The Republican spin blog suggests that an elected official’s use of her official online campaign channels to promote the family business “skirts some ethical boundaries.” While the spin blog’s anonymi shout “Garbage” and “Grifter,” GOP commenter Troy Jones calls such mingling of politics and profit-seeking grossly stupid:
I will accuse her of gross stupidity for these reasons:
1) In the event someone who supports her* had a house to sell, this probably is superfluous to her getting the listing. *Not a big universe because not that many hands change hands in a year and the number of people who support her AND would entrust the sale of their house to someone other than expecting the best price is a small universe.
2) It isn’t always about avoiding conflict but also avoiding the appearance of “being for sale.” Go back to my original comment about when it would be an actual conflict of interest. Now, if a supporter gives her a listing, she makes a big commission, and later this supporter asks her to pursue/act on a particular issue, even if she was inclined to do it anyway, when she does do her inclination, she is now open to the charge of an ethical violation.
3) One doesn’t have to think too hard to jump to the conclusion this is her offering her office’s powers in exchange for a listing. As I said before, if it weren’t so stupid, it would be unethical. Stupidity is not a crime [Troy Jones, comment, Dakota War College, 2018.07.09].
The spin blogsters are referring to State Rep. Lynne DiSanto’s (R-35/Box Elder) encouraging her supporters on her Facebook campaign page to do business with her as a realtor. (I don’t see the alleged offending July 8 post, but Rep. DiSanto responds unapologetically to the criticism in her July 10 post.)
But they could just as well have been referring to a bigger fisher for business, Congresswoman Kristi Noem, who on May 30, 2016, pushed her husband’s crop insurance business on her official Congressional Twitter feed:
Skirts some ethical boundaries. Gross stupidity. Those are the words I heard Republicans using to describe such profiteering on public time, right?
Just like trump. Look out the window. Thought. Tweet. Consequences? Doesn’t even occur to these uneducated fools. Not that it matters in the normal world, but as President who kidnaps thousands of children, or as Governor who would deny thousands health care….
She’s just getting in the spirit of how the GOP governs SD or anything else anywhere else. It’s the GOP way!
Do you think that crew over at the press release blog has any integrity? They are bought and paid for with Noem’s advertising. If DiSanto bought advertising they wouldn’t criticize her. Over there it’s not about consistency. It’s about payola.
This is Trump playbook stuff. And typical GOP hypocrisy.
Noem also blames China for the current problems for South Dakota farmers, too; which is like blaming an other country, which you just attacked, for starting a war.
Now, it is true that China has had some questionable trade practices over the years, which warrant an evaluation and challenge, but Trump should have never picked this fight without finding immediate reassurances for the American farmer.
The Ag crisis today in South Dakota isn’t China’s fault, rather it’s Trumps; and as South Dakotans we cannot allow Noem to try to blame China, or Dusty for that matter to try to blame the Trump Cabinet without mentioning Trump himself, when talking about this crisis, because the fault is on them: Noem and Dusty and Dusty’s President Trump.