Alerts for “Noem Derangement” should be set to a maximum this morning, based on Cory Heidelberger’s latest failed attempt at creative writing:
He claimed to have been with “them” at Boys State that day when “they” saw the picture—and if Ferguson’s pronouns are consistent, “they” refers to the Governor’s staff. Ferguson claimed that “they can and will press charges if it [the picture]’s not removed.”
and..
But the story here isn’t that the American Legion Auxiliary expelled a student who failed to follow orders. The story here is that the Governor’s Office was actively searching social media, identifying political content that the Governor’s Office found objectionable, discussing a punitive response to that political content in earshot of a teenage boy not involved in the original speech act, and then expressing its objection to that content to a private organization with the power to punish the student who posted that political content.
Cory makes a number of wild claims, assumptions, and leaps of logic in his attack on the Governor… but there’s no actual proof. There’s barely even third or fourth-hand hearsay, just the manufacturing of identities, in some cases based on who he hopes a pronoun refers to, as he attempts to keep up the attack on Kristi Noem.
With regard to the folderol over the photo that originated from Girls State, there seems to be an interest by the Governor’s detractors – in this case Cory – in building a mountain from less than a molehill.
In speaking to someone who was actually there when all of this took place, two points were made to me.
1. It didn’t happen in the way as some are attempting to portray in the slightest.
2. The point of girls state is to show how young people can be involved in their government at all levels. The program’s purpose is to show girls how to act with dignity and respect for themselves and others.
Until and unless the program confirms someone was actually asked to leave, I would take all of this with a massive dose of salt.
I would also point out that, from my own experience with Team Kristi, I can safely say that not once since she has ran for & served in Congress or done the same for Governor have I ever heard from her or her office or campaign staffers about any contrary story or comment from anyone. Period.
I’ve never known her or her people to sweat the small stuff. Ever. They just don’t.
So for someone who suffers Noem derangement on an almost daily basis to assert a claim that she or her staff wanted a girls state attendee booted for a staged photo.. again, I would take it with a massive dose of salt.
And when it comes to Heidelberger, I would keep the “Noem Derangement” alerts on high.
Noem must be a true snowflake. Making a big stink about some 16 year olds social media post.
The point is that there’s no evidence she did.
Well, Cory is the state’s leading expert on inappropriate conduct at political events . . .
Well Pat apparently has the rest of the story and you’d think he would debunk it if Noem didn’t raise a stink about it. Kristi probably didn’t want it on Twitter where her lord and savior could see it.
Anyone who makes fun of, embarrasses, or harasses our greatest governor should face repercussions. Shame on this young woman for her behavior. In South Dakota you respect Governor Noem; hands down. #GreatestGovernorEver!
It’s a private organization. They can expel anybody they want, for any reason they want.
There might have been photos of other people. We don’t know. She sounds like she’s dumb enough to post photos of other girls in their underwear, with her mug in the foreground, so I wouldn’t put it past her. We probably have heard only a portion of the story.
Tara, posting other people’s material from elsewhere, without context and/or your own comments, etc, has never been permitted.
ok.
This teenager has more maturity and understanding of free speech then Kristi, you and the adults who throw a temper tantrum because she understands humor and free speech. Grow up.
No she sounds like an immature child. She is correct it is within her Constitutional rights to post the photo. That doesn’t make her immune to the consequences.
There is nothing to suggest that she was expelled at the request of the governor.
It is within the organization’s rights to give her the boot. Attending the event is a privilege, not a right, and they can expel her for any reason they want. She was there at their invitation, sponsored by somebody who put up $150 so she could go. They didn’t like what she did.
Lighten up, Francis.
If the picture was of Biden or Bernie, it wouldn’t have been a problem. That’s why I hate the 2 party system. It’s all politics and no performance.
There appears to be two lessons learned here, one by the adults and one by the young lady in question. The young lady referred to her right to post the picture in question as her First Amendment right. She is correct. The sponsors of the event also exercised their First Amendment right of Freedom of Association (although not mentioned specifically, it has been ruled to be part of the Freedom of Assembly). They are also correct. The picture was one of bad taste that appeared to make Governor Noem appear to support something she clearly does not. Good taste would have the young lady follow the governor’s desire to not have the picture posted. The young lady paid the price for her snark.
