Empire?

The Founding Fathers of the United States were deeply, even profoundly, influenced by the rise and the collapse of the Roman Republic. They knew their Plutarch, their Livy, their Polybius, and their Tacitus (especially Jefferson). John Adams considered himself the American Cicero, George Mason the American Cato, and George Washington the American Cincinnatus. [Clay Jenkinson]

Marty Two Bulls pokes the Earth haters

Retiring Minnesota Senator on full IDGAF

Doesn’t this guy have a day job?

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— Tina Smith (@smith.senate.gov) December 2, 2025 at 11:30 AM

Trump tariffs trashing Midwest, South Dakota

Creighton University's Ernie Goss and his Rural Mainstreet Index have been warning of collapse for months and lenders in the Fed's 9th District, which includes South Dakota, said 80 percent of respondents said farm incomes have decreased since Joe Biden was POTUS. More supply managers and bankers expect incomes to decline next quarter because manufacturers and agriculture industries are taking a big hit. The region is in a K-shaped recession and Goss' Business Conditions Index fell to 40.5 in November from 50.5 in October so panic "regarding tariffs, inflation and slowing business activity restrained supply managers’ economic expectations." 

The November Business Conditions Index for South Dakota dropped below growth neutral falling to 49.1 from October’s 51.2 and the average weekly number of workers in the state receiving unemployment compensation is 5.1% higher. The US Dollar is in the shitter and suicide rates in the ag section are spiking.

For the ninth time in 2025, the region’s overall or Rural Mainstreet Index sank below growth neutral.

Approximately, 31.8% of bankers reported that the rural economy was in a recession.

For the 18th time in the past 19 months, farmland prices sank below growth neutral.

Approximately, 58.3% of bankers expect farmland prices to fall in 2026, with an average decline of 3.1% for all survey participants.

On average, bank CEOs expect 18.3% of farmers and ranchers in their area to record negative cash flow for 2025.

Farm equipment sales dropped below growth neutral for the 27th straight month.

According to trade data from the International Trade Association (ITA), regional exports of agriculture goods and livestock for the first eight months of 2025, compared to the same period in 2024,  fell by 5.9%.

Read it all here.

Guest post: Pat Powers has "the IQ of a Brillo pad"

At his Faceberg Shad Olson is exposing the war raging within the South Dakota Republican Party.

Today, the Jon Hansen mouthpieces are laughing nervously at themselves for their open alliances with the likes of fired SDGOP RINO blogger Pat Powers and now, with the always biased and suspect mainstream press. (Because they all play for the same team.)

You're no longer just "frenemies" when you've shared a dozen War College posts smearing the people you hate. You're a partner and friend.

I'm quite sure Katie and PP text and spoon in their off time.

Toby Doeden appears to have been avoiding an overt attack against Jon Hansen by editing a KELO-TV piece... and they're mad about it, and openly celebrating another Pat Powers hit piece against Doeden, oblivious to the fact that being attacked by either Pat Powers or a network television station is gold standard certification of grassroots authenticity.

These people have the IQ of a Brillo pad, so long as it hasn't been used to scrub a dog's dish or a toilet or any other environment teeming with single celled organic lifeforms. They're correct on one point alone: They're not living in reality and haven't been for some time.

Still waiting for the "massive copyright lawsuit" these brain surgeons were predicting yesterday. Waiting....waiting....