Political Persuasion

Morally Correct
"A good story beats dull dry facts," says Republican poll-master Frank Luntz. Despite the Journal's insistence, Bruce Whalen owes no apology to Congresswoman Herseth.

The reality is that the public loves a negative campaign, and dirty tricks are necessary to win.

Tactics linked to Karl Rove have spread to SD: whether alleging a pregnancy (love child), race-bating, biased "polling", potential voter fraud, or the manipulation of legitimate media via paid staff using internet blogs and fake news services and biased "friendly" print sources, this is indeed what it takes to succeed regardless of whether it is a race for dog catcher or significantly higher office.

Political consultants are not hired to be nice, they are hired to win. Whether it's "destroying Daschle's credibility" as Robert Regier threatened, Republican prostitute Jeff Gannon working "alongside" the Thune campaign (who are so charming when they swear in public), or the mysterious "Vote for Daschle and Vote for Sodomy" bumper stickers sent to "friendly" churches.

Even if the Whalen campaign planned to be caught in their craven reprehensible rumor mongering, they subsequently gained greater name recognition via manufactured controversy. It's a winning situation either way. That's how a "moral" campaign has to run.

President Kennedy
April 27, 1961

Mr. Chairman, ladies and gentlemen:

I appreciate very much your generous invitation to be here tonight.

You bear heavy responsibilities these days and an article I read some time ago reminded me of how particularly heavily the burdens of present day events bear upon your profession.

You may remember that in 1851 the New York Herald Tribune, under the sponsorship and publishing of Horace Greeley, employed as its London correspondent an obscure journalist by the name of Karl Marx.

We are told that foreign correspondent Marx, stone broke, and with a family ill and undernourished, constantly appealed to Greeley and Managing Editor Charles Dana for an increase in his munificent salary of $5 per installment, a salary which he and Engels ungratefully labeled as the "lousiest petty bourgeois cheating."

But when all his financial appeals were refused, Marx looked around for other means of livelihood and fame, eventually terminating his relationship with the Tribune and devoting his talents full time to the cause that would bequeath to the world the seeds of Leninism, Stalinism, revolution and the cold war.

If only this capitalistic New York newspaper had treated him more kindly; if only Marx had remained a foreign correspondent, history might have been different. And I hope all publishers will bear this lesson in mind the next time they receive a poverty-stricken appeal for a small increase in the expense account from an obscure newspaperman.

I have selected as the title of my remarks tonight "The President and the Press." Some may suggest that this would be more naturally worded "The President Versus the Press." But those are not my sentiments tonight.

It is true, however, that when a well-known diplomat from another country demanded recently that our State Department repudiate certain newspaper attacks on his colleague it was unnecessary for us to reply that this Administration was not responsible for the press, for the press had already made it clear that it was not responsible for this Administration.

Nevertheless, my purpose here tonight is not to deliver the usual assault on the so-called one-party press. On the contrary, in recent months I have rarely heard any complaints about political bias in the press except from a few Republicans. Nor is it my purpose tonight to discuss or defend the televising of Presidential press conferences. I think it is highly beneficial to have some 20,000,000 Americans regularly sit in on these conferences to observe, if I may say so, the incisive, the intelligent and the courteous qualities displayed by your Washington correspondents.

Nor, finally, are these remarks intended to examine the proper degree of privacy which the press should allow to any President and his family.

If, in the last few months, your White House reporters and photographers have been attending church services with regularity, that has surely done them no harm.

On the other hand, I realize that your staff and wire service photographers may be complaining that they do not enjoy the same green privileges at the local golf courses which they once did.

It is true that my predecessor did not object as I do to pictures of one's golfing skill in action. But neither on the other hand did he ever bean a Secret Service man. My topic tonight is a more sober one, of concern to publishers as well as editors.

I want to talk about our common responsibilities in the face of a common danger. The events of recent weeks may have helped to illuminate that challenge for some; but the dimensions of its threat have loomed large on the horizon for many years. Whatever our hopes may be for the future- for reducing this threat or living with it- there is no escaping either the gravity or the totality of its challenge to our survival and to our security- a challenge that confronts us in unaccustomed ways in every sphere of human activity.

This deadly challenge imposes upon our society two requirements of direct concern both to the press and to the President- two requirements that may seem almost contradictory in tone, but which must be reconciled and fulfilled if we are to meet this national peril. I refer, first, to the need for far greater public information; and, second, to the need for far greater official secrecy.

The very word "secrecy" is repugnant in a free and open society; and we are as a people inherently and historically opposed to secret societies, to secret oaths and to secret proceedings. We decided long ago that the dangers of excessive and unwarranted concealment of pertinent facts far outweighed the dangers which are cited to justify it. Even today, there is little value in opposing the threat of a closed society by imitating its arbitrary restrictions. Even today, there is little value in insuring the survival of our nation if our traditions do not survive with it. And there is very grave danger that an announced need for increased security will be seized upon by those anxious to expand its meaning to the very limits of official censorship and concealment. That I do not intend to permit to the extent that it is in my control. And no official of my Administration, whether his rank is high or low, civilian or military, should interpret my words here tonight as an excuse to censor the news, to stifle dissent, to cover up our mistakes or to withhold from the press and the public the facts they deserve to know.

