Up until this point, the only really thing we knew about Mr. Barranco (who is a candidate in the SE district for the Sioux Falls City Council) is that he fears the boogey man called socialism and he tries to buy votes with go-cart and intertube rides.
But when you start digging around you begin to wonder if his campaign and (family) life in Sioux Falls is all a charade? What are they really doing here? And why does his city council campaign face seem so different than his face from the past?
The first thing several people (lawyers) have questioned is why doesn’t Barranco have a law license in South Dakota? I guess he hasn’t ever applied. He currently holds a license in Texas where his clients are and makes no income in South Dakota. Then why leave Texas for South Dakota? I guess you would have to ask him.
And while David tries to play the Trumper card, he seems to be a wine and cheese lib at heart and apparently a well known author;
In 1993, David was named UT’s most outstanding liberal arts student; in 1997 he won the Willie Morris Award, which recognizes a superlative “call to intellectualism, vigorous defense of civil liberties, and overall pursuit of excellence.”Mr. Barranco is especially proud of his SPLC Wall of Tolerance commendation — an award affording him the opportunity to shake hands with a true American hero, Rosa Parks.
The MacArthur Foundation granted David a 2004 Post-Graduate Fellowship in Public Policy.
With all these accolades, you kind of scratch your head a bit and ask why none of this stuff is mentioned on his website or in forums? He likes to talk mostly about dog parks and football.
You also have to scratch your head a little about the life experiences of his wife Catherine who currently doesn’t work at all;
Because it had been her ambition since childhood to attend Harvard College, she applied for early-decision admission to the top-ranked school, got in and never filled out another college application. Not surprisingly, her choice worked out well for her. “I knew Harvard had history and traditions as well as a quality education, with students you could learn from,” says O’Gorman. “You can study down by the river in Cambridge, and in 10 minutes you can be in Boston, having Ethiopian food or going to the ballet.” At Harvard, O’Gorman remained an outstanding student, making the Dean’s List each semester and graduating magna cum laude.
So you attend Harvard, worked as an executive with Walmart, then move to South Dakota and become a house wife after a short stint with the SD GOP with a mysterious departure?
There is something very peculiar about the Barrancos to go from Wine and Cheese Texans to Beer and Chislic South Dakotans. If I had a resume like either one of these folks, wouldn’t you tell people about it while running for office? Maybe he is on a secret mission to destroy local government from within? Wait, someone is already doing that 🙂
If Barranco really is an intellectual he will be bored to death serving on the city council.
This analysis gives further credence to TGfG’s often bluish/purple assessment of ThuneHaken, does it not?
You know, something that is Trojan generally refers to a high school sports team, something worn to protect, or something (Someday?) used to hide something (Someday?), like an army or an agenda. If you ask me, Barranco’s candidacy sounds like all three, where it’s a game he’s playing, where he wants to have fun without the risks, and has something (Someday?) in store for us that we don’t know about yet. #TrojanHorsePolitics
I like the Trojan horse defense, as a Roman History nerd, you kind of wonder if he is up to something? He does have a philosophy degree. But what does that mean . . .
Now, a Trojan horse strategy can be used to hide and later deploy a genuine mission, or merely as the tool of an opportunist whose ambitions are greater than their sincerity to beliefs or a belief structure.
AND, we increasingly live in a world, I am afraid, where marketing and hopeful successes trump the wishful profiles in courage of our leaders, or at least our wishes and hopes for them.
Without profiles in courage, our leaders are just manipulators who lead-on instead of leading, and who use a logic for their manipulations which is derived from a rational understanding born from a study of philosophy, that is then used in a twisted way for the benefit of the manipulator. Or, to say it more succinctly, it is Machiavellian at its best, and wasn’t Machiavellian an Italian, or Roman should we say?
Now, speaking of Roman History, ThuneHaken’s list of favorite candidates on FB is like his crossing of the Rubicon, but let’s hope his list of favorite candidates are nothing more than Hannibal’s elephants, which impressively crossed the Alps, but never took the city of Rome.
( and Woodstock adds: “Uh, say you guys, the Trojan horse was from Greek history”…. “Just saying”…. 😉 )
“But was it history or mythology”…. “But then again, it seems like increasingly our political leadership at all levels lives in a mythical world… Yet, they try to sell it as contemporary history”….
“Oh, and say, did you guys know that Dua’s people are from Albania, which is kind of like Italian/Roman… (“Well, they all kind of look the same if you ask me”..)”
#SpeakingOfItalians #ThatsCool #CrossTheAlpsCrossTheAdriatic #WhatsTheDifference?
The real question that needs to be answered is did they (the Barrancos) pay their delinquent property taxes?
This is EXACTLY the kind of info which should come out on election candidates – the stuff they’d prefer stay hidden. Thank you for exhuming this back story on the Barrancos, and kudos again to candidate Pam Cole for exposing PTH behavior & skeletons in Merkouris’ closet.
Reading through Mr Barranco’s responses to Trevor Mitchell’s questions in an Argus Leader piece (“What made Sioux Falls city council candidates want to run in 2022 election?”, March 28, 2022), I’m not certain Mr Barranco is aware of the office which he is seeking.
“And I’m pro-student, backing programs that let kids thrive academically, athletically, and artistically.”
This seems like a statement from a candidate for school board.
If his intent is to offer some sort of remedy from the City to the socio-economic disadvantage which hinders learning for some students in the City, it would be interesting to mention a specific proposal.
“In conjunction with statewide law enforcement, I’ll develop a regional center focused on identify theft and elder fraud.”
Noble to offer leadership of City Law Enforcement, but this seems more the role of an Attorney General and/or state and county Law Enforcement.
I see juridictional problems, as many of the perps are located outside of the state of South Dakota, even beyond the borders and shores of the USA.
” I detest traffic jams! Not only does traffic waste our time, pollute our air, and threaten our safety, it magnifies psychic friction, leaving commuters fatigued and frustrated.”
OK, you detest traffic jams. What’s a solution? (psst, an effective system of mass transit?)
[…] Falls City Council Candidate David Barranco has said very little about his past during the campaign, which I find bizarre considering he has only lived here a short period of time. Since then (mostly […]