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Questions About Abortion Policy Ruin Noem’s Golf Addiction Outing

Kristi Noem and Larry Rhoden stopped for coffee and groceries in Sioux Falls yesterday. But Team Noem didn’t tweet its mingling from Golf Addiction’s (Golf—We’re On It?) Food Truck Tuesday. Owners Adam Scott and John Miller say people who “bombarded” the Governor with “an aggressive demeanor” ruined the event for everybody and made a little girl cry:

Golf Addiction, FB post, 2022.08.30.
Golf Addiction, FB post, 2022.08.30.
The “aggressive” “group” appears to be two women and a camera person, including abortion-rights activist Tiffany Campbell, who raised their concerns about the implications of South Dakota’s near-total abortion ban before Rhoden and the squad formed a man-wall and followed Kristi away:

Campbell summarizes the conversation:

It went like this: I asked her if there should be abortion exceptions for cases like mine. Abort one twin to save the other. She said there was, I said there wasn’t. I asked her to support a bill providing that exception, then she ran [Tiffany Campbell, tweet, 2022.08.30].

That’s strange: in her calamitous July 3 CNN interview, Governor Noem acknowledged that South Dakota’s near-total abortion ban, triggered June 24 by the Alito Court’s Dobbs ruling, makes “abortions… illegal, except to save the life of the mother.” Aborting one fetus to save the life of another is definitely not included in that sole exception to South Dakota’s abortion ban. A woman in Campbell’s 2006 situation would have been stuck waiting for the non-viable fetus to expire and cause its twin to do the same.

But subjecting Noem and Rhoden to difficult policy questions evidently constitutes an “aggressive demeanor”. Please do not interrupt their photo opps with any sign of displeasure or disagreement.

Stay tuned: It appears that we may get to see the Golf Addiction encounter from Noem’s point of view; her photog had her back and appeared to keep his phone camera pointed toward the convo.

26 Comments

  1. Donald Pay 2022-08-31 08:30

    A normal person would have empathy for someone else’s pain. Noem can only think of herself. She’s a cold, calculating bitch who is practiced at turning herself into the victim. Well, it worked. That Gold Addiction missive is a perfect example of how she goes about manufacturing her victimhood. Obviously, she whined and cried to someone who was weak and easy to manipulate. She made up a story, embellished it and manipulated Gold Addiction to put out this one-sided screed full of Noem’s lies. One wonders at the weakness of the men who can’t see through Noem’s acting.

  2. buckobear 2022-08-31 09:01

    Adam and John could benefit from a course in basic English composition.
    Reading their screed was almost painful.

  3. mike from iowa 2022-08-31 09:25

    Apparently Noem is the little crying girl mentioned in the screed and the former soldier earned his privilege of free speech the moment he was born, like all other American cutuzens. Are there nothing but lying crybabies magats?

  4. jerry 2022-08-31 09:31

    Gwaad, NOem showed how desperate she is to bend her knee to trump. She claims that the documents, that trump has said are what he took, were planted by the FBI. Makes you wonder about how her security team feels about their job. What a sell out. Wonder how much she is getting in her side hustle as a performer?

  5. All Mammal 2022-08-31 09:43

    I am so, so sorry you have no medical control over your body, Mz. Campbell. Your situation is heartbreaking and I will go to the poll to have your back and support you and the rest of my sisters. Nothing worse than a gender trader! Except when your medical business isn’t your own private decision and being forced into a damned hard spot that could be much less painful if our politicians weren’t women-haters..
    Instead of just praying for you-I will fight with you.
    DU

  6. All Mammal 2022-08-31 09:45

    Traitor*

    Ps- Kristi Noem shaves her beard.

  7. O 2022-08-31 10:48

    Here is the one counterpoint I would offer: when do the opposition get their opportunity to free speech — even by proxy? The Governor has cut (most) from access to her — even media — and given the impression that she is on a pay-to-play schedule for her time. Guerrilla opportunities feel like the only opportunities to pose questions to or get time with this governor. These are her constituents.

  8. DaveFN 2022-08-31 11:04

    Noem gives hypocrisy a bad name.

