The strength & problem of American democracy

By Lorraine Collins

As one who has been an observer and occasional participant in local, state, and national politics since the Eisenhower administration, it's been kind of hard for me to sober up after the most recent election. Election years offer a real high for those of us who are referred to as political junkies, and now we have to wait two whole years for another fix. Normal people are immensely relieved that they don't have to pay attention to all this for a blissful two years.

Well, actually, of course, this isn't exactly true, because the next campaign began on November 3rd, so far as I know. I studied political science in college and very nearly majored in the subject until I fell back on the safer degree in English, having been convinced by  my academic friends that political science just wasn't worthy of serious study.

Boy, were they ever wrong. If anything deserves study in this or any country it is how and why governments are formed, how and whether the consent of the governed is achieved, and how much influence people with money and power exert on the electorate. This has been a good year to think about that in the United States and in this quiet and essentially neighborly state. Just think of the millions of dollars spent in South Dakota's Congressional election, and ask who was so eager to spend it, and why. Does this have anything to do with South Dakota, or with agendas established elsewhere?

It was a tough election for Democrats in South Dakota but they can at least take comfort in the fact that since Republicans more or less own and control the state, it is their responsibility to solve all the myriad problems we have and if that doesn't happen, it's their fault. In South Dakota and the rest of the nation, so far as I know, nobody wants to raise taxes or eliminate services. So it's going to be really tricky to figure out how to do one without the other.

As for Congress, it's going to be interesting for those of us who are political junkies to see what happens between now and the convening of the next Congress in January. They might actually come together to do something in the lame duck session. It's kind of hard to imagine this, but maybe they can practice being civil to each other, which would be nice.

The other night I heard a TV pundit talking about the election, saying that the main effect had been to rid Congress of most of the moderates. A lot of moderate Democrats, like Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, for instance, lost their seats in Congress, so the only Democrats left, I heard, are those most liberal, from safe liberal constituencies. Meanwhile, many moderate, main stream Republicans who ran in the primaries had already been defeated by the so called "Tea Party" sponsored candidates, some of whom have radically conservative ideas.

So what we have left in Congress are left wing Democrats and right wing Republicans. If that's true, does anybody expect these people to come to any sense of compromise and moving forward to solve problems for the sake the Republic?

We in South Dakota have a sort of tradition of discarding the people we've sent to Washington about the time they achieve some expertise and clout, complaining that they have "lost touch" with the homefolks. Republican Larry Pressler and Democrat Tom Daschle are recent examples and the same charge was made against Herseth Sandlin.  Frankly, I think one thing that happens in the "throw them out" orgy, is that we discard a lot of people with considerable experience in trying to achieve compromise, trying to arrive at a consensus. This is what successful politicians do and how good laws can be made.

 But though we want professional accountants, doctors, artists, writers, lawyers, we don't seem to want professional politicians. That may be the strength of American representative democracy, but it's also the problem.

Lorraine Collins is a writer who lives in Spearfish. She can be reached at collins1@rushmore.com.

Shame on GOP leadership

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AN OPEN LETTER TO SOUTH DAKOTA GOP LEADERS

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It’s an unfortunate truth that when we human beings get together in groups, we do silly things that we would not do individually.

Take, for example, some of the honest and well-meaning politicians who serve as leaders of the Republican party in South Dakota. Individually, they may exhibit the thoughtfulness and common sense that we South Dakotans prize in government leaders, whatever their stripe.

But in the fever pitch of campaigning, politicians sometimes go a little nuts. In the 2008 South Dakota State Senate District 31 campaign, state Republican leaders went a lot nuts.

When businesswoman Nyla Griffith of Deadwood, a Democrat, decided to run for the Senate seat being vacated by Republican Jerry Apa, she launched a straightforward campaign in support of education and open government. She beat a path to thousands of doorsteps in Lawrence County, listening to voter concerns and seeking their support. She got lots of it – much more than likely anticipated by opposition GOP candidate Tom Nelson and local/state Republican leaders.

