At least one of my votes didn’t go in the toilet
I first want to congratulate Brian Liss for his win in District 13. He made the smart move by (pretending) to be a Republican on the ballot. Brian is actually an indy constitutionalist, but hey, who votes for them? I also was happy to see Marking getting over 6% of the vote. While this isn’t a victory for indies, I was glad to see that someone who virtually spent no money was able to garner that many votes (over 16,000).
Was there some shockers tonight? Sure, let’s go over them.
First off, I am amazed how completely uninformed voters are in our state. It baffles my fucking mind. But I must also admit, our choices this year were bleak. Very bleak. While most of the Republicans running were wingnut crazies, they were organized, the Democrats were uninformed, unorganized and blatantly lazy.
• Measure 13. In the last week or so, I had the feeling they would lose. When the hospital lobby dumped thousands of dollars into the No Campaign, I knew it would be a done deal. I just never realized they would win by so much. Who really cares? People who smoke pot will continue to do so. Nothing will change and the war on drugs will never be won. Not in the ballot box and not on the streets. If you need to smoke pot to relieve pain, continue to do so. Marijuana use may be illegal, but it is not immoral, God created it. Carry on.
• What was not a surprise was the smoking ban. People hate second hand smoke. Done deal.
• The biggest shockers of the night? Steve Hickey and Jenna Haggar. Not sure how they pulled it off but I am sure it was a combination of anti-union, anti-abortion rhetoric. Can’t wait for these two to embarrass the shit out of us in Pierre. So will Jenna get her own place now and move out of her parent’s basement?
• The Mark Johnston win does not surprise me. Jerstad has been running off the rails for years. You could have put Bozo the clown up against her and he would have won. What most people don’t know is that Mark isn’t much better. He is executive with Sanford Health. Yippee! This won’t be good for healthcare rights of regular South Dakotans. Mark is also a weasel. When I was helping with the sales tax petition in SF, Mark was an opponent and he got an editorial published in the Argus Leader under his name that was probably written by councilor Vernon Brown. I don’t trust him farther then I can spit.
• And the hits keep coming. Shawn Tornow getting elected also shocks me. This is a guy who was fired from the city attorney’s office for his nefarious deeds and his ignorance of constitutional rights. Yeah, he’ll make a great lawmaker.
• Herseth-Sandlin lost as I predicted. What is sad, is that a majority of South Dakotans trust a wealthy, uneducated, law-breaking, (welfare) farmer over a Georgetown graduate. South Dakota ranks 50th on many levels, but we now rank #1 on political ignorance. Noem as our US Congresswoman makes me sick to my stomach. What is even more sad is that I am watching Noem read her prepared acceptance speech instead of saying it from the heart. But that is hard to do when you do not have one.
I will tell you that I am giddy about one thing though, Republicans may have some big majorities now, so let’s see what direction the ‘Party of No’ will take our country and state. Hold on tight. If you think things are bad now, hunker down, because our economy is going to go from stomach acid to sloppy turds real quick.
I will leave you with a funny screenshot (one more reason why our POS local newspaper should not be endorsing candidates) they can’t even understand the difference between vote percentages and precinct percentages.
I dedicate this song to South Dakota voters
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YgSPaXgAdzE[/youtube]
Some great points. I was very happy about the smoking thing…Rose ran some great ‘scare you’ adds towards the end but I knew he would lose. I am surprised “Hit and Run Sandy” lost and that Jenna and Hickey won. Jenna is a bit young and Hickey shouldnt be mxing religion with politics.
I was also torn on Steph. She’s much better to look at now, and she seems pretty genuine. Does she live in Texas and pretty much do what Nancy wants her too? Yea, but…Kristi seems like a bit of a tool. 21? tickets and the warrants…hm…if only Dingy Harry could of went down!
Did you watch her read her acceptance speech. Weird. I would have been on fire, hi-fiving and givin’ out a few ‘hell Yahs!’
I still have to puke a few more times before this settles in.
“What is sad, is that a majority of South Dakotans trust a wealthy, uneducated, law-breaking, (welfare) farmer over a Georgetown graduate.”