  9. Cory Allen Heidelberger Post author | 2022-08-31 11:08

    Good point about the victimhood, Donald. Kristi Noem is the most powerful woman in South Dakota. She uses that power to insulate herself from accountability to the public, as O points out. When people subjected to her exercise of overreaching power, as All Mammal describes, try to speak to her about that overreach through the only apparent channel left open to them, the powerful Noem—or at least her business proxies at Golf Addiction—pretend Noem is the real victim.

    The powerful are not victims. By definition, they cannot be.

    When I’m confronted with people whom I find unpleasant, I don’t have Larry Rhoden leading my own personal goon squad to shield me from further contact with those people.

  10. Donald Pay 2022-08-31 11:51

    Now, let’s say I was Adam Scott and John Miller. Well, when Noem came crying to me, I’d say, “Well, you’re Governor. Someone came up to you and asked a question. Maybe they asked it not in the way you liked it, but it was something a leader should expect. If you can’t handle your job, maybe you should find another position.”

  11. O 2022-08-31 12:08

    There was also an opportunity to redirect the tone of the encounter to be productive. The Governor has the ability to take control to say something to the effect of: whether you mean to or not, you are making me feel . . . could I ask you to . . . Redirect /de-escalate to an environment that allows her to engage. I would even say she has the right to defer: your question is important, and I will give you my full attention, but I must first honor this commitment, but I will be back . . .for now, have you met Larry? Let your body man defuse things a bit for you.

    If the intention is to engage, then there are many ways to make that happen. The crux of what I’m going to be bold enough generalizing the frustration of many is that engagement is not the intention.

  12. P. Aitch 2022-08-31 12:26

    Adam Scott and John Miller present as self-aggrandizing, petty opportunists with an “I’m The Victim” attitude no doubt modeled after Don “The Con” Trump.

    O presents as an empathetic voter with proper protocols.

  13. M J Haugen 2022-08-31 12:49

    All I see in that clip is a yellowbelly coward. When ever Noem is confronted she turns & runs, she doesn’t have what it takes to handle being confronted. If she can’t handle a woman coming up to her & challenging her position on abortion then how does she think she is going to handle someone like Putin since has grand plans of become the President. Kristi Noem oewsn’t even remotely have what it takes to be a leader when she can’t even stay & talk to a woman. Noem needs to go & be voted out.

  14. Jake 2022-08-31 12:50

    “Thumbs down” to the owners of the small business and their posting of the incident to further enhance a failing governess’ political image! Double “thumbs down”. They ‘invited’ her to enhance (advertise) their business and it backfired when a concerned citizen posed a DIRECT question to the governess.

    Direct questions deserving an answer are the core of the democracy these 2 business owners claim they are so in favor of and fought for. But, whine they do, when their scheme for more $$$ by inviting the gov. backfires. Remember, Adam Scott and John Miller, that this same gov. you’re helping victimize quivers and quavers and refuses to meet her opponent in more than one little debate in front of the constituents.

    Hardly a “peoples” governess she seems to enjoy holding the “reins” of power only as long as the horse (state) she’s controlling is compliant, well-broke, and not known to be cantankerous or to buck.

  15. O 2022-08-31 13:31

    AND not for nothing, but I would even argue that Campbell’s tragic story could be co-opted onto the Noem “pro-life” train with just a touch of motherly empathy and deft statesmanship.

  16. Cory Allen Heidelberger Post author | 2022-08-31 13:43

    O for Governor, or at least body man.

    Even if the people approaching are aggressive and not working for genuine engagement, I can imagine a blunt response like, “Look, I hear you. You want the law to say X. I want the law to say Y. We can stand here yelling X-Y-X-Y at each other, but that’s going to do either of us any good. Is there anything else we need to talk about here? I have a lot of other voters just as important as you to talk to, and I don’t want to waste your time or mine or theirs.”

  17. Arlo Blundt 2022-08-31 14:16

    The Governor likes to keep every conversation on the “sunny side”. Gratuitous platitudes and ad hominum personal attacks uttered while smiling (and preferably on horseback) are her specialty. She’s never been much for policy questions. She has a staff of well versed, Hillsdale grads to do that for her.

