Last updated on 2014.08.02
In discussing the relative merits of potential Libertarian candidates for attorney general, my Libertarian neighbor Bob Newland has noted that Republicans have selected candidates for that office whom he finds extremely objectionable, like Bill Janklow.
I remind Newland and his Libertarian cohorts that the man most publicly seeking their AG nomination, Chad Haber, likes to tout that he's just like Bill Janklow.
In March 2013, Haber's non-profit Preventive Health Strategies published a newsletter in which one article credited Haber for restoring running water to 70,000 villagers in Cabaret, Haiti. The article deemed Haber "The Haitian Bill Janklow":
Most South Dakotans knew the late Bill Janklow, a former 16-year governor, as a fast-driving, gun-carrying, extremely no-nonsense politician.
Haber knew Janklow well, as governor, Congressman, private-practice attorney and friend [Preventive Health Strategies, "South Dakotan Brings Running Water to Haitian Village," Meaningful Medicine, March 2013].
Responding to a tense clash with the local mayor, Haber recalled an alleged incident with Janklow:
“I was in a meeting once when Bill Janklow whipped out a pistol and waved it around. It probably wasn’t appropriate here, but I just laughed.”
“‘I had a friend I wish you could have met,’” [Haber] told the Mayor.
At that point, the Mayor started laughing, as well, and the meeting continued.
Haber realized he was asking for too much, but, like Janklow, he likes to get right to the point [PHS, March 2013].
Libertarians have an opportunity to nominate a candidate who would represent a real change from the status quo of Republican power politics in South Dakota. They will squander that opportunity if they nominate Chad Haber, a registered Republican who styles himself as the next incarnation of Bill Janklow.
The only thing Chad knows about law is how to avoid prosecution, he's a master at it.
A guy walking by the USD law library in Vermillion knows more about the law than Chad.
Step 1 in avoiding prosecution: stay invisible.
Yes, Chad, by all means, run for public office. Tell us more about your close personal relationship with Bill Janklow. Tell us more about your past.
Stay invisible? I thought we were talking about Chad and not Mike Rounds.
Do you suppose Chad would welcome a full background check?
Oh no. Another Janklow for SD? Glub, glub, glub.
That's the sound of SD going down the drain if it gets stuck with another Janklow. I don't want that for my favorite home state.
Roger: ba-dum-bum! The same applies to avoiding negative political attacks. Haber may have more in common with Rounds than Janklow. (Now if I could just find the connection between Chad and EB-5....)
If Janklow showed up at the SDLP convention, even dead, and asked us to consider nominating him to the ballot, we'd take his $30, check his Libertarian voter registration, and let him talk, although he never opened his mouth and then shut it in under three hours. Then we'd vote on whether to choose him or someone else for the position he sought. If he was unopposed, I believe NOTA (None of the Above) would win.
May Janklow rot in pieces.
The facial resemblance may be purely coincidental - or not. All those tales of Wild Bill's wild-and-wooly exploits from the 70's may not be totally apocryphal.