Opinion
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Open and civil discourse is crucial
Decades before the American Revolution, Benjamin Franklin wrote, Without freedom of thought, there can be no such thing as wisdom; and no such thing as public liberty, without freedom of speech. Our Founding Fathers believed so strongly in civil and open public discourse that they put freedom of speech in…
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Beware of Christian nationalism, even on a T-shirt
Coming out of mass the other day, I noticed the T-shirt worn by a woman I didnt recognize. It read: This City Belongs to Jesus. And in smaller print: Rapid City, SD. Im pretty big on Jesus. Im also pretty uncomfortable with the message on that T-shirt. Ive seen it…
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Taking action together on hunger in South Dakota
Every year during Hunger Action Month, Feeding South Dakota joins our peers around the country to build awareness of food insecurity and the steps we can all take, today and in the long term, to help end hunger. This year, the need for South Dakotans to get involved and make…
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Trump’s endorsement of Rounds comes at a high cost for public media, rural America
On July 21, President Donald Trump wholeheartedly endorsed South Dakotas junior Republican senator, Mike Rounds, in the lawmakers quest for a third term in 2026. But at what cost for Rounds? Despite calling the senator a jerk some years ago and vowing never to support him (because he called the…
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Governor proud of recent results in South Dakota
Growing up on the ranch, you learn that results matter. No matter how much you wish it might rain or wish it wouldnt hail, the only thing that matters is whether it did the actual result. And it doesnt matter whether you planned to do a task what matters is…
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Republican leaders call to civil war shows extent of South Dakotas conspiracy infection
In recent years it felt like the rest of the world was going crazy. There were conspiracy theories about the weirdest things: Barack Obamas birth certificate, the existence of a deep state that secretly controls the federal government, Donald Trumps supposed fight against a Satanic group of child molesters. Surely,…
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Celebrations at the South Dakota State Fair in Huron
The South Dakota State Fair is something to celebrate. Once a year for a few days, it seems like the whole state is in Huron, and everyone has a smile on their face. At one event this year, we kicked off the celebration of Americas 250th birthday with a mock…
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A Democrat wining the next governors race in South Dakota? Now that’s delusional
Sometimes a guy gets so desperate for a little balance in South Dakota politics he comes up with some delusional ideas. Like my idea on how Billie Sutton could be governor. Sutton, I might remind you, is a Democrat. And a Democrat hasnt been elected governor in South Dakota since…
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Madison, Jefferson look to states, public opinion to resist federal oppression
When confronted with the passage of the Alien and Sedition Acts on July 14, 1798, which Thomas Jefferson and James Madison viewed as an untrammeled attack on the fundamental rights of freedom of speech and freedom of the press, as well as the republican system itself, they turned to familiar…
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Why 36% of South Dakotans are obese is not as obvious as it may seem
A recently published Mallard Fillmore newspaper cartoon about obesity disrespected science by purposely misrepresenting it. The conservative comic strip was published in my local paper Aug. 9, ironically the 80th anniversary of Americas cataclysmic A-bomb attack on the Japanese city of Nagasaki in 1945, one of historys most alarming and…
