Greg Latza

Kevin Woster of the Rapid City Journal has an article about photographer Greg Latza in today's paper.  I've met Latza a couple of times and found him to be a very friendly, personable guy, and one of my favorite photographers.  He is great at capturing landscapes and wildlife, but absolutely excels at capturing people.  His ability to capture the personality of South Dakotans is awe-inspiring.  Check out a sample of his work at his peoplescapes website.

Herseth Featured in Esquire Magazine

Rep. Stephanie Herseth was featured in an article about the best and brightest women in the nation in this month's Esquire Magazine.  Excerpt:

At thirty-five, Herseth is South Dakota's golden girl. Her grandfather was governor, her grandmother secretary of state, her father a popular state legislator for twenty years. She was high school valedictorian, got a master's and a law degree from an elite East Coast university, and got elected to Congress at the tender age of thirty-three. She's a Democrat who opposes gun control so completely, she's endorsed by the NRA and part of the small group of conservative Democrats who continue to support the war in Iraq. "This is one of those things where I've made myself available to work with the administration," she says. "I'm just not looking to make this partisan. Not only will I lose support among my constituency if I do that, but I just don't think it's going to get us where we need to be."

But Herseth is also capable of giving a fiery partisan speech that attacks Republicans for running a corrupt and secretive government that neglects the actual concerns of the people. I saw her do this twice, and she was very accomplished at it, slicing and dicing her opponents just like a seasoned politician. And she remains firmly in support of a woman's right to an abortion, a risky stance in a state so red that it recently banned abortion even in cases of rape or incest.

So Herseth is planting her feet, feeling her strength, looking for her moment. But in two promising ways, she's very much like the other four women. She's surprisingly open and straightforward in person, talking easily about the time she freaked out and flew to Quito, Ecuador, or her childhood on the farm with the tornadoes and the drought, or her parents' divorce after her father lost the '86 election.

...

She's also relentlessly focused on her goal. Right now, we've been on the highways of South Dakota for fourteen hours, and the Dixie Chicks are in the CD player, and there's one more rally to go, one more high school gym with farmers and housewives dressed in cheap, clean clothes, one more speech about how ethanol pulled $1 billion into South Dakota in 2004, a lifeline to rural America, because most of the biorefineries are owned by local farmers and ranchers, which helps the tax base and the school district, as long as federal policies don't encourage the kind of consolidation we've seen in other industries.

Argus

SDWC: "Has anyone noticed that the news has snuck back up towards the top of the Argus' new website design?"  He's right, but the design is still terrible.

The Unreliable News of the MSM

On November 13, the Los Angeles Times reported the U.S. military had carried out an air strike at Ramadi that "killed at least 30 people, including women and children."  Blogger Patterico later saw an email from an officer who was at Ramadi who claimed the Times's account was incorrect: there had been no air strike and those killed were insurgents caught placing IEDs or trying to steal munitions.  Patterico began to investigate what really happened at Ramadi, and you can read his results here.  As John Hinderacker noted: "Patterico's findings are significant, I think, to all of us who try to make sense of the news coming out of Iraq."

Execution Debate

Argus Leader:

When it comes to executions, some say less detail in state law might provide more clarity for future death penalty procedures.

Gov. Mike Rounds and Attorney General Larry Long have researched court cases and death penalty laws in other states and expect to introduce a bill in January that would prevent death row delays such as the Aug. 29 stay of execution of Elijah Page.

Although they haven't said what the bill will entail, some say that rather than clarifying the exact method of execution, providing flexibility in state law might be the best way to prevent confusion.

Cold, Uncaring Socialism

Note this passage from an enlightening story about the Dutch elections:

This confusion at the ballot box underscores the difficulties Europe faces in adapting to an ever more globalized world. Voters across Europe feel deep anxiety over how to preserve their cultures without closing their doors to immigrants, how to protect their cherished welfare states without becoming an economic dinosaur, and how to channel the energies of the free market without turning into a cold, uncaring continent.

What is "cold" and "uncaring," one would think, would be to devolve into "an economic dinosaur."  A business motivated by profit has far more reason to treat you well and to give you good service than does the government.  If your accountant does a bad job and treats you poorly, what do you do?  You get a different accountant.  If the IRS does a bad job and treats you poorly, what do you do?  Go to the other IRS? 

An economy is like a shark: it must keep moving forward or it dies.  Europe can decide to maintain its massive welfare state that stifles creativity and innovation and thus slowly fall into decay, or it can liberalize its economy to promote innovation and productivity and face the fact that, yes, there will be more uncertainty and more need for hard work.  There is no doubt that the market produces "creative destruction."  Some focus more on the "creative" part, others on the "destruction."  I have sympathies with both camps.  One should not pretend that this is an easy choice, but it does seem like a clear one.  Europe has two futures.  In one future, it reinvigorates its dedication to political and economic liberalism and the grand history of Europe.  In the other future, it dies of economic and cultural euthanasia.

The Ignoble Prize Winners

The winners of the Ig Noble Prize (makes you laugh, then makes you think) were announced today.

