Last updated on 2022-08-07
I recall that back in 2008, when Barack Obama was running for President, conservatives rained fire on his wife Michelle for saying, “For the first time in my adult lifetime, I’m really proud of my country and not just because Barack has done well, but because I think people are hungry for change.” The criticism ringing out from Fox News shouters contended that not being proud of America at any point in one’s life makes one (and one’s spouse!) a bad American.
Cue part-time Governor and full-time campaigner Kristi Noem, out of state again for the weekend, making a Presidential campaign speech to likely fellow critics of the Obamas in Iowa:
Noem charged into Iowa on Friday singing a battle hymn and armed with barbed comments for her fellow GOP governors. At a conservative gathering in Des Moines, she told the crowd she “really hate[s] this America” under President Joe Biden’s leadership, then led them in singing “The Battle Hymn of the Republic” [Stephen Groves, “South Dakota’s Noem Taking Swings at Potential 2024 Rivals,” AP via Yahoo News, 2021.07.17].
Michelle Obama caught heck for implying that in the past she had not felt “proud” of America, even though at the time she made her comment, at the time she was working to help her husband become President, she had found that pride. Kristi Noem is seeking to become the Commander-in-Chief herself, and she herself is saying that, right here, right now, she “hates” America.
What analogies shall we try here?
Suppose you’re hiring someone to work in your grain elevator. Somehow you hear one applicant’s spouse say, “For the first time in my adult life, I really like this grain elevator company.” You shouldn’t give a good gosh darn about your applicants’ spouses’ attitudes, but if the spouse’s comment has any relevance at all, you think, “Hmmm… I could infer that in the past, she didn’t like our grain elevator, but past schmast; if she likes our company now, that means she and her spouse might have nice conversations about work over dinner that will help him do the job for us, so put another plus in his column.”
Then another applicant—the actual applicant, not her spouse—walks in (thirteen years after you heard that largely irrelevant comment from the spouse of the guy you ultimately hired, the guy who came in and did a bang-up job for eight years, the guy whose brother you just hired on a four-year contract) and writes on her résumé, “I really hate this grain elevator.” You don’t call her back for an interview.
Or suppose you’re judging the Miss America pageant. Miss Illinois has a boyfriend who writes on his blog that he used to think America was a sexist, racist country but that he’s proud to see more Americans standing up against prejudice and hatred and trying to rectify systemic discrimination. You probably don’t even know Miss Illinois’s boyfriend wrote that on his blog, because he’s not on the stage twirling flaming batons in high heels and because there’s no column on your scorecard for “Stuff Her Boyfriend Says.”
But then Miss South Dakota rides onto the stage on her horse and declares on live national television, “I hate this America!” She might as well be signing a formal withdrawal from the pageant. Under no circumstances can you put the crown on her angry head.
Kristi’s coach Corey Lewandowski has been making money on posters branding her as “America’s Governor.” But “America’s Governor” hates America. If the conservatives Kristi is courting apply the same principles to her words that they applied to Michelle Obama, Noem 2024 is dead.
Fareed is correct. When nations work together, they achieve more for themselves and us.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/07/15/the-pandemic-shows-us-the-need-for-reform/
I also heard in that speech she said she was bringing prayer back to South Dakota schools. I’m not a religious person and I’m not anti-religion….I think it should be everyone’s individual choice but if I remember right, she made everyone put ‘in God we trust’ (or something like that) back in schools. I smell another inflammatory executive order and new battle cry coming from our faux governor.
Well…the Governor is leading a conservative crowd in singing the Anti-Slavery Hymn ‘written by Harriet Beecher Stowe after the hanging of John Brown and his co-conspirators. I didn’t know she was an abolitionist. As always, she’s just a bit inconsistent and historically hazy in enunciating her political views.She is just blissfully unaware of what she’s doing.
Pardon me, the Hymn was written by Julia Ward Howe…how soon we forget.
Prayer was never taken out of schools. Magats constantly lie about how the ACLU forced schools to lose prayer and they repeat that same lie nearly every election cycle. A student can silently pray whenever they want as long as they do not disrupt class or other students and the school cannot sponsor any religious activities during regular school hours,
Someone like bcb can unwrinkle the nuances of school prayer,( not that I am trying to get him involved), but it is still there in all its phony glory.
NOEM’s Angle
Label America a victim.
Label her supporters victims.
Label the constitution and the flag victims.
Make Black people and Mexican people the oppressors.
Is KN pursuing a two prong strategy for 2024? It appears that she is positioning herself as a presidential candidate if Trump does not run. At the same time, it appears that she is simultaneously auditioning to be his vice presidential candidate if he runs. For Trump, KN is a perfect fit. Trump believes that he doesn’t need a vice presidential candidate who can help deliver a state with important electoral college votes. All he needs is himself. Instead, he wants a loyal vice presidential candidate who is in lockstep with his policies, and is appealing to FOX and OAN viewers. The nightmare scenario that Trump wins becomes even more concerning if KN is his VP candidate. After all, if Trump dies in office, KN assumes the presidency, thereby continuing the assault on democratic values that Trump will inevitably pursue if reelected.
Any word from KN about the re-interment of the bodies of the native children? This should be worthy of a mention from the chief executive of South Dakota. Maybe not KN though, or was that her comment ‘I hate this America”
Actually, Francis, she did mention that topic in a July 16 FB post.
I’m surprised they didn’t sing Onward Christian Soldiers.
“America’s Governor” hates America???