But I do ask every publisher, every editor, and every newsman in the nation to reexamine his own standards, and to recognize the nature of our country's peril. In time of war, the government and the press have customarily joined in an effort, based largely on self-discipline, to prevent unauthorized disclosures to the enemy. In times of "clear and present danger," the courts have held that even the privileged rights of the First Amendment must yield to the public's need for national security.

Today no war has been declared- and however fierce the struggle may be, it may never be declared in the traditional fashion. Our way of life is under attack. Those who make themselves our enemy are advancing around the globe. The survival of our friends is in danger. And yet no war has been declared, no borders have been crossed by marching troops, no missiles have been fired.

If the press is awaiting a declaration of war before it imposes the self-discipline of combat conditions, then I can only say that no war ever posed a greater threat to our security. If you are awaiting a finding of "clear and present danger," then I can only say that the danger has never been more clear and its presence has never been more imminent.

It requires a change in outlook, a change in tactics, a change in missions- by the government, by the people, by every businessman or labor leader, and by every newspaper. For we are opposed around the world by a monolithic and ruthless conspiracy that relies primarily on covert means for expanding its sphere of influence- on infiltration instead of invasion, on subversion instead of elections, on intimidation instead of free choice, on guerrillas by night instead of armies by day. It is a system which has conscripted vast human and material resources into the building of a tightly knit, highly efficient machine that combines military, diplomatic, intelligence, economic, scientific and political operations.

Its preparations are concealed, not published. Its mistakes are buried, not headlined. Its dissenters are silenced, not praised. No expenditure is questioned, no rumor is printed, no secret is revealed. It conducts the Cold War, in short, with a war-time discipline no democracy would ever hope or wish to match.

Nevertheless, every democracy recognizes the necessary restraints of national security-and the question remains whether those restraints need to be more strictly observed if we are to oppose this kind of attack as well as outright invasion.

For the facts of the matter are that this nation's foes have openly boasted of acquiring through our newspapers information they would otherwise hire agents to acquire through theft, bribery or espionage; that details of this nation's covert preparations to counter the enemy's covert operations have been available to every newspaper reader, friend and foe alike; that the size, the strength, the location and the nature of our forces and weapons, and our plans and strategy for their use, have all been pinpointed in the press and other news media to a degree sufficient to satisfy any foreign power; and that, in at least one case, the publication of details concerning a secret mechanism whereby satellites were followed required its alteration at the expense of considerable time and money.

The newspapers which printed these stories were loyal, patriotic, responsible and well-meaning. Had we been engaged in open warfare, they undoubtedly would not have published such items. But in the absence of open warfare, they recognized only the tests of journalism and not the tests of national security. And my question tonight is whether additional tests should not now be adopted.

That question is for you alone to answer. No public official should answer it for you. No governmental plan should impose its restraints against your will. But I would be failing in my duty to the Nation, in considering all of the responsibilities that we now bear and all of the means at hand to meet those responsibilities, if I did not commend this problem to your attention, and urge its thoughtful consideration.

On many earlier occasions, I have said-and your newspapers have constantly said-that these are times that appeal to every citizen's sense of sacrifice and self-discipline. They call out to every citizen to weigh his rights and comforts against his obligations to the common good. I cannot now believe that those citizens who serve in the newspaper business consider themselves exempt from that appeal.

I have no intention of establishing a new Office of War Information to govern the flow of news. I am not suggesting any new forms of censorship or new types of security classifications. I have no easy answer to the dilemma that I have posed, and would not seek to impose it if I had one. But I am asking the members of the newspaper profession and the industry in this country to reexamine their own responsibilities, to consider the degree and the nature of the present danger, and to heed the duty of self-restraint which that danger imposes upon us all.

Every newspaper now asks itself, with respect to every story: "Is it news?" All I suggest is that you add the question: "Is it in the interest of the national security?" And I hope that every group in America- unions and businessmen and public officials at every level- will ask the same question of their endeavors, and subject their actions to this same exacting test.

And should the press of America consider and recommend the voluntary assumption of specific new steps or machinery, I can assure you that we will cooperate whole-heartedly with those recommendations.

Perhaps there will be no recommendations. Perhaps there is no answer to the dilemma faced by a free and open society in a cold and secret war. In times of peace, any discussion of this subject, and any action that results, are both painful and without precedent. But this is a time of peace and peril which knows no precedent in history.

It is the unprecedented nature of this challenge that also gives rise to your second obligation- an obligation which I share. And that is our obligation to inform and alert the American people- to make certain that they possess all the facts that they need, and understand them as well- the perils, the prospects, the purposes of our program and the choices that we face.

No President should fear public scrutiny of his program. For from that scrutiny comes understanding; and from that understanding comes support or opposition. And both are necessary. I am not asking your newspapers to support an Administration, but I am asking your help in the tremendous task of informing and alerting the American people. For I have complete confidence in the response and dedication of our citizens whenever they are fully informed.

I not only could not stifle controversy among your readers- I welcome it. This Administration intends to be candid about its errors; for, as a wise man once said: "An error doesn't become a mistake until you refuse to correct it." We intend to accept full responsibility for our errors; and we expect you to point them out when we miss them.

