Yeesh. Sometimes I think Republicans are just so desperate for a pretty face that doesn't mean tweet, they'll fall all over themselves elevating - and defending - the exact opposite of what they supposedly want. They get cleaned bowled over by a bad case of goo-goo eyes.
This business with the Dakota Darling Duo - Doug Burgum and Kristi Noem - being serious Vice Presidential contenders strikes me as one of those times if you check out the chatter in comment sections.
If some of you remember, I did a dive into Doug Burgum last fall after seeing the folksy, imminently approachable "regular farmer guy" no one had ever heard of during the first presidential candidate debate.
Like, who was he? I'd never heard of him.
God dang, people. All it took was about two seconds to find out he could easily be "Eat the Bugs" Burgum, judging by the close friends he runs with.
Unless the “small town” looks suspiciously Davos-y and that’s by design.
Something about his whole demeanor last night was rubbing me the wrong way the more I thought about it. Maybe it was the injured leg tripping his vibes up…I didn’t know.
Things got a good deal clearer this morning.
Whachoo mean, Beege?
Microsoft honcho, Gates intimate, and big climate change proponent, particularly when it can make him some more money. And who cares if he, as governor, stomps all over "farmers" and their personal property rights jamming through this pipeline?
...Burgum is a YUGE proponent of carbon-capture schemes, including one that is cleaving the Dakotas asunder – carbon dioxide pipelines being forced through traditional farmlands using eminent domain condemnation and confiscation to get right-of-way for a privately owned company’s operation.
Campaigning in Iowa for the Republican presidential nomination, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum said he is confident that a controversial carbon pipeline will be built despite a setback.
The North Dakota Public Service Commission on Aug. 4 rejected a route permit application from Iowa-based Summit Carbon Solutions. In North Dakota, the three members of the PSC are elected, unlike Iowa, where the governor appoints the three members of the IUB.
Does this sound like a "Republican" governor? Even worse - is it someone you'd want as VP with the ear of a president making decisions about stripping your rights to feed the climate cult's insatiable need to bankrupt the country/dictate every aspect of your life? And - oh, by the way - continuing the Biden administration's damn fine start to destroying the once-upon-a-time affordable and reliable American standard of living?
… Republican Gov. Doug Burgum lauded North Dakota’s efforts to store carbon dioxide in January.
“We’re on our way toward achieving carbon neutrality as a state by 2030, thanks to our extraordinary capacity to safely store over 252 billion tons of CO2, or 50 years of the nation’s CO2 output,” Burgum said. “And in the process, we can help secure the future of our state’s two largest industries: energy and agriculture.”
That's small-town, folksy Burgum right there in a nutshell. The "regular guy" act is skin-deep, but no one's looking.
Gov. Doug Burgum (R-ND) said the Democratic Party has a “pro-terrorist” wing as he tries to solidify himself as a leading candidate to be former President Donald Trump’s running mate.
In an appearance on Fox News, Burgum contrasted the unity of the Republican Party with that of the Democratic Party, saying that the latter had to struggle with a variety of disparate elements.
Burgum as VP? YGTBFKM
In that same post exposing Doug's Davos-y inclinations, I took a shot at someone I also had similar knowledge of but discounted any possible future impact.
Now, I'm happy I am on the record well before the current brouhaha, but kind of miffed at myself for not doing the piece I'd planned on her own set of dirty fingers.
...A Silicon Valley progressive dude does. A climate cultist does.
At least South Dakota coward Kristi Noem is making the proper noises while doing absolutely nothing to stop it in her state.
The least of Kristi Noem's problems should be that poor dog and her utterly incomprehensible stupidity. First, writing about such an incident, if she had any political aspirations after watching Mitt Romney be pilloried for an unacceptable transport method, less mind an execution? Brilliant move. Tactically brilliant.
As we used to check the box on FitReps in the Marine Corps: Judgement - Not Observed.
In Noem's second inexplicable self-inflicted wound, her fanciful and intimidating bullying of Lil Kim thanks to toddler wrangling skills earned in Bible classes after church (Oh, nice pandering touch) hardly rises to the level of Hillary's oft-repeated and equally as fictional Tuzla dash story.