The fear of losing a seat in the Legislature so frightened these folks that they did collectively what a single one of them would probably be averse to doing. They used an 11th hour “Voter Alert” postcard to attack Griffith with information that they knew was not true, and they timed their mailing so she’d have no opportunity to respond before voters went to the polls. They accused her of supporting gun control and the legalization of marijuana – extracting bits and pieces of information that was posted on the non-partisan website Project Vote Smart. Then they cobbled together their venomous and untrue accusations and deposited them in voters mailboxes hours before the election.

Project Vote Smart wasn’t too happy with South Dakota Republican Party over this incident. In a public statement, they rebuked GOP leaders for attacking Nyla Griffith with “information they know to be false.” Read the entire Project Vote Smart Public Statement.

To my knowledge, there’s been no apology for this dastardly deed, and I won’t hold my breath waiting to see one. Hopefully, the few Republican leaders who may have had a hand in this sorry episode will step forward with a bit of contrition and pledge to clean up their act.

This was an unseemly way to try to win votes. Both Republicans and Democrats are not happy over this incident – and persons with an ounce of ethics and common sense understand why. Spearfish writer Lorraine Collins, a Republican, is among the displeased. She shared her thoughts in a Black Hills Pioneer opinion piece this week (11/12/08).

And you can add this Independent blogger to the list of the disenchanted.

A great Mississippian

Grey Ferris has died. I didn’t learn about it until yesterday, when I was surfing the internet and came across his obituary. He was only 62 years old – a victim of cancer – and passed away June 13, 2008, at his home near Vicksburg, Mississippi.
But you need to know more about Grey Ferris. He was one of the most thoughtful and genuinely respectful people I’ve known. I first met Grey after moving to Mississippi in 1993 to head the Mississippi Authority for Educational Television (ETV). Grey had just been elected to a four-year term in the Mississippi State Senate from Warren and Issaquena counties.

Our ETV budget was shaped largely by the House and Senate Education Committees. In the House, that was a committee led by the fiery Billy McCoy of Rienzi, one of the hardest-working legislators I’ve ever known. He later was tapped as Speaker of the House – a post he still holds.

In the Senate, the Education Committee was chaired by the soon-to-be Governor Ronnie Musgrove. The Vice-Chairman was a quiet and rather studious Grey Ferris from Vicksburg. During his second term in office, Senator Ferris would serve as Chairman.

Grey’s grandfather, E. B. Ferris, was credited with founding Mississippi Agricultural Experiment Stations, and in 1918 he bought the land east of Vicksburg that became known as “Ferris Farm.” In 1935, his son, Bill, graduated from Millsaps College in Jackson and was soon back on the farm with his wife, Shelby, raising their five children – one of whom was Grey.

After high school in Mississippi and college at Tulane, where he was president of the student body, Grey practiced law for a while, but then returned to the farm. Reportedly, a move to consolidate county school districts rekindled his interest in government and public service. He served six years on the local consolidated school board and then ran for the legislature. It was shortly after that when I met Grey Ferris.

Politics anywhere can be dirty and deceitful, and it’s easy to become disenchanted with government officials. I was fortunate to cross paths with at least two politicians who made me realize that politics need not be bad. That public service is a public trust. And that there are some honest and honorable people who serve. For me, one such person was U.S. Senator Thad Cochran. The other was Mississippi State Senator Grey Ferris.

As a newcomer to Mississippi government – worse, as a “Yankee” – I found there were a few folks who would take advantage of my northern ways. For the most part, however, I found folks agreeable – even helpful – as I stumbled through the legislative process on behalf of public radio and television. No one was more helpful than Grey Ferris. He was adept at resolving conflicts and bringing people together to solve problems. When you visited with Grey, it was as if the rest of the world had been silenced, and he was listening only to you. And he was.

Of course, public broadcasting was a very small part of the over-all education budget, and Grey’s focus was on the big picture – trying to improve the quality of life in Mississippi through public education. He and Senator Hob Bryan (who made even Billy McCoy pale by comparison when considering “colorful” and “fiery” legislators) were among the key folks who pushed through the Mississippi Adequate Education Program in the late 1990s. Understandably, it was one of Grey’s proudest moments.

