The pandemic surges, and Governor Kristi Noem bleats about what she won’t do to protect life in South Dakota:
South Dakota’s Kristi Noem, Oklahoma’s Kevin Stitt and Nebraska’s Pete Ricketts, whose states are engulfed by new cases, say mask wearing should remain a personal choice, not a legal obligation — despite recommendations from health officials and updated guidance from the Centers for Disease Control stressing that masks protect the wearer, not just people nearby, from infection.
“Governor Noem has provided her people with the full scope of the science, facts, and data regarding the virus, and then she has trusted them to exercise their personal responsibility to make the best decisions for themselves and their loved-ones,” Noem spokesperson Ian Fury wrote in an email. “She will not be changing that approach” [Daniel Goldberg, Rachel Roubein, and Alice Miranda Ollstein, “Red State Governors Reject Biden on Mask Orders,” Politico, 2020.11.13].
While we suffer under the governance of a clueless cow, other states have governors who take pandemic response, science, and human life seriously.
In New Mexico, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham announced Friday a temporary “statewide order closing in-person services for all nonessential activities in order to blunt the unprecedented spike of COVID-19 illnesses and to attempt to relieve dramatically escalating strain on hospitals and health care providers across the state.” The order is in effect November 16 through November 30, the governor said.
…Oregon Gov. Kate Brown announced a statewide “two-week freeze” Friday, with a list of new measures including limiting gatherings to six people from a maximum of two households, allowing only takeout and delivery for eating and drinking establishments, closing gyms and indoor recreational facilities and requiring businesses to mandate work from home as much as possible. The measures take effect Wednesday, the governor said, and will likely last “much longer” than two weeks for “hot spot” counties.
…Idaho’s governor has mobilized the state’s National Guard Friday to help the pandemic response and rolled the state back to a modified Stage 2 of its reopening plan. Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson announced the creation of a winter Covid-19 task force in preparation for what’s to come. And New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Friday there will be an emergency meeting this weekend with the state leaders of six northeastern states to discuss additional steps [Christina Maxouris, “Governors Issue Stringent New Measures as US Reports a Staggering Covid-19 Record of More Than 184,000 Daily Cases,” CNN, 2020.11.14].
Well, there are five states, at least, where the governors live in reality.
North Dakota, the only state keeping us from having the worst coronavirus headlines every day, is also accepting that it must change course to fight the virus that is devastating its health care workers:
North Dakota has put in place a statewide mask mandate, occupancy limits on public-facing businesses and the suspension of most high school winter sports as the state’s worst-in-the-nation COVID-19 outbreak continues to spiral out of control.
The mask order, announced in a news release late Friday night, Nov. 13, means residents of the state must wear face coverings in businesses, indoor public places and outdoor public settings where social distancing cannot be maintained. The order includes exemptions for children under five years of age, people attending religious services and those with disabilities that make mask-wearing unreasonable.
The order from interim State Health Officer Dirk Wilke goes into effect on Saturday, Nov. 14, and will remain on the books through Dec. 14.
Violators of the mask order can be cited for an infraction, which could come with a fine up to $1,000 for a first offense. However, Gov. Doug Burgum urged law enforcement to prioritize education and reserve penalties for the most egregious infringements [Jeremy Turley, “North Dakota Enacts Statewide Mask Mandate, Business Restrictions as Covid-19 Outbreak Rages,” InForum, 2020.11.13].
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Noem said Thursday that lockdowns don’t stop the spread of the virus. That statement, of course, is a complete lie. If we all stay home for four weeks and see no one outside of our family pods, coronavirus would not spread. Don’t go out, don’t get sick—research backs up that common sense:
Lockdown measures helped reduce the number of COVID-19 cases in countries around the world, a new study finds.
Moreover, earlier stay-in-place restrictions such as closing schools and workplaces were tied to a greater reduction in cases, according to British researchers [Robert Preidt, “Have Lockdowns Worked to Control Coronavirus?” WebMD, 2020.07.16].
…and…
Brits were sent into lockdown last week in a desperate attempt to slow the spread of the deadly bug.
And there are hopes that the strict restrictions have been working, with the R rate – which measures the average number of people a person with coronavirus infects – falling back below 1.
The crucial value is now estimated to be 0.9 across the country according to the Covid Symptom Study app while Sage’s most recent estimate, published on Friday, is that the R rate is somewhere between 1.1 and 1.3.
