By Jerry Steinley

I’ve been told many times that where you go, and what you do, on the Internet is traceable. You leave electronic footprints so regardless of the sites you visit, for how long you visit or what your intent was, someone knows. And if they don’t know, they can find out.
So I try to use the Internet properly — meaning I use library, co-worker’s or friend’s computers for anything illicit I don’t want tracked back to my name.
Now I see my privacy concerns may be well founded.
Someone may be watching — Big Brother, the federal government.
Check out Senate Bill 773,  the Cybersecurity Act of 2009 which was introduced in April.
Here’s the summary:
“A bill to ensure the continued free flow of commerce within the United States and with its global trading partners through secure cyber communications, to provide for the continued development and exploitation of the Internet and intranet communications for such purposes, to provide for the development of a cadre of information technology specialists to improve and maintain effective cybersecurity defenses against disruption, and for other purposes.”
It’s feared the bill would give the president power to control private computers in the name of cybersecurity.
Here are some tidbits:
SEC. 5. STATE AND REGIONAL CYBERSECURITY ENHANCEMENT PROGRAM.
(a) CREATION AND SUPPORT OF CYBERSECURITY CENTERS- The Secretary of Commerce shall provide assistance for the creation and support of Regional Cybersecurity Centers for the promotion and implementation of cybersecurity standards. Each Center shall be affiliated with a United States-based nonprofit institution or organization, or consortium thereof, that applies for and is awarded financial assistance under this section.
(d) COMPLIANCE ENFORCEMENT- The Director shall–
(1) enforce compliance with the standards developed by the Institute under this section by software manufacturers, distributors, and vendors; and
(2) shall require each Federal agency, and each operator of an information system or network designated by the President as a critical infrastructure information system or network, periodically to demonstrate compliance with the standards established under this section.
I’ve got chills. Not the good kind.
I didn’t read the entire bill — I’ve got columns to write, editorials to ponder and newspaper work to take care of, I’m afraid. But I read enough to know this bill will have people howling… and using library computers in record numbers.
So what is it? 1984 or Much Ado About Nothing?

By Kevin Woster

Question: How can you tell when Dave Kranz is on vacation?

Answer: He only writes two stories a day.

That inside-the-baseball-of-news joke isn’t so far fetched, you know. At least, it didn’t used to be. Kranzman has long been the Batman of the Sioux Falls Argus Leader - a crumpled-caped crusader for news in a rumpled sports coat and slightly-cocked Atlanta Braves cap, charging through Gotham, er, Gannett City and beyond in search of the stuff you need to know.

Na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na—KRANZMAN!

During the 16 years I worked for the Argus, Kranzman was a 24-7, 52-weeks-a-year news-hustling superhero. Even on vacation, he was calling in news tidbits, collecting real-people perspective and filing stories that were often compiled from notes scribbled on McDonalds sacks or sales tickets from Target.

A newsman’s newsman, that Kranz, in all areas of coverage, but especially in politics.

Kranzman has slowed a bit in recent years, in large part because the Argus Leader management - in a sad, inexplicable act of soft-spined acquiesence  - bowed to pressure from a few conservative bloggers (You KNOW who you are…) and pulled the dean of South Dakota political reporting off of day to day political coverage.

For shame, conservative bloggers, for shame. Even more, for shame, Argus Leader, for shame.

It was  a sad day indeed for a paper that I otherwise hold in such high esteem and management for whom I otherwise have a great deal of respect.

Because of that  failure of powerful newspaper ’s will - not of my main man Bruce, er, Dave  himself - the pace of Kranzman has slowed a bit. So I must revise the inside-baseball joke.

Question: How can you tell when Dave Kranz is on vacation?

Answer: He only files one story a day.

Which is a long-winded, somewhat-cathartic (Come on, you guys, how could you? Seriously? To Dave Kranz? Geez…) way of advising the good citizens of Mount Blogmore that I’ll be on vacation the next two weeks.

During that period I’ll be actively engaged in cleaning up a basement, a garage and a flower bed or two, catching a little early fall color from the driver’s seat of the Miata and pestering the trout within 100 miles of downtown Rapid City.

