Last updated on 2013.11.30
That went well.
South Dakota ranchers protested earlier this month when Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade organizers assigned Joan Jett to South Dakota's parade float. We can't have some vegan PETA activist standing next to our fake rolling replica of Mount Rushmore! our rough-tough cattlemen cried.
So Joan Jett played the adult and stepped off the float to avoid smearing the festivities with any political controversy. She just wanted to entertain and get some TV time, as did every other performer agreeing to lip-synch for our Turkey Day enjoyment.
So ranchers got one nefarious vegetarian off our float (not eating beef is treason!)... and got two back on:
The Summer Set, a pop rock band from Scottsdale, Arizona stepped in at the last minute and took her place. The announcement was kept under wraps until Thursday morning.
Coincidentally, two members of The Summer Set are featured on a PETA website because they are outspoken vegetarians ["Some Band Members on Macy's Parade SD Float Vegetarians," KELO, 2013.11.28].
This isn't Macy's revenge. It's karma. It's what you get for making a fuss over something that is far from fuss-worthy.
Neither Summer Set nor Joan Jett nor anyone else marching down 6th Avenue made any grand political gestures, at least not on the sanitized broadcasts. No one mentioned what the bands or the dancers or the balloon wranglers eat or how they vote. And luckily for South Dakota, no one mentioned how silly certain crybaby conservatives make us look.
If we give a damn about South Dakota's reputation, we will drop this story, thank Macy's for the positive publicity... and talk very nicely to Joan Jett's people to see if she'll come play the State Fair again.
After all, if we don't get her, we might get stuck with Summer Set's awful autotuned fluff.
Yep. We definitely traded down on our parade entertainment. Maybe we should station police at the real Mt. Rushmore and make sure no vegetarians or vegans get near it.
It never turns out well when you pitch a hissy fit.
For next year's parade we should audition musicians by having them eat meat in front of us. They need not demonstrate musical ability.
I watched CBS's coverage of the parade and when the SD float made its appearance, one of the hosts explained in great detail the fuss that was raised by the cattle association. What a great moment for South Dakota.
Or fly over it Rorschach. We must have a vegan free fly zone over Mt. Rushmore. Only buzzards and eagles need apply for flight clearance. The new republican cannot govern and only do great harm to everything it touches, including something as simple as a extremely expensive and worthless float, how embarrassing. In the meantime, we got a $70,000,000.00 windfall and we cannot even use a nickel of that to feed and provide healthcare to our needy. The Pope is correct, we have lost our way and in South Dakota, we did not need much help with our representatives, geesh, what a bunch of knuckleheads.
Rick they were also discussing it before the parade during the warm up. Nothing negative was said about South Dakota but there were some "Hmmm" s and obvious internal eye rolls by the commentators. Dakotans are the nicest people in the world but we get a bad rep from these silly bits of intolerance.
People may think there is something wrong with us, but why open our mouths and remove all doubts? We ALWAYS get what we deserve. I also thought it was a bad deal quizzing New Yorkers about Mt Rushmore...clips were shown on our local news programs. Let's turn the table and ask New York questions to us South Dakotans...I bet we would look fairly stupid.
On a side note the first and only time I saw Joan Jett sing was at Sioux Falls Rib Fest about 7 years ago and she was dressed from head to toe in Leather........
Powers is calling this "Macy's Revenge.
I say that when you display pettiness, you can expect pettiness in return.
Oh Yes!!!! the hill billies got caught again!!! Head for the FSA office for your annual government check!!! Don't get run over by noem and hubby!!!!!!
Of course he is Roger. See, PP is one of the 'mean girls' that runs the state with his his cool junior high cliquish friends.
When something doesn't fit into the mean girl crowd there are only two choices. Attack the offending girls, trashing reputations is mandatory, and then bringing the focus back to how cool they are.
PP is a pro at displaying how shallowness, money and looks are the only thing that matters. Don't mess with him...he's a pro at petty.
Calling him and his friends petty is only a compliment...it's what they do to keep the mean girl clique...you know...the coolest kids in control.
Meanwhile for everyone else, we are realizing that the screeching, secret society GOP and OMG "if I scream platitudes I will win" crowd is losing the rest of reality.
The bad news is, they will win an ambivalent SD who has outgrown junior high.
We can hope they grow up, but I have my doubts.
i peronally know of "vegans" that sent checks to the west river foundation to help ranchers who lost their cattle in october's blizzard...i asked why they did it...they said..because it is the right thing to do when someone is struggling......the small group of screamers who made such a ruckus about the vegan in the first place being on the float...should be ashamed of themselves....but i highly doubt they are as a 5th grade mentality is more narcissistic than rational.......
Yes, Rorschach! And after they finish the double cheese burger they will be required to smooch their heterosexual partner. No pride stuff around the SoDak float. On another note, heard the Festival of Lights in RC went well. Singing toilets and all!