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The LGF Kos Kountdown of Dooooooom. Technically, today we're 13 days away from the pending "radioactive" status of the Democratic Leadership Council, but I'm sure that the Kountdown will be making the rounds on many blogs today. After the disaster...

Instead of going with the obvious solution and moving along with the ANWR deal, Tim Johnson is suggesting a congressional hearing to understand why prices are rising at the pumps. The U.S. Senate Energy Committee will hold a hearing in...

With the decision this morning by an 8-1 vote, South dakota's Ellsworth Air Force Base was removed from the list of recommended closures by the BRAC Commissioners.

Some coverage on the facts of the decision in the Rapid City Journal...
Ellsworth saved

Like the phoenix from the ashes, the status of Ellsworth Air Force base rose from expendable to essential in a matter of seconds when the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission, or BRAC, voted Friday to save the base.

South Dakota's top lawmakers and the head of the Ellsworth Task Force were at the edge of their seats in the suburban Washington, D.C., hearing room when BRAC commissioner Samuel Skinner made a motion to reject the Pentagon's recommendation to close Ellsworth and move its 29 B-1B Lancer bombers to Dyess Air Force Base.

Looking for at least five commissioners to raise their hands in support of Skinner's motion, the South Dakotans instead saw all but one of the nine-member panel vote to save Ellsworth.

...and in the Sioux Falls Argus Leader:

ELLSWORTH SPARED

Ellsworth Air Force Base was taken off the Pentagon?s recommended list of closures this morning, a decision that sent jubilant Rapid City residents leaping to their feet as they watched the proceedings on live TV.

The nine-member independent commission voted 8 to 1 to reject the Pentagon?s recommendation to close the base as part of the Defense Department?s plan to restructure the military.

Meanwhile, some of the politics of the situation which provide a boost to Sen. Thune's position were not lost on others:

Base Closing Choices Impact Politics

When the Pentagon announced that it wanted to shut down Ellsworth Air Force Base, it was an enormous setback for Sen. John Thune. The Republican got elected in part by repeatedly telling voters he could save the base because of his close ties to President Bush.

Thune responded to the Ellsworth news by going on the offensive: He and fellow South Dakota leaders from both parties launched an intense lobbying effort. He also stopped fund-raising for the Republican Party and opposed the Bush administration on a few important Senate votes.

On Friday, Thune's political future got a big boost when a federal commission decided to save Ellsworth, home to B-1B bombers and a major player in the Cold War. He and other South Dakota politicians hailed the decision as the result of an extraordinary bipartisan campaign that convinced the commission that the military and nation need Ellsworth.

All in all, a very good day for South Dakota!

It hadn't quite dawned on me last night when I mentioned that Chuck Hagel would be on This Week that George Allen would also be on. Obviously, both men have their eyes on the Republican nomination in 2008, so it's...

This half of August has been a fine traffic month, one of the best since clear back in November. Thanks for stopping by. Wish I could hit a high enough mark to start running BlogAds again... or, should I say,...

The freaks from Stormfront, a neo-Nazi cabal, are heading to Crawford to join in the fun. More from Crawford: One thing about it, Cindy doesn't need to hire a PR mouthpiece. The AP is doing a fine enough job....

Wow, Daschle is now saying Ellsworth was overblown:Former Senator Tom Daschle says the debate over the future of Ellsworth Air Force Base during last year's Senate race was overblown.Daschle says it's impossible to tell whether this year's base closure process...

The case being made is familiar. On the commission's own standards Ellsworth scored well and just as high or higher than Dyess on various criteria. Consolidating the B-1 to one base is a bad idea. Pending lawsuits at Dyess make...

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