But in the spirit of my nutty-work-schedule mentor Mr. Kranz, I’ll stop by  here on the mountain for a visit from time to time.

OK, OK, maybe every day. Sometimes, uh, twice.

Hey, if somebody ends up waterboarding Rasmussen, I sure don’t wanna miss it.

By Jerry Steinley

Local politics can be just as important as national politics often are – and still get less attention.
Take the recent ruling by Pennington County State’s Attorney Glenn Brenner, for example. Brenner won’t be sending a Rapid City Journal complaint against the Rapid City School District to the Open Meetings Commission.
The Journal complaint stems from the school district’s appointment of a volunteer citizen finance review committee. The committee was formed to make budget recommendations to the school board but refused to open its meetings to the public.
I’d think folks would be a little upset. After all, the committee was appointed by the district and developing budget recommendations during a fairly controversial period in the board’s history. In effect, the volunteer group was a board under the umbrella of the district and therefore, the Journal contends, subject to open meetings laws.
But we’re hearing very little… Maybe if we tossed a death panel or water boarding into the discussion it would get some legs?
I’m sure Brenner’s decision will be challenged. If an appointed board can do the school district/city/county/state work without any public inspection or oversight, we’ll be seeing many, many more of them established.

By Kevin Woster

As one of Sen. Ted Kennedy’s long-time friends and colleagues,  Vice President Joe Biden has particular reason to mourn the loss of the lion of the U.S. Senate.

And to memorialize the passing of the last of the four Kennedy brothers, all of whom were engaged in public service at the time of their deaths.

Joe, Jack, Bobby and Teddy. Three gone too young. The fourth, while much older, gone too soon.

He was an imperfect man, Ted Kennedy, in the profoundly self-indulgent ways of his brothers. But he redeemed himself in ways that most of us could learn from.

And he became a man whose mark on the U.S. Senate and the social and government framework of this country is certain to endure.

Wealthy beyond our imagination, he nonetheless lived as an advocate for the poor, the underserved, the marginalized.  He began his public push for a universal health-care system, a right of citizenship as he called it, in 1962.

And he never quit the fight. By his last day on Tuesday, a year to the day after his poignant, powerful speech at the Democratic National Convention, he had done his family and his country proud.

And he had won a lot of important health-care battles away the way, without winning that biggest of all: his fight for universal coverage.

It’s possible that his death will make that mission harder for those who support it in Congress. Or, perhaps, it could make it easier, as doubters are inspired to lean toward supporting the cause of the lion lost.

Regardless of what is passed and when, Ted Kennedy will have been a part of it. And it’s likely his impact on Congress will endure.

Like his brothers, the youngest Kennedy boy saw things that never were and asked, “Why not?”

That seemingly organic belief in what could be will live on in Washington, D.C., Joe Biden said, because of Ted Kennedy’s long presence and hard work there.

Or, as the vice president told CNN: “He restored my faith in the possibilities of what this country can do.”

And never has the belief in possibilities been more important than today.

By Randall Rasmussen

The Obama administration’s Justice Department announced Monday that it would appoint a special prosecutor to investigate cases of alleged CIA abuses of terrorist detainees.

According to the Associated Press story: “Seeking information about possible further attacks, interrogators threatened one detainee with a gun and a power drill, choked another and tried to frighten still another with a mock execution of another prisoner.”

Monday’s announcement was prompted by the release of a five-year-old report by the CIA’s inspector general that called interrogation techniques against high-value terror suspects “unauthorized, improvised, inhumane.”

Meanwhile, the administration also announced changes in future interrogations, which would be under the direction of the FBI and supervised by Obama’s national security adviser. The administration said questioning would be controlled by the Army Field Manual, with strict rules on tactics.

The newly-created “High-Value Detainee Interrogation Group” is apparently designed to avoid harsh interrogation techniques, such as sleep deprivation, playing loud music or “waterboarding.”

Future interrogation of terror suspects might resemble Monty Python’s “Spanish Inquisition” skit.

[Cut to them torturing a dear old lady, Marjorie Wilde]
Ximinez: Now, old woman — you are accused of heresy on three counts — heresy by thought, heresy by word, heresy by deed, and heresy by action — *four* counts. Do you confess?
Wilde: I don’t understand what I’m accused of.
Ximinez: Ha! Then we’ll make you understand! Biggles! Fetch…THE CUSHIONS!

