Sibby Online

Tom Daschle, the DC “millionaire” resident

From Robert Novak:

Solicitations for a Sept. 12 fund-raising reception in Washington on behalf of ailing Sen. Tim Johnson give the impression he will be present at the event, but in fact there are no such plans.

Sources close to Johnson say he will not decide his schedule until he is back in the Senate, and there is no firm schedule yet for that. Johnson has not been seen publicly since suffering a brain hemorrhage last Dec. 13, but his staff has been raising funds for his re-election campaign in South Dakota. His campaign has $1.75 million cash on hand.

The $1,000-to-$2,300-a-ticket reception will be held at the home of Johnson's fellow South Dakotan, former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, and his wife, transportation industry lobbyist Linda Daschle, on Foxhall Road millionaire's row in Washington. It has been speculated that if Johnson cannot run, Daschle could attempt a political comeback.

And will Daschle get to keep the money meant for Johnson to run for South Dakota Senator while residing "on Foxhall Road millionaire's row in Washington"?

Todd Epp, that is number four

After calling me a hardass, Todd Epps says this:

Obviously, the hardasses have never faced their own human frailty or have had loved ones with addictions. My guess is that they have, but they are too emotionally stunted to admit that they or their loved ones have had such problems.

That is the fourth false accusation and personal attack that Todd Epp has issued towards me right after I apologized for the false accusation I made toward him last week. I am home for lunch, so I can’t fully respond. About all I can say is that Todd Epp does not know what he is talking about in regard to this hardass. Otherwise he would understand the concept of tough love. So that makes Todd Epp a different kind of ass…a dumb ass.

And I apolpgize to my readers for my harse language. Through human fraility I chose to fight fire with fire.

Another Kranz Watch

SDWC points this out:

Courtesy of the Associated Press, the Hildygate story that Kevin Woster filed with the Rapid City Journal is starting to filter through newspapers in the Dakotas. The Yankton Daily Press and Dakotan, as well as the Fargo-Moorehead Forum both picked up the story.

I suspect we’ll hear of more reports of coverage filtering in.

Yes, the Mitchell Daily Republic has the Woster report on their front page today.

And SDWC also notes the KELOTV is also starting to cover the scandal on their web site at least.

So the question is, "will Dave Kranz cover it in his scheduled Wednesday column tomorrow?

The silence of the Argus Leader is deafening

Bob Ellis has a great piece on the Hildebrand Tewes controversy. Here is the introduction:

Last week it was revealed that an employee of Hildebrand Tewes Consulting, Inc. in Sioux Falls had stolen $100,000 from the company. Hildebrand Tewes client list includes former Senator Tom Daschle, Senator Robert Byrd, the South Dakota Campaign for Healthy Families, the South Dakota Democratic Party, and Senator Barack Obama's Political Action Committee "Hopefund."

Perhaps the most disquieting thing about this story is that the identity of the alleged embezzler wasn't broken by the newspaper in Sioux Falls; bloggers and the Washington D.C. newspaper Roll Call had to do that.

After providing a detail history of how this was smoked out, Ellis points out the silence of the Argus Leader in regard to the identity of the person Hildebrand fired:

Maybe it's just me, but I find it curious that the Argus Leader, which Google Maps says is about six blocks or six-tenths of a mile from Hildebrand Tewes, was unable to get more information on this story. But somehow Roll Call could find out from over 1,000 miles away in Washington, DC, as could the Rapid City Journal from 350 miles away? Couldn't the Argus have at least sent a cub reporter sauntering over to Hildebrand Tewes on a lunch break or something?

As the Argus Leader marched on under radio silence, even some blogs not known for their conservative leanings began to question the newspaper's commitment to objective reporting.

Was the Argus intentionally sitting on the information? Were they just asleep at the wheel?

I have word that the Argus Leader reporter had the identity of Chad Schuldt and had spoken to him. I also heard the editors at the Argus Leader removed about three inches of the report, including the part that named Chad Schuldt. So I think Bob Ellis needs to stop wondering about this:

There's been discussion going back at least to 2003 that some Argus Leader staff connections to the Democratic Party have led to "exceptionally favorable" political coverage for Democrats. I don't know what editorial decisions went into the 137 words of coverage the Argus gave this story, but a reasonable person has to wonder what's going on--and many already are wondering.