As an aside, I once had the privilege of sitting at a banquet table with Grey and his brother Bill, also a talented individual (and later head of the National Endowment for the Humanities), and their mother, Shelby Flowers Ferris. It was a rare treat watching the two siblings – both achievers – good-naturedly spar verbally under the watchful and loving eye of their mother.

In 1999, Senator Grey Ferris decided to run for lieutenant-governor. A Democrat, he was given a good shot at winning the post. However, when his 18-year-old daughter, Jessica, died after battling an eating disorder and depression, Grey, understandably, didn’t seem to have his heart in the race. He lost his bid for lieutenant-governor and left the Mississippi Senate at the end of his term.
He returned to Ferris Farm, and news accounts attributed to his wife Jann, indicate that he loved being back on the home place -- 6,000 acres of converted cropland running some 1,000 cows. Much of the farm is bottomland hardwood along the Big Black River. It boasts some historic Native American mounds and was also a site of passage by General Grant’s army during the siege of Vicksburg in the Civil War.

And then, a few short years after leaving Jackson to focus on his family and Ferris Farm, cancer struck. His valiant struggle – surrounded by loving family and friends – is poignantly detailed on the website Ferris Farm.

I was surprised to learn that Grey was only 62 when he died. To the many of us who leaned on him for advice and direction – his quiet wisdom and strength of character made him seem older than his years.

Perhaps it’s human nature. Perhaps it’s just the rush of life, but most of us don’t take the time to reach out while we can to communicate with those who’ve significantly touched our lives. In the seven years since leaving Jackson, I’ve often thought about the warmth Karen and I found in Mississippi. So many close personal friends – many of whom we still see occasionally. But too many others – many folks with whom we worked and did business, like Grey Ferris, fade too soon from our lives.

Grey Ferris made Mississippi – and this earth – a better place. God bless Grey and his family.

Seventh Inning Stretch

As we slide down the gauntlet toward the general election in November, we may find the sweltering campaign rhetoric unbearable. Even those of us afflicted with a continuing interest in politics are likely to have need of a respite. We may find it this summer in……..baseball.

While David Broder is my favorite columnist keeping tabs on the political scene, George Will is a favorite, too. And he thinks that baseball might just give us something to think about other than campaign antics. Warning: this is not a complete disconnect from the world of politics.

Pennies from Heaven -- Dollars to Hell

Sad as it may be, only money seems to trump super delegates when it comes to winning a presidential nomination this year. Of course, last election we didn’t have a clue who these “super” folks were, but we’re learning fast just how deeply entrenched “good old boy” politics are in our political system. We’ll reserve comment about “super delegates” for another posting – this time we’d like to focus upon the insatiable greed used to fuel the presidential campaign machines.

At the end of January, according to the New York Times, Senator Barack Obama had raised a total of $140.6 million during this campaign, just ahead of Senator Hillary Clinton’s $138 million. Jointly, that amounts to about $276.6 million.

Also in January, Fox News was reporting an appeal for a mere $5.1 million to aid the half million displaced people -- mostly women and children -- needing humanitarian assistance in Kenya. Seems to me Hillary and Barack could have agreed to chip in a bit from their coffers to do something truly worthwhile.

Of course, there are equally-compelling human needs in this country, but it all seems to be off the radar scopes of those who see something much bigger than feeding the hungry and housing the homeless: personal political power.

The rationale goes something like this – if you’ll give me the money, I can then buy the advertising and other things I need in order to win the election and thus obtain the power necessary to help our country do better. So goes the perpetual game of intellectual charades that politicians play. Some start the game focusing on a desire to make things better, but few can withstand the realities of “buying the office.”

So many promises are made – so many implied – so many perceived -- that the candidates are soon transformed from attractive soaring butteflies to unsightly caterpillars, struggling to extricate themselves from back-room obligations incurred during the campaign. They yearn to be who they once thought they were – but to no avail. They’ve paid the price. In fact, we’ve all paid the price. But having paid to come to the dance, it's a rude awakening as victors realize "you gotta dance with them what brung you."

It need not be this way. We can change things, but first we have to know what's going on. The New York Times has done a pretty good job keeping track of presidential campaign funds. Take a look.