ORNITHOLOGY: Ivan R. Schwab, of the University of California Davis, and       the late Philip R.A. May of the University of California Los Angeles, for       exploring and explaining why woodpeckers don't get headaches.

PEACE: Howard Stapleton of Merthyr Tydfil, Wales, for inventing an electromechanical teenager repellant -- a device that makes annoying high-pitched noise designed to be audible to teenagers but not to adults; and for later using that same technology to make telephone ringtones that are audible to teenagers but probably not to their teachers.

MATHEMATICS: Nic Svenson and Piers Barnes of the Australian Commonwealth Scientific and Research Organization, for calculating the number of photographs you must take to (almost) ensure that nobody in a group photo will have their eyes closed

LITERATURE: Daniel Oppenheimer of Princeton University for his report "Consequences of Erudite Vernacular Utilized Irrespective of Necessity: Problems with Using Long Words Needlessly."

Headlines Worth Noting, Holiday Edition

After the fact?

Ex-KGB Spy Blames Putin for this Death.

It is, after all, only a toy newspaper. 

Man With Toy Gun Disrupts Miami Herald

It was a good weekend to be elsewhere.  But that's every weekend in Jersey.

Turkeys Try for Fast Train Out of New Jersey. 

The turkeys had no time to lose.

Man Eats 4.8 Pounds of Turkey in 12 Minutes.

How long was the bomb?

PHILADELPHIA - A man who mailed a bomb to a doctor because he was angry about how his penis enlargement surgery turned out was sentenced Tuesday to four years and 10 months in prison.

Just when we needed someone to restrain us.

Go Ahead, call your friend "meathead"

 

Democratic Crack-Up 3

Having wandered onto the topic of the Clintons, the following from the New York Times is news fit to blog on.  Ms. Clinton is generally regarded as the front runner for the 2008 Democratic nomination.  I think she has done about as much to earn it as anyone ever does.  I have admired Senator Clinton for the fact that, unlike other celebrity hopefuls like Jesse Jackson, she put her assets where her mouth was and won a senate seat as a platform to seek the Presidency.  But there are signs, dare I say, that her judgment is not always sound.

She had only token opposition, but Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton still spent more on her re-election — upward of $30 million — than any other candidate for Senate this year. So where did all the money go?

It helped Mrs. Clinton win a margin of victory of more than 30 points. It helped her build a new set of campaign contributors. And it allowed her to begin assembling the nuts and bolts needed to run a presidential campaign.

But that was not all. Mrs. Clinton also bought more than $13,000 worth of flowers, mostly for fund-raising events and as thank-yous for donors. She laid out $27,000 for valet parking, paid as much as $800 in a single month in credit card interest and — above all — paid tens of thousands of dollars a month to an assortment of consultants and aides.

Throw in $17 million in advertising and fund-raising mailings, and what had been one of the most formidable war chests in politics was depleted to a level that leaves Mrs. Clinton with little financial advantage over her potential rivals for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination — and perhaps even trailing some of them.

Spending more money than any other candidate on a safe Senate seat, well, it does make one wonder.  Apparently, this is all the buzz among Democratic circles.

Democratic Crack-Up 2

There is one advantage to losing an election: one's own party immediately becomes a smaller target, and the winners a bigger one.  Early evidence suggests that this will be more fun for Republicans than it was for Democrats in similar circumstances.  Republicans in Congress ultimately overplayed their hand after 1994, but at least at first they maintained an awesome discipline.  So far the Democrats, to put it mildly, have not. 

We have noted how soon-to-be Speaker Pelosi has set her caucus against itself with her unsuccessful bid to replace heir-apparent Steny Hoyer with John Murtha for majority leader.  This was doubly unfortunate, as it undercut the two winning issues that put the Democrats in charge of Capitol Hill.  Iraq was issue number one.  Whatever one thinks of Murtha's position on Iraq (get out now), at least he has a position.  Murtha's sound defeat seriously reduces the risk that the Democrats will adopt a policy of their own. 

Issue number two was corruption.  Murtha was named as an "unindicted co-conspirator" in the ABSCAM sting, the most serious Congressional scandal in recent decades.  He has been known all along as a Congressman with whom one could do business. 

Then of course there is Alcee Hastings, whom Pelosi wants to put in as Chair of the House Intelligence Committee, over Jane Harman who is in line for the job and very well-qualified.  What sort of fellow is Hastings?  Here is Byron York's report, from National Review:

William Borders was a prominent Washington, D.C. lawyer when, in 1981, he was charged with conspiring with his good friend, federal judge Alcee Hastings, to solicit bribes from defendants seeking lenient treatment in Hastings’s courtroom. Hastings was charged, too, though the men were tried separately. When it was all over, Borders was convicted, disbarred, and sentenced to five years in jail. Hastings was acquitted, but later impeached and removed from office.

By advancing Murtha and Hastings, Pelosi wrecked any chance that the incoming Democratic majority would be seen as a reform movement.  Instead, it looks like business as usual in the worst sense.  Moreover, the Hastings matter has a Clinton connection, which is not exactly what Ms. Clinton might want to see in the press.  William Borders, mentioned above, had a powerful friend.

