of the steering committee and within that list I found this:

Hon. Jennifer Carroll-Foy
DNC Member
Ms. Doris Crouse-Mays
DNC Member
Mr. Harry Khanna
DNC Member
Ms. Tram Nguyen
DNC Member
Mr. Bryan Graham
DNC Member
Hon. Levar Stoney
DNC Member
Ms. Elaine Kamarck
DNC Member

These would be the people in VA who need to be contacted. This can be done in every state.
Here are Michigan's DNC members michigandems.com/… Maryland’s are here mddems.org/…
If you can’t find your states members post a comment here and someone will help you find out, I guarantee.

It’s not that hard to find the contact info for these folks and when you do, contact them! Let them know who you’d like to see heading the D Party. Ask them to vote for Ben Wikler. Call them, email or send a text, do all 3. You would be amazed at the power the readers of Daily Kos have. More than one State Party Chair knows who we are!!

Also, it cost money to run. You can donate to Ben here

DONATE

Ben Wikler and Dr. Fergie Reid Sr. Dr. Reid Sr. turns 100 this year and is still going strong!

On real fake news

David Newquist — Wed, 28 Aug 2024 15:58:19 +0000

The newspaper I worked for hired a journalistic "hero," who had served a month in jail in Colorado for refusing to reveal a news source. She had written about judicial corruption in Colorado and a judge sent her to jail when she wouldn't say who gave her the information or how she got it. Her stance earned her national recognition and she was featured on the cover of Life magazine.
She came to the Quad-Cities area to work for a newspaper in Davenport, Iowa. After a short time, she left that paper-- at its request-- and came across the river to work on the Moline, Illinois, paper where I worked. She was features editor and covered higher education. That's where some problems with her showed up.
In her reporting, she showed a personal dislike for the president of the local community college. Her reports implied that his staff members resented him and questioned his competence. I knew a number of the faculty, and they said her contention was simply not true. That circumstance was something that greatly perturbed other journalists on the newspaper staff. She made things up but claimed they were the results of her investigations. The editor was reluctant to restrain her because her stories sold newspapers; she was well regarded by many readers. However, the area had a press club, and two of its members documented the falsehoods she made and wrote about them in the organization's newsletter. Their purpose was to disassociate honest working journalists from a person who they thought did not meet the ethical and professional standards of a true journalist. The same attitude prevailed at the newspaper I worked for. The matter came to a head one day.
She ran a story that purported that illegal gambling activities were taking place throughout the countryside. She included a photograph of a line of cars parked on the side of a country lane leading to a farmstead where she said men gathered to play high-stakes poker and craps. I recognized the scene portrayed, as I was there. The event was actually a workshop on grooming and handling cattle for show conducted by University of Illinois extension specialists for 4-H and Future Farmer members. I covered the workshop on the farm page, but many readers read and believed the woman's story that gambling was taking place there. The owners of the farm requested that a retraction and correction be printed, but the reporter claimed that her story was true and that gamblers used the workshop contention to cover their gambling activities.
The owners of the farm were prominent community leaders and had their lawyer call the editor to inform him that they intended to enter a defamation suit if the story was not corrected. The editor came to the realization that the "investigative reporting" by the woman was largely made up. He enforced a rule that she had to identify her sources either in her stories or at least to him so that he could verify the information. The reporter rebuked the editor, saying that he was trying to gain access to news sources that she had developed. Tension between the editor and her got intense, and was aggravated by the fact that her work was often slovenly. The managing editor complained about the quality of her work, which detracted from the professional work produced by other staff members. Her work degraded the reputation of the newspaper, which was considered one of the most influential news sources in downstate Illinois. Her effect on the newspaper was so discouraging that I decided it was time to change jobs. I did not find any attractive openings in the news business. That and the passage of a peacetime GI Bill resulted in the decision to go to graduate school. However, I was just one of seven editorial staff members to leave the paper at that time. Another factor was that the owners--the editor and the publisher--had decided to sell the paper, and none of the prospective buyers sponsored the kind of publications than hardcore journalists wanted to work for. So, we left.
Many newspapers were not beacons of journalistic light. Their editorial policies were shaped more to please the advertisers and serve the social and political interests of community leaders than to provide reliable factual information to a readership engaged in a democracy. The journalists at the Moline paper thought that the made-up stories of that "star" journalist were a serious betrayal of the trust that serious journalists try to create in their readers. Her work was fake news, because it was made up. Trump applies the term to any news that displeases him, although it is usually carefully reported and factually accurate.
The internet has shattered the community news business. Aberdeen, for example, does not have a full-fledged news organization operating in the community anymore. When I moved here, there was a newspaper, two television news departments, and three radio stations with staffs reporting the local news. All of that is gone. Now there are only partial efforts at coverage by internet sources. The economics of the news business has been destroyed and journalists have not found a way to re-establish thorough and consistent coverage. Bad writing and false stories fill the internet pages. Major news organizations are easily available on the internet, but local news reporting is sporadic at best. Serious efforts get mixed in with the fakes, and readers are bewildered by trying to distinguish the real from the fake.
Real journalists need to organize and clarify their efforts so that readers and watchers know who they can depend on for real news.

