<![CDATA[PIERRE OUTSIDER

<![CDATA[PIERRE OUTSIDER - News]]>Fri, 29 May 2026 07:30:07 -0700Weebly<![CDATA[A Spilled Milk Saga: The Amanda Marsh Files Pt. 2 - "No Lactation Without Representation!"]]>Wed, 27 Aug 2025 07:00:00 GMThttps://www.pierreoutsider.com/news/a-spilled-milk-saga-the-amanda-marsh-files-pt-2-no-lactation-without-representationRECAP: A Spilled Milk Saga: The Amanda Marsh Files Pt. 1 attempted to untangle a web of connections in the Pierre State Capitol during the 2021, 2022, and 2023 legislative sessions involving current Internship Coordinator Amanda Marsh, then-Senate President Lee Schoenbeck, and former Legislative Research Council Executive Director Reed Holwegner.

The Three Amigos of Podcasting

As discussed in Part 1; during the 2022 session, multiple complaints were allegedly brought to Marsh's attention within her formal capacity as the internship coordinator. The events that transpired over the course of the 2022 session were dysfunctional enough to require immediate intervention from the legislature's Executive Board, which began holding regular secret meetings with Holwegner to discuss poor working conditions and personnel issues within the LRC. In late 2023, the Exec. Board declined to comment on the reasons behind Holwegner's forced resignation.

Back by popular demand, A Spilled Milk Saga has a lot of moving parts and players, so Part 2 will be organized into sub-chapters:

Chapter I: Holwegner's Background

But how exactly did the LRC get to such a place of organizational dysfunction in the first place? First, let's back up and see what state statute defines misconduct as: carelessness or negligence of such a degree or recurrence as to manifest equal culpability or wrongful intent. Marsh's alleged actions in her role as the Internship Coordinator, for example, would constitute a breach in her professional duty of care and is allegedly a recurrent theme in her tenure as the program's coordinator.

But what about Holwegner? He has an extensive background as an experienced bureaucrat in both Kansas' Legislative Research Department and in South Dakota's Legislative Research Council over the course of several decades starting in 1998. After getting the boot from Schoenbeck, Holwegner has since settled in the Black Hills (Good choice, Reed!), and now does freelance policy analysis out of Hermosa. Judging from his new LinkedIn profile picture, he looks much happier working for himself than he did while working for the LRC. Was an NDA part of the severance deal?

Chapter II: Four Rules and the Audit

During the fever dream of 2020, the leaked authoritarian Four Rules document sent out to LRC staff was one of Holwegner's first official acts in the capacity of his new office. But was this Four Rules policy actually Holwegner's own idea and initiative, or was he instructed to implement this policy? The LRC's problems did not begin with Holwegner, nor could the LRC's problems have ended with his resignation. It remains to be seen how long his future replacement can handle sticking around, the interim director was appointed to Executive Director in 2024.

Marsh has been the hiring manager for the internship program since at least as early as 2019, which is longer than Holwegner's three year stint as Executive Director. Holwegner's predecessor only stuck around for five years. And before that was Jim Fry (unrelated to Sen. Julie Frye-Mueller) who, after thirteen long years, was forced out after a 2013 audit by the National Conference of State Legislature's staff "regarding the performance and management" of SD's LRC. So the LRC's problems didn't begin with Marsh either; regardless of her compliance with, and alleged enforcement of, the Four Rules.

Chapter III: Marsh's Background

After all, the LRC has been having problems since before Marsh graduated from high school, back when she was still known as Amanda Jacobs. According to her still public LinkedIn profile, Jacobs interned for Democratic Congresswoman Herseth-Sandlin in 2009, Dakota Rural Action in 2010, and then as a research assistant at South Dakota State University where she was "responsible for maintaining and studying the constituent casework files" of Democratic U.S. Senator Daschle in 2011. Jacobs first gig in GOP politics began when she interned for Governor Daugaard later that same year. In 2018, she married into the Marsh family. Her new father-in-law was James Marsh, from the state's Department of Labor. During the 2022 session, Marsh was the staffer assigned to the Senate State Affairs committee.

Chapter IV: Selective Enforcement

There seems to be a discrepancy, and allegedly favoritism at play, when deciding which complaints within the LRC get buried and which get elevated. Former Senator Julie Frye-Mueller's 2022 complaint to Marsh, for example, was allegedly buried along with a multitude of other complaints. Meanwhile, Marsh's complaint against Frye-Mueller in 2023 was turned into a spectacle for the mass media, who lapped it up like a herd of cats drinking milk from a saucer.

During the committee hearing for the Select Committee on Discipline and Expulsion, Marsh declined to answer when asked whether or not she "appreciated the Senate's handling of this matter to date." Right before that, the committee chairman prevented Frye-Mueller's council from asking Marsh if she knew "who made the decision to make the conversation between you and Senator Frye-Mueller a public spectacle?" And a spectacle it has certainly become.

Chapter V: A Public Spectacle

During a university appearance in late 2023, at the front of a lecture hall full of undergraduate students looking on in bewilderment, Schoenbeck physically acted out Marsh's allegations against Frye-Mueller. The Senate President (Pro Tempore) proceeded to pantomime grabbing his own chest and performed an exaggerated milking gesture for several seconds. It's worth mentioning that he voted Nay earlier that same year with HB 1116 bill banning the use of public resources in hosting lewd and lascivious content. These weren't just any allegations he performed in front of Board of Regents students though, but the allegations of his own committee's staff-member, who he worked with closely on a day-to-day basis during legislative sessions. When the public (and taxpayer-funded) performance of Marsh's allegations occurred, during the off-season between the 2023 and 2024 sessions, Schoenbeck was then a sitting member of the Senate State Affairs committee. This same staffer had worked alongside him in this committee since 2021.

If Marsh was, as she claims, left feeling "violated" after conversing with Sen. Frye-Mueller; one must also conclude that this staffer must have been retraumatized when her own committee member, and the highest-ranking member of the Senate no less, gleefully reenacted these allegations in public for his own entertainment. If that isn't the definition of workplace sexual harassment, then I don't know what is. Describing the allegations would have sufficed, but with a smirk of Duper's Delight and the full knowledge that he was being recorded by multiple phones and other devices around the room, he seemed to revel in the public spectacle. Students, faculty members, local legislators, and community visitors who thought they were attending an educational and professional lecture were instead treated to being held hostage by a strange and unnecessarily graphic visual demonstration.

Chapter VI: Three Amigos with a Podcast at the Sausage Factory

The unnamed intern from Part 1, a familial-friend of the Schoenbeck family who had a complaint brought against him in 2022 by Sen. Frye-Mueller, took to Twitter the following year. In a rush to be the first one to spill the latest milk on Frye-Mueller by tweeting out the new "BREAKING" news, he accidently tripped over his own milk pail. And out spilled his own lengthy past of allegations. In the process, his milk pail also tipped over Marsh's along with it. The history of the allegations against him can be categorized into three distinct eras: middle and high school, college, and post-college. And each of those era groupings can be further narrowed down into sub-eras, like those which are campus-related or those from the statehouse which had been reported to Marsh.

After having been one of three founding co-hosts for a podcast relaunch in 2023, the unnamed intern quietly parted ways from the Senate President's son's project shortly thereafter. The inaugural episode of the podcast's relaunch was, unfortunately, titled "The Sausage Fest Turns On." Oops, that was a typo, meant Factory. Followed by "JFM Loses Miss Congeniality." And Episode 3, released on Feb. 3rd of 2023, was titled with a clever milk-themed pun, "No Lactation Without Representation." A title which, credit where it's due, is actually quite catchy and makes for a good phrase to borrow for Part 2 of the saga. Any trace of a third amigo has since been scrubbed from the podcast's public branding presence. And if you didn't already know better, at a glance it would seem as though he never even existed in the first place. Not even so much as a peep of an official farewell statement, a staple of basic public relations, wishing their amigo well on future professional solo ventures. Like launching a new clothing line, or becoming a SoundCloud artist or something, anything... nothing. (Ouch!)

But as they say, a sausage party of three is a crowd. Any comment on whether the dos amigos didn't want a third amigo tainting the brand? Their amigo would go on to leave the state to pursue new opportunities, but no matter how many chances for repentance and a fresh start he's been given, the specter of old and new allegations continues to follow from one professional endeavor on to the next. One insider shared for public comment that the former amigo was later "separated from" a D.C. office in 2024. As the saying goes; it's not what you know, but who you know. And even then, no amount of connections can outrun a lack of discretion.

Chapter VII: New Executive Director Claims More Staff = Solution

The LRC, who apparently can't be trusted with the staff they already have, reportedly made the case in 2024 that hiring more staff is the solution to the well-documented and longstanding history of issues. But I for one am not yet convinced that more taxpayer-funded staff will automatically equal better results, if the underlying dysfunction continues to go unaddressed. Back in 2020, the LRC lost their Chief Code Counsel. Having initially accepted the position with the intention of building a career and retiring with the LRC, he left for greener pastures after only one year. The staffer reportedly stated before the legislature's Exec. Board that,

"At the end of the day it wasn’t worth it. Because of the treatment that this office is subjected to on a consistent basis by the members of this legislature and most notably this last session [2020] from the Senate. So, I decided at the end of session that I did not want to waste the best years of my career working for this body.” -LRC's Former Chief Code Council

Two months after his departure, the remaining staff were e-mailed the infamous Four Rules memo instructing staff to: be seen not heard, not speak unless spoken to, disappear in a crowd of two, and to cast no shadow. Maybe the Dept. of Labor should launch an immediate investigation into the longstanding dysfunction within the LRC, and investigate whether or not the internship program and its coordinator have broken federal Title IX laws, considering not everyone who files a complaint is as lucky as Amanda Marsh to have James Marsh as a father-in-law.

Marsh is now accepting applications for 2026 interns, so if you or your young adult college student want to apply, please submit your application to the internship coordinator before the deadline on October 17th. Keep in mind that the application deadlines for the 2022 and 2023 sessions did get extended though, officially because of "continued interest." And we all saw how those two sessions turned out! But let's hope for the best that 2025's historic 100th session rebrand is more than cosmetic. Because the rumors you've heard are true: ANY major really is eligible for the internship program. Marsh is very serious when it comes to letting anyone in the program.

This investigation into the Amanda Marsh Files is an ongoing citizen journalism series powered by satire, coffee, and crowd-sourced tips. If you have any information to add, please reach out. ☕

]]><![CDATA[A Spilled Milk Saga: The Amanda Marsh Files]]>Wed, 20 Aug 2025 07:00:00 GMThttps://www.pierreoutsider.com/news/a-spilled-milk-saga-the-amanda-marsh-filesIt started with breastmilk, but what spilled next was far messier. For Julie Frye-Mueller, a former District 30 State Senator with a reputation for speaking her mind, the accusations against her were bizarre. A 2023 conversation, which went nationally viral, allegedly involved breastfeeding. And at the center of it all? Amanda Marsh, a legislative staffer with secrets of her own: a whole filing cabinet full.

As South Dakotan's know all to well, once milk is spilled, you can't put it back into the pail.