At various times over the years, Borders has tried to have his license to practice law in the District of Columbia restored. But his episodes of contempt, in addition to his original conviction for bribery, led the legal bodies involved to conclude that, even though he had done his time, he did not feel remorse for his actions nor a respect for the law under which he was punished. He remains disbarred today.

None of that, however, stopped President Bill Clinton from granting Borders a full and unconditional pardon as part of the flurry of controversial pardons Clinton issued during his last hours in office. The pardon documents listed Borders’s crime this way: “Conspiracy to corruptly solicit and accept money in return for influencing the official acts of a federal district court judge (Alcee L. Hastings), and to defraud the United States in connection with the performance of lawful government functions; corruptly influencing, obstructing, impeding and endeavoring to influence, obstruct and impede the due administration of justice, and aiding and abetting therein; traveling interstate with intent to commit bribery.”

Whatever the new Democrats are about, it isn't cleaning up Congress.

Sheikhs on a Plane

James Tarranto of the Wall Street Journal scooped me by a bit on that headline, but I am using it anyway.  From USAToday:

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Council on American-Islamic Relations called Tuesday for an investigation into the behavior of airline staff and airport security in the removal of six Muslim scholars from a US Airways flight a day earlier.

A passenger raised concerns about the imams — three of whom said their normal evening prayers in the airport terminal before boarding the Phoenix-bound plane, according to one — through a note passed to a flight attendant, according to Andrea Rader, a spokeswoman for US Airways.

"We are concerned that crewmembers, passengers and security personnel may have succumbed to fear and prejudice based on stereotyping of Muslims and Islam," Nihad Awad, the council's executive director, said in a news release.

The six were returning from a conference in Minneapolis of the North American Imams Federation, said Omar Shahin of Phoenix, president of the group.

"They took us off the plane, humiliated us in a very disrespectful way," Shahin said after the incident.

This story represents a set of disjointed generalizations.  On the one hand, the vast majority of Muslims neither condone nor participate in terrorist acts, and so represent no threat to anybody.  Here are the results of a Pew poll:

On the other hand,  almost all those who support or condone terrorist acts are Muslim.  It is neither possible nor wise to ignore this when making security decisions at airports. 

Top Influential Americans

The Atlantic Monthly, consulting ten historians, has a list of the top 100 most influential figures in American history.  I'm somewhat suspicious of any list that doesn't include James Madison (the father of the Constitution) in the top 10.  And I have serious misgivings about Woodrow Wilson being ranked so highly, primarily because of his stance on Latin America (he called for self-determination in Europe, but didn't extended the same to our southern neighbors, where he interfered in their politics half a dozen times).  But overall it's a good list, and even better that they included Mark Twain and Louis Armstrong.  Here's their top 10:

1 Abraham Lincoln
He saved the Union, freed the slaves, and presided over America’s second founding.

2 George Washington
He made the United States possible—not only by defeating a king, but by declining to become one himself.

3 Thomas Jefferson
The author of the five most important words in American history: “All men are created equal.”

4 Franklin Delano Roosevelt
He said, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself,” and then he proved it.

5 Alexander Hamilton
Soldier, banker, and political scientist, he set in motion an agrarian nation’s transformation into an industrial power.

6 Benjamin Franklin
The Founder-of-all-trades— scientist, printer, writer, diplomat, inventor, and more; like his country, he contained multitudes.

7 John Marshall
The defining chief justice, he established the Supreme Court as the equal of the other two federal branches.

8 Martin Luther King Jr.
His dream of racial equality is still elusive, but no one did more to make it real.

9 Thomas Edison
It wasn’t just the lightbulb; the Wizard of Menlo Park was the most prolific inventor in American history.

10 Woodrow Wilson
He made the world safe for U.S. interventionism, if not for democracy.

The Argus Monopoly Problem

In SDWC's note about the Argus Leader yesterday, a commentator wrote:

I grow more appalled and sickened by the Argus Leader every day. Their preaching and sense of moral superiority and arrogance has long-since passed the point of outrageous. While constantly blabbing on about what they see as corruption and claiming to look out for the little man and also smearing our good governor, the Argus Leader (a subsidiary of Gannett Corporation) which makes tons of money as a near-monopoly, is ACTUALLY TRYING TO CRUSH ITS COMPETITORS!! Who is going to expose this outrage? Who will do news stories about this? Nobody, people, because the media protects their own. Their dirty secrets will remain buried.

See here for more on the Argus monopoly problem.  We've also written about the Argus's attempt at quashing competition before, so the commentator quoted above is correct that the Argus participates in anti-competitive behavior.

This also leads to a larger question of why more political news isn't covered given the profitability of the paper.  First, a few qualifiers:  It's obvious that a lot of stories aren't covered.  We receive good stories via email quite often, but we can't always address them in a formal sense even though they deserve attention.  Second, remember that editors, as economic theory suggests, are constrained by choice.  The editorial choices made by the Argus Leader, which has the most resources for covering news in the state and from which many small town dailies and weeklies take their news (call it the Argus ripple effect), are extremely consequential.  Nevertheless, the biggest criticism of the paper is it's lack of balanced political reporting.  They've been facing falling subscription rates and the format changes were an attempt to curb that.  Unfortunately, that hasn't worked.  The paper likes to publish editorials from each side, one praising and the other criticizing the "new" Argus.  However, I'm hearing that the ratio is more like 100 to 1 against the changes.  For instance, one group upset are teachers, who would clip national and international news from the paper use in class for discussions.  But the editors at the Argus have missed the point.  If they want real progress, they would adopt reforms and create a better product.  Participating in anti-competitive behavior, attacking Governor Rounds, and ignoring criticism (blog or otherwise) won't help their situation.  I think it's time for some Argus competition, an idea that's been floated before.

