Depopulation

Associated Press:

Six of South Dakota's 10 largest cities lost population since the 2000 Census, according to the latest estimates.

Aberdeen, Huron, Vermillion and Madison lost at least 2 percent since 2000. Even Watertown and Brookings, which had double-digit growth in the 1990s, were down since the turn-of-the-century census.

Environmentalism

According to The New York Times, a new paper entitled "The Death of Environmentalism" is causing a stir among environmentalists. 

BBC Coverage More Jaundiced than Al Jazeera

The article from the London Telegraph that Jon L. blogs on below is interesting in comparison with this one from the New York Times.  The Arab media had to decide early on January 30 whether to emphasize the bombs or the ballots. 

After nearly two years of providing up-to-the-minute images of explosions and mayhem, and despite months of predictions of a blood bath on election day, some news directors said they found the decision surprisingly easy to make. The violence simply was not the story on Sunday morning; the voting was.

Apparently this obvious truth was lost on the BBC.

Holy Shiite

At NRO, Michael Ledeen explains why the Chomsky and his ilk who think Iraqi Shiites will align with Iran are wrong.

It's hard to imagine the MSM getting stupider, but there they go again...a raft of articles today on the "pro-Iranian Shi'ite list" in the Iraqi elections. It's totally wrong. The Iranians dread the Iraqi Shiites, because the Iraqis, from Sistani to Chalabi to Hakim and on down, all oppose the Iranian heresy of the "Supreme Leader," a cleric at the top of the state. The traditional Shiite view is that such an event can only take place when the "12th Imam" returns from his disappearance--more than a millennium ago--to claim rightful leadership of the entire Muslim world. Until then, people in turbans should stay in the mosques, and the state should be governed by non-clerics. Sistani, Chalabi, and Hakim all said they were opposed to clerics in the government. Chalabi said--loudly and publicly, IN TEHRAN--that he and all the members of his list were opposed to the creation of an Iranian-style Islamic Republic in Iraq, and Chalabi also said, publicly on television, sitting next to the Iranian Ambassador to Baghdad, that Iraqi freedom was due to the brave leadership of George W. Bush.

Despite their tricky recent statements endorsing the Iraqi elections, the mullahs know that the Iraqi democratic revolution is a mortal threat to them, and to their heretical version of Shiism. They are now quaking in Tehran, not--as the "expert" commentators and reporters would have us believe--drooling over new-found control over Iraq. If Najaf reestablishes its traditional role as the center of Shiism, the Iranian mullahs will be even further discredited. And that will be quite an achievement for a group that is already fully despised by its own people

BBC

From a column in the London Telegraph:

Rather than applauding the extraordinary bravery of the eight million or so Iraqi voters who braved the threats of Abu Musab al-Masawi, al-Qaeda's point man in Iraq, the BBC led with the negative line, "Violence mars Iraqi elections." There had, it is true, been suicide bomb attacks on polling stations in Baghdad and elsewhere, killing more than 30 people, but the death toll was modest by comparison with what al-Masawi and his cohorts had threatened.

Some people are just bad losers. The BBC, together with a significant section of the media, could not bring itself to acknowledge that Iraq's liberation from Saddam was being ratified by the democratic process. When a reporter said that voter turn-out exceeded 60 per cent, far higher than expected, I heard one of the producers remark, sotto voce, "Yeah, yeah, yeah."

Gary Krueger: Minnesota Volunteer

New Ulm is little Minnesota town not too far from the South Dakota border.  Its settlers were heavily German, which explains the towering "Herman the German" monument in the town (I also assume the town is named after Ulm, Germany, which I once passed through and wondered 'hey is this where New Ulm got its name?').  Powerline is noting the return of one small town Minnesota soldier, Gary Krueger (obviously a German name), who had been serving in Iraq and vows to return.  The report from the New Ulm newspaper is datelined Sleepy Eye (didn't the Pa Ingalls and family once live near Sleepy Eye?), another Minnesota town just across the border.  From the New Ulm newspaper:

"There were people there that never had electrical power or clean water to drink until we got there and gave it to them, " Krueger said.

Seeing Iraq rebound is what excited Krueger and propels him back for more desert duty.

Thanks to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, irrigation ditches are full of water again. More than 4.5 million Iraqis now have clean drinking water for the first time. Iraqis grow tomatoes the size of softballs. Broccoli, cauliflower and wheat is also being grown. Bedouins are able to raise many more sheep and camels than they did in prior years.

Power lines knocked down in the 1991 Gulf War are back up and wires are strung. Southern Iraqis without power for a dozen years are now buying refrigerators and air conditioners. New businesses, factories and telecommunications towers are going up.

Speaking of Minnesota soldiers, have you ever read The Last Full Measure: The Life and Death of the First Minnesota Volunteers about one of first regiments to answer Lincoln's call and to help turn the tide of the war at Gettysburg?  It's a classic.  Again, SDP extends its heartfelt gratitude to our soldiers for their heroism in Iraq.

Churchill

Associated Press:

A professor who likened World Trade Center victims to a notorious Nazi refused to apologize, but said his treatise was a "gut response" in his first public comments since the University of Colorado began a review that could lead to his dismissal.

"I don't believe I owe an apology," Ward Churchill said Friday on CNN's "Paula Zahn Now" program.

He defended the essay in which compared those killed in the Sept. 11 attack to "little Eichmanns," a reference to Adolf Eichmann, who organized Nazi plans to exterminate European Jews.