Marsh is an elusive, behind-the-scenes figure within state politics. Let's take a quick peek into her political background. Her LinkedIn profile, which has since been taken down, showed that Marsh has noteworthy political connections. Marsh once interned for the former Democratic Congresswoman Stephanie Herseth-Sandlin; a name that will come up again later in this saga.

During the 2022 legislative session, there was a Senate GOP intern who was allegedly brought to Marsh's attention on multiple occasions. The aforementioned intern will be referred to as the unnamed intern, so as to not distract from the purpose of this article, which is to detail the allegations of Marsh mishandling formal complaints in her role as the Legislative Research Council's Internship Coordinator.

Amanda Marsh

Following an abrupt departure from University of South Dakota (which coincided with a plethora of campus-related allegations which, according to the unnamed intern, were unrelated to the departure), the unnamed intern then began attending Augustana University. The same Auggie U where Marsh's former boss Herseth-Sandlin now serves as the university president. In 2023, I first broke the story on the allegations against the unnamed intern, and coincidently, my investigation eventually led me back to none other than the mysterious staffer Amanda Marsh and her filing cabinet of secrets.

Frye-Mueller claims that she went to Marsh with a complaint about the unnamed intern. The same Marsh who, just one year later, would later file a formal complaint against the then-Senator. Frye-Mueller alleges that the unnamed intern stuck a foot out in an attempt to trip her on the Senate floor, which could have caused serious bodily injury (not to mention, may have put the state and the LRC at serious financial risk of an injury lawsuit). Marsh allegedly responded to Frye-Mueller that there is nothing she can do about the unnamed intern's alleged misbehavior, and that she's "tried." Marsh then allegedly proceeded to name-drop then-Senate Pro Tempore Lee Schoenbeck as having a familial-friend connection with the unnamed intern. According to Frye-Mueller, Marsh went on to further claim that she's "had lots of complaints" about the unnamed intern.

The allegations of so many unresolved complaints eventually prompted me to go into the LRC office directly to ask questions about their internship program. On March 3, 2025, I entered the office to request my own employee file. The desk-staffer went to go ask a supervisor, to which Marsh quickly entered in behind, and promptly closed the door. After a couple minutes the three LRC staffers emerged, with Marsh scurrying back into her office, and I was told that the LRC does not keep any employee records for their internship program beyond basic onboarding information.

After some cajoling I was eventually shown, but not given, a printed copy of my own employee file. I followed up with an inquiry about whether or not the LRC keeps a record of any complaints and disciplinary actions within their internship program. They said no. I gave a hypothetical example, asking if records would be kept for a intern who had complaints filed against them, and was told that due to interns being short-term seasonal employees, the LRC does not keep any record of complaints or disciplinary actions within the internship program. That encounter only left me with more questions than answers, like: where is the oversight in this taxpayer-funded institution? And is this lack of oversight in violation of federal Title IX law, considering that the internship program recruits its participants through public universities?

One player key to understanding the Amanda Marsh files is former Legislative Research Council Executive Director Reed Holwegner. After the 2022 session, Democratic spin-blog DakotaFreePress reported on a leaked internal memo that former Director Holwegner issued to LRC staff in 2020, instructing them to follow his dystopian Four Rules:

Be seen but not heard
Speak when spoken to
Disappear in a crowd of two
And cast no shadow

DakotaFreePress followed this up with another article on poor working conditions within the LRC. Conditions so dysfunctional and dire that, following the 2022 session, the state legislature reportedly began holding regular closed door meetings between Holwegner and the legislature's executive board to discuss personnel and human resource issues. With only months before the start of the 2024 session, the Dakota Scout reported that Holwegner's resignation was requested by the executive board due to concerns about employee retention and office morale.

While Marsh's decisions have certainly raised serious questions, it’s crucial to have some degree of empathy and understanding for the environment she was working in. Under the leadership of Holwegner, the LRC became a place where silence was encouraged, and compliance over transparency was the norm. Holwegner’s Four Rules contributed to a culture that enabled Marsh's alleged failure to act on complaints.

Despite the attempts to obfuscate Marsh's identity, which was enabled by local and national media outlets reporting on the story, her complaint against then-Senator Frye-Mueller was a wind that blew the filing cabinet wide open. The media, who frequently esteems itself as a "watchdog" and the so-called "fourth branch of government," missed a golden opportunity for shining a light on serious issues within the LRC and prompting meaningful reforms. Had state and national media bothered to dig just a little bit deeper, they might have uncovered an even more troubling story—a story of Marsh's alleged complicity in silencing complaints and perpetuating a culture of negligence within the legislature.

Marsh's role created a false sense of trust and safety for interns. As the first (and often only) point of contact for complaints, Marsh was supposed to be an advocate for the interns she oversaw. Instead, with an alleged history of ignoring complaints, citing political connections, and mishandling allegations; Marsh protected the institution rather than those within it. This breach of trust was particularly damaging for the interns, who relied on her as their safeguard within a complex and intimidating political environment. Marsh's alleged actions ensured that any problems were contained, not resolved, further perpetuating a see-no-evil hear-no-evil culture where accountability was discouraged and institutional dysfunction thrived. Marsh allegedly played a role in helping Holwegner cover up a multitude of serious issues.

Frye-Mueller claims that the alleged conversation with Marsh began with a seemingly benign conversation about family; when she asked the staffer, a new mother, if she was "happy to go home for lunch" to see her new baby. In South Dakota, where the political culture often revolves around close-knit relationships, such inquiries aren't out of place, especially in such a highly pro-life state. Frye-Mueller recalls how Marsh seemed to glow when the conversation turned to the topic of family life, and claims Marsh volunteered details about her lunchtime plans. Meanwhile, Marsh's side of the story has already been widely covered by the state, national, and partisan media outlets.

The alleged conversation soon became the focal point of a series of allegations that were deeply intertwined with Marsh's role as the internship coordinator. Her complaint was not an isolated incident, because it was part of a larger pattern. Frye-Mueller’s sister has since shared how Marsh’s allegations have also negatively impacted her emotionally and reputationally, given that she is frequently mistaken in public for her identical twin sister. As we dive deeper into the Amanda Marsh Files, it becomes evident that what started with a conversation over family time ultimately opened the door to exposing a much deeper institutional problem within the halls of state government.

To truly understand Marsh's role in Pierre's political chessboard, we must revisit the story of Tim Goodwin, another pawn in the games of political power-broker Schoenbeck. Goodwin—a former House Majority Whip—turned against his district mate, Frye-Mueller, aligning himself with Schoenbeck in a bid to replace her. But that gamble backfired, and he lost the 2022 Senate race to Frye-Mueller. By the time Rep. Goodwin finally clawed his way back into the House for 2025's historic 100th session, the faction he once betrayed for thirty pieces of silver had since taken control of both chambers and their leadership. Needless to say, he lost a bid to reclaim his old Majority Whip spot. Was the bite worth all the bark? After Marsh's complaint against Frye-Mueller, Goodwin's own role in this saga began gaining traction. His own efforts to undermine Frye-Mueller’s seat were proven to be part of a larger web of political manipulation orchestrated by Schoenbeck.

In conclusion,

Although the alleged misconduct involving Marsh spans across multiple legislative sessions, the threads of this saga's timeline all connect in a troubling pattern:

In late 2020, the then-newly appointed LRC Executive Director Reed Holwegner sent out a memo with his authoritarian four rules.
In 2021, Marsh failed to act on my complaint.
In 2022, Marsh allegedly failed to act on multiple complaints against the unnamed intern, and cited the intern's personal connection to a powerful lawmaker as the reason for her inaction.
In 2022, these multiple complaints ended up resulting in the immediate intervention from the legislature's executive board, of which this same lawmaker sat, holding regular secret meetings with Holwegner to discuss the LRC's many (allegedly, "undocumented") personnel issues.
In 2023, Marsh became embroiled in controversy yet again (for what was the third consecutive legislative session) after filing a complaint against then-Senator Frye-Mueller; of whom this same lawmaker had a public and documented active effort to remove.
And later in 2023, with only months to go before the start of the 2024 session, the executive board requested Holwegner's resignation at the last second as reported by the Dakota Scout.

The common threads which connect all three of these complaints, spanning three consecutive sessions between the years of 2021-2023: are Reed Holwegner, Lee Schoenbeck, and Amanda Marsh. Given this state legislature is the same one that made headlines with Rep. Ted Klaudt's horrific "egg-harvesting" scheme in 2008, or Rep. Mathew Wollman resigning after having sex with interns in 2017, one can only begin to wonder what kind of stories a filing cabinet would tell if it could talk.

If you have any information related to the Amanda Marsh files, please don't hesitate to reach out and spill the milk with me. I would love to hear from you. ☕

]]><![CDATA[Eminent Domain for Private Gain | Pierre, S.D.]]>Mon, 13 May 2024 07:00:00 GMThttps://www.pierreoutsider.com/news/eminent-domain-for-private-gain-in-sd-multimedia-storyCarbon Capture Pipeline Multimedia Story

LEAD: South Dakota, with a population density of 11 people per square mile, thrives on agriculture, tourism and healthcare. Agriculture isn’t just an industry—it’s the lifeblood, indispensable to the state’s economic vitality...

Video

Date: April 26, 2024

Audio

Date: April 26, 2024

Written

Bipartisan bill to end eminent domain for private gain fails calendar placement vote

Date: February 23, 2024
Byline: Karli Healey

Lead: South Dakota, with a population density of 11 people per square mile, thrives on agriculture, tourism and healthcare. Agriculture isn’t just an industry—it’s the lifeblood, indispensable to the state’s economic vitality.

Nutgraph: Amid endless prairie grass swaying in the wind, a clash brews as private companies encroach on the agricultural heartland through the contentious use of eminent domain for pipeline construction. The pipeline proposals cut across multigenerational lands in numerous midwestern states, raising complex questions about land ownership, community well-being and the balance between private interests and the public good.

Owner of Sioux Falls Community Chronicle Mike Zitterich, a prominent businessman in Sioux Falls automotive sales, defined eminent domain as the legal power of government to take private land for public use. Zitterich said this power is intended solely for public use, such as for roads or utilities. He cites article six section two of the state constitution, which protects citizens from being deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law. Zitterich shed light on his perspective on the forces behind the proposed pipelines, “They’ve got the politicians—all the governors in these states are all on board with them. They’ve got our federal people who are on board or won’t touch it,” said Zitterich, who claimed this suggests a conspiracy to deceive and steal land from people who have owned their land for centuries.

A strange political coalition has emerged in the ongoing battle against eminent domain for private gain, as Lakota tribal nations join hands with white ranchers and farmers in an unlikely alliance. As both multigenerational farmland and tribal territory are at risk of eminent domain condemnation, these groups have united against the common threat of encroachment on their ancestral lands. NBC reports that farmers have long supported oil pipelines, due to the requirements for a farming operation. Spink County, S.D. landowner Ed Fischbach explained to NBC that farmers and ranchers are “realizing that maybe, maybe the Native Americans weren’t all wrong. Because it wasn’t just an issue about whether we needed something—it’s an issue of protecting the environment, protecting our land, and protecting your own rights.”