Ellis provides a link to Kranz’s college connections to Tom Daschle. On November 10, 2006, Kranz also eludes to his connection to Chad Schuldt:

Johnson's campaign began proclaiming the conclusion a week ago. Last Saturday, Steve Hildebrand put it bluntly: "We're going to win."

That's not a surprising proclamation from a campaign manager who is paid well to think positive.

The Mitchell native offered evidence from Chad Schuldt. As a teen-ager, Schuldt ran a baseball card store. Then he went through a phase with blue hair. He counts into double figures when listing Bob Dylan concerts he has attended.

Now this sports and music guy is a numbers wizard.

"It is mathematically impossible for Thune to win," he said.

Schuldt was so convincing that you started thinking he was either sure of himself or full of himself.

Note the reference to Shuldt’s baseball card shop. I too had a baseball card shop. Too many times the kids were obsessed with finding the high dollar insert card. An insert card is a special card that only appears once every so many packs of cards. The odds are even printed on the back of the package, The insert card can be one that is autographed or includes a piece of a game worn jersey, or a piece of leather from a game used ball. So is Steve Hildebrand’s crusade going to include not just banning video lottery, but also the practice of insert cards? If so, that would show his abandonment of the idea that moral values should be ignored by the legislative and governmental processes. Will Hildebrand join the ranks of those that Chad Schuldt called "wing nuts"? Perhaps someone should send Hildebrand a copy of the Bible.

The Democrats and victim hood

Part of the far-left’s culture of destruction is the creation of victims. They do this both externally and internally.

Externally they make victims out of women, the poor, and Native Americans and use them as political pawns in order to place blame on America. Then they propose their far-left secular socialist agenda as the solution to solving the problems.

Internally, the Democrats use the "negative ad" label to create viticms out of their candidates, such as Tom Daschle, in order to prevent themselves from being held accountable for their votes and political positions.

Yesterday, Kevin Woster brought forward more details regarding Steve Hildebrand’s accusation that Chad Schuldt was fired for taking over $100,000 from Hildebrand Tewes Consulting. One Sibby Online asked if I too heard the violins while reading the piece. Not holding was Hildebrand a victim, but Schuldt himself was portrayed as a victim of Video Lottery. Such talk not only provides damage control for the Democrats for the culture of corruption, but also prevents accountability to the wrong doers.

Note Woseter uses the "soft spoken" line here:

Speaking in a soft, broken voice from his home in Sioux Falls, as a child chattered happily in the background, Chad Schuldt sounded like anything but the astute, chronically self-righteous political operative and Internet blog commentator known for his tendency to bludgeon his foes with words.

Rather, he seemed every bit the human being he is, a man who has lived a lie in at least a substantial portion of his recent life and now faces family trauma, public humiliation and possibly a trip to prison.

This leaves me with a question:

It appears that Chad Schuldt's road to ruin stopped at a thousand video-lottery machines, on a lonesome ride down from casino to casino to despair. As business manager for a Democratic political consulting firm, Hildebrand and Tewes, Schuldt had access to money that wasn't his and ways to feed his addiction and hide his reckless ride toward the bottom.

That's just what he did, according to Steve Hildebrand, who outlined his friend's financial free-fall during an interview with the Journal on Saturday.

Schuldt first admitted to a problem with payroll taxes about three weeks ago, Hildebrand said. But the initial story didn't wash.

The three weeks doesn’t wash. Schuldt stopped posting on June 18. That is more than six weeks. Why is Hildebrand saying three weeks?

But we do learn more about the investigation:

As Hildebrand and others backtracked two years through Schuldt's financial records, a shocking and disheartening trail emerged. A look at company credit card use showed that Schuldt had made more than 150 cash withdrawals at $200 each, all tied directly to casinos.

And that $30,000 or so was just part of the financial shell game Schuldt played to cover his addiction, Hildebrand said. The total amount missing is believed to top $100,000.

"We've had an accountant, CPA and two lawyers helping us navigate through all this," Hildebrand said. "It's all so difficult. And to have it involve a friend like this, makes it all the more difficult."

Next comes the I am a victim and so is Schuldt BS:

"Unfortunately, in our state gambling is very accessible because of video lottery," Hildebrand said. "And he was drawn into it and couldn't get out of it and was in casinos all over town, spending my money."

Hildebrand said he feels betrayed by Schuldt but also by a system that sanctions a type of voluntary tax that so easily destroys the most vulnerable of its citizens. And he admits empathy for his friend's personal struggle.

