Bob Newland Runs for US Senate in South Dakota in 2004!   Hermosa SD -- 28 April 2004   On Wednesday, April 28, Bob Newland will announce his candidacy for the South Dakota U.S. Senate seat currently occupied by Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle. Newland is circulating a nominating petition as an Independent candidate affiliated with the Libertarian Party. Former So. Dak. Representative John Thune, having no opposition in the June primary election, is the Republican nominee for the seat.   Newland will make his announcement at the Wounded Knee (SD) CAP Office at noon Wednesday. He will be introduced by Oglala Lakota Tribal Chairman Don Steele.   In order to appear on the ballot in the November 2 So. Dak. general election, Newland must file a nominating petition with 3346 signatures of registered voters with the Secretary of State by June 1.   Newland, 56, a self-employed publisher who lives near Hermosa, in the Black Hills, said, "This senate race provides an opportunity rarely encountered to present facts to a wide audience concerning the plight of the 'Great Sioux Nation', most of which resides on reservations in South Dakota."   His platform regarding American Indian Rights consists of the following points: The rights of American Indians have been usurped over the years. I support the following remedies: (1) individuals should be free to select their own citizenship and tribes should be free to select the level of autonomy the tribe wishes, (2) Indians should have their property rights restored, including rights of easement, access, hunting, and fishing, (3) the Bureau of Indian Affairs should be abolished leaving tribal members to determine their own system of governance, and (4) negotiations should be undertaken to resolve all outstanding differences between the tribes and the government.   "The word 'freedom' implies that a person is free to do anything that does not violate the person or property of someone else," Newland said. "The US government consistently violates the precept of freedom while calling its violations 'freedom'. But its inconsistencies in definitions, and the resultant brutality inflicted on those whose liberties are being violated, are especially graphic on the Indian reservations in South Dakota."   Newland maintains that a single issue--industrial hemp production--provides examples of virtually everything that's wrong with US policy towards Indians, and towards the rest of us as well.   Industrial hemp is currently cultivated, harvested and manufactured in more than 30 nations in the world, including every industrialized nation in Europe along with most of the former Soviet bloc. In this hemisphere, Canadian farmers are free to grow and market hemp. US manufacturers are free to use hemp in their products, but it must be imported. "Canadian hemp is being trucked past barely-surviving South Dakota farms to supply the $400 million annual US market, for cryin' out loud," Newland said.   The Oglala Sioux Tribal Council, governing entity for the Pine Ridge Reservation, understanding the potential for industrial hemp to vitalize the local economy, re-legalized industrial hemp production for its supposedly sovereign nation in 1998. US/tribal treaty provisons specifically include items dealing with on-reservation production of food, fiber and shelter.   Alex White Plume, perhaps the best-known living Oglala Lakota in the world, produced industrial hemp crops in 2000, 2001 and 2002. In combat-style raids on White Plume's well-publicized hemp field, the DEA, assisted by representatives of several different government thug agencies, pulverized the nearly-mature crops with weed whackers in 2000 and 2001. No arrests were made.   "Here's the specter of paramilitary forces, financed by the US government, raiding and destroying the legal crops of a peaceful farmer in a peaceful neighboring nation, and justifying it by mouthing absurdities about having destroyed a huge 'marijuana' crop. Yet, even though the grower of the crop plainly identified himself, he was not arrested. Can you tell me of a single case, ever, where such a thing has happened elsewhere in the United States?", Newland asked. "Can you imagine the sense of rage, futility and hopelessness you would suffer if a gang of Lakota thugs were able to burn your wheat crop in front of news cameras while proclaiming they were simply doing their jobs, and watching them drive back to Pine Ridge protected by the Highway Patrol? If you can, you might be able to imagine the daily state of life of anyone with senses of self-worth and community on South Dakota Indian reservations."   In 2002, after White Plume had pre-sold, planted, grown and partially harvested his hemp crop (the first time that cycle had been completed within US borders since the last hemp farmer was put out of business in 1968), he was served with a civil injunction by US Attorney for So. Dak. Mark Vargo. The injunction prevented him from growing, or even touching "marijuana, including industrial hemp". A violation would result in his being subject to contempt of court charges, which could put him in prison indefinitely with no trial.   Newland says that, "Not even by the most tortured logic can an adherent of a nation of laws justify these violations of international treaties, United Nations laws, and US laws. Yet, federal law as it applies to the 'sovereign' Indian nations becomes whatever some mid-level bureaucrat decides it is at any given moment. And federal law on the reservations, and, to a somewhat lesser extent, in the whole United States, works this way in all issues, not just industrial hemp."   South Dakota voters rejected re-legalization of industrial hemp in the 2002 election. Newland, founder of the So. Dak. Industrial Hemp Council, was one of a group of people who petitioned the state's voters to place the issue before voters. "But we got 40 per cent of the vote," Newland said. "That's 120,000 votes. That's twice what the pre-election polls said we were gonna get."   County-by-county, the "Yes" vote percentage varied from a low of 20% in Douglas Co. (1733 total votes, a little county in southeastern SD farm country) to a high of 70% in Shannon Co. (comprised entirely of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, home of Alex White Plume). Interestingly, Jackson Co. (also comprised entirely of the Pine Ridge Res., but with a much higher percentage of white residents) voted only 39% for hemp. Todd Co. (Rosebud Sioux Res.) went 56% for hemp. Buffalo Co. (Crow Creek Res.) went 51% for hemp, and Dewey Co. (Cheyenne River Res.) voted 49.999% for hemp.   