Kristi Noem must have done the calculus before she decided to divulge that she needed to kill her 14-month old dog—in part to show potential readers/voters that she wasn’t afraid of making hard decisions.
OK.
Nevermind that she could have put the animal up for adoption, brought it to a shelter or obedience school, given it to someone who could handle it. Whatever the details actually are, however contrary and untrainable the dog was, this seems like something that was not necessarily worth sharing with the general public, and as a bit of a boast at that.
Stuff like this only adds fuel to the perceptions many have of far-right politicians. It’s like many of them have several screws loose, synapses that aren’t firing. They see things differently but in a more skewed, strange, even creepy way, like they grew up missing something, perhaps under the thumb of people who messed with their heads.
One might think that Ms. Noem would have anticipated the possibility of blowback here, but maybe not. Somehow, where she was coming from, her decisions and actions would be portrayed as virtuous.
Maybe the liberal media is making a mountain out of a mole hill, but in a country where pets– and dogs in particular– are often treated better than humans, Ms. Noem’s revelations come across as cold-hearted, and more than slightly tone deaf.
But let it never be said that she can’t handle a firearm. That ought to gain her some good will, sell some books.
3 Cents' 