And the Times today reported that the Tier 3 regional restrictions worked, cutting daily contact by a third.
John Edmunds, who led the study and works with the the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said: “The tier system did have some impact in reducing contact and especially Tier 3 had a very significant impact.
“Tier 3 restrictions reduced that by 1.5 contacts a day, which in the context of five daily contacts is a big change.”
Sage members now hope the cases will start falling in the next week after 27,301 new infections were recorded yesterday [Brittany Vonow, “Xmas Hope: England’s Lockdown Should End on December 2 and Tier 3 Restrictions Did Work, SAGE Advisers Say,” The Sun, 2020.11.14].
…and…
As North America, Europe, India, Brazil and other regions and countries struggle to bring tens of thousands of daily infections under control, Australia provides a real-time road map for democracies to manage the pandemic. Its experience, along with New Zealand’s, also shows that success in containing the virus isn’t limited to East Asian states (Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan) or those with authoritarian leaders (China, Vietnam).
Several practical measures contributed to Australia’s success, experts say. The country chose to quickly and tightly seal its borders, a step some others, notably in Europe, did not take. Health officials rapidly built up the manpower to track down and isolate outbreaks. And unlike the U.S. approach, all of Australia’s states either shut their domestic borders or severely limited movement for interstate and, in some cases, intrastate travelers.
Perhaps most important, though, leaders from across the ideological spectrum persuaded Australians to take the pandemic seriously early on and prepared them to give up civil liberties they had never lost before, even during two world wars.
“We told the public: ‘This is serious; we want your cooperation,’ ” said Marylouise McLaws, a Sydney-based epidemiologist at the University of New South Wales and a World Health Organization adviser.
A lack of partisan rancor increased the effectiveness of the message, McLaws said in an interview.
The conservative prime minister, Scott Morrison, formed a national cabinet with state leaders — known as premiers — from all parties to coordinate decisions. Political conflict was largely suspended, at least initially, and many Australians saw their politicians working together to avert a health crisis.
“Regardless of who you vote for, most Australians would agree their leaders have a real care for their constituents and a following of science,” McLaws said. “I think that helped dramatically” [emphasis mine; A. Odysseus Patrick, “Australia Has Almost Eliminated the Coronavirus—by Putting Faith in Science,” Washington Post, 2020.11.05].
Governor Kristi Noem does not care about her constituents or science. She cares only about her political advancement. For that, she will do whatever she thinks or Corey Lewandowski thinks it takes (and that includes lying an rejecting obvious good public health practices) to be in the headlines and create conflict while her people burn in the fires of the pandemic she chooses to politicize.
Don’t listen to Gov Goofball. Just do the opposite, wear a mask, socially distance and listen to the doctors and scientists.
The schools in MN that had chosen to start out the Fall doing hybrid learning are resorting to all long distance learning now as too many students and teachers were coming down with Covid.
Noem should zoom into a critical care unit to see firshand the devastating effects of Covid not only on the patient but the doctors, nurses and families.
Noem should zoom into a nursing home and see firsthand how lonely and depressed elderly residents are in not being able to see their loved ones. Kristi should talk to nurses who can’t take a day off to rest because they are shortstaffed and are scared to death of getting sick themselves.
This is what Democrats mean when we say Republicans have no compassion or empathy.
GNOem lies to accommodate her travel schedule to grift for her bulging pockets. Ms. Jenny is correct, whatever a trumpian republican like GNOem says or does, do the opposite to live and thrive.
Actually Cory, I’m with Gov Walz on lockdowns; a lockdown will work effectively if other neighboring states do a lockdown also. When MN had its stay at home order for a few weeks it worked for awhile until late Summer when Sturgis came along.
As you can see with Sturgis, the bikers that came back infected started the virus surge in MN. People let their guard down and started having large gatherings during the Summer.
Noem refusing to take responsibility and even NDs GOP governor finally doing something about it in their state really says a lot about the kind of person Noem is. Professionals say one out of every 25 people are sociopaths.
I just mask up, assume everybody has it, and stay away from people. I did have to have one of those T-Shirts.
Good point Tim. Found out yesterday that a family I know “thinks” they had it, the whole damn family. They didn’t bother to test, costs too much they said. So they just kept doing what they do…including working around other workers. Lovely. We don’t care anymore for the most part. Libertarian really means being selfish and loathing your fellows.
