7,500 lucky people get to join Il Duce and the Snow Queen in having Mount Rushmore all to themselves on July 3. The government is holding a lottery to determine who gets to enter the park and watch the Trump-Noem fireworks show that day. Entry in the lottery is one American dollar; 7,500 winners get free parking. Another 7,500 will be chosen for sacrifical stoning to appease the angry gods.
The feds may not actually draw 7,500 tickets; each entrant gets to mark the number of people he or she plans to bring along in one vehicle, with a maximum of six. The government will thus draw tickets until the total ticketholders and guests add up to 7,500. (I’m sure they have something in the algorithm to avoid the following problem, but imagine if the first couple thousand tickets drawn added up to 7,499 attendees, and then the next ticket drawn had two attendees on it: the government would have to throw that ticket out and keep drawing until it got a ticket with some dude coming by himself!)
Winners will be randomly assigned to either Zone 1 or Zone 2. Zone 1 gets you in the amphitheater; Zone 2 means you park out on Highway 244 and may get to walk uphill up to two miles to get to the viewing area. Attendees in both areas need to leave the following items at home:
…aerosols, ammunition, animals other than service animals, alcohol, backpacks and bags exceeding the size restrictions (18” x 13” by 7”), bicycles, balloons or inflatables of any type, coolers, drones and other unmanned aircraft systems, explosives, firearms, glass, thermal or metal containers, laser pointers, mace/pepper spray, packages, recreational motorized mobility devices, selfie sticks, signs exceeding the size restrictions (20” by 3” by 1/4”), large structures such as pop up tents and canopies larger than 6’x6’ and bounce houses, supports for signs and placards, umbrellas larger than 12” folded, umbrellas with metal tips, toy guns, weapons of any kind and any other items determined to be potential safety hazards [“South Dakota’s Mount Rushmore Fireworks Celebration Lottery: Need to Know,” Recreation.gov, retrieved 2020.06.05].
Attendees in both zones will be searched by security, but only visitors in Zone 1 “are potentially subject to health screening due to physical proximity of groups, dependent upon health directives at the time of the event.” But no one has to keep six feet apart, says Governor Noem:
Organizers have scrapped plans to mandate social distancing during President Donald Trump’s appearance at a July 3 Mount Rushmore fireworks display and won’t limit the crowd due to coronavirus concerns, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem said Thursday.
…Event organizers did not reduce the number of tickets due to the coronavirus pandemic, and Noem said she isn’t concerned an influx of tourists would heighten the risk. Coronavirus infections are on a downward trend in the state and hospitals are prepared to handle more infections if needed, she said [“Social Distancing Not Required at Trump Mount Rushmore Event,” AP, 2020.06.04].
Black Lives Matter, fellow antifascists, if you’re planning to flood this lottery (and that does sound like a plan), be ready to slice your protest signs into three-inch strips, then find friends among the lottery winners to hold those strips together to display your messages of support for real American values.
Attendees in both zones will be searched by security, but only visitors in Zone 1 “are potentially subject to health screening due to physical proximity of groups, dependent upon health directives at the time of the event.” But no one has to keep six feet apart, says Governor Noem:
Organizers have scrapped plans to mandate social distancing during President Donald Trump’s appearance at a July 3 Mount Rushmore fireworks display and won’t limit the crowd due to coronavirus concerns, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem said Thursday.
…Event organizers did not reduce the number of tickets due to the coronavirus pandemic, and Noem said she isn’t concerned an influx of tourists would heighten the risk. Coronavirus infections are on a downward trend in the state and hospitals are prepared to handle more infections if needed, she said [“Social Distancing Not Required at Trump Mount Rushmore Event,” AP, 2020.06.04].
So, in addition to crowds gleefully disregarding CDC guidance, what do winners get to see?
The planning committee continues to work on a great lineup of on-site programming throughout the day on July 3. There will be hoop dancers and Lakota storytellers sharing the state’s Native American culture, performances by the South Dakota State University Concert Choir and the United States Air Force Academy concert band, and many other talented people. Additionally, there will be incredible performances and flyovers in partnership with the United States Air Force and South Dakota’s own Ellsworth Air Force Base [“Mount Rushmore Fireworks,” South Dakota Department of Tourism, retrieved 2020.06.05].
Perhaps those Lakota storytellers can give attendees an update on Native sovereignty in South Dakota.
The Rushmore lottery opens this morning at 8 a.m. Mountain and takes entries through Monday, June 8, at 9:59 p.m. Mountain; the government will announce the completely randomly chosen winners next Friday, June 12.
Oh, wheeee! Just needs a photo op with Trump brandishing his bible.
That’s one lottery I wouldn’t want to win.
I’m surprised Ill Duce would agree to come to an event that would ban so many items. You can tell some pointy headed liberal decided you won’t be allowed to carry an umbrella that doesn’t meet certain government specifications. It seems quite at odds with, you know, “Independence Day.” I’m particularly concerned that those open carry folks won’t be able lock and load with some people-killing ammunition. That’s not FREEDOM.
