The South Dakota National Guard hosted its 30th annual Legislative Dining Out shindig at the Ramkota Thursday. People wore black tie, the Guards handed Governor Daugaard a sword, and fun was had by all.
Among the most fun tables at which to sit may have been Rep. Stace Nelson's, where the Fulton Fulminator and his wife broke bread with radical right-wing Senator Phil Jensen and family, somewhat moderate Adelstein replacement Senator Alan Solano and his Mrs., and former Army major turned anti-Noem warrior Corinna Robinson and her new campaign manager, former State Senator Tom Katus:
Democrats and Republicans together at one table: now that's my kind of dinner party.
Maybe groups hosting debates this election year should include dinner before the event and require the candidates to eat together at the same table. It's kind of hard to speak unfairly about someone who just passed you the butter.
Depends on what the butter was used for.
Add Pat Powers to the table and let the fun begin.
I wonder if raw milk came up and if Jensen asked Nelson to join the fight against Lentsch and the poorly-run Ag Department. We know Stace has been successful in that before
We've got PP right where we want him, Owen: on his heels.
Still wondering where the National Guard was when Rapid City was under four feet of snow, listening to 60 mile an hour winds, and where thousands of people had no electricity or heat. It would have been nice if the Governor had deployed them to help with this huge natural disaster in October, 2013!
Where was the Governor? It is his responsibility to call out the Guard. Just another reason for a change in Pierre. As out of touch as they are maybe it would be best to move the Capitol.
Oh, I don't know, he got them here to Sioux Falls and the Eastern part of the State, to help out in the ice storm last Spring, NOT!!!!
Corinna, I admire and appreciate your uniform and what it represents, however, I'd wonder about its political value. We're trying to embrace you as a possible federal representative whose principal areas of concern are civil, not military, affairs. Your brilliant career in the Army speaks well of your expertise in military leadership--and the presentation of yourself in uniform is a justifiable expression of pride. But it only reminds us that you've been in touch with South Dakota and its affairs on a limited basis and from a considerable distance for 25 years.
“This event provides the Guard an opportunity to honor the legislators by hosting them at a traditional military event where we highlight our significant accomplishments to the community, state and nation.”
I've never met Corrina, but it certainly would seem proper for her to attend a traditional military event in uniform.
You know, Robin, the Guards gave Gov. Daugaard that sword as their "WIlliamson Militiaman Award" for being such a good leader. The SDNG official statement includes this statement on Daugaard's use of the Guards in disaster response:
"Daugaard has not hesitated to call upon the Guard in support of state emergencies. He personally led emergency flood protection efforts to avoid catastrophic flooding along the Missouri River just months after taking office, and would call on approximately 1,900 Guardsmen to combat flooding. The following year, he called on his forces to provide aviation fire suppression on 17 wild fires. In October 2013, 131 Guardsmen and women once again answered the governor’s call to support local citizens in western South Dakota after Winter Storm Atlas devastated the region."
Didn't those Guards swing by your place last October?
I'd have loved to be a fly on the wall at that bash.
Where was DD? He was probably in a different state trying to recruit people to move to SD...because that's been so successful in the past. NOT! Or he probably needed the SD Guard to protect him from concerned citizens that dare ask him about the GOED/EB-5 situation.
PP on his heels? He should be firmly planted on his rear.
Propriety isn't the issue I raised, Dave.
Who ate the most, Mr. Nelson, Ms. Robinson, or Mr. Katus. I've seen Tom eat, so my money's on him.
John, it was a formal military event. I'm not sure of all the details here but if Robinson is retired it would be permissible to wear a gown, but one of the complaints of active duty servicewomen is that when attending a military ball they are required to wear their dress uniform (with the skirt) That's as glammed up as they are allowed to get. All the civilian attendees get to look like a million bucks and they are the wall flowers. I wouldn't criticize anybody who spent a life in the service and isn't ready for satin and chiffon. Give her some time.
Why didn't Stace Nelson wear his Marine uniform at a military function?
I like her so much that I want Corinna to give Kristi all she can handle and more (see my bit on Kristi and her ridiculous declaration of victory on the Farm Bill over on the right at The Constant Commoner). I get the protocol and all that, but I think Corinna should be sensitive to perhaps her greatest liability in the race, that she has been away from South Dakota and has possibly lost touch with the people and what's going on here. She's already intimated as much by backing away from substantive issues when called on to say something.
Roger, he's not retired from the Marines so he can't wear a uniform. Besides it wouldn't fit.
If the National Guard was helping during the storm, I never saw them or heard of their work. Maybe I, like thousands of other people, was too busy digging out. The roads in my neighborhood never did get cleaned by the city. A dedicated neighbor brought in a backhoe to clean a path for cars to get through on the 2nd and 3rd days. Without his efforts the elderly dialysis patients in my neighborhood could not have gotten to their appointments. But Governor Daugaard did fly over our area. Not sure what else he did to help.
My question is why is she even there? (Other than trying to make it seem like the SDNG endorses her because she is retired military) This event, held annually, is clearly not a partisan political event. It is not about recognizing candidates, but rather to celebrate the accomplishments of the SDNG over the past year and their dedicated service to the state of South Dakota. It is an opportunity for the SDNG to say thank you to our state’s legislators for their support and for the legislators to do the same. This is always one of the most attended after hours events of each legislative session. To try to use this event for personal political gain is highly inappropriate.
To Robin – If you didn’t see or hear of the great things the National Guard were doing throughout Western South Dakota, you must not have been paying attention. Our National Guard was out in the worst of the storm rescuing stranded motorist from highways, they were delivering needed medication to elderly, they were getting people in need of medical care to hospitals and they were providing soldiers and equipment to power companies to help them get our power back on. These brave men and women risked their lives to help our communities.
Let's not lose sight of fact that the Guard has been deployed because of at one multi-trillion dollar military adventure contrived by politics.