Governor Kristi Noem killed two things. Her dog Cricket and her political career. This is like some Denethor level political suicide.
The nation has been understandably distraught by the news that South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem killed her dog named Cricket because she found him untrainable. Why would she share that in her own autobiography? She thought it made her look like a decision maker and tough.
Did she think Old Yeller was a comedy?
Yikes.
But the outrage by millions is a bit hypocritical when one considers that millions of unborn human beings are killed through abortion and nobody raises an objection or an eyebrow.
That kind of makes me think our priorities are a tad twisted.
May 2, 2024 at 9:22 am
Well, yes, given how very distanced most Americans are from the realities of farm and ranch life, and how many of them anthropomorphise their pets and pretend that they are their babies (many of the childless by choice), it is understandable that they would be distraught by Noem’s story of how she had to put down a violent dog of hers that had acquired a taste for blood. Farmers and ranchers have had to put down animals that they own for thousands of years, and in that context Noem’s actions were entirely unremarkable. But most of us today have compartmentalised death and overly sentimentalised nature, which really is, after all, “red in tooth and claw.”
The political advisability of talking or writing about it in a political memoir is, of course, another matter. In South Dakota perhaps that probable wouldn’t raise many eyebrows, but most Americans are urbanised and farm and ranch life are entirely alien to them.
May 2, 2024 at 9:29 am
I havent read the book, so I cannot comment on the circumstances. But as one who grew up on a farm, putting down a dog was just a thing that had to be done…before the vets took over that role. Which I am OK with, personally. But, I think the fact most peopl elive in cities has made them think that apples come from grocery stores.
Also, do people understand that the bacon everyone raves about comes from a pig…not a tissue culture…although that day may be around the corner…
May 2, 2024 at 11:04 am
In today’s world, entertainers who “shout their abortion” probably improve their employment opportunities.