[Biggles holds out two ordinary modern household cushions]
Biggles: Here they are, lord.
Ximinez: Now, old lady — you have one last chance. Confess the heinous sin of heresy, reject the works of the ungodly — *two* last chances. And you shall be free — *three* last chances. You have three last chances, the nature of which I have divulged in my previous utterance.
Wilde: I don’t know what you’re talking about.
Ximinez: Right! If that’s the way you want it — Cardinal! Poke her with the soft cushions!
[Biggles carries out this rather pathetic torture]
Ximinez: Confess! Confess! Confess!
Biggles: It doesn’t seem to be hurting her, lord.
Ximinez: Have you got all the stuffing up one end?
Biggles: Yes, lord.
Ximinez [angrily hurling away the cushions]: Hm! She is made of harder stuff! Cardinal Fang! Fetch…THE COMFY CHAIR!

[Zoom into Fang's horrified face]
Fang [terrified]: The…Comfy Chair?

[Biggles pushes in a comfy chair -- a really plush one]
Ximinez: So you think you are strong because you can survive the soft cushions. Well, we shall see. Biggles! Put her in the Comfy Chair!

[They roughly push her into the Comfy Chair]
Ximinez [with a cruel leer]: Now — you will stay in the Comfy Chair until lunch time, with only a cup of coffee at eleven. [aside, to Biggles] Is that really all it is?
Biggles: Yes, lord.
Ximinez: I see. I suppose we make it worse by shouting a lot, do we? Confess, woman. Confess! Confess! Confess! Confess
Biggles: I confess!
Ximinez: Not you!

P.S.: From AP: “Former Vice President Dick Cheney asserted that the CIA’s interrogation of terror suspects ’saved lives and prevented terrorist attacks.’ In a statement, Cheney said those who carried out the interrogations ’deserve our gratitude’ and do not deserve ‘to be the targets of political investigations or prosecutions.’

“He said that Monday’s Obama administration decisions serve as a reminder ‘if any were needed, of why so many Americans have doubts about this administration’s ability to be responsible for our nation’s security.’”

By Kevin Woster

Hey, how about a little shout-out - as my favorite ex-Alaska governor might say - to Jerry Steinley.

Four years after three members (a quorum) of the five-member Roberts County Commission improperly held what amounted to a meeting with Sisseton Wahpeton officials at the Dakota Sioux Casino, the South Dakota Open Meetings Commission has given them a slap-down.

That’s thanks to Steinley - Journal editorial-page editor and a Mount Blogmore moderator - who was editor of the Watertown Public Opinion (the steady news voice of glacial lakes country)  in March of 2006 when he filed a complaint against the commission over the 2005 meeting.

The open meetings commission on Friday reprimanded the Roberts County Commission for having a meeting without proper notice. The open-meetings commission also reprimanded the Martin City Council for failing to provide proper notice to a meeting last December.

Council member Robert Fogg, Jr., filed the complaint with the open-meetings commission, along with another alleging that the council didn’t properly state purpose of an executive session. The council was cleared of that complaint.

We have the open-meetings commission and its important work  largely because of Attorney General Larry Long, whose family news genes - his dad was a weekly newspaper publisher in Martin, coincidentally -  continue to work for South Dakota in very productive ways. 

Next stop for Long, by the way, is the circuit court bench in Sioux Falls.  I think that’s a pretty good spot for a newsman’s son, too.

By Kevin Woster

OK, it’s official, I guess: Abourezk won’t challenge Thune for the Senate next year.

Which Abourezk? Either one. I mean, neither one.

The initial buzz in Democratic circules - OK, OK, so it was a mosquito buzz (And speaking of skeeters, I got drilled by them yesterday.  It’s all over on Take It Outside…) - was that some in the party were working on Rapid City lawyer Charlie Abourezk to run for the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate next year.

Charlie decided against it, insiders say. And who could blame him? Incumbent Republican John Thune is sitting on $5 million in campaign cash, and he can raise a lot more if he has to.

