tdaxp

"Base Closure Countdown," Rapid City Journal, 22 March 2005, http://www.rapidcityjournal.com/articles/2005/03/22/news/opinion/top/opin01.txt.

"RCJ whistles different tune, has fingers crossed," by Seth, Clean Cut Kid, 22 March 2005, http://www.cleancutkid.com/2005/03/22/rcj-whistles-different-tune-has-fingers-crossed.

Before CCK only implied that Daschle was a merchant of death. Now, South Dakota's own MyDD joins the "gold for blood" party

First, Seth notes that John Thune personally believes that Ellsworth is an "effective" base, though it needed to improve its value:

Now, though, I want to discuss the about-face that the Rapid City Journal pulled today. At issue, once again, is Ellsworth. During the 2004 General Election, the editors were falling all over themselves gushing over John Thune, saying “Thune supports President Bush’s war on terrorism, supports strengthening the military and will work to preserve Ellsworth Air Force Base’s effectiveness. He told the Journal that adding to Ellsworth’s missions was the surest way to improve the base’s value to the Pentagon’s long-range plans.”

But, horror of horrors, the RCJ will defer to military experts when the question of base closing comes up:

So why is the Journal talking about western South Dakota’s “anxious months ahead” today? Once reliant upon John Thune to make the base vital to national security, the editors now suggest a different tactic, hoping that those of us west of the Missouri are “keeping our fingers crossed.”

Thank you editors at the Rapid City Journal, for selling western South Dakota’s economic future to the highest (conservative) bidder. At your recommendation, we now have an impotent representative in Washington who is unable to secure missions for Ellsworth. Why stop at crossing our fingers, though? I propose we make voodoo dolls of the members of the BRAC and then place curses on anyone who votes against Ellsworth.

The passage which enraged the South Dakota Kid is this:

Defense needs in World War II created Ellsworth; defense needs in the Cold War kept the base in operation. The B-1 bomber has since been modernized and has shown its value over the skies of Iraq and Afghanistan. We are confident that Ellsworth's rural location is strategically useful, and its mission is important to the defense of the country. How Ellsworth fits in with future defense needs will decide whether the base remains a fixture in Western South Dakota for decades to come, or closes for good

.

The Rapid City Journal believes the purpose of the military is to secure the nation.

Patriotic.

Clean Cud Kid believes the purpose of the military is to bouy the economy of Pennington County

Sickening.

"Community Development," by Chad M. Schuldt, Clean Cut Kid, http://www.cleancutkid.com/index.php?id=164, 18 January 2005.

Chad over at CCK criticizes Bush for allegedly cutting support to South Dakota, and other states

Bush's plan would cut funding for the Community Development Block Grant program by up to 50%. That would translate into a $3.5 million loss of funding for community development in the state.

...

These grants were made for items such as water projects, waste treatment plants, ambulance and fire service, and employment services for disabled individual

I say "allegedly" because of Clean Cut Kid's unreliable reporting of the facts. But let's assume it's true.

So what?

What right does one city have to loot the wealth of another? What right does one state have for welfare over another? There is a time and a place for public support of uneconomic institutions, but I am saddened that CCK's support for sound budgeting collapses so easily.

"The Death of HB 1191," by Eleanor J. Bader, Z Magazine, http://zmagsite.zmag.org/May2004/bader0504.html, May 2004.

"Kranz," by Chad. M. Shuldt, Clean Cut Kid, http://www.cleancutkid.com/index.php?id=148, 16 January 2005.

Clean Cut Kid read the same Sfal article on the collapse of the South Dakota Democratic Party and Herseth's shift to the right, but he caught something I did not.

The legislator who accused Stephanie Herseth for "moving" to the right voted to end abortion. Period. No qualifiers. This is further than I would go.

For an idea of the text....

Thelma Underberg, executive director of the state’s NARAL chapter, was shocked by the callousness of the rhetoric and the frenzy that accompanied the bill’s introduction. “One woman who got up to speak said that she understood that rape was traumatic, but that she could not help but think it would be therapeutic for the woman to give birth to new life,” she reports. After debating this issue, Underberg says that lawmakers voted against including a rape or incest exception. They also voted down a provision to allow abortion in cases of fetal deformity. Legislators did, however, toss a sop at ambivalent, would-be allies, and agreed to allow abortion in cases of life or health endangerment.

Eventually, the Governor vetoed it because he felt it might inadvertantly make some abortions legal while it was being challenged. Rounds' "style and form" veto only survived by one vote.

I want to thank Chad for bringing this to my attention. It shows what consequences Daschle's unprincipled support of the most murderous abortions have wrought: a countermovement that will be extreme in the opposite direction.

Democrats, especially blue-state Democrats, need to realize this. Those who support abortion in all cases will end up ending abortion in all cases. This is not a battle that Democrats can win.