Alas, even as we might contemplate ways to change the system, presidential campaign avarice has reached a new high – or should we say low – when it was learned this week that Senator Barack Obama raised a record $55 million in February – just one month – outdistancing Senator Hillary Clinton’s $34 million.

We need to find a better way to choose our governmental leaders.

Us or Them

It's not a pretty place to be -- caught between the jackass and dumbo. But that's where more and more of us choose to be. The plight of the political Independent is among the topics served up this time by Spearfish free-lance writer Lorraine Collins. It should be required reading for South Dakota politicians of every stripe.

Us or Them

Lorraine Collins

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I talked to a fellow the other day who served in our state legislature about a decade ago, representing an East River district. He had been elected as a Republican but when he got to Pierre he was made uneasy by the partisanship he found there. He thought he was supposed to represent everybody in his district, not just Republicans. He soon found out that the most important thing in the Legislature was what party you belong to. Members of the two political parties had different colored name badges just to make sure that they could instantly be identified so nobody would accidentally talk to a member of the other party without knowing it. And they sat in segregated areas of the House chamber, separated by an aisle. The two parties caucused separately to discuss upcoming legislation. The entire atmosphere, so far as he was concerned, was one promoting division and confrontation, rather than cooperation and problem solving.
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He just might have put his finger on something that is beginning to be recognized as a problem throughout the country. In this interminable election season, we have heard a lot about a desire to change the tone of voice in America by promoting unity and cooperation instead of division and rancor. There has even been the rumored possibility of an Independent candidate because people are so fed up with partisan gridlock in Washington. Of course, it doesn't matter whether the next president is an Independent or not, so long as Congress is made up of warring factions locked in fierce partisan battles.

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This does cause one to stop and think about why political parties exist at all, and why we are supposed to be blindly loyal to them or be cast into outer darkness. If you are an elected official who disagrees with your party's position on an issue you are a “maverick” and will be punished for it. You don't get good committee assignments or a preferred seat in the Legislature if you think for yourself and don't play along. I suppose this is how political parties keep their power over individual members, and power is what parties are all about.

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So what is a person to do if she's not nuts about either the Republicans or the Democrats? Are Independents supposed to just sit down and shut up and let the parties slug it out? During this primary season we've heard of several states where people who are not affiliated with any political party were allowed to vote in the primary elections, and I've always liked that idea. I think it makes sense. If political parties don't care what you think because you're not a member of their group, then how can they try to win your vote come November? I was able to vote in primaries when I lived in a couple of other states without declaring what party I might be a member of, if any, and I liked that. I don't suppose that will ever happen in South Dakota.

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It's hard to imagine an American political landscape without the two historic parties we've had for so long, and I wouldn't expect them to vanish. All of the structure of our government, whether in legislative or executive branches, seems predicated on the assumption that people bear one label or another. But still, the public is beginning to wonder what political parties contribute to the strength of the nation and the propagation of our long held ideals. Do they help us deal with our mutual problems and achieve our mutual aspirations, or do they promote division and conflict? I just ask the question because somehow, in today's political climate, “We the people” often seems to have changed to “Us or them.”

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Free-lance writer Lorraine Collins lives in Spearfish.

How to Help Our State

Lorraine Collins of Spearfish is a free-lance journalist whose work is seen frequently in the Black Hills Pioneer newspaper. Here is her latest offering.

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I’ve been looking for a coat for quite a long time, now. I know just what I want. It’s the coat I had about 45 years ago. Hudson’s Bay, of “car coat” length, in soft wool, with a nice collar that could be turned up against the wind. Every time I see pictures of me in that coat I don’t spend any time looking at how young and slender I was then. I just stare at that coat. I’ve spent some considerable time this fall looking at coats in several cities and towns trying to find one like that, but I just haven’t found any. This makes me feel bad, not only for myself, but for the state of South Dakota.

When Governor Rounds gave his annual Budget Address to a joint session of the legislature last month, he explained that, “our income stream at state government is based on consumption”. We rely on sales tax in this state and people have not been spending as much money as they need to in order to keep the state coffers in good shape. He told the legislators to “go back home and tell people to buy.” I want him and our local representatives to know that I’ve really been trying. Actually, I did buy a new chair, and that was pretty expensive, but I’m probably not doing everything I could to help our state.