It’s unlikely that he will. Thune isn’t unbeatable next year, but he’s close. And even though some Democrats talk about polling that indicates Thune’s favorables are softer than you might think, nobody is anxious to get in the way of what clearly appears to be a reelection freight train.

The most intriguing suggestion I’ve heard for some time came last weekend from a Democrat who suggested that Jim Abourezk should run. Yes, that’s former U.S. Senate Jim Abourezk, Charlie’s dad, the guy who voluntarily left the Senate 30 years ago, after one term.

Who leaves one of the greatest political jobs on earth after six years? You gotta know Abourezk.

Of course, he is 78, and would be unlikely to spend much time on the campaign trail in 2010. He wouldn’t have to. He could sit in his office in Sioux Falls, issue news releases and talk to reporters.

Thune would spend a lot of time responding to Abourezk’s criticisms and accusations.

It’d be entertaining. Especially for reporters.

But alas, Jim Abourezk isn’t running, either.

So who is?

Ben Nesselhuff? Some say maybe. Nancy Turbak Berry? I’d guess no way.

Matt Trask (Oh, wait, he’s the well-fed Republican, never mind…)

Other possibilities?

 McGovern talks about Abe Lincoln this morning at Borders.

By Kevin Woster

It was a bipartisan event, at least to an extent.

“You can tell everybody that there was at least one Republican here,” Elm Springs ranch hand and weekly newspaper columnist Matt Trask said. “Me.”

Trask was there with others to get former South Dakota Sen. George McGovern to sign his book “Abraham Lincoln.” He was also hoping that the 87-year-old liberal icon might submit to a short video interview.

Asked whether he was a conservative or moderate Republican, Trask said:

 ”I’m a cynical one. Looking at the two parties, about the only difference I see is the Democrats eat healthier.”

As a registered Libertarian who had lunch at Wendy’s, I’m trying to figure where I fit in …

But there’s no doubt about McGovern. He’s a liberal. Always has been. Proud of it. Won’t back off now.

He’s also a war hero, with 35 missions as a bomber pilot in WW II, and sad memories of many friends lost.

“I know what war is,” he said. “I’m very proud that I participated in that war.”

He gets positively dovish, however, on other wars - Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan.

Which doens’t mean he was an admirer of guys like Saddam Hussein.

“He was a first class SOB,” McGovern said to a gathering of about 100 people at Borders this morning. “I’m glad he’s gone. But I don’t think it was worth sending our Army over there.”

McGovern’s main concern is the human cost of war. But he didn’t ignore the financial cost, either - especially at a time when money is being measured in debatable quanitites in the politically-charged health-care debate.

McGovern admitted that government health-care coverage for everyone in a Medicare type model would cost more in taxes. But not so much that American wouldn’t benefit, he said.

“It wouldn’t be anything that would break the bank. What breaks the bank is Iraq and Afghanistan,” he said.

I was going to ask Matt Trask what he thought of all that, but he disappeared.

Must have been off somewhere, looking for an unhealthy lunch.

Staunch Rapid City Democrat Peter Geyerman waits his turn while his sister-in-law, Tony Whalin, gets a book signed by McGovern.

By Jerry Steinley

A case of publicist gone wild or one of a tortured public servant doing a little soul-cleansing? You be the judge.

For now, all we know is that in his upcoming book, former director of Homeland Security Tom Ridge is saying poltics, not public safety, was the concern when he was pressured to raise the public threat level in the final days of the 2004 election.
He couldn’t live with that and left the office, he said.
Ridge said Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and Attorney General John D. Ashcroft pressured him to raise the threat level just before the 2004 election.
That handy, color-coded threat level chart apparently was the point of some controversy.
According to the AP: “Threat-level warnings became a subject of controversy in 2004 after one rise was declared just days after the Democratic National Convention that summer. The move was seen by some at the time as redirecting public attention toward an issue where Bush was stronger (terrorism) and away from questions about the war in Iraq being raised by Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.), his reelection challenger.”
Admittedly, the timing is right to sell books. The publicist drops this bombshell, Ridge doesn’t do interviews prior to the book release, and we get to watch the whole thing explode.
But will it explode into anything substantial? Or is this much ado about nothing?

By Kevin Woster

The guy’s 87, and still getting it done.

