Democratic Forum
l3wis 
May 2020
Mayor TenHaken’s interview with Argus
I was a little disappointed that Joe didn’t have tougher questions and didn’t push Paul on some of his answers.
Some highlights;
Paul doesn’t know if he will run for a second term but did say that he wasn’t interested in running for Governor or Senate or Congress. He may be eating those words in two years.
Paul thinks it is individual’s personal responsibility to decide whether to go out to eat or not. The problem with that is, these same people may be spreading it to people who are NOT choosing to go out. That is the problem with the B.S. Libertarian attitude. It is a highly infectious/contagious virus that spreads without symptoms and kills. It is NOT like the Flu. He thinks the government shouldn’t be telling people what to do and commented that Smithfield is getting vilified and they ‘Did a lot of things right.’ WOW! Then contradicts himself by saying it spread in the plant due to high levels of moisture in the air, then follows that statement up with saying, it spread outside the plant. So which one is it? Well it is both, but it spread more rapidly at the plant, that is obvious.
When Joe asked him how Covid is affecting his personal life he said he hasn’t been able to attend any ‘Galas’. Oh, you poor baby. In the 29 years I have lived in Sioux Falls I have been to a total of about four galas, and I was a guest or got a free ticket. He also said he is having lower back problems due to stress that started when he became mayor. That’s funny, up until the floods occurred he had it pretty easy jet setting all over the country. I guess flying to cocktail parties and hob knobbing is ‘stressful’.
And when asked if he would have done anything different looking back on the Village on the River Bunker ramp disaster he said he ‘Would not have done anything different.’
WOW!
Joe should have hammered him on that response. While Bowlcut & Bucktooth started us down this disastrous path, PTH could have stopped it. It amazes me how NO elected officials want to take responsibility for this massive F’Up!
Who is making these ‘supposed’ threats against Mayor TenHaken?
There are several points in this article that stand out as being odd, but this first quote from him has me baffled;
In addition, he has been assailed and sharply criticized on social media and has received serious enough threats that his home is being guarded.
First off, it is NOT illegal to be critical of elected officials verbally, it is actually a guaranteed Constitutional 1st Amendment right, it becomes illegal when you threaten bodily harm. The last person to do that moved out of state (even though it was just hyperbole). So I’m curious if he is continuing to receive ‘bodily harm threats’ if it is just people on FB saying he is moron, he can’t do much about that, that’s life brah. While I think he is well within his rights to install security cameras at his house, I’m curious what he means by ‘guarded’? Are the police patrolling more often? Which is fine. Or did he hire a private security company to watch his house? And are the taxpayers paying for it? I also question this because if people are threatening him with ‘bodily harm’ wouldn’t this be made public? The quickest way to get rid of A-holes who think it is cool to threaten elected officials this way is to call them out publicly. They’ll knock it off quickly. But just making random comments about your house being guarded without any proof people are threatening you seems like a political move to me to have people feel sorry for you which is very, very, sad.
After running a blog for a very long time calling out the B.S. of the South Dakota Republican establishment, I have had my share of ‘threats’ mostly from people who eat fried fish and French fries, but I did not worry much. But I got a series of threatening emails from some chickenshit, ball-less, anon folks who threatened defamation lawsuits and such from a group of supposed establishment GOP folks a few years ago. I was ripping on one of their local heros who I won’t mention, but let’s just say he put the Slime in Slime.
I was scared. I didn’t crap my drawers, but I was close. But under all the pressure, I didn’t cave, and I kept on blogging. I figured, if I was already in trouble, what could I have to lose? Nothing. The threats against me were against my First Amendment rights, and I knew I had the constitution on my side.
Nothing happened. I know why. Because while liberal free speech ideas may piss off these people, they know they have no grounds to prosecute.
He said he finds politics distasteful, especially in the age of social — make it “unsocial†— media. The political culture has become “very divisive, very vitriolic,†TenHaken said.
This comment really made me about fall out of my chair laughing. Before PTH was mayor, he participated in this kind of crap while running other political campaigns. Him and his BFF Pitty Patt used to go after all kinds of political opponents of their clients. Hey Paul, practice what you preach. Some would argue I do the same thing, the difference is I am NOT being paid by these politicians. PTH has made millions from his exploits in politics.
“People have that entitlement attitude — come save us,†TenHaken said. “I said to the people, ‘You can do this.’â€
Paul of course is commenting on the recovery after the tornados. Paul, it is not an ‘Entitlement’ when you are using my tax dollars. This is why we supposedly pay taxes, for services from our government. One of those services is emergency cleanup. Last I check the city had around $60 million in the rainy day fund for stuff like this and the city has been reimbursed several times by FEMA for natural disaster cleanup (also funded by our tax dollars). This is NOT a ‘handout’. We pay taxes, we receive services. It really is that simple. If you don’t understand how that system works maybe you should go back to reading kids books and taking selfies and resign already.
Sioux Falls City Councilor Erickson tries to redefine ‘Precinct’
In the city council informational meeting today there was a presentation on leasing space for a Southwest Police Report to Work Station. During the meeting Erickson said that this is NOT a police precinct. Here is the best definition I could find on what a police precinct is;
In the United States, a police precinct is a geographical area patrolled by a police force. The term “precinct” may also refer to the main police station for such a geographical area. Practices and cultures of policing often vary considerably from one precinct to another.
She can claim whatever she wants to, to defend the mayor’s hypocrisy during the mayoral campaign, but, if it walks like a duck, it’s duck.