Argus Leader

Earlier this week, Argus Leader executive editor Randell Beck went after Governor Rounds' "draconian" restrictions on state travel and the Argus editorial board also wrote an editorial attacking the governor.  Vernon VanDerhule writes in to point out what the Argus got wrong:

The Argus Leader editorial "Let it rest, governor," is just flat wrong. Referring to hardworking state employees, the Argus Leader states, "This new law doesn't affect them at all, unless they use state aircraft."

If you read only the attorney general's ballot explanation, or Reynold Nesiba's ballot explanation, I can see how the Argus Leader came to the conclusion. But if the Argus Leader would have taken time to read the full text of the initiative, it would find something completely different.

Nesiba's initiative did not create a new section of state law. It amended an existing section that clearly applies to all state employees and all state vehicles. Nesiba added a paragraph on state aircraft that is more restrictive than on other state vehicles. Then he added additional language to the existing penalty for violation of the section. Behind the existing language, "A violation of this section is a Class 2 misdemeanor," Nesiba added the following:

"The violator is also subject to a civil action by the State of South Dakota in circuit court for the recovery of a civil penalty of not more than one thousand ($1,000) dollars plus 10 times the cost incurred by the state for misuse of the vehicle. An action for recovery of a civil penalty of compensatory damages shall, upon demand, be tried by a jury."

Note carefully: The new penalty language does not say "aircraft" or "airplane"; it says "vehicle." I have no doubt whatsoever that the new penalty language applies not only to the governor in a state aircraft, but also to the hourly paid state employee driving a snowplow.

Had the Argus Leader taken the time to read the full text of the new law, the Argus Leader would have known this. The Argus Leader should know better.

Indeed.

The Last Full Measure

Alan Guelzo shows why he is the best historian of Abraham Lincoln today.  This is a must read.

The turn of the 9/11 ceremonies to the Gettysburg Address was instinctively correct. But Lincoln's words are more than just a tonic for crises. Self-restraint, self-enforcement and the recollection that democracy has a transcendent core arching far above our poor power to add or detract--these are the stuff of democratic life, and the Gettysburg Address is the reminder of Lincoln's prescription for government of the people, by the people and for the people. If we forget it, it may be because we have forgotten all the other things that democracy demands.  

Happy Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving

From President Bush's Thanksgiving proclamation:

At this time of great promise for America, we are grateful for the freedoms guaranteed by our Constitution and defended by our Armed Forces throughout the generations.  Today, many of these courageous men and women are securing our peace in places far from home, and we pay tribute to them and to their families for their service, sacrifice, and strength.  We also honor the families of the fallen and lift them up in our prayers.

Our citizens are privileged to live in the world's freest country, where the hope of the American dream is within the reach of every person.  Americans share a desire to answer the universal call to serve something greater than ourselves, and we see this spirit every day in the millions of volunteers throughout our country who bring hope and healing to those in need.  On this Thanksgiving Day, and throughout the year, let us show our gratitude for the blessings of freedom, family, and faith, and may God continue to bless America.

In this weekend of giving thanks, thank fate you live in America and no where else.  Take pause today and reflect on what deserves gratitude in your life.  I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Herseth or Heidepriem for Governor?

David Kranz says Scott Heidepriem and Stephanie Herseth are leading contenders for governor:

Scott Heidepriem’s Nov. 7 state Senate victory and abrupt elevation to Democratic leader status quickly raised him to top contender status on the Democratic Party rolls.

Whether she is agreeing to this or not, a good many Democrats are putting credence in a possible bid for chief executive by U.S. Rep. Stephanie Herseth in 2010. New-found majority status for the U.S. House Democrats might give her a stronger foundation for growing influence in that body, but too many people back home want her to take a look-see.

Most of the high-powered staff surrounding Herseth dismiss the idea as not being an option at this time, but those who push the idea talk about her family history. The governorship is in the Herseth family, and at some point, she will want to travel that avenue, too. Grandfather Ralph Herseth was governor from 1959-61, and her father, Lars Herseth, ran a close but unsuccessful race against George Mickelson in 1986.

Former Sen. George McGovern has long articulated to Democrats the need for this chair to be a priority, saying, “If you don’t have the governorship, you can’t build the party.”

Doubters about a Herseth race in 2010 wonder whether she would be playing gubernatorial cards too soon.

Plain and simple: Don’t rule out a third-generation Herseth for Governor campaign sooner than one would have thought.

If she does vacate the House seat, it is a no-brainer that Brendan Johnson, son of
Sen. Tim Johnson, would have no trouble getting the Democratic nomination and would be a credible candidate from the beginning. The question, though, is whether he is ready to begin his political career.

