Democrat Lynn Frey of Lemmon bailed out of the District 28B House race, and the Democrats in Perkins, Harding, and Butte counties couldn’t find a replacement, so folks in that single-seat district are stuck with just two choices for House: their incumbent Republican Representative Sam Marty from Prairie City or Libertarian Jason Hill from Belle Fourche.
Marty gets a boost in my book for holding hands with Democratic candidate for Attorney General Randy Seiler. But what points does Hill get with his new campaign video?
The grim music at weird smoke at the beginning bode ill, arousing too easily the public conception of Libs as devotees of the demon weed. But the the banjo plays, and Jason Hill turns to comfy word-and-image salad (er… this is Belle Fourche, so, hotdish) that hints as much at liberalism as Libertarianism:
- Life and Family, both depicted by Bear Butte and critters, the great green outdoors that we liberals love and fight for with honest environmental policy!
- Business, symbolized by progressive windmills freeing us from all those fossil fuels Marty’s party wants to waste!
- Liberty, enshrined by Mount Rushmore (but at night, signaling a subtle critique of dark times in Trumpistan?).
- Limited Government, symbolized by that cute little porcupine the Libertarians make their mascot, along with their eagle torch, defying traditional iconography, inviting prickly debates and reminding us that real conservatives agree with liberals that government shouldn’t be inserting itself in women’s uteri!
- …and Isaac Asimov-style mutton chops bearded out… which isn’t necessarily a liberal style but at least frames a smile showing Hill is enjoying himself.
Sam Marty, hurry up and post a Facebook video so we can compare and vote on District 28B symbolism!
Go Jason! Another fine addition to the Beard Caucus. Brothers Heidelberger, Pischke and myself welcome you!
Jason would do great in the state house, and be a great representative for 28B! The beard caucus is a great idea! Some good guys in there ;)
Hahaha, the beard caucus, that’s pretty funny! Thanks for the article, Cory. That was nice and I like your critique of my video. It’s always interesting to see different people’s perspectives.
Long time between comments. Is it siesta time?
I propose membership in the Beard Caucus be limited to real beards, not Pischke/Haugaard goats. If you’re going to beard up, you gotta go all in! :-{D#
“I propose membership in the Beard Caucus be limited to real beards…”
So help me if you make a caucus logo with genitalia, I’m out!
Before the trolls get here, the caucus includes all nationalities, including Muslims that so many in South Dakota love to hate?
Mike, you know I impose no religious test on any elected official.
And before anyone accuses me of sexism for even entertaining the idea of such a caucus, let me point out that any whiskered woman automatically gets to chair the caucus.
Beards, ‘fu-staches, and sideburns aside, consider for a moment the spectacle of the caucus Gideon describes: Oakes, Hill, Pischke, and me, sitting at the same table, working out a compromise on some important bill.
Gentlemen, on some issues, I suspect we would fail to find common ground. But on more issues than our RINO/opportunist opponents might think, I’ll bet we could agree and rally a majority vote in our respective chambers.
mike, no one is proposing a religious test. Isam is much more than a religion.
Not biting. Anyone with whiskers is welcome in the Beard Caucus. Plus, our meetings will be open to the public whom we serve. We may even hand out paper mustaches for spectators to twirl while we deliberate.
OS is right. Islam is also neighborly love, modesty and a meditative prayer process .
Eid Mubarak عيد مبارك – خنزير جبان
What I got out of the video was endless buffering. Other videos are okay on my tablet. Did anyone else have a problem with it?
I know Sam Marty and his family personally and quite well, though it’s been many years since we’ve visited. I like Sam very much and have a great deal of respect for him. I’m not aware of his political positions, though I know he is a – gulp – I need a moment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Republican.
(Sam, if you’re reading this, we gotta talk.)