Without debate, without criticism, no Administration and no country can succeed-and no republic can survive. That is why the Athenian law-maker Solon decreed it a crime for any citizen to shrink from controversy. And that is why our press was protected by the First Amendment- the only business in America specifically protected by the Constitution- not primarily to amuse and entertain, not to emphasize the trivial and the sentimental, not to simply "give the public what it wants"- but to inform, to arouse, to reflect, to state our dangers and our opportunities, to indicate our crises and our choices, to lead, mold, educate and sometimes even anger public opinion.

This means greater coverage and analysis of international news- for it is no longer far away and foreign but close at hand and local. It means greater attention to improved understanding of the news as well as improved transmission. And it means, finally, that government at all levels, must meet its obligation to provide you with the fullest possible information outside the narrowest limits of national security- and we intend to do it.

It was early in the Seventeenth Century that Francis Bacon remarked on three recent inventions already transforming the world: the compass, gunpowder and the printing press. Now the links between the nations first forged by the compass have made us all citizens of the world, the hopes and threats of one becoming the hopes and threats of us all. In that one world's effort to live together, the evolution of gunpowder to its ultimate limit has warned mankind of the terrible consequences of failure.

And so it is to the printing press- to the recorder of man's deeds, the keeper of his conscience, the courier of his news- that we look for strength and assistance, confident that with your help man will be what he was born to be: free and independent.

24: A day in the life of the Black Hills Playhouse
by Thomas Allen Heald

8 a.m.
The day begins for several at the Playhouse with a staff meeting sharing concerns of the show the night before, and a rundown of the work day ahead. Coffee is percolating, as are the employees. News of state fairs, the latest on the Wolf Party motorcycle camp just down the road, and details of past and future lives the rest of the year -- horse farms or engineering degrees.

Being added to the bulletin board, accompanying the crew assignments and emailed well-wishing (to BHPHQ@aol.com) is a fresh CNN report of "escaped penguins," mimicking a fictional plot in the current show.

"He's arrived!," someone announces. Not a boyfriend or husband, but a lumber deliveryman. It's a cry of passion when the set builders have a mere four days to assemble "a country home for Bohemian eccentrics." The pallets of lumber offer a fresh opportunity for some of the performers to begin kidding around for the day.

8:30 a.m.
Hurricane Breakfast sweeps through, leaving muffin wrappers and hard-boiled eggshells in its wake. Conversation turns to shared books and the latest on a son or daughter's love life. In announcements, it's the annual "Open Mic" night after the show in the pit, and a cast member has found a few loose compact discs, which are not to their musical taste. (Nobody will admit to owning "ABBA's Greatest Hits").

9 a.m.
The ticket office begins taking reservations. "At about $20," says actor/dancer/choreographer Marissa Kennedy, "it's a bargain for any of these shows when you take into account the amount of work (you're probably not seeing behind the scenes). There's also the practical USD theatre and vo-tech education being earned by some." It's not just the beauty of the hills but the standards of excellence that bring together a cast from Los Angeles to Vermont and New York to Seattle. (Some are here for their first seasons; others are in their twelfth). All are at home alongside the Mom and Pop stewardship of Jill and Jan Swank, who've watched over the last quarter century of controlled chaos here.

Motorcyclists do rush by a few times an hour, on their way either to or from The Rally. And, more and more are stopping in for tickets as the T-shirt crowd is used to seeing theater back home.

9:05 a.m.
Saw blades spin, paint dries, bills for safety equipment are turned in ,and the seamstresses are already hard at work designing gowns and suits (though some cast prefer to be restitched and fitted during show time.) As the carpenters hammer a few barracks over, they almost drown out the sound of an earth mover the groundskeeper is using to repave the sides of the entryway with a new layer of gravel.

9:30 p.m.
Rehearsals for Act I of the last show of the season, Noel Coward's "Hay Fever" (August 17-27) begin in the Old Theatre, (whose weather-beaten roof "usually keeps the rain out.")

9:43 a.m.
Haberman Hall, seen mostly by ticket holders as a picnic shelter and waiting area, is transformed by the Scenery Department into a makeshift lumber mill. Reporting for duty, a militia arrives armed for battle with wood glue, and both staple and nail guns at the ready. The Hall is one of the few flat spots outside they can set up compressors and complete large set pieces. "For show tunes, try the costume shop," it's a mix of bluegrass, alternative rock and Johnny Cash (but not the Carpenters) for the carpenters.

10 a.m.
The flower garden in front of the theater consumes the attention for one hard worker, who's tending to the Buttercups.

10:30 a.m.
The props department tries not to tear out their hair over two pressing dilemmas. Finding "new" period 1920's dishes (or reasonable facsimiles) and creating a specific antique prop that will be able to reliably break over the course of a dozen performances.

11:13 a.m.
Taking a momentary break from sewing and sawing, cast members call loved ones from the patio of the Café.

11:20 p.m.
'20s era fashion is a rarity for the Playhouse, but "thankfully, the next show is a small cast, compared to 'The Man Who Came to Dinner,'" according to the seamstress / actresses. (An easy statement to make compared to four dozen outfits for "Man.")

Noon
The company comes through the doors for lunch as though piling out or a clown car. Professional singers, dancers, acrobats, actors, costumers, jack-of-all-trades technicians -- it is like joining the circus, albeit one with a dozen rings.

