Kristi Noem shot her dog Cricket and expects us to understand? NO.

For nearly two weeks, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem has doubled, even tripled, the story she tells in her upcoming book about shooting and killing her 14-month-old Cricket after she said the puppy had the chickens of one Neighbors killed and turned up dangerous for their children.

Facing immediate backlash and harsh criticism from Republicans and Democrats, the governor chose not to ignore, retract or apologize for the decision. Instead, Noem repeatedly spoke publicly about it for days.

The fact that this story was ever mentioned and then hit a nerve shows what people think about candidates like Noem and the type of news they consume.

Surprise! Americans love dogs. This isn’t partisan or gender specific or anything like that. It turns out that Americans have specific feedback for a person who admittedly brutalizes a dog. Few people can cross this path without serious setbacks or consequences. Noem tested this and then stood defiantly.

The media won’t let Noem pass because she won’t stop talking about it

In her new book, “No Going Back: The Truth on What’s Wrong With Politics and How We Move America Forward,” Noem says she “hated” Cricket and put him down when she realized the dog was “untrainable” and “dangerous “ is a “less than worthless” hunting dog.

Apparently Noem’s team advised her to leave the dog murder out of her first book, but she didn’t leave it out of this one either. Now, when asked about this on several news programs, Noem responds again and again, exaggerating why she killed the dog and reminding the audience that she feels he is dangerous to her children and that she is a tough, caring mother is.

On Sunday’s talk show “Face the Nation,” Noem was asked about another dog passage in which she joked that President Joe Biden’s dog Commander should no longer be alive because the German Shepherd has bitten numerous people. “Commander, give my regards to Cricket,” Noem writes.

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She also amplified that story, saying the president should be “accountable.” After the interview, Noem complained that she had been interrupted as part of a liberal conspiracy. Unfortunately, conservative media also did not give the governor approval.

In another interview, Fox Business host Stuart Varney asked Noem if President Donald Trump had spoken to her about the dog. She is reportedly on his shortlist for vice president.

“Enough, Stuart. This interview is ridiculous what you are doing right now. So you have to stop,” Noem said. “Let’s talk about some real issues that matter to Americans.”

“The media” is getting a lot of pressure to stage a circus. But in this case, it’s just an example of recognizing a compelling story when you see it and capitalizing on it. Despite Noem’s best efforts, she continues to get caught in the crossfire, screaming, “Keep going!” as she shoots herself in the foot. Excuse the pun.

It takes two to tango, and everyone still dances. The news media isn’t letting up, in part because it doesn’t seem to be either. Her reaction is strange, telling and very Trumpian. No thanks.

Noem believes defending the murder of a dog is the bravery voters want

Here’s the thing: Noem’s story about killing dogs is so unnecessary in the first place that I wonder why she even wrote it down, let alone kept it to herself despite advice that suggested otherwise.

Like most politicians, she is calculated. She has a PR team. (Full disclosure: One of them commissioned me to write her 2021 book about South Dakota, but has teamed up with other authors.)

Noem seems to have believed that the MAGA Republicans wanted a vulnerable but tough, handsome but determined vice president at Trump’s side.

I don’t understand how Noem is supposed to garner respect, votes, or sympathy. It feels like she’s trying too hard to be a female version of a Bush-Trump mashup.

That’s enough. Who are you really? It’s conceivable to euthanize a puppy for humanitarian reasons, but doing so and being rude, harsh, and boastful about it crosses the line. Noem didn’t seem to know where that line was, and now he doesn’t seem to care.

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It’s easy to see why she thinks the best course of action is to double down on bad news. It’s meant to effectively destroy the story so it has nowhere to go.

But these days she seems to have poor judgment or can’t admit when she’s wrong. Kudos for holding your beliefs, but what if they’re completely gross, inhumane, or just plain weird? Nobody likes an arrogant idiot except, of course, the millions of MAGA voters.

Noem is right on one point: this is a story and a non-story at the same time. With her in the running for vice president and Trump’s chances of winning improving, this became relevant in a way that might not have been had she not been in that conversation.

But America doesn’t want a female Trump. Even the Republicans don’t seem to want a woman who acts boldly. Many women are gun owners. But it’s one thing to own a weapon for protection and another to treat it like an accessory to your bravery. Trust me, Trump does this for the entire ticket combined. But Americans generally don’t like it when women do cosplay as teenagers. I said what I said.

Do Americans prefer to skim superficial news rather than digest important news?

Is Noem’s dog murder story terrible? Yes. From a broader perspective, are there more important things to discuss than Noem’s strange personal life? Yes. Actually much more important – vitally important: Gaza. Israel. Ukraine. The American economy. Crime. The list goes on. Therefore, the viral nature of Noem’s story is her fault and ours.

The news media no longer tells people what to think. We try to listen to our audience and provide them with the nutrition they want. Sure, occasionally they want filet mignon, but often they just want McDonald’s, maybe even just french fries. (They’re so salty, so good and so bad.)

The world feels heavy and gloomy every now and then. When you focus on a stupid and tragic, bizarre and mind-boggling story about a Republican who rides horses, wants to run for vice president, and also kills her puppy because he’s untrainable, that’s the kind of superficial story you feel seems easier to digest than the vile anti-Semitism that fills US schools.

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