To be fair to Thune, in an industry-bereft, population-challenged state like SD, to remove a major Air Force base is akin to inviting a population explosion in the wrong direction, and a further serious drag on an already non-thriving state economy. South Dakota is a pretty desolate place. Closing the base will likely cost him his hard-won seat.
He needs to do something to save face and work political damage control. I hate that he's chosen Bolton to prove his point, but those SoDakotans will be saying to each other over morning coffee in lots of towns for the next six years, "Daschle may have been liberal, but we kept our bases under his watch."
PA,
I respectfully have to disagree with you. Bolton was not the issue to use. Especially when everyone knows the shake-up that is so required at the UN.
Agreed. There's no connection between the two. Thune is screwing America, & himself
Y'all, It's not that big of a point to me. Thune is doing what he thinks he needs to to survive politically in SD. Ultimately all politics is local. It is also the art of the possible. Many things are still in play. I hate, along with you, that he's using Bolton to make his point, but maybe since no final decision is made this is really an early-warning bargaining chip he's trying to play (to keep the base open/keep his vote with Bolton). Stranger things have happened.
Excuse me but why is the government even thinking about closing military bases at a time like this. While Iraq is generally not as bad as the main stream media tends to portray, it does seem we need more troops. Some day we may have to fight bigger enemies, such as Russia or China. We need to increase the size of our military. I say keep this base open and open some more bases. If we don't have the funds to pay for it, cut out some of the well fare benefits. We need all the military firepower and training bases we can get right now!! So keep the base, get more bases, and send John Bolton to reform the UN.
Commenting by HaloScan
