My take: Noem's shooting dog story was an appeal to Trump – Albert Lea Tribune

My point of view by Jennifer Vogt-Erickson

South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem is right. There's no going back.”

In her new, very aptly titled book, Noem described the shooting of a 14-month-old hunting dog that she found difficult to train. As her daughter Kennedy (who would have been about seven at the time) got off the school bus that day, she looked around and asked, “Where's cricket?”
The internet recoiled in horror.

I grew up on a farm where many pets met premature deaths (not due to misbehavior). I know where Noem comes from—it's a place that values ​​the welfare of animals over affection—but her story hits differently today than it did a few decades ago.

Their goal, of course, was an audience of just one person. Unfortunately for them, that individual audience can read the room, and the room has collectively dug Noem's political grave, just as she dug Cricket's grave.

I've never seen anything like it.

I shouldn't have been surprised, considering how right-wing Twitter troll “Catturd” was treated last month when he accidentally ran over one of his dogs with his truck. He was beside himself with grief and received an outpouring of sympathy and support, including from people who vehemently disagreed with him on political issues. (Yes, there were internet trolls who mocked him for this, and they are truly broken people.)

Hardly anything else unites people as much as affection for dogs and cats. Earlier this month, people came together to organize, donate and shop at a garage sale that raised more than $6,500 for the local Humane Society.

Why did Noem think it was a smart move to tell this “politically incorrect” story about killing an adolescent dog?

First, it should be clear by now that “politically incorrect” is another way of saying insensitive, merciless, or empathetic. For example, it was also “politically incorrect” that some people made fun of Catturd when he accidentally crushed his dog Smiles. They deserve nothing but criticism for kicking someone in pain. Noem also deserves no credit for her actions. She could have spent some energy finding a new home for the large pup whose behavior matched his breed profile instead of putting him in a gravel pit.

Why signal that she can be merciless and insensitive? Because Noem knows that this is exactly what Donald Trump is aiming for when he is elected vice president.

Mike Pence made Trump very angry when he chose to serve the constitutional order rather than participate in Trump's coup strategy on January 6, 2021. Trump tweeted: “Mike Pence didn’t have the courage to do what should have been done.”

Pence had the courage to do what he was constitutionally obligated to do, which was to certify Joe Biden's victory at a joint session of Congress, even as a crowd of Trump supporters menacingly chanted “Hang Mike Pence” and set up a gallows on the Capitol grounds.

Kristi Noem's story is her way of telling Trump that she would do his dirty work without batting an eyelid. Unlike Pence, she would serve Trump instead of the Constitution.

Why would she express her ability to be merciless through a story about a dog? Because Trump has an extremely low opinion of dogs.
Trump was the first president in over a century not to have a dog in the White House. Comparing people to dogs is one of Trump's favorite ways to dehumanize them.

For example, in Trump's words, Mitt Romney “choked like a dog,” General Stanley McChrystal was fired “like a dog,” Ted Cruz “lied like a dog,” Brent Bozell “begged like a dog for money,” and Steve Bannon was “dumped like a dog,” Paul Ryan “died like a dog out there,” and Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi “died like a dog.”

Trump sometimes calls women dogs. Of Omarosa Manigault, he said: “Good job by [White House Chief of Staff John] Kelly for firing the dog quickly!”

Trump said he attacked Arianna Huffington's performance shortly after announcing his candidacy in 2015 “because she is a dog who makes unlawful comments on me.”

Understand? Trump uses comparisons to dogs as an insult because he hates dogs.

Such dehumanization is a fascist style of politics. Even if people don't want to acknowledge the fascist element, they may recognize that a poor opinion of man's best friend is a sign of damaged character.

Noem, like many people who appealed to Trump's impropriety, suddenly found herself in a gravel pit of public opinion.

There is no turning back.” It's too late for Noem to give Cricket a different outcome or simply keep Cricket's execution to himself, but perhaps this incident will help voters clearly see that Trump is a terrible person, a terrible choice for the presidency, and we can only move forward to a better, kinder future without him.

Jennifer Vogt-Erickson is a member of the Freeborn County DFL Party.