South Dakota Politics

CNN, Eason Jordan, and the MSM

If you haven't been following the story, CNN executive Eason Jordan, who made wild statements about the US military killing reporters, quit last weekend.  The videotape showing his statements was never released and the MSM hardly made a peep.  Ed Morissey:

[In the Washington Times] Douglas MacKinnon also notes the role that the rest of the media played in Eason's Fables, that of the silent chorus:

I have a number of friends at CNN whom I know to be honest, ethical and hard working. I have to believe that they are horrified and ashamed that their own network ignored a major story about their own news president. It is for that reason that the death knell for the liberal mainstream press has been sounded. CNN, ABC, CBS, NBC and the major left-leaning newspapers — such as The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, the Chicago Tribune, USA TODAY and many others — made a conscious decision to keep a major news story away from the American people.

Fortunately, the bloggers have once again pulled the curtain back to reveal that the feeble old man controlling the make-believe world of "unbiased" media is a fraud, and a dangerous one at that.

The rap on the bloggers so far after Jordan's resignation is that we conducted a witch hunt, and Jordan was nothing more than a victim. The dreaded term "McCarthyism" has been thrown at us as well. However, a witch hunt demands innocence of its victim, and Jordan was anything but. He had made repeated, slanderous allegations against the US military in foreign venues, ensuring access for CNN in places where anti-Americanism sells best. We demanded to see the videotape that the World Economic Forum made and from which they quoted the participants, only to be told the forum was "off the record". CNN and Jordan never stood up for the truth and demanded the release of the videotape, despite their later protestations of misinterpretation and the WSJ's accusations of "vendettas".

So remind me again -- who was working for the truth, and now who wants to argue for stonewalling? The Times knows, and gets it right. This "lynch mob" meme will suffer the same fate as the media blackout which preceded it, and the mainstream media will lose that final fig leaf, standing exposed for all to see.

Fascism Watch

From a Dakota blog:

Is there any chance that the next president will be able or willing to repair the damage done by 8 years of Bushist facsism? [sic]

Did you also know the Republicans are led by a "fuehrer," Iraq was a "war of atrocity," that Hitler, like Republican statements on reforming Social Security, "probably referred to his gas ovens as a 'reform,'" and that "If Hitler were alive today, he'd have his own blog"?  If not, you haven't been keeping up on your Dakota reading.  From another Dakota blogger of the left:

The Republicans need a fuehrer to lead their party. They like to be led into wars of atrocity based upon false pretenses. They like to be given easy-to-remember cant to dully repeat in the face of facts.

You know, that "war of atrocity" which allowed 8 million Iraqis, or 60% of those registered, to freely vote a few weeks ago.  That "war of atrocity" which toppled an authoritarian regime which had killed a million people.  Last weekend, this fellow's town welcomed home South Dakota National Guard troops from Iraq.  I wonder if he asked the troops about their "war of atrocity."  Also, see this from yet another Dakota lefty blogger:

Republicans like to “frame” there [sic] destruction of programs as “reform” and refer to Democrats [sic] evil agenda. Hitler probably referred to his gas ovens as a “reform”.

For more on the left's constant use of comparisons to fascism, see this, which notes how the editor of Harper's compared Trent Lott to "Reichsmarschall Hermann Goring" and thinks the war in Iraq was a "test market for a reconfigured American political idea matched to Benito Mussolini's definition of fascism."  Still another Dakota blog featured a "cartoon" comparing Senator Thune to not only Hitler, but also to a KKK leader to boot.  And you can't forget this gem from the editor of South Dakota's biggest newspaper:

"If Hitler were alive today, he'd have his own blog."

Also, note the current controversy over the University of Colorado professor's comments about the "little Eichmanns" who died in the twin towers on 9/11.  With all this talk about fascism and Hitler, it seems that parts of the left have gone mad. 

Thune and Obama

From Tuesday's edition of Roll Call comes a story entitled "Obama, Thune in Demand":

During a speech marking Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday in Trenton, N.J., last month, Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) told the audience that freshman Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) would attend a March fundraiser on his behalf.

“I mentioned that he would be coming to New Jersey and there was a sudden burst of applause,” Lautenberg said last week. “It was instant recognition.”

Lautenberg should consider himself lucky. Obama’s aides estimate he is getting 300 fundraising and speaking engagement requests each week — a dizzying amount for any Senator, much less one who has been in office for less than two months. But Obama isn’t any run-of-the-mill lawmaker. He is the first black American to serve in the chamber since 1998 — the year Sen. Carol Moseley Braun (D-Ill.) was defeated after just one term.