12:30 p.m.
While some head into town running errands or ready themselves for the afternoon rehearsal, the rest gather in the courtyard for volleyball (possibly teams of "Lite Snack" or "The Bouncing Buddhas" vs. "Two Champs and a Chump").

1:30 p.m.
First craftsman back to any of the shops picks the music. For the lumberjacks and lumberjills, it's the timeless folk of Simon & Garfunkel. An archway fits together perfectly. "I am a rock. I am an i-i-island."

3:30 p.m.
Things pick up in the reservation office, with inquiries for the night, praise from prior ticket holders, and the rare condemnation. This season's most intriguing call came in from a patron, who left with his family partway through a performance, offended by some of the maturity of the material presented (but posted beforehand) with "A Chorus Line." The ticket agent politely registered the complaint, hoped they would enjoy future productions, and even when the thorny conversation ended with a hangup, never let on that the main cast member they were berating, Aaron Libby, was actually on the phone with them.

5:30 p.m.
The dinner bell clangs and it's a mad rush for the entire crew to the mess hall. As they make their way through the modest buffet line, some of the future Players are reminded that, "Popularity is nice, but can only do so much for you in a lifetime. In ten years, when you're in high school, you'll learn that lesson all too well." There are special treats for the company who, after chow time announcements, are thrilled by both flan and tonight's sweet corn on the cob brought back from town by a cast member (a delicacy which receives a special thanks and blessing in addition to prior sentiments for the meal). As forks and plates clink and clank, families, both biological and chosen, reap the rewards of another day's hard work. Stories are exchanged and legendary playhouse romances remembered with hearty cackles and fellow raconteurs helping pass down the oral history of sixty years’ worth of comedy and drama on stage and off. Within ten minutes, most of the actors have deserted the place as the children make sure everyone's grabbed their last portion of salad, or hamburger as cleanup has commenced.

5:55 p.m.
On a hillside just up from both the dining hall and Haberman Hall picnic shelter, it's time to take the yearly company photo. They've the option to dress in costume, but really, it's just to remind them of the bond they've forged at "summer camp." After two serious poses, members of the cast demand one more shot so they may officially be captured making rabbit ears behind one another’s heads, blowing a kiss or dancing as the sun decides whether or not so stay up for another hour. After posing it's either back to the kitchen for some (as our wait staff, janitors, cooks, and busboys are all a rotation of the cast and production crew), walking of company pets (mascots), a turn at a nearby piano in the rehearsal hall, back to bunkhouses for a pre-show respite, or just sitting back admiring the summer sky and exchanging descriptions of the rainbows seen after a morning hail storm.

7 p.m.
Headlights sparkle as the parking lot begins to fill, accompanied by the roar of Harleys. Sturgis Rally shirts pepper a mid-week crowd who are, for the most part, dressed in their Sunday best. Theatergoers have already begun a steady stream into the box office to claim their tickets and reclaim a bench outside from chipmunks (scurrying around the Oriental lilies), to dance or twirl, or chase a sibling with a cap gun.

7:13 p.m.
The crew begins assembling for wardrobe, makeup, and performance of their own individual pre-show superstitions and rituals. Some are method actors, others gargle and stretch.

8 p.m.
The golden curtain opens once again.

10:35 p.m.
While the crew would normally be over at the Playhouse Café winding down out of costume, it's time for more pictures, as the official still photography is taken for the show. An hour and a half farce's greatest bits reduced to a dozen photographs taking another half hour as a Christmas tree, wooden crate, wheelchair, and cast and crew are put through their paces and in some cases three period costume changes.

11:15 p.m.
Snack time begins for the perky (if occasionally punch-drunk) cast. One of the younger cast members reveals her grand plan of taking the group on a national tour of her favorite movie musical. The group on the patio begins to dissipate as they trickle over the footbridge (each ringing a with a bell "to scare the troll underneath" and/or just relieving tensions) as they head back to their respective cabins, perchance to dream.

Mr. Ellis and I have continued our dialogue over the conceptsof journalism, accuracy and libel.

From:
8/6/2006 7:28 AM

Dear Mr. Heald:

I added a statement to my op/ed that makes it clear that I do not know the
capacity in which you attended the festival, so that no inaccurate
association of your festival presence with your official duties at the Rapid
City Weekly News is implied.  Thank you for pointing that out.

I didn't ask anyone for quotes because I saw no need for them.  I merely
came to see what was going on, not get an official statement.  Your
positions and that of your associates have been made abundantly clear in the
mainstream media; I saw no need to give it yet another forum.  There are
other aspects about the homosexual movement and what many members believe
that somehow never seem to get reported in the mainstream media, and I
wanted to provide "the rest of the story."  You can seldom get the full
story if you come into a situation with all the bells and whistles,
announcing who you are and what you're there for.  Since it was an event
open to the public, I simply came to make some observations.

Don't feel bad that I didn't seek any official quotes from you or your
associates.  I often attend pro-family events in the same fashion.  I simply
show up, take some notes on what is said and done, and often leave without
speaking to any event organizers.  This can provide the "street level"
perspective on things that official statements don't give.   It's simply
another investigative technique.

Praying God's best for you!