Jenny is correct. Do the opposite of what Noem says. Jenny is right to point to the Sturgis rally for Minnesota’s outbreak. The Sturgis rally seeded a lot of the current outbreak in the Midwest. It certainly started it out in Wisconsin and then K-12 and University openings and Republican monkeywreching did the rest.
Great headlines from USA today paper”The Dakotas are ‘as bad as it gets anywhere in the world’ for COVID-19 “. That will surely bring all those people to a place where “we’re open for business”.
Staying home causes a whole host of other issues.
So, we fight the Fascists who want to deny science about the risks of viral/bacterial load in masks, suicide, mental health, depression.
Those who know neither of moral philosophy nor of the realities of humanity.
Technocratic elite are not providing good leadership.
So, we fight.
Well, well, well, Governor deer-in-the-headlights Burgum, after the horse was out of the barn, the emergency room beds were full, finally closed the barn door by mandating masks and limiting gatherings. insert golf clap, one-handed golf clap
It’s AMAZING how these incompetent governors noem, burgum, reynolds, and ricketts are incapable and unwilling to protect their people. But if they had an deadly animal virus or bacteria pandemically running wild in their precious CAFOs they’d pull out all the government levers to stop such an animal pandemic.
Their inaction is exactly why we need a science-fact-based presidential administration to protect us from these unwilling governors. One cannot rely on “personal responsibility” to protect us when >70 million fools voted for personal irresponsibility.
A local high school senior said the lines outside the principals office on Friday reminded her of the “Hunger Games” as student after tested student was told – get out, you’re quarantined. My family has 2 funerals deferred until the spring or summer of 2021. One black commentator quipped that if, ‘wearing a mask is the most imposition you’ve had then you need to get a life’. My grandfather, along with the Spanish Flu-era survivors are rolling in their graves over the arrogant stupidity of the above 4 governors and the anti-maskers.
What’s John Dale mumbling about?
Dale is a science denier.
Wow, is the virus R value flexible?
I got attacked as a “dummy making up numbers” by ryan the med tech early on for saying this pandemic is “somewhere north of measles”. He’s apparently still alive and posted once recently but never apologized. Like Noem, Trump, heels are dug in. Spinning. Clawing. Like Dale calling US fascists.
Sociopaths. Interesting stat.
Here is some interesting analysis about two purported scientific experts that argue “the science” against wearing masks.
https://ctmirror.org/2020/09/29/judge-rules-expert-witnesses-unqualified-in-school-mask-lawsuit/
Perhaps Dale can point to some more credible scientific experts supporting his claims? Otherwise, this seems to be merely one more in a litany of unsupported or contradicted statements by Dale I have seen here on DFP.
Jerry, this “They didn’t bother to test, costs too much they said” is sad and points out something that is so ridiculous. Yes it’s dumb to not spend a few dozen dollars to possibly save yourself or others (who you might infect) thousands in hospitalization costs, but FFS, the very idea that even one person in this country should have to pay for a Covid-19 test themselves is so asinine, and points out the total lack of leadership from Trump, Noem and their ilk. Testing should always have been free for everyone and widespread. Hospitalization for Covid should be paid by the government. But ignoring it was so much easier in the short run, and what’s a Republican if not short-sighted?
Jenny, you nailed it:
“This is what Democrats mean when we say Republicans have no compassion or empathy.”
John Dale, stop smoking the banana peels. Oh, yeah I guess you’re right, sorry; the other day I was so damn depressed after wearing a face mask in Hy-Vee for a whopping 15 minutes and Walmart for 30 minutes, that I cried for 45 minutes when I got home and for one millisecond all my brain cells turned to silly putty and cottage cheese and I started thinking Republican thoughts. Then I got over it and went to FB to tell NO-emind what a clueless idiot she is, and all was well again. Go away, Mr. Dale; dakotafreepress is no territory for morons. We know you’re out there in droves; it does nothing worthwhile to see your silly crap in these comments.
Noem is enabling the nescience of people in our state like the guy in the video link below who are more concerned that unseen radiation from the installation of 5G is like putting children in a microwave than they are concerned about other things unseen such as a deadly virus. Noem is enabling predisposed morons who so much as refuse to wear a mask—forget lockdowns for the time being—to think they are “exercising their personal responsibility” when, in fact, they are being as flagrantly and stubbornly irresponsible as is she herself.
Unfortunately, preaching to the choir as we are doing won’t help. What is our next step that will?