Here is the response from SDWC:

As someone who’s family was directly impacted by the exact same thing, I have a different viewpoint on the matter. Yes, my family’s thief was a trusted friend who spent it on video lottery as well. While we were mourning our mom’s passing, she was putting thousands into the machines while we were distracted.

And I’ll be the first to tell you that the theft certainly put a damper on my interest in it as an entertaining diversion.

But I don’t blame video lottery for the loss. It was the person who committed the crime, and not the institution. It’s like blaming gun manufacturers for crime, or liquor stores for alcoholism. Ultimately, I think you have to be responsible for your own actions.

Being held accountable doesn’t fit the far-left’s mindset of government dependency and moral depravity. And the Drive-by media does not want to demonstrate how the Sopranos of South Dakota are not only creating a culture of destruction, but also a culture of destruction. That is why Hildebrand Tewes Consulting worked to defeat Referred Law 6 in order to maintain the destruction of the pre-born instead of running a campaign to pass Initiated Measure 7 and ban Video Lottery during the 2006 election cycle.

The Sopranos of South Dakota revisited

I am reposting a 12/10/2005 post titled, "The Sopranos of South Dakota", which I put together the day Chad Schuldt threatened my livelihood while in a rage of revenge. That was the tip of iceberg when it comes to the Hildebrand gang's moral depravity. And note how the Argus Leader again refused to hold the Daschlistas accountable:

This is a post about Steve Hildebrand and his bloggers. One of the best pieces of journalism done about Tom Daschle was a Jeff Gannon piece titled, "Daschle’s Soft Image Masks Political Machine". Excerpt:

Talon News originally investigated accusations of bias at South Dakota's largest newspaper, the Sioux Falls Argus Leader. Information gained as a result of that investigation uncovered what one public official described as a "Sopranos-style" pattern of systematic political intimidation by some members of Daschle's staff and campaign.

He explained that under the cover of "hardball politics" the intimidation is accomplished by pursuing those who are most vulnerable. Small business owners and their employees are particularly susceptible to bullying. The official said that threats of the loss of business or employment are usually sufficient to silence open political opposition, but sometimes a newspaper article is necessary to discredit a rival or critic. In a largely rural state of 750,000 people, nearly everyone is "touchable" in some way.

Steve Hildebrand, Daschle's campaign manager recently defended their tactics in a statement to the Washington Post. "You'll see us spending a lot of time attacking the attackers," he said.

Calls to Hildebrand by Talon News for comment were not returned.

When South Dakota Family Council Executive Director Rob Regier mulled formation of the Daschle Accountability Project, the Daschle campaign went public with a warning that it had an audio tape of the conservative Christian's confession of paying for an abortion for a former girlfriend. But instead of creating embarrassment as the Daschle campaign intended, Regier told Talon News that this "revelation" was part of his oft-repeated Christian testimony and certainly no secret. He said that Hildebrand's actions brought "the politics of personal destruction to a new low."

Most individuals interviewed by Talon News will not allow the use of their names for fear of retribution. Others will simply not comment.

An insurance agent got the message to "get out of politics" or face financial ruin due to loss of business. A Republican campaign worker's employer was pressured to convince him that he had to choose between his job and his political activities. The family of a man whose business was less vulnerable to direct intimidation was subjected to a barrage of harassing telephone calls after he was identified in a newspaper as a member of a political opposition group.

An elected official speaking to Talon News under condition of anonymity said, "People in South Dakota are afraid to talk about the Mafia tactics and intimidation by the Daschle campaign precisely because of their Mafia tactics and intimidation."

Daschle's Washington arm-twisting was evident in the 2002 campaign that pitted incumbent Sen. Tim Johnson against Republican Congressman John Thune. Roll Call reported that one Democrat lobbyist recalled Daschle telling her, "We are going to be watching how you and your industry do in the race in our state."

The lobbyist remarked, "I have never had anyone tell me I could not give to a candidate before."

One GOP lobbyist was quoted saying, "Daschle is being subtle and heavy-handed at the same time." He continued, "He walks up, puts his hand on your shoulder, gives that Daschle grin and says, 'You know I am keeping track of people who give to Tim Johnson.'"