Team America: World Police

The North Korean government is calling on officials in the Czech Republic to ban Team America World Police. 

"It harms the image of our country," the newspaper quoted a North Korean diplomat as saying. "Such behaviour is not part of our country's political culture. Therefore, we want the film to be banned."

I liked the Czech response:

"We told them it's an unrealistic wish," ministry spokesman Vit Kolar was quoted as saying. "Obviously, it's absurd to demand that in a democratic country."

"Must have toy"

A reader at Free Republic points out that the "Special Ops Cody" doll that the "Mujahedeen Brigades" said was a US Soldier last week is now the "must have toy."

Speaking of dead people

Generalissimo Franco is still dead.

Napoleon Dynamite

The Star Tribune has an article on Napoleon Dynamite, the best movie about high school in at least 25 years.  I'd put it right up there with Say Anything (and yes, Say Anything actually takes place right after high school graduation, but close enough, right?).  For me, the fascinating thing about Napoleon Dynamite is that it breaks this high school genre wide open.  The high school movie usually centers around the conflict between the cool kids and the losers, with the losers secretly wanting to be like the cool kids (Some Kind of Wonderful does this nicely).  But Napoleon is a kid with no interest in being cool.  He is sui generis.  He just does what he does, and the film spends precious little time on the cool kid/loser kid conflict.  It also helps that the movie is quite funny with lots of quotable lines ("Do the chickens have large talons?").  My one concern is that it appears that Napoleon Dynamite is really popular amongst the younger crowd. Does this mean all my efforts at being un-cool have gone for naught?  Have the sweater vests and argyle been a big waste of time?  By really digging this movie, have I lurched into coolness?  Ahhhh!!! 

I just found a whole website dedicated to "Tina, you fat lard!" products.  Just in case you're wondering, Tina is a llama. 

As long as we're at it

Let's not forget John Vernon, who played Dean Wormer in Animal House, who died on Tuesday.  I will remember him as Fletcher in Outlaw Josey Wales. 

Chomsky

Noam Chomsky once again proves that he knows much about language, but little about things political. Chomsky dissects the Iraqi election and predicts the future:

Well there’s going to be a Shiite majority, so they’ll have some significant influence over policy. The first thing they’ll do is reestablish relations with Iran. Now they don’t particularly like Iran, but they don’t want to go to war with them so they’ll move toward what was happening already even under Saddam, that is, restoring some sort of friendly relations with Iran.

That’s the last thing the United States wants. It has worked very hard to try to isolate Iran. The next thing that might happen is that a Shiite-controlled, more or less democratic Iraq might stir up feelings in the Shiite areas of Saudi Arabia, which happen to be right nearby and which happen to be where all the oil is. So you might find what in Washington must be the ultimate nightmare — a Shiite region which controls most of the world’s oil and is independent. Furthermore, it is very likely that an independent, sovereign Iraq would try to take its natural place as a leading state in the Arab world, maybe the leading state. And you know that’s something that goes back to biblical times.

Chomsky describes the Shiites as little more than irrational tyrants bent on dominating the Middle East, which includes having to eradicate Israel. "Now the regional enemy, overpowering enemy, is Israel. They’re going to have to rearm to confront Israel — which means probably developing weapons of mass destruction, just as a deterrent." Iraq must, MUST, develop WMD because of its obsession with regional domination.

Funny enough, Chomsky then goes on to harangue the US for treating Arabs like children:

And the propaganda is very evident right in these articles. You can even write the commentary now: We just have to [have a prolonged occupation of Iraq] because we have to accomplish our mission of bringing democracy to Iraq. If they have an elected government that doesn’t understand that, well, what can we do with these dumb Arabs, you know?

Who treats the Arabs as dumb? Is it the Bush administration which believes them capable of self-government, or Chomsky, who sees the Middle East as a seat of ancient Biblical and irrational, hatreds? What is the solution then, Noam? If Chomsky’s view of the Middle East is correct, then it seems support for friendly dictatorship is the best bet. It’s the only thing which will keep the Middle East from becoming a war zone. Obviously the fanatics who make up the population can’t rule (at least not the Shiite fanatics). Yet support for dictatorships is just the thing Chomsky claims to oppose. If George Bush is correct, than the future of the Middle East lies with free government.

Max

As long as we're talking about famous people dying, note that Max Schmeling died yesterday.  He's really the only famous person from the German province of Mecklenburg, where the Laucks came from before immigrating to South Dakota.  Anyway, he was a boxer and had some major fights against Joe Louis in the 1930s.  Here's a snippet from The Times of London.  Isn't 99 rather old for a boxer?

Ernst Mayr Dead at 100

The Philosopher of Biology, Ernst Mayr, is dead at age one hundred.  Mayr was one of the most thoughtful and interesting of Darwinian theorists.  His concept of the species as an interbreeding population remains the most successful of all the various alternatives.  I have special fondness for him as he was one of the few modern biologists to give Aristotle proper credit.

The New Iraq

When some Iraqis in a small town were attacked today by terrorists for voting in the recent election they fought back, killing five of the attackers.  From Jay Reding, another Sioux Falls blogger.

ND and MN

Polipundit has thoughts on the North Dakota and Minnesota Senate races in 2006.

The British Left Admits it! They Want Democracy in Iraq to Fail.