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=mAZbDTSUdQQ
I think we have identified what Dr Biden can do for the US education system—attack erroneous thinking at its roots in early education—in every locality. And higher education for all. And sheitcan privatization, capitalization of essential human services. And trolls.
I read some nutjob woman grousing about having to wear a mask claiming it was her body, her decision. I’ve heard that phrase somewhere before and it was pooh-poohed by so called pro lifers.
Meanwhile, death goes on thanks to stoopid, anti-science morons of the wingnut persuasion…
United States
Coronavirus Cases:
11,124,894
Deaths:
250,445
United States
Coronavirus Cases:
11,139,203
Deaths:
250,644
In Rapid City, I thought there might be a Shriners convention going on (no offence to Shriners). Here was a caravan of grocery getters (like the funny cars with flags and decals) going down the street. Their little red caps remind me of the Fez caps the shiners wear. I had to control myself from laughing too loud. These guys really put on show that is very silly. Wonder if they have a secret handshake?
They tried to count the number attending the creep show in Washington, but every time they got to 270, the creeps demanded a recount. (Stolen from the Washington Post comments)
Well South Dakotan’s your Kristi has painted herself and your entire state into a corner. Like trump she can’t admit a mistake, so you will have to suffer. You have to ask how many deaths would it take for her to admit a mistake. I’d say she will never admit it, sooo your in for it. Call your grandparents and say goodbye to them. Good luck yourself, you’ll need it.
Ms. Jenny, please stop allowing the Minnesootians on motorcycles to come to South Dakota. It is not our fault they come here, it is a failure of Minnesota to lock them down. It is also Minnesota’s fault for letting them come home. Why did you not lock them out?
Mr. Jerry. grudznick is a Shriner. How do you know about our secret handshake?
I was a Shriner until I got a shiner doing the secret handshake. https://www.facebook.com/nmshriners/videos/687576712068281/
Grudzilla’s continual misogyny is not cute or funny.
Not sure what anyone gets out of this, but higher costs…
https://www.sltrib.com/news/nation-world/2020/11/14/merger-between-south/
For all those out there who do not believe COVID is real or deadly, maybe we should start printing reason of death: COVID, in their obituary. People have become so numb with daily COVID numbers and ICU beds that they block out that these victims are fathers, mothers, sisters and brothers who are dying.
Too cruel? Just look at page two of the Argus Leader – Vehicle accident kills driver, ejected from vehicle, no seatbelt in use. Count how many people are killed in this manner – and South Dakota has laws for seatbelt use. How can you rely on personal responsibility when we have people that will not be responsible for their own life – much less others.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2020/11/14/covid-19-north-south-dakota-masks-kristi-noem/6237635002/
Dakotas, especially the southernmost one, are as bad as covid gets anywhere in the world and it is basically a matter of failed leadership and one party rule. Noem isn’t a leader. She is a bloviating, dimwit, female drumpf wannabe willing people to die to burnish her bonafides as the next clewless wingnut power seeker.
btw, drumpf/noem body count has surpassed 251k and still climbing today.
80% of covid deaths in Texas jails were people not yet convicted of a crime.
https://www.vox.com/2020/11/12/21562278/jails-prisons-texas-covid-19-coronavirus-crime-prisoners-death
I strongly suggest that people in SD are not dying because of COVID but are dying because Noem has decided their lives aren’t worth saving.
Rather like the way that Joe Boever’s death is incidental considering the way the Ravnsborg matter is being handled.
It’s also a glaring contradiction why the SD Department of Health will fund a QuitLine effort to stop people from smoking and hence dying, while the state takes no measures to prevent dying during a pandemic.
https://www.sdquitline.com/
Gnoem more interested in next years hunting party than a Hoax Pandemic!!
Wonder if Furry and Seiddy have read about Mentor Mr.Koch wishing they had not funded the partisanship over last few years! Even he gets it!!
Science, what’s that!!
Well if we are attempting to reach herd stupidity; we have arrived much too early.
Well put, Francis Schaffer!!!!
DaveFN – if memory serves me – that quitline is funded by the higher taxes on tobacco products put into place in SD by a VOTER passed initiative – NOT by our elected GOP government. It seems to be the only way anything worthwhile gets done in SD – by pass the GOP.
If covid was fatal to phezgunts you can bet yer sweet bippy all biologist’s recommendations would be followed to the letter in one party rule wingnut land.
