Dakota War College comes simpering back to life with its usual dodging chatter about its ineffective Congresswoman Kristi Noem. Rather than addressing the substance of the argument that Rep. Noem has been AWOL from House Agriculture Committee hearings, the GOP mouthpiece who can't put his/her name to his/her text recycles the same stale insults against South Dakota Democrats.
The GOP blog completely fails to address the substance of the charge South Dakota Democrats are leveling against the camera-craving Congresswoman:
Congresswoman Noem talks all day for the cameras, but when it comes to speaking up on behalf of South Dakota, she's silent.... It's time we had a Congressperson more interested in working for us than getting her next interview on FOX news [Ben Nesselhuf, South Dakota Democratic Party chair, "Didn't Come to Talk," 2012.06.25].
The Dems translate the point on Rep. Noem's selfish priorities into this fun video:
Go ahead, Republicans: make the case that Rep. Noem makes South Dakota's voice heard better spending all that time talking on national cameras than from her important seat on House Ag.
Extra Evasion: Dakota War College says Noem's non-participation on House Ag is a "molehill," not a mountain. But the Republican blog is still totally ignoring the big mound of controversy that has piled up for its owner's boss, Secretary Jason Gant, over the past month. Violation of notary laws, threat of impeachment... we're waiting, DWC.
It's difficult to attend college online and attend House meetings. Give her a break!
As long as you're waiting, here's something else to wait for:
http://www.mitchellrepublic.com/event/article/id/66995/
Hmmm.
Mark, 666 Main? How beastly! LOL.
This is an effective ad and plays into the stereo type Noem has created for herself with the beauty queen image.
Reminds me of McCain's Paris Hilton celebrity ad.
I have a feeling, Thad, that her professors might move some dates around for her if she would just send them an email, "Can't take exam on April 25. Ag Committee meeting in DC. Can I reschedule?"
If she can't even make it to her meetings, I bet she can't make it to the deadlines for her assignments, either. I bet she gets a 2.5 GPA (assuming her professors don't move points around for her, of course).
When I saw that Mountain-Molehill headline, I thought maybe we were going to get a post on the SOS flap. I wouldn't expect a post on that anytime soon. If Gant and PP are free of any misconduct, bias etc., the WC (that is War College not Water Closet - although sometimes I'm not so sure) would have squared both barrels on Sen. Stan. Such a thread, and the comments that would likely ensue, appear a little too hot for them to handle right now. Bill Clay (get it, like law of the earth) must have been vacationing in a remote area with no phone or internet. Troy's has been unusually quiet on this also. And no Troy, I'm not buying your line that this is just personal, and part of the feud between Adelstein and PP. If Stan had complained to the AG that he doesn't like PP because he is overweight, that would be personal. This involves the public trust and whether Gant-PP have breached their duty to act impartially and have directly or indirectly acted to influence election results. I remember soon after PP accepted the job he got a little snotty with Woster on something, and KW had to remind him he wasn't just a blogger anymore, but a member of the SOS office. It was one of the better slap-downs I recall, and well deserved. I know Pat loves politics but as a member of the SOS office this isn't about political fun and games for him. At any rate, I don't think we should hold our breath (or maybe we should. ha.) on SOS items coming out of the WC.
Great job, Mitchell reporter! Nice to see someone in the media asking actual questions...
What Noem didn't go to Washington to do is work. It's absolutely too much to ask for a Congress member to show a little work ethic in exchange for the $175,000 salary. Her staff's fingerprints may or may not be on the farm bill, but she's just AWOL. Not attending meetings, partying with lobbyists, fundraising in California, showhorsing on the national news. I have to think that Thad Wasson would have made a far more diligent public servant. Heck ANYBODY would have worked harder than Noem.
GOP spinmeisters dutifully flack for their snow queen, but you know the GOP is seething about having to defend her. Had this come out in February, Noem would have had a primary and lost. Her aloofness and sense of entitlement will be her undoing.
I have friends who went to the SD GOP convention and they all said Noem made a 10 minute appearance and then fled. When they asked the party leaders where she was going they were told she had a fundraiser in Iowa. She never returned to hang out with the party faithful. She is a sad excuse for a congresswoman.