Pennington Republican Party Chairman Amy Wagner of Rapid City said that the pipeline controversy is currently happening all over the country, “I know it’s in eastern South Dakota, it’s in North Dakota, Minnesota, Nebraska and Iowa. I have a friend in Iowa who is battling these same companies.” Wagner explained that “if it happens in eastern South Dakota it can happen in western South Dakota, and if it happens in western South Dakota, it can happen anywhere.” She suggested money, not the public good, is the true motivation driving the carbon capture rush, “they try to tell you it’s for the greater good, but I’m not buying it.” Wagner said she thinks the decisions should be left to the local communities, “I think the state should stay out of it, unless they can do something positive, they need to just stay out of it and let the local people handle it.”

South Dakota Freedom Caucus Executive Director Dustin Gawrylow from Bismark, N.D. said that if the state legislature was “truly interested in protecting private property rights, they would ban the use of eminent domain for private gain.” Gawrylow called carbon capture a “band-aid to offset the impacts of current industrial activity. At worst it is an environmental disaster waiting to happen if the pipeline breaks.” In high concentrations carbon dioxide is hazardous not only to human life, but also to animal and plant life, raising questions about not only private property rights but also the potential environmental consequences of pipeline construction and maintenance. Gawrylow claimed that “for some reason the federal government and state governments are allowing this pipeline to be proposed without environmental impact studies equivalent to what are required on oil pipelines,” He suggested that the pipeline companies, Summit Carbon Solutions and Navigator CO2, intentionally avoided tribal lands to avoid a repeat of the recent oil pipeline showdown between the Dakota Access Pipeline and the Standing Rock Reservation in 2017.

Eminent domain and carbon capture pipelines have been a hotly debated topic throughout the course of the state legislature’s 2024 session. House Bill 1219, which would prohibit the exercise of eminent domain for the construction of pipelines carrying carbon oxide, failed to pass through the House Commerce and Energy committee by one vote. After being deferred to the 41st day, a term describing a graveyard of bills that died in committee, it was resurrected through a smoke-out—a procedural move to revive a bill for further consideration. By only four votes, a motion from the floor to place HB 1219 on the calendar, failed despite garnering bipartisan support. Meanwhile, Senate Bill 201, which deals with taxation on pipeline companies has cruised through the Senate and is scheduled for a hearing in House Commerce and Energy. In attendance during the HB 1219 calendar vote, the author observed the proceedings firsthand. Information on the bill's progress and outcomes was cross-referenced with the official legislative website (sdlegislature.gov/Session/Bill/25214) to ensure accuracy and completeness.

The battle over eminent domain and the construction of carbon capture pipelines is far from over. The complex struggle between environmental impacts, private property rights and economic concerns does not conclude with the decisions made in state legislative chambers this session. It's an ongoing narrative, and the pages are still being written by the voices of people defending their land and preserving their way of life.

Graphics

Date: April 19, 2024

]]><![CDATA[OPINION: Small-town corruption in rural American politics | Pierre, S.D.]]>Wed, 12 Oct 2022 17:26:09 GMThttps://www.pierreoutsider.com/news/opinion-small-town-corruption-in-rural-american-politics-pierre-sd

By: Karli Healey

South Dakota politics are like a small, Midwestern town where everybody knows everybody. This gives the local scene a personal touch that you can’t find with big city politics. Second only to Montpelier, Vermont, Pierre, S.D. is one of least populated state capitals in the United States. On the banks of Missouri River, this sleepy town of 14,000 was selected to house the state capitol as a geographic compromise between the powerhouses to the east and west of the Missouri, Sioux Falls and Rapid City respectively.

Buried deep beneath its downhome coating, dark secrets are hidden by deceptive appearances. A recent example is the Pandora Papers, leaked last year to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, revealing the state as a safe harbor for the world’s ultra-wealthy. The same small-town qualities which make Pierre endearing, such as its rural charm, are what also allow elected officials to fly under the public’s radar and evade accountability to their constituents. This isn’t the wild west anymore, and no one in South Dakota should be above the scrutiny of the law.

Governor Kristi Noem is one notable example. Noem campaigned on government transparency in 2018, promising to build the most transparent administration the state had ever seen. As governor, she jet-sets around the country in the state airplane building her personal brand while spending taxpayer money on a sauna, television studio and luxury rugs for the Governor’s Mansion. But that’s when she isn’t busy teaming up with State Senator Lee Schoenbeck to purge conservatives from the state legislature, bullying state employees for her daughter’s personal gain, or vetoing the women’s fairness in sports bill to appease monied special interests. Calling Noem duplicitous is putting it lightly.

Noem’s political career was bought and paid for by donor T. Dennis Sanford. Sanford, whose name is emblazoned on stadiums and healthcare facilities throughout the Midwest, made his fortune in predatory-lending with First Premier Bank before going on to become a household name as a healthcare titan and children’s philanthropist. When former Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg came into office in 2018 as an outsider candidate, the local Argus Leader quoted him saying “It’s a good day for South Dakota. It’s a bad day to be a drug dealer” as he vowed to fight crime and human trafficking. In 2020, Ravnsborg’s office launched an investigation into the state’s wealthiest man and number one employer for possession of child pornography.

Ravnsborg permanently altered the course of state politics when he hit and killed pedestrian Joe Boever while driving home from a Republican dinner the fateful evening of September 12, 2020. Boever’s face reportedly smashed through the windshield, his glasses were later found inside of the vehicle. Ravnsborg returned to the site of the crash the following morning, where he claims to have made the first discovery of Boever’s corpse mangled in a roadside ditch, leaving many questions unanswered about what truly happened that night.

Following the historic impeachment vote in the State House, Ravnsborg’s trial in the Senate and his subsequent removal from the Attorney General office, Gov. Noem appointed interim Attorney General Mark Vargo who also happened to serve as the prosecutor in the Ravnsborg trial. AG Vargo’s first order of business was to drop the investigation into Sanford. As mentioned previously, Pierre is a small-town.

In February 2022, Noem received a mutual-endorsement from former Attorney General Marty Jackley, Sanford’s lawyer, in his bid for Attorney General. Tom Kludt’s Rolling Stone article “A State Official Killed a Man with His Car: The Story Somehow Got Darker From There” quoted an attorney for the Argus Leader who called the relationship between Noem, Jackley and Sanford, “incestuous.” At the Republican state convention in June 2022, delegates from across the state descended on Watertown, S.D, where Jackley narrowly won over David Natvig, who served as the Director of the Division of Criminal Investigation under Ravnsborg. The South Dakota Democratic Party failed to nominate a candidate during their July convention earlier this year, handing Jackley an uncontested victory in the November general election.

During the September 2022 gubernatorial debate with Dakota News Now, Noem deflected to the “disgraced former Attorney General” Ravnsborg when asked about her abuse of power allegations. She complained that the complaints were brought by Ravnsborg in retaliation against her, but that just isn’t factual. Democratic lawmakers filed the complaints with the Attorney General’s office who, in turn, referred them to the Government Accountability Board for review. According to the board’s released documents, Noem’s attorney called the complaints “nonsensical,” a “political attack,” and based on “far-fetched conspiracy theories.” The GAB referred the complaints back to the new interim Attorney General, whom Noem appointed. Vargo made the right decision by recusing himself from the investigation into the governor’s ethics, however, his legacy as the thirty-second Attorney General will be remembered by dropping the investigation into Sanford. No one in the state of South Dakota is above the law.

]]><![CDATA[TERFs, TIMs, and Alphabet Soup - Understanding Modern Gender Politics]]>Tue, 12 Jul 2022 07:00:00 GMThttps://www.pierreoutsider.com/news/terfs-tims-and-alphabet-soup-understanding-modern-gender-politicsAs the skulls of women fracture in contact sports, sex offenders dressed in drag read story books to children, and the LGBT acronym hoards the entire alphabet to itself: the pendulum is swinging, and the LGBT community is fracturing.

Concerned with what they call the "mass medicalization of tomboys," a newly created grassroots group named Lesbians United conducted a SavetheTomboys campaign, sending out trucks to pride parades in major US cities with a message, "Tomboys need shoes they can run in. Not artificial hormones." This turf war between the so-called TERFs and the TIMs, as each side calls the other, has been bubbling under the surface for years. Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminist is a term that was coined by radical transgender activists to describe women who would have otherwise been called feminist's before the 2010's. The TERFs, in response, have coined a tounge-in-cheek term of their own. Trans-Identifying Male, or TIM, the acronym being a play on words. A second organization that popped up this year to combat the sexualization of children at the hands of radical activists is Gays Against Groomers. It's been a long time coming, but the LGBT community has officially begun splitting into two distinct ideological camps: the LGB and the TQ+.

Women haven't been allowed to talk about our shared and unique struggles whenever the elephant is in the room, because how gender-affirming it must be to have period cramps! Transwomen have taken it upon themselves to start policing women's spaces, virtual and otherwise, hijacking every conversation. The feminine consciousness is more empathetic to the plight of others, especially that of the downtrodden. Women invited them inside of our house to take shelter, but now they've started to overstay their welcome as they continue to live on our couch without paying rent, redecorate our personal spaces without permission and tell us what we can or cannot say or do in our own home. As a result, women are simply getting fed up with it. They somehow find a way to always make every conversation about themselves, their pronouns, and their genderfluids (ew?), which becomes so exhausting to the point where the safest bet is to just ignore them. While sad, the alternative is to slip up. God forbid you accidently misgender them, or unknowingly offend them in the secret language of microaggressions, risking becoming canceled and having your life ruined by the mob as a sacrificial lamb on the altar of political correctness.

Like that one Gamestop employee in 2018 who accidently misgendered a customer and was met with a 6 foot+ "It's Ma'am!" pounding her chest in a testosterone-fueled rage, the veins bulging out of her neck, throbbing as she stormed around the store damaging merchandise, and threatening to take the employee outside to "show" him a sir. How very graceful and ladylike of her! All while the teenage boy behind the counter repeatedly squeaked that he was sorry, and bystanders watched the scene unfold with horror and disbelief. When conservative commentator Matt Walsh asks "What is a woman?" Personally, I think of the It's Ma'am lady. Sexual predators have found a way to exploit this newfound victimhood status by wielding the threat of the Cancel Culture mob in order to coerce women into sex-- they wouldn't want all of their woke LGBTQ2+ friends to think they are transphobic, now would they?

The whole her-body-her-choice thing went completely out the window when the LGBTQ+ mob cyberbullied a pornstar to suicide in 2017. Her crime? She didn't want to have sex with a male star who has shot gay porn. She was a sex-worker who was exercising her right to "choose," by making empowered and informed decisions about her sexual and reproductive health. The exposed mucous membrane of the vulva means that women are at higher risk of catching sexually-transmitted disease and infection than men. In one of the last tweets she sent out before hanging herself, she said "most girls don't shoot with guys that have shot gay porn, for safety... I'm not putting my body at risk, I don't know what they do in their private lives."

