Sibby Online

Look who the cat drug in

Unlike the Argus Leader, the Mitchell Daily Republic publishes my letters during the election season. Here is what they ran today:

I left the door open on the drought issue and look who the cat drug in…a partisan Daschle supporter with a factually incorrect letter. Craig Kelly’s September 9th letter stated, “the 2003 Omnibus bill contained a provision (inserted by Senate Republicans at the last minute) to delay the implementation of country-of-origin labeling for two full years”. This is not true. Kelly doesn’t have his facts straight.

Daschle voted against the 2003 Omnibus bill that contained funding that he is taking credit for in his ads. Only hardcore Daschle supporters like Kelly thinks it’s perfectly OK to give Daschle credit for funding he was for…before he voted against it.

Then comes the September 21 letter from anther hardcore partisan Daschle Supporter. John T. Solberg whines about John Thune not asking South Dakota Republican Party Chairman Randy Frederick to resign and apologize for questioning Daschle’s lack of judgement on the eve of war.

Remember March 17, 2003 when Daschle said, “I'm saddened, saddened that this president failed so miserably at diplomacy that we're now forced to war. Saddened that we have to give up one life because this president couldn't create the kind of diplomatic effort that was so critical for our country.”
Where was Solberg’s outrage when Daschle applauded Tim Johnson in May for saying, "And how sweet it's going to be on June 2 when the Taliban wing of the Republican Party finds out what's happened in South Dakota."

Will Solberg show his outrage for Daschle’s September 19 meltdown on national TV, when he said on Meet the Press, “John's attacks on me, where I come from, would earn a trip to the woodshed”. Daschle said Thune deserves a spanking for bringing up Daschle’s March 17, 2003 attack at the Commander in Chief, as America was about to go to war. Daschle even questioned his own judgement by saying, “I could have found a different time to say it.”

Daschle…what an embarrassment to South Dakota.

Wind cave deal denied

From the Rapid City Journal:

A group of West River Republican state legislators said Thursday they want to know if Sen. Tom Daschle, D-S.D., made a deal to give Wind Cave National Park to the state's nine American Indian tribes.

A spokesman for Daschle said no such deal exists and that a senator doesn't have the authority to give away federal land.

...

State Rep. Jim Lintz, R-Hermosa, said Thursday that he had been asked about promises Daschle made to Tim Giago regarding giving the park to the tribes. Giago, a longtime Indian newspaper publisher and columnist, had been a Senate candidate but pulled out of the race earlier this year.

"Sen. Daschle couldn't give away Wind Cave even if he wanted to. He doesn't have that kind of power," Jake Maas, Daschle's campaign press secretary, said.

Lintz's comments came during a sidewalk news conference near Daschle's re-election headquarters at 628 Sixth St. in Rapid City. Also attending the news conference were state Sen. Jerry Apa, R-Lead, and Reps. Larry Rhoden, R-Union Center; Gordon Pederson, R-Wall, and Mike Buckingham, R-Rapid City.

Lintz said Saturday's meeting should have been open to the public and the press.

UPDATE: A DVT September 10 post puts to question the Daschle campaign's denial. Based on the Daschle campaign's willingnes to run a hunting ad that lies about Daschle's positon on the Second Amendment...I believe there is plenty of room to doubt this denial too.

Linda Daschle has body guard

From American Daily:

It is one of the benefits of being a politician. While handguns are banned for citizens in Washington, D.C., congressmen are allowed to have a gun for self-protection on the Capitol grounds. Well-known liberal politicians such as Senators Chuck Schumer and Ted Kennedy have armed bodyguards. The wives of politicians, such as Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle's wife, Linda, also have bodyguards. Undoubtedly, these politicians and their families have extremely good reasons for this protection, but many other Americans, especially those living with the high crime rates in D.C., also feel the same way.

Later today, the U.S. House of Representatives will finally vote on whether to overturn D.C.'s handgun ban.

I wonder who pays for Linda's bodyguard?

Where's the clout?

This is a great editorial:

To the editor - The Aberdeen News recently reported that the U.S. Senate is reviewing the formula for allocating Universal Service Funds. Rural states use the money to improve cell phone service. South Dakota and our rural neighbors annually receive: Montana, $22 million; Wyoming, $13 million; North Dakota, none, and South Dakota, $2 million.

Why is our slice so small? Where's Tom Daschle's clout?

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure this out. No Republican senator - no money. John Thune and Larry Diedrich will have access to the "Congressional decision-making rooms." Democrats must wait outside to hear what was decided.

Esther Looby

Kerry and Daschle connection

Remember the military guys that supported Daschle during a news confererce? Here is the excerpt from the Rapid City Journal report:

Four high-ranking military veterans — including a former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and a former Air Force chief of staff — blasted Republican U.S. Senate candidate John Thune for statements he made about Daschle on Sunday on a nationally televised debate and repeated this week in South Dakota. Thune said Daschle had hurt troop morale and emboldened the nation's enemies with critical statements that came virtually on the eve of the U.S. invasion of Iraq in March 2003.

Daschle didn't take part in the telephone conference call, which was coordinated by his campaign press secretary, Jake Maas. But the military men vigorously defended Daschle's Air Force service record and his commitment in Congress to veterans and military personnel.

One of the strongest statements came from retired four-star Gen. Merrill McPeak, who was head of the U.S. Air Force during Operation Desert Storm and currently acts as an adviser to Democrat John Kerry in his presidential campaign. McPeak said Tom Daschle's own military record — three years in the Air Force working in military intelligence — and his subsequent congressional work on behalf of veterans and military personnel were beyond reproach.

