Hmmmmm…
Ellis: Mission attained? Not likely
Departing Secretary of State’s term fraught with liability
Buried by the controversies are the good things Gant did. He brought more transparency to the state’s campaign finance and corporate filing system with a new website. While glitchy, the website at least began to get the state into the modern age.
At what point does a 2×4 with a long nail hitting them in the head make them realize they have been hit with a golden story of the man hit in head by thug wielding a 2×4 embedded with long nail? They never seem to get the impact of the story or even try to help the public understand the significance. Is the ALÂ more concerned with dwindling ad dollars to care about the truth? Ellis’ phony Libertarian politics supporting the phony conservative Krebs? You be the judge.
Why doesn’t any of the articles since Gant’s announcement of no re-election bid (not retirement or resignation as AL reported) stress that in your face fact: he had to get the respected Sue Roust to take over the office, just to conduct the last statewide election?
Gant was taking his orders from his ALEC backers. The SOS’ and State Treasurer’s offices have taken the computerization of their office records to a level of show but no go. No one can accurately search for the data as promised. The SOS election reports are a mess of misinformation and subterfuge. Â The ALEC Treasurer’s website does not give any information needed to actually follow the state’s spending.
The no-bid contracts given by the current office holders are hidden within incomplete or cumbersome search engines. Reports are not filed by state offices, at what penalty? None.
The Legislators and Democrats are worthless or powerless to demand anything from the Constitutional officers, why? People like Jason Gant have been in the hallways doling out ALEC checks to the very legislators who are supposed to oversee their actions.
So as to not publicly clean up this mess, cozy relationships are cultivated with the major press for advertising dollars and access to inside information to put into their articles or segments.
Gant hasn’t done anything good since he has been in office. He has allowed lazy reporting and research. As I began to use SOS data several years ago, trying to understand what is happening in SD politics, it showed Gant was putting pretty curtains on ugly windows. Nothing fixed, just covered up.
Had Gant not fired Kea Warne to institute some know-nothings he would still be in office.
If somebody could put that neat slackjowled picture of Mr. Gant into this, it would make a great picture.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FHEeG_uq5Y