I watched Gov. Kristi Noem’s press conference this morning to see if she could explain why she had abandoned the girls and women of South Dakota by rejecting a popular Republican bill that said only girls can compete in girls sports.
All I got out of her was that she thought the best way to support girls is to do whatever “well-respected legal scholars” told her to do, even if it meant letting transgender girls (which is to say girls who were born as boys) participate in college sports.
The argument she laid out was that the NCAA, which controls much of college sports, would sue South Dakota if the state tried to prevent boys from playing in girls collegiate athletic events. The “legal scholars” told Noem she would lose such a lawsuit, so she decided the best way to protect girls from being second-class citizens was to surrender to the very idiots who want to make them second-class citizens.
Under her proposal, the state would protect kids from K-12, and then feed them to the NCAA wolves when they are old enough to go to college and compete for scholarships and a shot at a pro sports career. According to Noem, if she had signed the bill protecting girls sports, she would be creating a “trial lawyer’s dream.”
Now, we should pause here to acknowledge that Gov. Noem is (was?) considered to be the savior-in-waiting for the Republican Party because she was thought to embody all the patriotic, common-sense, traditional values that made America great. Many were starting to talk about her as the anointed running mate of a post-Pence Trump presidency. If nothing else, she could protect us from RINO Nikki Haley.
But after today people are asking if Noem is just one more big-talk no-action Republican. Noem’s solution to fight the pro-transgender lobby is to create a new organization called Defend Title IX Now. What she didn’t provide was any explanation why her coalition couldn’t exist side by side with the S.D. law. Does she really think that the trial lawyers and the NCAA are just going to fade away if she goes after them with an ad campaign? It’s gonna be lawyers or nothing, and the issue won’t be resolved until some Governor with guts decides to fight all the way to the Supreme Court.
And just in case you thought maybe Noem knows what she is doing, forget about it. She went on Tucker Carlson’s show tonight, and had absolutely no answer why she didn’t let down her S.D. voters, the girls of her state, and common sense. In other words, she couldn’t explain why backing down from a fight now was going to make it easier to win the fight later.
Noem told Tucker the bill would allow the NCAA to take punitive action against South Dakota.
“We have had to fight hard to get any tournaments to come to South Dakota,” she said. “When they took punitive action against us we would have to litigate, and legal scholars that I have been consulting with for many, many months say I would very likely lose those litigation efforts.”
“Wait,” Carlson interjected. “So you are saying the NCAA threatened you … they said ‘If you sign this, we won’t allow girls in South Dakota to play’ and you don’t think you can win in court — even though the public overwhelmingly supports you nationally — and so you are caving to the NCAA?”
Haha! Go Tucker!
If avoiding lawsuits was the main goal of conservative politicians, then they would never pass laws protecting unborn children, rejecting amnesty for illegal aliens, or protecting the Second Amendment. Oh wait! Maybe Kristi Noem really is just another lame politician who says one thing and does NO thing.
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I know I do not understand politics like many do, but what would Governor Noem’s goal be in this situation? She has managed COVID well, and has stood up against the media over the last year. Now suddenly she is “just another RINO? This feels like more “cancel culture” and very little discussion about her reasons for taking this stance.
I won’t write her off, but like Lucy, she has some ‘splaining to do.
I’ve written her off, as she just betrayed the girls of her state who might want to compete against other girls, not pretend girls, who are really boys.
You’re made of sterner stuff than me. I’d like to write her off, but I’m afraid of who else we might get!
I listened to and watched Kristi Noem, that heretofore statesman, last night on Tucker’s show and couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Who took the real Kristi Noem and substituted her with a “Stepford wife”?
Joe Morrisco
I have been following you for years, and for the most part, I agree with you practically all the time I am pretty disappointed in you and and Tucker Carlson. Calling Kristi Noem a RINO!? The left has you dancing to their tune. Divide and conquer. Kristi Noem is the farthest thing from a RINO that we have in politics and has been making tough decisions for quite a while. There is nothing more, the left would like than to turn anyone and everyone against her. You have gone off half cocked before and so has Tucker Carlson, and like the weather man never had to fess up to being wrong. In my opinion Kristi does not deserve your disrespect.
Instead of fighting defense like the Republicans only know how to do, maybe there should be a plan to win one. Wouldn’t that be unusual.
Conservatives should govern like conservatives. If that means getting sued, so be it. If the fear of getting sued means you are afraid to do the right thing, you are the wrong person to lead. IMHO.
Not sure if you are familiar with the web site “redstate.com”
https://redstate.com/shipwreckedcrew/2021/03/23/why-south-dakota-gov-kristi-noem-is-right-and-her-critics-are-wrong-on-the-girls-rights-legislation-n348740?utm_source=piano&utm_medium=onsite&utm_campaign=719
I still believe it is more complicated, than just passing legislation. Kristi didn’t veto the legislation, she sent it back for a revision that would make it more difficult to get it overturned by the left.
Yeah, but in particular she is demanding the legislature remove the applicability to college sports.
I agree. I am going to continue to support Governor Noem.