Realizing this, I’ve come up with an idea about how to help South Dakota get the income it needs even though I haven’t been able to buy as much as I should. It might help an economy based on consumerism when consumers are not doing their part.

My idea is the “alternative sales tax” like the “alternative minimum income tax” I’ve been hearing so much about. I think the idea of the “alternative minimum income tax” was that very rich people who can hire really good accountants could figure out how to avoid paying the federal income tax. So this alternative tax makes them pay at least something. It worked for a while. But the trouble is that it’s now causing a lot of hardship for people who are not multi-millionaires but still pay a bigger tax. Though this may have given the alternative tax idea a bad name, I would still like to consider an “alternative sales tax” for South Dakota.

Let’s say that you go into a store and look at something, maybe try it on, look at the color but you’re not sure, so you return it to a clerk. Then maybe you pick up something that Aunt Enid might like for her birthday, but decide against that, too. So in the end you buy nothing. As you leave, the clerk gives you a slip of paper that says you owe the State of South Dakota 4% of what you didn’t buy. I know this sounds outrageous, but think about it! You didn’t spend $200 for a coat you didn’t like, but you are still contributing to the state’s wellbeing! And if you take the $200 you didn’t spend and put it in a savings account, you could be reliving that old American idea of thrift, which used to be a virtue before it became our patriotic duty to go to the mall. But even though you’re selfishly saving money instead of spending it, you are still helping South Dakota.

I know this is tough, but we who live here have to do something to help our state. I know our state also depends on the Video Lottery but I don’t like to gamble. And even though the governor is disappointed by the fact that the cigarette tax is bringing in less money than anticipated, I really don’t want to take up smoking in order to pay a dollar a pack in tax to help out. But I don’t want to be accused of being a slacker. So unless the legislature can come up with some new concepts this year, I think they should at least consider my idea and help our state.

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Our thanks to Lorraine Collins for letting us use her material at Black Hills Monitor.

Go Stand in the Corner!

The Black Hills of South Dakota is a wonderful place to live. We’ve waxed positive on the numerous reasons for our love affair with this region – but there’s a fly in the ointment, and it might be categorized as “politics as usual.”

South Dakota ranks among the worst in the nation in the disclosure of campaign finances for political candidates. You can read the depressing details at the web site “Grading State Disclosure,” a project supported by the Pew Charitable Trusts. Results were announced October 17, 2007, and South Dakota received a big fat “F”!

While the report acknowledges improvements were made in campaign disclosure laws this year, we’ll likely remain near the bottom of the barrel when they do the survey again next year.

South Dakota is among the 10 states with the weakest public access to campaign finance records. Among deficiencies cited: our state does not have electronic filing; only Oklahoma and South Dakota don’t require the name or identity of campaign expenditures, even though they do require that the amount of expenditures be disclosed; and if you want to get a written copy of disclosure reports from Pierre, you’ll pay $1.00 per page – the highest in the nation. Most states charge between $ .10 and $ .25 per page.

Conditional kudos should be extended to those persons responsible for making some progress on strengthening disclosure laws. And we presume Secretary of State Chris Nelson is among them. If you visit the South Dakota Secretary of State web site, you’ll find a nice-looking template for campaign information, but not a lot of substance that’s easy to find. And when you do find it, you’ll likely have to work at deciphering many of the reports. Handwriting in some of the scans is very hard to read.

South Dakota is improving a bit with campaign disclosure – but it’s too little and too slow. We hope to see further improvement in the near future, but it’s not likely to come easy.

Don't Sweat It!

Retired newspaper columnist Charley Reese hasn’t really retired, he’s just not on the payroll of the Orlando Sentinel anymore. Fortunately for us, his columns keep popping up on the internet.

I was delighted when I saw Charley’s piece Don’t sweat over cries about global warming, because it so closely reflects my views on the subject. Basically, Charley reminds us that there’s nothing we human beings can do to alter the climate.