"HIV is more prevalent among gay and bisexual men compared to heterosexual people—meaning gay and bisexual men face greater exposure risk than heterosexual people during sexual encounters." -CDC Fact Sheet, 2016

Politics makes for strange bedfellows, and no where is that more true than with Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling and The Daily Wire's Matt Walsh, who had a productive dialogue over Twitter this week. A real rarity in today's world, as they applauded one another's courage in the face of the woke mob. Earlier this year, women's rights organizations in the United Kingdom launched the Respect My Sex If You Want My X campaign arguing that female-only spaces in women's prisons, shelters, and sports are under threat by radical gender ideologues. The campaign enjoyed prominent celebrity attention from J.K. Rowling and Labor Party MP Rosie Duffield. The drama between TERFs and transwomen has been unfolding in the high-profile case of J.K. Rowling for the better part of two years.

When the Cancel Culture mob came for Rowling in 2020, actor Daniel Radcliffe was out in front leading the charge, publishing an op-ed for the Trevor Project about inclusive language. GLAAD accused Rowling of "inaccurate and cruel tweets," and of "targeting trans people." Her crime? She dared to make fun of the newspeak term people-who-menstruate. J.K. Rowling has only ever doubled down in the face of the woke mob, publishing an opinion piece of her own saying, "I’m concerned about the huge explosion in young women wishing to transition and also about the increasing numbers who seem to be detransitioning (returning to their original sex), because they regret taking steps that have, in some cases, altered their bodies irrevocably, and taken away their fertility." J.K. Rowling's defiance to radical gender ideology has earned her the label of TERF by her critics, but it has also built her an online following of feminists who don't subscribe to the insidious gender pseudoscience currently behind turning children into lifelong medical patients enmasse, forever dependent on Big Pharma.

The LGBTQ+ mob turns their back on the detransitioned. An online sub-culture living on the virtual fringes of the LGBT community, detrans is primarily comprised of young adult women who regretted their gender transition after having been sucked into the gender cult as a way to cope with distress. This distress originating from their developing body, or from sexual and or other violence. They feel tricked by medical professionals sworn to do no harm, who performed experimental life-altering treatments and irreversible surgery, under the guise of "gender-affirming" care, to children who were unable to give informed consent to the side-effects of gender transition. Side effects they were too young to understand but will now be dealing with, likely medicating, for the remainder of their adult lives. Radical transgender activists tell us that they are merely delaying puberty to give children more time to decide, arguing that early stages of gender transition are "not permanent." They use the common sales tactic of "BUY NOW!" arguing that, cosmetically speaking, gender transition has the best aesthetic outcomes when the process is started before puberty. But when the science says that the vast majority of children with gender dysphoria grow out of it after completing a natural puberty, the only logical conclusion to said data is to get children started on gender clinicians and puberty blockers as young as possible! As part of it's 2022 pride collection, retail giant Target began selling breast binders; side effects like back pain, chest pain, and shortness of breath included! Though, I doubt the item carries a warning label listing any possible ill health effects from its use.

The decade of the sixties was the generation of Woodstock, hippies, free love, the Sexual Revolution, and the Cold War. It was a time of strange psychology experiments ranging from the ones they'll teach you about in high school to the downright disturbing and out of this world. Such as Project MK-ULTRA, a series of top-secret projects in which the US Central Intelligence Agency studied mind control. Or the MK-ULTRA subproject known as Operation Midnight Climax, where prostitutes lured men and drugged them at CIA safehouses with LSD or other mind-altering substances, as they were monitored through one-way glass and recorded to study sexual blackmail and surveillance technology. The father of gender theory Dr. John Money, who invented terms like sexual orientation, gender identity and gender role, conducted a controversial experiment on the Reimer twin boys in 1967. At six months the Reimer twins were diagnosed with phimosis, a condition where the foreskin does not retract, and were referred for what was supposed to be a routine circumcision procedure. A botched circumcision left one of the twins, Bruce Reimer, with a penis beyond surgical repair. The Reimer parents visited Dr. John Money, concerned for their son's prospects for future life happiness without functional male genitalia. Dr. Money saw the identical twins as the perfect opportunity to test his theory that gender was neutral at birth, and socially constructed during childhood.

Dr. John Money

The parents were persuaded that Bruce would be happier living as a girl. Dr. Money convinced them to have their infant son undergo a sex-reassignment surgery, change his name to Brenda, and raise him as a girl. Money continued to see the twins for sessions in which he would make them take their clothes off and act out sexual acts on one another, with Brenda playing the female role. Money called this practice "childhood sexual rehearsal play." Despite her sessions with John Money, Brenda never did come to identify as a girl, and was ostracized by her male and female peers who called her a "cavewoman." A suicidal teenage Brenda told her parents that she would take her own life if they made her see Dr. Money again. When informed of the truth about his male birth, he named himself David and lived out the remainder of his life as a male. David Reimer killed himself with a shotgun at the age of 38. Brenda Reimer was Dr. John Money's success story, it is the case informing current medical practice.

Dr. John Money and David Reimer

There are two forces of consciousness: Father Time and Mother Earth, masculine and feminine, mercy and severity, non-aggression and self-defense, yin and yang. These ideas are ancient, but if you start talking to a radical gender activist about how the masculine is active and the feminine is passive, they will completely lose their minds. Passive, of course, isn't a negative quality. It's the stillness in which inspiration can be heard, and brought into reality through an artistic "medium." Beethoven wasn't born deaf, he already knew what instruments sounded like, and could hear music playing in his head. Musicians call this the inner ear. Gaggles of girls hang out in candlestores at the mall smelling candles because women are more in tune with their senses, specifically the "sixth sense." Women are more likely to believe in the supernatural, and are more likely to consider themselves to be religious. The brain is divided into two halves. An analytical linear left-brain, and a creative intuitive right-brain. In today's discourse, we argue about what a woman is, but our ancestors knew that men and women are fundamentally different. Females tend to favor right-brain thinking, while males favor left-brain thinking. There are exceptions, such as women who are colder and more logical than the general female population, or men who find themselves drawn to the arts instead of math and science. Ironically, the LGBTQ+ mob reinforces strict sex-based roles. If a boy cannot perform masculinity perfectly, his real self is actually a girl who is waiting to transition.

]]><![CDATA[A Secret History of the Mormon Church - From Nauvoo, I.L. to Rapid City, S.D.]]>Wed, 01 Jun 2022 07:00:00 GMThttps://www.pierreoutsider.com/news/a-secret-history-of-the-mormon-church-from-nauvoo-il-to-rapid-city-sdThis pristine 140-acre property located in the Black Hills of western South Dakota, formerly owned by an infamous polygamist cult, can be yours for a steal of a price-- only $6.9 million.

FLDS Black Hills compound.

A dark shadow follows this secluded 140-acre compound located in the Black Hills. The western South Dakota property was tied to a fringe, polygamist denomination of Mormons who call themselves Fundamentalist Latter-Day Saints. The FLDS are a cultic group run by leader Warren Jeffs, serving life in prison in Texas.

The FLDS compound is back in the local papers again. The property recently foreclosed on, and was sold at an auction for 750k to three former members last year, who are flipping the estate with a 6.9 million dollar price tag. Local State Representative, and moral pillar of the community, Tim Goodwin (R-D30) said that the FLDS compound with its polygamy and child marriage was one of the reasons why he first ran for office in 2016. He once described them as a "black cloud" looming over his district. "Young girls 12-15 years old were forced to marry elders aged 50 years and older. They believe in polygamy, so as many as 14 wives isn’t all that uncommon." Rep. Goodwin prime sponsored HB 1110, which established a penalty for failing to file birth and death certificates. It was signed into law by Gov. Noem after passing the House 67-1 and in the Senate 33-0.

FLDS Black Hills compound.

The FLDS were described by Rep. Goodwin in a recent Keloland report as “an absolute cult. It was kind of like an organized crime with sex and religion — it was absolutely evil is I guess the word you would say. It was the farthest thing from religion that there could be.”

Dakota Free Press, the spin-blog of the SD Democrats, humorously advertised the property in District 30 as "11584 Farmer Road, about 30 minutes southwest of Pringle, has everything: six log structures with 77 bedrooms and 74 baths, a meeting hall with fifteen offices and ten restrooms, a 14,300-square foot storehouse, a 17,500-square-foot equipment shed, greenhouse, three generators, two wellhouses, shop, rock quarry, watchtower--and a history of weird Mormon sex and oppression!"

FLDS Black Hills compound.

Mormons started trending on Twitter last week as the Momtok gossip made the rounds on social media. Allegedly, a Salt Lake City based group of Mormon "mom-fluencers" on TikTok have been swept up in a "soft swinging" scandal. The gist of the situation is that upper-middle class Mormon influencer couples were spinning-the-Sodalicious-cup, making out and doing stuff; but then one of the mom's cheated and, in the midst of her public and messy divorce, proceeded to spill the tea on the whole thing. The 2019 South Jordan home of Taylor Frankie Paul, the woman at the center of it all, is now for sale. Complete with a huge kitchen island, and spacious master bedroom with "built in fireplace and a great master bath." It's the perfect home for weird Mormon sex, and being less than an hour out of the Mormon Temple in downtown SLC, it can be yours for only 930k!

There has been speculation on whether or not the drama is actually real, or if the entire thing is scripted for views with a Mormon mom reality television show on the way. There are shows such as Real Housewives of Salt Lake City, or Sister Wives which followed the life of a polygamist family in Utah, but the people demand their bread and circus!

Salt Lake City, Utah, is a booming metropolis nestled at the foot of the Rocky Mountains with many secrets hiding beneath a suburban façade.

The Latter-Day Saints are known around the world for their works of charity, they are always willing to lend a helping hand anytime someone is in need, but they are also extremely wary of outsiders. There is a LDS family ideal, with an enormous amount of pressure to fulfill it, but hidden behind the thin superficial veneer of suburban Americana perfection; Mormon women are popping opioids like candy and Mormon men are addicted to pornography. The Mormon Words of Wisdom teach abstinence from alcohol, tobacco, and hot beverages like tea and coffee; but whenever Mormons finally get out on their own, it's like the kids just crack open a can of Dr. Pepper and start falling off the rails.

Temple Square, Salt Lake City, Utah

The Church of Jesus Christ and the Latter-Day Saints, commonly referred to as the LDS or Mormon Church, controls every lever of power in the state of Utah. The presence and influence of the Mormon Church casts a shadow which looms over the entire state. The LDS Church was founded by Joseph Smith during the mid-1800's. It was a time of religious revivalism in nineteenth century America called the Second Great Awakening.

Joseph Smith preaching.

As Smith's new religious movement began to expand throughout America, so too did anti-Mormonism. Communities feared the growing expansion of Mormon settlements because of their increasing economic and electoral might. The conflict between locals and Mormons culminated in the 1838 Missouri Mormon War, resulting in the violent expulsion of Mormons from the entire state. The Missouri governor said in issuing Executive Order 44, also known as the Mormon Extermination Order, "The Mormons must be treated as enemies, and must be exterminated or driven from the state if necessary for the public peace--their outrages are beyond all description."

Joseph Smith

After having been driven out of Missouri, in 1829, the Mormons bought a town in Illinois. They called this town Nauvoo and established a community there. Nauvoo is derived from Hebrew meaning pleasant, suitable, beautiful, a pasture, a place of rest and beauty. Under the authority granted by the Nauvoo city charter, they formed a militia called the Nauvoo Legion. A third political party sprang up in the local area called the Anti-Mormon party. Thomas Sharp over in neighboring Warsaw, IL. was one of the party's founding members and the proprietor of a Mormon critical newspaper called the Warsaw Signal.