More thoughts from SDWC.

Wikigate, The Second Act

SDWC: "Wikipedia strikes again. Not Stephanie, but the Argus gets it this time"

Helpful Holiday Tips

I just discovered that if you take two blown light bulbs, hold one in each hand, and then shake them next to your ears, it sounds like sleigh bells and you'll get excited because you think Santa is coming. 

Nihilism, Islam, and Geography

The region referred to as the "Middle East," i.e., between Europe and the Far East, has long been one of those places that produce more history than can be consumed locally.  It is, after all, the birthplace of two of the world's great evangelical religions: Christianity and Islam (the other being Buddhism).  It is also the birthplace of civilization.  Jared Diamond's marvelous book Guns, Germs, and Steel, provides at least part of the explanation for the last fact.  Animals and crops can be exported east and west more easily than north and south, due to climate.  The fertile crescent turned out to be the ideal place to gather the greatest collection of herd animals and cultivated crops that powered the rise of the first cities. 

Another reason the Middle East ties so much history together is that it is the crossroads between three of the world's most important regions: Europe, East Asia, and Africa.  It is no accident that this folding of continents should create a lot of pockets for oil to collect in. 

It is Islam, as much as oil, that explains the contemporary importance of the region.  Islam has come to be a womb of nihilistic violence that represents the single most serious threat to modern civilization.  This is evident enough in Iraq.  It is evident also in this weeks most newsworthy political murder.  From Time.Com:

The streets of Beirut filled with cars fleeing the city as soon as news spread that one of Lebanon's most prominent Christian politicians, Pierre Gemayel, had been assassinated in the capital. The killing of his uncle, President Bashir Gemayel, in 1982, marked the beginning of a particularly bloody chapter in Lebanon's 15-year Civil War. And the fear now spreading through the country is that this latest attack could usher in a similar period of heightened violence.

Just right now, the birthplace of civilization is a very uncivilized place.  Only a few months ago I was far more hopeful that the Middle East might be about to follow the path of India and Japan.  Now I have to ask whether a Saddam Hussein, who knew how to skewer all the right people on meat hooks in basements, might not be the best that Lebanon or Iraq can hope for.  That is a very bleak thought.  But it is hard to avoid thinking it. 

Professor Newquist and Myself on Jazz Stores

Professor David Newquist sent this kind note after I identified Lester Young as the sax player in the photo challenge he posted.  I did not identify the man standing next to The Prez, though my wife recognized him.  David fills us in.

The man singing, more likely vocalizing a riff, is Count Basie.  That goes far back into the 1930s. 

Whenever I visit my daughter in Denver, I haunt a used CD shop within walking distance of her house.  I found a CD The Prez made in a Washington, D.C., club shortly after he returned from his lengthy sojourn in Paris in the mid-1950s.  When he was sober, which he must have been for that recording, he was the master. 

By the way, I also found a CD of Bill Evans and Stan Getz with multiple takes  on “Night and Day,” “My Heart Stood Still,” “Grandfather’s Waltz,”  among others. Alvin Jones plays some of the best drums in jazz.  This from someone who took his first trumpet lessons in Louis Belson’s dad’s music store.

dln

On the topic of Jazz music stores, I chanced upon one in Chicago last April.  It was the Jazz Record Mart.  You can shop using that link.  It is almost certainly the best jazz store I have ever seen.  Professor Schaff and I wandering into it while we were searching for a place to eat off of Michigan Avenue.

I don't know the Bill Evans/Stan Getz cd that David mentions, but I have other works by both artists.  I seem to remember a friend of mine in grad school telling me that she lived next to Stan Getz, and once saw him in his pajamas.  Wow.  As for Bill Evans, seen above, I was first introduced to modern jazz by Mead Harwell, an English professor of mine back at Arkansas State University.  Professor Harwell also introduced me to good wine.  He was a big fan of Bill Evans, and I have been so ever since I heard Evan's piano in Professor Harwell's apartment.  No one can squeeze more nectar out of a melody than he could, and I regard him as one of the greatest jazz keyboard players of his generation.

Franken Entering Minnesota Senate Race?

Comedian Al Franken was on "Lou Dobbs Tonight" and was asked about the Minnesota senate race:

Franken: "I don't know. Actually, we're deciding, I think, this weekend, the family, my family."
CNN's Dobbs: "OK, I'll give you the number, and I want you to let me know immediately."
Franken: "I think if I tell someone, it might be somebody in Minnesota" (CNN, 11/20).

Franken is leaving Air America Radio later this year.  He's always been a strong supporter of Democratic Senator Paul Wellstone, who was killed in a plane crash shortly before the 2002 elections.  Franken has been considering a move back to his home state of Minnesota for quite a while now, supposedly to run for the Senate seat held by Wellstone's successor Norm Coleman in the 2008 elections.

Pine Ridge

Bill Harlan is discussing the "political and institutional chaos on Pine Ridge" over at Mt. Blogmore.

Mark Johnston Resigning

Governor Rounds has announced that Press Secretary Mark Johnston is leaving his post on December 15th.