From Pamela Merritt’s Twitter feed:
Jeremy Horpedahl
Bread
@jmhorp
·
6h
South Korea
Population: 51 million
COVID deaths: 492
South Dakota
Population: 0.88 million
COVID deaths: 568
Very good, Francis. Quite possibly, the “South Dakota, Herd Stupidity” could replace “Meth, We Are on It” for next year’s slogan competition. Congratulations for your winning entry! ;-)
Tweet thread from South Dakota nurse Jodi Doering on her Covid patients. https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=3461108913925240&set=a.111576482211850
Grudz, your governor should not have held the Sturgis Rally this year and you know it. Because of holding it, your state flew to the top in Covid cases. Your governor has acted in a very selfish careless manner putting lives at risk and being negligent in the deaths of untold others.
Get off MN, at least we have a governor that’s trying to do something about it.
Kristi won’t even hold a zoom meeting to listen to the frontline workers in hospitals and to see firsthand the devastation this has had on them and the patients and their families.
Kristi is too busy joining QAnon and Parler and raising money for Trump that is really going to herself. What an embarassment of a governor. Even Rounds and Daugaard would have cared more.
The daily casualty list should be named Kristi’s Covid Death List. She is clearing out the nursing homes, overwhelming the health care system, giving the funeral home businesses a boost, and causing people to leave their lives without family or ceremony. She is in the wholesale manslaughter business as a consequence of her unbridled ambition. She needs to go.
Ms. Jenny, please try harder to comprehend that Ms. Noem did not hold the Rally and she let Minneaootians come to South Dakota like the free willed people they are. Your Governor should have locked them down and kept them over there. We do not want Minneaootians coming here so please stay there and wear your masks and don’t go out and about.
Grudz, your stupid self-entitled narcissistic governor could have called off the rally but she negligently chose not to. Minnesotans would not have come if she would have stopped the rally from happening.
Go find a conservative thread to hang out in like the Dakota War College, that is more to your liking.
It will be soon time for me to call up Twin Cities Pride and MPR to tell them the latest Hate Bills filed in Pierre for the annual anti-LGBTQ hate fest show with the wackadoodle Republicans you elect. This year I’m sure there will more than your usual number of anti-transgender potty bills because of the Democrats you voted out. Then there is that really anti-LGBTQ crazy chiropracter Deutch up yonder in Watertown. He will be trying hard to pass a mean anti-transgender hate bill, we will be watching him closely. There just can never be a dull sane moment when it come to your Legislature, grudz.
There are indeed few moments with our legislatures that are not insaner than most, Ms. Jenny, and we all need to focus our inner Shame Nuns on the bone-cracker caucuses who bring us the potty bills.
I too have wondered why we don’t print Covid as cause of death in newspaper obituaries. It should be up to the family of the deceased and their desire for privacy, of course. But looking at current obituaries, it appears that today’s families are more interested in describing the life and times of the deceased, at sometimes overwritten length I might say. Why are we so careful to not include that the deceased died of the most powerful thing to hit the human race in our lifetimes? It’s not that it’s unimportant in the grand scheme of things. Maybe our too-much celebrated reserved natures, at the expense of believable and important information.
Personally, I am no fan of our Guv. But let’s be real. As far as the Sturgis Rally is concerned, what she does or does not do in terms of whether it’s held or not, is of no consequence. She could have said “The Rally will not be held, I absolutely forbid it.” In fact that may only have had the effect of multiplying the numbers of bikers and biker-watchers and “I’ll do as I damn please, Covid be damned” types in the long run. There are those out there just waiting to be told what they can’t do, so they can load their wagons up and say “watch me!” With the rally and those determined to attend especially, I believe it would have made no difference whatever what guvvie says or doesn’t say.
Robin makes a valid point about the Rally. I can recall the days before either the City or the State was involved in sponsoring or even supporting the Rally. Indeed, in the late 70’s or early 80’s the city of Sturgis took steps to discourage the Rally by closing the City Park to Rally campers, which up until then had been filled every year with Rally participants. History teaches us how that worked out.
Indeed, as grudznick has been saying…the Rally just happens. You cannot stop the rally, which is, of course, unfortunate.