The proctology caucus and the end of America

David Newquist — Tue, 27 Aug 2024 16:25:18 +0000

The matter of Donald Trump is not one of partisan politics. It is a matter of what comprises decency. A colleague calls the MAGA cult the proctology caucus because it is so enamored of an asshole. He points out that these people will be around after Trump is gone and that their admiration of Trump raises questions about whether the United States can sustain an honorable, uncorrupted government. To endorse Trump is to reject democracy.
Trump posts statements on the social media that are so crudely malevolent that they are characteristic of an emotionally disturbed, mentally deficient fifth-grader, certainly not of a functioning adult. And that brings up the divided state of our country. The politicians talk of unifying. That talk ignores the fact that people of some intelligence and decency do not want to be allied with people who lack and disparage those qualities. People who revere those qualities are aware that democracy works only when it is applied with scruples in regard to the rights and aspirations of others.
The election of Donald Trump marked a failure of American democracy. Although we claim to be a democracy, about half of our citizens think that leadership has to be authoritarian. They are used to obeying teachers, bosses, ministers, spouses, police, whatever form authority figures can come in. The founders of our republic were clear about designing a system of governance that would not permit a king or anything resembling one to be in charge. Still, there are people who are enthralled by royalty and its privileges. Walt Whitman recognized the problem when he said the democratic United States 'are destined either to surmount the gorgeous history of feudalism, or else prove the most tremendous failure of time." The election of Trump, the heir millionaire with a predatory criminal history, was a step backward into the iniquities of feudalism. When Trump speaks of making America great again, he is speaking of its vagaries of the past which democracy works to overcome.
Trump is a despicable person who flouts the principles that the republic was formed to develop and protect. He is an asshole who embodies the values of many Americans, and those are not the values of a functioning democracy. They are the values of pageantry and power that are rooted in feudalism.
A vote for Trump is a vote to stop the quest for liberty, equlality, and justice. We borrowed a term from the black American vernacular, woke, to describe people who are extremely sensitive to the inequities, and injustices of the world, and have made it a term of derision and contempt. That is how close we have come to losing our democracy.
Trump is an asshole, but he has a lot of fellows who admire that quality in a man. But the biggest problem is how do you unify with people who do not, in fact, want the qualities of life that America was created to develop and preserve?
That is what is at issue in the upcoming election.