My college political philosophy professor once cited the central virtue of politics as prudence, defined as “the practical exercise of wisdom.” This exercise involves knowing not only what to do and what not to do, but knowing when to do something and when not to do something.
A high school girl can be forgiven for a lack of prudence in posting a “snarky” political photo or two while being honored by a relatively conservative and hide-bound state chapter of a national patriotic organization. Whether than state chapter or the governor’s office had the opportunity to demonstrate prudence is dependent on the circumstances surrounding the student’s departure from Girls State.
If Cory’s assertions about the involvement of the governor’s office are not accurate, there is an opportunity for the governor to make a statement endorsing tolerance of political dissent and the need to provide young minds with the opportunity to experiment and grow int maturity without fear of retaliation.
Just to be clear, I don’t like the photos. However, I was never inspired to attack the photographer, much less endorse sanctions against her. I have bigger fish to fry. Besides, two years ago I wrote two articles for The Nonprofit Quarterly discussing why impeaching and convicting any President is an incredibly hard lift and using the Twenty-Fifth Amendment to remove a sitting President is even harder that impeachment and conviction. To date, two U.S. Presidents have been impeached; neither was convicted.
I always like reading your thoughts on these issues because they are well thought out and have good points. Some of my best life lessons involve bad consequences for my actions. You are right that Governor Noem could make a statement about tolerance. On the other hand, if the high school student in question has a bad consequence, it may help her decide to use a little prudence in the future.
Wholly agree with duggersd. Both parties had/have the right to do exactly what they did. The high schooler has the right to post photos that give a political slant, but the Legion Auxiliary also has the right to kick her out. There is no “right” to be invited to these events or attend – it’s a privilege and an honor, which she abused. She was called on the carpet for showing disrespect and bringing down the organization which she had agreed to represent. End of story.
No. The Legion can kick her out, sure. The issue is that apparently Noem or one of her staff asked/directed the legion to kick her out, which is an abuse of power.
I’m guessing one of the kids saw it on VSCO (what’s that?) and snitched to someone in Noems circle. If Noem had just let it go then all of us would’ve never heard about it. But she didn’t and now we have. I think Kristi is unfamiliar with the Streisand Effect.
Anonymous at 2:13, where did you get the information that Noem took any action at all? Somebody showed it to her, she didn’t like it, and for all anybody knows, that was the end of it as far as Noem was concerned.
Somebody told the kid the governor didn’t like it, so she assumed that Noem was behind her expulsion.
In any case, it would be the event’s organizers who decide if somebody should be sent home.
And they decided.
From Cory’s post:
“Hey I just wanted to let you know that the governors staff saw the picture you put on vsco and they were not happy about it. They are discussing options on what to do right now but they would appreciate it if you took it down because they don’t want to have to do anything about it”
So maybe not Noem herself but her staff.
So the Governor’s staff were discussing what they should do about it.
I can envision an assortment of options: (1) do nothing, (2) show it to the Governor, and ask what should be done about it, (3) don’t show it to the governor and directly ask the girl to remove it, (4) tell the event staff about it and let them handle it.
I would hope the governor’s staff could manage to arrive at a decision without asking her what they should do.
I would not want to have a Governor whose staff is afraid to bring problems to her attention, the way Hitler’s staff was afraid to wake him up and tell him the Allies had landed in Normandy instead of Calais. That would be bad.
But if I were the governor, I wouldn’t want staff who couldn’t handle a problem by themselves, either.
They should’ve chosen option #1.
Anonymous at 7:24:
Maybe they did choose option 1. Maybe the organization’s leadership found out about the photo independently. Maybe somebody else saw it. Maybe one of the other girls ratted on her.
I wonder if she was also posting pictures of others with that mug, and one of them complained.
All that is beside the point: the organization kicked her out. It was their decision to make, and they made it.
The question is whether the org made the decision independently or were asked/told by the governor’s office. If they weren’t then it should be easy for Noems office to reply to inquiries saying “we weren’t aware of this” and put it to bed.
The Girl’s Stater should have remembered she was given the opportunity and honor to attend Girls State, that some organization was paying to give her that opportunity, and she should have shown respect for her state government officials. She didn’t have to agree politically with any official, but she should have had the maturity to act responsibly. She did not, she purposely posted these pictures, and I am sure she had a good laugh when doing do. So she now reaped the consequences and hopefully will make better choices in the future.
Why do the littlest things offend people?
Um, you tell us….