It’s not just the book on Lincoln by George McGovern, which is the former bomber pilot and South Dakota senator’s latest effort to put his Ph.D in  in history from Northwestern University to good use.

McGovern’s still coming up with policy ideas, too,  including the notion of  offering a health care plan that could be described in a sentence or two instead of a thousand pages. Heck, reporters might even read that one.

It’s pretty simple: Medicare for everybody, if they want it.

That’s the McGovern health-care plan, as described in another story by my favorite Journal reporter in today’s paper.

If you believe in public health-care options, this one kinda makes sense, doesn’t it?

In Kabul, Afghanistan, earlier today, the voting goes on.  (Photos courtesy of Ajmal Shams, an engineering graduate from the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology.)

………They’re serious about security at the polls in Kabul.

….It’s serious business, voting in Afghanistan, as the expressions indicate.

By Kevin Woster

We think it’s inconvenient to take a break from work to go vote?

How about risking your life?

That’s the reality of going to the polls in Afghanistan, where people already have been killed today by terrorists trying to disrupt the elections.

We get an insider look at the process here on Mount Blogmore from Ajmal Shams, an Afghan native who earned his master’s degree in engineering from South Dakota Mines a few years back. Shams nowis president of the Afghanistan Social Democratic Party, which is supporting President Hamid Karzai in today’s election.

Shams, who was featured yesterday in a story by my favorite Journal reporter, has  had some photos taken  for us, and also offers some insights from ground zero in the Afghanistan election:

By Kevin Woster

Death panels, yes or no?

That’s not asking whether you believe in them. Rather, do you believe they existed in the House version of health-care reform, as Sarah Palin and, apparently, Thomas Sowell said they did?

I don’t. But then, I might not have understood the pertinent parts of the House bill. I get confused in the land of legalese, especially after a few hundred pages of it.

But I didn’t see much that indicates that death panels, as they’re being described in sometimes strident tones by Obama opponents, really were in the bill at all.

Did I miss them? If so, a couple of pretty decent conservatives did, too, according to a piece by Jonathan Cohn in The New Republic.

By Randall Rasmussen

How necessary is the “government option” to health care reform?

HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius may have inadvertently created a backlash among health care reform supporters by saying over the weekend that the public option was not essential to health care reform.

The administration is backing away from her comments, and many liberal supporters of health care reform say it won’t work without a government option to private health insurance.

What emerged as an alternative was health care insurance cooperatives.

But Sen. John Kyle of Arizona said the co-ops were a “Trojan Horse” that would lead to government-run health care just as the public option would have.

What the August recess has shown is that there is a widening gulf developing between the Democrat and Republican parties on health care reform. Whatever option or alternative is presented by Democrats, Republicans aren’t going to bite, and vice versa.

Regardless of the rhetoric, Democrats are leaning in the direction of some form of government-managed health care, and Republicans are leaning just as far toward market-based solutions.

I’m beginning to believe there is no compromise position on health care reform.

The flag-draped casket of former Chief Tom Hennies is wheeled from the Rushmore Plaze Civic Center Tuesday afternoon.

By Kevin Woster

Who could have said it better than Shane Hennies?

“He was the most moral, ethical and truthful individual I have ever met,” the son of former Rapid City Police Chief Tom Hennies said Tuesday afternoon to Journal reporter Andrea Cook. “I am proud to call myself his son.”

No greater epitaph could any man hope for, chiseled into the hearts and recollections of his loved ones. In itself, that kind of love and admiration would have been more than enough.

But Hennies got even more  on Tuesday, in a ceremony of religious tradition and community celebration, before finding his final mortal resting place in the Black Hills National Cemetery.

Those who attended the service in the Rapid City Civic Center understood, however, that the former military man, lawman, state legislator and quick-witted community utility man was expecting much more, as he calmly neared death on his 70th birthday, than an honored piece of ground on Section H, No. 481.

He’s gone there already, in fact,  off to that much-more place of faithful expectations, so far beyond our understanding.

But not beyond our thoughts and prayers.

Godspeed, chief. We’ll miss you.

By Kevin Woster

Like him or not (and I do), you have to admire Ron Volesky for guts.

