Tom Barnett didn’t fly up from Florida to sit next to me in the courtroom when he joined a copycat lawsuit that helped me overturn Initiated Measure 24 and the ban on his now out-of-state contributions to ballot question committees. But one might think Barnett, member of one of South Dakota’s notable Republican families, caught something from even that brief litigious association with me two years ago. Barnett appears at the very bottom of Stephen Groves’s latest report on the cult of personality that is dividing the South Dakota Trumpublican Party as one of the Republicans coming to his senses about the last four years:
In the meantime, some longtime state Republican figures are frustrated with their senator’s hesitation to convict Trump.
“He deserves to be convicted,” said David Volk, a former state treasurer.
Volk has observed a steady rightward lurch in Republican politics over the years that has culminated in widespread support for Trump. Though he believes that Thune won’t face much much trouble being reelected, Volk feels Noem has ensured that Trump’s brand of politics lives on in the state.
“There’s a lot of people who would like to see this go away, Trump go away,” he said. “But there’s no way they’re going to get him to go away.”
Others, like Tom Barnett, a former director of the state’s bar association, have given up on the Republican Party. Last year he changed his party affiliation after 50 years with the GOP, saying he could no longer support officials who would not stand up to Trump.
He said Trump “not only stole the party, he ruined the party” [Stephen Groves, “Trump Loyalists in South Dakota Turn on Home Senator,” AP, 2021.01.31].
It’s nice to get those words on the record… and funny to hear the GOP spin machine not mention Barnett in its Sunday spin cycle attempting to marginalize all the discontented Republicans quoted by Groves and maintain the image of a party monolith with no imperiling divide.
Still, I’m inclined to believe that none of the noise about GOP rifts and primaries will amount to anything more than good jokes and South Dakota Republican margins of victory declining by 3 percentage points in 2022. Tom Barnett’s disaffection with the spinelessness of South Dakota’s leaders in the face of lies and insurrection may stop him from donating to Rounds and Noem in 2022… but does anyone expect Barnett to start stuffing checks in Democrats’ P.O. boxes? Besides, Barnett has moved away and has enough money to enjoy his retirement without having to kiss any Republican keester; the vast majority of active South Dakota Republicans still feel cowed by their oppressive one-party regime and show no signs of substantively rocking the boat against even the most craven cowardice of their establishment figureheads.
From the argus article about possible Thune primaries:
A private Facebook group called “Primary John Thune in 2022” has attracted over 3,000 members. One of them, Bruce W. Whalen, said Thune’s refusal to support Trump’s claims of fraud has fueled interest.
“We can’t understand as South Dakotans why Thune, (Sen. Mike) Rounds and (Rep. Dusty) Johnson can’t see what we see,” he said.
They are so, so close to having an epiphany about their worldview, but you know they will never, ever get there. I left the GOP after 20 years for the exact same reason. You are entitled to your own opinion, but not your own facts.
Reminds me of an old bar joke between two loudmouths threatening each other, “Someone please hold me back, please”. The Qibbies are too drunk with their trumpian potion to do anything but threaten one another with a divorce, the alimony loss is just too much to bear. Who would their conspiracy theory’s be about then? No Fox News, oh the humanity.
I totally agree with Dicta. I can’t for the life of me understand why someone like Thune, who one would think unbeatable because of his Hollywood photo ops, why he can’t vote to disavow criminal behavior and come back to SD and explain in plain language why he voted the way he did. We are taught not to grab crotches in SD, at least I was. We don’t scam people who work for us. We don’t incite riots. We are taught to respect others. We don’t tend to blackmail anyone. Why Johnnie can’t espouse some SD values in D.C. is beyond me except to think he’s just in it for himself, in which case he ought to be replaced. (Rounds, looking at you, too. And Dusty, you look pathetic when you try to come across as a tough guy. Get an acting coach.)
Probably the only thing I will ever agree with Liz Cheney was her vote to impeach trump. At least she put country over party although she calls it a “vote of conscience”. She just can’t say “country first’ because repubs are all about power.
I’m sure that Vladimir Thune will probably need about 20 bucks in campaign spending to squash Bruce Whalen challenge. Bruce is about as impressive of a politico as a June Bug, but Bruce will make some walkin’ around money in the grifter scheme of the Qibbie trumpian’s. .
Dakota magats complain Marlboro Barbie, Cardboard Mike and the Duster can’t see all the fraud citizens can see. Must be chewing loco weed because pot doesn’t make you see things that aren’t there. Seriously, if there was massive fraud some competent person would have proof and yet no one ever has come forward with any. Chicken Little anyone?
It shouldn’t take an epiphany to join the left. Compassion for other human beings.