Johnson Not Committed to Daschle for POTUS?

From today's edition of National Journal's Hotline:

SOUTH DAKOTA: Johnson Not Committed To Daschle?

Sioux Falls Argus Leader's Kranz writes, "Some prominent" SDans "are ready to cast their lot for who should run" for the pres. primaries. Sen. Tim Johnson (D) "is leaning toward" Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL), who he believes would "truly be a uniter, not a divider." Johnson: "While I'm not ready to formally endorse him yet, at this point I do believe that Obama would by my party's strongest nominee for President. ...I am intrigued by his possible candidacy." Rep. Stephanie Herseth (D) makes no firm commitments "but she says she will likely back" ex-Sen. Tom Daschle (D), if he decides to run. If not, she said she would consider ex-Sen. John Edwards.

Sen. John Thune (R) was expected to back outgoing Sen. George Allen (R-VA), who worked hard to get Thune into the Senate race in '04. But since Allen "imploded his presidential prospects," the "betting is that Thune will go with" Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), who "has been tossing Thune's name around in campaign stops as one of the party's bright young leaders."

Ex-Gov. Harvey Wollman (D) "says he is not looking for a rock star politician" and believes that Sen. Hillary Clinton is "unelectable" while Sen. Barack Obama has some growing to do. Wollman: "The person we need has to be very intelligent and have a world view and be experienced. Al Gore was really elected in the first race against Bush and deserves another chance." Daschle is in the "too early to commit" stage, especially since he "remains in the thought process stage of his own presidential candidacy." But as Obama "absorbs many" of Daschle's valued ex-staffers, "the possibility of a Daschle candidacy seems to diminish" and "the guess here is that he would go with Clinton or Obama" (11/20).

Michigan

John Fund tackles Michigan's ban on affirmative action in the W$J Opinion Journal in an article entitled "Preferences Forever?  The University of Michigan's president does her best George Wallace impersonation."

Worst Newspaper in the Nation

PowerLine is polling readers on the worst newspaper in the nation.  The Argus Leader could certainly make the list with it's liberal dogma and poorly-conceived redesign.

New Blog

PP and SDWC and Todd Epp at SD Watch have started a new blog called "Left Dakota Right Dakota South Dakota."  Be sure to check it out.  Their first topic is whether or not special interests have taken over South Dakota political parties. 

Rounds v. Argus, and Quote of the Day

South Dakota War College applauds Governor Rounds for stiffing the Argus Leader:

I mean, if it's escaped anyone's notice, at times the Argus has gone past objective investigative reporting on state issues of concern and especially in the case of editor Randall Beck's many editorial columns snidely bashing the Governor, they have a tendency to alternately be mean spirited diatribes or scoldings.

No one is expecting hearts and flowers all the time (it is the media, and it's expected that sometimes we don't like what we hear) but often the nasty tone has gone beyond what anyone would consider "South Dakota."

Think of it this way. If I go past the ice cream store, and the owner spits at me all winter, should he have a basis to complain when I prefer to buy my ice cream from the Schwan's man instead? I think not.

A commenter provides the quote of the day: "Politicians come and go, but why can't we throw the bums out of the Argus Leader newsroom?"

Michigan and Affirmative Action

Stuart Taylor of the National Journal writes about Michigan's ban on affirmative action in "Michigan Voters Defy the Establishment."  Be sure to give it a read.   

Down Syndrome, Again

A reader responds to my post on Down Syndrome:

I found your link to the Down Syndrome article very interesting.  There
is a "quad-screen" test that our obstetrician (otherwise unimpeachably
good) half-heartedly tried to push on [my wife]and me that basically
has not practical purpose unless you want to abort "defective" 
children.

Most of the articles they had us read about this, though, suggested that
you can't eliminate Down Syndrome through eugenicism -- in many cases it
is not inherited, but is caused by damage to the chromosomes that occurs
 due to the particular circumstances of each conception or even random
chance.  A few other related chromosomal disorders are similar.  On the
other hand, eliminating green eyes or a particular skin-color is well
within the real of this "gene-therapy" stuff.  Scary.

The Big Blunder

Much attention is being paid to the possibility that Rep. Alcee Hastings may passover Jane Harman as chair of the House Intelligence Committee when the Democrats take over in January.  I never thought that Nancy Pelosi's backing of John Murtha for Majority Leader over eventual winner Steny Hoyer was that big a blunder.  It was unwise, but understandable.  The Hastings situation is different.  Harman is a well respected and serious Congresswoman, while Hastings is a political hack who was impeached and removed from his federal judgeship over serious allegations of corruption.  Byron York reports that many Democrats who voted to impeach Hastings are still in Congress, including John Conyers, Charles Rangel, Barney Frank, Steny Hoyer and...Nancy Pelosi.  Pelosi will have to explain to us why Hastings is too corrupt to be a federal judge, but is just right to handle important intelligence information.  Good luck. 