OK, OK, some might use another four-letter word that rhymes with guts: nuts.

That’s generally considered the psychological condition of any serious candidate in South Dakota who proposes an income tax.

Volesky isn’t nuts. And he is a serious candidate. At least, he considers himself one, at this point. And that’s how I take him.

And I have to say that despite a succession of losses in statewide races, Volesky tends to be a valuable addition to any political campaign. He almost always makes good points about key subjects, and sometimes walks where others fear to tread.

Like, say, into the land of income-tax proposals. Talk about a stroll through the valley of the shadow of political death…

As the second Democratic candidate officially announced for governor, Volesky joins the automatic primary front-runner, state Sen. Scott Heidepriem of Sioux Falls, in a race that is clearly Heidepriem’s to lose.

That’s not likely, unless a surprise candidate shows up with a couple million dollars to spend. So Volesky once against takes off well behind in the race.

But whatever his standing at the primary tape next June, Volesky has already earned one vote of support, even if it isn’t from a South Dakota voter. Writing on  Tax.com, David Brunori praises Volesky and his attempt to provide what Brunori believes is better balance for South Dakota’s tax system.

Volesky’s income-tax proposal would be a tax on “corporate profits,” which he would use to provide K-12 education aid and property tax relief. He’d also repeal the sales tax on food, clothing and utilities.

When I last checked, the plan was light on specifics, and right off hand I’m having trouble making the numbers add up. But if Volesky comes up with some figures that balance out, he could inspire a meaningful discussion on tax reform.

That’s still possible, isn’t it?

By Jerry Steinley

The Second Amendment gives folks the right to bear arms but does it give them the right to bear semi-automatic assualt rifles outside town hall meetings?
It’s been quite a few years since we have seen a rifle — even a .22 — hanging in the back window of a pickup truck but I guess today it’s ok to sling a machine gun over your shoulder on a city street?
What happened?

This from CBS/Phoenix:
“One Arizona professor says people carrying guns to protests at President Barack Obama’s events could be the beginning of a disturbing trend.

About a dozen people packing heat, including one man with a semi-automatic rifle, milled with protesters outside Phoenix’s convention center, where Obama was speaking Monday. At Obama’s town hall in New Hampshire last week, a man stood outside with a pistol strapped to his leg.
Gun-rights advocates say they’re exercising their constitutional right and police say they are not violating any laws.
But Northern Arizona University political scientist Fred Solop says guns at political rallies create “a chilling effect” and inhibit “honest communication.”

It has a chilling effect on me. What’s Blogmore say? Radicals or proud Americans?

(KW joins in: It’s long been fairly common in the South Dakota towns I’ve lived in and frequent to see people carrying guns in plain sight. But usually with a clear purpose, and a non-threatening one. You see that regularly in downtown Rapid City, as people go to and from First Stop Guns. I still see rifles or shotguns on racks in the back window of pickups, especially during the fall hunting seasons. I’ve never known a time when it wasn’t legal and generally acceptable in South Dakota - possibly outside of Sioux Falls, which has slightly different perceptions than the rest of the state - to carry a weapon in public. Not a machine gun, of course, which has a higher level of restrictions. I’ve known a couple guys who carried loaded handguns on their hips, and would stroll into cafes to eat. That was in the 1970s and 1980s. People laughed, but didn’t seem much concerned. That’s different than wearing or carrying a gun at a public gathering. ANd it’s  a lot different than standing on church property (geez, what church would say that’s OK?) with a handgun on your hip and holding a sign that implies the killing of our president. You have to wonder why that doesn’t border on threatening the commander in chief, and carry some sort of legal consequences. )

By Kevin Woster

A couple weeks back on Dakota Midday, Paul Guggenheimer asked me if I agreed with those who think the outcome of health-care reform could make or break the Obama presidency.

It was a good question. And I know some believe health care will define  Obama’s years in the White House. I don’t.

If there is a make-or-break issue for Obama, it’s the war - especially the one in Afghanistan.

The waning one - hopefully, at least - in Iraq matters a lot, too. And the situations in Iran and North Korea could be defining in their own ways.