I made the argument this week, in a conversation with a colleague, that many on the left (Ted Kennedy for one)  in fact want democracy in Iraq to fail.  They are willing to pay any price and bear any burden in order to see George Bush humiliated.  My colleague challenged this assertion and so I set out to gather evidence.  I expected that to be more trouble than it was.  But here in the January 31 issue of the British New Statesman, I found the following:

Alas, there is a very good reason why, as Mr Grey puts it,
many Britons indulge “a sneaking desire to see everything in
Iraq go wrong”. (Not so sneaking, in some cases.) This is not
through any wish deliberately to add to the Iraqi people’s
misery. Nor is it through any wish for vindication among the
invasion’s opponents, who have been amply justified many
times over. It is through fear that George W Bush and Tony
Blair will use any success in creating a democratic Iraq to give
new life to their “freedom” crusade, bringing death, mutilation
and chaos to more countries. Their opponents might
stop regarding disaster in Iraq as their vindication if Messrs
Blair and Bush would stop regarding a successfully completed
ballot as theirs.

So lets get this straight: because Bush and Blair might be encouraged to liberate other countries, at the expense of more "death, mutilation, and chaos," the NS is willing to indulge a "not so sneaking desire" (at least not anymore) to see the people of Iraq end up in the hands of those for whom murder, mutilation, and chaos are the only principles.   This is what has become of the left? 

Who gets vindicated, the right or the left, will surely depend on the final outcome more than anything that has happened so far.  The New Statesman is smart enough to figure this out.  So it is disingenuous of them to pretend that they have already been vindicated.  If Iraq achieves a functioning democracy, and the women with the ink stained fingers end up in charge, Bush and Blair will go down as heroes.  That can't be allowed to happen.  If the folk who pull election workers into the streets and shoot them, who threaten people with death for voting, if those folks win, as the New Statesman desires, that's a small price to pay for winning the political argument at home.

And how does the New Statesman "indulge" that desire that has now dared to speak its name?  In the only way it can: by relentless predicting the desired outcome.

Oil pigs

The guy with the upside down McDonalds "M" sign is priceless.  I thought addled lefties said, "Hate is not a family value"?  Unless you're hating George Bush, I guess.

If I were president and I wanted to reward my buddies in the oil industry, I can think of lots better and easier ways to do it than by invading a couple Middle Eastern countries.  The "No blood for oil" crowd is mostly made up of people who have stopped thinking.  Mindless cliches are so much more edifying, I suppose, than taking Bush's foreign policy seriously.  Besides, in the period of George Bush's presidency, Haliburton's stock, just to pick on "war profiteer," has gone down.  So if this is how you reward your cronies, they Bushies aren't very good at it.  In the past four years you'd be much better off investing in Wal-Mart.  Oh yeah, it's hip to hate them too. 

Property Rights

One last post on open fields, and then I'll let it go. I agree with Jon L. that protection of property rights is important. It is a question in this case of what do we do with those responsible for overseeing the use of a public resource, i.e. wild life. I really dislike the taking of property that often occurs, say, under the Endangered Species Act, but this is much different. I'd also feel differently if I didn't distrust the motivation behind this bill. Limiting access of game wardens just makes it easier for hunters to abuse the law, and that makes all hunters, including this one, look bad. If there are wardens who are abusing their power, let's find out who they are and punish them. But let's let the good ones do their job.

Deaniacs

Howard Dean has enough public commitments to become DNC chair.  Stupid is as stupid does, Forrest Gump would say. 

"Bush = Oil Pig & Monster"

I couldn't help highlighting this picture (below) from Wes' trip to Fargo yesterday.  Where's the reference to fascism??  It's going to be a wild ride if Howard Dean really does win the DNC Chairmanship.

Augsburg

I used to live fairly close to Augsburg College in Minneapolis.  It's taking some heat today from James Taranto of the Wall Street Journal:

Great Moments in Higher Education
We'd never heard of Augsburg College, which turns out to be a Lutheran institution in Minneapolis, until we got wind that it plans a "Nobel Peace Prize Forum" next Friday and Saturday. On the program for Saturday is the following seminar (at bottom of page):

Fighting Terrorism with Empathy: a Model for Peace
Amy Nell Concordia College
The word terrorism strikes a deep nerve among Americans today--having sparked an entire nation to the defense of its country and the subjugation of those who stand in opposition. One of these men who stand in opposition is the man who planned the September 11 attacks. In November 2004, Osama Bin Laden released a tape giving his recipe for a healthy nation. This seminar would dissect his message and use audience participation in doing so. Discussion points would include counterterrorism methods, the possibility of peace, empathy etc. The aim of this seminar would be to help understand the position of Osama Bin Laden as presented in the video and explore in what ways the origins of terrorism are to be found, not in some foreign citizen, but in the actions we take out of fear, hate and retribution.

Notice that these idiots have "empathy" only for mass murderers, never for their victims. Anyway, who is this Amy Nell character who blames America for terrorism, and what are her academic credentials? There are several institutes of higher education called Concordia, including one in Montreal that is known for various anti-Semitic outrages, but Nell seems to be from the one in Moorhead, Minn., where she is--we kid you not--a photographer for the student newspaper.

We're of two minds about nonsense like this. On the one hand, the whole thing is silly and inconsequential. If America can survive "Fahrenheit 9/11," it can withstand the blatherings of Amy Nell. Indeed, one of the great benefits of free speech is that the very exposure of such flapdoodle discredits it--and, if you have a dark sense of humor like we do, often in quite entertaining ways.