LOL......So you think you've found the key to beating Kristi Noem. The speeding tickets didn't work last time and this one is even weaker. Dream on, libs.
Mike: Interesting. Maybe an antacid run. Noem spent more time at the ND GOP convention.
Bill: Just when you thought you couldn't make this stuff up...
You might notice that Ed doesn't defend her, just says we can't beat her. I think that says something.
Noem is lucky she doesn't have a rematch with Herseth because it wouldn't even be close. SHS should have run this year.
Good point about Noem spending more time at the ND Convention.
This is a more potent issue than the speeding tickets, because it deals directly with the job she's doing (or not doing) for SD and for her $175,000 paycheck. You better believe that Ed RazzleDazzle and the GOP would be foaming at the mouth if a Democratic Representative was behaving like Rep. Noem.
The speeding ticket issue wasn't enough to beat Noem, but these indisputable facts about her her sloth in office will add to the negative perception a lot of people still have about the speeding ticket issue. I have to believe that between now and November there will be new revelations coming out that Noem will be similarly unable to dispute. Then there's that audiotaped quote, "South Dakotans deserve to hear the truth." They won't hear it from Noem, but I'm sure they will hear it from Varilek.
I'm with Rorschach. This is bad for her and she doesn't respond to this well.
All she says is she didn't go to DC to talk but that's all she does. She's a flat out liar and ladder climber.
Ed - you and I are both limited government, personal responsibility conservatives. Rep. Noem job is to be at these meetings, where she will be most effective for South Dakota. Online classes, fundraising trips and television appeareances should be done on her own time. If we gloss over this than our party has a serious issue to address.
The Dems will have enough to throw at her, she doesn't need to provide the fodder.
What's there to defend? Her voting record is still equivalent to that of Sandlin when she was in office. I believe the difference was less than a percent. If you actually knew how congress worked, you would know that they run back and forth between meetings to get their votes in which makes it tough for discussion at all times. Maybe she should belong to less committees so you guys could complain about her not getting involved in enough. Damned if she does, damned if she don't. This molehill is not going to get you anywhere. Varilek is a cooked goose and I hope you guys waste a ton of cash supporting him.
Varilek is a cooked goose but he's teaing Noem up nicely for SHS in '14.
Noem is a snake-oil stooge who does not represent most South Dakotans, but probably knows the name of every conservative fossil-fuel industry rep in the US.
I don't think Varilek can run on Noem's voting or not voting, committee attendance or not. It can be an incidental part of putting out the facts on her.
The GOP is just plain wrong on so many issues and hypocritical on nearly all of those and even those they might be forced to vote for.
The best way to reform Medicare and agriculture policy, and get the economy back on track is to make sure Democrats have significantly over 60 % of both houses of congress.
Daniel, Representatives have fewer committees than Senators have. That means less meetings to attend. It's not asking too much for our Representative to show up for work, is it? Does your employer tell you it's o.k. if you show up 15% of the time? Or are congress members so "special" that they don't have to personally do anything, just leave it all to staff? I doubt that all congress members do as little as Kristi Noem. The facts themselves show that all of Noem's SD predecessors who served on the Ag committee put in a lot more time and effort than she does. So Daniel, I don't know why you feel compelled to defend Noem's bad work ethic. Just acknowledge it and let the chips fall where they may.
And Daniel, Varilek is already a step ahead of you, comparing Noem's non-existent transcripts from her first year on House Ag with the relatively substantial placement of South Dakota's voice on the House Ag record by Reps. Thune, Janklow, and Herseth during their first years.
This issue is not The Key to beating Noem. Neither is the story Mike tells of Noem's breeze-in-breeze-out cameo at the SDGOP convention. Both stories are part of the larger story of Kristi working for no one but herself. Varilek can sell that story.
Thad Wasson is neither aloof nor infused with a sense of entitlement. Had he run and won in 2010, I might feel a mild twinge about having to beat him this year. I feel no such twinge about beating Noem.