Bob 

===
To: Bob Ellis
8/6/2006 10:09 AM

Mr. Ellis,

You still haven't asked who I was there representing (if I was), or why I was attending. I write "observations" as well on my own blogs just as you do. Whether I knew performers or participants or they knew me, (or were perhaps even readers and fans of my work). Several people wished my mother well in her recovery.

As of 9 o clock Wednesday my Mother is in a room in Rapid City Regional hospital, all panicked and worrying about not remembering much of the events of that day. She is not positive in her recovery, still asking "why did this happen to me?" I can always take her selected bible verses of your choosing to explain it to her.

She had surgery at 3:30 PM after a colonoscopy Wednesday morning tore her lower intestine/colon ... complications. tore lining of her colon. couple hours of surgery. couldn't make bend, scope made a wild turn being pulled out. hole in colon. low infection rate. but still week - 10 days in hospital on nothing but ice chips, 3 weeks rest, no lifting, colostomy bag.

She had well wishers there, and the park festival was a nice respite for me, in addition to any other imagined agendas you might attribute to my presence there.

But then, you still haven't asked about that, have you?

I didn't ask anyone for quotes because I saw no need for them. I merely
came to see what was going on, not get an official statement. Your
positions and that of your associates have been made abundantly clear in the
mainstream media; I saw no need to give it yet another forum.

You came with a predetermined agenda, and were never intending to present both sides of the story. You have attributed malice and complicated agendas to groups and people. You came determined to find fault. Whether the positions (or factual details, as the mainstream media insists on presenting) are available in common widespread media, this does not reduce the obligations of accuracy in specialized / "fringe" media.


There are

other aspects about the homosexual movement and what many members believe
that somehow never seem to get reported in the mainstream media, and I
wanted to provide "the rest of the story."

Yes, your story began with comments on national coverage, whether accurate or not, about pride events in larger cities. Irrelevant as they may have been in context to the decade of such public events in Rapid City.

You can seldom get the full story if you come into a situation

> with all the bells and whistles, announcing who you are and what
> you're there for. Since it was an event open to the public,

I simply came to make some observations.

You came with a predetermined agenda and saw no need to provide an accurate account. You came to argue and thus were able to present not a dialog, but a monologue. That's not the full story, nor is it the rest of the story. You made assumptions that people would lie to you if you were not forthright as to your intentions there. Had there been any watch for Keith Rhudy, Bob Ellis, James Beardsley, Ellie Schwiesow, or Elizabeth Kraus, each booth would likely been supplied with a deluxe photo / field guide of agitators in their natural habitat.

Don't feel bad that I didn't seek any official quotes from you or your
associates. I often attend pro-family events in the same fashion. I simply
show up, take some notes on what is said and done, and often leave without
speaking to any event organizers. This can provide the "street level"
perspective on things that official statements don't give. It's simply
another investigative technique.

"Stories," whether accurate or not, says Frank Luntz, are much more compelling than dry recitations of the facts. You prefer to attend these events as a gossip columnist rather than a journalist.

You still haven't answered:

Why you didn't mention the situation regarding the condoms to The Center.

Why you did not notice or report on the Republican party presence at the festival.

Whether "the" Dakota Voice "has" a Style Guide.

Whether print standards will apply to this editorial, or if one will be made regarding my prior print work.

Whether your print and web readers know the techniques you use.

May God grant you twice what you wish for me (a quotation from an event participant, accurate attribution available upon request),
Thomas

===
From
8/6/2006 12:33 PM

Dear Mr. Heald:

You can say whatever you like about me; I'm not going to waste my time
responding to your criticisms point by point.  I have to please God and do
what he tells me to do; beyond that, I don't care who approves and who
disapproves. 

I'm sorry to hear about your mother; I've just said a prayer for her and
will continue to pray for her recovery.  I don't know whether what happened
to her was the result of negligence on the doctor's part, or simply one of
those bad things that sometimes happen to us through no particular fault of
our own in a fallen world that exists under the curse of sin.  Knowing
whichever one it might be would bring her little comfort, I'm sure.  But I
know that God wants a much better life for her, you and me than we currently
enjoy on this fallen world.  And if we'll trust in Him to change our hearts
and renounce doing things our way, He gives us hope for a painless, perfect
life in the new Heaven and new Earth. 

That is what I hope for you, your mother, and all of us.  God's grace and
blessings to you both.

Bob

===

To: contact@dakotavoice.com

> You can say whatever you like about me;

No, I can't. That would likely open me up for libel or slander. You know how that is, right?

> I'm not going to waste my time
> responding to your criticisms point by point. I have to please God and do
> what he tells me to do; beyond that, I don't care who approves and who
> disapproves.

Gee, and it would take 10 whole seconds.

You didn't mention the situation regarding the condoms to The Center.


You did not notice the Republican party presence at the festival.


"The" Dakota Voice "has" a Style Guide.


Will this editorial be used in the print edition?


Should you provide your readers with the reasons you gave me as to why you have no obligation to report objectively?

The Mom Chronicles

Wednesday, Noonish, August 2, 2006

Things didn't go well with your mother's colonoscopy. They're doing surgery on her at 3:30 today. I don't get to see her until they finally put her in a room, after problems with her breathing machines and the repair stitching of her intestinal wall is finished. We're been at the hospital since about 5 p.m. with a small dinner break at a nice "slow food" restaurant close by.

