Sunday, July 08, 2007









We Don't Need Another Hero...

Once again, Berkeley Breathed sums it up visually.
What we need are ideas and someone with a vision.




Monday, March 05, 2007

Ohmigosh!!! They are B-R-O-T-H-E-R-S!!!

Be afraid. Be very, very afraid.

Excuse me Ms. ur, Mr., umm, Ann or is it Arnie, ho geez, anyway, would like fries with that?

Monday, January 22, 2007

Coming to a Theatre Near You!!!

Paramount Pictures and Academy of Motion Pictures Award Winning Director and Producer Francis Ford Coppola announced today the early release of Godfather IV starring University of South Dakota President Jim Abbott in the title role of Freddie Corleone…

What in the heck was Jim thinking when he posed for this photo that was featured in Sunday’s Argus Leader? "I'm gonna make them a deal they can't refuse."?!?

I would advise Mr. Abbott to reconsider accepting any fishing trips on the river...

Sunday, January 21, 2007


Help me Understand

I think Larry Long is the archetype of an outstanding Attorney General. He has done a terrific job in continuing the tradition of keeping politics out of decisions made in the office of the state’s chief prosecutor. He is a model public servant and I have no doubts about his integrity.

Today the Sioux Falls Argus Leader reports on Long’s analogy to help reassure us that the Senate’s awkward decision to hold hearings on the alleged groping of a page by one of its own is the proper for thing for them to do. He compares their actions to a school board investigating the possible inappropriate actions of one of its teachers.

I don’t think the comparison works.

From the Argus: “Long compared the Sutton case with a hypothetical situation in which a 16-year-old student falls for an adult teacher and the two end up having a romantic relationship.

The student would be old enough under state law to consent to such a relationship, but a local prosecutor would investigate whether the student did in fact consent.
However, regardless of that investigation, the school district still would consider the relationship ethically inappropriate and would conduct its own investigation and take action against the teacher if it deemed it necessary to do so.In that case, "it might be criminal as well, or it might not, but that doesn't lessen for 30 seconds the school's responsibility," Long said.”

So let’s see, if this is true, a school board (or any other governmental body) could decide to conduct a criminal hearing or investigation MINUS sufficient evidence for any prosecutor to move forward with the same case. Such a decision would be based on politics, not on a legal basis.

That is how politics is played in Cook County or Louisiana. In those jurisdictions one might not hesitate to use the power of the office to distract the public, smear an opponent, or gain a cheap political advantage. But this is not how we do things in South Dakota, or at least how we used too.

Please don’t misunderstand me. I am not blaming Larry Long for how we got to this point. He is only trying to rationalize how the Senate made its decision to move forward with the hearings absent enough proof for even his own office to prosecute.

And although I am amazed and disappointed with their decision, I am not overly critical of the legislature either, or at least most of the present and past membership. While I expect a bit more fortitude, the body has been placed between the rock and the hard place in this situation: either they hold hearings based on little, if any, real evidence or they essentially perpetuate the swirling speculation and rumors. Worse yet, by doing nothing the legislative body can be seen as part of the problem as a group covering things up for one of its own. So while I don’t agree with their decision, one can appreciate how they made it.

No, there are a select few who can be held accountable for whipping all of this into a tawdry public scandal. I refer to those that drop bombs from their official capacities with slimy assurances to the accused that all will be forgotten if the “troublemaker” will just quietly go away. That, or the accused will be responsible for everyone becoming entangled in the snarled mess, and nobody really wants that, do they? It all seems like legitimized extortion and abuse of power.

So we go forward. The victim is victimized again, the accused will remain forever guilty in minds of most without real due process, and everyone else is left to clean up the mess. And others, like Long, are left to explain how we arrived at this embarrassing political situation.

Meanwhile the perpetrators remain deluded with the notion they are our moral heroes and are ever ready to stir up more chaos. It is unbelievable, unfortunate, and unnecessary how some advance by stepping all over the lives of others.

Maybe it really is justice for “just them.”

Saturday, January 13, 2007

Top Five Reasons to Read, Subscribe or Bookmark the Hog House Blog by Denise Ross

5. Amaze your friends and family about your knowledge of current events in South Dakota.
4. Decision makers talk to Denise.
3. Denise is informative.
2. Denise is insightful.

And the number one reason to Read, Subscribe or Bookmark the Hog House Blog by Denise Ross...

1. Denise writes really good.


Thursday, January 11, 2007



She Is Really A Man!!!

It all makes sense now. Before I really had a tough time understanding how everything got to this point. The uncompromising position, the resentment and bitterness, along with the absolute conviction to change the attitudes of the unwashed. Blend all of this together with a large dose of anger and hate to fuel a determination to win a moral, righteous, and unconditional victory. Yes, it all does make sense now.

And yet, it was all there right in front of me the whole time. She is really a man! I just didn’t see it. All the signs were there. They always had been. I just didn’t notice. (Or I didn’t want to notice.)

First there is the slight but detectable moustache that match the sideburns and unibrow. (Ever notice how unibrow and unborn are almost spelled alike? That is kind of creepy. Maybe the unibrow is actually like a symbol or signal or something. A discreet way to send a message to the disciples.) Don’t forget the deep almost guttural and masculine voice that cracks when she, I mean he, gets excited. And the preference for pant suits with matching blazers. Oh, it was all of it was right there in front of me.