Is this really how you base your vote? With Steph voting most of the time with Mama Nancy, how can you really say she has SD in her best interest? Oh and by the way, the only thing wrong with your comments are the lack of real informative information. Typical Liberal thinking. I’m sad it showed up in my web search.
What is sad, is that a majority of South Dakotans trust a wealthy, uneducated, law-breaking, (welfare) farmer over a Georgetown graduate. South Dakota ranks 50th on many levels, but we now rank #1 on political ignorance.
Concur. Our election process is broken on so many levels.
Stephanie doesn’t live completely in Texas. She owns a home in Brookings, and that is in SD. I guess there is no difference in her having a home in SD and one in Texas, as there is for many other rich, well known people that have more than one home.
Geez Scott, you sure put your priorities in order. Perhaps that is why she lost? Oh pardon me peasant, I have a degree from Georgetown, tut tut tut!
Give Jenna a chance, just because you didn’t like her clothes doesn’t mean much, at least the odds of her being bought are very low.
What did you like about Liss though? When I talked with him I couldn’t really nail him down on any topic and get a straight answer on his position.
The Tea party put on a show last night. The anti Obama/Pelosi crowd swept thru congress like a wildfire. Now it will be the Noems of congress who will try and undo a broken economy. I highly doubt they will succeed. This morning, reading all the national headlines reminded me of a book I read couple of years ago. The World Is Flat. Good read. I think the Dude may also have read it. What happened last night was a result of painting the Obama administration as the boogeyman under the bed. Not so. Our economy has been unraveling since the Reagan administration introduced “reaganomics”. But the campaign theme of anti Obama/Pelosi obviously worked. Here is a really good read on what is wrong with our country. It is an opinion piece, but one I believe strongly in.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/03/opinion/03reich.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss
And yet here in good ol Sioux Falls we can be so removed from reality as to think a white elephant EC is going to turn SF around. Build it and they will come. Dream on.
looking two years down the road, does heuther run against noem? and does johnson retire, and stephanie run for his spot?
1st you can thank Marking for Noem winning. I truly believe most of the votes he took would have went to Sandlin if the choice was between the two.
Voting for someone in a a three way race when you know they do not have a chance in hell has always confused me. Just to do it to as a protest to the others? Did Noem ever tell anyone what her agenda was except to not vote for Pelosi? There is an idea, go to DC and vote party politics no matter what? You can do that at home or while texting in a speeding car. God help us! I am a registered republican, but I am not a registered Tea Bag.
Unfortunately voting in our elections have come down to voting for the one you feel will do the least damage, not the most good.
In this day and age of instant gratification, Mc Donalds drive through society, Noem could easily be defeated in 2 years if the right one steps up to challenge her.
Hopefully I am wrong, but I think the true Kristi Noem will step forward, she will be No-me first. There was some huge out of state money who is betting on her though.
As a side note, it is the second time I have seen Brian, Kristi’s husband in a photo in the whole campaign. He is in the Argus picture this morning on the net. Happy she won or happy she is going to DC? 😉
why didn’t steph use the “welfare farmer” as part of her campaign? Because she’s a big part of it. Between the politicians and the controlling companies such as Monsanto only an uninformed idiot can blame farmers. If poly had to grow food he’d starve pretty fast. Hell if poly didn’t have his precious union he’d be a welfare queen. No farmer wants subsidies but of course will take them when offered because they have no choice with unfair prices controlled by the likes of crooked politicians and monsanto.
Also, I love how whichever side loses the claim “uninformed voters” is tossed out by the losers. “waaa if only people were as smart as me they’d have voted for my candidate”. lol
I would like to refute your statement that marijuana is not immoral. Just because God created something doesn’t make its use moral. We cannot say our actions are moral if we bash someone over the head with a rock simply because God created that rock. The bible condemns being drunk and although one can try to make a distinction between getting high and getting drunk I would find the disassociation of the two tenuous at best. The bible also commands Christians to follow the laws of the government so any Christian who smokes marijuana would be off base on this account. I think the bible (and by extension God) is fairly clear on the use of marijuana but I fully acknowledge that a case can be made for its use outside of the Christian perspective. I also acknowledge that you didn’t specify the Christian God and in that case we’d also have a wider basis for the morality of smoking marijuana.