He writes, “It takes a monstrously large ego to presume to see into the future and to pretend that one can change the course of Earth’s climate. We have no control over the amount of energy the sun radiates; we have no control over Earth’s magnetic field; and we have no control over Earth’s volcanoes. We have no control over the Earth’s atmosphere. What humans inject into it amounts to little more than a cosmic passing of gas.”

Bravo! And right on! Of course, this doesn't mean we should be oblivious to the impact we have on the environment. Less pollution is good. More re-cycling is good. Let's just not get silly about how much we really affect the environment.

Charley suggests that we’d do better to pay attention to our families, work in our gardens, read some good books, and listen to some beautiful music.

Alas, my only beef with Charley’s column of June 7, 2007, was his cynicism when he wrote, “…Earth’s climate will be the same. Most everything will be the same. The babble will go on. The decayed culture of America will continue to rot.”

While I share Charley’s concern about a decaying culture in America, that IS something we can affect. We Americans would do well to re-focus our concerns from fears of global warming to finding ways to stem the tide of a decaying culture and help restore the U.S.A. to the greatness our country enjoyed not so very long ago.

He's Got it Right!

Unlike my bride, I am not a huge fan of presidential candidate John Edwards. I was particularly taken aback by his position that we should pay homage to veterans by withdrawing our troops from Iraq. An Associated Press story on May 22 quoted American Legion national commander Paul Morin saying that's as "inappropriate as a political bumper sticker on an Arlington headstone." He’s right. And while I am a veteran, I am not a member of the American Legion – but I think Morin's assessment is on target.

Nonetheless, on a related topic, I believe Edwards got something exactly right.The former North Carolina senator reportedly said we should all be "thinking about" some level of mandatory public service obligation, so that everybody in America has an opportunity to serve their country. This is an idea whose time is long overdue.

Rather than just "thinking" about it, I hope Edwards and other candidates will put their weight behind this noble concept. I'd like to see a two or three-year public service obligation for all able-bodied citizens. Their service could be in the military, the Peace Corps, or a similar domestic public service activity. The Civilian Conservation Corps of the 1930s was conceived for different purposes, but its impact was positive and lasting.

Universal public service is a good idea. Now we need to move it from a concept to a reality.

Eddie Clay named to Hall of Fame

When Karen and I retired to the beautiful Black Hills, one of the first people I looked forward to visiting with again was Eddie Clay. I first knew Eddie in the 1980s when he was Chairman of the South Dakota Board for Educational Telecommunications and I worked for SDPB in Vermillion. He's one of those remarkable individuals who seems to thrive on activity. I believe the Energizer bunny was modeled after Eddie Clay.

Most people throughout the southern Hills region know Eddie and his delightful wife Clara. Residents of Hot Springs for more than half a century, there is hardly any aspect of positive civic life untouched by Eddie and/or Clara. So it was fitting this week that the South Dakota Hall of Fame should name Eddie Clay as one of 13 inductees for 2007.

I had heard that Eddie was being selected, but I didn't know it was in the Unsung Heroes category. While that certainly fits, he could have been chosen for any one of several categories. Governmental Affairs for his service locally and in the legislature. Communications for his leadership with South Dakota Public Broadcasting. Education & Cultural Affairs for his vision and contribution to the Mammoth Site and Mount Rushmore. Business & Trade for his many years of successful ventures with Fall River Abstract. And the list goes on.

Truth be known -- and Eddie would echo this loudly, I'm sure -- the award is as much for Clara Clay. Her own significant contributions and involvements in the community and across the region merit recognition -- and her steadfast devotion to Eddie and the partnership they've enjoyed through the years serves as a model for many of us. Much more information about Eddie will be posted in the local and statewide media in the days to come. This is a richly-deserved award. I am proud to know Eddie, Clara, and their daughter Bobbi. Those of us who know the Clay family understand why Eddie was chosen, and we offer our warmest congratulations to them all!

Tippecanoe and Tyler, Too!

Is it important that a president have military experience?

An AP analysis caught my attention in the Rapid City Journal yesterday morning (April 10, 2007). “Few candidates have military record,” read the headline. The piece gave a good synopsis of military experience – more accurately, the lack of it – among presidential candidates.

Apart from John McCain, there’s no real breadth or depth of military experience among the many candidates who’ve already announced for 2008. But just how important is it for a president to have served?

