Last night I noticed that Joint Rule 5-11.1 appears to prevent reconsideration of failed concurrent resolutions. Lieutenant Governor and Senate President Matt Michels says that interpretation is correct:
As was the case last year, Senator Neal Tapio cannot move to reconsider his failed concurrent resolution. Concurrent resolutions get one debate, one vote, and then the Senate moves on to other (real) business.
Expect Tapio to declare President Michels and the Joint Rules “enemies of the state” shortly.
Tapio will likely not experience any negative repercussions for his quite proper representation of < 50% of South Dakotans. The more divisive he gets, the more accurate his representation becomes.
Think back to the W Admin, Republicans asserted, quite successfully, that anyone who disagreed with how W waged his War on Terror was just simply ‘siding with the terrorists.’
The Republican base needs that kind of disingenuous divisive political theater in order to feel important – in America.
I wish rural state Democrats would co opt some similar techniques, but they just don’t ever seem to have the guts to stake out positions on issues and then draw lines in the sand regarding basic integrity and values.
When a minority party becomes a permanent tiny minority, it relieves them of the responsibility of governing – thereby reducing their roll down to complaining. IF said complaining is passionate, and right, enough, then the minority party will close the gap.
Kindness and political correctness works in urban and most suburban areas – but taking the same strategy to rural states is like taking a knife to a gun fight.
I think SD Dems should thank Tapio for providing a good example of how bombastic divisive rhetoric never gets punished and how it tends to only help in making one’s case – in places like South Dakota.
I apologize, I intended to use the greater than symbol to point out that over 50% of a South Dakotans are still Trumptards.
I think what you have is a lack of guts in the non-racist non-paranoid part of the Republican Party in South Dakota and in the nation. I don’t think Trump is really the kind of President that Republicans would prefer, but they tend toward cowardice when it comes to standing up for real Republican values. Too many cuckoo birds now control the party, so many have concluded that the best thing for the Republican Party is to lose badly and die.
I used to see this Republican gutlessness happening in Pierre, where the sane Republicans often patted the cuckoo birds on the head, rather than nipping the crazy in the bud. Democrats ripped off the bandage of racism in the 1950s and 60s, eventually kicking the racists out. In 2008-09, Democrats had no problem criticizing Stephanie Herseth for her gutless performance on the health care issue. For her gutlessness, Herseth got relieved of her duties. Republicans coddled the kooks until the kooks took over the party. Too bad. It’s time for that party to fade into history. We are seeing its death before us, and it could present an immediate danger to our democracy unless the sane Republicans stop being cowards.
Aww crap. I think I agree with Adam.