Former Sioux Falls mayor Knobe: As the election results settle in, its best to take a break and prepare for the challenges ahead

It’s now later. I’m not quite as numb.

To use a Star Wars analogy, the Force was NOT with us. In this battle the Dark Side has won. It doesn’t feel good.

It probably will not be good for many of us. Women. Minorities. LGBTQ. People whose faith is not Christian. The leader(s) of the Dark Side used fear, frustration, anger, and lies to win, at the national, state and local level.

We can’t change what they did and how our fellow citizens went along. We CAN change what we do next. It won’t be easy. There are more battles to be fought. We need to stand up to bullies. Resist their efforts to dominate us.

No violence, please. They will be looking for excuses to do you harm. At the local level one person, part of the cult, has won.

Many winners in the Legislature are also members of the cult wanting to control you. I’m not promoting violence. I am promoting more active engagement, participation and dialogue.

Collectively we voted to continue kidnapping girls’ and women’s wombs, and we voted to keep disenfranchising over 155,000 of our fellow citizens.

We voted to continue taxing groceries, hurting the poor. We voted to keep sending to jail or prison those smoking a plant for recreational purposes, while keeping it legal to smoke cigarettes and consume alcohol. Both products with severe health risks and negative impacts on our economy and families.

“We have met the enemy, and he is us.” A Pogo cartoon quote from many years ago.

If you are like me, you need a break. Our Change Agents of South Dakota group Is taking two weeks off. Then we will be refreshed and recharged. To keep our country moving forward in a positive way, your voice is critical.

I hope you will stay with us. Godspeed.

Rick Knobe is a former mayor of Sioux Falls and a longtime radio talk show host who is now retired but remains active and involved in his community and state as an independent political observer and commentator. His columns appear regularly on The South Dakota Standard.

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