Anyone who has followed me for at least 5 minutes knows that I — at the very least — dislike almost every politician out there.
Why?
Because so much of politics (throughout history, but certainly today) is a performance.
It's idea cosplaying for those out there whose hunger for money, power, and fame was unquenched by industries that actually require you to be vaguely intelligent, competent, or talented.
Why actually be "progressive" when you can just sell books on why capitalism sucks? Why actually be "conservative" when you can throw on a stars-and-stripes bikini?
This is why the latest Kristi Noem saga matters.
Of course, it's bad enough that she decided to murder Cricket the dog and an unnamed goat in front of construction workers in a gravel pit with a shotgun. And it's even worse that she (or, more likely, her ghost writer) decided to boast about it for cash.
But here's the real problem: This is what she thinks the conservative world wants.
My wife's family are farmers in California, and wherever I go, I speak with farmers, ranchers, and agricultural workers across the country. I have yet to meet a single person who a) decided to "put down" animals because they're not good enough at hunting or they smelled bad, or b) boasted about doing so like it is in any way heroic or virtuous.
And if they do have to put down animals, they don't do it with multiple shots ... in a gravel pit ... in front of construction workers ... with a shotgun.
Anyone who understands anything about the world Noem is pretending to represent knows that death is a reality of country life. It's an unavoidable fact that, sometimes, animals need to be put down, often by the owners themselves. But these are sad moments — decisions labored over and avoided at all costs — and certainly not anecdotes used to make money or prove one's rural America membership.
The farmers and ranchers I know, for example, would have had Cricket re-homed or relegated to life as a farm dog, instead of treating the dog like Dick Cheney's hunting buddy.
Don't let frauds like Kristi Noem become the self-declared face of a culture that respects life far more than any of her ilk could possibly understand.
Follow Ian on Substack and X (@ighaworth).