Yes, Robin Friday, your analysis of that element of human nature (don’t tell ME what I can’t do) is right on, and our governess who revels in her government provided, security fenced, Hiway Patrol protected residence is showing the exact qualities you describe. She lusted after the position she holds but while there in the chair she bleats about ‘limited’ government being best. But, she’s real quick to pass out Federal funds to businesses that will flow money into her campaign chest. She in her resistance toward face masks and following scientific data is bordering on malfeasance in office if not violating SD laws re: infectious disease. Bear in mind South Korea with many millions of people have about 1/2 the deaths SD has with less than a million.
Well then you might as well say that you can not stop covid, if we’re going to get it, we’re going to get it. Let everyone go to parties and let your schools and universities become nasty infected petrie dishes.
Noem could have mandated every rally goer to wear a mask and lowered the number of people attending the concerts, camping in a campground and going into bars.
No matter what South Dakotans say, Sturgis was undoubtedly a trigger to SD becoming number one in the nation for covid cases per capita.
Well, at least you’ve come around to the fact that Governor Noem could not stop the rally. I sure wish all those out-of-staters had listened to you, Ms. Jenny, and stayed home and wore masks. I really do.
I wish South Dakotans wouldn’t have been quite as stupid as their usual selves and voted in Billie Sutton. We all know if the Governor had wanted to she and her powers that be could have stopped the rally. All it would have taken is some good ol’ South Dakota style kickbacks.
SD is not voted top in crony corruption for nothing you know.
While the Rally probably couldn’t have been stopped altogether, Jenny makes a great point that the Governor, legislature and other local powers that be, certainly could have enacted statutes and adopted administrative rules mandating masks and other safety limits on the behavior of all persons residing in or traveling to South Dakota. This, in turn, would have directly impacted the permissible behavior of anyone who chose to participate in the annual Rally. Indeed, SD already has plenty of traffic regulations and other limiting rules and laws on the books. Adding some additional laws or rules designed to defer the spread of COVID 19 was an available option. Failure to take any such steps looks an awful lot like evidence of callous incompetence and unsuitability for public office.
Thank you Richard Schriever. I suppose it’s a moot point, as it appears as you indicate that the monies are collected by state government and then disbursed to QuitLine and other grantees, although I’m unable to find a full accounting where the monies end up (state salaries, overhead, Department of Health, etc?).
“The Tobacco Prevention and Control Program coordinates state efforts to prevent people from starting to use tobacco products, help current tobacco users quit, and reduce nonsmokers’ exposure to second-hand smoke.”
https://doh.sd.gov/prevention/tobacco/
The South Dakota Tobacco Program Disparities Grant grants funding to Quitline and other grantees who must:
“Acknowledge SD TCP [Tobacco Control Program] as the funding source for any SD TCP funded material. The use of the South Dakota QuitLine, Tobacco Rethink It, BeFreeSD, and Find Your Power logos are protected and cannot be utilized without the written permission of the SD TCP….The use of the South Dakota QuitLine, Tobacco Rethink It, BeFreeSD, and Find Your Power logos are protected and cannot be utilized without the written permission of the SD TCP.”
https://doh.sd.gov/prevention/assets/TobaccoDisparitiesGrantGuidance.pdf
In any case, my point stands that SD appears extremely concerned when it comes to the health and welfare of their citizens in some ways, while exceptionally negligent during this pandemic.
Contrast Republican Governor Asa Hutchinson of Arkansas who has issued a statewide mask mandate. He indicated today that there were difficulties in compliance, and that the latter was a challenge. Our governor has no challenge as she hasn’t even gotten to the mask-wearing level, let alone any challenge compliance might pose.
https://governor.arkansas.gov/images/uploads/executiveOrders/EO_20-43.pdf
Jenny, it very well may be true at this point that we can’t stop Covid. Fauci said something himself (paraphrased) that it may now be too late. That doesn’t change the fact that at one point in the beginning, the president and the governors may very well have done that as several other countries have done or are doing. It also doesn’t mean that we should not do everything we can still do to mitigate the damage, including masking and social distancing and eliminating events which draw crowds, on up to and including closing down, quarantining, and removing bad leaders. We didn’t do what we needed to do when we needed to do it. And now we, including those of us who did what was called for, will continue to pay the price.
During the Black Death, rats got on ships and sailed around spreading the disease. If only they would have stayed at home. Pretty easy to tell who the modern day maskless rats are. Please be respectful and keep your distance from those who wear one.
