House Bill 1117, Governor Kristi Noem’s attempt to rewrite the unconstitutional anti-protest/pro-pipeline “riot-boosting” bill that she rushed through the Legislature last year, passed House State Affairs Wednesday over strong tribal opposition. Speaker Steven Haugaard voted against HB 1117 in committee, calling last year’s pipeline favor “a significant mess” and call this year’s retread an “unnecessary strain” on state-tribal relations. Courtesy of Majority Leader Lee Qualm’s motion yesterday, Speaker Haugaard got to defer HB 1117 to Tuesday, giving opponents the four-day weekend to work the crackerbarrels and the e-mails to rally opposition to this unnecessary infringement of First Amendment rights.
As you speak with your legislators about what’s more important to South Dakota, free speech or foreign oil, feel free to share with them Jo Johnson’s latest visual commentary on Governor Noem’s priorities:
Right after the committee vote for HB 1117 Wednesday, Governor Noem announced a new student art competition that she says will support Native American art. Art is a fine outlet for self-expression; maybe some tribal youth will take inspiration from Jo Johnson’s work and send the Governor some vigorous expressions of their values to hang on the Capitol walls.
Great art!! This is so true!!
Excellent cartoon Ms. Johnson. I especially like the mouse’s question.
I just noticed how our talented and clever cartoonist wrote “unspOILed” under the protesters’ feet. Ms. Johnson does not miss a trick. Very, very good!
When my Beijing daughter and I talk about Tiananmen Square, we use code. It’s something that is not usually spoken of in China, and if you do so, the platform you are using usually destabilizes.
You do have to wonder if Noem is taking her advise from Chinese security agencies. The touchiness over the Madison Howard incident, the massive over reaction last year with the Riot Boosting legislation, this year another set of riot bills just as cuckoo.
The riot legislation in the US seems patterned on Chinese practice. In China you are allowed to have a sign and stand with it in respectful protest, but if you have more than three people, the police will tell you to move along. Strange, isn’t it, that riot laws in the US also uses the three person standard. What is it about having four people that scares authoritarians?
China is watching me, too. I watch the Twitter posts from CHINA DAILY, which is mostly non political. Yesterday, though they posted a piece where a China diplomat questioned Nancy Pelosi about how fragile American democracy must be if it can’t allow Huawei to do business in USA. I responded with four energized anti communist posts. Since, my CHINA DAILY Twitter feed is different in subtle ways.
From Mother Jones…
https://www.motherjones.com/environment/2020/06/us-states-have-spent-the-past-5-years-trying-to-criminalize-protest/
Covid Kristi gets some column <inches.
Should be required reading mfi, good link. Thank gwaaaad for the Democrats that opposed this fascism.