9-12 Project Revising History, Erasing Photo of Jerry Prostrollo?

An eager reader redirects my attention to the Madison 9-12 Project's photo album, where I discover an interesting change. Their April 2 meeting featured Secretary of State Chris Nelson, State Representative R. Blake Curd, and State Senator Gordon Howie, all GOP candidates for higher office. That weekend, Senator Howie was pushing his ultimately unsuccessful petition drive to put nullification of federal health insurance law to a public vote. Madison 9-12 community organizer Jason Bjorklund was a key player in that drive.

Madison business leader Jerry Prostrollo was among those attending the April 2 9-12 meeting. I highlighted and linked to one of the meeting photos, showing Prostrollo in apparent conversation with candidate Curd and a woman, with candidate Howie sitting close by in the background.

I return to the photo album and find that photo gone. There were 30 photos originally, this morning, there are 29.

Now I'm really curious: where did that picture go? I thought maybe professional photographer Derek Cecil might have asked for removal of that photo, since he took the photo... but he took every other photo in the album, and they're still there. My conspiracy alarm goes off and wonders if Jerry Prostrollo called Jason Bjorklund and said he didn't want his face associated with the 9-12ers... but why wouldn't he? But that hypothesis doesn't make sense, either, since there is still another photo showing Jerry Prostrollo at the meeting, sitting toward the front, in his black leather jacket, between the same woman and Curd, listening to Gordon Howie lecture about his desire to expel federal law but not God from South Dakota. (It's photo #26 out of 29 currently in the April 2 album.)

So what happened to that photo? What happened to that public record of that public meeting? The Internet does strange things. Maybe it's just a server glitch.

But I can't help but notice when the one photo I link to, the one photo I mention out of 30 on a given web page, is the one photo that disappears.

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Update 10:10 CDT: Obviously there is no conspiracy, as the photo in question is still available online to Facebook users here... update Sunday: but not any longer. Someone really doesn't like that picture.

Howie Petition Shows Ignorance of Civil War, U.S. History

At best, Gordon Howie's failed petition drive to nullify health insurance reform was futile political grandstanding. At worst, it was the kind of Calhoun conservatism that led to the Civil War.

I'm not the only one who smells secession—or at least ignorance of history—in Howie's political posturing. Here's what Madison business leader Mike McDowell says about Howie's nullification drive:

Whatever your opinion of the new federal law, you should be amazed that a candidate for our state’s highest office seems to have no knowledge that the Civil War which ended in April 1865 settled that issue – nullification of federal laws by the states lost. Send Mr. Howie back to 6th grade history class and keep him there until he knows American history much better than he seem[s] to know it now [Mike McDowell, "Election Silly Season Continues," Forward Thinking, 2010.04.07].

Jerry Prostrollo visits with R. Blake Curd and Gordon Howie at a Madison 9-12 Project meeting April 2, 2010. Perhaps JP is setting the candidates straight on the meaning of the Constitution and dangers of nullification?

I had a nifty screenshot here of the 9-12 Project meeting showing what I'm talking about, but the photographer who snapped the image included in the screenshot has claimed copyright restriction. Above is my recollection of what I saw in on the 9-12 website before the photo in question disappeared from the 9-12 website and from the photographer's Facebook photo album. The green rectangle represents the portion of the screen shot that is my graphic work, superimposed to prevent the dissemination of copyrighted photographic imagery that could make a Madison businessperson unhappy. (And a big welcome to all my new friends at the Canon Digital Photography Forum!)

I would love to hear what another well-heeled member of Madison's economic development leadership thinks of Howie's tom-dick-and-harry-foolery (tomfoolery seems inadequate when describing Howie's politics). State Board of Economic Development chairman Jerry Prostrollo attended Gordon Howie's campaign stop in Madison a couple Fridays ago. He heard Howie preach his gospel of nullification. Did Prostrollo sign that petition? Or did he explain to his aspiring fellow Republicans that Howie's petition drive was actually decided 145 years ago when Lee surrendered to Grant?

DSU Gives Big Plaques to Janklow, Prostollo

Front-pager on tonight's Madison Daily Leader: the reason we shall not speak ill of the greatest governor since Peter Norbeck (says my friend Nicole), William John Janklow:


We're such a forgiving people. Good for us.

Minor media critique: did Jon Hunter really think it was a good idea to refer to the new inductees as people who blaze trails?

Shake John Thune's Hand at Jerry Prostrollo's House: $250, Please

Why do people send me stuff like this?
If you click on the image, you can read the names of the leading lights of Madison who are hosting this $250-a-handshake event at Jerry Prostrollo's house this evening. (Note to guests: please don't drive your Cadillacs.)

I would like to think the Thune campaign was considerate enough to include me on their invite list, and just in case, I did RSVP with Angel to let her know I would be unable to attend. But given that the invitation I received was a slightly askew photocopy, sent on plain paper, in a plain envelope with my address typed and no return address, I take it the invitation came not from campaign central but from some "Friend of John Thune" who prefers to remain anonymous.

Assuming this anonymous mailing is legit, I am pleased Senator Thune will be in town on what should be a gorgeous summer evening (summer officially begins just after midnight here). Thune's many Madison supporters will have a chance to thank the good Senator for all those earmarks that make Madison great and encourage him to keep that spigot open. And in the midst of this political version of a pagan Midsummer festival in our very green city, perhaps the good company and good weather will convince Senator Thune to build his library right here in Madison, as an annex to Senator Mundt's library at Dakota State.

