It's official: Bill Janklow is
undeniably and reliably dead.
In 1974 ('75?), if a smoky memory serves, then-Attorney General
Janklow gave a speech to a standing room only crowd in the Volstorff Ballroom at SDSU.
Remember that time? Not only was the audience smoking,
Janklow came to the podium with a cigarette, too.
He was heckled throughout the address hosted by the Vet's Club. Be mindful that this took place in the wake of the Nixon Era, the Custer Court House siege, the Wounded Knee Occupation, and
Peter Matthiesen's book exposing Janklow's
alleged rape of Jacinta Eagle Deer.
A brash, wild-eyed sophomore (yes, ip) piped up and questioned how the State of South Dakota could persecute marijuana smokers while turning a blind eye to service clubs like the VFW, Knights of Columbus, and American Legion that were running illegal games of chance with impunity. My query received rapturous applause from those in attendance. Mr. Janklow shouted over the din, "mail me their names," and then was booed off the stage.
He
of course went on to be
governor (for nearly eternity), then was elected to the US House of Representatives.
His
Kodos moment probably came at the Jasper Fire where
he became the story:
But federal firefighters point out that the governor has no fire training and therefore does not understand the ramifications of his decisions. Janklow himself admits he never had been on a wildfire before the summer of 2000.
Reprinted from
an earlier post:
Janklow resigned from Congress after
killing a motorcyclist in a 2003 accident near Flandreau. A jury convicted him of second-degree manslaughter and he was sentenced to 100 days in jail and fined $5,000.
If Janklow (a morbidly obese white male) had any remorse for killing someone with a car he hasn't shown it. According to one chilling newspaper story he has been ticketed four times since
he slaughtered Randy Scott. Read
this piece that appeared in the Mitchell Daily Republic, it will scare the shit out of you.
Here's a snip:
He was also cited for a minor accident when he collided with a parked vehicle, and was twice cited for failure to maintain financial responsibility. The citations for failure to maintain financial responsibility — not having proof of insurance — were dismissed, as was a parking ticket. The minor accident occurred in a Hy-Vee parking lot on Sept. 23, 2008, in Sioux Falls. Janklow was fined $53 and paid $51 in costs.
No telling how many times he has been pulled over without citations by a law enforcement agency that still quivers under his authoritarian personality(s) and powers of coercion.
Earlier in this week's news cycle
Jonathan Ellis of the Sioux Falls Argus Leader reported that Janklow pocketed $850,000 from a campaign fund:
Janklow, who had been maintaining the account and filing regular disclosure statements since leaving office in 2003, filed notification that he was terminating the account with the Secretary of State’s Office. The statement required Janklow to report the expenditures from the account. However, the handwriting on the filing was difficult to read. South Dakota law allows political candidates to convert any surplus campaign donations for personal use. In this respect, South Dakota is an anomaly, say campaign finance experts.
It should be noted here that beginning with Janklow, South Dakota now routinely scores
at
the
bottom of US ethics practices rankings.
Ellis goes on to say that South Dakota Secretary of State Jason Gant (also a morbidly obese white male) declared that it happens as a matter of course in the collapsed red state but that the amounts had never exceeded $10,000; and:
Federal candidates also have restrictions on surplus donations, said Edwin Bender, the executive director of the National Institute on Money in State Politics. They can donate the money to other political committees, charity or return it to donors.
That recalled a 2009 piece written by
Kevin Woster in the Rapid City Journal about a Republican slush fund that is impossible to trace:
The Governor's Club has been a discrete part of political fundraising in South Dakota for more than 30 years. For a $1,000 donation, contributors buy a place at the table - and a position of potential influence - with South Dakota's governor at club events that are not open to the general public. Gov. Mike Rounds refused a Journal interview request for this story. Former Gov. Bill Janklow split the club proceeds with the party.
Janklow even had a hand in the banking crisis by ramming legislation through the South Dakota Statehouse in 1981 that paved the way for Citibank to locate in an already desperately poor state.
Referring to then-Governor Janklow as "The Intimidator," Minnesota Public Radio covered the 1999 Gina Score tragedy at the now-closed Plankinton 'reform school' where teenage girls were stripped naked then four-pointed to concrete floors. From the
Cara Hetland piece:
Gina Score collapsed after being forced to run two miles on a hot and humid July morning. Boot camp counselors refused her help. They said she was faking. "The doctor flushed her with cold fluids, and her temperature was still over 108 degrees. And that was one and a half hours later. So basically, she cooked to death," says her father David. Former legislator Pat Haley says Janklow's reaction to Gina Score's death was typical. He went on the attack. He tried to discredit kids and parents who spoke out on camp abuse.
More recently, convicted felon Bill Janklow sounded scared shitless on his idea of public radio as he condescendingly
pontificated to host Paul Guggenheimer. Lifted from
Doug Wiken's Dakota Today:
What Janklow is not saying is that he sued the US Corps of Engineers in order to make them maintain HIGHER water levels on Oahe Reservoir. The Republican failure to plan for Mainstem dam water releases in determining safe building areas is the problem...and that includes the Janklow administration.
In the above-mentioned SDPB interview Janklow seemed to call for the removal of the mainstem dams.
Marion’s Pastures is situated in a large meadow, west to the Missouri River, within the City limits of historic Fort Pierre, South Dakota. This development was established in 2000 and is nearly completed at this time.
This is
single-party patronage coming home to roost in a town with a history of flooding.
I hope Randy Scott kicks you right in the nuts when he sees you, Billy Boy!