My trip to see Dubya

Well, it was about a 1,100 mile round-trip, but I was able to see President Bush launch his "Strengthening Social Security for the 21st Century" tour in the Midwest yesterday.  It was awesome!  I drove up on Wednesday, picking up my ticket at the Bismarck GOP office.  That night I watched the State of the Union and was really impressed with the passion of the President's message. 

I got up at 6:30 Thursday morning and watched a little of the National Prayer Breakfast coverage.  I arrived at the NDSU Bison Sports Arena  by 8:30.  The lines were long, winding around the block [click all for a larger image]:

The arena was packed...fortunately I was able to grab a seat.  It was standing-room only by the time President Bush arrived around 11:30:

The crowd went crazy for when he arrived!  From the AP:

Media estimated that the crowd was around 7,000 strong, but on CNN radio on the way home, they reported 11,000.  Here is probably my best picture:

President Bush thanked the crowd.  He discussed the success of the Iraqi elections ( a Iraqi stood up in the front row and thanked the President!  Was a cool non-scripted moment).  He talked about the State of the Union and how energized he was last night.  He discussed the "hug" moment with excited reflection.  He mentioned that freedom is in everyone's soul, that people long to be free.  In my opinion, he seemed really relaxed and making a few jokes, which the audience loved (like he should of sent Laura instead of him).  Then started the discussion on Social Security:

On the panel was a professor/economist from the U of Illinois.  He discussed the urgency of the SS situation, and compared it to a oil light coming on: "you know you need to fix it even though you could travel down the road a while".  Mary was a 60-year old North Dakotan that asked Bush about being able to pass-on SS benefits when a person passes away.  Trisha was a 30-year old Army Reservist that had questions about her and her husband's future and how personal savings accounts could help them.  The four person on the panel was a 4th generation farmer that "wanted something to depend on" down the road.

Bush answered these questions, noting that current or soon-to-be retirees "have nothing to worry about" (noted several times during the day...really hit that point home).  He referred to a chart noting that in the 1950's the pay-in to pay-out ratio was 16-1 but down the road the ratio will be 2-1.  At one point, Mary added as a side note, that Bush "brought dignity and honor back to the White House."  That brought a huge standing ovation in the middle of the discussion (sweet!)  Bush stated that people would be able to put away 4% or $1000/year, whichever is less (I think I noted that correctly, if not correct let me know).  He also kept referring to the younger generation, pointing to a group of college kids in the front row saying "You have something to worry about...now get back to the library!" then chuckled.

Near the end of his speech, he noted that everything is on the table for SS reform.  He thanked the crowd and noted at the end that it was refreshing to get out of Washington and to come out here with the people.

He went down a "string line" signing autographs, getting pictures taken and meeting people:

AP took this picture of him with a baby:

He was quickly whisked away to continue the tour of the Midwest (to Montana, Nebraska, Arkansas and Florida in the next two days).  I got to see the Presidential motorcade pull out:

Within about 10 minutes...Air Force One was in the air...off to Montana:

Of course there were a few protesters outside.  I had to take some pictures of them to share with SDP readers:

 

The guy above, when he saw me a hooded sweatshirt with this on the front, said I was "the stupidest looking Republican EVER!!".  I just keep saying "4 MORE YEARS" holding up 4 fingers.  They didn't like that very much. Note the "What Would Clinton Do?" and "Bush's New Plan Legalizes Sodomy on Unsuspecting Senior Citizens" signs  I was shocked there were no security/police around...

It was a lot of driving, but well worth it.  I want to thank the ND GOP office for landing me a ticket (and to the SDP reader for the tip!)

Other Coverage:
Jon posted the Grand Forks Herald article
Fox News
AP report at ABC News
Washington Times

CNN

Powerline:

CNN was scrambling to contact Davos blogger Rony Abovitz the moment he got off his airplane from Switzerland. Now we know why. Hugh Hewitt has had an email exchange with Abovitz that blows the lid off the story. There can be little doubt that Eason Jordan, the head news guy at CNN, did accuse American soldiers of deliberately murdering journalists in Iraq.

Read the whole thing.  Wow.

Howard Dean

LA Times:

Paul Maslin, Dean's former pollster, wrote in the Atlantic Monthly after the campaign fell apart: "Our candidate's erratic judgment, loose tongue, and overall stubbornness wore our spirits down." But at least for a presidential campaign there are some positives in going off message. In a job like party chairman, a loose cannon is nothing but downside.

A reader also sends along this article from The New Republic.  Note the story of the fellow Daschle was supposedly backing.  Excerpt:

The DNC chair race has exposed deep fissures within the Democratic Party. Some of these are ideological, but the real story of the race is the diffusion of power away from Washington and to new people and entities that have rushed to fill the power vacuum at the top of the party. When the Democrats control the White House, the president can simply pick the chair of the party. But, even when out of power, Democratic pooh-bahs traditionally rally around a consensus figure and present him to the DNC members as a fait accompli. An open process with all the trappings of a modern political campaign--including a seven-candidate field, fund-raising, regional debates, and smear campaigns in the press--is unprecedented in the party's history. To many Washington Democrats watching the circus-like contest from afar, it has been an embarrassment. "I think it's pathetic," says James Carville. "It's so indicative of the Democratic Party. Now we're just playing into every stereotype: We're weak, disorganized, flopping around. ... Somebody should have fixed this damn thing in November. I wish someone would have taken charge and three or four people would have gotten together in a smoke-filled room. ... They're not running for president! They are running for party chair. This is supposed to be a rigged deal. You think the Republicans would do it this way?"

I still won't believe the Democrats have picked Dean until the votes are counted.