  18. 96Tears 2022-08-31 17:43

    If Noem can’t handle questions from a South Dakota woman half her age while Noem is surrounded by her team, she will fold like a house of cards on the national stage when things start getting serious. Apparently she surrounds herself with morons.

  19. larry kurtz 2022-08-31 17:47

    Mrs. Noem’s interactions with women often seem confrontational while men tend to bend the knee to her willful and capricious choices. Anyone else wonder why that is or is she simply a jaded career politician who knows which side of her bread bed gets buttered.

  20. Bonnie B Fairbank 2022-08-31 17:55

    I’m SO glad Kristi Lynn went to play a little golf in Sioux Falls. With the towering intellect of Bill Nye and the work ethic of Ruth Bader Ginsberg, I was worried about her.
    (SNORT – Bullsh*t)
    Truthfully? While I was cutting up firewood this afternoon to keep my house, cats, myself, and my plumbing from freezing, I had this thought.
    As an old government employee myself, I declare Kristi Lynn SHOUD be forced to fill out a “time sheet” that details every fifteen minutes of her employment with the State of South Dakota.

  21. Bob Newland 2022-08-31 18:01

    A six-year-old girl missed meeting the most miserable human-similar entity in SoDak. How unlucky can a six-year-old get?

  22. scott 2022-08-31 18:57

    If Noem would make herself available to SD citizens, these types of events would not happen. However, Noem prefers to run around to other states. When she is in SD, she will only be available for photo ops or surrounded by people who are friendly to her.

    Let’s say I believe Golf Additions post and Noem left to prevent further issues. A REAL leader would have invited these 2 young women somewhere where they could have talked through the issue, away from Noem’ handlers and other intruders. But we know Noem is not a leader, but a Trump, CPAC, ALEC, and NRA puppet who cannot think for herself.

    Noem showed up as a Governor with her photographer by her side for a photo op for her social media accounts. This is what Noem constantly does, so it should not have been a surprise to Golf Addiction. So sorry, I have no sympathy for Golf Addition. Golf Addiction wanted publicity, and you got it.

  23. mike from iowa 2022-08-31 19:06

    Noem was on Fake Noize complaining about Biden, the FBI and the DOJ of not naving transparency. Is she yapping about trans kids having parents or something else.

  24. P. Aitch 2022-08-31 20:07

    Scott points out that Golf Addiction wanted and still wants publicity. Maybe Golf Addiction publicity will alert Top Golf that their solid patents on indoor golf are being violated by an unauthorized small city copycat.
    – Single finger user interface camera control
    Patent number: 11409411
    Abstract: Methods, systems, and apparatus, including medium-encoded computer program products, for controlling a virtual camera in a three dimensional environment displayed on a two dimensional touchscreen display of a handheld mobile computing device include: rendering a camera-control user interface (UI) element in a portrait mode UI; receiving first input indicating contact with the UI element, and then receiving second input indicating movement of the maintained contact point; rotating the camera view around a targeted location responsive to the second input indicating movement along a first axis of the UI element; zooming the camera view in and out from the targeted location responsive to the second input indicating movement up and down along a second axis of the UI element; and rendering changes to which portion of the three dimensional environment is shown from which perspective responsive to changing the camera view while the second input is received.
    – Mar 12, 2021 Patent number: 10799770. Abstract: Systems and apparatus for Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) golf ball testing include, in at least one aspect, an apparatus including: one or more RFID readers having associated read zones; a star wheel unit defining cavities to receive golf balls; golf ball sensors including at least one sensor for each .

    TopGolf Wins Patents – https://patents.justia.com/assignee/topgolf-international-inc

  25. Jake 2022-08-31 21:00

    there ya go, p. aitch! This will beget a great payback for a business (and its supporter food truck) for playing trumpland games.

  26. John 2022-09-01 08:29

    After reading the accounts and watching the video via Twitter . . . I’m reminded of the right’s favorite trite sayings like: “snowflake”, and “f___ your feelings” – all applied to Noem, the lieutenant governor, adam scott, and john miller.

    And one has to wonder whether someone “groomed” the 6 year old for a faux photo opportunity – manipulating her unrealistic expectations sky high.

Comments are closed.