It does seem as if firing off fireworks on July 3 is quite a compromise to those of us who believe July 2 is the real Day of Independence, not July 4, which is a fake holiday, but which the dumb crowd thinks is the day we broke from the King. In the spirit of July 2, let’s hope Trump has been ousted by then. That would truly Make American Great Again.
Here’s to a fire, and Trump being consumed by it.
Enter the lottery. Win a place. Don’t go.
There won’t be enough bleach to erase the orange stain on the monument.
Perhaps we should just turn it around and show their asses to the jerk.
Yeah, Buckobear, I thought about that. But it costs $1 to enter. Not one dollar will I put toward Il Duce’s narcissism and re-election photo-op.
Who is running this lottery? Well, that would be the Donald J. Trump Committee for Il Duce Donald J. Trump, LLC, otherwise known as The Corrupt Fascist States of America. This lottery isn’t going to be fair. The tickets are going to corporate America and the Russians, who are, right this minute, flooding the lottery with fake names to secure all the seats, and then will parcel them out to their minions. Don’t be naive. Real people have no chance of securing a ticket.
I’m sure the entire 1st extended families will change out in courtesy black leathers, kerchiefs and harleys for macho sexy photo ops. Don Jr on a harley. Its like smiling on a dead rhino. Its like Rupert Murdoch married to Jeri Hall. Welcome Republican White American$$. What happened to rock’n roll? :)
Don’t give the president any ideas but this event will be at Rushmore in Aug-Sept.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/06/05/19th-amendment-anniversary-celebration-will-put-women-mount-rushmore-temporarily/
We all remember the conclusion of Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery”.
I read your link Barbara. Thanks. Its extra special because a South Dakota woman is planning and arranging the whole thing.
Buckobear, that protest might be worth a dollar. As long as the money goes to the Park Service, maybe we should get all the BLM marchers and the Biden campaign and everyone else who opposes fascism to chip in a dollar and take away some of the seats… or to go and boo when Trump speaks.
They won’t let seats go unfilled. They’ll have seat fillers at the ready, if necessary. I want the seats all filled by the Trump supporters and corporate honchos. That way more of them get sick and die of COVID. Come on, Republicans fill it up with no social distancing. Have a nice death.
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The funny part would be a no show. That is becoming more and more plausible as this progresses. The good news is that there is already a wall around the White House and all they have to do is put those angle irons on them pointing to the inside.
Oh, and there is this.
“The Pentagon has told National Guardsmen deployed to the nation’s capital not to use firearms or ammunition, and has issued orders to send home active-duty troops that the Trump administration amassed outside the city in recent days, a sign of de-escalation in the federal response to protests in the city.
Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper made the decision to disarm the guard without consulting the White House, after President Trump ordered a militarized show of force on the streets of Washington to quell demonstrations that were punctured by an episode of looting Sunday, two senior administration officials said. Trump had encouraged the National Guard to be armed.” Washington Post 6.5.20
Cory….you mentioned what I and a whole snowball of people protesting trump are doing. Spend 1 dollar in protest (more satisfying that a taco at Taco Bell)…buy a ticket and indicate 6 people attending. If you win, DON’T GO. It would only take slightly over 1100 likeminded winners to leave DT staring at a mostly empty house. Priceless . Spread the word. I spent my dollar. I feel better already !!
https://www.recreation.gov/lottery/available
Amen CRJ!
Lottery winners will be decided by who ever donated mucho dinero to drumpf. It will be rigged o there will be no distractions to irritate the spoiled brat,.
Pray for a Black Hills thunderstorm.
Prepare the airman from EAFB and the national guard in SD to be props.
Meanwhile bunker boy is looking for friends since the generals and the NFL gave him the middle finger.
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2020/jun/06/nfl-statement-wrong-players-racism-protests-roger-goodell-donald-trump-football
Get in the lottery and apply for as many tickets as you can. If you win, the minimal ticket price is a cheap investment in Trump protest. Just save the tickets and don’t bother to attend the circus.
From that Soo Falls paper….
The state is still compiling cost estimates for the event and is looking at all options to cover local authorities’ costs associated with the event, Noem said. The state is also working with the Secret Service on security for the event as is typical of a presidential visit, she said.
So Miss Wannabe a drumpster is picking up the tab for drumpf’s political extravaganza. Thought there was a severe budget shortfasll.
CRJ—load ‘em up!
I IM’d a link to the lottery page to about 100 FB friends. The more winners not there, the merrier.
Four years, Larry? The health and safety of Black Hills residents and firefighters, as well as the beauty of a national monument, are being put at unnecessary risk for one man’s ego this week. Am I not allowed to be bothered by that immediate risk to my home state?
It’s been almost four years of gross incompetence in the White House putting national security at risk. Are loyal patriots supposed to get over that?