Joseph Smith claimed to have received a revelation from God about plural marriage and introduced Church leaders to the practice of polygyny, the most common type of polygamy, where one man is married to multiple women. Due to the illegality of polygamy in the United States, what modern day historians do know today about the early Mormon practitioners of plural marriage is limited largely to whatever the LDS Church has begrudgingly decided to make public.

Joseph Smith preaching to Native Americans.

On January 29th, 1844, the prophet Joseph Smith formally launched his campaign for the office of the President of the United States. The Smith brothers were quickly becoming two of the most influential men in the state. His brother Hyrum was also running for office in the Illinois state legislature. Joseph Smith's life, as well as his short-lived campaign for the presidency, would later come to end in tragedy. A chain of events, which ultimately culminated in the death of Joseph Smith, was set off when a local newspaper called the Nauvoo Expositor published a lone edition of the paper one fateful day on June 7th, 1844.

Joseph and Hyrum Smith

Nauvoo Expositor

The paper was founded by ex-communicated and non-Mormons. The Expositor began with a preamble, taking note of the potential consequences of speaking out against the prophet and presidential candidate Joseph Smith,

We have dared to gird on the armor, and with God at our head, we most solemnly and sincerely declare that the sword of truth shall not depart from the thigh, nor the buckler from the arm, until we can enjoy those glorious privileges which nature's God and our country's laws have guaranteed to us-- freedom of speech, the liberty of the press, and the right to worship God as seemeth us good. We are aware, however, that we are hazarding every earthly blessing, particularly property, and probably life itself, in striking this blow at tyranny and oppression.

Nauvoo Expositor, June 7th, 1844

The Nauvoo Expositor

The Expositor explained that a schism had formed in the early LDS church over Joseph Smith's revelation regarding the doctrine of polygamy,

It is absurd for men to assert that all is well, while wicked and corrupt men are seeking our destruction, by a perversion of sacred things; for all is not well, while whoredoms and all manner of abominations are practiced under the cloak of religion. Lo! The wolf is in the fold, arrayed in sheep's clothing, and is spreading death and devastation among the saints.

Nauvoo Expositor, June 7th, 1844

Nauvoo Expositor

The newspaper claimed that, under the pretense of religion and God, impressionable young women were lured into leaving their friends and family to join Joseph Smith's sex cult and that the participants of these marriages were made to keep it a secret.

It is a notorious fact, that many females in foreign climates, and in countries to us unknown, even in the most distant regions of the Eastern hemisphere, have been induced, by the sound of the gospel, to forsake friends, and embark upon a voyage across waters that lie stretched over the greater portion of the globe, as they supposed, to glorify God, that they might thereby stand acquitted in the great day of God Almighty. But what is taught them on their arrival at this place?

Nauvoo Expositor, June 7th, 1844

The Nauvoo Expositor

The harmless, inoffensive, and unsuspecting creatures, are so devoted to the Prophet, and the cause of Jesus Christ, that they do not dream of the deep laid and fatal scheme which prostrates happiness, and renders death itself desirable; but they meet him, expecting to receive through him a blessing, and learn the will of the Lord concerning them, and what awaits the faithful follower of Joseph, the Apostle and Prophet of God,

Nauvoo Expositor, June 7th, 1844

The Nauvoo Expositor took aim at Joseph Smith's presidential aspirations, in his attempts to unite church and state,

We do not believe that God ever raised up a Prophet to Christianize a world by political schemes and intrigue.

Nauvoo Expositor, June 7th, 1844

The question may arise here, in voting for Joseph Smith, for whom am I voting? You are voting for a man who contends all governments are to be put down and the one established upon its ruins.

Nauvoo Expositor, June 7th, 1844

Joseph Smith for President

Joseph Smith, Lieutenant General of the Nauvoo Legion

As the Mayor of Nauvoo, Joseph Smith called a city council meeting where the Nauvoo Expositor and its publishers were put on trial. Ultimately, the city council at the behest of Smith declared the newspaper a "public nuisance." Smith, the Lieutenant General of the Nauvoo Legion, ordered the destruction of the newspaper saying that the publication was "calculated to destroy the peace of the city--and it is not safe that such things should exist--on account of the mob spirit, which they tend to produce." Smith said, as an angry mob of Mormons and Nauvoo Legionaries stormed the Expositor to destroy its printing press.

Artistic rendition of the destruction of the Nauvoo Expositor.

A June 11th edition of the neighboring Warsaw Signal cried out, "War and extermination is inevitable! Citizens ARISE, ONE AND ALL!!!" The Signal said, recapping the events explaining that Mayor Joseph Smith and the Nauvoo city council,

...had enacted an ordinance in relation to libels, providing that anything that had been published, or anything that might be published tending to disparage the character of the officers of the city should be regarded as LAWLESS. They also declared the "Nauvoo Expositor" a "nuisance," and directed the police of the city to proceed immediately to the office of the Expositor and DESTROY THE PRESS and also the MATERIALS, by THROWING them into the STREET!!!!

-Warsaw Signal , June 11th, 1844

Smith's destruction of the Expositor's press stoked the already existing undercurrents of Anti-Mormonism. Tensions between locals and Mormons would once again erupt into violence. After a warrant was issued for Joseph Smith's arrest, Smith penned a letter to the Illinois governor defending the destruction of the Nauvoo Expositor's printing press,

In the investigation it appeared evident to the council that the proprietors were a set of unprincipled men, lawless, debauchees, counterfeiters, Bogus Makers, gamblers, peace disturbers, and that the grand object of said proprietors was to destroy our constitutional rights and chartered privileges.

-Joseph Smith, June 14th, 1844
Letter to I.L. Governor Thomas Ford

Joseph Smith and Carthage Jail.

Joseph Smith declared martial law, and activated the Nauvoo Legion. The Illinois governor responded to Smith's letter,

There are many newspapers in this state which have been wrongfully abusing me for more than a year, and yet such is my regard for the liberty of the press and the rights of a free people in a republican government that I would shed the last drop of my blood to protect those presses from any illegal violence.

-Illinois Governor Thomas Ford, June 22th, 1844
Letter to Joseph Smith

Joseph Smith, already having acquired a lengthy rap sheet from encounters with the criminal justice system, fled Nauvoo to avoid arrest but surrendered to the authorities.

Artistic rendition of Joseph Smith's assassination at Carthage Jail.

Two days later on June 27th, a mob of two hundred men stormed the Carthage jail in Illinois where Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum Smith were awaiting trial. According to the Church's official records Smith was pierced by two balls, with one in the right breast. In his final words, Joseph Smith cried out the Masonic signal of distress, "O Lord, My God!" as he fell out of the window of the jail cell "into the hands of his murderers"-- a mob of non-Mormons, Anti-Masons and Freemasons.

They were innocent of any crime, as they had often been proved before, and were only confined in the jail by the conspiracy of traitors and wicked men.

Doctrine and Covenants 135:7

Artistic rendition of Joseph Smith's assassination at Carthage Jail.

The LDS Church maintains to this day that the Nauvoo Expositor conjured inflammatory and "vicious lies" about Joseph Smith, even though the paper's accusations about Mormon polygamy ended up being true. A high ranking Church member named John C. Bennett was excommunicated by the Church for adultery after claiming that the prophet authorized his plural marriages, and in 1842, he published History of the Saints: Or, an Exposé of Joe Smith and Mormonism. Bennett's exposé included the testimonies of Sarah Pratt, Nancy Rigdon, and Martha Brotherton. These women claimed that Smith propositioned them in secret with marriage proposals. Joseph Smith wielded his influence in the community to destroy the reputations of these women, formerly in good standing, who rejected and publicly disclosed his proposals for plural marriage.

John C. Bennett with a Hidden Hand.

Hyrum Smith accused exposé author John C. Bennett of using his position as a doctor to seduce women with a promise of performing abortions should they become pregnant from sexual activity. Of Martha Brotherton, who converted to the Mormon faith and immigrated with her family from England, John C. Bennett wrote "Miss Brotherton is a very good-looking, amiable, and accomplished English lady, of highly respectable parentage, cultivated intellect, and spotless moral character." Church leadership accused Brotherton's testimony of having been "given by prostitutes." According to Bennett's History of the Saints, Smith allegedly told Sarah Pratt "If you should tell, I will ruin your reputation; remember that."

Joseph Smith accused Nancy Rigdon of committing adultery with exposé author John C. Bennett. Nancy was the daughter of Sidney Rigdon, a high ranking Church member who Joseph Smith also accused of conspiring with Bennett to "defraud the innocent," as he attempted to have Rigdon removed from his position within Church leadership. There were certainly power plays happening behind the scenes in the Latter-Day Saint Church, as Sidney Rigdon who was opposed to polygamy, was selected as Joseph Smith's running mate in the 1844 presidential election. After Smith's death, Rigdon fled the power vacuum in Nauvoo as he said he felt threatened by the supporters of polygamist Brigham Young.

Nancy Rigdon

Joseph Smith made a pass at Jane Law as well, the wife of high ranking Church leader William Law. The Laws would later become founding members of the Nauvoo Expositor.

Map of Nauvoo

Joseph Smith became a brother Mason in 1842, was a founding member of the Nauvoo lodge, and plagiarized much of Latter-Day Saint doctrine and ritual directly from Freemasonry. Smith threaded Masonry into the fabric of Mormon faith, and while the Church claims his death was a religious martyrdom, some speculate whether Smith's assassination had other motives behind it. Over a decade before the creation of the Anti-Mormon party, in 1828 the Anti-Masonic party was formed as a response to the Morgan Affair.

A New Yorker named William Morgan penned an exposé of Masonry in 1826 called Illustrations of Freemasonry before mysteriously disappearing. This sparked national backlash against Freemasons in America, leading to the creation of the Anti-Masonic party, the first third political party in the U.S. The Anti-Masons argued that Masonry and secret societies were subversive to American institutions.

Steps of Freemasonry Illustration

Masonic Lodge in Nauvoo, IL

The Anti-Masonic movement was anti-elitist, as many prominent political and business figures were Freemasons. The Anti-Masons argued that men who make oaths and handshakes were a secret aristocracy and a threat to republicanism. The Anti-Masons migrated into the Whig party, and became a powerful faction within the party. When the Whigs later collapsed over the issue of slavery, the Anti-Mason faction of the former Whig Party linked arms with anti-slavery Democrats to found the Republican party in 1854. The Anti-Masons probably assassinated Joseph Smith fearing his rise to power and, all things considered, the Masons were probably not pleased with Smith either; as he revealed the secrets of Freemasonry, and even initiated women into the brotherhood, under the guise of his new religious movement called Mormonism.

Master Mason Joseph Smith was gunning for the presidency in the 1844 election before he was gunned down by a mob of angry citizens consisting of Anti-Masons, Masons, and non-Mormons.