“He has broken a longtime barrier here,” Lautenberg said. “We don’t have a long history of African-American representation in the Senate.”

Across the aisle, the GOP’s version of a “rock star” is former Rep. John Thune (S.D.) who defeated Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D) in the highest-profile Senate race of 2004. Now, it seems as if every Republican organization and fundraiser wants a piece of Thune.

Since being sworn in, Thune has received more than 700 invitations to appear at fundraisers, and other events such as Lincoln Day dinners.

“We have had a lot of requests from political parties in states, candidates, committees, all of the above,” Thune said.

Blogs and Politics

Michael Barone of US News:

For 12 years, Democratic chairmen were chosen by Bill Clinton. He built a new generation of fund-raisers who relished contact with the Clintons. Now, the big money comes from the left blogosphere and Bush-hating billionaires like George Soros. Dean gives them what they want.

As Dean says, "I hate the Republicans and everything that they stand for." Hate. But Bush hatred was not enough to beat Bush in 2004 -- Democratic turnout was up, but Republican turnout was up more -- and doesn't seem likely to beat Republicans in 2006 and 2008. The left blogosphere has driven the Democrats into an electoral cul de sac.

The left side of the blogosphere also likes the term "fascist."

State Legislature

Word has it that the Governor signed the bill abolishing the paying of bounties for the collection voter registrations.  That issue and others are discussed in the chapter on the 2002 Senate election in South Dakota in Wall Street Journal reporter John Fund's new book.  See this PDF: Download FUNDvoterfraud2002.pdf

Iraqi Democracy is Going to Succeed

There are certain signs that seem unambiguous.  In the piece by Doug Sruck, "Iraqis Cite Shift in Attitudes Since Vote: Mood Seen Moving Against Insurgency,"  one finds a few of these. 

You can feel the situation has changed," said Haider Abdul Hussein, 30, a pharmacy owner. "People seem to linger on the street longer. You can feel the momentum, the sense of optimism."

    

Part of that mood change is credited to Abdul Amir, Iraq's newest national hero. On election day, Amir, 30, a policeman in Baghdad, noticed a man walking toward a polling station who appeared to be carrying something heavy under his coat. Amir wrapped his arms around the man and dragged him away from the crowd. A belt of explosives wrapped around the man blew both men to shreds.

    

Members of Iraq's interim cabinet have touted Amir as a symbol of national pride. Newspapers have been filled with stories about him. A statue is being planned, and the elementary school that served as the polling station where he died may change its name to honor him.

It is remarkably hard for an insurgency to succeed, even in the most auspicious circumstances.  The folks who occupy the capital always get the benefit of the doubt.  Only if there is a strong outside player, or morale and organization are drastically low, can the insurgency succeed.

When a regime begins to generate heroes, its in the for the long haul.   

Sen. Thune "Off the Record"

GOP.com's Off the Record recently interviewed Sen. John Thune.  From a GOP.com email alert:

We're Mindy & Katie, two members of the RNC web team.  Today we're launching the first installment of Off the Record, a weekly series of candid interviews with Party leaders, activists, and rising stars in the GOP.

Recently, we went Off the Record with John Thune, the new Senator from South Dakota who defeated former Democrat Minority Leader Tom Daschle in the 2004 elections.  Senator Thune, who had just returned from Iraq, speaks about the emotional trip, life as a Senator and some personal favorites  - certainly more than you get from an average TV soundbite.

Watch the interview at GOP.com.

Abortion Bill Fails

The proposed abortion ban similar to the one last year failed in the Senate State Affairs Committee by a vote of 7-2 today.  The ban would have prohibited "the performance of abortions, except to save the life of the mother, and to provide a penalty therefor and to provide for a delayed effective date." 

Dean

Chuck Raasch, who is from South Dakota and used to be a reporter in South Dakota but moved on to Washington, has a new column out about the perils that await Howard Dean as Democratic Chairman. 

More South Dakota Troops Are Home

Here's an Argus Leader story about the return of more South Dakota National Guard troops.  South Dakota had the highest number of people per capita serving in Iraq.  The troops are coming home at a time when the votes in Iraq have been counted and we know there was 60% turnout. 

NYT, Eason and the bloggers

Drudge mentioned on his show tonight that the NYT was going to run this article, documenting how the bloggers brought down former CNN exec Eason Jordan.

