Theocratic Sound and Fury Draws Paltry Rapid City Crowd

Gordon Howie just can't stop making speeches. Howie got 75 people—about 2% of the Black Hills voters who helped him place fourth in the five-man gubernatorial primary—to waste a nice Father's Day afternoon sitting inside the Ramkota listening to Howie, Pastor H. Wayne Williams, and struggling novice talk radio host Shad Olson play more Glenn Beck karaoke.

Now I suppose I can't trust the Rapid City Journal's account of the event, since RCJ is just another tentacle of the godless liberal media. Fortunately, instead of having to go to the trouble of attending one of Gord's self-aggrandizing "On the Right Side" rallies, I can simply download his screeds from his website. The content is predictable:

• Pastor H. Wayne Williams wallows in his persecution complex. He portrays Americans United for Separation of Church and State as an "assault dog" for reporting him to the IRS for endorsing Howie from his church pulpit. Indeed, how vile, that any citizen should report violations of the law to the authorities.... H. Wayne also notes that his church hasn't filed for 501(c)3 status, which I assume means they are thus obliged to pay regular taxes on all income received. Better call the accountant....
  
• Kermit Staggers chimes in with lines weaker than I would expect from a political science professor, rehashing the tired old "Constitution doesn't mention separation of church and state" argument... but ignoring the fact that the whole concept of church-state separation comes from Jesus of Nazareth himself (render unto Caesar... oh, wait, don't remind Gordon of that one).
• Gordon Howie has trouble finding material to fill four pages, so he includes the same Thomas jefferson quote twice. He also includes the Ten Commandments, as if anyone bothering to pick up his little paper doesn't already know them.
  
• Shad Olson uses many big words (and you think I'm bad?).

Kevin Woster wonders if the Howie-Olson-Williams-Staggers show could represent a political force to be reckoned with. If they actually promised to do something for the polis, I might say yes. But Howie and his bloviating pals aren't doing anything. They aren't proposing any practical action. They're just blogging out loud, enjoying the sound of their own voices. They don't say anything about education, the economy, energy, the environment, or any other practical policy issues that South Dakota needs to deal with. Their little puppet shows are all about them, about what wonderful, pious, manly Christian warriors Gord and Shad and H. and Kermit are.

A movement driven by personality and persecution complex is not a sustainable political movement. It's marketing for egomaniacs who can't accept the electoral ruling that they are wrong for South Dakota.

Shad Olson Goes Palin, Quits Job to Profit from Political Pablum

Shad Olson is a quitter just like Sarah Palin. He has left KOTA TV to be a "radio talk theologian." Shad, I live with a theologian. You are not a theolgian. Being a theologian requires much more than politically motivated Mormon-bashing.

(I'd link to Olson's article urging "vigilant avoidance of anything and anyone Mormon" and saying Mitt Romney is going to hell, but Olson's website is a piece of flashy junk that doesn't provide unique URLs to specific content.)

I'm Shad Olson, and my superhero goggles help me see Reds everywhere!
(Image from ShadOlsonShow.com)

Olson also plans to make money as a political consultant for Gordon Howie. Alas, the text on Olson's website indicates he won't be able to come up with any improvements on Howie's shoddy campaign slogans. "Gordon Howie Stands Alone"—that's obvious, Gord, but should you really trumpet that as a good thing when you want to govern all South Dakotans? Olson's contract with the Howie campaign just shows more bad fiscal judgment, since that job will last less than four weeks.

* * *

I was going to cut Olson some slack. Yes, he spoke at a Tea Party rally. Yes, the journalistic code of ethics says newspeople should "shun secondary employment, political involvement, public office and service in community organizations if they compromise journalistic integrity." But I'm uncomfortable with any job that says you cannot participate in the civic life of your community. When journalists establish their credibility by shunning politics, they reinforce the notion that we can't trust people who are involved in politics.

It seems to me other parts of the journalistic code of ethics—distinguish analysis and commentary from straight reporting, hold those in power accountable, give voice to the voiceless, support open exchange of all views whether you agree or disagree—are plenty to ensure that journalists conscientiously inform the citizenry on air or in print even if after work they speak at a GOP rally or a Dems meeting.

I hold teachers to the same standards: they can enlighten students and promote fair and free classroom discussions and still be active in community politics. I don't want anyone to shut down the good Dr. Blanchard's blog or to kick him out of the classroom for political advocacy off campus. Of course, should Dr. Blanchard go off his rocker and start giving D's to students who say the New Deal was effective and A's to students who say FDR was a socialist dupe, he should get the boot. (Even there, a paper claiming the New Deal was effective might still be a D paper; I'd want to see if the student used semicolons properly.)

I would take the same position on Shad Olson: unless someone can demonstrate that his job performance was suffering, that he was twisting his headlines and vetting sources to give KOTA News a Foxy tilt, he should have been free to continue covering Rapid City commission meetings and bake sales. I'm inclined to argue the burden of journalistic objectivity should not crush journalists' participation in civic affairs; the burden should fall more on the editors and the viewing/reading public to scrutinize the journalists' messages.

Requiring this monkish non-participation of reporters may be akin to requiring celibacy of priests. No, it's not about preventing reporters' children from inheriting corporate media wealth. But this requirement of political "celibacy" takes reporters out of the fullness of civic existence. It makes them outsiders to the community... and thus, perhaps, less qualified to speak on the issues that matter to and shape the community.

Of course, none of this now matters in Shad Olson's case. He is unwilling to stand and fight for good journalism. He prefers to quit a job that requires conscientious public service and enhance his own fame and wealth spewing the unoriginal platitudes of talk radio.

Just like Sarah Palin.

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Update 2010.06.12: But hey, at least Shad isn't doing creepy undercover stories like this any more. Eeewww!