Politics of personal destruction was what ended the journalism career to the author of that report. It was when Chad Schuldt stated that he laughed his ass off when Daily Kos outed Jeff Gannon, that I began to realize that their was something disturbing about him. The comsumer activist from Iowa who went by the alias of "Erin" also noticed something wrong with Chad Schuldt. Here is an excerpt from a comment she left at Ryne McClaren’s web site on August 6, 2005:

I received an e-mail this morning from Chad, at least that's whose name was on the e-mail. Chad does have a couple of diffent e-mail addresses that he has sent e-mail to me from. Chad used all caps for emphasis in this e-mail which was some kind of blackmail in that he was "demanding" that I provide them with an explanation of my recent "comversion". In exchange for that the subjective opinions related to my mental stability or instability would go away. What a deal! Where can I sign up? Is Chad promising me something here?

All I have to do is, give my confession to Monsignor Chad and he apparently will make the "bad comments" go away.

I'm not liking the tone of that at all. Who do these guys think they are that they can try to impugne my integrity and then make a deal with me to make it go away if I do as they say?

Whew!

She said this about Steve Hildebrand:

When I went to that office and asked to speak with Steve Hildebrand, not only was he rude and abrupt with me, his menacing and cold demeanor was a definite message to me. He told me three times about a call he had to make, as if he was trying to convince himself of that.

Here is more insight about Hildebrand from Greg Belfrage of KELOAM radio in 2003:

A recent Washington Post story is a sign of things to come in the 2004 Senate race. Here's the portion that really caught my eye:

"We will be prepared to confront whatever comes, regardless of intensity levels," said Daschle, who appears poised for hardball. (Daschle campaign manager Steve) Hildebrand said the campaign has assembled embarrassing information on several conservatives who are considering more attack ads against Daschle. The information includes videotape of a conservative activist discussing how he paid for his girlfriend's abortion.

"You'll see us spending a lot of time attacking the attackers," Hildebrand said.

A few days later, I received an email "alert" from Rob Regier. Regier has become a friend of mine, although he and I often do not see eye to eye. Regier is the Executive Director of the Rushmore Policy Council. His efforts to raise money for issue ads targeting Senator Daschle's voting record have been widely reported. Here's a portion of the email that Regier sent (reprinted with permission):

Many of you have heard me give my Christian testimony. In it, I talk about a time in my life when I thought I was man enough to have sex outside of marriage but wasn’t man enough to deal with the consequences. My sinful and cowardly actions led me to a Planned Parenthood clinic in Sioux Falls where I brought an ex-girlfriend to have an abortion.

Thankfully, God sent His Son to die for my sins. I’ve since turned my life over to Christ and now encourage others in my position to choose life instead of death. God has blessed me with many opportunities to take my horrible experience and use it for good.

However, Sen. Tom Daschle is bringing the politics of personal destruction to a new low. He announced that he is going to use a videotape of one my public appearances where I shared my testimony to try to embarrass me.

Here's the Straight Talk: Senator Daschle's campaign manager seems to be involved in a coordinated effort to stifle dissent through intimidation and embarrassment. Senator Daschle's role in this strategy is unclear. However, Steve Hildebrand's comments speak volumes about his intentions. Using someone's Christian testimony for personal political gain is absolutely despicable.

Intimidation and embarrassment seem to be SOP for Steve Hildebrand and some others in the Daschle campaign. I'll be counting the days to see how long it takes for Democrats to deliver a copy of this webpage to my employer. It's happened before. While we're at, let's see how long it takes other local media to report this effort. Or will they simply ignore it? That's exactly what they've done with every other news story that reflects poorly on Senator Daschle.

What we have with the Hildebrand gang is a mindset that they are untouchable. And if anybody holds them accountable they come unglued and attack the messenger. That is what happened to Quentin Riggins and myself last week. We were holding the Hildebrand bloggers, the South Dakota Democrat Party, and the Argus Leader accountable for money Tom Daschle received from Jack Abramoff. The Hildebrand boys first denied they made demands of John Thune regarding Abramoff. After I proved that to be false, Chad Schuldt went off the deep end. He began posting with the "F" word and proceeded to attack me in a way that I have never been attacked before.

Clearly the conduct of the Hildebrand gang has been troubling to many of us for a while now, yet the South Dakota MSM has given them a pass. Instead of looking at my research on the Abramoff issue, David Kranz and Randell Beck deleted my email without even looking at it. If this were only an episode on the Sopranos, it would be entertaining. But because it is real, it shows the troubling scene that the Hildebrand gang has created for today’s political environment in South Dakota, which has been allowed to continue by the refusal of the Argus Leader to hold them accountable.