Thursday, August 3, 2006
I haven't been yet today. It was hard to see her last night.

I skip visit opportunity #1. Mom is looking better, but still a worried mess. "Why did this have to happen to me," says dad.

I have now in 3-4 years seen dad weak and on tubes, brother weak and on tubes, and now mom. I think this might get mom to take my health (diabetes, depression, weight) more seriously. As the Russian Roulette chamber spins, I'm "next," in theory.

We are about to leave mom's room at 7:50 p.m., when my brother shows up at the hospital. (Having signed my ne'er-do-well nephew up for junior high school golf, which he'll need her help paying for ... which will take ne'er-neph out of town several days a week ... great hobby for a kid who doesn't like to A) read, B) study ... On the bright side, ne'er-neph will be forced to get a C+ in 4 courses ... wow, manageable goals ... almost).

A half hour into listening to my brother talk about golf, I head out to the nurse's station and asked if I can have one of those pain dosing buttons so i can administer myself a drip of codeine or vicodin.

I ask the nurses if mom could have a consult from "Dr. House," unless he's off sexually harassing his boss or doing vicodin himself. I put in a request for no nurses from "Grey's Academy" because I know they're all off having sex in the linen closets, and all of the doctors from "ER" are either proposing or in Darfur. One nurse tells me, "you know what I hate about 'ER' and 'Grey's Anatomy'? None of those 'doctors' and 'nurses' have time to be doing any of that stuff."

As we attempt to leave (again) the hospital phone rings for mom and my brother answers. Whomever it is asks, "How you doing?/How've you been?" He answers, "Oh not too bad, I've been recovering pretty well." (I whisper to Dad, about my brother ... "Hello. ITS NOT ABOUT YOU.") The person on the phone wants to hear "fine, I'll put you on with my mother" not "Oh, my blood pressure is pretty good and I've been getting in shape since I got out of the hospital."

The next day, I plan to go up and tell them the nurses, all that I know about hospitals comes from watching "Days of our Lives." "Can I please switch some DNA results, or babies, misdiagnose some people with cancer, or tell someone else that if they have children with the person they love the child will have a high risk for a horrible genetic syndrome, which cannot be named, or just generically skulk around with black gloves and syringes and eavesdrop and plan kidnappings"? "Sorry, no. We have to study a long time before we're allowed to do those things."

I do bring mother a big teddy bear, since I figure it's nice to have something thats not a tube or a button or a restraint when all you can do is try and push and work hard to regain lung pressure or sleep.

Mom's been telling everyone she can that I write pop culture commentary for the local weekly newspaper which comes out on Thursdays. She doesn't have the new issue. Well, that's okay, we've stepped down from 40 pages to 36 and my column as well as a bunch of photos didn't make the transition. But, I can recycle the stuff into later weeks. There will always be a "next" crappy cartoon movie coming out with animals acting as though they're in a David Mamet play.

Brother is there because he has to show mom ... his hair dyed beard and what skull hair he has left. and since they didn't have free lunch (for him, a Monday and Friday thing)... he has to tell her where he had lunch ... Much appreciated, no doubt, since she's on ice chips for a week (to ten days) until her digestive system heals.

The joke in pronouncing my last name is that "Heald" has two possible pronunciations (four, if someone thinks there's an R missing AKA "Herald" or "Hurled"). But we prefer "Healed" over "Held." Thus, when it's mistaken I tell people that It's always great to be "Healed," but sometimes you just wanna be "Held." Mom needs both.

Good news, my brother was stopped for not having a light working about the back license plate on his car. The cop lets him off with a warning because ... Hey, are you related to the guy who writes for the Rapid City Weekly News?" (See, I am good for something.) I tell dad he is not to try and use my name to get out of tickets. If the cop makes the association on his own, fine. But "Hey, do you know who I am (related to)?" I would advise the officer to deliver a warning shot into your trunk.

Friday August 4, 2006
This afternoon dad and I are unable to escape as brother visits hospital room again ...

Today Brother Bear
A) goes on and on about his scars and bruises from HIS surgeries earlier in the year
B) make sure mom knew about where someone was from who died in a car accident
C) mentions a story about a friend of his who died 4 years ago ... after complications from colon surgery.

I ask dad on the elevator ride down ... WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH HIM?

I made mom wince in pain trying to hug her. She just "didn't expect it." "You didn't hurt me." She is obviously lying to protect my feelings. But that's what moms do.

We later figure out why mom needed her purse in the hospital, and why brother was kind enough to have brought it up to her. Because with limited mobility while reaching, tubes in several body parts, and an oxygen monitor on one hand, he needed her to write him a check because he's broke, and will need money this week as he's got free back stage passes to Sammy Hagar at the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. One assumes they won't be performing malfunctioning colonoscopies there, that was more the style of the Rob Zombie concert he saw here just the week before.