Obama Shuts Down Republican Chrysler Dealers? Let's Check the South Dakota List...

Now this is interesting: the national blogosphere has been churning up the contention that the Obama Administration targeted Republican donors and protected Democrat pals on the Chrysler dealership closing list. Folks are having trouble finding Dem donors among the roster of Chrysler dealers facing the axe... but think about the car dealers you know: how many are Democrats in the first place? Darn few, I'll bet.* (Wait a minute: how does an industry dominated by God-fearing, market-loving Republicans go so financially bad even before Obama gets in the door?)

Nate Silver at FiveThirtyEight does a fine job of running the donor numbers and discovers that 88% of political contributions from car dealers go to Republicans. The Atlantic's Megan McCardle observes that the dealers Chrysler targeted tend to be in rural areas with low sales... and rural areas tend to vote Republican.

So is there any there there? Well, let's see if there's any there here, in South Dakota. I took the names of the owners from the seven dealerships Chrysler announced would lose their franchise and ran them through OpenSecrets.org (which covers just contributions to party orgs and federal candidates, not state and local offices). I searched for all contributions from 1990 to the present. The results:

• Steve Biegler: $0
• Terry Schulte: $6000 to Republicans in the 1990s (including $1000 to Char Haar in 1992), none since.
• Jim Sieg: $0
• Larry Patnoe: $0, but Donald Patnoe gave $250 in 2007 and $250 in 2008 to the Nat'l Auto Dealers Assoc.
• Barbee Kranz: $0, but John Kranz gave $4000 to Republicans from 1990 to 2003 (including $2000 to Janklow in 2002), and Scott Kranz gave $200 to Thune and $250 to Diedrich in 2004. Both made further donations to the NADA.
• Don Schoenhard: $0
• Todd Jensen: $1000 to NADA, 2003-2007

Hmmm... no Friends of Barack (or Stephanie, Tim, or Tom), but not exactly any big players in the Republican tent, either. If the Obama Administration were really playing payback, they'd have taken a whack at the Prostrollo All-American Auto Mall here in Madison: since 1990, the Prostrollos alone have given over $60,000 to Republican candidates, including $15,500 to potential 2012 Obama rival John Thune. Of course, auto-patriarch Jerry did slip a thousand to Daschle in 1998 and another thousand to DASHPAC in 2000, so maybe that saved the dealership.

But consider: when I do a search of OpenSecrets.org for South Dakota donors who include "auto" or "car" in their occupation, I find nine times as many donations to the GOP as to the Dems. Statewide, Republicans claim 70% of South Dakotan's party and federal-level political donations. By my calculations, here in Madison's 57042 ZIP, Republicans get 80% of those donations.

In other words, you swing a dead cat in South Dakota, and you'll get fur on some Republicans. Shut down some rural car dealers, and you're more likely to ding Republicans than Democrats. My analysis of campaign donations suggests there's no political monkey business going on here.

*Bonus joke, with custom punchlines for both sides of the aisle!

• Why aren't more Democrats car salesmen?
  • punchline for my Dem friends: Because exploiting one's fellow man through the free market is a job for Republicans.
  • punchline for my GOP friends: Because Democrats prefer to exploit their fellow man through government.

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Update 2009.05.29 06:50 CDT: This good summary of the right-wing blogger conspiracy theorizing points to Michelle Malkin's flip-flop on the issue, motivated apparently by the opportunity for airtime. We are all media whores. The post also draws comments that point to Timberline Dodge of Portland, Oregon, which is being closed. The only campaign donation I find connected to them on OpenSecrets.org: $500 to Dem Senator Ron Wyden in 2003.

Update 07:05: Deirdre Gregg of the Puget Sound Business Journal does a similar analysis for her home state and finds an Obama donor on the closing list. Gregg also links to this Fox News report that finds no substance to the conservative bloggers' accusations:

A preliminary study by FOXNews.com found that the data do not support the charges. Among the dealerships set to close, 12 percent of a random 50 selected for review donated to Republicans and 8 percent to Democrats. Of the dealerships remaining open, 14 percent of a random 50 selected donated to Republicans and 10 percent to Democrats. In both samples, the average size of donations was similar for both parties.

According to the sample, one major factor in determining whether a dealership was closed or not was the size of the dealership, measured by the number of product lines carried (the four lines are Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge and Dodge Truck). The average store that will be closed in the FOXNews.com sample carries 2.5 of those product lines whereas the average store that will stay open carries 3.64 ["Conservative Bloggers Charge..." Fox News, 2009.05.28].

Sibby: Jerry Prostrollo a Fascist?

I think Steve Sibson just called Jerry Prostrollo a fascist:

The key element of the GOP’s fascist agenda is economic development programs that create public-private partnerships. The result is taxpayers’ money is used to pit community against community to attract business. The end result is higher profits to the business owners, and less money in the citizens pockets to buy what the business owners sell. The Governor is now honoring the movement... [Steve Sibson, "South Dakotans Honored for Supporting Fascist Agenda," SibbyOnline, 2009.04.17].

Sibson then quotes from the Madison Daily Leader's coverage of Governor Rounds's selection of Madison's Jerry Prostrollo for the Excellence in Economic Development Award.

I am at least heartened to see Mr. Sibson's equanimity in branding everyone he disagrees with fascists. I can even agree that there are some problems with the zero-sum game of pitting town against town for economic development. Consolidating wealth in the hands of owners while decreasing the puchasing power of labor... dang, Sibby! If I didn't know better, I'd say that's a Marxist critique.

Sibby and I both welcome your comments.