This is where “Republican Cowards” have brought us to after 20 or more years of selfish voter cancellation:
“Covid-19 variants have been found in at least 33 U.S. states. Experts say these mutant strains could push the nation into a powerful surge in the coming weeks as all 50 states are reporting vaccine shortages.” ALL IN, Chris Hayes, MSNBC today.
Yeah, I’m not sure “Agree with me or you don’t have compassion for other people” is the best tact to take here, Leslie. Sometimes I am concerned the left is trying to replace the right when it comes to puritannical stances. People can disagree with you and not be bad people.
I think we all should have known what Trump was by the time he took the escalator ride. It was well known that he was a liar, a philanderer, a poor businessman, a con artist. He combined that with mental illness and fascist inclinations. That the Republican Party allowed him on their ballot was appalling. You might as well put Hitler on the ballot. Thune had the right inclinations when he said Trump should withdraw from the nomination, but then he buckled under, as they all did. Cowardice, they name is Thune.
It’s not much different than how Hitler came to power. The German conservatives hated Hitler, but they handed him power because they thought they would be the power behind the curtain. They thought they could control him. It turned out Hitler controlled them. He had tested them, and they turned out to be cowards. Those he didn’t control he had killed, and even some he controlled, he killed.
But what of Thune? Sooner or later, had Trump retained power, Thune would have faced the squad. No, not AOC and her posse, but Trump’s squadristi, that mob stormed the Capitol Building, and was looking to hang Pence. Now that Trump’s out of power, he still controls the weaklings, Thune being about as weak as they get.
It’s good to see some Republicans have at long last seen through what has become of their party. It no longer is the Republican Party, or maybe it is now what the Republican Party has been becoming for 50 years.
What’s so sad is that it took sooo long for said Republicans to wise up! Their herd mentality has them so afraid to stick out from the crowd and be different. But then, when you look at how the Pennington Co Republicans mobilize on social media and castigate Tiffany Howard for wanting to know the costs of the governess’ security detail the whole state GOP seems to jump aboard and drag her down. If you are GOP, don’t stick your head up out of the crowd unless you have the blessings of the power of the party. Let alone question the GOVERNOR-of all people! Don’t yo u know ‘she’s pretty-she’s a rodeo star-Fox News loves her-Trump loves her-she spends our hard earned tax dollars out-of -state!’
Hmmmm, was our election when she was elected as secure as our last one in SD?
Let it be pointed out the Conservatives with Common Sense have stood in unwavering solidarity, together against the insanest Trumpers and the whackiest libbies, for the past 4 years. And for the past 2 years, we have been working on a vaccination for NDS, which is desperately needed everywhere.
Laurie Garret, Pulitzer medical reporter, twitter: Study of half million
@pfizer
vaccinees shows 1dose efficacy is barely 50%. After 2nd dose, protection soars to >90%.
So yes, you need 2 doses.
https://medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.01.27.21250612v1.full.pdf
A facebook site to attack Thune….lol. Bruce is a loser that played the token indian for the SD Repubs a few years back. He is a joke and Jim Thompson is a racist. A stolen election it was not. Millions more hired Biden because Trump was incompetent for the job. Tax cuts for the rich in 2017 and we acquired 7.8 trillion in debt during his admin. Welfare for farmers because of failed trade wars. The GOP does not exist anymore. yet there will be people that claim to be republican that will get on ballots and make the house and senate even more fascist than it is now. Because people will vote for them and gerrymandering and voter suppression will continue.
“Moderate Republicans” knew what Trump was from day one they just attempted to use his popularity to stay in power, damn the consequences, similar to their embracing the lunatic religious right, so very conservative of them. Moderate Democrats also nod at AOC too, granted, she isn’t as crazy, but both parties are willing to use Modern Monetary Theory to prop up the economy. Fire up the printing press there are some real nut jobbers out there like Stephanie Kelton who authored “The Deficit Myth” right now influencing government. Janet Yellen is going along with it the deficit has never been higher Republicans used to clamor about a balanced budget it kept them up at night worrying about their grandkid’s future. Isn’t that right Grudz the hypocrisy is stunning. The terms Republican and Democrat no longer have meaning both parties are incohesive.
“Sometimes I am concerned the left is trying to replace the right when it comes to puritanical stances.”
For example? Not trying to pick a fight, sailor.
Grdz-you actively promoted Trump here in 2016. A year ago you surprised us declaring you weren’t Murphy and began muttering about Trump not giving it to you as much.
“Sometimes I am concerned the left is trying to replace the right when it comes to puritanical stances” ha ha ha says Dicta. Authoritarianism can come from the left or right Horseshoe Theory: “the far-left and the far-right, rather than being at opposite and opposing ends of a linear political continuum, closely resemble one another, analogous to the way that the opposite ends of a horseshoe are close together.” Leslie, if you can’t see this, it just reflects how entrenched you are in one very extreme side.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horseshoe_theory#:~:text=In%20political%20science%20and%20popular,a%20horseshoe%20are%20close%20together.