We have been calling this a permanent campaign. For the sake of South Dakotans, I hope that is wrong.

Kranz Watch

I think this is a good time to start a Kranz Watch. When sill Dave Kranz stop with the hog wash and report on his baseball card buddy and the Hildebrand accusations? Bob Ellis isn’t buying the, "it is not a big deal" line:

Denise Ross and Todd Epp are claiming the theft of $100,000 by Chad Schuldt from his employer Hildebrand Tewes, a company which worked on former Senator Tom Daschle's campaign, and does work for the South Dakota Democratic Party and Senator Barak Obama, among others, is just political fodder that isn't interesting to the lowly masses. This, they claim, is why the Argus Leader couldn't be bothered to walk half a mile to visit Hildebrand Tewes and cover the story.

If they're not actively working to provide cover for the Argus Leader's dereliction, then their ideological loyalties have them pretty blinded.

I'm expected to buy that this isn't interesting enough to cover, but the Argus' relentless quest for a blanket list of state employee salaries is? I'm supposed to believe the theft of $100,000 by a party political operative from his employer, who works for a number of high profile politicians, isn't interesting to the average person...but the Argus' hell-bent-for-leather pursuit of a list of Governor Mike Rounds' pheasant hunting buddies is?

This while Roll Call, the Bayou Buzz from Louisiana, National Review, and the Rapid City Journal found it interesting enough to cover?

Sorry, that one comes up "no sale" here.

Hildebrand’s role

Funny how Todd Epp demanded on radio that John Thune explain his role with Jeff Gannon, but now doesn’t think Steve Hildebrand’s role in the Clean Cut Kid matter. Perhaps Epp should go back and ask Donna about her interest in Jeff Gannon. Probably the same response he got regarding Schuldt. But this attitude among the masses illustrates the problem with America. Its citizens have abandoned their sacred duty to hold those in power accountable.

Epp and the partisan Democrats want to say the Hildebrand is a victim here. But he made his bed, and now he must lie in it. Perhaps Epp forgot about Erin, the consumer advocate from Iowa. Here is what she said about the Hildebrand gang:

Marie, I’ve been told that some of these boys are actually employed as "consultants". Who are they "consulting" for? We already know the answer to that question don’t we. They all remain just under the radar to avoid detection, and only surface for whatever particular "feeding frenzy" would further their Hate and Bitterness. Trust me, the Blog Master is none other than Steve Hildebrand who recruits these young, impressionable guys who then participate in sysytematic brainwashing. Part of the training involves techniques these boys can use to endear themselves to anyone they feel can further their Permanent Vulgar and Disgusting Hate Campaign.

Their alleged pristine agenda is just that, alleged, where upon further investigation reveals the true nature of the Vile and Evil agenda that they so vigorously accuse others as having. The indefensible actions of the Hildebrand Boys have been weakly dismissed as the immature actions of young, foolish kids. In fact, unless you have been directly involved with this element and been dismissed, would have no idea of how undercover they operate.

This comment from the SDWC gives us more to think about as we reflect on Gannon’s report on the Sopranos-style tactics of the Daschle machine:

The consulting firm was a mafia-style organization. Steve Hildebrand is Tony and Schuldt is Chrissy. Steve/Tony would order Chrissy/Schuldt to whack somebody and he would fire up the blog and smear them and try to destroy their livelihood. Friends of the family, like liberal bloggers and the Argus Leader, were given protection by the firm. Those who didn’t play ball like Gary Moore and Brett Healy were gunned down in an alley. But like Chrissy, Schuldt got sloppy. So Tony had him whacked.

But then again, Hildebrand and his fellow South Dakota Democrats want to downplay this whole embezzlement thing, Another comment gives us the reason:

You can be sure that Hildebrand does NOT want this case to be prosecuted. It would be very embarassing for him in the consulting world to have his business manager on trial for stealing funds. Hildebrand wants to bury this and that’s why he’s putting excuses out there about "addiction" etc.

I provided another who shared that point in a previous post.

So for Epp and the rest of you that don’t think the American citizen should not be concerned about this issue, let me give you one reason why you are wrong by using again another comment from the SDWC…justice:

So Hildy wants to let Chad off the hook and not prosecute? The "kid" stole money. I’m sure there are others serving time in the pen for the same offenses (tho many times much less money) and for the same "addictions." They would love it if their crime was swept under the rug and not prosecuted. If CCK doesn’t get prosecuted for the stealing, then I think people now in jail for similar crimes should demand review of their cases and equal treatment.