The Latter-Day Saint population voted as a bloc, and therefore, held a decisive vote electorally in a state like Illinois. Joseph Smith's platform included the abolition of slavery by the year 1850, and a rehabilitation-focused view of criminal justice. Joseph Smith advocated for dramatic increases in the powers of the president. Not only was Joseph Smith Mayor of Nauvoo, but he was also the Lieutenant General of the Nauvoo Legion. His life was bound to end in tragedy. Was Smith a martyr, or a charismatic leader attempting to amass massive amounts of religious, paramilitary, and political power?

Joseph Smith for President

The Prophet of the United States can't just go around activating the Nauvoo Legion every time someone writes or says something about him that he doesn't like. Utah's taxpayer-funded public schools teach that the prophet Joseph Smith's death at the hand's of his assassins was an act of religious martyrdom, but surprisingly little is known by the general public about Utah folk hero Joe Smith's presidential ambitions or how he made national history as the first presidential candidate to ever be assassinated.

Artistic rendition of Joseph Smith with Seer Stone.

The Smith family were notorious nineteenth century treasure diggers. The Smith's were known for using scrying, dowsing rods, ritualistic animal sacrifice, and occultism in search of buried treasure. In 1826, Joseph Smith the glass looker was arrested and brought to court for being "a disorderly person and an imposter." His father's namesake, would grow up to be a prophet in his adult life claiming that an angel directed him to the site of buried golden plates inscribed with the Book of Mormon. Joseph's brother Hyrum, and father Joseph Smith Sr., are two of the eight witnesses who saw the said plates.

Artistic rendition of Joseph Smith digging for treasure with Seer Stone.

1826 Trial of Joseph Smith the Glass Looker

The assassination of LDS prophet Joseph Smith sparked another Mormon War, leading to Mormon expulsion from Illinois, and the beginning the exodus of the Mormon pioneers. In 1848, the Latter-Day Saint Temple in Nauvoo was set ablaze by an unknown arsonist.

Artistic rendition of the LDS Temple in Nauvoo, IL.

The Mormon pioneers were led by Church leader Brigham Young, upon their arrival to the Great Salt Lake valley, Young famously said "This is the place." Before the creation of the Utah territory, named after the Ute tribe, the Mormon settlers proposed a state they called Deseret which encompassed a vast area of the southwest United States. The Mormon settlers fought a year long armed confrontation with the United States armed forces in the Utah territory in 1857. The Nauvoo Legion used the natural defenses of the Rocky Mountains to block the United States Army from advancing into the Great Salt Lake valley.

Provisional 1849 boundaries of the State of Deseret shown in dotted line, Utah Territory is shaded blue.

Mormon Octopus Propaganda

The Mormon settlers practiced polygamy openly once in the Utah Territory, and in response the United States Congress passed the 1862 Morrill Anti-Bigamy Act and 1887 Edmunds-Tucker Act. The legislation was passed with the intention to stop the spread of polygamy into the western territories.

The Republican party famously called slavery and polygamy "the twin relics of barbarism." It wouldn't be until 1896 that Utah would finally be accepted into the union, and in exchange the LDS Church was required to end the practice of polygamy as an official church doctrine. Just as early frontier life in the western Black Hills of South Dakota was shaped by Deadwood gun-slingers, saloons, brothels, and the Gold Rush;

Frontier life in the Great Salt Lake valley shaped by Mormonism and polygamy. The Church maintains that the practice of polygamy was a dictate from God and served its purpose. They argue that it was necessary for a time to raise up seed unto God, saying that the early Latter-Day Saints had an Abrahamic covenant with God, like how in the Book of Genesis God promised Abraham that he would multiply his descendants as the stars in the sky.

Family Tree of Famous Utah Politician Mitt Romney.

Culturally, and genetically speaking, the descendants of the Mormon pioneers are a distinct people who trace their lineage back to the early Latter-Day Saint patriarchs. The contributions of the Latter-Day Saint Church, who believe its part of their religious duty to record genealogy, has resulted in the University of Utah gaining world renown for its research in genetics. The Latter-Day Saints have a Family History Library, located at Temple Square in the heart of downtown Salt Lake City, which houses one of the largest collections of genealogical records in the world.

Utah Ancestry

Despite the LDS Church's history of interbreeding and polygamy, Utah just doesn't have the same "inbred hicks" stereotype some other states have. Utah's stereotype gives off an eerie Stepford Wives vibe. The rest of America sees it as a cult of super nice and attractive people, who all look a little related, are about as white as mayonnaise, oddly happy, and extremely persistent about recruiting you into the Church. So persistent, in fact, that not even death itself will save you from those nice Mormon boys standing on your doorstep. The LDS Church will just wait to baptize you after your already dead.

Mormon Temple Garments

LDS temple worship is shrouded in almost as much secrecy as a Mormon boy's sacred undergarments. From squares, compasses, aprons, handshakes, and blood-oaths-- Mormonism is plagiarized Freemasonry. The idea of Masonic handshakes, for example, were renamed to Tokens of the Priesthood. In the Mormon faith, ringing true to Freemasonry, only men are allowed to learn the Tokens of the Priesthood.

Until 1990, the temple endowment ceremony included the recitation of a blood-oath. This blood-oath, called a Penalty, is said with accompanying gestures such as symbolizing ones own throat being slit. The recitation of a Penalty for revealing the secrets of Mormon temple worship is, once again, stolen from Freemasonry.

My throat be cut from ear to ear, and my tongue torn out by its roots; our breasts be torn open, our hearts and vitals torn out and given to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field; our body be cut asunder and all your bowels gush out.

Penalty
Mormon Endowment Ceremony

Following the death of the prophet Joseph Smith, and until the 1930's, Mormons took an Oath of Vengeance against the United States as part of the temple endowment ceremony.

You and each of you do covenant and promise that you will pray and never cease to pray to Almighty God to avenge the blood of the prophets upon this nation, and that you will teach the same to your children and to your children's children unto the third and fourth generation.

Oath of Vengeance
Mormon Endowment Ceremony

In the Holy Bible, it was likewise said that generational curses are passed down onto the third and fourth generations,

Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me.

Exodus 20:5
The Holy Bible, KJV

Most Mormons, and many Christians today, tend to think of the Latter-Day Saints as a quirky Christian offshoot. I would argue that Mormonism is actually more akin to an offshoot of Freemasonry. In the Christian faith, the Holy Bible is God's word. In Christianity, there are no tiers of secret occult rites and rituals in which a convert must be initiated in order to be granted access to higher tiers of information. Christians do not believe that God speaks to his people through blood-oaths and secret handshakes.

Masonic Handshake on SLC Temple

All-Seeing Eye on SLC Temple

Jesus got mad, he flipped tables, and called the religious elite vipers. Christians believe that the life, death, and resurrection of the Christ opened the avenue for a direct relationship with God. Christians believe that Jesus the man was God having a human experience on the Earth. The Mormon faith teaches that God was actually once a man who became a god, and that by practicing Mormonism human beings can become gods too, ruling over a heavenly kingdom in the afterlife.

This is juxtaposed to Christianity in which Adam and Eve caused the fall of man from the Garden of Eden, the original sin, after having disobeyed God by biting into the Fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil to become gods. Masonic iconography decorates the famous LDS temple in downtown SLC, and even the Utah state flag bears an emblem of Freemasonry, the beehive. The history of the Latter-Day Saints is complex and full of mysteries, the surface of which, this introductory article only scratched.

If that God who gave bounds to the mighty deep, and bade the ocean cease--if that God who organized the physical world, and gave infinity to space, be our front guard and our rear ward, it is futile and vain for man to raise his puny arm against us. God will inspire his ministers with courage and with understanding to consummate his purposes; and, if it is necessary, he can snatch them from the fiery furnace, or the Lion's den.

Nauvoo Expositor, June 7th, 1844

Utah State Flag

]]><![CDATA[Wackadoodles and the King Cobra | '22 SDGOP Infighting - Pierre, South Dakota]]>Tue, 10 May 2022 07:00:00 GMThttps://www.pierreoutsider.com/news/wackadoodles-and-the-king-cobra-22-sdgop-infighting-pierre-south-dakotaJet-setting SD Governor Kristi Noem hasn't been shy about racking up her frequent flyer miles. From Jackson Hole, CPAC, to SLC, and more but Noem must've had a log in her eye when she took to social media to accuse House Republicans of holding the 2022 budget hostage because they wanted to go on "vacation."

Last August, I was wrapping my head around the political alliance between Governor Kristi Noem and the President Pro Tempore of the State Senate Lee Schoenbeck. At this time my former boss House Majority Whip Tim Goodwin (R-D30), Kristi Noem's West River Director Ed Randazzo, and Senator Jessica Castleberry (R-D35) were using shady tactics in an attempt to recruit me into running for the state House of Representatives in one of South Dakota's most conservative districts as a primary challenge to ultra-conservative Rep. Tony Randolph (R-D35). I served as Chairman Randolph's intern on the House Military and Veterans Affairs committee. Rep. Randolph is one of a number of Republican so-called "wackadoodle" legislators who have found themselves caught in the crosshairs of the King Cobra of the State Senate Lee Schoenbeck and his PAC South Dakota Strong.

Rep. Randolph has an extremely conservative voting record to say the least. He is a religious fundamentalist, unabashed social conservative, and is unafraid to be vocal about his Christian faith or radically right-wing views.

Rep. Tony Randolph (R-D35)

Rep. Tony Randolph is the only African-American serving in the Pierre statehouse, with Chet Jones back in 1992 being the first ever elected. South Dakota Right to Life rated Tony Randolph at 93% on their 2021-22 scorecard, SD Citizens for Liberty rated him at 87% on their 2022 scorecard, and Family Heritage Alliance rated him at 100% on their 2022 scorecard. Needless to say, Rep. Tony Randolph is a card-carrying wackadoodle. As a freshman legislator during the 2020 legislative session, Rep. Tony Randolph drew the ire of the national LGBT lobby after he prime sponsored the controversial HB 1215 an act to prohibit the state from endorsing or enforcing certain policies regarding domestic relations.

The bill's opponents called it one of the "most damaging, comprehensive, and retrogressive anti-LGBT bills in history." One aim of the bill was to nullify recognition of gay marriage in the state of South Dakota, but the bill also encompassed a wide range of other LGBT-related issues, such as banning Drag Queen Story Hour from public libraries and schools. The bill was later withdrawn at the request of Rep. Randolph.

During the 2022 legislative session, Tony Randolph scored a major victory for the pro-life movement after prime sponsoring HB 1113, which prohibited threats made with the intent to coerce a woman into having an abortion. HB 1113 was a solid piece of bipartisan pro-life legislation--even the South Dakota Democrats voted for it! It passed unanimously through the House and Senate, and was signed into law by Governor Noem. Randolph had this comment regarding HB 1113 and Republican wackadoodles,

I am grateful for the passage of HB 1113 and all the help I had getting it to the Governor's desk. As far as Senator Schoenbeck and the Governor targeting conservatives, I find it interesting that the Democratic wing of the Republican party is coming after those who work to follow the Constitution as well as the platform by those who regularly ignore both.