But escalating violence in Afghanistan and the Obama administration’s response has the potential to turn into a full-blown policy fiasco  or an incredible  political save that, most importantly, saves lives. Possibly thousands upon thousands of lives.

James Carroll touches on this subject  in his Boston Globe column, offering important perspective on the relative order of world issues, and those who play with them here in the U.S..

Don’t get me wrong. Health care is huge. So is fixing the economy, where we are seeing some hopeful signs. So is meaningful energy legislation, which waits to emerge as a front-page issue from beneath the health-care frenzy.

But Afghanistan has quaqmire potential the likes of which we rarely see. Consider the Russian experience. Or look into the eyes of a Taliban leader, which is possible in stunningly personal ways through the brutally eloquent writing of Dexter Filkins in his book, “The Forever War.”

You’ll fear for the future. I do.

Of the monstrous mountain of challenges  that our young, hope-filled president faces, none is higher or more dangerous than the terror-filled peak that is Afghanistan.

Regardless of politics and partisanship, all Americans surely must  hope he gets it right.

By Kevin Woster

OK, OK, so she didn’t handle it very well.

Or maybe she did, now that I think about it.

As a stranger in a strange land - meaning a woman in a land that doesn’t always hold women in high regard - Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton had a snappish moment in answering a dumb question from a snotty student in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

(Overly editorialized on my part? Hey, as Gutzon Harlan used to say: IT’S A BLOG!)

Anyway, I gotta ask: An obviously tired U.S. secretary of state is sitting on stage in a news-conference-type setting in the middle of an important 11-day African tour, and she’s taking random questions from students? What, they ran out of professional news reporters over there?

Or somebody just ran out of good sense? Or respect?

Students? Well, OK.

But given the nature of the students’ questions I heard, I’d get snappish, too. But then, I’m entirely unqualified to be secretary of state. Clinton is qualified, and probably should have handled the dumb question and another more bristly one with some professional grace.

Big deal? No, the bid deal was the trip, which is important to improving relations with a sprawling, complicated, promising and in many places war-ravaged part of the world that could become a priority if we ever shore up our more pressing matters elsewhere.

You know. The wars. The economy. The health-care plan. Cap and trade. Matters like that.

The Africa trip seemed mostly successful, and an entirely necessary beginning to more defining trips certain to come later.

And I gotta say, I loved the “I’m not channeling my husband” bit, snappish or not.

You go, girl! I mean, uh, Madam Secretary.

By Randall Rasmussen

Former state Sen. Ron Volesky of Huron announced Wednesday that he would seek the Democratic nomination for governor in 2010.

He joins state Sen. Scott Heidepriem of Sioux Falls as Democratic candidates for governor of South Dakota.

As Kevin Woster notes in his story in Thursday’s paper, both Volesky and Heidepriem used to be Republicans before switching parties.

The question I have is why have so few Democrats occupied the governor’s mansion in Pierre. The last Democratic governor was Harvey Wollman of Hitchcock, who succeeded Richard Kneip of Salem in July 1978 when Kneip resigned to become U.S. ambassador to Singapore. Wollman served until January 1979, and it’s been all Republicans since.

Beginning with Leslie Jensen of Hot Springs in January 1937 only three Democrats have served as South Dakota governor in the past 72 years: Wollman (1978-79), Kneip (1971-78) and Ralph Herseth of Houghton (1959-61 and Stephanie Herseth Sandlin’s grandfather).

Why the long drought for Democrats?

And can Volesky or Heidepriem break through?

By Jerry Steinley

Is Sarah Palin a big gun in the Republican’s arsenal or a has-been who played the wrong politics and fell from conservative favor?
Could be the latter.
CNN reports the Palin shine is beginning to tarnish. A recent poll shows fewer Americans have a favorable opinion of the outspoken former Alasak governor than just three months ago.
Today, 39 percent of the people surveyed have a favorable opinion of her; in May, 46 percent did. More people view her negatively, as well, according to the poll.
It’s reported she’s a contender for president in 2012 but with approval ratings right up there with Dan Quayle, and a proven track record of not holding a job, I can’t imagine how that could be possible.
So what happened to the Palin glow? Did she blow it when she resigned as governor of Alaska? Or when she said the healthcare proposal was evil? Or… Or has she blown it at all?