Its okay for me to occasionally bad mouth a member of my family but when someone else does it, well, they’re in for a fight.
A year or so ago, the people who make decisions at Keloland TV invited some of South Dakota’s better known political bloggers to present their various points of view on Keloland’s hugely popular website, Keloland.com.
I thought at the time that was a pretty generous offer since it’s the most popular site in the state and will give these people an enormous audience they would never have otherwise.
Among those getting the nod was Todd David Epp. Todd David has since dropped the “David” from his moniker. Not sure why. He must figure that Epp is sufficiently Ostentatious.
Todd David loves to point out that long before he was a lawyer or blogger, he was a journalist.
Most of his journalism was at South Dakota Public broadcasting with a relatively short stint at KSFY then an even shorter stop at KDLT which, I believe, included a short-lived attempt at anchoring the news.
I remember hearing from others in the business how Todd David rarely missed an opportunity to blast KELO during his various tenures at the competition.
Then after this website extended the opportunity for him to blog here, suddenly he was referring to any and all of us on the KELO payroll as his “colleagues.”
I always regarded colleagues as people I worked closely with..but Todd David apparently has a different concept and sees his occasional blogs here as an association that’s close enough… even though I doubt most KELOLAND news employees would know him if they stepped on him at a Nader for President rally.
I’ve got to say that Todd David is a busy guy. In addition to his alleged law practice and his prolific daily blogging, he has always found time to support liberal political campaigns on all levels from the aforementioned Ralph Nader to Al Gore. He was on Tom Daschle’s legal team in the senator’s unsuccessful bid for reelection in 2004. He worked for the Jim Abbott for Governor campaign in 2002 and was Jack Billion’s campaign manager in the 2006 governor’s race until there was a parting of ways and Todd David was suddenly out. When asked why, Todd David, who is an outspoken advocate for government openness, clammed up and, as far as I know, never said exactly why he and Jack split..except that the two no longer saw “eye to eye.”
Anyway, I don’t think I’d be bragging about my political influence with that kind track record on my resume.
Now, Todd David has decided to not only bite the hand that feeds him but rip into its heart as well with his latest column, “Keloland, your home for warmongering.”
In it, he claims that Keloland news has, for the last five years, intentionally done nothing but perpetuate the lies of President Bush in its local coverage of the war in Iraq.
To suggest that MY colleagues in the Keloland news department have ever been instructed to report only one side of an issue on anything, including the war, would be laughable if it wasn’t such a lame grasp for attention.
Seems ironic that Todd David spouts such nonsense from a platform provided him by the very people he’s condemning for not presenting all points of view.
What Todd David doesn’t say in his rant is that he’s probably ticked off at Keloland for not showing up with cameras to cover a candlelight vigil organized by the South Dakota Peace and Justice Center on the 5th anniversary of the War in Iraq.
Todd is a big supporter of this small liberal group who gather in coffee houses to formulate plans for peace in the world.
The vigil was to take place outside the V.A. Hospital.
I’m not sure why.
Perhaps it was to send a message to those ailing veterans inside watching from their hospital window that they should have known better than to fight for a county as corrupt as ours..shame on them.
Maybe there’s another reason that site was chosen. I think a lot of us would be interested in knowing.
Keloland news also passed up the opportunity to cover the South Dakota Peace and Justice Center’s art show and concert at the Black Sheep Coffee house the other night. 14 artists were there presenting, on canvas, their disdain for the war. I’m guessing that Keloland news will do the classy thing and let pass Todd David’s obnoxious contentions about my friends who work so hard to put together newscasts that are factual, informative, objective and without sensationalism.
I don’t have any class..so let me be the one to say that Todd David, who has his own agenda, is dead wrong on this one and ask him, nicely, to set the record straight and stop messing with my family.