Kristi “Gnome” will show her true colors when she starts voting the party line 100% of the time. I’m just a little disappointed a person with warrants issued for her arrest and someone who can’t be bothered to pay fines on time, and a person who obtained a whopping 16 on her ACT and a person with only a high school education, and a person who blatantly lied about her opponent and her endorsements, and the person who never actually told anyone what her plans were or what her positions were on any of the issues is the person our state feels is the best person to represent them.
I honestly don’t expect to see SHS back in politics at any point in the future unless she decides to change to the Republican party – because that is really the only way anyone has a chance to win an election in South Dakota.
In a few years when Johnson’s Senate seat is up again, I expect him to retire and I would not be shocked at all to see Noem run for it – and likely win if for no other reason than the little “R” after her name.
The good news is now we have a balanced Congress, so there can’t be any more of this blame pointed at just one party. They can either work together to find common ground, or they can argue and fight and never get anything done. Either way we win.
lol, This must be a college assignment and you are scared to put up opposing views! Good luck with your liberal friends in the future. Might I suggest joining Debate. It will help make you a little stronger.
I was sorta happy to see Jenna win her election. We need some younger people elected who will be relatable to younger voters. I’m convinced that the reason turnout is so low among young voters is because they can’t relate to yet another old rich guy.
Otherwise, I was saddened by the ignorance of people voting against measure 13. To be fair, it wasn’t well-written or concieved, but it was a step in the right direction.
With Steph voting most of the time with Mama Nancy, how can you really say she has SD in her best interest?
I’ll give the GOP credit. They managed to run a good national campaign. The “votes with/for Pelosi” thing was a theme I saw nearly verbatim in Texas last week in republicans’ political ads – which, by the way, weren’t as numerous as they were up here. TV advertising must cost more in a major market like San Antonio.
What a liberal puke you are. Boo hoo hoo, whine, whine, whine.
What the hell is wrong with South Dakota?
What was Jenna doing at the dem rally Monday night?
What is wrong with South Dakota? Low unemployment, low crime rate, economic growth, a milder recession than the rest of the country, vibrant culture, good places to live, and no massive debt. Other states should be so “wrong”.
But I guess you are referring to not getting your way politically.
I heard Jerstad took her loss immaturely, screaming and cursing.
Dave: vibrant culture.
Really Dave? Care to explain where? Don’t get me wrong – it isn’t that we don’t have any culture, but street dances and trail rides only get you so far.
I love how whenever there’s an opposing view, the word “liberal” is spewed as an epithet. I guess only one viewpoint of the world is allowed these days.
For the record, I’m neither a Democrat or Republican. My ballot yesterday was approximately 50/50 between the parties…and I was more than happy that Jerstad lost.
Kevin-
You’re a damned idiot. If weed as medicine is illegal because it has mind altering effects, then why are dangerous and addictive narcotics like vicodin and morphine legal for the same purpose?
And furthermore what does a non-Christian like l3wis care what God has to say on the subject?
People who voted no on 13 were duped by big pharma and the law enforcement/incarceration industry.
Costner: Yes, vibrant culture. There is a lot of stuff to do, all you need to do is shut off the TV and go out. The summer in particular is packed full of activities from Shakespeare in the Park to outdoor movies, multiple concerts in several venues, organized athletic activities, that doesn’t even count the ‘usual’ stuff like parades, art galleries and studios, private dances and music. All one needs to do is make a small effort of get involved.
What happen tuesday was actually some good medicine for the future of the South Dakota Democratic Party.
As painful and sad the results were, we knew there was a good chance this would happen.
On the bright side, we rid ourselves of a phony “Blue Dog” agenda and a “Janklow grony” who hijacked the South Dakota Democratic Party for his clique’s political
interests.
Dave: Movies (whether indoor or out), concerts of questionable artistic benefit, art galleries stuffed with photography I can take by riding the trolley on a Saturday, parades that include more politicians and insurance companies than “real” floats, and a multitude of sports isn’t exactly what I would call a “vibrant culture”, but obviously opinions differ.
