
Now that the Great Education Choice bills debacle of 2025 has passed, many of us are left wondering how/what/why just happened here in SD. With our newly minted *actual* conservative majority in the House, We the People had a nice two week run of legit wins to celebrate with our popcorn.
But in the background, trouble was a’ brewin.
For those of us who hang out in grassroots Signal chats & Facebook groups, the damper on our excitement has been the reminder that even though we may feel unstoppable, suddenly, and gloriously united in our battle against the Establishment, there be dragons about, still.
There always seems to be a snake in the garden.
Unity, it appears, is as rare and fleeting as December fog.
To recap, last week in Pierre there came up for vote not one but two education reform bills. I won’t attempt to investigate the merits of each bill here, as that would better left to a more wonky-minded writer than myself, as I hope will eventually happen.
Speaking for myself, I put my trust in the current House leadership, who have proven themselves as bonafide Patriots beyond all reasonable doubt. So, it was Scott Odenbach’s bill that I supported. It seems entirely logical to me that, while not perfect by any stretch, this would make for a solid first strike against Big Ed, the most powerful lobby in US history. I am familiar with some of the criticisms from homeschooling parents, government watchdogs and earnest concerned citizens of different stripes.
And I don’t really care. We needed a win here, & this bill had a chance.
Big Ed was going to throw all their big guns at it, and they did, including government employees in the form of public school superintendents, laden with their incumbent faux authority that is intended surely to sway the more naive legislators; who traveled to Pierre to testify against parental school choice while being paid by those same parents’ tax dollars. Yeah the school lobby has a big advantage in this fight.
Of course, the parental rights’ sides had lobbyists too, but one would imagine the public school lobby to be vastly better funded.
Monopolies hate competition.
One memorable line from one of the Evil Empire’s stormtroopers went something like “We already have school choice. Parents can go to public schools, micro schools [by the way, I am not sure what to think about this new term for homeschools. If the enemy freely uses it, it must be meant as a slur, I think], or private schools!”
Well duh, we’re talking about our money bro. I put my first two kids through public schools for free, and boy did we get what we paid for. Our third and final youngling switched to a private school six years ago, and let me tell you it is worth every penny. The customer service alone is worth the price. It’s like the difference between flying 1st class versus the luggage compartment. I mean, sure, you’ll get to your destination either way, but you can forget about ordering that mimosa if you’re riding down below.
Alas, both bills failed, and now we are all sad and frustrated. Now is the perfect time to point fingers!
Just kidding.
Now is the time to point finger.
Just one finger.
My finger is aiming at one particular individual, a special person who through tremendous effort and zeal, made himself such a complete nuisance that he has managed to be admired by none but the most craven RINOs in South Dakota.
Lee Schoenbeck is reported to have mixed feelings at the news of being knocked down into the #2 spot of “most obnoxiously arrogant South Dakotan” rankings.
To protect his dignity, which he himself took no pains to do, I will change his name to “Manthony”.
Manthony Skywalker.
Now I’m sure that “Manthony” has a few friends, and a mom, who may be reacting to this post with shock & disappointment that I, your humble Noticer, am unfairly laying the blame of an extremely complex legislative matter, with thousands of moving parts and storylines starring heroes and villains, at the feet of just one person. “Surely this man can’t be that simpleminded!”, they must think.
Well, yes I can be that simpleminded.
Look, I know that there is plenty of blame to go around for this failure to strike a blow to Big Ed, but the thesis of this post is to focus on what many people consider to be the instigator of an enormous unforced error.
Besides, anyone who has seen the Star Wars movies remembers that one man – Luke Skywalker – destroyed the Death Star with one perfect shot from his X wing fighter.
Conversely, Anakin Skywalker destroyed whole planets, his family and a school full of Jedi kids when he made the decision to Breaking Bad his transition into Darth Vader. Anakin decided to use his powers for personal gain instead of common good.
It’s the Anakin character that our real life Manthony reminds me of.
Anankin, not Vader.
Not yet.
Anakin started out his jedi career with an appropriate level of respect, a sense of awe for those who were more experienced and wise, and a desire to pursue goodness and justice; all the while resisting the temptations of the Dark Side. As his power and influence grew, so too his arrogance, pride and hubris. Eventually, the story takes us to the point where Anakin, driven insane with rage and a single-minded desire to “fix” everything in the universe all by himself, becomes Darth Vader.