Ed Morrissey of Captain's Quarters was interviewed for the story, which he discusses tonight.   He also has the scoop that the Eason Jordan tape will never be released.

[Also, as Michelle Malkin notes, Ed's wife will be undergoing a pancreas transplant tomorrow morning. Keep them in your thoughts and prayers].

[Another side note...I called into Drudge and was on the air around 8:45 tonight...mentioned this article about a possible hitch to the upcoming Prince Charles-Camilla Parker Bowles wedding  (because he seems to love following the Royal Famliy). Was fun to talk to him, but Matt dismissed the story--probably cause he didn't have it first...heh.  But the Roth Report did].

UPDATE (Monday): Well Drudge posted the link above around 9 am this morning, in red text: Prince Charles and Camilla wedding 'could be illegal'...

More Fun with the Northern Valley Beacon

I managed to generate a bit of conversation with the enlightened minds at the NVB.  I addressed some questions to them  [see below] concerning a post of Saturday Feb. 12th, and they seemed to think that this act was profoundly insulting.  For example, I asked "I voted Republican, as I expect my fellows here at South Dakota Politics did.  Do you really believe that we are Nazis for doing so? "  This comment, by Val, appeared on the blog.

How the phrase "the Republicans need a fuehrer" is contorted into calling someone "a Nazi for voting differently" is a marvel of inference. For one thing, "fuehrer" was spelled with a lower-case "f". One need not be from Germany or even Eureka to know that, as the dictionary states, a "fuehrer" is a leader, especially one who exercises the power of a tyrant. German rulers liked to think of themselves as a fuehrer, and that is why Hitler named himself "Der Fuehrer." The word designates a domineering, controlling leader, not a Nazi, unless one wants to impose that meaning on the word in some way.

In point of fact, fuehrer just means leader.  It has come to be "especially" associated with tyrant only because of its use by Hitler.  Everyone knows that this is the weight of the word in contemporary discourse.  So if Republicans are called nazis (lower case) rather than Nazis, this doesn't make much difference.  And we have much reason to think that it means the same thing.  I googled "Hitler Bush Comparison" and got over a half a million hits.  When I just googled "Hitler Bush" I got almost a million and a half.  All that I had time to check out amounted to calling Bush a Hitler, and Republicans Nazis. 

It may be, as the respondents of the NVB says, that I have distorted the comments in the original post.  That is one of the reasons for raising such questions.  Teach me, oh you amazing folk, as Socrates was wont to say.  If I have misunderstood you, set me straight.  So I am willing to accept Val's word that NVB did not mean to imply that Republicans are Nazis.  Isn't that progress?

I don't see why Val is so resistant to the idea that SDPolitics and NVB can converse with one another.  Val says

Insulting, deprecating, and defamatory aspersions are hardly invitations to "conversation."

Maybe not.  But in this case they started one.  I still cannot understand what was so insulting, deprecating, and defamatory" about my list of questions.  I found almost nothing in my questions that can be so interpreted.  I did use the term "witless blogger," but I borrowed that from the NVB post itself.  I also used the phrase "adolescent pout," but surely that's a pretty mild aspersion. 

Consider by contrast the words used in the original post.  Republicans are accused of bullying, of dull repetition, of political shysterism, of character assassination, of hate-chants, of corrosive lies, deceptions, and defamations.  Now maybe all this is true, but surely this language is depreciating and defamatory.  Why are these words not "maliciously scurrilous," as my comments were taken to have been?

A couple of final comments.  I don't know David Newquist well, as I said, but I once had a conversation with him concerning Jazz, and especially about Bill Evans .  I am much inclined to like someone who shares my taste in these things.   I would like to believe that if we met again we could still have such conversations, or even talk about politics.  No doubt we would have much to disagree about.  But we also might have something to teach one another.  If I am still not "listening respectfully," show me how.

Lastly, Val explains the anonymity of the NVB bloggers this way:

Early in the blog's history, names of contributors were listed. They were removed after children of some contributors took phone calls with threatening and abusive messages. That is why many people have concluded that profitable political debate is no longer possible.

Let us both agree that the behavior describe is absolutely inexcusable, and resolve not to associate with people who engage in it on our own sides.  But am I allowed to point out, without being maliciously scurrilous, that it is not my side alone that is guilty?  One Republican office had a window shot out during the recent election.  In Ohio, people who put up Bush signs found obscenities drawn with weed killer in their yards.  On the eve of the election, a fleet of vans rented to transport Republicans voters to the polls had their tires slashed.  Rather than using these facts to close off debate let us begin by agreeing that we deplore them.