-Rep. Tony Randolph, May 10, 2022

During the 2016 presidential election, populist movements shook up both sides of the two-party aisle in American politics. After the Democratic National Convention chaos in which Hillary Clinton stole the Democratic nomination from Bernie Sanders, many of his supporters made good on their promise of "Bernie-or-Bust" by abandoning the sinking Democratic Party and joining ranks with Republicans and Independents to elect Donald Trump in his blind-slide election night victory. In 2017, NPR reported that 1 in 10 Bernie Sanders supporters voted for Trump in the 2016 presidential election. Today, during the 2022 midterms, the GOP Republican Establishment now struggles to wrestle back control of the party from the emboldened anti-establishment wing ascending through the local, state, and national level of the GOP. This anti-establishment wing is comprised of a strange somewhat ragtag and disorganized coalition of right and left wing populists, Tea Party conservatives, Christian fundamentalists, libertarians, independents, and disenfranchised moderate Democrats who want to push back against the woke mob.

This unusual, young and energetic political coalition spooks the war-hawks, big business interests, and entrenched bowtie conservative class who have long benefitted from being the red-colored boot in the march of tyranny. The South Dakota GOP's family feud is best summarized in the words of South Dakota's very own America First fraudster Kristi Noem,

We are now seeing a battle in the Republican Party between the populist wing and traditional limited government conservatism. Some so-called conservatives want to regulate businesses to prevent them from requiring a COVID-19 vaccine as a condition of employment.

-Kristi Noem, August 27, 2021

Call me a wackadoodle, but I believe that American citizens ought to have the right not to have their constitutional rights shredded by big corporations, such as Sanford Health. Gov. Kristi Noem is beholden to special interests like healthcare titan T. Dennis Sanford, the children's philanthropist currently under investigation for child pornography, who made her political career. Her pompous op-ed about true conservatism on vaccine mandates left a bad taste in my mouth. At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, before launching herself into national stardom as the MAGA Barbie governor, I distinctly remember Gov. Noem shilling for a track and trace app. So it makes sense in hindsight that Kristi Noem would team up with Lee Schoenbeck to boot any conservatives from the state party who aren't on his payroll and down with the plan to reshape the state legislature into his image.

In addition to Rep. Randolph's primary, King Cobra Lee Schoenbeck and Gov. Kristi Noem also have their fingers in the District 30 Senate race. The dynamic duo have placed their bets on intern groomer and Noem yes man Rep. Tim Goodwin (R-D30) in a bid to unseat far-right Senator Julie Frye-Mueller (R-D30). Over in neighboring District 31, things are actually relatively normal and calm by comparison. Retired CIA officer Ron Moeller is running an America First campaign for State Senate, and with only one month to go until the June primary, is coasting along toward certain victory. This month, Ron Moeller received the endorsement of Joe Kent, the America First candidate for Washington state's third congressional district.

Ron Moeller (Candidate for District 31 State Senate)

Ron Moeller's primary opponent in the District 31 State Senate race is the Lawrence County Commissioner Randy Deibert who celebrated spring by posting an early morning surprise to his official campaign Facebook page. In celebration of "National No Pants Day," Deibert was pictured covering his, well you know, with his Senate campaign signage.

Deibert's caption tried its best to be endearing, but as any political consultant will tell you the fastest way to earn the female vote is to show the women of Lawrence county some pale and hairy man legs. Ron Moeller tweeted out the social media faux pas of his opponent to three thousand some odd Twitter followers.

In contrast to the dirty politics, tire slashing, and other D.C.-style shenanigan's infecting other primary races within the state party; waking up to see pantsless Randy Deibert from District 31 on my Twitter feed was an ordinary day in the bizarre world of SDGOP politics.

Another GOP firebrand from Lawrence county is the up-and-coming conservative star in the state legislature, and proud wackadoodle, Rep. Scott Odenbach (R-D31). Odenbach is currently running for re-election to the District 31 House. As a freshman legislator, Rep. Odenbach squared up to Gov. Noem last fall when he called for a special session to address vaccine mandates, which prompted Noem to publish her aforementioned op-ed about what a true conservative is. Earlier this month, Rep. Odenbach posted the following photo and statement to Facebook:

THROWBACK THURSDAY: Pat Buchanan, JD Vance, and America First

A young Scott Odenbach (pictured on the right)

"I was so glad to see great America First candidate JD Vance win the Ohio Republican Senate Primary on Tuesday night. Along with President Trump, Vance has been right on with themes first put forward by Pat Buchanan in the 1990s about America First, addressing illegal immigration, staying out of unecessary foreign wars, and an overall economic policy focused on American workers and families. This is the way. When the leading cause of death is abortion for the unborn, and in many places Fentanyl overdoses for people age 18-45, we know it's time to take action and address the needs of our own people.

Woke corporations with high-paid lobbyists who only see fellow citizens as part of "the workforce" - to be housed and fed to fuel greater growth - cannot form the basis of a successful political movement.

- Rep. Scott Odenbach, May 5th, 2022

In South Dakota, we're currently in a battle to define what it means to be "conservative." Please do your homework and find out which candidates have been consistently conservative in defending your values vs. just latching on to the label for political gain in an election year. HINT: Using words like "common sense" to mask their real agenda, calling fellow Republicans "whackadoodles," voting for new big-government spending programs, and opposing tax cuts in Pierre - is NOT IT.

I've been defending this cause from the beginning. If you have questions about a candidate or their message, please give me a call or DM any time."

]]><![CDATA[All Bark and No Bite - Pierre, South Dakota]]>Mon, 25 Apr 2022 07:00:00 GMThttps://www.pierreoutsider.com/news/all-bark-and-no-bite-pierre-south-dakotaGovernor Kristi Noem's miniature purse-dog Tim Goodwin is all bark and no bite. He likes to pick on women his own size.

The sidewall of my tire got a visit following the publication of Pierre Outsider's March 2022 edition. The list of women who House Majority Whip Tim Goodwin (R-D30) has picked cat-fights with has grown within the last couple of months. Last October via blog post Rep. Goodwin called Sherry Bren, who was summoned to the Governor's Mansion for an "intimidating" meeting with Noem's daughter, a "lower-level state employee" who was "basically the problem." Then again in January, after former Noem-staffer Caroline Woods challenged the Governor's record on fairness in women's sports in the Rapid City Journal, Rep. Goodwin obediently barked along at her too. He accused Woods of leaving state employment due to "irreconcilable issues" and of being a "relatively new resident" to Rapid City and South Dakota. The only possible explanation for his odd behavior is that he has a crush on the Snow Queen and lives vicariously through 8'9" First Gentleman Bryon Noem.

SB 121: An act to restrict the distribution of deceptive images or recording with the intent to influence the outcome of an election. On February 3rd, 2022, Senator Jessica Castleberry (R-D35) brought Goodwin's prime sponsored revenge bill before Senate Judiciary committee. Justin Smith, an attorney and lobbyist representing the South Dakota Newspaper Association, testified in opposition to SB 121. Smith argued that the bill would have a "chilling effect" on Freedom of Speech and Freedom of the Press. The South Dakota Broadcasters Association also testified in opposition, asking the committee to put the bill "quietly to death." The members of the committee asked no further questions before the bill moved onto discussion and or action, where it got shot down from the sky like a South Dakota pheasant. 7-0!

I first became alarmed by Tim Goodwin's behavior in March of last year. I continued to approach our interactions with a cautious, but open-minded optimism, despite being suspicious of his motive and intent. The more I dug, however, the more alarmed I became with what started turning up. I found more questions than I did answers-- like who was the high-profile South Dakotan named as an implicated individual in a ongoing child pornography case? The benefit of the doubt I had initially afforded to Rep. Goodwin would eventually come to evaporate, and I took steps necessary to neutralize him and protect myself. South Dakota is a one party consent state meaning that only one party has to consent in order for a private conversation to be legally recorded.

TRANSCRIPT: September 11th, 2021, Pennington County Lincoln Day Dinner

GOODWIN: So, other than that.
HEALEY: So... Lee, that's...?
GOODWIN: Lee Schoenbeck, he's the head of the Senate.
HEALEY: Oh, okay.
GOODWIN: Yeah.
HEALEY: I remember Jessica saying something about him, but... I think she said he would fundraise?
GOODWIN: Yeah, he can help you fundraise and so can ____.
HEALEY: Oh, okay.
GOODWIN: And then we'll go from there.
HEALEY: Okay.
GOODWIN: I've got some lobbyists too that I've talked to that have said-- once you get there, we'll figure it out. Once we get to that point.
HEALEY: Sounds good.
GOODWIN: Let's find out what the district looks like first.
HEALEY: Okay. Um, yeah. I'm by the airport so I should solidly be in 35, I think.
GOODWIN: Yeah, I'm just-- I just wanna get it where you got more Air Force in your district.
HEALEY: Ah, I see. Umm, okay...
GOODWIN: More votes for sure.
HEALEY: Yeah.

[...]
GOODWIN: That's what I would say, pro B-21, pro-Ellsworth.
HEALEY: Yeah.
GOODWIN: It'd be fun to run against them, I think.
HEALEY: I think it'd be kind of fun too. Something new and differe--
GOODWIN: They're scared shitless cause they're going around complaining that I'm recruiting people.
HEALEY: Oh, yeah? That's funny.
GOODWIN: So they're scared.
HEALEY: Okay, umm... Do they know its me, or...?
GOODWIN: I said-- I told them, I said, I haven't recruited anybody. I said, there's bee-- I said that the people out in Box Elder hate your guts and if you lose, go look in the mirror. It's your own fault. Because Taffy told you to do this, vote it that way, because Taffy Howard told them. Taffy Howard, you know last night she was speaking up in Meade County. She hasn't announced formally, so tonight she ain't talking, only the candidates are. Dusty Johnson's our congressman. Now if she already filed and was for sure gonna run, then she could talk. You know?
HEALEY: So, she wants to run against him right?
GOODWIN: Well-- but she won't file yet cause she's worried. I think she's, I think she's bluffing. I don't think she'll actually go through with it. I hope she does cause then she won't be in the House anymore!
GOODWIN: _____, you remember-- do you remember, uh... Kelly. Carie?
HEALEY: Karli?
GOODWIN: Karli!
_____: You were a page?
HEALEY: Intern.
GOODWIN: She's gonna be my intern this year, she's coming back.
HEALEY: Yep, I'm coming back. Yep...
GOODWIN: She's thinking of running for the legislature. 35, Tina and Tony. *Laughter* She's got a good resume, her husband is in the Air Force. That's a real item.

My husband once tried striking up a conversation with Rep. Goodwin about his long term career goals, but was rudely talked over, "Yeah, but you can't run. You're in the military!" Later, when I told Tim that my husband was in fact exiting the military, he started making emotional appeals about Biden's America and how we will survive without the military. Jace scored a perfect score on the ASVAB test, so I think we'll be just fine, but thank you for the genuine concern! Come to think of it, you never did ask me about my long-term goals either, before you elected yourself to be my talent manager. This year, I will be twenty-four. I enjoy politics, and will continue to enjoy being involved, but riddle me this: why would I exchange the gift of motherhood to work for some fat-cat boss who doesn't even know what my name is? House Majority Whip Tim Goodwin thought he was pulling a fast one on me, but I pulled an even faster one on him. Loose lips do sink ships, and Tim sunk his own. Being a popular idiom of the armed forces, you'd think that the former Lt. Colonel would have enough common sense and the military discipline to control his. He should know better than to blab to cute girls at parties about his schemes and corruption-- but you'd be surprised, I might've heard somewhere that he's a sucker for blondes!