Churchill and South Dakota

I forgot that I had a book edited by Ward Churchill entitled Marxism and Native Americans (South End Press, 1983).  In the introduction, he mentions "the AIM people with whom I associate" (10) and the "drama unfolding in South Dakota" in 1973 (4), i.e. the Wounded Knee uprising.  When explaining his "strange odyssey across the landscape of American leftism" (10) and how the book came together, he says "From the new stations I took up, first in South Dakota, then in Wyoming and finally in Colorado..." (7).  I'm not sure what he means by "stations," but he must have spent some time in the state.  Here's a new twist on Churchill's claim to be Native American from the Rocky Mountain News.  More from Professor Reynolds, who, along with Professor Bainbridge, doesn't think Churchill should be canned like Ken does below.  I tend to agree with them and think Churchill should be rigorously criticized, but we'll have to see how it plays out. 

UPDATE:  There's lots more here, including info about AIM kicking Churchill out in 1993.  In the stuff about his Vietnam claims is the echo of Joseph Ellis.

The Case Against Ward Churchill

Jon L. blogs below on the celebrated case of Ward Churchill, who was disinvited from speaking at Hamilton College and has stepped down as chair of his own ethnic studies department.  Many are calling for his dismissal from his position at the University of Colorado.  There are basically three accusations standing at the moment, and I think we need to make some distinctions here.

First, Churchill wrote the the victims of 9/11 were "little Eichmanns" who deserved to be killed by the "combat team" that turned an airliner full of innocent people into a guided missile.  This is about as corrupt and nasty an opinion as it is possible for a mortal spirit to entertain, but it is neither grounds for firing him nor, I think, for dis-inviting him from speaking.  Hamilton College might have been well advised not to invite him in the first place, had they known whom they were inviting; but once the invitation had been offered I think it should have been honored.  Nothing would have been better than to present him to an audience now aware of his appalling views.  Nor are his opinions grounds for firing him.  The idea that Americans deserve to be murdered just because they are Americans, and thus complicit in the Iraq war, is a political idea and thus is entitled to protection.  There may be a line here to be crossed, but it would have to be very extreme indeed and I do not believe this nut bag has yet crossed it.

Second, the Rocky Mountain News reports that there was a more disturbing and dangerous side to Churchill's rhetoric.

Indeed, for much of his career, Churchill has been belittling the activist left for abandoning armed struggle for various forms of non-violent protest. Without violence as a tactical option in its arsenal of weapons against state capitalism, he argues, the left ends up defending and reinforcing the same status quo it claims to oppose.

Such calls to action are given fuller treatment in Churchill's main polemical work, Pacifism as Pathology, which pays special tribute to Diana Oughton, one of three members of the terrorist Weather Underground who accidentally blew themselves up in 1970 while making bombs in a Greenwich Village townhouse.

Predictably enough, the book, which was published in various forms between 1986 and 1998, evolved from a workshop Churchill delivered in the early 1980s entitled "Demystifying the Assault Rifle," the objective of which was to help squeamish pacifists conquer their fear of weapons. After two hours of handling Heckler & Koch assault rifles, participants were apprised of the "applicability of various types of guns to different situations" and "the role of arms in assorted political contexts . . ."

It wouldn't be unusual for a professor whose field is ethnic studies to decry injustices committed against indigenous peoples in the United States and elsewhere. But in his public lectures around the country, Churchill has exhorted his troops to violence. In one speech, for example, he urged using violence to prevent tourists from going to Hawaii. "You want to do something constructive for indigenous Hawaiians? Stay home. And if you have to break their kneecaps in order to get them to, do it."

Here, I think, are grounds for dismissal.  Such conduct is reckless in the extreme and might well encourage  assault or murder.  I can't imagine a  university wanting to risk complicity in that by giving this guy a forum.

Third, it appears that Churchill gained his position in part by pretending to be a Native American.  This is the safest grounds for throwing this malevolent clown out on his ear.  Falsifying his resume is a firing offense, and even better, and it is about as offensive to Native American Tribes as it is to the those who lost love ones at the World Trade Center.  Give him the boot. 

 

Tim Johnson

Emailers are saying that Senator Tim Johnson voted against Alberto Gonzales to be Attorney General.  First he's standing next to John Kerry at the state-of-the-union and now this. 

The Next Joseph Ellis?

Wes has been posting on the Ward Churchill matter (the University of Colorado Ethnic Studies professor who has been cheering on the terrorists) and now it seems we have a new twist.  The American Indian Movement, which gained great fame for its activities in South Dakota in the 1970s, is now claiming that Churchill has been falsely claiming to be Native American.  See Ed Morrisey for the details.  Here's the statement from the American Indian Movement Grand Governing Council.  Here's some background from Indian Country Today.  See Instapundit for lots more.  The whole thing reminds me of the Joseph Ellis affair a few years ago at Mount Holyoke.  Ellis, the author of several books about the Founders, made up the fact that he was a high school football hero, a paratrooper in Vietnam, and led people South in the 1960s to protest segregation.  It was all fabricated.  I've been discussing this episode in class of late.  The students are reading a recent book which covers the controversy by Peter Hoffer entitled Past Imperfect.  Finally, here's a cartoon by Marty Two Bulls, who I think is from or lives in South Dakota because I've seen his cartoons before:

Up North Der'

Grand Forks Herald: "Bush Charms Crowd in Fargo."  Excerpt:

President Bush's folksy style and Texas twang played well among thousands of supporters here, calming fears by some Republicans that his stop in North Dakota would turn into a political convention.

