By Bill Harlan

The Cincinnati Post reports on an interesting pair of speakers at Northern Kentucky University’s alumni banquet: Pat Buchanan and Tom Daschle. Buchanan predicted a Hillary Clinton victory if she wins Iowa. Obama guy Daschle agreed she was tough to beat, but you never know …

Their exchange on Iran caught my eye:

“I think the president and (Vice President) Mr. Cheney are determined not to leave office while the Iranians continue to pursue the enrichment of uranium,” Buchanan said.

“I think there’s a real possibility there could be air strikes on the Quds Force (a part of Iran’s military) and possibly the nuclear sites by the time we get to Election Day, and that will supersede Iraq (as an issue) if that is true.”

Daschle said U.S. military action in Iran would be disastrous.

“It’s just preposterous to me that we would look for yet another military intervention,” he said. “I think that it’s very hard to justify, given how badly stretched our military is, how challenged we are to find the resources to do what we’re already doing in Afghanistan and Iraq.”

Enemy attacks in Iraq by month. Click to make it larger. Source: GAO

By Bill Harlan

What does it all mean, Blogmore?

By Bill Harlan

The Minneapolis Star Tribune’s editorial, “A reconciling way to talk about abortion,” comes with the subhed: “South Dakota’s 2006 campaign could be a harbinger.”

The editorial notes how polarized the debate has been, then wonders:

Might that change if abortion were discussed not in terms of absolutes and inflexible rights, but of moral ambiguity? What if those discussions moved out of the confrontational environment of the courtroom, into the conversational arena of politics?

Another excerpt:

The South Dakota experience is also being analyzed for the tantalizing possibility it appears to offer. It might be that a peaceful resolution to America’s long-running culture war is possible, at the polls.

You think?

By Bill Harlan

So far the presidential debates — no, let’s make them “debates” with misused quote marks — have been unenlightening. Platitudes and slogans interspersed with humor and, just as often, “humor.” Anyone watching the Dems tonight? My cable is disconnected for remodeling, so I’m relying on Blogmorites to bring me up to speed. Will Edwards play the “integrity card”? Will Obama play the “attack card”? Will Clinton shoot back? Will a member of the “also debating” team break out?

By Bill Harlan

The Mount has avoided this battle of the blogosphere, but Steve Sibson is a prominent conservative blogger and frequent visitor to these climes. Now he’s left the Republican Party. See why here.

Steve Jarding on MSNBC, via YouTube.

By Bill Harlan

Steve Jarding, Tim Johnson’s campaign manager, is one of those South Dakota kids who have gone on to become big-time political gurus. (Extra credit for Blogmorites who list others.) Check Jarding out last year on MSNBC in this YouTube clip. See also my story. I found it interesting, by the way, that Johnson has hired a debate expert (Jon Paul Lupo).

By Scott Aust

Sometimes it’s fun for a reporter to see a long talked about project finally begin to take shape. Here’s some of my leftover photos from the nearly completed first phase of the Dahl renovation. You can read the story here.

Here’s the lobby of the “Cultural Cafe” looking toward KC street.

Here’s the new kiln room– in a separate, well ventilated area.

The children’s art room windows.

And finally, workers pouring the walls of the new middle portion of the complex.

It took, what, a decade to get this project underway? Wonder if the proposed Performing Arts Center is destined for a similar fate?

By Bill Harlan

According to the Associate Press and the NYT, Pope Benedict XVI has “urged Catholic pharmacists to use conscientious objection to avoid dispensing drugs with ”immoral purposes such as, for example, abortion or euthanasia.”‘

Of local note:

Arkansas, Georgia, Mississippi and South Dakota have legislation that explicitly permits pharmacists to refuse to dispense contraceptives, according to the Institute, and Florida, Illinois, Maine and Tennessee have broadly worded legislation that may apply to pharmacists.

On a personal note: When I worked at the University of Kentucky Medical Center back in the early 1970s, right after Roe v. Wade, nurses and O.R. techs who didn’t want to participate in abortions didn’t have to. (My specialty was neurosurgery,* so I never had to make the choice.)

But back to His Holiness, would this pronouncement apply to birth control? Mount Blogmore has quite a large Catholic population, so I’ll ask around. (I just did ask. Apparently not.)

South Dakota’s law (36-11-70), by the way, only applies to drugs related to abortiona and euthanasia.

* Well, it was either neurosurgery or cleaning stuff up. One of the two.

By Bill Harlan

When I last talked to former Lt. Gov. Carole Hillard — in August at a Homestake lab celebration in Lead — she laughed about her upcoming trip to Turkmenistan, joking about the many fine examples of Leninist architecture she expected to see. She was going there for a conference on federalism. Carole traveled the world for the U.S. State Department and for NGOs, promoting democracy.

We’re still trying to catch our breath after the news of her death in Switzerland. We’re on autopilot, talking to friends and family, searching archives for photos, working on stories and trying make sure that tomorrow’s Rapid City Journal does justice to a life of service.

She’s gone too soon, but when you think of it, Switzerland — a nation of diplomacy — might be a fitting place for Carole to end this part of her journey.