Gaslighting an entire nation

David Newquist — Thu, 22 Aug 2024 15:10:52 +0000

The Republican Convention was an exercise in mass gaslighting. Its premise was that anything negative in Trump's past was a malevolent contrivance of the Democrats. The speakers at the Tuesday night session of the convention sounded as if they were nominating him for sainthood. And there were shots of him with his bandaged ear as evidence of the mockery and abuse he suffered in his quest to redeem the nation from its diminished plight.
The Trump slogan [Make America Great Again] has always puzzled me. When was it that America was so notably great? What characterized its greatness? When and how did it lose those characteristics? Just what characteristics will restore its greatness? Or has it always been what it is?
The whole MAGA business is a baseless contention. There are no facts that stand up under scrutiny that define the greatness. Some of the momentum of the civil rights movement has declined, but the MAGA people are behind that setback. The right wing is in a frantic frenzy to destroy the diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts (DEI) to extend the civil rights principles into matters of employment and everyday life. It has had some success in that regard.
The United States from its inception has strived to meet in practice the words of its founding, to achieve liberty, equality, and justice for all. But there has always been a significant portion of the population that has no real interest in those qualities.The current push for equity has involved more women getting into positions of authority usually held by men. I have not witnessed that process from the inside because the jobs I have held were in places where women were already in leadership positions--in journalism and education. I do understand, however, that men dominated the executive suites in the nation. And that includes the White House. That may soon change, as we've seen women become contenders for the presidency. Women are now the top officers in some corporations, and that fact marks an achievement in behalf of gender equality. It doesn't, however, signify an advance in social equality, as corporate officers cling to authoritarian roles in their exercise of executive function, no matter what their gender.
During what we refer to as the civil rights era, we made important strides toward addressing racial and social discrimination. Those gains were apparent at the Democratic Convention with the number of prominent black people participating and the nominee for president being a multi-racial woman. Much of their efforts were to refute the MAGA efforts to return to a past that was short on human rights and catered to the privileges of a wealthy few and excluded others on a racial and social basis. The rallying cry of the Democrats is "We won't go back!"
The irony is that the GOP, under the marshaling of Sen. Everett Dirksen (R-Illinois) exerted leadership in passing the Civil Rights Act of 1964 over the obstruction of a block of Democratic senators. The MAGA folks think greatness was a time when a select few had power and privilege over ordinary Americans. The current Democrats are defining just what Trump and his ilk mean by "greatness." America's greatness is in its arduous efforts to achieve equality and attain liberty and justice for all. Trump represents a setback in the progress we've made. And a number of Republicans who worked for him and spoke at the Democratic Convention explained that.
Trump speaks of America's failures as a nation, but he is its most significant one.
The flag of a failed democracy.

How to Explain the Dangers of Project 2025 in less than 60 Seconds

rss@dailykos.com (jamess) — Tue, 23 Jul 2024 23:42:33 +0000

— —

Harris makes the case — against Project 2025.

And she does it in less than a minute.

VP Kamala Harris Details Dangers of Project 2025

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NowThis Impact — July 11, 2024

Trump's advisors have created a 900 page blueprint, they're calling Project 2025. Detailing everything else they plan to do in a second term, including:
• a plan to cut Social Security,
• to repeal our $35 cap on insulin,
• to eliminate the Department of Education, and
• end programs like Headstart.

And Project 2025 outlines a plan to limit access to contraception, and for a nationwide abortion ban -- with or without an act of Congress.

That is one excellent ‘elevator pitch’ summary — of 900 pages of MAGA marching orders.

It is definitely worth passing along.

That Harris hot-take clip should help the casual observer understand, how draconian this Heritage Foundation “transition plan” really is. Should it ever have a chance to see the light of day.

— — — — —

But there is so much more buried in those 900 pages [See Intro image]; so much more linking the MAGA-State Blueprint to former Trump officials.

Bottom line: Project 2025 is coming after you — or someone you love.

It’s targets are real. It is a dangerous government dismantling and take-over plan.

Designed by an un-elected conservative think-tank — who by their own admission — are looking to correct the mistakes of the first Trump Administration.

— —

Many of Trump’s top loyalists helped to write it, went to work to help organize it, or are now working to enlist the next “army” of Trump loyalists. Should the Convicted Felon somehow squeak his way back into Office, and appoint himself Dictator on Day One.

—

[Major Hat-tip to MattRyd7 for compiling the following “revolving door” list of former Trump insiders now working on Project 2025.]

Here is John McEntee, Trump's Director of White House Personnel and architect of Project 2025.

Project 2025 architect John McEntee walking with Donald Trump

Here is Russ Vought, Trump's Director of the Office of Management and Budget. He is an author of Project 2025 and is currently in charge of the Republican party's platform committee.

Russ Vough author of Donald Trump’s Republican platform and Project 2025

Here is Karoline Leavitt, Trump's National Press Secretary working for Project 2025.

Karoline Leavitt, Donald Trump's National Press Secretary and member of Project 2025

Here is Stephen Miller, Trump's Director of Speechwriting and Senior Advisor to the President under Trump doing recruitment for Project 2025.

Donald Trump's Senior Advisor Stephen Miller starring in a recruitment ad for Project 2025

Here is his Steve Bannon, Trump's former Campaign Manager and a Senior Advisor in Trump's White House promoting Project 2025.

Steve Bannon former Campaign Manager and Senior Advisor to Donald Trump promoting Project 2025

Here is Donald Trump's Super PAC running ads for Project 2025, calling it "Trump's Project 2025".

Donald Trump's Super PAC promoting Project 2025

The reason Trump is trying to distance himself now from Project 2025 is because the policies it plans to implement are extremely unpopular.

Trump's aides are the ones behind Project 2025.

Aides and Staff for Donald Trump who are involved in Project 2025.