With that information, Newland's strategy begins to emerge. Combine that with the fact that in 2002, in what was then one of the nation's most closely watched US Senate elections, John Thune was defeated--by 500 votes--in an attempt to take Sen. Tim Johnson's seat from him. In that election, Libertarian nominee Kurt Evans received 3070 votes, with few of those votes coming from the reservations. Interestingly, Evans had publicly withdrawn from the race just after the ballots were printed. He had asked his supporters to vote for Thune. Had they, Thune would already be a US senator.   The Thune challenge to Daschle has already been proclaimed one of the most hotly contested election campaigns in the nation this year, to be the most expensive in So. Dak. history, eclipsing only the Thune/Johnson race of 2002.   Newland expects the race to be nearly as close as the 2002 senate campaign was. News accounts already are putting the race at a near dead heat. "Therefore," Newland said, "Thune and Daschle will more readily explore issues normally outside their normal realm of interest, since they figure their base constituents are in the bag already, and adopt positions they feel will attract the 'swing votes' -- voters who hold strong convictions about issues not normally addressed by major party candidates. Industrial hemp production is such an issue."   Rapid City publisher Tim Giago, who produces the "Lakota Journal" announced earlier this year that he would enter the senate race as an independent in order to bring more attention to Indian issues. On April 20, he withdrew his name from consideration, saying that Senator Daschle had assured him that Indian issues would be adequately attended to in another Daschle term as senator. Giago then endorsed Daschle.   "That leaves the Indian voters in exactly the same position they have been in every election my whole life," Newland said. "Daschle and Thune will make token appearances on the the reservations, and will mouth generalities and ambiguities to attract Indian voters, seeking to at least make a respectable showing among Indian voters, so the winner will be able to claim a cross-cultural mandate for whatever atrocities he will initiate or perpetuate on the Senate floor."   Newland says his campaign will give Indians an opportunity to tell the Democrats and Republicans that their votes are no longer for sale for a couple of visits and a couple of free sloppy joes at a campaign rally or powwow.   In addition to industrial hemp production, Newland will advocate more clear income tax laws, an end to medical cannabis prohibition, adherence to the US Constitution, and adherence to the terms of the treaties between the US government and the Indian tribes.   Newland for US Senate Campaign HC 89 Box 184-A Hermosa SD 57744 605-255-4032 newland@rapidcity.com http://www.nakedgov.com/

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Independent will run in Senate race   Terry Woster Argus Leader published: 04/28/2004   PIERRE - Bob Newland, who pushed a ballot measure to legalize agricultural hemp when he ran for attorney general two years ago, said Tuesday he is circulating petitions to enter South Dakota's U.S. Senate race.   Newland, 56, said abolishing the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs and negotiating differences between the government and Native American tribes would be key parts of his platform in his independent campaign against Democratic Sen. Tom Daschle and former Republican Rep. John Thune.   Neither major-party candidate offers voters real choice, said Newland, who must collect 3,346 signatures by June 1 to run as an independent affiliated with the Libertarian Party.   Newland listed a handful of issues he said both Daschle and Thune favor, including ethanol, Ellsworth Air Force Base and job growth.   "Gosh, I endorse all those things, too," he said. "Their areas of interest sure contrast with one another, don't they?"   The self-employed publisher from Hermosa collected 3.7 percent of the vote in the race for attorney general in 2002. He backed a ballot measure to legalize industrial hemp, which lost by a 62-38 ratio.   "I also endorse scrapping agencies and programs like the BIA, whose major accomplishment seems to have been losing - as in don't know where it is - about a trillion dollars over the past half-century," Newland said.   He also said laws against marijuana "transformed a society, about one-half percent of whose members had used pot in 1940, into a society in which about 35 percent has sampled the weed as of 2004."   Dick Wadhams, Thune's campaign manager, said he doesn't think Newland's possible entry into the race would affect his candidate's campaign.   "He clearly doesn't have the prominence of some other potential third-party candidates," Wadhams said. "His position on legalization of marijuana, I don't think that would take any votes away from us. If he gets a lot of attention on that agenda, it will probably take whatever votes he gets away from Daschle, I would think."   Daschle's communications director, Dan Pfeiffer, said simply, "We don't have any comment on his entry into the race.''   Newland's announcement comes days after another independent, Tim Giago of Rapid City, decided to end his candidacy. Giago said he will support Daschle, saying the two men had talked and the senator promised to push what Giago called important Native American issues.   Had Giago stayed in the race, Newland said he would have stayed out.   "This Senate race provides an opportunity rarely encountered to present facts to a wide audience concerning the plight of the Great Sioux Nation, most of which resides on reservations in South Dakota," Newland said.   His platform on American Indian rights says:   • Individuals should be free to select their own citizenship, and tribes should be free to select the level of autonomy the tribe wishes.   • Native Americans should have their property rights restored, including rights of easement, access, hunting and fishing.   • The Bureau of Indian Affairs should be abolished, leaving tribal members to determine their own system of governance.   • Negotiations should be undertaken to resolve all outstanding differences between the tribes and the government.   The Daschle-Thune race is expected to be one of the most closely watched in the country. Two years ago, Thune lost by 524 votes to Democrat Sen. Tim Johnson.   Newland noted that in that election, Libertarian candidate Kurt Evans, who withdrew just before Election Day, still drew 3,070 votes "in a race decided by 500 votes. How much impact do you think Kurt Evans' votes had in the last election?"   Newland said he expects he will be able to pull "between 2,500 and 75,000 votes" if he qualifies for the ballot.