Three Cheers for Argus Snub

After being continually trashed by the Argus Leader, Governor Rounds has rightly terminated all contact with the Argus, according to one of the Gannett overlords:

When the election was over, Arnold Garson, publisher in Sioux Falls and vice president for the Gannett Pacific Group, sent an e-mail to me showing both the cost and the payoff of this investigative project.  The e-mail said:

"On the one hand, our tough reporting on the governor's unchecked personal use of state airplanes was one of two news projects that have cost us having any kind of relationship with the governor. (The other project is our still-ongoing effort, including lawsuit, to obtain the names of persons invited to the state-funded Governor's Pheasant Hunt.) He won't meet with the editorial board for any purpose. He has attempted to shut down our reporters' access to all his state departments. And in his recent re-election campaign, he specifically outed the Argus Leader and its weeklies from the political advertising buys his campaign staff placed in every other daily and weekly newspaper in the state. I figure that cost us about $50,000. . . ."

The Argus has a history of Republican-bashing, so it's little wonder why Governor Rounds refuses to speak with them.

Leader of "Blue Dogs" in House Says Dems Are "fractured"

From today's edition of Roll Call:

Newly elected House Democratic leaders vowed to quickly reunify their Caucus in the wake of a bitter leadership contest last week, but offered few details and left some rank-and-file Members questioning how the party will mend its divisions as it prepares to take control of the chamber in the 110th Congress.

“We’ve had our debates. We’ve had our disagreements in that room, but now that is over,” Speaker-designate Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) said Thursday following a closed-door meeting at which Democrats elected Rep. Steny Hoyer (Md.) to be Majority Leader, defeating Pelosi’s close ally and preferred candidate, Rep. John Murtha (Pa.).

But at least a few Democratic lawmakers remained angry Thursday over allegedly heavy-handed tactics employed by Murtha supporters in the contest, and others publicly suggested that House leaders could have a difficult time alleviating any lingering bruises.

“I think the Caucus is fractured,” Rep. Allen Boyd (Fla.), who will be a co-chairman of the Democratic Blue Dog Coalition in the 110th Congress, said Thursday, adding, Pelosi’s “biggest challenge is figuring out how to wrap her arms around all the Caucus.”

Local political cartoonist Jason Folkerts also has a fitting cartoon:  "What we know is that she [Rep. Herseth] is a self proclaimed blue dog democrat (meaning: the very liberal Pelosi team/agenda is going to keep her on a short leash when it comes to commonsense legislation)."

Who'll Play Morgan Freeman?

Here's a news story about killer asteroids.  I am not worried because most people find that a little Preparation H remedies killer asteroids. 

Democratic Crack-Up 1

As soon as any new party takes over Congress, or the White House, it is customary to announce impending signs of failure.  Fortunately, as Professor Schaff noted, Nancy Pelosi made it easy.  From the AP by way of the American News:

WASHINGTON - Democrats embraced Rep. Nancy Pelosi as the first woman House speaker in history on Thursday, then quickly snubbed her, selecting Steny Hoyer of Maryland as majority leader against her wishes.

"Let the healing begin," Pelosi, D-Calif., said after Hoyer had eased past her preferred candidate, Rep. John Murtha, a prominent opponent of the war in Iraq. The secret-ballot vote for Hoyer was 149-86. She was chosen by acclamation.

Now Hoyer didn't exactly "ease past" Murtha.  He blew past him.  This was a very stupid move by Pelosi.  It raises serious questions about her leadership and judgment right off the bat, and means that she must now work with a second in command whom she tried to torpedo.  Here is how Howard Fineman puts it:

If Speaker-to-be Pelosi is going to succeed as Speaker of the House, she had better learn—fast—from the fiasco known as the Hoyer-Murtha Race. She violated every conceivable rule of Boss-like behavior: she lost, she lost publicly, she lost after issuing useless and unenforceable threats to people she barely had met, knowing (or having reason to know) that they would tell the world about her unsuccessful arm-twisting. And she lost big: by 149 to 86 votes.

It's worse than that, at least in the short run.  Dena Bunis, of the Orange County Register (hat tip to Kausfiles), has this:

Inside the room where the election was being held, there were boxes for members to drop their secret ballots. Pelosi and her crew watched as people voted. Some members actually brought fellow lawmakers with them when they marked their ballots so they could prove to Pelosi that they did vote for Murtha. And because the Murtha vote ended up being so small, the Pelosi forces can count almost down to the last ballot who voted for Murtha and who for Hoyer.

So Pelosi has split the new House Majority Caucus into two sides, each with a reason to be suspicious of one another.  Good work, considering that she is not quite Speaker yet. 

History Carnival

The forty-third installment of the History Carnival is up at Axis of Evel Knievel.

Costner Trying to Annex Eight Acres Near Deadwood

Rapid City Journal:

Actor Kevin Costner has asked the city of Deadwood to annex 8 acres so he can build a housing development.

The project lies on 160 acres along U.S. Highway 14A above the Lead-Deadwood Sanitation plant.

Preliminary plans call for 88 single-family houses and 72 townhouse units.

The homes will be middle- to higher-end homes, and the owners will have to abide by covenants, according to Costner's attorney, Mike Reynolds of Rapid City.

Oh, Brave New World!