By Mary Garrigan

Now that both Gov. Mike Rounds and actor Chuck Norris have both endorsed Mike Huckabee for President, can there be any stopping the Huckabee campaign?

What, you weren’t all dying to know who the actor turned WorldNetDaily columnist would back? Me neither, but some publicist put together a cute package playing off his tough-guy image. You can check out his column at http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=58268

I admit I get Norris confused with some amalgam of Clint Eastwood, Charles Bronson and the Crocodile Dundee guy, so his celebrity endorsement doesn’t do much for me. I’m guessing Huckabee, a gifted orator and Baptist preacher, has about as much chance of winning the White House as Norris does of winning an Oscar.

Speaking of Baptists, the South Canyon Baptist Church in Rapid City has been hosting a 5-part series on Islam presented by its pastor, Richard Wells. It promises to answer questions like “Is Allah the God of the Bible” What does the Quran really teach? What does it all mean to us? “

Those questions don’t immediately inspire my confidence that the series will promote interfaith dialogue and dispel negative images of all Muslims as terrorists who want to either kill me or convert me.

The local Muslims I know have mostly just wanted to feed me some really great taboulleh and baklava so good eating it was practically a religious experience in itself.

But, in fairness, I haven’t been to any of the South Canyon series, and I’ll withhold my opinion until I have. Has anyone from the local Muslim community attended? If so, any impression? Wells is traveling in Russia and will hold the last two sessions in November.

By Scott Aust

Heartfelt sympathies go out to Alderman Sam Kooiker, whose sister Bonnie died over the weekend at the too young age of 27.
Last June she was in Rapid on election night, cheering her brother on in his unsuccessful bid for mayor. Sam told me later that his sister’s illness really put into perspective the fact that some things are much more important that politics.
Hang in there, Sam.

The other three faces on the mountain - and all the larger family of the blog - also send our best wishes, Sam. K.W.

By Scott Aust

Rapid City’s decision to send 8 of 11 elected city officials to a New Orleans convention next month will likely generate some debate about the cost (up to $27,000) versus the benefit (education?).
See my story here.
I remember my first and only trip to New Orleans, back in 1994 for a national collegiate media conference. I don’t remember much about the seminars, but boy Bourbon Street was fun.
Of course, back then I was a wild and crazy carouser. I’m sure city council members will be much more responsible than a young punk like me.
What say you? Beneficial learning experience or waste of taxpayer money?

By Kevin Woster

We’ve been trying to make this point for some time, but our boss made it particularly clear Monday in an e-mail to everyone participating in blog management for the RC Journal:

No cussin’.

Seriously. If most readers of the newspaper would consider a word to be profanity - even light profanity, as opposed to the real heavy stuff - it’s not getting by. And we won’t edit it out. We’ll just reject the post outright.

This hasn’t been a big problems here, in part because we’ve really pushed a higher standard of dialogue than you’ll find on some blogs. And most of you follow it well. Thank you.

With some, though, we still have some work to do. And we will.

I’m pretty sure everybody knows what words are off limits. I’m also pretty sure we’re all capable of making our points without them.

Let’s.

Thanks.

By Kevin Woster

One of my political pals asked me over the weekend why Tim Johnson would announce his reelection campaign now, instead of early next year.

My pal also wondered why his office would release the news on the Friday before pheasant season.

Two good questions. I’ll hazard a few poorly informed guesses:

* Johnson has been saying “I intend to run” for almost two months, prompting a consistent string of reporters’ calls for confirmation. Maybe the staff finally convinced the senator that it was time to make it official.

* It really did take a month in the Senate and a trip back to South Dakota to give Johnson the assurance that he could handle the job, and the campaign to come.

* Fund-raising was starting to slack off, as donors wondered if they were giving money to a candidate who might not run. By announcing - much earlier than he would normally announce - Johnson also invigorates donors. It’ll be interesting to see how much the current quarter tops the last one in fund raising.

As for the Friday release, it puzzles me. It’s good if you don’t want reporters to have a day to follow up on the announcement, and pester Johnson for personal interviews (by telephone) that he clearly isn’t going to grant.

But it’s bad if you want the announcment to have legs, because in much of the state the opening of the pheasant season swallowed lots of the news hole, and the time and focus on many weekend reporters.

Is that a long-winded way of saying I dont’ know?

Wouldn’t be the first time.

By Bill Harlan

A note from a Mount Blogmore correspondent directs our attention to an item in the October edition of Atlantic Monthly, under the headline “Money for nothing.” The Atlantic reports that Homeland Security cash is coming so fast, most states have only spent part of their allocations, to wit:

New Mexico has been the stingiest (or the most prudent, depending on your point of view), spending only half of its grants to date, while South Dakota has burned through 86 percent of the $96.5 million earmarked to thwart threats in the Badlands.

Our backchannel Blogmorite wondered if the Department of Homeland Security really had shelled out $96.5 million to protect the Badlands from Al Qaeda. Although the Wall, Sheep Mount, Red Shirt Table and much of the South Unit do resemble parts of Tora Bora, I’m guessing this money was used throughout South Dakota.