— —

The stakes are high. Democracy itself is indeed on the ballot.

Trump tried to over-turn it once. He must never be given that chance again.

— —

Democracy is worth defending; Democracy is worth protecting; Democracy is worth voting for.
Now more than ever.

What does the banishment of Woke, DEI, and the like really mean?

David Newquist — Wed, 17 Jul 2024 18:10:30 +0000

First, it means that the mean, petty, and stupid have triumphed. And that the rest of the population isn't literate enough to understand that. Secondly, it means our education system has failed to instill even the rudiments of literacy as a goal of education.
When terms such as woke and DEI are constantly used, the attitudes they provoke displace their meaning. For example, the term woke came from black communities to designate the awareness of racial prejudice and discrimination experienced by people of color in a white-dominated society. People who harbored discriminatory attitudes in their minds used the term derisively to belittle people who claimed an awareness of racial discrimination. It became a term of disparagement, an insult. So, no one wanted to be insulted by being called woke. Those who advocate or tolerate racial belittlement found they could advance their cause by applying the term woke in a disparaging manner, and such application of the term made racial prejudice seem like an acceptable, superior practice.
One of the hypocrisies of American life is that we proudly recite that all people are created equal but have an obsessive need to assert superiority over others. Most people resent being said to be equal with people they regard as inferior. America's most serious failures as a democracy are rooted in that resentment, and that resentment is driving a retreat in the quest for equality. America's right wing is successfully blocking equality as a condition of American life.
A corporation headquartered in my hometown, Moline, Ill., John Deere, issued a statement that it is abandoning DEI policies in favor of quality-based policies. At the same time, it issued a statement that it was laying off more than 600 employees. "Cut the DEI policies, Orville, and it's our chance to get the niggers, spics, and chinks out of here!" Oh, and the company is moving some production to Mexico. The obvious implication is that the company thinks that employment practices that try to include people of diverse backgrounds interferes with the quality of work done. Lower the diversity of the work force and you raise the quality of the work. But then you send the work down to the country where some of these diverse people come from. Along with abandoning diversity, equality, and inclusion in hiring policies, the company seems to also have abandon coherence in decision-making. We live in the age of Trump, which has taught us that business CEOs find democracy a bit of a nuisance.
One thing we learn in this situation is that it is foolish to look for the qualities of a functional democracy in the way business is done. Those qualities are detrimental to business. Well, at least to business leaders who call themselves conservative. We tend to forget that slavery was a profitable enterprise, and it was that damned notion of equality that ruined that enterprise.

Watch Kristi Noem brag about doing absolutely nothing to stop COVID

rss@dailykos.com (Walter Einenkel) — Tue, 16 Jul 2024 01:31:52 +0000

South Dakota puppy killer Gov. Kristi Noem took time away from defending her state’s abortion ban to speak at the Republican National Convention Monday night. She came out to a tepid response from the audience.

She then reminded the crowd that her big claim to fame—before becoming the 21t century’s Cruella de Vil—was how poorly she managed the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Most of you probably first heard about me during Covid,” Noem said, “because South Dakota was the only state in the country that stayed open for business. We didn't mandate anything. We never ordered a single business or a church to close.”

In fact, she bragged, “I never even defined what an essential business was, because I don't believe that the government has the authority to tell you that your business isn't essential.”

Maybe that’s why Noem, like other conservative-run states, saw the largest spikes in COVID infections during the first months of the pandemic? Maybe that’s why this might be the only time we hear about the COVID-19 pandemic during this convention?

“When other states were pushing mandates and lockdowns, instead, in South Dakota, we hit the gas. We embraced liberty. We told our story, and we invited people to come and to enjoy our beautiful state,” Noem continued.

She’s telling the truth here. It was allowing superspreader events like the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally that led to South Dakota’s horrific COVID rates.

“Now, all of the things that conservatives have always talked about, we just did it,” Noem concluded to a similarly lukewarm spattering of applause. “And it works.”

It’s didn’t work.

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Does anyone need a NN ticket?

rss@dailykos.com (BeninSC) — Thu, 04 Jul 2024 02:06:05 +0000

Good evening.

Due to circumstances beyond my control I will not be able to use my Netroots Nation ticket this year. I wish I could donate it, but I can’t. I see the convention is currently charging $420 + $12.85 (service charge/convenience fee) for an activist ticket. I can offer this one for $350 no other charges via PayPal, if that might help someone out. We can exchange info via kosmail if you are interested. But indicating interest in the comment thread is fine. If multiple people are interested, I will go with the first one who contacts me.