Churchill

Go here for the latest Ward Churchill update.

Lake Andes

From Kevin Woster's column in the Rapid City Journal today, which addresses the blow-up at the basketball game in Lake Andes earlier this week:

The emotional explosion came, as they often do in basketball, after the whistle blew. The crowd howled. The Andes Central coach got a technical. A player chest-bumped a ref. A parent tossed a plastic pop bottle. Game over.

I meant to mention this a few days ago.  It's not Auburn Hills, but a little flavor of it.

Update on the NVB

Last night I posted a response to a blog by David Newquist, a former colleague of mine.  I pointed out that, apparently, he was the sole author of the entries on the NVB blog despite the fact that it is described as a blog for Brown County SD Democrats..  A couple of spirited folk at Northern Valley Beacon have set me straight..

Individuals who contribute to the Beacon have asked that David Newquist take on the technical work of combining and posting other people's contributions because of technical and time constraints. This blog is what it says it is: news of and for a particular party organization.

My mistake.  But this fact was not pointed out on the blog itself.  Newquist is the only author identified. 

It is also clear that the folks at NVB do not welcome anyone who questions what they say.  They consider any challenge as an "impertinent intrusions."  Forgive me, but I thought such interactions were the whole point of blogging.  That's why I alerted the NVB to my comments. 

Medved

From The New York Times Book Review review of Michael Medved's new book (I'm rather sure I've heard Medved on the radio in South Dakota):

he question, in its many variations a staple of Manhattan dinner parties, is invariably posed with bitter bewilderment: ''How could anyone with a shred of decency call himself a conservative?'' Alas, it is a question the book business has done a singularly poor job of answering. ...

But [Medved's book is] mercifully free of pettiness and bile. To the contrary, what we get is precisely what many who find his ideas objectionable profess to seek: an explanation of how a complex and decent man -- a proudly Jewish, former liberal activist yet! -- came to embrace them.

The younger Medved would have been as startled by his transformation as anyone. The grandson of refugees from both czarist Russia and Nazi Germany, raised to revere Franklin Roosevelt and cutting-edge progressivism, he was practically destined to gravitate to leftist politics during the 60's. Indeed, as an antiwar organizer and campus politico at Yale, he crossed paths (and sometimes swords) with a startling array of future luminaries, from George W. Bush and John Kerry to George Pataki and Joe Lieberman. He was especially tight with his law school classmate Hillary Rodham, fondly recalling her ''unpretentious kindness, innate class and decency.'' But he was much distressed by her new boyfriend, Bill, so self-absorbed and patently insincere that Hillary's friends likened him to Eddie Haskell.

Reader Comment

From the mailbag:

Jon Schaff quoted Chait: The real reason Republicans object to Reid is that he's a Democrat who disagrees with key points of Bush's agenda. Of course, you can't very well whip the Fox News audience into a lather by pointing at Reid and shouting: "He's a Democrat, and he's voting against us! The nerve!" Hence the need for insults like "obstructionist" and "partisan.”

During the Clinton administration I sat on the American News editorial board and listened to Daschle when he met with the board on occasion. The most frequent complaint he had was that the Republicans in Congress were "causing gridlock" and blocking President Clinton's efforts to "get things done." In other words, Daschle's main concern was what he considered obstructionism by Republicans. It was ironic during the last Senate campaign to hear him reverse course on obstructionism and gridlock.

Ted Turner's Bison to Solve "inbreeding depression"

From Washington Post article entitled "Texas Hopes to Cure 'Depressed' Bison With Ted Turner's Bulls":

Everybody needs a little spice in his or her love life -- even a big, shaggy buffalo.

Isolated in the Texas Panhandle for 100 years, never a new lover in sight, the historic Caprock Canyons State Park bison herd is suffering from "inbreeding depression" that wildlife officials hope to cure by introducing some new studs to some old cows.

The dwindling bison herd in Texas's Caprock Canyons State Park suffers from "low breeding vigor," a parks official said. (Betsy Blaney -- AP)

These aren't just any bulls, either. The three bison were donated to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department by media mogul Ted Turner. Turner owns the largest private bison herd in the world, with 32,000 head on 14 ranches in seven states. The three bulls are from Turner's ranch in northeastern New Mexico.

