I Hate Kristi Noem, and Other Thoughts from the Road

I’m driving across this big country, stuck in the mountains of Colorado, after a snowstorm swept through Vail. It’s a lovely part of the country, and Colorado is the prettiest state.

I’m am, as usual, with my two traveling companions, by beloved dogs Jack and Luna. They have completely different personalities. Jack loves the snow. Luna hates it. Jack is easygoing and friendly.

Luna is introverted and grumpy. She hates people. But she’s cute. And small.

I found my dog Jack near the Four Corners on my way to a film festival in 2013. He was a small puppy, a herding dog, living under a trailer on the road. He approached me as I was pumping gas and looking for food.

Jack is quite unusual-looking. He’s spotted like an Aussie, has pointy ears like a Healer, and has very rare green eyes like me. I sent in his DNA, which was probably a scam, and it came back equal parts Border Collie, Beagle, Great Dane, and Dalmatian.

I imagined him as a superhero dog—the Beagle in him means he follows scent and can tell if someone he knows has walked by. He could find my daughter if she ever went missing. He is a herding dog, which must be the Collie. He has the speed of a Dalmatian. He is also a good guard dog, which must be the Great Dane in him.

But then again, some idiot probably looked at his picture and said, uh, maybe a little of this, a little of that. But fine. He is who he is, and I love him.

Like most dogs, Jack chases, or used to chase, any small animal in his younger days. He would probably kill them if he ever got the chance. He might kill chickens too. I make sure to watch him when he is around any animals just in case, which is what all good dog owners should do.

Kristi Noem appears to be stupid to understand that. I know it’s an old story by now, and you’ve probably heard enough, but I have to get it off my chest. It’s her fault the dog was out of control. It’s her fault for putting the dog in a hunting situation he wasn’t ready for, and it’s her fault for not leashing a dog known to be aggressive when visiting the chicken ranch.

I know things are different in the country and on farms, but this whole story seems wrong. Nothing about it really fits together in my mind except that no matter how it went down, no matter how many interviews she gives, it isn’t going to erase the image we all have in our minds of her taking aim and shooting a very young dog. She said, “I hated that dog.” Right back at ya, honey.

Not only did she shoot the dog, but she described it in such detail that we had no choice but to see her as the monster. She wanted to show that she was tough and could handle any situation, but that didn’t show she was tough. It showed she was weak, overly emotional, and unable to control a dog she knew was a problem. Instead of taking responsibility for that and giving the dog to someone else, she had to shoot the dog.

The whole thing is so bizarre it’s hard to imagine it even happened. And who knows if she’s even telling the whole truth about it anyway? Was she getting ahead of the story because the Democrats were going to use it to damage her chances as Vice President or was she really dumb enough to put that in a book?

In Noem’s own words per the Megyn Kelly Show:

She doesn’t realize, and maybe Republicans overall don’t realize, that the destruction machine on the Left is well-funded, efficient, and never-ending. They will leave no stone unturned. They will scour every document, every book, every speech, every date, every previous job. It isn’t just the Democrats. It’s the Trump-hating Republicans like Rick Wilson and the Lincoln Project. This was, for them, a gift.

The media on the Right are collectively more honest than the media on the Left. Whoda thunk it? But it’s true. I doubt the Left media would have thrown one of their own under the bus as the Right has done to Noem. Is it better to be honest or to hold power? I don’t know.

Today in Woke

The Boy Scouts are no longer the Boys Scouts. Instead, they are Scouting America to be more inclusive. The thing is, they already accepted girls into the ranks.

According to the AP:

The move to accept girls throughout the Boy Scout ranks strained a bond with the Girl Scouts of the USA, which sued, saying it created marketplace confusion and damaged its recruitment efforts. They reached a settlement agreement after a judge rejected those claims, saying both groups are free to use words like “scouts” and “scouting.”

Past pressure to allow girls into the Boy Scouts had come from those including the National Organization for Women, which applauded Tuesday’s announcement.

I don’t know if I care that much about this issue. They are having a hard time staying afloat, I guess, and are hoping a rebrand will boost their numbers. Maybe it will. What I do know is this: boys need a way to be boys and to be given the space to be who they are without shame. If that isn’t going to be the Boy Scouts, then maybe it’s time to invent something else.

Trump catches a lucky break

As you can imagine, the fascists are very upset by this. They want it NOW DADDY. I, for one, am relieved. This whole debacle has been an ugly phase in American history and one I wish I’d never seen go down. The Democrats have lost their minds and lost their way. The full Politico story is here.

A Western is Coming…

I will not lie that I’m excited about this movie coming next month. I hope it’s good. How many of you will go see it in the movie theater?

Stormy Weather

No, not that Stormy. Real storms. A snowstorm closed Vail Pass. I caught a lucky break and booked a room just before the road closed. I didn’t even know it had. If I’d left earlier, I might have been stranded. It looks like nasty tornados are whipping across the middle of the country. I hope you are all doing safe out there, wherever you are.

Here are some pics from the road.

Until next time…

Somewhere in the mountains of Colorado, 8:17pm