SD Gov. Noem: Part II
Cricket’s Revenge — Things Just Go from Bad to Worse
“Things just go from bad to worse; starts like a kiss and ends like a curse.”
– Jim Carroll & Brian Linsley, Nothing is True, Catholic Boy
The story of Republican South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem killing a family goat and puppy 20 years ago has been a national story for two weeks. It was reported by The Guardian on April 26 after a copy of Noem’s new book was obtained in advance of the book release early last week. But the story of the killings Noem writes of in the book is old news according to Noem, who said political opponents in South Dakota had tried to use the story in the past against her.
It may be old news to the people of South Dakota, but Noem’s murders of what she described as a smelly and nasty family goat and a puppy, Cricket — a dog, she wrote, that she “hated” — both of whom she dispatched with in a gravel pit, is definitely “new news” to most Americans, including the people who saw her as a frontrunner for the VP slot with former President Trump in the 2024 presidential election. Noem has managed to alienate people across the political spectrum in acts seen as indefensible.
As political commentator Buck Sexton summarized Noem’s killings, “This is horrifying judgment in the act, and horrifying judgment to tell the story.”
Noem had been making the interview rounds for her new book last week. But the more she talked, the bigger the hole she dug for herself. She describes Cricket now as an adult dog killing livestock and attacking people, seemingly working to conjure a picture of an animal more akin to a super powerful dire wolf taking down herds of cattle than a wirehair pointer pup at play.
No Super Predator; just an exuberant puppy — with an impatient human. No slain cattle; but some chickens — because the impatient human didn’t secure the puppy. And an attempted bite by Cricket upon Noem — in her own words — not The Attack of a 50’ Dog.
Did She or Didn’t She Meet with the Korean Dictator?
But wait, there was more that came out from the book last week.
“No Going Back” includes an account of a meet-up with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un — a meeting that likely never happened. If she wrote the passage, did she write the wrong dictator’s name? Was she lying? Did the ghostwriter add the passage — at whose direction?
So many questions. So few answers.
Noem has said that when the item was brought to her attention, it was corrected. But she has refused to state that she did not meet Kim Jong Un, but instead, when queried, goes into a crafted response that she’s met with many world leaders and won’t go into specifics. She thereby leaves open the possibility that she did have a meeting with Kim Jong Un that apparently no one knows about and that there’s no record of.
Maybe an intrepid reporter should ask Kim Jong Un.
Reportedly, the retracted passage read:
“I had the chance to travel to many countries to meet with world leaders — some who wanted our help, and some who didn’t. I remember when I met with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un. I’m sure he underestimated me, having no clue about my experience staring down little tyrants (I’d been a children’s pastor, after all). Dealing with foreign leaders takes resolve, preparation, and determination.”
Managing children vs. dealing with an unstable guy who has nuclear weapons. Uh, right. No difference. And even if it were supposed to be “light humor,” it didn’t work as that either. Overall, just dumb.
In my prior post, I asked where were the editors, the publisher, staff? We’ve learned last week too that Noem didn’t listen to them. Reportedly, the dog story had been in the draft of her first book, but “her publishing team edited out the anecdote over fears it would harm her brand.”
Ya think? Can you say, “hardhead?”
With expectations of the VP slot evaporated, Noem may now be thinking she would have been better off without a book, or taking the time to think about the input she was receiving. She probably is truly hating on Cricket now.
By the end of the week, the book tour was kaput.
Some Positives of Noem’s Governorship
For some time I had a positive view of Gov. Noem, with the exception of a heinous “wildlife” kids’ program in South Dakota (more on that in another post). Overall, Noem in public appearances was even-tempered, prepared and smart. To her credit, during the 2020 pandemic, Noem and her state pulled off a patriotic 4th of July celebration with President Trump at Mt. Rushmore. The effort brought attention to the 40th state to join the union, back in 1889 — the state that has been called “the land of infinite variety.”
Gov. Noem took a stance during the COVID pandemic in opposition to those across the country — as well as some in her state — who demanded mass shutdowns and lockdowns as mass hysteria set in across America. Even with numerous attacks, she did not back down on her position that people had the right to mask or not and to be responsible for their health choices. Noem did not issue stay-at-home orders, nor mask mandates.
Based on statistics for the pandemic period 1 February 2020 through 23 April 2022 that looked at deaths in excess of what would have been expected based on historic mortality patterns, South Dakota had 358.2 deaths per 100,000. Thirty states and the District of Columbia had a lower number of deaths per 100,000, and 19 had a higher number of deaths per 100,000. The U.S. in total had 344.7 deaths per 100,000.
During this period, Noem’s administration used federal coronavirus relief funds to launch a national ad campaign encouraging people to visit South Dakota. The successful campaign brought in 13.5 million visitors in 2021, a 26 percent over 2020, and the U.S. Travel Association recognized South Dakota in May 2021 as the first state to fully recover to pre-pandemic levels of tourist spending.
Next came a strong, likable campaign featuring the governor “working” different jobs, called Freedom Works Here, which talked about the state’s success and growth, encouraging workers to move to South Dakota.
Additionally, in response to Biden’s failure to enforce U.S. borders, which has resulted in nearly 10 million illegal aliens entering the country in under four years, Noem joined other Republican governors to deploy national guard to the U.S.-Mexico border. Further, Noem signed a bill this year that “bans ownership of agricultural land in South Dakota by people, companies and governments from six countries.”
On the Minus Side of Noem’s Governorship
Unlike the Go Great Places and Freedom Works Here campaigns, the Meth. We’re On It campaign didn’t quite work as the best way to bring attention to the methamphetamine problem in the state. I can visualize the enthusiasm of the creative folks from the ad agency pitching this campaign, and the client (the state folks) saying, “Yes. That’s clever. Double entendre! Let’s go with it.” Again, where were the wiser communications/PR voices in the room? Did Kristi not listen? Or, are decisions made too quickly under the Noem governorship?
It’s been written that Noem has a “demanding” workstyle. She has had six chiefs of staff in five years. She has been criticized as being more eager to please corporate constituents than Republican donors. A legislative probe conducted by a Republican-controlled Government Operations and Audit Committee found that Noem’s daughter received preferential treatment for a real estate appraiser’s license in 2020.
As well, it has been reported that Noem and Corey Lewandowski, Donald Trump’s first campaign advisor in 2016, had an affair, which both parties deny. Lewandowski had been an important factor in the governor’s political rise, according to an AP story. But Noem ended her relationship with Lewandowski as a reportedly unpaid advisor when he was accused of making unwelcome sexual advances to a GOP donor. Lewandowski has a less than choir boy history, so Noem’s involvement with him on any level again goes to her judgment.
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Thinking Americans who pay attention know many high-level politicians — maybe most? — can be losers, liars and con creatures today, compromised as they rise higher. So when a citizen comes across one who appears to be credible, intelligent, honest and has the people and the country as top priority — and then the citizen feels betrayed by that person — it’s a difficult pill to swallow. Noem appeared to be the “real deal” for some time for a large number of voters, but she has done herself in through her own poor judgment and “tough decisions.”
Maria Fotopoulos writes about the connection between overpopulation and biodiversity loss, and from time to time other topics that confound her. On FB @BetheChangeforAnimals and givesendgo.com/calliescathouse.
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