About 7,000 people turned out Thursday at North Dakota State University's Bison Sports Arena to hear Bush promote his plan for Social Security, unveiled the previous night in his State of the Union speech.

Favorite Son

On April 4th, Watertown's favorite son John Hinderaker, a Harvard Law grad, Minneapolis attorney, and co-founder of Powerline, Time's "blog of the year," will be the keynote speaker at the Codington County (i.e. Watertown) Lincoln Day Dinner.  He was just on "Kudlow and Kramer" a few minutes ago. 

Reagan

They're fighting about Reagan's legacy in the Minnesota legislature.

The Enemy

Powerline:

On Iraq the Model, Omar confirms the rumor about terrorists sending a retarded boy on a mission as a suicide bomber--he chickened out and they blew him up--and connects it to an attempt to kidnap his own mentally impaired relative.

Open Fields Doctrine

I see Professor Schaff is not very keen on the abolition of the Open Fields Doctrine, which allows Game, Fish & Parks officials unqualified access to landowners' property.  Repealing the doctrine doesn't worry me very much.  The bill that passed the Senate allows government officials to enter private property if they have "probable cause," after all, so the state can still poke around if they have a reason.  This is, broadly speaking, a question of balancing individual and property rights on the one hand and generalized community rights, i.e. giving the government the power to snoop around for game law violations, on the other hand.  The fears, apparently, are that either individual citizens will abuse game laws on their private property without detection (the argument of the advocates of the Open Fields Doctrine) or that the sovereign and its agents will abuse their unqualified power to trespass on private property (the argument of the abolitionists).  Forced to choose, I guess I'd be more concerned about the sovereign abusing its power.  But hey, I'm open to hearing the other side.

Sen. Thune Comments on the State of the Union

From the BlackHillsPortal:

"This Year's State of the Union comes at time of great challenge – but also great opportunity. I was glad the President reached out to members of both parties to solve problems and not pass them on to future generations. I hope both parties will unite behind the common goal of strengthening Social Security. It is our responsibility to fix Social Security now, so future generations will have a secure retirement.

"We must also stay united in the War on Terror. This weekend, I will go to  Iraq to see first-hand the progress we’ve made and the challenges ahead. I share the President’s deep appreciation of our troops’ sacrifice. Congress has a duty to do everything possible to help our troops bring freedom and stability to Iraq.

“The President addressed several issues that have a special impact on South Dakota. The President’s push for an energy policy that encourages renewable fuels will strengthen South Dakota’s economy and America's energy security.  The Senate cannot allow partisan gridlock to again stop important engergy legislation." 

The Democrats

I see professor Schaff has mentioned this article in today's Wall Street Journal which is getting attention around the blogosphere.  Note that the old New Dealer Alvin Hansen is mentioned.  He was a famous Keynesian economist and FDR advisor and was from Viborg, South Dakota!  Viborg is known for being a Danish settlement.  Hansen was a Yankton College grad (didn't Lyle Alzado go there too?) who ended up at Harvard.  Excerpt:

The notion that liberalism is fundamentally indecipherable was voiced frequently during the 1930s, when liberals absolutely dominated American politics. ... In 1940 another New Dealer, the economist Alvin Hansen, admitted, "I really do not know what the basic principle of the New Deal is. I know from my experience in the government that there are as many conflicting opinions among the people in Washington as we have in the country at large."

The Northern Front

Powerline hits back at the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.

Putting Democrats on the couch

William Voegeli has a very insightful piece in today's WSJ on the state of the Democratic Party.  He echos many of the themes discussed here on SDP about the wayward direction of the Democrats.  Like me, Voegeli picks up on the "Seinfeld" analogy that the Democrats are the party of nothing (and John Kerry ran the campaign about nothing, I often said).  But Voegeli has a slightly different take:

The Democrats' problem is not that they, like "Seinfeld," are a show about nothing. It's that they are a show about everything, or anything. (At one point, the Kerry-for-president Web site referred to 79 separate federal programs he wanted to create or expand.)

Ethanol

The biggest story for South Dakota in the SOTU was the President's demands on energy and alternative fuels.  Reuters:

President Bush urged Congress on Wednesday to pass legislation that he said would boost U.S. energy production and keep the country's economy growing and less reliant on foreign energy imports.

In his State of the Union address, Bush pointed out that he sent to Congress four years ago his national energy plan, which he said would increase domestic crude oil and natural gas supplies, modernize the electric grid, build more nuclear power plants, develop alternative energy sources and promote conservation.

However, lawmakers have been unable to agree on a final energy package.

"Four years of debate is enough. I urge Congress to pass legislation that makes America more secure and less dependent on foreign energy," Bush said.

Of course, the President is being generous calling it a "debate."  The Democrats kept filibustering the energy bill, which included the general ethanol provisions.  To understand why we don't already have an energy bill, see "The Ethanol Moment."

SOTU

Washington Post:

When the president made his pitch for restrictions on medical malpractice lawsuits, virtually the entire Republican caucus joined a standing ovation. But Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (S.C.), who has labeled Bush's proposal "one of the worst bills in Congress," was virtually alone on the Republican side in remaining seated. Spotting Graham in his seat, Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) slapped his colleague on the shoulder in a playful reprimand. Graham only smiled. 

Passing Open Fields

The SD Senate has passed the Open Fields bill.  That leaves it to the House or the governor to see reason on this. Sen. Schoenbeck sees things my way.