We know that Homeland Security loot gets sent to rural areas, including towns in South Dakota, and that the Axis of Evil probably couldn’t find these places on a map. Our response: What about Google Earth, huh? Ever think about THAT?

By Kevin Woster

Yeah, I know, it’s still more than a year away.

The 2008 U.S. Senate election, I mean.

But things take off early here on Mount Blogmore, especially when Gutzon Harlan is on the road. Besides, Tim Johnson got us all worked up into a political frenzy here on the mount with his reelection announcement Friday.

Deep breaths, deep breaths …. there, OK.

So tell me, how much is Johnson’s campaign going to spend?

Who will the Republican challenger be? And how much will he (unless a “she” decides to run, of course) spend?

I’m guessing Johnson at $11.3 million.

I’m guessing Mr. GOP at $6.5 million.

And the bonus question? How much will Newland spend?

By Kevin Woster

If you made a political statement with commercial rewards and it offended the family of a dead U.S. soldier, would you feel comfortable with that?

Especially if the mother of that soldier asked you to stop?

I wouldn’t. I have to believe Dan Frazier doesn’t either, somewhere deep in his heart.

You probably know the story. Frazier is an Arizona guy who is using his anti-war feelings and the First Amendment in a creative and lucrative way, selling t-shirts that read: “Bush Lied. They Died.”

“They” are the military personnel who have died in the Iraq war. Frazier superimposes the anti-war slogan over the names of the war dead. That offends at least some of the families of those casualties, including Margy Bons, whose son Michael Marzano was a U.S. Marine sargeant killed in Iraq two years ago.

Michael Marzano believed in the war. His mom did not, and does not. Still, she thinks it’s wrong to use his name on the shirt. She wants it removed. And some states have approved laws banning the use of such names without permission from next of kin.

I think those laws are doomed, and probably should be. I think Frazier is right when he says the obvious: Michael Marzano died protecting the right to express political views that some find offensive, even if the way of expression is itself offensive.

But I can’t imagine denying a grieving mother her request to remove her son’s name from the shirt. I have to believe Frazier could honor every such request and still have plenty of names for the shirt, and his commercial venture.

It’s beyond free speech, which the law should preserve. But Frazier should uphold something else: common decency.

By Kevin Woster

Care for a look back on the tumultuous campaign over Referred Law 6 in 2006?

The McGovern Center at DWU in Mitchell is offering a panel discussion on the campaign and ultimate voter decision to reject 6, which would have banned most abortions in South Dakota.

And former Blogmore pal Denise Ross, who has been working on a documentary of the campaign, will be part of the panel. Joining Denise will be Kate Looby of Planned Parenthood and former state Sen. Lee Schoenbeck of Watertown, a widely known and highly regarded pheasant hunter whose views on the abortion issue differ ever so slightly from Looby’s.

Heh-heh.

Anyway, the panel discussion will be at 7:30 p.m., Oct. 25 in classroom 222 of the McGovern Library at DWU. PUC Commissioner Dusty Johnson, a visiting professor at DWU who looks younger than many of his students, will moderate.

According to a release by the center, footage from the soon-to-be-released documentary “Unplanned Democracy,” about Referred Law 6, will be shown. The release also said the discussion will be about the policy points of the campaign, rather than a rehash of the age-old abortion arguments.

Good luck with that.

By Kevin Woster

To the surprise of, well, hardly anybody, Sen. Tim Johnson made if official today.

The race is on.

In confirming what he essentially announced in an interview with ABC’s Bob Woodruff that aired Aug. 28, Johnson said he would run for reelection next year.

“After months of rehabilitation and recovery, more than a month on the job in Washington and after my recent trips back to South Dakota it is clear, to my family, my doctors, and me that I am able to do the hard work required of a United States senator,” Johnson said in a release from his campaign office.

He’ll also have to do the hard work required of a campaign. Mixing the chores of a U.S. senator and the demands of a statewide senatorial campaign is no easy task for anyone.

It’ll be interesting to see how the senator and his staffers - in both the Senate and campaign offices - handle the logistical challenges faced by a man with limited mobility on top of the already difficult complexities of travel, Senate duties , campaign appearances and constituent contacts.

Johnson’s already proven that he’s a tough, resilient guy. He’ll have a chance to prove it further, and in a more public environment, during the next 12 months.

By Kevin Woster

Speaking of the SCHIP fight, Stephanie Herseth Sandlin is in the ring, swinging in a big way.

Noted for her cautious pragmatism on key issues, Herseth Sandlin has been consistently bold on this one - even taking on President Bush directly and challenging those who would call the SCHIP expansion a step toward socialized medicine.

There’s likely a number of reasons for her aggressiveness on this point:

* She really believes she’s right.
*She is so far without a Republican challenger in 2008.
* Health care is likely to be a big winner for Democrats.
*Almost certainly, polling shows she can’t lose on this issue.
*There’s little chance she’ll end up getting “Daschled” by health care in the next campaign.

I’d look for her to continue to swing the big SCHIP hammer.