Women have been affected profoundly more than men by this pandemic as Corey reported earlier. And in Mobridge, I see more women wearing masks than men. I know so many mothers, nurses, teachers, waitresses, etc who are scared of people like you all who don’t care about such a simple and preventative measure as wearing a mask. I imagine that if this disease caused erectile dysfunction, ALL men would be wearing one.
Therefore, I’m starting to believe it’s more of a vanity issue instead of a political statement or anti science stance. What, wear a mask and cover up the fu manchu? Not manly enough is what it’s all about. All image and no substance. So please, get out of the way, far away, from those of us who have to run circles around you just to survive.
By the way, Jesus would wear a mask. All Christians know that.
Best comment of all, V!
I agree wholeheartedly, V!
Not at all surprising to see John Dale, who claims hard evidence about the evils of 5G, denies evidence about masks. Seeing his uptick in posting here and at the warcollege tells me someone is in one of his manic phases again.
Kristi Noem’s Campaign Committee Chairman, Steve Kirby, has been doing a fine job of saying nothing while watching his fellow residents of Sioux Falls, SD die daily by the masses.
Steve Kirby is a flippin idiot that got scammed by the Russians. It figures that such a damn fool would be the fall guy for GNOem’s crooked dealings with this latest campaign rip off.
“Seth Tupper Rapid City Journal reporting
“Although the individual victims of South Dakotan Paul Erickson are identified only by initials in a wire-fraud and money-laundering indictment against him this week, some of his spurned investors — including at least a couple of high-profile politicos — can be publicly identified because of their past attempts to claw money back from him.
Those spurned investors include L. Brent Bozell III, a media critic and commentator for Fox News who once invested $200,000 with Erickson, and Steve Kirby, a Republican former lieutenant governor of South Dakota whose private-equity firm won a judgment of $115,417 after Erickson failed to pay back a loan.” July 6, 2020 Rapid City Journal
The crooks and liars just fall all over themselves to the grift.
Collagenesis, cadaver skin pelt harvesting, describes Kirby to a T. I wonder how much they will pocket with the 680 some cadavers killed in South Dakota. Kind of like River Otter trapping I guess. I hope there is a limit. Wikipedia doesn’t forget.
“However, the contest between Kirby and Barnett soon became very negative and “dirty”. Barnett attacked Kirby for not investing in companies based in South Dakota and for his involvement with Collagenesis, a company which removed skin from donated human cadavers and processed them for use. It became the subject of a massive scandal when it was revealed that the company was using the skins for much more lucrative cosmetic surgery like lip and penis enhancements while burn victims “lie waiting in hospitals as nurses scour the country for skin to cover their wounds, even though skin is in plentiful supply for plastic surgeons”.[2] Kirby invested in the company after the scandal broke and Barnett attacked him for it in television advertisements.[3]”
The penis enlargement made everyone who remembers it, go damn man, who would admit to that need?.
If this was posted before or elsewhere, my humblest apologies….
https://www.cnn.com/2020/11/16/politics/kristi-noem-south-dakota-covid-19/index.html
Chris Cillizza doesn’t mince many words.
drumpf/noem body count keeps lifting itself higher…
United States
Coronavirus Cases:
11,520,769
Deaths:
252,560
5G is so yesterday now, welcome 5.5G. “(ATF) As 2020 is the first year of China’s new infrastructure plan, in which they want to turn the country into a multi-layered high-tech society, industry leaders have cemented Huawei’s role in China’s internal rebuild. And Huawei this week revealed plans to develop a 5.5G network to meet the expected increase in demand.”
John Dale will keep pushing that rock up the hill in his Sisyphus quest.
GNOem infects Helene Duh amel with the covid. Bummer girl, suck it up and stop being as damn dumb as the governor. I swear, I thought Helene was smarter than that… turns out, she is a covidiot. $650,000.00 will get you the trump treatment and you can be back on your feet in a couple of weeks
“Sen. Helene Duhamel tested positive for COVID-19 Wednesday after visiting Gov. Kristi Noem’s mansion Monday night with other lawmakers and attending the governor’s budget speech Tuesday in the state capitol in Pierre.
Duhamel, a Republican from Rapid City and spokesperson for the Pennington County Sheriff’s Office, told Senate majority leaders Wednesday that she had fallen ill and was tested Wednesday morning.” Rapid City Journal 12.9.20
GNOem= Super spreader.
EVERYTHING about Helene Duhamel says, “I am very stupid.”