South DaCola

Editorial Cartoonist from South Dakota

2026

1st Amendment religion

Religious Freedom

l3wis 1Comments

So I have been following the story about the peeps arrested in the Church protest. It will be interesting to read their defenses when it comes to their cases. The journalists have a solid case with the 1st Amendment, not sure about the protester. I find it funny that right wingers want to jail people who protest in a church, but agree, you shouldn’t do that because of the separation clause. So are we going to start arresting priests and pastors for politicking from the pulpit? They are violating the separation clause. Had a Catholic friend who stopped going to Mass for awhile because the Bishop told the congregation in a service once to vote for the abortion ban and on another occasion to vote for Thune. This happens in churches across the country. So is the DOJ going to start arresting these deacons. Yeah right.

I found this doc the other night, pretty funny.

1st Amendment Trump

Ribbon Bully

l3wis 3Comments

I haven’t been happy with Mr. Maher in awhile. The dinner at the White House was a bit much (total ass kissing move) but he nailed it last night.

Here is Kramer’s take on it.

This made me laugh, because when I go to events and they want you to wear a name tag, I usually pocket it. Call me old fashion, but I like to personally introduce myself, like a human being and not like a puppy in the window. Oh, I love pins and patches, I have them all over my jackets and hats, but they are punk rock silliness. My favorite pins say, ‘Retired Research Monkey’ and ‘Your 15 minutes are up’ I even have some rare Keith Harring pins. But Bill is right, you don’t need to wear a pin to be aware. I think most Americans know what is going on in Minneapolis, a pin ain’t helping. Resignations, indictments and impeachments is what we need right now.

1st Amendment Elections Planning Commission SF City Council Sioux Falls Uncategorized

UPDATE: Data Center Petition Drive, Wonderful Chaos!

l3wis 3Comments

UPDATE: Looks like they only turned in about 5,000 sigs so it looks like the petition drive failed. I truly think if they would have gotten organized a month before the approval they could have had petitions and volunteers ready to start collecting immediately. I am impressed though that a group of unorganized citizens were able to get that many sigs. Keep the petition data, there is a big petition drive coming on the horizon, and you are going to want to be involved.

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They turned in the sigs today, and like I mentioned before they went on the Chaos route. So we have no idea how many valid sigs they have until they are verified by the city clerk. I also suspect the developer will be requesting a copy of the sigs to peruse. I stayed out of this, like I have told peeps, I hate petition drives but thot this one was needed this is why I quietly contacted people before the vote. I also look at this as a learning experience for different advocacy groups in Sioux Falls that worked together, which they did. Folks, it is not left against right, or poor vs. rich this is taking on a tyrannical government. And any government that votes against the interest and well being of it’s citizens is tyrannical. The Data Center rezone was tyrannical.

Just read this comment from King Maker Matt Paulson on Facebook;

Dude, you are on the wrong side of history on this topic. A data center is a single story office building with a bunch of computers in it on racks. You are turning them into a boogeyman for no good reason. Sure, they use a lot of power. That’s why they want to build one next to an Xcel substation with excess power generation capacity and room to expand. Sioux Falls is quickly becoming an anti-business state… If you don’t want anyone from out of state to invest in projects in South Dakota, keep up with B.S. like trying to overturn zoning approvals after they have gone through both planning commission and city council.

The guy who made all of his money from the Rec MJ bizzo in Canada harvesting email addresses is giving us advice on Data Centers. LOL. Hey Matt, we are calling them the Boogeyman because that is what they are. I also like how he justified the approval because two rubber stamp commissions approved this. Hey Paulson, your authoritarian tendencies are showing.

There is a lot of other issues going on behind the scenes that I really don’t want to get into, but don’t be surprised if they have the valid sigs. Next stop, the courtroom. Petition drives are not easy, but you can’t throw in the towel mid match.

1st Amendment Minnehaha County Sheriff Mike Milstead Sioux Falls

Picking Replacements

l3wis 3Comments

I have complained about outgoing Councilors and School Board members recruiting replacements in the past, now it is moving to the Sheriff’s office;

Captain Josh Phillips launched his campaign for Minnehaha County Sheriff after receiving an endorsement from Sheriff Mike Milstead on Wednesday.

I found it funny that just a few hours after Mike announced his retirement Josh had all his paperwork ready to announce his candidacy. Mike announced his retirement on the Belfrage show and I was actually listening live because Belfrage is my morning laughs. Then a few hours later Josh announces.

Obviously Mike brought Josh in on his retirement before announcing because Josh had all his paperwork ready to file. It was a bad look. I would have waited a week.

Josh does have a lot of experience, but I hope he has a challenger because this statement had me automatically NOT voting for him;


“I believe deeply in conservative South Dakota values, respect for the Constitution, and responsible use of taxpayer dollars. I will use my experience to keep our neighborhoods safe,” says Capt. Phillips.

Hey Josh, not all SD values are conservative. My grandparents on both sides were proud SD Dems, and they weren’t radical left lunatics. Sioux Falls and Minnehaha County are very purple, and when you say crap like this, you lose a lot of voters. I am hoping someone from out of state runs that has lived here for a few years and has actual law enforcement experience outside of this county.

As for Mike, he has been a good sheriff. I actually interviewed him for the blog several years ago, and it was probably one of my best interviews. Him and his wife, a former legislator, really turned MAGA the last couple of years and I do know they have lost a lot of political friends because of it. Which is unfortunate.

I was disappointed that Mike stooped to the recruitment politics, but when you run government in a state of paranoia, these are the people we get. They are so afraid their non-vetted replacements will uncover their misdeeds they have to find a replacement that will be complicit on their past. It’s local weasel politics at it’s best and worst.

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