Do you actually mean that if Hildy doesn’t prosecute that CCK will be off scott free? Doesn’t seem right to me.

Let me also add that the missing money are taxes that belong to the people. Funny how Hildebrand and Schuldt ran against the privatization of Social Security because the stock market is too risky. Well putting it into video lottery machines seems more than just a little too risky. Again, the people have a sacred duty to make sure justice is done. There should not be a double standard just because we are dealing with Democrats.

And while I am covering issues advanced by the Hildebrand gang, let’s not forget the support of the "Evils and Vile" act of abortion.

Now I ask the question that Woster ignored, since Schuldt stop posting on the Clean Cut Kid at about the time he was fired by Hildebrand, what role did Hildebrand have in the "Evil and Vile" posts of Schuldt. Again, here is more from Erin:

I’d like to elaborate a little further on some of the behind the scenes blogging activities of the Hildebrand Boys. Bog Central is located at Steve Hildebrand’s office in the Crane building in Sioux Falls South Dakota. These boys may appear to be operating their own blogs, but all indications are that this is a tightly controlled system put together for the sole purpose of perpetuating a "Permanent Hateful, Vulgar, Profane, Manipulative, Predatory, Bitter and Extremely Secretive Campaign having nothing to do with any important issues. For anyone visiting these sites or posting comments, you should be cautioned that only hateful, ugly and bitter comments are welcome and only about Senator Thune.

Oh, if you happen to have some information that is related to some "friends" of Senator Thune that meets the criteria, but if you veer off of the subject(hate, vulgarity,bitterness) too much and get into issues that are important, but don’t focus on the hate and bitterness, the welcome mat will definitely be yanked out from under you. This is vital information for newcomers to the blogging world. Unless you want to fall victim to the Hildebrand Owned and Operated Bitterness Boys, I wouldn’t recommend providing your e-mail address or any other information required prior to posting oon these sites.

This group’s slick set-up is an illusion. A group of young, ambitious, smart political types and a little humor thrown in to reel in those not attracted to the vile venom being spewed. If bitterness or humor aren’t for you, they offer their youth and charm with a certain amount of manipulation for good measure.

If the heat gets to be too much, they take the site down until it passes, put it back up as a new and improved version of bitterness and hate and start the cycle all over again. This entire process is the creation of this Darth Vader Wannabe himself, Steve Hildebrand who really needs to stop reading and believing his own publicity. He also needs to get a real job and stop sponging off of Tom Daschle, who seems to be embarassed by the Hildebrand Boys. If he isn’t he should be.

So should South Dakotans. And the good people of South Dakota need to stand up and perform their sacred duty by denouncing the far-left agenda promoted by the Hildebrand gang. And that won’t happen unless the Mainstream South Dakota media sheds light on the darkness instead of playing the role of damage control. Otherwise, these manipulative political consultants will not be held accountable for advancing the dark far-left agenda. And more needs to be understood about their Sopranos-style tactics that attacks the careers and persons of those who disagrees with that dark far-left agenda.

Todd Epp makes another false accusation

Here it is:

While Sibby and commenters on S.D. War College want Chad de-nutted with a dull spoon,

OK Todd, please provide the evidence that I said that. You are on a roll with three false accusations in a row. What are you trying to do, become the next Clean Cut Kid of the South Dakota Blogosphere?

Now Schuldt is a victim?

As I mentioned yesterday, the Rapid City Journal deleted a comment to Mount Blogmore regarding Hildebrand’s previous defense of Chad Schuldt and how Hildebrand distanced himself from the Clean Cut Kid web site. Today, Kevin Woster has a report in the Rapid City Journal that is pure pro-Democrat propaganda has they promote the idea that Schuldt is a victim of a disease:

Schuldt has entered a treatment program for his addiction, Hildebrand said.

"Chad has dealt with a lot of issues of depression … and gambling, you know," Hildebrand said. "So on one level, he’s an incredibly good, very smart person. On another level, he’s dealing with some illnesses that he needs to take care of."

Hildebrand said he and Tewes hadn’t decided whether to seek criminal charges against Schuldt, who worked with Hildebrand on previous Democratic campaigns. Schuldt has worked for Hildebrand Tewes since shortly after the company was formed in April of 2005.