However, Schoenbeck said the measure would allow people to hunt without licenses on private land because they would know game wardens would never check them. Landowners could also invite nonresidents to hunt without licenses, he said.

"If this passes, out-of-staters without licenses, other people without licenses, you're giving them free rein," Schoenbeck said.

 

Bayh

From today's Roll Call:

When Indiana Democratic Sen. Evan Bayh voted against Condoleezza Rice as secretary of State last week, it was seen as the most public sign yet of his interest in running for president in 2008.

But Bayh has been maneuvering behind the scenes for months to put the framework for a White House bid in place.

The Indiana Senator hired several key advisers to beef up his campaign team and is doing outreach in the donor community to lay the financial foundation for a candidacy. Last week he met with a group of roughly 50 financial supporters in Washington, D.C., to discuss his future plans.  ...

Dan Pfeiffer, who served as deputy campaign manager for the unsuccessful re-election bid of former Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.), is now Bayh’s communications director.

"the guy that holds up the line at McDonald's"

See this latest memo from James Carville and Stanley Greenberg, Clinton's key political advisors.  In it, they note that the Republicans have nearly a 30-point advantage over Democrats in the category of "knowing what they stand for."  One problem was the perception of Kerry being a "flip-flopper."  One person polled said "He's the guy that holds up the line at McDonald's." 

Keep and Eye on the Eason Story

We've blogged about this a couple of times, myself  and Jon L.  See Hugh Hewitt for another piece of the story. 

Through the Looking Glass

OK, now the Democratic response.

9:13: Sorry, missed about the first 30 seconds. Harry Reid is talking about some kid named Devon. Devon wants to be like Harry Reid? Where does Devon go to get his spine removed?

9:14: Govern from the middle, eh? Why then is Ted Kennedy’s hand up Reid’s back with Ted’s lips slightly moving? Why is Howard Dean becoming DNC chair? Actions speak loudly, Senator Reid.

9:15: Where does Harry Reid propose to get this money to fix our infrastructure. The government built the Internet? True only in the loosest sense of "create."

9:17: Again, how does the government make health care more affordable? Oh no, he’s referencing one of my favorite movies, Groundhog Day.

9:18: Harry Reid thinks there is a lot we can do to make Social Security more, well, secure. What exactly those things are he apparently is keeping to himself. Must be a in the same lockbox that holds John Kerry’s plan to get us out of Iraq.

9:20: If we are all God’s children, then we must have socialism. Good grief, here comes Nancy Pelosi.

9:21: Methinks she doth protest too much. "I really, really like the military. Some of my best friends have played soldiers in the movies."

9:23: A clear plan to bring troops home? There is no magic test, Nancy. Training Iraqi security forces? Hasn’t Bush talked about this for a year? She thinks we should build Iraqi infrastructure. I recall Tom Daschle saying we should not be building firehouses in Iraq when we need them here. More diplomacy? With whom? To what end? Which local regime do we need better relationships with? Syria? Iran? Saudi Arabia?

9:25: Nancy Pelosi thinks we need to keep WMD out of the hands of bad regimes. I assume she’s in favor of invading Iran and North Korea? Or should we just talk at them more? Again, just talking about national defense doesn’t mean anything. It’s like saying you’re for clean air. Everyone is. But do your policies actually work to this end? All I am hearing right now is, "George Bush is a poopy pants." Same old whining with nothing positive to say.

SOTU

Here’s a blow by blow account of the State of the Union. I have chosen to watch NBC, mostly because I admire Brian Williams’ hair and Tim Russert’s ego. OK, let's be honest.  It's because I don't have cable so I can't watch Fox News. 

8:03: Poor Steven Breyer. He is a very lonely Supreme Court justice.

8:04: The Cabinet enters. Tim Russert once again speaks out in favor the wise Republicans who disagree with the President on Social Security. That’s the MSMs definition of wise Republicans: Republicans who disagree with George Bush.

8:06: I really curse Woodrow Wilson for making the SOTU into such a pageant. Oh for the days when presidents just sent a letter to Congress.

8:07: Nancy Pelosi left her broom at home, I see.

8:08: Russert can’t help but bring up Tom Delay, or as the MSM knows him, Satan.

8:09: Please, Lord, make this a short speech! Chip Reid of NBC says the Democrats are holding a press conference at the FDR memorial tomorrow to demagogue Social Security. It’s nice to see that the Democrats are looking into the future. Where was that bridge that Bill Clinton was building?

8:10: A free and sovereign Iraq. Take that, John "let’s not overhype" Kerry!

8:11: You know, Cheney and Hastert are not exactly among the beautiful people.

8:12: George Bush is concerned about the next generation, not the next election. Now that he is doing what we keep saying we want our politicians to do, he’s gonna get ripped by the Democrats.

8:14: Bush normally wears a blue tie for big occasions, but I notice he is wearing the solid red power tie. Oh, most of Congress is saying, "I hope he’s not serious about that spending discipline stuff." Don’t worry guys, he probably isn’t

8:15: For the first time in two years, John Kerry has forgotten to comb his hair. I am confused. What is a "Ha School"? This Midwesterner can’t figure it out.

8:17: Exactly how does the federal government make health care more affordable? I think that "spending discipline" just died. Did someone just applaud community health centers? Man, pork is alive and well in Congress.

8:18: OK, people like to applaud at SOTU speeches. But this is ridiculous. They just applauded Bush exhaling.