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Newland announces race for U.S. Senate   Rapid City Journal published 04/28/04   HERMOSA &emdash; Frequent political candidate, hemp/marijuana legalization activist and publisher Bob Newland of Hermosa plans to enter South Dakota's U.S. Senate race.   Newland issued a news release Tuesday saying he would make an announcement at the Wounded Knee District Community Action Program office at noon today.   Newland, 56, will run as an independent affiliated with the Libertarian Party in a race, likely the nation's top Senate contest, between incumbent Democrat Senate minority leader Tom Daschle and former Republican Congressman John Thune.   He has run for public office five times in the past dozen years. He ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. House in 1992, for the state Legislature in 1994 and 1996, for governor in 1998 and for attorney general in 2002.   To appear on the 2004 ballot, he must file a petition containing the signatures of 3,346 registered voters with the Secretary of State's Office by Tuesday, June 1.   Newland said he believes his push to legalize industrial hemp production will have appeal on South Dakota's Indian reservations, in part because the Oglala Sioux Tribal Council legalized hemp in 1998.   "Newland maintains that a single issue &emdash; industrial hemp production &emdash; provides examples of virtually everything that's wrong with U.S. policy towards Indians and towards the rest of us as well," the news release said.   Newland said the United States should legalize industrial hemp production as dozens of other countries have.   "Canadian hemp is being trucked past barely surviving South Dakota farms to supply the $400 million annual U. S. market," he said.   Newland proposes the following policies related to American Indians but not directly to hemp:   • Individuals should be free to select their own citizenship, and tribes should be free to select the level of autonomy the tribe wishes.   • Native Americans should have their property rights restored, including rights of easement, access, hunting and fishing.   • The Bureau of Indian Affairs should be abolished, leaving tribal members to determine their own system of governance.   • Negotiations should be undertaken to resolve all outstanding differences between the tribes and the government.   Newland cites the 38 percent of South Dakota voters who voted for the 2002 ballot measure to legalize hemp as his base of support.   "That's 120,000 votes," he said.   Newland promoted the ballot measure as part of the South Dakota Industrial Hemp Council and the South Dakota Cannabis Coalition.   Thune lost his 2002 challenge to Sen. Tim Johnson, D-S.D., by 524 votes. Because some are predicting just as narrow a margin in the 2004 race and because Libertarian candidate Kurt Evans received 3,070 votes two years ago, Newland believes he can influence the debate in this campaign.   "Thune and Daschle will more readily explore issues outside their normal realm of interest. Industrial hemp production is such an issue," he said.

Newland poses three questions to Daschle & Thune   Challenge sent 05/10/04 by Bob Newland     I pose three questions to Sen. Daschle and former Rep. Thune. If either answers them satisfactorily, I shall suspend my campaign and campaign for that candidate.   1. Why does the United States not observe its own law, as well as tribal law and international conventions, with respect to Alex White Plume and the Lakota Hemp Project, which is sanctioned by the Oglala Sioux Tribal Council? If you make any reference to "marijuana laws" or "drug laws" or "DEA", you must also tell us how much good those government programs are doing us. You must support your answer with credible documentation. I can support my contentions. You'd better bring lunch.   2. Why do you continue to support marijuana prohibition laws that have only accomplished two things, both probably not what you'd say you were looking for? Marijuana prohibition laws have jacked up the rate of marijuana use among Americans by more than 5000 per cent (5000% !!!) in just fifty years. Prohibition has also simultaneously enriched in unfathomable terms a few hundred of the most vicious people on earth, destabilized the government of every nation south of Texas in this hemisphere, and fueled a prison system and associated bureaucracy that dwarfs the AARP as a growth industry. I mean, these are pretty difficult tasks, all right, and God bless you for admiring the work, but the results don't seem good for us.   3. I'll bet I can get quite a little support in Congress for a new, understandable income tax code. Doncha think you could do that, too?   That's it. If neither of Daschle nor Thune can promise to do the right thing about the most destructive artificial forces in our culture, then what good are they?