So, Noem Was Just Following Orders?
The finger-pointing continues
Via Axios, Scoop: Blame game erupts over Trump team’s false claim Alex Pretti sought “massacre”.
“Everything I’ve done, I’ve done at the direction of the president and Stephen,” Noem told a person who relayed her remarks to Axios.
It is, of course, hardly shocking that a woman who burnished her resume by telling tales of killing animals would start pointing fingers when the heat got turned up.
She was always a bad pick. As I noted before her confirmation.
Noem has a resume (state legislative, US House of Representatives, Governor of SD) that is enough to suggest a cabinet position (not unlike Doug Burgum to the Interior). However, not only do I think that the DHS Secretary needs a stronger resume than Noem’s, but I find that her own assertions in her book that her willingness to put down a puppy shows she is a person of action (there was also the goat story, via the link). I think anyone who thinks that cruelty is a sign of leadership is unqualified for more power, especially in a position like DHS. I think she will enable the kinds of cruelty towards immigrants being advocated by people like Homan, Miller, and Trump.
She has decidedly enabled, and indeed directly participated in, cruelty against immigrants and has been a powerful tool (now of her own admission!) of people like Homan, Miller, and Trump.
For example, what kind of person poses for the photo above? Note it is an official DHS photo.
And who dresses like that (look at the watch) to visit a prison? Noem clearly has some deep psychological issues about appearance and personal worth. It would be worthy of some amount of pity if she weren’t using public office to try and feed whatever dark needs she has–especially an office that has the power to inflict so much pain on other humans.
Miller, meanwhile, in undeterred in his propaganda mission. Here’s his most recent (as of this writing) Tweet:
Goodness knows that people blowing whistles, honking horns, and saying mean things about you certainly fall into the category of “vicious attacks.”
Looks like Noem and Miller both fear they may be thrown under the bus. One of course hopes for both, and injuries. But if it’s only one, please let it be Miller.
It’s minor, I know, but what really gripes my ass is that she took over Quarters 1 on Joint Base Anacostia Bolling to live rent free. Quarters 1 is the traditional Coast Guard Commandant’s quarters.
You know, I’ve known multiple people who put down dogs by taking them out in a field with a gun (perhaps a gravel pit). The dog was old and had cancer or something. They felt it was better than taking them to a vet to be put down. The vet was going to give them poison, and would cost a lot of money. And it wouldn’t make them feel better about it, either.
So, by itself, I never really had an issue with it. I think she used it politically to convince ND voters that she was tough, despite being a woman. Which is a thing a woman candidate needs to do, somehow, in the world we live in.
All this other stuff, though. Yikes.
@Jay L. Gischer:
But since her dog wasn’t terminally ill, or anything close to it, the Old Yeller treatment wasn’t called for. The dog was just coming out of puppyhood and probably could’ve used a little training. I don’t know what it says about her that she thought South Dakota voters or anyone else would see virtue in that story, except that she’s f**king weird.
@Jay L. Gischer: Cricket was a puppy that she just decided was untrainable; more importantly she included this in her book as an example of being decisive or whatever, without much thought to how (as they say) it would play in Peoria. She also shot the goat because it annoyed her. There are other ways to depict toughness.
It reminds me of Mitt Romney’s story about the dog he strapped to the roof of his car who was so terrified he sh!t himself (the dog, not Romney) and so the family pulled over and hosed down the vehicle.
Indifference to animals is a certain type of psychopathy.
The felon can’t tell cosplay toughness from the real thing and he revels in watching others bully his enemies, till the opinion turns against him, then he goes all Sgt Schultz and looks for someone to toss under the bus. Bovino was the first and when the polls don’t turn in his favor, Noem will be next.
It’s almost impressive how Miller can pack so much utter bullshit into one little tweet. I mean, literally nothing in it is even remotely true.
@gVOR10:
Re: Noem and Miller – Let Them Fight!
@Eusebio:
Well, despite being overshadowed by the Disney film, the book has the main character nonchalantly describe having to castrate a pig (no, really!), so he should be quite popular in the Republican Midwest, who I assume will forgive him for his woke execution of the dog.
https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2026/01/28/congress/tillis-spicy-trump-retort-00752736
Alas, for the Trump and Miller, Noem’s “dark needs” were a feature not a bug.
A) Trump’s base wants this dirty work done and done cruelly, B) Trump’s enablers want this dirty work done, but done quietly & out of the public eye. C) Trump’s swing voters didn’t want to believe this work would be dirty, even though there were many credible voices saying it would have to be.
Group B has to be made to defend this dirty work, publicly and incessantly, so Group C can shift from accepting they were conned (something that is hard for people to admit to themselves) to believing they were betrayed (something much easier for people to admit). Group A can DIAF.
@Jen: Wow. I didn’t know anybody that did that. Not and told anybody about it.
I mean, that’s Elvira Gulch territory.
“That little dog is a menace to society and ought to be destroyed!”