8:20: Why do the military guys even show up to this thing? When did that practice start? They just sit there like lumps, as I suppose they must. But what purpose do they serve? Tax reform!! I just did my taxes last weekend and had it reaffirmed in my mind why I generally (but not always) vote Republican.

8:21: I quote Sonny Bono: "What’s there to say about illegal immigration? It’s illegal." Shoulda ducked that tree, Sonny. Gulp! Here comes the Social Security bit. Let’s watch the Democrats purse their lips.

8:23: Someone just applauded Social Security insolvency. From the groans on the Democratic side, I assume they all ate Mexican tonight.

8:25: Bush to Democrats: Quit being so shortsighted, you twits.

8:26: Bush cites Penny, Clinton, Breaux, and Moynihan on Social Security. Democrats all. Too bad Moynihan isn’t around to talk some sense on this issue.

8:28: Bush rules out payroll taxes. Foolish to take this completely off the table, in my opinion. Ah, "Voluntary Personal Retirement Accounts." How many focus groups did that take?

8:30: "The money in the account is yours and the government can never take it away." Amen! Now that’s the ownership society. Bush also suggests all sorts of limits to the accounts to ease the minds of those who are overly concerned about "security."

8:32: Orin Hatch looks asleep. I don’t entirely blame him. Ah, the Federal Marriage Amendment. Boob bait for the bubbas, Moynihan would say. This bubba takes the bait.

8:34: Bush talks like there is intrinsic value to human life. Where’d he get that idea? Bush just winked at Breyer. "Need some wood?"

8:35: What is it about Joe Biden that always makes him look like an arrogant jerk? It’s too bad, because he is one of smart and fairly reasonable Democrats.

8:36: Laura Bush is leading the fight against gangs. Now they’re afraid.

8:38: How about a culture of life where the state does not kill its own citizens with this thing called the death penalty?

8:39: Bush is framing the speech nicely. Part One: The Economy. Part Two: Values. Part Three: National Defense. And saves his strongest (and the most important) argument for last.

8:41: Thank you Congress for supporting our troops. Except you Kerry. You voted "No" on that one. And you Senator Edwards…oh, never mind.

8:43: When did it become conservative to talk about the root causes of terrorism? I can think of something just as strong as human freedom to set back the forces of terror: nukes! Admittedly, democracy kills fewer people.

8:44: I think Bush just tied the Democratic Party intellectually to Zarqawi. Hey, let’s be honest, we do want to impose our view of government, because our view is better than totalitarianism.

8:46: Bush is really relaxed tonight. Looking and sounding good. Wow, thank God Arafat is dead. Maybe we can actually do something about Israel/Palestine. Wait. It looks like we are giving $300 million for the PA to steal. Lucky for us we are rich and can afford to give away money to corrupt Palestinian officials.

8:48: Wouldn’t want to be the younger Mubarak right now. I think he just got called out, as the kids say. Ack! Look out Syria. You’re next.

8:49: NBC: Speaking of Iran, let’s show a picture of Tom Delay. AMERICA STANDS WITH THE PEOPLE OF IRAN!! Get it Euro-weenies! We don’t stand with corrupt dictators in the name of "stability."

8:50: Chris Dodd and Barak Obama don’t applaud the fighting of terrorists. Maybe because, as Ted Kennedy knows, Obama’s real name is Osama Bin Laden. Bobby Jindahl has that purple finger. I guess he really is an LSU fan.

8:52: The Iraqis have earned the respect of us all. Except Barbara Boxer who is busy yacking with someone else. I think the Iraqi woman is trying to flip off Boxer, but is unsure which finger to use. Ahh, cultural differences.

8:54: Hey, South Dakota’s own Tim Johnson is sitting next to John Kerry. Now there’s a night club act in the making! Personality to spare. When will our troops come home? When we’re done with the job.

8:58: I really hope he’s almost done. I think the point has been made, even if it is a good point. We need to honor our troops.

8:59: Every year we should give the Nobel Peace Prize to the US Marine Corps. They do more than any other group in the world to ensure world peace. Nice touch with the Iraqi woman hugging the fallen Marine’s mom. Just a moment, I think I just got something in my eye.

9:03: The road leads to freedom. I pray it is so. Brian Williams counted the number of times the president was interrupted by applause. Hey, insightful comment. I am going to stop watching because the room is not big enough for me and Russert’s ego.

Open Fields

I hope the state legislature votes down the Open Fields bill.  Any serious hunter should be for vigorous enforcement of the regulations and not hide behind property rights.  Being a good hunter means being a good steward.  I suspect some bad stewards want to hide behind property rights.  Also, this bill is potential cover for those who accept money to give hunting privileges to those with no licenses.  If someone offers a rancher, let's say, $8,000 to hunt his property for mule deer, now the property owner has to say, "Well, let's wait until the drawing and see if you have a lisence."  Under the proposed law he could just take the money and let the guys hunt whether the hunters get tags or not with very little fear of getting caught by Game and Fish.  Again,  I think this is a bill that honest hunters should oppose. 

Close the gate

Evidently the kerflufle over GI Cody is being called ActionFigureGate (se Instapundit, for example). Can we PLEASE stop this ridiculous practice of taking every scandal and putting -gate at the end? Watergate is a hotel and office building. There is no actual gate. The -gate means nothing. Please.

Troops

Among the 800 South Dakota National Guard troops returning from Iraq is my friend Steven Morgan.  I posted some pictures from Iraq Steven gave me last July.  They show some of the work South Dakota's troops have done while serving our country bravely.