"We haven’t decided on that. It’s a very emotional decision," Hildebrand said of the charges. "I’m not a lawyer. But the IRS and the state’s attorney could potentially do something. A crime has been committed."

This is typical of the Democrats to refuse holding their own accountable. Note Hildebrand hasn’t decided to press criminal charges even though Hildebrand says a "crime has been committed." And as we all know, Schuldt has more than just a gambling problem.

Schuldt’s problems include working for the Daschle machine’s culture of destruction. Here is more on that from Jeff Gannon:

Talon News originally investigated accusations of bias at South Dakota's largest newspaper, the Sioux Falls Argus Leader. Information gained as a result of that investigation uncovered what one public official described as a "Sopranos-style" pattern of systematic political intimidation by some members of Daschle's staff and campaign.

He explained that under the cover of "hardball politics" the intimidation is accomplished by pursuing those who are most vulnerable. Small business owners and their employees are particularly susceptible to bullying. The official said that threats of the loss of business or employment are usually sufficient to silence open political opposition, but sometimes a newspaper article is necessary to discredit a rival or critic. In a largely rural state of 750,000 people, nearly everyone is "touchable" in some way.

Steve Hildebrand, Daschle's campaign manager recently defended their tactics in a statement to the Washington Post. "You'll see us spending a lot of time attacking the attackers," he said.

Ironically, Jeff Gannon himself fell victim to the far-left’s culture of destruction. On Janury 26, 2005 Gannon asked this question to President Bush:

Senate Democratic leaders have painted a very bleak picture of the U.S. economy: Harry Reid, who's talking about soup lines, and Hillary Clinton was talking about the economy being on the verge of collapse. Yet in the same breath, they say that Social Security is rock solid and there's no crisis there. You've said you're going to reach out to these people. How are you going to work with people who seem to have divorced themselves from reality?

That upset to radicals at Daily Kos (see what they are up to now). They outed Jeff Gannon after searching and finding web sites that were gay in nature. Chad Schuldt said this on February 9, 2005:

It would be an understatement to say there are new developments on the Jeff Gannon front. Warning: some partial male nudity involved here!

Atrios is all over it today, but most of it is the work of Kos diary writers:

After posting some links, Schuldt showed his glee over the situation:

I have to admit I'm laughing my ass off over this. I wish I could be in the room when Gannon has to explain this to his fundamentalist boss.

Shortly thereafter, Gannon resigned from Talon News. And the Daschle machinery was celebrating:

"Former aides to ex-Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) were among those cheering Wednesday’s abrupt resignation of reporter Jeff Gannon from Talon News, a Web site affiliated with the conservative-activist site GOPUSA.

Now we have Schuldt facing problems of his own and is in treatment. But let us remember Schuldt’s position on Jeff Gannon’s problem:

By now, we all know that Jeff Gannon is a hooker. Some would say was a hooker, but I say once a hooker, always a hooker. Once you have that rep, I would think it is hard to shake it. Don’t get me wrong, I forgive him for turning tricks. Jesus befriended prostitutes, so I believe Gannon is in good hands.

In the very next post Schuldt says this:

He is not only a whore, but a lying one. Most hookers probably make a habit of lying, so it’s not a huge surprise. Except this lying hooker had a White House press pass!

Kind of makes you wonder what he said during the same interview about his mom getting harassing phone calls is true.

I really felt sorry for Gannon’s mommy and his entire family when I heard him say that. Now I have to wonder if he is lying about this too

Schuldt obviously didn’t understand the idea of forgives as he, unlike Jesus, continued throwing stones at Jeff Gannon. And once a gambler, always a gambler?

And this culture of destruction is typical of the Daschle gang. Here is more from the Jeff Gannon report regarding the Sopranos-styled approach of the Daschle gang:

When South Dakota Family Council Executive Director Rob Regier mulled formation of the Daschle Accountability Project, the Daschle campaign went public with a warning that it had an audio tape of the conservative Christian's confession of paying for an abortion for a former girlfriend. But instead of creating embarrassment as the Daschle campaign intended, Regier told Talon News that this "revelation" was part of his oft-repeated Christian testimony and certainly no secret. He said that Hildebrand's actions brought "the politics of personal destruction to a new low."

Most individuals interviewed by Talon News will not allow the use of their names for fear of retribution. Others will simply not comment.