Considering the fact that Rep. Goodwin once told me that he "couldn't be involved", naturally I figured that if he didn't want anyone to know he was involved, then I probably did not want to be involved either. Grooming is used to decrease the likelihood of detection and it consists of six main phases: Through the first and second phases, a target is identified and their trust is gained. The target is selected based on ease of access and perceived vulnerability. In the third phase, a groomer will attempt to cement themselves in the life of the target by trying to fulfill a perceived need. A groomer will shower the other person with gifts, attention, special favors, or even a coveted career opportunity. This is done to create a sense of indebtedness in the target toward the groomer. The fourth phase is isolation. The "secret-keeping" beginning in this stage is non-sexual. This is done to prepare the target for keeping later, bigger secrets. A groomer wants separate the target from other adults, who would otherwise intervene, if only they knew exactly how involved this person is trying to become. In the fifth phase, the relationship becomes sexualized. A groomer might start to make dirty jokes or talk about their sexual interests, as non-sexual touching starts to take on a more sexual nature. The sixth phase of maintaining control, though threats and intimidation, ensures the secrecy of that sexual relationship.

When I was told by the women recruiting me to trust Senator Castleberry "because she's a woman," I was already all too well aware that they were manipulating in-group bias. One example of an in-group bias might be when a woman automatically gives her trust away to another woman whom she doesn't know, just because that other woman doesn't look like a predator (i.e. a man). In lieu of being a normal young adult, I have always struggled making female friendships, I spend a lot of time by myself learning. History, politics, theology, psychology, I love it all-- two subjects which I lay a certain claim of expertise to are cults and trafficking, both of which manipulate this very same in-group bias.

One third of all sex-traffickers are women. Women involved with human trafficking operations are sent out to recruit more women into trafficking. Their role is to build a sense of trust and connection with potential victims in order to lure them in for sexual and other exploitation. Most of these women either currently are, or were being trafficked themselves, but there are exceptions. The crocodile tears of Ghislaine Maxwell failed to persuade the judge and jury during her high-profile trial at the tail end of last year, as the Epstein-ring Madam tried to paint herself as a victim of Jeffery. Although, Ghislaine admittedly did meet him at a vulnerable time in her life, in the aftermath of a family tragedy and abrupt move to New York City. The nature of Epstein and Maxwell's relationship was sexual, it was also romantic, but the arrangement was primarily that of equal business partners. Cult recruitment works exactly the same way sex-trafficking does. Cult leaders generally tend to be men, whereas women disproportionately comprise 70% of all cult members globally. The ideal target for cult recruitment is a middle-class, college-educated white woman in her twenties who is undergoing significant life changes like a marriage, starting college, or having just recently moved to the area. Cults choose to prey on vulnerable people who are lonely and isolated, a military spouse for example.

Machiavelli said that a prince should be both a fox to escape snares, and a lion to scare off wolves, but Goodwin the Groomer is neither lion nor fox. He's just a purse-dog who has to pick cat-fights with women and girls because he's all bark and no bite.

Super Blue Blood Moon over the Pierre State Capitol. Photo by Keith Hemmelman.

]]><![CDATA[Redistricting, Primaries, and Family Feuds - SD and UT GOP in the '22 Election]]>Sun, 27 Feb 2022 08:00:00 GMThttps://www.pierreoutsider.com/news/redistricting-primaries-and-family-feuds-sd-and-ut-gop-in-the-22-electionRepublicans are battling themselves in the 2022 election-- for the future of the GOP.

Part-time Gov. Kristi Noem will be campaigning for the South Dakota governorship later this week in my hometown of Salt Lake City, Utah. Pierre, a media desert on the Missouri River, stands in stark contrast to the skyscraper skyline of Salt Lake City located against the panoramic backdrop of the Rocky Mountains. Religious leader Brigham Young led the Mormon Pioneers to the Great Salt Lake valley. Upon their arrival, Young famously said, "This is the place." From the Wasatch Front to the Arches, Utah is internationally famous for the diverse range of its picturesque natural environment.

Salt Lake City, UT

In 2016, Utah native Evan McMullin launched a long-shot bid for the presidency, running as a conservative alternative to Donald Trump. He surprisingly captured 20% of Utah's vote as an independent candidate. Fast-forward to 2022, the biggest threat to Utah Senator Mike Lee's re-election bid are his primary challengers. Donald Trump just didn't take off in Utah which, in a state as religious as this, could be attributed to Trump's unapologetic lifestyle as a serial playboy. Mormons also generally tend to be reserved, private, and polite- offended by Trump's combative style.

Utah politics is unlike anywhere else in the country. That's because Utah, like Texas, operates as if it were its own independent country. Utah was founded as the Zion of the Mormon people. Before the creation of the Utah Territory, named after the Ute tribe, the Mormon settlers proposed an area of the southwest United States that they called Deseret. The Nauvoo Legion, a precursor to Utah's National Guard, fought a year long armed confrontation with the United States in the Utah Territory.

Provisional 1849 boundaries of the State of Deseret shown in dotted line, Utah Territory is shaded blue.

Utah public schools teach that Mormons fled religious persecution, but what they forget to mention is that Latter Day Saints founder Joseph Smith was a Freemason who founded a lodge in Nauvoo, IL. The Church of Jesus Christ and the Latter Day Saints is, factually, plagiarized Freemasonry repackaged as Mormonism: complete with aprons, handshakes, and the Masonic iconography decorating Salt Lake City's famous LDS Temple.

The prophet Joseph Smith is depicted as a religious martyr. In actuality, Smith had presidential ambitions. He was the first presidential candidate to be assassinated after he ordered the destruction of the printing presses of the Nauvoo Expositor, a local paper founded by a collection of non-and ex-Mormons. The first and only print was critical of the Church's leaders and teachings, such as that of plural marriages, and accused Smith of desiring to crown himself the United States' theocratic king.

The newspaper was declared a "public nuisance." Joseph Smith's destruction of the printing presses led to public outrage, and the warrant for his arrest. In response, he activated the Nauvoo Legion before fleeing and eventually turning himself in to the authorities. Smith was killed by a mob of two hundred men who stormed the jail while he awaited trial in 1844.

Artistic depiction of Joseph Smith's assassination.

Religious leader, and presidential candidate, Joseph Smith had a lot of political enemies. In 1828, the Anti-Mason Party was founded in opposition to the fraternal organization, and became the first third political party in the United States. The Masons also wanted Joseph Smith gone because he brought the secret society into the light, and initiated women into the Masonic order, under the guise of his new religious movement known as Mormonism.

Joseph Smith

Immediately upon returning from CPAC in Florida, the next stop on Gov. Kristi Noem's jet-setting list is Salt Lake International Airport. Her ambitions are the worst kept secret in Pierre. While Gov. Noem checks the 801 area code off her fundraising list, her own South Dakota Republican legislators are back at home, writing checks to Republican challenger Steve Haugaard- or secretly promising support to Democrat Jamie Smith.

Gov. Noem accused House Speaker Spencer Gosch (R-D23) of a personality clash. She also accused Haugaard of misogyny, and an anti-woman agenda, after he pointed out the fact that she caved to pressure by vetoing the fairness in women's sports bill last legislative session. When Gov. Noem's attack-dog Rep. Tim Goodwin isn't getting caught milking a tragic death in the local papers or leading a coup against Speaker of the House Spencer Gosch, Tim can be found ranting about Sherry Bren on his blog. Just last October, Goodwin called Sherry Bren, who was summoned to the Governor's Mansion for an atypical meeting with Noem's daughter, "a lower-level state employee" who was "basically the problem."

Then again in January, Rep. Goodwin obediently barked at Caroline Woods, a former Noem employee who submitted an editorial to the Rapid City Journal calling Gov. Noem out for her veto on fairness in women's sports. Kristi Noem's spokesman Ian Fury accused Woods of not being from South Dakota, and called her a "disgruntled former staffer." Goodwin joined in, calling Woods a "relatively new resident to Rapid City and South Dakota" noting for a second time that she "relocated to South Dakota." He cited "irreconcilable issues."

Rep. Tim Goodwin has yet to make a public statement about the controversy surrounding his own campaign for District 30 State Senate, but it's almost like he has this act down verbatim. If I had a crystal ball, I would guess that Goodwin's former intern is probably a disgruntled former staffer who was basically the problem, is a relatively new resident to Rapid City and South Dakota, and left employment because of irreconcilable issues. Although, as recently as last October, Rep. Tim Goodwin submitted a glowing letter of recommendation on my behalf to the South Dakota Legislative Research Council.

That said, I'm really not sure which irreconcilable issue to be the most disgruntled about:

1.) Rep. Tim Goodwin's unprofessional behavior.
2.) Rep. Tim Goodwin's revenge legislation.
3.) Senator Lee Schoenbeck's plot to reshape the state legislature.
4.) The link between T. Dennis Sanford, Kristi Noem, and child pornography.
5.) ...?

]]><![CDATA[GOODWIN: The 500 lb Elephant - Rapid City, South Dakota]]>Thu, 24 Feb 2022 08:00:00 GMThttps://www.pierreoutsider.com/news/goodwin-the-500-lb-elephant-rapid-city-south-dakotaThe South Dakota House Republicans have a 500 lb elephant: his name is Majority Whip Tim Goodwin.

Tim Goodwin (R-D30), hungry for a whiff of Noem's clout and Schoenbeck's cash, was in the Rapid City Journal yesterday begging for scraps at Kristi and Lee's feet. Goodwin called the impeachment of the Attorney General the "500 lb elephant-in-the-room," and stated that he wants Jason Ravnsborg impeached before the legislative session ends on March 10. Goodwin's letter made a veiled, somewhat ominous threat, noting that a motion can be made from the House floor for an impeachment vote. He acknowledges that the committee has not finished their investigation, "however, this has gone on long enough."

Let's not forget that Rep. Tim Goodwin was the first Republican legislator to publicly call for Ravnsborg's resignation. AG Ravnsborg is probing into Kristi Noem, as well as T. Dennis Sanford, the billionaire children's philanthropist who made her political career. Sanford is currently under investigation for child pornography. This month, Kristi Noem mutually-endorsed Denny's lawyer, former Attorney General Marty Jackley in his bid for AG.

House Majority Whip Tim Goodwin's unsavory tactics have begun to catch up with him. His campaign for District 30 Senate against incumbent Julie Frye-Mueller has been off to a rather tumultuous start. His reputation soured amongst conservative colleagues after he led a coup against Speaker of the House Spencer Gosch (R-D23), and recruited his intern into Lee Schoenbeck's plan to reshape the state legislature. According to a Daily Beast report earlier this month, Kristi Noem "doesn't have any friends" in Pierre, but that isn't actually entirely true. Tim Goodwin announced his campaign for District 30 State Senate with a dramatic display of love for the Snow Queen, going so far as to declare that his first order of business was to help Kristi Noem get re-elected.

While South Dakota's part-time Governor politicks at out-of-state cocktail parties, her own Republican legislators are back at home, congratulating Democrat Jamie Smith on his run for the governorship- some promising their support in the general election.

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