I recently blogged about the use of pre-natal testing as a means to eliminate those who do not fit our preconceived ideas of perfection.  I mentioned that over 90% of all Down Syndrome babies are aborted.  Peter Lawler directs us to this piece that argues that, with the regular use of pre-natal based eugenics, we are successfully (if one can put it that way) eliminating Down Syndrome by aborting all those who bear the genetic defect.  Interestingly, the piece argues that 20-40% of all tests for Down Syndrome are incorrect.  Some of the rhetoric of this piece is overheated (I think we can just leave all Nazi rhetoric at the door), but it is thought provoking. 

Blogging from Philadelphia

During this year's meeting of the National Collegiate Honors Council in Philadelphia, all the participants were bussed out to the National Constitution Center.  There is an impressive multi-media show at the new center, but the real star of the show is Independence Hall, the old Pennsylvania State House where the Declaration of Independence was signed and the Constitution of the United States drafted.  It is, without a doubt, the most important room in American History. 

Antimilitary Bigotry

Boston Globe columnist Jeff Jacoby comments on efforts to shut down the JROTC program in San Francisco in an editorial entitled "Antimilitary bigotry."  And he quotes one of my favorite authors.  Excerpt:

"IN THE FIRST place God made idiots," observed Mark Twain. "This was for practice. Then he made school boards." The San Francisco Board of Education's 4-2 vote last week to abolish the Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps program, which has been active in the city's high schools for 90 years, tends to support his view.

...

So what  is the problem with JROTC? There isn't one. The problem is with the anti military bigotry of the school board majority and the "peace" activists who lobbied against the program on the grounds that San Francisco's schools should not be sullied by an association with the US armed forces.

"We don't want the military ruining our civilian institutions," said Sandra Schwartz of the American Friends Service Committee, a far-left pacifist organization that routinely condemns American foreign policy and opposes JROTC nationwide. "In a healthy democracy . . . you contain the military." Board member Dan Kelly, who voted with the majority, called JROTC "basically a branding program or a recruiting program for the military." In fact, it is nothing of the kind: The great majority of cadets do not end up serving in the military.

But then, facts tend not to matter to smug ideologues like Schwartz and Kelly, who are free to parade their contempt for the military because they live in a nation that affords such freedom even to idiots and ingrates. It never seems to occur to them that the liberties and security they take for granted would vanish in a heartbeat if it weren't for the young men and women who do choose to wear the uniform, willingly risking life and limb in service to their country.

Argus v. Rounds

Argus Leader editor Randell Beck is going after Governor Rounds again this morning.  We'd love to hear from any state officials on whether or not the limitations Beck speaks of are truly as "draconian" as he says they are.  Count me as somewhat skeptical.  I feel Beck is merely playing up the Rounds-as-draconian-leader meme (especially since the ban on abortion was also considered "draconian").  In either case, Beck clearly despises the governor.

Saddle-gate

When reviewing Page-gate this morning, the Argus Leader also discusses a matter from the 1970s known as "Saddle-gate." Excerpt:

A 1970s incident became known as Saddlegate, when three House members in a party mood helped themselves to a trophy saddle of Casey Tibbs on display in the old Falcon restaurant. They took it to their hotel and took turns riding it, they said. They were embarrassed by the press coverage, but never charged with theft and never punished by their peers.

Jim Fry, director of the Legislative Research Council, said a legislator in the 1970s was investigated to see if he lived in his district when he ran for office. Others were investigated after earning especially narrow victories in elections.

"But in recent memory we don't remember any disciplinary action," Fry said. "In the modern era, current recollection is no one's been expelled."

That precedent can be taken two ways - as a sign the Senate should be lenient or as a mandate to take action to preserve a record that Hoover calls "almost pure."

McGovern

From KELO:

Former South Dakota Senator George McGovern is hopeful that his message of an early withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq is sinking in with members of Congress. McGovern, the former presidential candidate who campaigned against the Vietnam War, is back home following his meeting with U.S. House members in Washington.

McGovern met yesterday with about two-dozen members of the "Congressional Progressive Caucus." With more than sixty-members, it's the single-largest caucus in the U.S. House of Representatives. The group is largely Democrat, like McGovern, himself. But McGovern says he wasn't simply preaching to the choir regarding his stance on Iraq.

George McGovern returned home from his trip to Washington confident that more members of Congress are buying into his early exit strategy for Iraq. "I thought it went very well. They realize that there has to be a change in our policy in Iraq."

McGovern favors a complete withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq by next June. That early deadline drew questions from the Congressional members who met with McGovern. "Some of them asked what if when we pull out, Iraq just goes into chaos, we said they're in chaos now!"

McGovern says members from both parties want a change in Iraq. "I talked to some Republicans who are more than anxious to support a move to terminate our involvement there."

It won't be long before McGovern is back at the airport for another flight to Washington. He's been invited to speak again to members of Congress about his proposals. He'll return in January, hopeful that in the meantime lawmakers will give serious consideration to Iraq policy. "I think there will be all kinds of discussions in committee on the senate and house floors, in their homes, that's all anybody seems to be talking about when we were there."

McGovern's meeting was going on at the same time as the election for the leadership positions in the U.S. House. McGovern says members kept filing in and out of the meeting to in order to cast their votes.

Chris Muir: