My friend died in Iraq

Robb Rolfing and I were on the O’Gorman debate team together. He was a serious guy – easily our best 1^st year debater back in 94. We spent a lot of time researching in the Augie library together – pretending to come up with the answers to America's healthcare crisis.

He excelled in the classroom – running circles around most everyone in math and science. He was witty, persuasive and charming. He could have done anything – and he selflessly chose to put his life on hold to heroically fight for our country in Iraq. Now he’s gone.

He’s in a place now where the architects of this war will never, ever follow.

Lauck v. Academic Respect He’ll Never, Ever Realize

Former paid Thune blogger, former hopelessly untenured SDSU professor and current highly paid official Thune employee Jon Lauck must think he’s Jack Kerouac or somethin’ banging out a whole book about the 2004 Daschle v. Thune election in just under 3 years. While the familiarly titled ‘Daschle Vs. Thune: Anatomy of a High-plains Senate Race forum’ won’t hit the Barnes and Noble ‘70% off bin’ until September 30 – It's already open for discussion on Amazon.com.

AN OPEN LETTER TO GREG BELFRAGE

Dear Greg,

Long time listener, first time caller – say, I’m sorry I had to go the open-letter route since you deleted my comment on your recent blog post “Senator Johnson’s Slow Recovery,” but I think my comment – “You’re a complete asshole” -- was an appropriate one in response to your observation that:

However, Johnson's office has clearly created the perception that the senator is getting the job done. Which raises the question...if things are going so well without him...why do we need Tim Johnson in Washington in the first place?

Greg, we understand that you’re a homely, bitterly frustrated, pathetically ill-endowed person who will do or say anything for attention – (sure, I’d be too if I saw what you see every morning in the mirror. No, God sure didn’t bless you with much, except maybe for the ability to gab well enough that someone would actually pay you to it professionally for what I’m guessing is around $23,000 a year) -- but, your ‘loud, obnoxious, frothing-at-the-mouth conservative’ shtick went a sconce too far when you accused a man -- a man who had dedicated a sizable chuck of his life to public service and making South Dakota a much better place -- of not recovering from his severe, life threatening brain injury fast enough for your liking to take care of the unspecified “trash” “piling up” back home. As someone who earns a living complaining about government but does absolutely nothing to contribute -- you strike me as an unseemly spokesman for this particular gripe.

You ask, “It is not unreasonable to ask when citizens can expect Senator Johnson will return to work.” Considering the magnitude of Senator Johnson’s injury, the above average recovery he’s exhibiting (according to actual medical doctors), and the virtual open book the Senator’s staff has provided his constituents with respect to nearly every aspect of the Senator’s recovery – I’d say your question is not only “unreasonable” -- it’s classless and just f***ing stupid.

You know damn well – or maybe you don’t – every Member of Congress has a large, dedicated staff that is really an extension of themselves that make sure the people’s work (constituent services, outreach, legislating) is getting done. That’s right – I said legislating.

From what we’ve been told – and it would take one cynical prick to claim it’s a lie -- Tim’s staff is briefing him on the issues of the day, he understands fully what’s best for the people of the South Dakota and is making decisions and moving legislation forward to do what’s best, like he did recently when he, along with Senator Chuck Grassley, introduced legislation to require each gallon of gasoline sold after 2010 to contain at least 10 percent renewable fuel.

But, you’re right – he hasn’t been able to physically vote since his severe, life threatening brain injury. Maybe – just maybe, Greg -- you could find it your good Christian heart to give the man the common courtesy of some more time to learn to walk again. I think Jesus would afford him that opportunity – so would the vast majority of rational people in South Dakota who don’t have a partisan ax to grind and who don’t see the Senator’s illness as an opportunity to get another Republican into office.

So, please, for your own sake -- quit licking your disgusting, mustachioed lips at that the chance to bring down a man who done so much for this state.

It’s only making you more irrelevant.

What Thune would say about Iraq today if a Dem were President

U.S. Rep. John Randolph Thune on Bosnia, April 7, 1999:

"I understand that we look at this as people who value human life ... and we have to do something about it. But I'm not sure it's one of those situations where we can justify putting our young people over there and having them killed in order to bring peace to an area which, by definition, will never be a peaceful area of the world."

[...]

"I just hope we're not in there a year from now having to incur casualties in a war that we'll never win. This could be an escalation much along the lines of Vietnam. Just look at Bosnia -- that situation is still open-ended. It was supposed to be a one-year campaign and it's been four years now."
[SOURCE: Yankton Press & Dakotan]

"Man -- what an amazingly hypocritical jackass." -- Jer Bear, January 16th, 2007

God, you really hate to see Dick Wad’s once soaring career swirl and smear all the way down the latrine like this.

Was I right, or was I right that Dick Wad was nothing more than an over-hyped, one-trick scorched Earth pony that just - did - not - know what to do when his guy’s back was the one on the mat? I’m as happy as a methed-up Evangelical leader in a gay whorehouse – maybe happier.

On the one hand, I’ve broken out into several lil’ happy dances this past week thinking about how Sen. Thune's former mouthpiece and ‘Karl Rove’s Heir Apparent’ will now be relegated to running school board campaigns in Bumblefuck, Colorado thanks to his unexpected rash of ‘deer in the headlights’ moments when his boss, Sen. George Allen – who once and will never again be considered a top GOP Presidential contender – let his true colors shine. Colors that might seem familiar.

On the other hand, it’s hard to relish all this – the whole taking back the country from the corrupt, incompetent, dangerous assholes thing – when I think about how Tom Daschle could have once again been the Majority Leader, quite effectively making our state’s priorities a national priority. Yup, I just hope the slim majority of voters in South Dakota are content with their typical politician now standing at the very back of the line of the minority party -- a guy who was no where to be found when his faithful supporters needed him most on the abortion ban. That’s just the kind of guy John is. Worth it? Ironically, victims of rape and incest in South Dakota owe a lil' debt of gratitude to John’s complete unwillingness to stick his head out on any controversial issue -- no matter how much sanctimonious wind-bagging he did on the campaign trail.

Now, I thought it would be fun to post some choice experts from all the recent national stories talking about how big a fuck-up Dick Wadhams is.

From the New Republic Online:

THE ROVE WHO WASN'T?:
Remember how GOP operative Dick Wadhams--who engineered the 2004 defeat of Tom Daschle and now works for George Allen--was primed to become the next Karl Rove? With Allen's campaign considered among the worst-run of this cycle, it doesn't seem to be working out that way.
Although when you think about it, building a fearsome rep and then flopping on your face may be a more up-to-the-moment way of qualifying as the next Rove.
[Thanks to reader D.]
--Michael Crowley

From the New Republic Online:

THE SAD FATE OF GEORGE ALLEN'S A-LIST ADVISERS.
Wheel of Fortune
by Isaac Chotiner
Only at TNR Online | Post date 11.13.06
[…]
But the man most damaged by Allen's spectacular implosion isn't Gillespie, Matalin, or possibly even Allen himself (who will surely find a lucrative way to spend his days). It is Campaign Manager Dick Wadhams, who, for a long time, was thought to be the next Karl Rove. Slate called him Rove's "heir apparent," a reference to both his political skill (he engineered John Thune's stunning upset of Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle in South Dakota, and he was instrumental in the rise of Colorado Governor Bill Owens) and his Rove-like classiness (Wadhams: "There's nothing wrong with going negative. Staying positive is a disservice to the voters.").
But, after he enlisted with Allen, he lost his mojo. The campaign did not respond quickly or cogently to adversity, and it waited too long to show contrition for the macaca incident. And the decision to go after Webb for the racy content in his novels was a political blunder that made Allen appear puny and pathetic. The Denver Post, which had previously chronicled Wadhams's rise through Colorado politics, said he seemed to be "adrift in a cyclone." Wadhams, erstwhile golden boy, is now the aide who steered a once-sure-thing to defeat.

From WashingtonPost.com:

Ten Worst Campaigns Run by Incumbents (Listed Alphabetically):
Sen. George Allen (R): No candidate was nominated for worst-run campaign by more members of our informal panel than Allen. At the start of this election, the Virginia senator was widely seen as one of the rising stars in the Republican Party -- an unflappable, optimistic voice evoking images of former President Ronald Reagan. But starting in early August with Allen's "macaca" moment, his campaign has been caught flatfooted time and time again. The initial reaction by the Allen campaign -- that he had nothing to apologize for -- was tone deaf, and his multiple subsequent apologies kept the story in the news for weeks. Allen has struggled to regain momentum in the race ever since. He may survive on Tuesday, but his mistakes in this race have likely cost him a run for president in 2008.

From U.S. News and World Report:

T-Paw and Others You Need to Know
Those midterm elections Tuesday continue to help weed out and build up the list of candidates expected to run for president in 2008. Let's start with the growing list of big losers. You can add Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist to former Virginia Gov. Mark Warner, who whined about the travel, and two foot-in-mouth senators, Republican George Allen and Democrat John Kerry.
Frist, who was a lackluster candidate at best, is being written off by his own party elders because of the power shift in the Senate. Also, you can forget about Allen campaign manager Dick Wadhams, who was being heralded as the next James Carville or Ken Mehlman for helping South Dakota Sen. John Thune slay former Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle. Even his own team says the Allen campaign was a disaster.

McCain Contradicts Thune on VEEP List

Exhibit A from the October 16 HOTLINE:

MCCAIN; HOW DOES THUNE KNOW HE'S NOT ON THE VEEP LIST?

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) will visit South Dakota on 10/17, speaking to the Sioux Falls Area Chamber of Commerce. Spokesperson Amy Bennett: "He's a busy person and high [in] demand right now, too." McCain is "coming at the invitation" of Sen. John Thune (R-SD).

[...]

Thune said he is "not on McCain's list of possible" '08 running mates (Walker, AP/Yankton Press and Dakotan, 10/16).

Exhibit B from the October 18 edition of HARDBALL with Chris Matthews on MSNBC:

CHRIS MATTHEWS: You just passed your 70th birthday and you`re seeing already these young comers, 45 coming over the Hill trying to make a reputation and you`re the guy -- you could be king of the Hill the next time. You could do it, you could go all the way and be president of the United States for eight full years. Do you feel you can beat guys like Barack Obama? Can you take this guy in 12 rounds? Can you do it?

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN: I think first it would be interesting where I run or not. But second is where I could win the primary or not. But we have a generation of young leaders in our Republican Party. We have John Thune, we have Lindsey Graham, we have John Sununu. We have Richard Burr. We have a pretty good crop of young senators and congressmen also that I think will give any of these young Democrats a struggle.

MATTHEWS: Do you think Lindsey would be a good running mate for you come next year? Lindsey Graham, JAG experience?

MCCAIN: Lindsey, Sununu, Thune, Burr, there`s a broad variety of them, both in and out.

MATTHEWS: When will the McCain household get together and decide whether or not to make this big run for president?

MCCAIN: After Thanksgiving.

WTF? John Randolph reeks of Presidential ambition, to be sure (his official press office used to send around any news article suggesting as much to the local press). But, why the outright denial when it comes to the GOP Presidential frontrunner McCain considering him for his running mate? “Maverick” McCain doesn’t sound like he’s crossed Thune off the list at all – in fact, he’s literally the third guy he named.

Either it’s a mealy-mouthed ‘we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it’ line out of Thune, or it’s just a complete line of shit -- as is clearly the case here.

Hmmm - the Jeff Gannon/Thune Campaign dynamic may have been more provocative than originally thought…

From the L.A. Times piece today, ‘Some Seek 'Pink Purge' in the GOP:’

Sen. George Allen (R-Va.), a staunch opponent of same-sex marriage, has a campaign manager who is gay.