We've been seeing this ad a lot recently. It seems nice and very picturesque:
Until you remember what the saleswoman in the ad is all about:
In recent weeks, Noem has gone to court to challenge President Joe Biden’s administration for blocking an Independence Day celebration with fireworks at Mount Rushmore. She also joined a lawsuit from several states against the administration over climate change regulations — one of the only plaintiffs who doesn’t hail from a state heavily dependent on fossil fuels.
Noem says she’s simply acting in the state’s interests, but the tactic has given her a chance to cast herself as one of Biden’s most prominent foes. She went on Fox News to announce the lawsuit over Mount Rushmore fireworks, and later joined star host Sean Hannity for a podcast titled “Noem vs. Biden.”
Noem told Hannity the only way “to get fairness on this issue” was to sue the Biden administration, and cast it as a fight not just for South Dakota but also for “our nation and the ability to celebrate our independence the way that our founders encouraged us to.”
Instead of entrusting her attorney general with the lawsuits, Noem has filed them herself by tapping a state legal fund that has historically been used to defend against lawsuits, not launch them. [snip]
[Republican] State Rep. Steve Haugaard, a former House speaker who has sparred with the governor, gave the Mount Rushmore lawsuit little chance of prevailing in court. The National Park Service, which controls the monument, cited the possible fire danger and objections from local Native American tribes for denying the state’s application to hold fireworks this year.
“When the outcome is a foregone conclusion, then there is a better use for those funds,” he said, adding that state “resources shouldn’t be used for personal attention.” [snip]
... Courting a national profile is a priority for Noem, who became a frequent Fox News guest in the past year in part due to a hands-off approach to managing the coronavirus pandemic without requiring masks or imposing any significant restrictions. Noem has also traveled the country to appear at political fundraisers and at conservative events such as CPAC, and also campaigned as a surrogate for Trump and for the GOP Senate candidates who ultimately lost critical runoff elections in Georgia earlier this year. (our emphasis)
Well, that's enough for us.
Noem is yet another one- dimensional, anti- democratic Trump Republican publicity hound with visions of being on a national ticket in 2024. She'll have plenty of competition with fellow lightweights and empty suits like Hawley, Rubio, and Haley. Putting herself front and center in promoting tourism to her state is not an unusual thing for a governor to do. But this one is also assuming the mantle of resistance to Native American concerns, climate change, and sensible public health policy. Would you really want to support a state's tourism economy that's promoted by this kind of lying, cynical demagogue:
. @JoeBiden ‘s game plan: send us illegals, take your guns, raise your taxes, cancel fireworks, rig our elections and pack the courts to cover it all up. Republicans must unite and lead to beat back Biden’s radical agenda.
— Kristi Noem (@KristiNoem) April 16, 2021
We know Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan are very nice in the summer (except for this dump in Michigan).