NYT

The New York Times features a story today, dateline Montana, entitled "Social Isolation, Guns and a 'Culture of Suicide.'"  Excerpt:

No matter the method, suicides occur at a higher rate in rural areas than in cities or suburbs, with the rate rising steadily the more rural the community. With homicides, the trend works in reverse, with higher rates in more urban areas.  Researchers have long known the statistics, but new research illuminates the substantial role of firearms in suicide.

When Professor Branas examined data from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, he found that the risk of dying by gunshot was the same in rural and urban areas from 1989 to 1999, findings that were published in The American Journal of Public Health. He has also concluded that in the most rural counties, the incidence of suicide with guns is greater than the incidence of murder with guns in major cities.

I remember picking up the Sunday New York Times when I was living out of state several years ago and there being a long page one story about a series of youth suicides near Pierre. 

The New Senate

From The New York Times:

When the battle over judicial nominations resumes in the next few weeks, President Bush may have a good chance of winning confirmation for some of his previously blocked candidates, Democrats and Republicans said this week.

Mr. Bush, who was regularly stymied in his first term by Senate Democrats, who blocked 10 of his appeals court choices by filibuster, comes to the fight this time with a larger Republican majority in the Senate and what many see as an increased opportunity to get some of those same nominees confirmed.

A Bad Deal

I think this bit by Jeff Jacoby explains why we younger folk favor personal accounts to supplement our Social Security.

One tiny notch at a time, payroll taxes have been ratcheted up to a level that would have been unthinkable in Franklin Delano Roosevelt's day. No wonder Social Security is so unpopular among the young. It provides no security for their retirement, while impoverishing them in the present. In exchange for an eighth of their earnings today, it guarantees nothing but higher taxes tomorrow. That there are politicians who defend this arrangement wouldn't have surprised FDR. But how shocked he would be that they call themselves Democrats.

I think this can be said: if we were creating Social Security today, there is no way we’d make it like the current system. We would chose something far less statist and give some ownership to the contributors. The fact that we wouldn’t simply recreate Social Security today is an argument in itself for reform.

With a wink and a smile

I just read the rantings over at the NVB, and I find them difficult to take seriously. 

Republicans are hate mongers? I will be the first to say that each party engages in overheated political speech. Welcome to democracy. But I will note that it was the calm and moderate Howard Dean who just a couple weeks ago said, "I hate Republicans and everything they stand for." Not, "I disagree with them and will challenge their claims," but "I hate them." Now I don't really care that much what Dean says, and I am willing to chalk that language up to the vagaries of democratic politics, but unlike NVB I am not rubbing the tears out of my eyes because the meanies in the other party said naughty words about me.

I challenge Mr. Newquist (or anybody for that matter) to tell me which principles of the Constitution and Declaration the modern Democratic Party will return us to. As was noted in this space, William Voegeli wrote a nice piece in the Wall Street Journal arguing convincingly that the plight of the Democratic Party comes precisely from its rejection of limited government. If the Constitution and Declaration stand for anything, it's for limited government. I am ready for a refutation of that, but I doubt a convincing one is coming. The foundations of the modern Democratic Party are not with Thomas Jefferson or Andrew Jackson, but with Progressives like Woodrow Wilson and Herbert Croly who were not so subtle in rejecting the founding principles of our nation. That doesn't mean they were wrong, for it's possible the founding principles needed rejecting (although that's not my view), but it does make it hard for the Democrats to argue that they represent the best of the Founders philosophy.

Finally, I challenge the NVB to define neo-conservative. I suspect this appellation means little to Mr. Newquist other than "a conservative I don't like," if that is not a redundancy.

Rumsfeld on 21st Century warfare

Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld was in Munich, Germany this weekend:

MUNICH, Germany, (AFP) - Like warriors throughout the ages, Donald Rumsfeld says he wants the highest technologies available, the lowest costs to life and treasure possible and the surest means conceivable of ensuring the acquiescence of adversaries.

But at the annual Munich security conference this weekend, the controversial US defense secretary mounted a passionate argument for his conviction that the Internet and other modern means of communication have magnified the value of the most powerful weapon of all: information.

"Bloggers and hackers and chat rooms!" Rumsfeld exclaimed Saturday during a question-and-answer session with defense and security officials and experts from around the world. "E-mails and cell phones with global reach!"

"It alters how you have to behave... it adds a level of complexity" to warfare in the 21st century.

Gosh...is he reading it as well?