Progressive Republican Blog

If you can see the image, you know this is a Republican site and if you read the fine print, you find "Commentary on current events with a dash of humor from a curious student of human and political behavior."

Unfortunately, he apparently hasn't found much fitting the criteria since July. It would be good for South Dakota if the progressive Republicans would say more and some of the other kind would say a lot less and think about it too. I probably shouldn't jab anybody about not spouting off regularly enough. I am finding a number of "South Dakota Blogs" that are very dormant. I suspect many people start them and then find it takes a lot of time to build up any kind of readership. Blog analytics can be a tad bit depressing. Well, log into this blog a few times and maybe the author will rouse like Rip Van Winkle...
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Dakota Voice Blog

Dakota Voice blog has a collection of writers including Columnists - Bob Ellis, Carrie K. Hutchens, Gordon Garnos, John W. Whitehead,Ken Korkow, Paul Scates, and Raymond J. Keating. Check the link lists, and with the exception of a few in the SD Blog list, they are very much conservative, fundamentalist, and/or Republican. This is a blog that should open with a church bell as an audio device. But check it anyway. It will give you some idea of what a more literate "Sibson Online" might be. Don't expect to see logic in its finest forms however. Bob Ellis has no reluctance to twist facts and ignore them in the interests of an argument..even if that argument is irrelevant, but appears to be somewhat significant. Read Carefully. Moderated comments are accepted..even a few from yours truly have darkened the blog.

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SD Straight Talk Blog

SD Straight Talk Blog has been running for a year or so. It is edited by Joel Rosenthal who has had a lot of experience in South Dakota Republican politics and SD business. Check his "About Me" for more information. His perspective seems to be mostly nearly sensible middle of the road Republican. He is interested in more than politics however and his blog is worth checking. He also gets posts into the KELOLAND blog aggregator. Check this blog and SD War College and you might have as good an idea of what current GOP thought is that is possible without being one of them on the inside. So, if you are interested in old guard, new guard, Janklow, Pressler, etc GOP politics, you can't ignore these blogs even if I am not sure that Republican SD Straight Talk can be anything but an oxymoron..but then my bias and perspective is toward the other end of the political spectrum. Regular posts and moderated comments. A "Squarespace" blog.
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SD War College Blog

South Dakota War College is Pat Power's attempt to help politically educate his Republican Party and educate or entertain the rest of us as well. SD War College is mostly sensible political issues now and then mixed with very partisan or ideological posts. Lots of comments and some of them make the blog posts themselves look positively bland. No doubt about it, this is a Republican tactics and issues blog, but done mostly in an agreeable way. Now and then PP gets a real plum of inside information that may catch the regular media and the rest of us by surprise. SDW is worth reading just to get something like the pulse of Republican politics in SD even when it is a corpse in need of a lot of resuscitation. So check it...it is "South Dakota Politics, Elections,Advertising, and rambling nonsense from a smart-aleck Republican"...and that is straight from the elephant's mouth (you can buy tee-shirts there too).
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Sibby Online

Steve Sibson of Mitchell, SD as Sibby Online has been online for a few years "searching for truth". But from my perspective at least mostly searching in the wrong places-- places like Fox News, Rush Limbaugh's garbage dumps, World News Daily, etc. Mostly it has been impossible to post comments on any of Sibson's posts, but I noticed today that he had opened comments to a number of posts and some posts were generating a significant number of comments..both pro and con. I hope Steve has the time and patience to continue moderating the comments.

BUT, Steve seems to be transfixed by his idea that "secular humanists" are all commie pinkos who hate Christians, etc. etc. Steve has the courage to add his name to the posts and his comments at other blogs which is not the case with a lot of blog commenters in South Dakota. See his blog mostly for a perspective generally from the very, very far right. Steve now and then has a post of comment that requires at least a minute or two of thought and consideration or serious rebuttal.
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South Dakota Politics Blog

South Dakota Politics blog has a checkered past (see Old Version of SD Politics) and present. Specialization here has been attacks on Sen. Daschle. Some fueled by use of now discredited "Jeff Gannon" of "Talon News". It now includes posts by Dustin Adams, Ken Blanchard, Jon Schaff, and Jason Heppler. Read their "What They're Saying About SDP" endorsements, note the list of blogs in "The Dakota Alliance of Blogs" and there is no doubt about the Republican and rightwing orientation of the place. It is one of the blogs that has posts in the KELOLAND political blog aggregator. Usually well-written, but no doubt about the direct connections to the the Mighty Wurlitzer of the RNC and associated media, and most likely now as before with John Thune office and organization. But then you might want to take my comments on this blog with a grain of salt. Right now they happen to be attacking me.
No comments usually or ever allowed as far as I know.
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KELOland Political Blog Aggregator

The first post I put here in SD Blogland mentioned a coming revolution in South Dakota blogging. Well, now you and I know what it was and is. It really is a revolution of sorts because an established South Dakota media giant has recognized the reading value of political blogs that aren't necessarily written by Doug Lund or Steve Hemmingsen (I'll give them a plug in another post).

Blogs collected in this handy and visible one place at KELOLAND, now include Todd Epp of the SDWatch/ThuneWatch Blog, Ken Blanchard of the SD Politics Blog, Jon Schaff also apparently at SD Politics Blog, Bob Schwartz of SD Moderate Blog, David Newquist of Northern Valley Beacon Blog, Joel Rosenthal of SD StraightTalk Blog, and Pat Powers of SD War College Blog. An interesting mixture. More on all those blogs in later posts. But, if you want a quick read on a few of the SD Political blogs, check the KELO Political Blogs aggregator.
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