Yes, I know this is not a diary with political or personal importance, but the Help Desk was fine with offering the ticket via this avenue. I will happily delete the diary once I am contacted by someone who would like a ticket. If that doesn’t happen I will postpone it a year and try to go then.

I wish all of you attending a terrific experience, and it breaks my heart I won’t be able to join you this year.

On shooting the pooch

David Newquist — Wed, 22 May 2024 15:38:50 +0000

Gov. Noem has published an account of shooting her dog Cricket because he, among other things, enjoyed chicken dinners, but did not obtain them from Col. Sanders. He got them from neighboring farms in their live state and processed them himself. When it came to chicken coops, Cricket was foxy. But Gov. Noem chose, rather than train and restrain her errant mutt, to take him out to a gravel pit where she served the role of executioner. She shot him, and bragged about it in the book she wrote. While she was at it, she also shot a goat that apparently displeased her.
Her explanations claimed her shootings were a matter of protecting her family and public safety. However, her actions were widely condemned by people in both political parties. When it comes to killing a family pet, there is much consternation among the public.
I recall one occasion in my family when an uncle shot the family dog. I was staying on their farm with my cousins when we children were summoned to come in the house. They had a dog named Lucky. We were told that Lucky's luck had run out, and he was showing the symptoms of rabies. We were to stay in the house until my uncle and the hired man resolved the situation, Their first effort was to try to catch Lucky and take him to the veterinarian, but the vet said if the dog was showing signs of aggressive behavior, there was nothing he could do to help the dog, as the disease had progressed beyond the point at which there was any treatment available. The dog was shot and wrapped in a tarpaulin. Then everybody was equipped with buckets or pressure sprayers and we disinfected the places the dog had been during his last moments of life. The dog's body was hauled to a vet's laboratory where it was confirmed that the dog had rabies and then incinerated. Lucky had been a constant companion with my cousins, and they never had another dog again. The loss of Lucky was too painful for them, and they didn't want to hazard such a loss again.
My family had a dog for years. They got her when my brother was two, so Fluffy was two years older than me. She was a mixed breed that included Chow and some shepherd breed. She helped raise me. When I was an infant, my mother would put me in a baby buggy in the back yard to get some fresh air, and Fluffy would lie under the buggy to guard it. When I became old enough to toddle around, Fluffy, much to my annoyance, would herd me away from the busy street that ran past our front yard. She was my guardian. I think of her in this context because of the way she ended her life.
On a brisk autumn day when I was 14, I was playing catch with some friends using a baseball size rubber ball. Fluffy was with me, and would retrieve the ball when we failed to catch it. Then we had to catch Fluffy to get the ball back. We had much fun with Fluffy as our play became a game of keep-away from her. She was 16, and playing like a puppy. Our game ended as supper time approached and we went to our homes. After supper, we realized Fluffy was not home, and we called for her, but she didn't show up. We weren't too concerned because she was part of the neighborhood and some neighbors would let her in their houses to be petted. At bed time she hadn't returned, but we had an enclosed back porch where we put food and water for her. We were confident that she was visiting a neighbor and could eventually seek the shelter of the porch and the warmth of an old rag rug we keep there for her. Her regular bed was in the basement next to the furnace.
The next morning, my mother got a telephone call from a neighbor across the street, The woman said they found Fluffy on their front porch and she didn't seem able to get to her feet. I carried her home, and we put her in the car and headed to the vet. We were puzzled that she could have shown so much life the day before, but seemed so ill. The vet explained that her age was a factor. She went to the neighbor's porch to rest but was further stressed by the cold night coming on, and it triggered many problems of canine old age, including arthritis, failing kidneys, and other internal malfunctions. He said he could keep her at the animal hospital and treat her as much as was possible to see if she recovered, but she was so old and fragile that she might need to be put down to spare further suffering. She didn't improve and showed signs of pain, so we ended up at the vet clinic to say our goodbyes to Fluffy, and she was put quietly to sleep.
Then there was Seth. My grandmother lived on a farm with two bachelor uncles. Seth was mostly German Shepherd, and was unusually intelligent. When my uncles needed to go in and out of fields containing livestock, they would say, "Seth, watch the gate," and he would position himself by the open gate and keep the livestock in until my uncles closed it. This might be for hours.
Seth also was a helpmate for my grandmother, who suffered from rheumatism. The farm at that time did not have water running to the house. The well was located outside the fenced-in yard. When my grandmother open the storm door to go get water, a door-closer which held the door tightly shut made a snapping sound, at which Seth would come running. He would open the fence gate for my grandmother as she passed through it. He was the master gate keeper on the farm.
His death was brutal. The neighborhood thrashing gang was on the farm harvesting oats. There were five teams of horses hauling oat bundles in from the field to the thrashing machine, and they were lined up to be unloaded into the machine. One team was composed of a pair of broncos, and Seth was lying in the shade of the wagon they were pulling as the men pitched the oat bundles into the thrasher. Something spooked them and they suddenly bolted. The men were sent sprawling, and the rear wagon wheel ran over Seth. He yelped, ran to the house, and sought refuge under the porch, where he died of internal injuries. My uncles never replaced him, and my grandmother came to my parents' house in town to live. She often talked about how much she missed Seth.
There can be another side to farm dogs. While I was farm editor for a newspaper, there was a rash of sheep killings in one of the rural neighborhoods. Farmers speculated about wolves, coyotes, and cougars, all of which were very rare in that part of the country. One morning I received a call from the county conservation officer, who was a distant relative, that there had been a mass killing of sheep. A photographer and I went to the scene. Because of prior killings, there were many experts in the area looking into them. In this case, about 80 sheep were killed. A large group of investigators were already on the scene when we got there--the sheriff's department, game conservation officers, wildlife biologists, veterinarians, and agricultural officials.
They determined that dogs in the area were forming packs at night and going feral. They found witnesses who had seen the packs and after inspecting some suspected dogs found evidence that they were the culprits. One dog in particular was the instigator and leader of the pack. The farmer who owned the sheep filed a law suit and the lawyers work out a settlement in private, so we had scant information about how the matter was resolved. However, the incident was reported throughout the nation, and legislatures passed and revised laws on the predation of domestic animals by dogs that have gone feral. South Dakota law makes it legal to shoot a predatory dog.
So, Kristi Noem was within the law. But she was far outside the propriety expected of a government leader. The question: Is someone who goes around shooting dogs and goats capable of running a democratic state? No one has ever accused Kristi Noem of being overburdened with intellect. But the fact that she was elected governor falls on the people who elected her governor. The contention that South Dakota comes up a bit short in the intellect department is grounded in demonstrable fact. South Dakota got that reputation the old-fashioned way. It earned it. And Kristi is its emblem.