Go down to comment 20 in this FreeRepublic thread:

BTW, here in Ohio, the Kerry campaign is running an ad featuring former Air Force Chief of Staff Merrill "Tony" McPeak, endorsing Kerry. If the Dims think McPeak will sway vets and military voters, they are sadly mistaken. McPeak was despised as Chief of Staff, pushing through a lot of empty and meaningless reform, including a new uniform (quickly dumped by his successor) that looked like it came from American Airlines...also, knowing McPeak, he's probably been promised some sort of position in a Kerry Pentagon--one more reason to vote for Bush...

Next thing you know we will be seeing Daschle hugging Kerry…perhaps a group hug that includes McPeak.

Indian accuses Daschle of racism

I found this report regarding Indian Americans (not Native American Indians) taking insult from Dacshle’s lies:

The Chairman of the Indian-American Republican Council, today criticised the Senate Democratic leader Senator, Tom Daschle for telling his constituents that between four and six million jobs will be outsourced to India.

Responding to Daschle's comment, which appeared in the Aberdeen News, Dr R Vijayanagar said that according to recent statistics on the US economy, these statements are nothing but cheap rhetoric.

Claiming that yet another Democrat has used India as a scapegoat to score political points in a desperate attempt to win an election, he said the Indian-American community was affected by such Xenophobia.

The Indian American community suffers from this xenophobia and India, the world's largest democracy, is at the receiving end of these political stunts, he said.

Alleging that the Democrats had used the issue to introduce hundreds of Bills to restrict or ban outsourcing owing to pressure from labour unions, he said the unions ignore the devastating effect 9/11 had on our (US) economy, the recession that President Bush inherited from the Clinton era.. and the corporate scandals.. whey they discuss job losses.

Quoting official statistics, the Chairman claimed that 1.7 million jobs had been created in 12 consecutive months with 49 States adding jobs in 2004.

Nearly 140 million Americans are working, an historic high, Vijayanagar said, adding that unemployment claims filed were at the lowest level in three years.

Secular communist’s message not welcome

The Argus Leader has a report regarding vandalism on a controversial piece of art:

What's the price of "Freedom"? About $1,250.

At least that's the amount Sioux Falls artist Scott Ehrisman is asking for in restitution after an aggressive critic defaced his art by writing "freedom," with a black marker, over the top of one of Ehrisman's pieces.

And what was the art about:

Ehrisman's "American History 101" is a collage that combines images of the $20 bill, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Jesus Christ amid text in an overall statement denouncing capitalism and religious crusades.

I am proud to be from Mitchell

I just got to today’s Mitchell Daily Republic. I see DVT already beat me to the punch on the editorial regarding Daschle’s secret meeting with the Native American leaders. The paper also ran the Wall Street Journal Daschle Two-step editorial today. So I will echo what DVT said:

Where's the Argus Leader?

Daschle for gun rights before votes against

Jennifer Sanderson has an Ad Watch on the Ave Maria List radio ad that makes this claim:

An announcer says Daschle has switched his position on several key issues, including abortion rights, balancing the budget, protecting gun ownership and the sanctity of marriage.

Sanderson’s analysis includes this point regarding the gun control issue:

Daschle voted in 1998 to make gun safety devices, such as trigger locks, "available" but not mandatory as a condition for dealers to receive and keep their licenses (S.AMDT.3238 to S.2260).

The Ad Watch report did not mention that Daschle switched his position on the specific gun control issue on February 26, 2004:

To amend chapter 44 of title 18, United States Code, to require the provision of a child safety device in connection with the transfer of a handgun and to provide safety standards for child safety devices. (S.AMDT.2620 to S.1805)

If the dealer does not provide the mandatory locks here is the penalty:

``(i) suspend or revoke any license issued to the licensee under this chapter; ``(ii) subject the licensee to a civil penalty of not more than $15,000; or ``(iii) impose the penalties described in clauses (i) and (ii).

Tim Johnson even voted opposite of Daschle on this one.

The Ave Maria List ad is correct, Tom Daschle changed his position on guns. I don’t think the Ad Watch report was clear on that. In fact I believe the intend of the analysis was to say otherwise.

I am willing to give Sanderson the benefit of the doubt and believe this was an honest oversight. The problem I have is my letter to the editor that will correct this will probably be rejected by the Argus Leader editor(s) because it is “anti-Daschle”. If the truth about Daschle’s voting record is “anti-Daschle”, then the “pro-Daschle” letters maybe lies. Shouldn't the truth be the criteria to print or not print letters?

Argus Leader’s editorial position

A Sibby Online reader had the same problem I had. His letter was not published and instead put online, but he could not find it. He forwarded the Argus Leader’s editorial page editor Chuck Baldwin’s reply:

Yes, you missed something - and it's not your fault. Back in June (I think), I wrote a column explaining our problems with space and election letters.

The first letters to be moved online were those that were "anti" - anti-Daschle, anti-Thune, anti-Bush, anti-Kerry, etc. Those letters that explained why people should vote FOR a candidate rather than AGAINST a candidate would be selected for the print edition first.

That soon fell apart with the crush of letters and many "pro" letters also were published online.

The confusion is that there are two places for letters. The link to letters from the editorial page link gives you the letters that were published in the newspaper.

However, there's also a link from out political page - that's where election letters are going. It made sense. I'm sorry you didn't know about that.

Chuck

I sent the same question to the Argus Leader blog last week. Since they did not provide an answer to my question on their blog, I decided to provide their answer on my blog.

Here is the link to where the Argus Leader puts their rejected letters. I still can't find mine, and the reader who sent me Chuck's explanation can't find his neither. I guess they are lost forever. Some service.

To be intellectually honest, the rejected letters do come from both sides of the isle. But I argue those that I disagree with also should have been printed in the print edition of the paper. I also wonder why the truth was not a factor in deciding which letters to reject?