Granted 90% of what you mention only applies to Sioux Falls or perhaps Rapid City. The majority of our state has to rely upon the once a year traveling carnival or a trip to the the nearest Walmart to pick up the latest Justin Bieber CD to suffice as their culture.
Oh… but we do have that Lifelight thing I suppose.
In comparison to much of the nation, we really don’t have a whole lot going for us in the culture department unless you enjoy the faux “old west” that has been created in the Black Hills. Our number one tourist attraction in the entire state is The Empire Mall, which considering we are home to Mt. Rushmore is pretty sad, but hey what I can I say – people just love Orange Julius.
“What is wrong with South Dakota? Low unemployment, low crime rate, economic growth, a milder recession than the rest of the country, vibrant culture, good places to live, and no massive debt. Other states should be so “wrongâ€.”
BAAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Costner: Culture is more than just Bach, oil painting, and literary critique. Its communities and groups spending time together in activies that bind them as neighbors, having shared experiences, passing down through generations their stories and history. I’ve been to many small town parades, and they are fun family events into which they put real effort.
I pity your disdainful and patronizing attitude.
Can I get a barf bag please.
Medical Marijuana:
Legal in 25% of states. Declaration of Independence is on hemp. George Washington and Thomas Jefferson grew cannabis as a minor crop. The favored drug for treatment of cancer, alzheimers, glocoma, and hypertension. California limitation is no more than 99 plants per 100 square feet or 3 pounds processed in possession.
I don’t do it but it pisses off narrow minded republicans so I’m thinking about it.
Oh, I know a lot of Republicans that smoke it. Recreationally.
No farmer wants subsidies but of course will take them when offered…
The bible also commands Christians to follow the laws of the government…
Other states should be so “wrong 
Can I get a barf bag please.
How right you are l3wis.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1uaPs8sxqB0
Dave – clearly we have differing views on what is considered “culture”.
You seem to think watching junior’s soccer game or going to a small town street dance is “culture”. I respectfully disagree and rather call them activities that don’t meet the definition of being excellent, but rather just ordinary. The excellent part is within the definition of the word ‘culture’ itself.
I never said the only acceptable culture is Bach or oil paintings, so perhaps that is your understanding of true culture coming to the surface. However, to have excellence around us is what defines our culture, and I don’t see much about it that is “vibrant”.
Perhaps the one thing our state really has that so many others do not is a strong Native American culture. If you can look past the casinos and see a pow-wow or festival where they return to their roots it is rather impressive.
Beyond that most of the “vibrant culture” we have isn’t local to the area, but rather acts or performances that travel to our city from elsewhere. I don’t really consider that to be indicative of our city but rather the area they originated from.
We do have a pretty good symphony, we have some decent local bands, but nothing that really defines us… and that is the rub. Other areas of our country are defined by their culture – when you think of New Orleans you think of Mardigras, jazz music, and incredible barbeque. When you think of Chicago you think of Blues, the Cubs, and Pizza. When you think of New York you think of Central Park, Times Square, and Broadway. When you think of San Diego you think of Balboa Park, The San Diego Zoo, sandy beaches and sunshine.
When you think of Sioux Falls… what comes to mind? The actual falls? John Morrells? The banking and call center industry?
Exactly my point. You aren’t thinking of our culture, because our culture doesn’t define us – and that my friend is what it is not in any way, shape, or form considered “vibrant”.
WOW! What a subject. Culture in SF. If I had the time, I could write a book about it. I have lived in SF since 1991 and I will tell you that I have met the most amazing writers, visual artist and musicians. One of my best friends plays geetar like Jimi Hendrix, and he lives HERE! We are very wealthy when it comes to artistic talent in SF, unfortunately, we are very ignorant when it comes to arts and music appreciation in SF. I recently had a convo with a music teacher in SF that didn’t understand the negative reaction to a Community Concerts event. I told her, “People here don’t have music appreciation and comprehension.” Is this a bad thing? Sure. Can we change it? Sure. But it will take a lot of work. I have been fortunate to be exposed to many cultures at a young age (attending HS in a suburb of Seattle) it taught me a lot about different cultures. Sure, I still have my prejudice, but every race has there share of assholes.
Keep up the discussion.
