Oh, yes political times have changed and each day they seemingly change more, and not always for the best.
Yet, in this latest installment of “Hey, Let’s Shatter Another Norm!” we do see a glimmer of hope.
Somehow South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem felt it would somehow strengthen her personal and political branding if in a new memoir she recounted how she shot an “untrainable” puppy because a)the 14 month old happy puppy wouldn’t take to the training and b)she hated the dog. W-r-o-n-g.
Noem has reportedly been high on the former President Donald Trump’s prospective Vice President list. But now some see her as having shot herself in the foot after and seemingly bragging about the guts it took to shoot a puppy. If Trump chooses here the Democrats have countless possibilities for videos, commercials and political memes.
What Noem didn’t count on was the bipartisan uproar:
Both Democrats and Republicans are piling on after South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem revealed in her upcoming memoir that she shot and killed her 14-month-old puppy named Cricket because of the dog’s alleged misbehavior.
The mother of three and former congress member has seen her political caché skyrocket in recent years and was reportedly a top contender to become Donald Trump’s 2024 running mate. But as the gruesome tale, first reported by The Guardian’s Martin Pengelly, picked up steam on Friday, so did questions about Noem’s vice presidential chances.
In her new memoir, Noem writes that she unsuccessfully tried to channel Cricket’s puppy energy into hunting pheasant. Instead, Cricket went “out of her mind with excitement, chasing all those birds and having the time of her life.” On the way home from hunting, Noem writes, the dog escaped her truck and attacked a local family’s chickens, behaving “like an untrainable assassin.”
Noem says she led the wirehaired pointer to a gravel pit and ended its life.
“We love animals, but tough decisions like this happen all the time on a farm,” Noem tweeted after the story had already gone viral.
According to The Guardian, Noem relayed the grisly story to illustrate her willingness to do “difficult, messy and ugly” things when necessary. Instead, the story has prompted pushback from Republicans and Democrats alike.
“Post a picture with your dog that doesn’t involve shooting them and throwing them in a gravel pit,” Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz wrote on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. Alongside it was a picture of Walz feeding his dog a treat.
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy also responded with pictures of their beloved pets.
“Ready for the weekend,” quipped the Biden-Harris campaign account, alongside pictures of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris happily playing with their dogs.
“ACT NOW!” Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.) wrote on X alongside an infomercial-style video in memoriam for Cricket. ”For just $.10 a day you can help us save a puppy from Kristi Noem.”
MAGA media personality and Trump ally Laura Loomer offered even harsher criticism, saying the ugly chapter was disqualifying for Noem’s vice presidential chances.
“She can’t be VP now,” Loomer tweeted. “You can’t shoot your dog and then be VP.”
Meanwhile, the Lincoln Project, an anti-Trump PAC founded by former Republican Party members, posted a video of its own, complete with a hashtag, #Justice4Cricket.
“Dog owners know our furry friends can be a lot to keep up with. But when those tough moments come, you have options,” the video said. “Shooting your dog in the face should not be one of them. And if you do happen to shoot your dog in the face, please, don’t write about it in your autobiography.”
Anyone who has had a dog knows that puppies need to be trained and the time it takes depends on the dog or the quality of the human training it. And every knows that there are people who would love to adopt a puppy, so most people don’t shoot their puppies.
Why would someone put shooting a puppy in a biography? Perhaps it was indeed to show that she could make tough decisions. Or could it have been to curry favor with dog-hating Trump?
But the larger issue is that hardness, a lack of compassion, a lack of empathy now seem to appeal to some people. She was just preaching to the choir. But on this issue she actually misjudged her choir and the choir she’d need to bring to a Trump ticket to attain an even larger choir.
To wit:
Stock Photo: Dreamstime
Top Photo: Dreamstime