While our constitution gives only Congress the power to declare war, the reality is that there are hundreds of examples where the president has directed our forces in “police actions” and “peace-keeping” missions as Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces.

Of course, the constitution also entrusts the Executive Branch to set foreign policy, but Speaker Nancy Pelosi has demonstrated that the Legislative Branch can also push the envelope in interpreting the constitution. But that’s another issue.

If history is an indication, serving in the military has been a big deal in getting elected over the course of our history – even if it is now falling out of favor.

American Diplomacy editor Henry Mattox cites examples of how most U.S. Presidents have served in the military – but often such service has been fleeting or inconsequential. He points to President James Buchanan, who enlisted as a Pennsylvania volunteer during the War of 1812, but served only a few weeks. Abe Lincoln spent not much more time than that in the Illinois militia during the Black Hawk War of 1832. And Ronald Reagan’s military experience was primarily served in his hometown (Hollywood) assigned to making training films.

Of course, there were the few whose service in uniform is unquestionable, starting with George Washington’s 15 years – all in leadership positions. Fellow professional soldiers who rose to flag rank included Zachary Taylor, Ulysses Grant, and Dwight Eisenhower. Some 20 presidents served during war time, many capitalizing upon that fact in their campaigns. The earliest, perhaps, was William Henry Harrison.

The oldest man ever elected president (he was 68 ), Harrison hearkened back nearly 30 years – when he was a General, and his troops defeated the Shawnee Indians at the Battle of Tippacanoe. The 1840 campaign slogan “Tippacanoe and Tyler, too” was a key factor in his election as president.

Numerous 20th century presidents laid claim to service in war time: Teddy Roosevelt in the Spanish American War, and Harry Truman in World War II. And no fewer than six presidents were able to point to war-time service in the Second World War: Dwight Eisehnower, John Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, and George Bush.

But the question remains; how important is military experience?

With burgeoning health care issues, do we look to the medical profession for presidential material? Does it take a teacher to successfully grapple with reforming education? Of course, few things are more important than national security – in which the military plays an integral role.

It seems to me that military service can be helpful, but certainly is not essential. Rather, we should seek intelligent, thoughtful, and decisive individuals to fill the highest office in the land. Those experienced few who have demonstrated their management and leadership capabilities, whether it’s been on the battlefield, in the classroom, or – yes, even on the big screen. Maturity and wisdom will count more than piloting or sharpshooting skills.

But, of course, the military has been a leading arena for developing leadership skills and measuring the worth of a person by his or her abilities and skills. Hundreds of thousands of men and women will attribute their maturity to lesson learned in the service of their country.

Mississippi writer Bill Minor, who served on a Navy destroyer in the South Pacific in World War II, recalled the words of his commanding officer at a reunion of the USS Potter some four decades later.

“I took a group of boys to sea, and they became men.”

To be sure, there are many ways to gain maturity and develop leadership skills, but military experience remains among the best. Military experience can be a plus – but it is not essential – for those who would be president of these United States.

WHAT'S THIS SITE ALL ABOUT?
This blog was originally designed as a review of media in the Black Hills of South Dakota and Wyoming -- with occasional observations about other broadcast and print media. But after some consideration, I decided to include a wider range of topics and events that I find of interest.

I'll occasionally opine on what I view as good (and not so good) about newspaper, radio, television in this region. It's my intent to find GOOD things to say, since it's a common perception that much of the media in this country continue to swirl downward in a never-ending quest to amass ever-larger audiences at any price. Nearly all media play the game, but a few stalwart entities do yeoman work in holding on to good journalistic values. When they shine, they should get a pat on the back. We'll skewer them when appropriate -- and when their work is on our radar screen.

I believe "good journalistic values" includes striving for objectivity and fairness in all reporting. And I also believe there's intrinsic positive value in local ownership of media outlets.

In any event, I hope to have some fun applauding media who do it right -- and chiding those who seem to have less regard for good journalism...and thus the public to whom they're reporting. Of course, there'll also be comments about photography, bicycling, amateur radio, genealogy, and other topics that occupy my time and interest.

Comments are welcome.