The Short Man Syndrome is strong in this one.
“ I am becoming more powerful than any Jedi has ever dreamed of, and I’m doing it for you… to protect you.”
“I have brought peace, freedom, justice, and security to my new Empire!”
“You underestimate my power!”
” If you’re not with me, then you’re my enemy.”
Those of you who have wrangled with our own SD young Skywalker (and I know there are more than a few) will recognize some similarities in these Anakin quotes to the over-the-top grandiose proclamations often made by Manthony over the past several months. I’ve had the pleasure of meeting, fellowshipping, strategizing, coping and sometimes arguing with many fellow South Dakotan Patriots in the past few years, but I have never dealt with anyone who is so drunk on their own ambition as this man.
Anakin had a mentor to teach him in the ways of his chosen path named Obi Wan, but Anakin slowly began to feel superior not only to his mentor, but to EVERYONE. So too, have many older, wiser Patriots attempted to guide young Manthony (25 years old) in his quest to be relevant in state politics. I myself reached out to him several weeks ago in an attempt to offer some friendly advice, respectfully, along the lines of maybe not throwing the R (RINO) word around willy-nilly. Well, that went nowhere fast. He is very proud of his “Confrontational” approach to politics, and there’s nothing anyone can do to influence him. Culturally, young people do need to get back to respecting their elders. Those of us who’ve managed to run our adult lives for 30 years just aren’t that impressed with the brilliance of Zoomers.
The problem -at least the main problem – with Manthony is that until he gets a handle on his pride, he will always be a lone wolf, lashing out at fellow Patriots who earnestly want to see positive change in our government.
If you find yourself telling people how awesome you are, it’s time to read some Proverbs:
Proverbs 11:2 “When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.”
Proverbs 16:5 “The LORD detests all the proud of heart. Be sure of this: They will not go unpunished.”
Proverbs 16:18 “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.”
Manthony, if you read this, please take this as constructive criticism from a man who also used to be a bit of an arrogant aassmyself in my 20’s. Believe me when I tell you that if I could go back in time, to any age, I would not be asking my younger self for advice.
In your heart, you may have The People’s best interests in mind, but it sure doesn’t look like it. And we simply don’t have any tolerance for political actors who are only in it for themselves. And we are rightfully very suspicious of anything that looks like sabotage. When you fight, fight for The People. Not your pride, your career or your ambition. We can see through you. And now, you have burned so many bridges that no one in leadership will work with you or the lobby group that pays you (YAL) in SD. Might be a good time to take a sabbatical, do a lot of praying, and read through the entire book of Proverbs – twice!
You will never be a tall man, but you can be a good man.
The reason I decided to write this article is because I’m trying to figure out what happened, not because of any personal animus towards Manthony. How did we end up here, having the most conservative House in years, not being able to gain any traction on such an important issue? As I said before, I do hope that other writers will dive deeper into all of the missteps that got us here. It’s certainly not one man’s fault, but at the end of the ride, there is value in playing out some “What if?” scenarios. And many of us are wondering, what if young Skywalker would have never involved himself in this issue? Or what if he chose to work with Odenbach on the bill he’d been working on since last year, instead of attacking it with slurs like “FAKE”& “RINO” while getting some of the homeschoolers all spun up and paranoid about “government control”? I’m not claiming HR1020 was a perfect bill by any means, but if we are to begin to wrestle some control away from the Public School behemoth and return it to parents, we would be wise to accept the idea of incrementalism. We can’t win the war in just one battle. And we can’t make hundreds of millions of dollars appear out of nowhere.
As I wrote a few weeks ago, conservatives in South Dakota are a family, of sorts. And while we won’t always agree, and we may not like every personality we meet, we have to unite on the big issues in order to accomplish real change. We need to use the momentum we currently have in the legislature, and flood the zone with our wishlist of initiatives. Like Trump is doing on the federal level, there are many great things we can do if we work together. The RINOs are waiting in the wings, hoping we fail, and working to thwart our efforts.
But we are not failing. Patriots have had significant victories early on in this 2025 session, thanks to a lot of good people putting in great work.
Now, let’s get our property taxes lowered & capped!
One last verse from Proverbs that even a simpleton like me can understand….