Ms. leslie, I have never declared grudznick is not anybody. I have never even declared you are not one of the several grudznicks we all know and love.
Illeism. What’s the definition? Why would a person constantly do this? Does it get on your nerves?
trumpians have their book.
It reportedly was Ike’s favorite.
“The True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements”
https://www.amazon.com/True-Believer-Thoughts-Movements-Perennial/dp/0060505915/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1IA7ZT9TKUAYZ&dchild=1&keywords=true+believers&qid=1612261687&s=books&sprefix=true+beievers%2Caps%2C209&sr=1-1
Dicta, they’ll never get to that worldview change, and, like Whalen, they’ll never get over themselves long enough to put together a viable campaign to unseat their own establishment. They must make a total break from the SDGOP branding and ideology and lay bare the corruption and incompetence fostered by one-party cronyism.
South Dakota Democrats suffer from a similar problem. SD Dems’ efforts to paint themselves as Republicans Lite have kept them from beating the SDGOP. Whalen, Stace Nelson, Liz May, and others seem to offer something we could call “Republican Heavy” or “Republican Pure,” but that won’t distinguish them sufficiently from the mainstream product.
Grudz, these purported “Conservatives for Common Sense” don’t appear to be making much difference, either. The one-party regime remains in power, and their monolithic control fosters the corruption and (Spike’s word) fascism that grows in South Dakota.
Spike’s right about the insignificance of a Facebook group. Clicks mean nothing if they don’t turn into cash, canvassing, and votes.
Way OT… former Rapid City Mayor and current Sheldon, iowa city manager, Sam Kooiker, gets a promotion from iowa guv.
Governor Reynolds appointed Sheldon City Manager Sam Kooiker as one of three people to the Iowa State Civil Rights Commission.
I know what horseshoe theory is, Happy. I think it is an oversimplification of political ideology, which is multi-faceted and much more nuanced than the 2-dimensional spectrum it attempts to describe. Nonetheless, it is a useful descriptive tool from time-to-time, if nothing else.
Humm, interesting that some people are reconciling their political morals now the Republican party is either coming apart or becoming an animal house party. In the past Abdnor represented the State well until he didn’t. A few Native replaced him with Senator Daschel, who served well until he got into the river bed with a Republican governor, a few Natives not voting had him replaced. Today Senator Thune is facing a life changing moment in November 2022. In South Dakota we try to be law bidding citizens. We try to sort out the right from the wrong. We know what’s it like to have elected people kill someone driving or walking our highways or in a recent incident, allow the killing of a law enforcement officer at the US Capitol. Yep, the police officer wasn’t from South Dakota, but we are. When Senator Thune turns a blind eye to killing a police officer by insurgents or domestic terrorists he stopped representing the values and decency we have. It seems Thune is just like previously mentioned Senators who went east and never came back. To allow what happened on Jan 6 to go without retribution more of the same will follow. The white privileged domestic terrorists living in Todd and Tripp Counties are chuckling as they think they go away with acts of war against the United States… is Thune going to let them and their trumper off the hook?
I am an SDSU grad; I made SDSU the bad guy so I wouldn’t (shouldn’t?) be accused of Coyote bias…..
Does the following scenario sound familiar?
SDSU is playing USD (doesn’t matter which sport).
The SDSU coach says, “The only way we can lose this game is if the refs are unfair!”
SDSU loses. SDSU coach: “The game was stolen from us by the referees!!! USD made them do it!!!” He tries to get the USD win changed to an SDSU win.
Well, then the refs were OBVIOUSLY unfair. Absolutely. ALL the SDSU fans say so (I actually talked to three of them), as well as the coach. And just because the refs’ supervisors (who were actually at the game) say the refs WERE fair doesn’t mean ANYTHING.
The SDSU coach then goes before the student body and says, “The only way this will be made right is if YOU make sure it is made right.” He then hands out maps of the route from Brookings to Vermillion.
RST-good one. But, I would surely include the recent ‘winner’ Mike Rounds in your words about Thune; as he (Rounds) bragged to us about “Taking SD ‘values’ to Washington and showing them “what we’re made of!’ Well, Mike Rounds, Like John Thune AND Dusty is a Trump sycophant, enthralled by that huckster of TV fame that was the worst POTUS we ever had. Should either Thune or Rounds vote to impeach the man who single-handedly incited the riot that killed 5 people, destroyed parts of the capitol and tried to kill Democracy
I will be shocked. Neither of them have the South Dakota back-bone of a high-school student, let alone a US Senator.
happy camper thinks people should let go of labels and judgment and think more about ideas