Saturday August 5, 2006
A brother-free visit. As soon as I slink into the dark room and see if Mom's awake, something starts beeping. I feel like I've tripped a laser beam alarms guarding the giant 80-pound diamond in one of those Tom Cruise spy movies, back when he was worth watching. It's just her oxygen monitor which seems to be multi-decibels, so yes, she is now awake. There are other alarms going off while we're there, including a CONDITION RED fire alarm one floor below us in the north east quadrant which sets off strobe lights in the hall, as well as a buzzer. It's contained after a few minutes of beeping.

There are other blips and beeps from the machines monitoring her new roommate, "a 'colored person' who's been bleeding heavily, though she should be getting out tomorrow." This is not the alto smoke alarm sound of mom's oxygen monitor, but a high tenor/soprano telegraph dit dit dit noise, either a rapid series of "O's" or "S's" without the interrupting letter. Thank you for noticing the sound of that from bed #2, says the nurse. We don't always hear some of these alarms. (Gee, I feel much better hearing that.)

I bring mom email wishes and an American Greetings floral get well E-card for which I assume has the sound turned off as I've hit "replay" on the downloaded webpage on my laptop. (Oh goody, no it doesn't.) And best wishes, and regards given to me during the day to pass to her from a ladies' club friend who's heard through the grapevine of mom's condition.

Mom's best friend, Penny, has been up trying to convince her that "the tube up her nose is her "other best friend, because it's doing its best to get her better." This makes as much sense to us as trying to get a baby to eat telling him theres an airplane or a choo choo train coming straight toward their face to either swallow or allow to induce horrible rhinoplasty.

Thus far, the #1 response when I tell others of mom's condition has been (SURVEY SAYS!) "How can they possibly screw up a colonoscopy?"
#2, "God, your brother sounds like a complete asshole. At least she has you."
#3 "Give her my best wishes, tell her I'm praying for her."
#4 "At least your brother didn't tell her the last thing the guy who died of colon surgery complications had as his last meal."

Sunday, August 6, 2006
A local conservative (who's been heckling me on an AIDS human interest piece not long back and who routinely stalks me at community political events, while never confronting me in person or acknowledging me until later in his blog) says " I don't know whether what happened to her was the result of negligence on the doctor's part, or simply one of those bad things that sometimes happen to us through no particular fault of our own in a fallen world that exists under the curse of sin. Knowing whichever one it might be would bring her little comfort, I'm sure. But I know that God wants a much better life for her, you and me than we currently enjoy on this fallen world. And if we'll trust in Him to change our hearts and renounce doing things our way, He gives us hope for a painless, perfect life in the new Heaven and new Earth."

Why yes, he's praying for both mom and me, because who knows, Mom just may be there as punishment for what I write. The cartoon character Daria is accused of having low self-esteem. No, she counters. I don't have low esteem for my own being, I just have low esteem for you.

Blogger and "publisher" Bob Ellis offers not a news story but an editorial on his website on Rapid City's recent Old Storybook Island Festival in the Park AKA "Hills Alive, Too."

As it did contain inaccuracies, I chose to send him the following letter.

Mr. Ellis,

It would have been so nice for you to introduce yourself and perhaps ask for a quote.

You did not apparently ask why I was there, and what group I was representing. It was not as a writer from the Rapid City Weekly News, but you didn't ask. One staff member was there possibly for an item on it. Another staffer I'm told may have shown up later in the day.

I'm hurt that you didn't mention what booth you would assume I was working at. I'd think it would be in your best interest to find out. I can provide you with a full description of my outfit and where the individual items can be purchased. It is so nice to have obsessed fans.

We had at the very least the Rapid City Journal there taking photos and introducing themselves as members of the press. That you have no actual quotes would suggest that you were not truthful about your intentions and interest in candidates or organizations’ literature, or interested in an actual news story on the event. Bob Ellis, Religious activist, blogger, and editorialist (or do you actually use the word journalist, which would seem to imply degrees in journalism)?

Mr. Coats, in all likelihood, would have allowed you to take the stage and the microphone had you simply asked. We can supply the names of the songs he performed.

Melissa Lawler would be happy to present you with a full list of sponsors she sought and obtained raffle items from, and if you wish to publish the names and addresses of everyone who participated in the raffle, SDAD would be pleased to provide it, along with the amounts of donations raised by the event, including the gag gifts which would be found at the mall at Hot Topic, and the retail values of all the donated items.

Had you been truly concerned about the condoms, you might have mentioned it to the staffers at the Sioux Falls Center's booth, and educated them on whatever failure rate your literature makes claims of. That someone might die because you didn't, might haunt you for the rest of your life?

Allow me to add a few facts to your editorial.

All permits were obtained for the festival (its second time at Old Storybook Island) as I would imagine there were for Hills Alive. If noise complaints are lodged against the festival, SDAD will be happy to provide them. In addition, the Rapid City Police Department did guarantee that things were in accordance under city law, be it parking or first amendment rights of religion, press, assembly, speech. All that stuff guaranteeing your right to publish your non-news story.

Unity Church does believe in the concept of being "born again”: (The Unity Church suggests that being born again is a continuous process that must be done repeatedly as one "dies" to old, ineffective ideas and redirects oneself toward Christ consciousness.) You might mention that Vicki French leads a "Bible Explorations" scriptural review session at Unity Church which relies on Bishop Spong's world view and plug his most recent book "The Sins of Scripture: Exposing the Bible's Texts of Hate to Reveal the God of Love" or past hit "Rescuing the Bible from Fundamentalism: A Bishop Rethinks the Meaning of Scripture." If you'd like an actual church bulletin from Unity, several months could be provided.

