As a rather recent (2017) transplant to South Dakota from the People's Socialist Republic of Minnesota, Bluestem Prairie is still astonished by the "all headlines are good headlines" philosophy in which state leadership revels.
It didn't stop with their enjoyment of the reaction to "Meth: We're On It." (Read a reminder of that at our 2019 post, The first step to recovery is admitting there's a problem; or, Meth, We're On It in South Dakota).
In the past week, we felt the need to don our positive pants when we saw a couple headlines in that good press.
We can't do any better than Forum News Services South Dakota News Director Jeremy Fugleberg:
It's generally never, ever good when your state is featured in a piece by The Onion. This time is no exception. https://t.co/s12oUqIVJ7
— Jeremy Fugleberg (@jayfug) November 28, 2020
On Saturday, the Daily Beast story, S. Dakota COVID-19 Deaths Bust Record—and Noem Tweets About Shopping; Still No Mask Mandate popped up in our feed. Executive Editor Tracy Vance reports:
South Dakota set a new record for COVID-19 deaths on Saturday—and the state’s anti-lockdown governor tweeted a plea for people to go shopping. The Health Department reported 54 deaths, one more than the previous record set two weeks ago. And the state also tallied 819 new infections out of 1,892 people tested—a terrifying 43 percent positivity rate. Gov. Kristi Noem has repeatedly rejected calls for a statewide mask mandate and refused to warn people against gathering for the holidays. On Saturday, she tweeted a reminder of #SmallBusinessSaturday: “These businesses are the lifeblood of so many South Dakota communities. Please support them today and every day!”
Who can argue with that.
Photo: Governor Kristi Noem. A horse. She's on it.
If you appreciate Bluestem Prairie, you can mail contributions (payable to Sally Jo Sorensen, 600 Maple Street, Summit SD 57266) or use the paypal button in the upper right hand corner of this post. Those wishing to make a small ongoing monthly contribution should click on the paypal subscription button.
Or you can contribute via this link to paypal; use email [email protected] as recipient.
Comments