An insurance agent got the message to "get out of politics" or face financial ruin due to loss of business. A Republican campaign worker's employer was pressured to convince him that he had to choose between his job and his political activities. The family of a man whose business was less vulnerable to direct intimidation was subjected to a barrage of harassing telephone calls after he was identified in a newspaper as a member of a political opposition group.

An elected official speaking to Talon News under condition of anonymity said, "People in South Dakota are afraid to talk about the Mafia tactics and intimidation by the Daschle campaign precisely because of their Mafia tactics and intimidation."

Daschle's Washington arm-twisting was evident in the 2002 campaign that pitted incumbent Sen. Tim Johnson against Republican Congressman John Thune. Roll Call reported that one Democrat lobbyist recalled Daschle telling her, "We are going to be watching how you and your industry do in the race in our state."

The lobbyist remarked, "I have never had anyone tell me I could not give to a candidate before."

One GOP lobbyist was quoted saying, "Daschle is being subtle and heavy-handed at the same time." He continued, "He walks up, puts his hand on your shoulder, gives that Daschle grin and says, 'You know I am keeping track of people who give to Tim Johnson.'"

Calls to Daschle Press Secretary Dan Pfeiffer for comment were not returned.

Charlene Haar, a former high school teacher, who was Daschle's 1992 opponent, told Talon News that the Democrat campaign pulled their ads from Madison, SD radio station KJAM after the station aired her political spots.

So today, we have the Rapid City Journal performing damage control for the Daschle gang. Gannon showed how the Argus Leader helped the Daschle smear machine validate, in the public eyes, pure smear against their political opponents:

Media manipulation has been the stated cornerstone of the machine's success. In a 1997 interview, Daschle's media consultant Karl Struble revealed a technique effectively used in Sen. Tim Johnson's campaign against an incumbent Republican. In the article, Struble proudly proclaimed, "Our campaign systematically doled out the information piece by piece to reporters in D.C. and South Dakota. The result was a series of damaging articles. ... We used the headlines generated as validators for our ads."

As a result of a Talon News original investigation, the Argus Leader acknowledged a relationship between its star political reporter, David Kranz, and Sen. Daschle that goes back 35 years. Kranz and Daschle worked together at South Dakota State University to stage a mock Democrat Convention in 1968. Kranz served as Daschle's publicity chairman for the event. Critics charge his subsequent political reporting has been clearly favorable to Daschle and the Democrats and unusually harsh to Republicans.

Roll Call, a Washington, D.C. based newspaper, called Kranz's bias against Republican Sen. Larry Pressler in the 1990 Senate race "vituperative." The New York Times noted how Kranz and the Argus Leader have "unfairly reported on Republican office-holders."

Critics say that one of the most glaring examples of the Argus Leader's bias is in the reporting on political spouses. Executive Editor Randell Beck explains that his newspaper doesn't report on the lobbying activities of Daschle spouse Linda because the Argus Leader's policy is to not report on the "wives of candidates." Yet the Argus Leader with Kranz as managing editor ran a series of articles about Pressler's wife Harriet. They implied that Mrs. Pressler, a real estate agent in Washington, D.C., profited by insider information from her husband. No charges were ever filed in the matter.

In 1995, the newspaper printed an editorial entitled "Gingrich's Wife's Job Raises Ethical Issue" in which it criticized the wife of the Republican Speaker of the House for taking a position with the Israel Export Development Company. The editorial stated, "The spouses of U.S. leaders should be held to a high standard. Not only should they avoid impropriety, they should avoid all appearance of impropriety. Marianna Gingrich should seek employment elsewhere."

The Argus Leader has rarely mentioned Linda Daschle at all. Linda Daschle's lobbying income last year is estimated to be $6 million dollars.

There is a lot of stuff that the people of South Dakota do not know about the Daschle gang and their use of the Argus Leader as their propaganda outlet. And no other paper will go after the Argus Leader. I was told by Noel Hamiel, former publisher of the Mitchell Daily Republic, that I could not refer to the Argus Leader in my letters to the editor. I asked him how do we hold the media accountable. He said that I was smart enough to figure it out. So that is when I started this web site. And in the blogosphere, we do hold each other accountable, and in full view of our readers. Unfortunately, the mainstream media does not hold each other accountable, and neither do the Democrats. Although there are a few South Dakota Democrats who are trying to stand up to the Hildebrand gang's culture of destruction. And Todd Epp is not among those.