https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/5371904020164697258/9212326594720648877

Anti-abortion group is behind ‘scam’ calls, South Dakota election official says

rss@dailykos.com (South Dakota Searchlight) — Sat, 18 May 2024 15:00:16 +0000

By Makenzie Huber, South Dakota Searchlight

Hundreds of phone calls this week that the South Dakota secretary of state has labeled a “scam” are originating from an anti-abortion group seeking to disqualify an abortion-rights ballot measure.

A petition was submitted last week to the Secretary of State’s Office with enough signatures to place the measure on the Nov. 5 ballot, but the signatures must undergo a validation process.

Earlier this year, the legislature and Gov. Kristi Noem passed legislation allowing people to withdraw their signatures from petitions.

Rachel Soulek, elections director with the Secretary of State’s Office, said the callers are capitalizing on the new law.

“This is the first time we are seeing this and it’s a result of the law change to allow individuals to remove their name from a ballot measure up till the point it is validated in our office,” Soulek told South Dakota Searchlight through email.

Kristi Noem's story of murdering her dog keeps getting worse

rss@dailykos.com (Mark Sumner) — Mon, 29 Apr 2024 18:00:14 +0000

Kristi Noem has done plenty of terrible things as governor of South Dakota. That includes disregarding COVID-19 safety rules and being among the first to treat the whole pandemic as a political opportunity. No pencil-pushing scientist was going to tell her what to do, even if that meant citizens in South Dakota had to be airlifted out of state for treatment due to overcrowding.

She’s banned from visiting 10% of the land in her own state because of her continuous disrespect for Native Americans. She insists on staging fireworks displays in the middle of a drought. And she’s currently being sued after doing a commercial for a cosmetic dentist in Texas to pay for her new set of teeth.

With all that, Noem had still barely made a dent in the national news until she told a grisly story of how she shot a family dog and tossed its body in a gravel pit when it failed to perform to her satisfaction. But just because she’s been revealed as an empathy-deprived monster, don’t assume that she’s not at the top of Donald Trump’s shortlist for vice president.