Participation in the diversity festival was not limited by denomination. Had the Catholic or Baptist Churches, the South Dakota "Family" Policy Council, Dakota "Voice," or "Concerned" Women "for" America wished to participate, they would have been happily welcomed. (Aren't random quotation marks "used" to suggest sarcasm "fun?”)

SDAD's Jon Hoadley would be happy to provide you with a total count for either the Festival, the dance (age restricted as it was an event open to the public, where access to alcohol could be limited, and frankly I would prefer not to watch dancing at the Canyon Lake Senior Center either ... it boggles the mind what goes on at them) or the near sellout performance of Bill Russell's "Stories and Songs" (A cast list and names and addresses can also be retrieved for publication, as well as a majority of the names of anyone who purchased tickets.) SDAD can also provide you with Mr. Russell's website and links on where to purchase his CDs.

You didn't mention the Republican party presence at the festival, or as it's unlisted, presumably grab their literature.

You presumably didn't notice what other bloggers were at the event. One in particular had a delightful conversation about sexual harrassment defendant and "slumlord" (Rapid City Journal story adjective) Doug Hamilton and the Republican candidates he's heavily funding.

As I understand it, there was a candidate gathering for the Democrats in the morning along with a training session of some sort, similar I'm sure to any held by the Republicans. SDAD would be happy to provide a list of the candidates who did show up and speak.

I know the names of multiple heterosexual families (or as you might prefer to list them, "heterosexual activists") who had children under the age of 18 at the event.

There were assorted hecklers at the festival including those spending a long time with candidates during the day over their views on the abortion ban. Names were unfortunately not asked, though certainly they might already be in your subscriber lists.

"You" might in your hyper linked "claims" of "harm" point to the lawsuit by five heterosexual couples in Arizona suing over their "quasi marital" ban as its "broadly written nature would strip them of domestic-partner status they receive from various cities in the state."

Or the AARP's notations on such bans "having a horrible effect on older adults by wiping out their health and inheritance benefits."

Or mention that when South Dakota legislators attempted to pass this bill in 2005, it was hog housed because of fears it would negatively impact adoption in the state.

Mention the Ohio 2nd District Court of Appeals ruling on March 24, 2006 that the state's domestic violence law could not be applied to a non-marital household as a result of its passage.

Admit that Amendment C does not "protect," "affirm," or "strengthen" anything.

Mention that a "Yes" vote will not suddenly allow new marriage rights for anyone.

Mention its possible interference in the contracts and hiring policies of businesses from Harley-Davidson to Wells Fargo.

It would be fair and balanced to mention and/or correct any of these factual discrepancies even if you do "put" quotes around every "other" word. (Does the Dakota Voice actually have a Style Guide?) I'm sure festival organizers would hate to have such inaccuracies make the print edition.

And should you choose to editorialize on my Rapid City Weekly News columns in their entirety, I would be happy to correct any inaccuracies in any commentary you might have about Mr. Fisher, whose HIV diagnosis story unfortunately shut down your blog before you were able to comment on both parts, and the full story.

As a fellow member of the media, (with 20,000 and still growing circulation) I'd hate to have to seek troublesome corrections in future print editions of the Dakota Voice when corrections can still be made before the legal obligations for such printed material apply under South Dakota laws.

In addition, representatives of Dignity, Unity and Universalist Church, the church whose population was represented there that you didn't seem to find out or ask about (presumably they were as stealthy as you were), Democracy in Action, the candidates represented, the musicians, caters, and pictures of all animals present would all be available for comment and interviews.

God bless, yours in accuracy,
Thomas Allen Heald

Homer's Highlights and a Caged Cage
by Thomas Allen Heald

When "The Simpsons" made its debut on KOTA back in 1989, (Before KEVN dropped NBC to become a full-fledged Fox station), about the only "Simpsons" merchandise to be found was a single T-shirt at K-mart. Since then, they've appeared everything from chess sets and collector plates to Australian "Duff Beer" theological guide "The Gospel According to The Simpsons: The Spiritual Life of the World's Most Animated Family."

"The Simpsons: The Complete Eighth Season" (available in regular packaging or plastic "Maggie-head," August 29) is a time machine for fans back to 1997 and among the joys of its four discs are two of the sharpest stories in the show's 380+ episode history.

Albert Brooks becomes Homer's boss in James Bond parody "You Only Move Twice" while Hank Azaria voices Frank Grimes, the tormented plant employee who considers himself to be "Homer's Enemy."

As usual, it's a season of big ideas (community moral standards, divorce, mental illness, drug use, homosexuality, credit card debt, environmentalism and recycling, women in the military, and the Eighteenth amendment, investing) and small (school-age crushes, boxing, Mary Poppins, and the television series phenomenon known as "Jumping the Shark.) Johnny Cash, Leonard Nimoy, Gillian Anderson, David Duchovny, Rodney Dangerfield, Jack Lemmon, Joe Mantegna, Tim Conway, John Waters, and Willem Dafoe find themselves a very mellow yellow mood as the series gained steam not even halfway through its current run.