After his paid blogging pal Pat Powers plowed the hyperbolic furrow Saturday, Senator Dan Lederman (R-16/Dakota Dunes) makes public his swing at turning a clear rule violation in the Junior Duck Stamp contest into his own political chest-thumping aimed at Laurie Shaffer, chief of the Federal Duck Stamp Office:
I am writing today to express my extreme disappointment in your decision to rescind the award won by Madison Grimm for the Junior Duck Stamp Program. Madison Grimm followed the rules of the contest as outlined in the 2013 Duck Stamp Brochure....
Page 6 of the brochure prohibits the use of "published source" material....
Madison Grimm complied with this provision by using an original photograph. Your decision to retract the award based on the use of source material is unfounded.
...I demand a reversal of the decision to retract the award and a public apology to the Grimm family for accusing them of violating contest rules [Senator Dan Lederman, letter to Laurie Shaffer, Federal Duck Stamp Office, 2013.04.26; published by Pat Powers, "State Senator sends letter to USFW Contest staff who rescinded duck stamp award," Dakota War College, 2013.04.29].
I guess Senator Lederman will be demanding a public apology from me as well.
Lederman makes one important error: he says "Madison Grimm followed the rules of the this contest." He cites only one rule mentioning "published sources" on page 6. He seems to think the rules stop on page 6. If he had turned to page 7 (or read my blog on Saturday), he'd have seen this rule
Design entries must be the contestant’s original, hand-illustrated creation and may not be traced or copied from published photographs or other artists’ works [U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, "2013 Federal Junior Duck Stamp Program and Contest," p. 7].
That's just one of three clauses in the Junior Duck Stamp contest rules that provide grounds for disqualification of Madison Grimm's skillful reproduction of her father's photograph.
Under Lederman's logic, Daniel Willard, whom Lederman is suing for campaign finance violations with a series of anonymous robocalls and other communications last summer, could get off scot free by telling the judge, "Hey! South Dakota Codified Law 12-27-8 doesn't say anything about having to identify the source of a robocall!" Such an argument would be both true and silly, given that Lederman is suing Willard over alleged violations of SDCL 12-27-16.
I am surprised that Senator Lederman can't read and understand the rules in their entirety. But, since Lederman and Powers would like to draw grand political generalizations from this single incident, perhaps I have the liberty to suggest that Lederman's selective reading exhibits a broader Republican willingness to ignore the rules that don't suit their political purposes.
yer a god, cah.
The only surprise is there is one judge in South Dakota willing to lower his standards and listen to Lederman's "case."
From Mr. Grimm: “I just wanted to make sure everyone saw this. It completely exonerates Madison of any wrong doing. PLEASE SHARE to help spread the word and remove this black cloud over her entirely legitimate win. THANKS!”
A LETTER FROM ROBERT LESINO - AUTHOR OF THE FEDERAL JUNIOR DUCK STAMP RULES
I, Robert C. Lesino was the Chief, Federal Duck Stamp Program, U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Department of ...Interior from 1993 to 2001. During this period I expanded the Federal Junior Duck Stamp Program from five participating states to all fifty states and the U.S. Territories. Increased stamp sales and distribution for both the adult and junior stamps.
I also, updated and rewrote the Federal Duck Stamp art contest entry rules and Junior Duck Stamp art contest rules in conjunction with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service/Department of the Interior’s legal counsel. The proposed changes in rules were published in the Federal Register for public comment. I created a series of national artist training workshops to facilitate artist’s understanding of the Federal Duck Stamp contest rules and what design and art concepts and processes could be used to make an acceptable and legal entry. My staff and I greatly increased interest and understanding of how to compete in this unique American art competition.
I recently read in the media with some shock and dismay the controversy over the 2013 Federal Junior Duck Stamp contest entry as submitted by six year old Madison Grimm, of South Dakota. I noted with interest the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s unclear reasons for disqualifying the entry after publicly pronouncing it the national junior winner as selected by the panel of judges.
The graphite transfer process was never a violation of the rules as long as the source material was not from previously published, copyrighted or protected materials. It appears the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service did not explain how it investigated this fact, nor explain the facts of their findings based on the contest rules. An explanation would be welcomed. As I understand the entry from talking with Madison’s father, Adam Grimm, Madison’s source material was from an unpublished photo Adam took and owned.
Corey, I will e-mail a copy of the complete letter to you. And let’s put to rest the idea that Madison did not do the painting as SHE DID. I have a grandson that was complimented by the Chair of the Art Department of USD for his exceptional drawings at age 8, but he began exhibiting his talent several years earlier.
As Dan Lederman throws manure at walls just to see what sticks, this father/daughter team learns subterfuge from their purported leaders: red state collapse on parade.
"The Save Vanishing Species stamp was created to raise public awareness and garner support for critically important global conservation efforts. Proceeds from this stamp will directly benefit the US Fish and Wildlife Service’s Wildlife Without Borders - Multinational Species Conservation Funds, which have funded more than 1,800 grants for tigers, elephants, great apes, rhinos, gorillas, chimpanzees, and sea turtles."
http://www.fws.gov/international/About_the_Stamp.html