Wow. She's a man! I can’t believe I didn’t put together before now. But it all just clicks into place. Just like the movie The Crying Game. Isn't it amazing?

Wednesday, January 10, 2007

A Book I Will Be Reading

Today National Public Radio Fresh Air host Terri Gross had an interview with Frank Luntz, a notable and national political and business consultant. Lutz was stooping for his book, “Words that Work: It’s Not What You Say, It’s What People Hear.” Despite the mixed reviews for the book, I want to read it given the author’s premise that we ought to describe things as what we believe them to be and not necessarily for what they are.

Luntz explains how “energy exploration” instead of “well-digging” in the Artic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska is more palatable to the public, as is “conversationalist” to “environmentalist” or “gaming” to “gambling, and “electronic intercepts” to “eavesdropping” or “wiretapping.”

He also is dismissive of the Administration’s use of the word “Surge” in relation to the proposed escalation of troops in Iraq. (Luntz suggests that realignment, reassessment, and refocus would be better.) It is at this point in the interview where he begins to sound at worst as though he was upset not to be consulted by the White House, and at best, like a snake oil salesman with the elixir for every type of pain or problem: Don’t like a description or explanation, let’s just consult the Thesaurus to find a word or cliché that will make you more comfortable. (Here is a link for an audio version of the interview.) ,

This “wordsmithing” likely explains political apathy at all levels. Maybe we spin so much that we make the general public nauseous.

Clearly Luntz is very good at what he does. I share his appreciation for the power and influence of words and language. However, I can’t just help but feel handled or manipulated with this type shading or exaggerating. Most disturbing is how it is presented under the guise that our understanding of situations or events just isn’t quite accurate or that we really don’t grasp the intricacies and complexities. How patronizing.

I don’t have a problem with someone trying to persuade me. I prefer though to weigh the evidence and make a decision minus any posturing. Besides, I am not sure anyone could convince me that “electronic intercepts” are any less invasive.

Although, maybe Luntz could come up with a better way to describe that portion of the annual physical I hate so much…




Saturday, January 06, 2007

Things that make you go "Mmmhmmm!"
Dana Milbank of the Washington Post reporting on Thursday’s US Senate swearing in ceremonies…

“…Senators, meanwhile, waved up to President Clinton, who was sitting in the second row of the public gallery with his daughter and mother-in-law, greeting a line of fans and talking on a cellphone until he noticed the opening prayer had started.

The attention quickly shifted -- to Robert Byrd. The 89-year-old West Virginia Democrat, beginning his ninth term, wore a red-white-and-blue tie and punctuated the opening prayer with shouts of "Yes!" and "Mmmhmmm!" and "Yes, Lord!" and "Yes, in Jesus's name!" When he was sworn in, he twice cried out "Hallelujah!" and then "Amen!" Minutes later, he was installed as Senate president pro tempore, the majority party's most senior member. "Yeah, man! Yeah, man!" he shouted. "Hallelujah!" "I do, so help me God!" he shouted when the oath was administered. Yeah, man!"

His colleagues were amused. Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) at one point pretended to tilt a bottle into his mouth, though it was unclear whether Byrd was the target of that gesture.”

No wonder Milbank entitled his article “Reid Takes Center Stage, but He's Hardly the Star of the Show…”

And after all, it is unfair to say Senator Kennedy was suggesting that Speaker Pro Tem had been imbibing. The distinguished gentleman from Massachusetts may have only been suggesting he was thirsty. Or he might have been signaling to a friend in the second row of the gallery it was time to blow the scene, toss back a couple, and go cruise for some chicks.

“Yes! Yeah Man! Hallejuha!”

Friday, January 05, 2007


Play that Funky Music…


I write today from Arizona and news from home this week literally trickles to me through a dial-up modem (the good old days really weren’t all that good.) From what I have been able to gather, it appears that political environment in Dakota South continues to be dry, brittle, and flammable. It is easy to imagine that all of us will be swallowed up in a conflagration which means that once again, we all will be burned out on the political scene in the land of Rushmore.

We are distracted. Our focus needs to be on the issues before us rather than trying to shape the debate and outcome of matters that have yet to be decided. Whether it is the accusations about one member of the legislature acting inappropriately with young employees or another bending campaign finance reporting statues into a twisted pretzel, there are plenty of other issues that deserve our attention and ought to be discussed.

What do we do about school funding? How can we address the availability of affordable housing for new families? (This challenge is a serious threat to continued economic development in many of our communities.) What kind of efficiencies can be realized in local and state government through greater cooperative efforts and technological advancements? How do we enhance the relationship between higher education and the private sector in areas of research and development? What do we do about water development? And how do we ensure that our children continue to receive the best possible education?

Instead we are preoccupied by the salacious and dim behavior of miscreants. Some would say that is just human nature to become mesmerized with the scandalous and aberrant. And while that may be true, it is time to evolve to the next level on the Darwinian Chart.

Our elected leaders need to sound a clarion call and we all need to respond to it. We need to discuss the issues calmly without flamboyance and grandiosity and with the goal of resolution rather positioning. This is can be accomplished if we all make an effort to keep our attention on the issues before us rather than the misguided actions of a few.

The best campaign slogan emerged from the din of this past campaign season, “It’s time to get back to work.” Yes, yes it is time we got back to work.

And maybe we need to have them blow the trumpet a little louder.