I thought it was Mike Huckabee who put the dog in a carrier on the car’s roof.
Nope. Twas Romney.
I don’t know if that’s a fair assessment of how conservatives feel about their dogs. I’m here in Arkansas, deep in Trump country, where hunting and farming are both culturally important and I know people with hunting and/or rural/farm dogs. Most of these people love their dogs and while they might be willing to put down a dog Old Yeller style because its dangerous to other people or sick, they’re not going to put down a beloved pet because it’s hard to train (the kid loved Noem’s dog at least and the dog loved her). Even most conservatives are not so happy to learn this of Noem because this is not a case of city slickers not understanding the realities of rural life.
What I find especially odd about this is that Noem deliberately told the world about this story because she believes it put her in a good light. She’s so out of touch she can’t believe people are reacting negatively to this.
I almost forgot. Fuck Noem. Seriously. That’s fuckign messed up.
I do think there was likely some political calculation here. I expect she knew this would offend at least liberal sensibilities and thus get her talked about. I suspect she was attempting the Trump tactic of seeming tough by being psychopathic. And that even people who would otherwise be disgusted with her actions would make excuses because they care more about trolling the libs.
I do think she miscalculated. Perhaps because she is a psychopath and didn’t realize how bad this actually would seem. But I think she was actually trying to create a controversial thing that she thought would paint her in a good light, while getting tons of free advertising from the news coverage.
It’s a Trumpian tactic, by someone without his instincts. I’m pretty sure Trump doesn’t care for dogs, but he knows his base does.
Noem either doesn’t have any good or close advisors or she doesn’t listen to them.
Does he? He constantly uses “like a dog” as an insult. If anything, it seems like this might endear Noem to him.
Noem being beneficial to Trump would endear her to him. Associating with Noem wouldn’t benefit Trump so he will have no use for her.
I concur. You might have seen the news story about the guy in Wyoming who tortured a wolf before killing it. (Caution: Very upsetting story.) Farmers and ranchers in Wyoming are anti-wolf and have been pissed off since wolves were re-introduced into Yellowstone in 1995, so you might think they’d rally 'round Cody Roberts. Nope. They’re incensed. For all their disturbing beliefs, and there are a lot, they don’t tolerate torturing an animal any more than they’d accept someone gut-shooting a deer. The bar where the guy brought the wolf had a lot of his relatives in there, and apparently they’re all twisted idiots, but various Wyoming friends tell me that people around the state are outraged.
Noem won’t get any mileage out of her story, at least until and unless people forget about it.
Some humor at Noem’s expense on Xitter
My four-year-old was watching CNN when he turned to me gravely and asked “Daddy, why did the nice lady from South Dakota shoot her dog?” And when I told him “Because the woke mind virus had turned the dog into a freeloader,” he started crying.
I think the fact that a construction crew witnessed the event may be why she told the story. Wash that dirty laundry your way.
You have to be pretty comfortable with killing to shoot a doggie.
Interestingly, that was the reaction of most on the right wing message board I was referring to. Over the last day or so, most, even if they were right-wing Republicans or MAGAts were disgusted by Noem’s actions. As I said, some were still fine with it, but most posting to that thread were not.
Unsurprisingly, the thread on that right wing message board has been cornfielded.
But the real question here is:
- What if it had been Trump relating a story of him putting down the dog in that manner? What would the MAGA crowd’s reaction be?
I’ve seen a bunch of nobodies trying to say animals are different on the farm. Many big MAGA pundits with lots of followers were disgusted.
The US does have anti-cruelty laws, but they’re difficult to enforce in rural areas. Real farmers are given some latitude to euthanize an animal because US farms/ranches can be huge and veterinary help distant, far enough away that waiting for a vet could entail prolonged suffering in an animal.
This was not the situation were an animal is mortally injured in a distant field, though, or one where the animal couldn’t be moved to a different location and had to be euthanized on the spot. She had time and means to take a healthy animal to a different location. She chose to do the killing herself. It’s a situation where, if someone chose to make a point of it, charges could be brought… except for the amount of time that has gone by.
I’m talking about the Supreme Court elsewhere - it is possible to discuss more than one topic in a day.
He had exactly that in Pence… then it turns out Pence had a teeny-tiny bit of spine he pulled out during election certification. I’m sure choosing someone properly submissive who will stay that way is posing quite the conundrum to Trump these days.
There is a certain sort of person who views animals as disposable accessories and not fellow creatures with feelings, emotions, and an ability to suffer. I always have to wonder if they see most (all?) of their fellow humans in the same way.
And you have to be pretty inept with a fire arm to have to re-load after shooting a goat at point-blank range.
I have often thought this about American presidents. They’re supposed to have a dog, apparently. I recall a lot of speculation about what kind of dog Obama was going to have. Not what dog to have, if any dog, but what kind? Having a dog is expected, apparently. You can get rid of it once your Presidency is over, if you don’t like it. Disposable indeed. You should only adopt an animal if you expect it to be a part of your family for the next fifteen years or so.
Similarly, I remember the surprise when it was revealed that the Clinton family had a cat named Socks. “A cat? But Presidents are supposed to have dogs.” That sort of thing.
I’m a cat guy, but I have plenty of experiences with dogs on my friend’s farm. Also with the barn cats, the horses, and the cows. They are definitely fellow creatures with feelings, emotions, and an ability to suffer. And they let you know of such, in their own ways.
That has to be one thin volume if she felt she had to pad it out with such an anecdote.
The Obama thing was because on election night he gave a speech after he won, and in it said directly to his daughters “and yes, you can now have a puppy”.
So it wasn’t a random assumption.
I think Trump could well survive such a story with his base intact. But it would NOT be a net positive. It would still be a “if you had to do that, why the fuck did you have to tell everybody?” item, as far as his strategists were concerned.
I’m not saying this is where you were going, but to those who keep insisting this is viewed as positive, as a virtue, to most in the MAGA crowd, um, no. Shooting the family dog in the face with a shotgun does not help your political prospects. I’ll bet that’s right there on page one of the “How to get elected” handbook.
Or, more ominous—a parental warning. “See what happens to girls who don’t behave? And, to their boyfriends who smell bad?”
In any case, even if she considered the dog a working animal (which the daughter clearly didn’t), farm folks don’t brag about animals they put down.
My vote is idiot or psychopath. Probably both.