The election for Lawrence County Commission is one month away. If the performances at Monday night's GOP candidates forum here in Spearfish accurately indicate the quality of the candidates, the incumbents running for Lawrence County Commission can spend the next month coasting. Unless something surprising happens, Commissioners Terry Weisenberg and Daryl Johnson have another term in office in the bag.
Now let's be clear: I offer this assessment with no malice toward the challengers. I met those challengers, Steve Rosenberg and Robert Romanov, for the first time Monday night. I have no personal axe to grind with any of them. I have no reason to think they are not men of good conscience who want to serve their communities. But in terms of intelligent policy discussion, neither Rosenberg nor Romanov demonstrated readiness for the jobs they want.
After just two questions, Steve Rosenberger demonstrated that he another of those poor souls who mistakes spouting Glenn-Beck karaoke for substantive discussion of practical policy. He declared Meade County's effort to create sensible, uniform zoning regulations an act of terror. Then, when asked to list his three key priorities, Rosenberger spoke of one: stopping a United Nations takeover of the Black Hills via "sustainable development":
Madness. Simple madness (emphasis on both words). Rosenberger would find himself frustrated and useless on the Lawrence County Commission. He would find his anti-government paranoia and national-level pontifications have nothing to do with the day-to-day decisions necessary to balance the county budget and responsibly deliver the practical and necessary services of county government.
Robert Romanov is not a paranoid nut. He's just not able to get off his script. Too often his answers Monday drifted away from the point of the question. When he did address the specific questions, his answers lacked the depth of understanding and detail offered by incumbents Weisenberg and Johnson. One of the best examples is on the question about tax increment finance districts: Johnson delivers a primer on how TIFs work; Weisenberg cites the recalcitrance of one developer in answering his questions (with, granted, a stretch to shoehorn in another mention of what he mislabels the "Obama-led Depression"; Romanov simply says something about agreeing with the other commissioners, then goes off on a tangent about the commission's good work on the new runway at the airport:
Commissioners Johnson and Weisenberg know their stuff. Rosenberger and Romanov do not. Unless the incumbents commit some gross error in the coming month and the challengers do some homework, you vote for Johnson and Weisenberg.
"Simple madness (emphasis on both words). Rosenberger would find himself frustrated and useless on the Lawrence County Commission. He would find his anti-government paranoia and national-level pontifications have nothing to do with the day-to-day decisions necessary to balance the county budget and responsibly deliver the practical and necessary services of county government."
Congratulations Cory, this post is exactly what the corporatists want the deceived voters to hear...again and again.
UN-backed coalition forces should invade South Dakota.
Well, heck, Steve: if there is any merit at all to the nuttiness Rosenberger is spouting, the John Birch Society had better find some people who can get that message across in an intelligent, fact-based fashion.
OK Cory, like Mitt Romney right?
Extremely stupid to bring up something the people in your audience have obviously never heard of, and then laugh at them for not knowing about it.
Mind numbingly stupid.
Same with you, Sibson. If you have a link to explain what the heck he's talking about, post it so we can discuss it. But your and Rosenberg's arrogant little smirks about how uninformed everyone is but you doesn't do anything except make your potential supporters want to puke.
Throughout my life I've had friends who have tried to pull crap like that. And every single time, when you finally nail them down, they don't know jack. They're like the guys who keep revising the date after their end-of-the-world predictions don't come true.
Maybe Rosenberg can explain himself satisfactorily Cory. If he wants to lead, he will. Otherwise, he'll just have to wait 'till Sibby comes up and they can have a good old fashioned, paranoid, bark at the moon session together.
Bob Ewing led a recycling campaign in LawCo several years ago but was smashed by the white retirees that rely on the entrenched good ol' boys like Tom Nelson who have been bought off by counties that operate landfills.
Go to the Belle Fourche landfill on the banks of the river and watch environmental degradation floating the flagship of Republican control.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sustainable_development#Criticisms
Here are the arguments.
Fleming, one of the master deceivers. He pretends he hates corporatists, but he is actually willing to carry their water.
Notice how Cory and Fleming are trained to use the "paranoia" distraction to keep people from listening to those who have uncovered the truth about what is really going on. And then they use "anti" to make us look negative. So what is so negative about telling people the truth?
"flagship of Republican control"
Yes Larry...corporatism. The real government is those corporate players who buy elections for their political actors. There are those who make a lot of money from them putting out deceitful ads.
No one has to do anything to make you look negative and paranoid, Steve. It's one of those self-evident truths.
"No one has to do anything to make you look negative and paranoid, Steve."
So then why are you working so hard at it Bill?
This isn't work for me Steve. It's more like playing Angry Birds or something. I do it for fun. (...and creative writing practice.)
Writers be writin', you know?
Notice that Steve still hasn't offered to explain anything. Just whine. That's pretty much what the paranoid thing always is — a crybaby routine. Most in his ilk have a persecution complex.
More deception from Fleming. You are really sad Bill.
i'm sad, too, sibby. the state i grew up loving is profoundly broken awaiting redemption from the yellowstone supervolcano.
very sad indeed.
What's kind of sad, Steve (except when it's kind of funny), is when clinically deranged, delusional people post their hallucinations on blogs and then become discouraged, frustrated, and upset when sane, rational people don't take them seriously.
Comedy and Pathos. The stuff all drama is made of.
i'm not discouraged, bill....
When you start advocating for policy that is in line with your supposed position regarding the corporate takeover of the US Government, Sibby, then maybe people will start listening to you.
Not Ideology. Policy, policy, policy.
Here's a starter kit:
• Reverse Citizens United
• Denounce the Koch Brothers and ALEC
• Stop supporting laws that oppress and degrade women
• Stop advocating the validity of magic over good science
• Enforce Dodd/Frank, or better yet repeal Gramm-Leach
• Support development of alternative energy resources.
• Overhaul the IRS tax code
• Support and prioritize excellence in public education
• Acknowledge racism/xenophobia in our culture and work to erradicate it
Yes, Larry, you're a happy maniac. LOL.
(...cue next pathetic, meaningless whine from Sibson...)
Policy...ban the Federal Reserve, eliminate the IRS, the Dept of Ed, the FDA, the EPA, and grant due process to all, including America's Posterity...the preborn, and acknowledge the violation of religious liberty by the New Age Theocrats, and that would include you Bill.
Well at least you didn't whine. Good. So let's review:
1. Ban the Federal Reserve.
Why? That just gives more power to the corps allowing them to manipulate government even more than they already are.
2. Eliminate the IRS. Great.
See #1.
3. " the Dept of Ed.
Sure, if you only want the aristocracy educated and put everyone else back into the feudal system and indentured servitude.
4. " the FDA,
so we can go back to the days of snake oil salesmen? Poison everyone to make a quick buck? Sell people things that make them sick? Please.
5. " the EPA
...so we can go back to the days when rivers were fire hazards, and people got cancer just by breathing?
The other two are just goofy. Those rights are already in place.
Besides, the only people advocating a theocracy are you theocrats.
As I suspected, none of these ideas has anything to do with addressing the real problem of corporate/government oligarchy, or the potential tyranny of unbridled capitalism and subsequent oppressive plutocracy.
Name one nation on the planet that is doing well by its people having implemented your radical formula here Sibby.
One country that's doing it right and the people are thriving.
I'll wait.
I am sick of seeing so many comment sections turn into Sibby's soapbox for the same old issues. Could we just move all of those conversations to Sibby Online and focus the conversation in this section on the merits of the Lawrence County Commission candidates?