tdaxp

"Janklow on Daschle," by Chad M. Schuldt, Clean Cut Kid, http://www.cleancutkid.com/2005/03/03/janklow-on-daschle/, 3 March 2005.

I've blogged on the symbosis of Republican ex-Rep/Gov/AG Bill Janklow and Democrat ex-Senator Tom Daschle.

Well, Bill purchased a two page peon to Tom in the Sioux Falls Shopping News, a paper hand-delivered to about every house in the Sioux Empire. The first paragraph implicitly compares Bill to Mark Anthony and Tom to Julius Caesar.

Until Janklow's felon-status lapses in a few years he's out of local politics, and Tom's probably out for good.

But they keep haunting me!

"Janklow campaign spends $3,176," Sioux Falls Argus Leader, http://www.argusleader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050206/NEWS02/502060322&SearchID=73198338016217, 6 February 2005.

I've writen of Janklow's despotism before. The former tribal attorney, Attorney General, Governor, Representative, and all-around dictator of the Mount Rushmore State still has his political warchest.

Former Gov. Bill Janklow spent $3,176 in the past year from a campaign account he has kept open since leaving the governor's office at the end of 2002.

A campaign-finance report that listed the spending showed $923,365 was in the account at the end of 2004.

Like all candidates with accounts from campaigns for statewide office, Janklow had to file his annual campaign-finance report with the secretary of state.

The report shows he made campaign contributions of $250 each to state Sens. Dave Knudson and Bill Earley, both Sioux Falls Republicans; spent $353 on flowers; and made a $2,323 donation to the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

Janklow resigned from the U.S. House in January 2004 after he was convicted of second-degree man-slaughter.

That he didn't give to Thune isn't surprising. Janklow's allies repeatedly tried to sink now-Senator Thune during the election, and Janklow and Daschle are personal friends. But that he spent more on flowers than to any local politician means something.

South Dakota's Constitution would allow Janklow to run for Governor again. If he runs in 2006, he would have to defeat Governor Rounds in the Republican primary, but Bill took on incumbents Abnor and Miller in primaries before. He was born in 1971, so he would still be young enough to run for Senate against Johnson in 2008 or even Governor again in 2010.

For all his faults, Bill Janklow loves South Dakota. He also loves power. And he loves to keep life interesting.

"Democrat to File Ban on Abortion," by Terry Woster, Sioux Falls Argus Leader, 29 January 2005, Page B1, http://www.argusleader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050129/NEWS04/501290302/1001/NEWS.

Frank Kloucek is the highest ranking opponent of the Janklow-Daschle despotism still standing in South Dakota. He was the only politician brave enough to publically criticism the Governor during his four terms. This makes his principled stand against abortion all the more gratifying

Sen. Frank Kloucek, D-Scotland, said Friday he has decided to sponsor a bill banning abortions in South Dakota. He said the measure is written to avoid problems that resulted in a similar measure being vetoed last year [for potentially legalizing some forms of abortion -- Dan].

Kloucek had said earlier in the week he was being counseled by some anti-abortion lawmakers not to sponsor the bill but to allow the 2005 session to be focused on a bill to limit th procedure. He decided against it."

The main opposition to this bill comes from Roger Hunt, who suggested bankrupting abortionists might be an easier approach

Republican Rep. Roger Hunt of Brandon was among those who had suggested the current legislative session focus not on a ban but on bills aimed at tightening restrictions on abortion.

He has introduced a measure that he said would allow a woman who had an abortion to sue the person who performed the procedure if she felt she had not been fully informed of the consequences of the action.

Kloucek rises even higher in my esteem for being a firm pro-life politician who recognizes post-conception birth control

The only loopwhole to a total ban the bill allows is the use of emergency contraceptives if done prior to a time when a pregnancy could be determined through conventional medical testing.

And, of course, Kloucek avoids the problems of last year's version

If Koucek's draft, if a federal court stopped the abortion ban because of a legal challenge, existing restrictions on the procedure would remain in effect.

Democratic Underground is a wonderful site. Somewhere between the "Zarqawi is imaginary" rhetoric and hilarious hatred of Free Republic, it manages to come up with insightful comments. Below are three pulled from a discussion on social security. I agree (at least partially) with everyone one

When was the last time anyone felt proud to receive an SSI check?

means test and folks will be told by others that if they had pride they would leave the money for those that really need it.

Which hypocritical South Dakota Senator managed to provoke the greatest "anti-millionaire" campaign in the state since Steve Kirby lost last time, in spite of the fact that Janklow, Diedrich, and, er, everybody in South Dakota politics is either a millionaire or an aparatchick?

I heard Tom Dashle give an interview once and he bragged how his Mom uses medicare. I almost fell out of my fucking chair! He and his wife are millionaires!

Which party is on the wrong side of a demographic debacle, for short-term gain?

Then why is Ted Kennedy saying that....

there will have to be a 20% reduction in benefits?

...answer

The baby-boomers out number the gen-xers.

Which party supports a rich cabal?

The "dirty little secret" about age-based entitlements is that they generally benefit the rich. Eighty-seven percent of the wealth in this country (ie, real estate and securities) is owned by people 55 and above. And yet over two-thirds of government entitlements are going to the same folks. Do you lament that the rich are getting richer? The biggest culprit in increasing the disparity between rich and poor is the federal government, as they use our employment withholding to subsidize ocean view condos in Tampa Bay, plantation homes in Myrtle Beach and golf course haciendas in Sun City.

"Daschle's Defeat Spurring Debate Among Democrats," by David Kranz, Sioux Falls Argus Leader, Page 1B, 16 January 2005.

South Dakota democrat and political commentator David Kranz relays some thoughts on the continuing implosion of the South Dakota Democratic Party

The return of [Republican] Gov. Bill Janklow in 1995 "was a reversion to jugular politics that hit like a tsunami," Lange said.

Daschle and the state Democratic Party leadership share the blame for the decline, he said.

"The leadership of Sen. Daschle and the state party failed utterly in stemming this tidal wave that reduced us to nine seats in the Senate and 22 in the House," Lange said.

Friendship between Daschle and Janklow was a "symbiotic relationship," he said.

'I don't think rebuilding the state Democratic Party is the primary concern to any winning national candidate as long as their alliance with enough Republican voters holds," Lange said.

I doubt whether Rep. (Stephanie) Herseth, who keeps moving further to the right, is going to be the spark to re-ignite the Democratic Party when she can when without it."

In the 2004 election, South Dakotans knew that Tom lost touch with the state. His concerns were those of the national party, not South Dakotans.

Over time, the true damage the Janklow-Daschle duarchy caused to South Dakota becomes more and more known. Both attempted to destroy their political parties to help themselves. The difference is that the Republican Party can survive without Bill (Governor Rounds and Senator Thune are much more conservative and popular than Janklow ever was).

Can the Democratic Party survive without Daschle? With only closeted Republican Stephie Herseth and more-bland-than-humanly-possible Senator Johnson holding statewise seats, probably not.

Update: More recently, Bill took out a two-page ad praising Tom.