Ghost of Dude-
I would agree that the morality of marijuana use could possibly be justified, even from a biblical standpoint, for medical use. The issue is have is why people use it. It is not biblically justified to use it for its mind altering effects. A clearer statement would be: the mind altering effects of marijuana should be viewed as a negative side effect and not as the main reason to for its use. If someone is using it for the “high” then they have crossed into biblically un-defendable use.
As far as |3wis caring what God has to say on the subject I am only trying to refute what I believed he was saying, God was saying on the subject. Let me be clear. His original statement was “Marijuana use may be illegal, but it is not immoral, God created it.” I may not have been as clear as I should have been in my original post but I tried to acknowledge that I made a couple of assumptions. The first assumption was that the statement “…but it is not immoral, [because] God created it.” would be the same statement as his original statement. If that is not the case as in he meant “Marijuana use may be illegal, but it is not immoral. God created Marijuana.” then all we’d have to discuss is the morality of marijuana outside of God which could possibly be debated but was not what I originally intended to do. The second assumption was that when |3wis said God he meant the Christian God as defined in the bible. I will fully admit that |3wis could have been referring to any god in which case we’d have several other topics to debate but none of which I was attempting to discuss in my first post.
Poly43-
I’m not sure what issue you would have with “The bible also commands Christians to follow the laws of the government…” but if you know Christians who unabashedly break the laws of government then I apologize for their behavior.
On a totally unrelated note, due to the ambiguity of leet speak I would like to know if |3wis is “lewis” or “Bwis.” I will fully admit that “lewis” makes more sense and will assume it as the correct form.
“if you know Christians who unabashedly break the laws of government then I apologize for their behavior.”
Kevin, it isn’t your duty to apologize for other Christians… they are more than capable of doing so themselves. However, I find those who go out of their way profess their Christian faith and claim to be “real Christians” are quite often those who are the greatest hypocrites. How many pastors have we witnessed turn out to be homosexual while preaching against homosexuality? How many have been caught in extra-marital affairs while preaching about the commandments? How many priests and pastors have been caught molesting young boys? How many self-proclaimed Christians have started wars resulting in tens of thousands of deaths for political or economic reasons? How many Christians ignore basic traffic laws as if they don’t apply to them? How many Christians are willing to get violent when their views are challenged whether it be with their fists, a bomb at an abortion clinic, or a foot on the head of a political opponent?
That isn’t to say Christians are the only ones who do these things of course as we know that isn’t the case, but I think you would find the very small minority of Christians actually use the Bible as a reference on how to live their lives. They might like to use it when it is convenient or in debate, but most aren’t living up to the word they seem to cherish.
Either way – people (Christian or otherwise) are responsible for their own actions and it doesn’t reflect upon you in any way.
if you know Christians who unabashedly break the laws of government then I apologize for their behavior.
No need to aplogize for Noem. She could not care less what you or I think of her law breaking antics.
No need to aplogize for Stephanie. She could not care less what you or I think of her law breaking antics.
Oh she cares jeff… that is why she paid her one traffic ticket on time and accepted responsibility for her actions. You know – what people are supposed to do.
i’m not a big kristi fan but anyone who thinks steph is only guilty of a traffic ticket is in denial. Here’s a couple documented ones:
“it’s just a traditional feed.” (eyeroll)
“Documents in the Federal Election Commission databaseshow the Herseth for Congress campaign failed to report $26,000 in donations to the commission within the 48 hour window. It’s why Herseth’s campaign paid a $2,900 fine in August 2003, but only after receiving a follow-up letter from the FEC for not responding to its first letter.”
She ignored the first letter the FEC sent. Apparently the law doesn’t apply to her, and she has no respect for authority.
SHS thinks she is above the law, and that the law doesn’t apply to her.
http://eqs.nictusa.com/eqsdocsAF/23092544179.pdf
Wow… thats quite a stretch, but I’m not biting.
Yeah, if that is best you can dig up on Steffy, I’m sorry.
The noem traffic stuff is serious. but steph has her issues. comes with the territory of being in dc goverment for 6 + years. They’re all criminals.
“They’re all criminals.”
Couldn’t agree more.