Last updated on 2014.07.20
Governor Dennis Daugaard issues his "heartiest congratulations" to all South Dakota graduates. (He's saving his least hearty congratulations for National Blog Recognition Day... whenever that is.) The Governor says many silly things to our graduates.
Fortunately, South Dakota's parents, teachers, instructors, and professors have imparted lessons that make South Dakota graduates some of the best-equipped in the world. Armed with a strong work ethic, self-reliance, and a sound education... [Governor Dennis Daugaard, "Congratulations, Graduates," press release, 2012.05.21].
Best-equipped graduates? Sound education? So even the Governor himself acknowledges that South Dakota's education system works really well? Wow: so much for the argument that education is broken and that we have to fix it with the toxic HB 1234.
Armed with a strong work ethic, self-reliance, and a sound education, you can do well in the world. Rely on yourself, believe in yourself, and strive for great things [Daugaard, 2012.05.21].
Ah, juche again. Kim Jong-Dennis loves talking about self-reliance. Certainly we all need faith in ourselves and personal initiative to get things done. But didn't the Governor just say that you new graduates can have faith in yourselves because of all the great parents and teachers you relied on for your sound education? Read or watch Into the Wild, then discuss what happens when you make self-reliance your core value.
Fortunately, today's graduates will emerge into an improving economy with a better outlook than their peers found a few years ago, when our country was in the depths of the recession. South Dakota is recovering strongly, showing total employment numbers that are approaching pre-recession levels [Daugaard, 2012.05.21].
That ruckus you hear in the background is folks waving rainbow Obama-Biden placards and shouting "Four more years! Four more years!" The squealing is Kristi Noem crying "Noooooo!" as Daugaard undermines her talking points on President Obama and the economy.
Even at graduation, you should still think about the words you say. Carry on, Governor Daugaard!
If the Governor had thrown in "neither a borrower nor a lender be," I'd wonder if he'd plagiarized Polonius's advice to Laertes in Hamlet.
Maybe he wants to LARP* Star Wars as Obi Wan and tell Luke to "use the Force" and "Trust your feelings"
*Live Action Role Play
I like that line about how his Board of Regents continues to undermine course offerings, destroy entire academic programs, and otherwise campaign to maximize profits while they devalue the human dignity and worth of their employees through sub-standard wages, non-negotiable yearly contracts, and the threats and intimidation we've come to expect...that was a great line, takes some real strong initiative to put that out there...and in a graduation card at that.
On further review, the Governor was probably inspired by this Old Spice Commercial