There are much better and far more flagrant exaggerators at work on the political stage right now - Cannibal King being the most obvious. So, it can't be just the yarn itself.
It has been her cringe-inducing not-ready-for-primetime squirming trying to cover for the supposed publisher's "error" (which she somehow managed not to notice when she read her own book for the audio version) that will hopefully put the final kibosh on the VP kabuki theater.
Kristi Noem continues to light herself on fire. pic.twitter.com/7kxpBns8mM
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) May 7, 2024
She's ducking local South Dakota media, by the way. That's telling you she still has dreams.
Now, as much as people want to squawk, "AHHHH! This is what Republicans do best! EAT THEIR OWN!" Oh, stop. She put her own foot in this poo pile not once but twice so far, and in a big way. And obviously does not have the chops to pull herself out.
And, while I have heard lots of people say, "Wow. I really liked her," no one has yet articulated why they did.
What has she DONE besides mouth platitudes and shoot some really good commercials for South Dakota that would make someone want her as a VP? Oh, and she's cute on a horse with a shotgun.
I thought she had real potential, too. Until the craven coward shivved girls in the back. She could have been the first woman governor to protect the rights of women in school sports. The South Dakota legislature had it teed up for her. All she had to do was sign the bill.
She folded like a cheap deck of cards at the last minute and then pulled a desperate CYA with her executive pen.
South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem on Monday killed a bill that would have banned transgender women and girls from female sports, then later issued weaker executive orders that include restrictions but which conservatives decried as political face-saving.
Lawmakers in more than 20 states have introduced similar bans this year, with Republican governors in three states — Arkansas, Tennessee and Mississippi — signing them into law. A federal court blocked a similar law in Idaho last year.
Noem’s partial veto of the bill riled GOP lawmakers and tarnished the Republican governor’s status among social conservatives. Shortly after the bill died, the governor, who has emerged as a prominent national figure in the GOP, issued two executive orders for a ban, but Republican lawmakers said the orders amounted to little more than an effort to salvage her reputation with conservatives.
I guess no one was paying attention to South Dakota, or 3 years ago is too long for memories these days.
Noem muscled her daughter into a real estate license for appraisals she shouldn't have gotten. The report findings were so blatant, the Republican committee accepted it on a voice vote and without discussion. There wasn't anything to argue about.
South Dakota lawmakers on Wednesday unanimously approved a report finding that Republican Gov. Kristi Noem’s daughter got preferential treatment while she was applying for a real estate appraiser’s license in 2020.
...Noem, who is running for reelection and is positioned for a 2024 White House bid, has repeatedly denied wrongdoing, despite holding a meeting that included Peters and key decision-makers from the agency that was evaluating her license application just days after the agency moved to deny her the license. After the meeting, Peters received another opportunity to demonstrate she could meet federal standards and was ultimately awarded the license.
I guess you could write that off as watching out for your kids, right? So give your kid that third shot when everyone else only rates two, and make sure everyone knows it's your kid. After all, how many Pelosi and Feinstein spawn etc., have jobs they shouldn't?
To my way of thinking, what Democrats do doesn't excuse it, but that's what I hear sputtering back at me.
But most egregiously and offensively of all, Noem's been playing fast and loose with the property rights of her citizens, a la Burgum. It's all about making the cha-ching from climate change and carbon capture pipelines.
You see, Kristi Noem is an investor in an ethanol plant that just happens to be a partner with Summit Carbon Solutions, a carbon capture pipeline company. It may ring a bell with you because that same name is mentioned in the section above. Summit is the company building the pipeline Governor Doug Burgum is trying to shove through his citizens' property using eminent domain.
Gov. Kristi Noem is an investor in an ethanol plant that’s partnered with a company proposing a controversial carbon dioxide pipeline.
The ethanol plant is Granite Falls Energy in Granite Falls, Minnesota. Noem’s financial disclosures from her former service in Congress and her current time as governor reveal that she and her husband are investors in the plant. Summit Carbon Solutions, a company proposing a carbon pipeline through South Dakota, lists Granite Falls Energy as one of its partners.
Starting to see the threads here? You'll probably understand why Gov Noem has been missing in action as that same Summit and other companies have been ferociously trying to seize the 474 miles of South Dakota property needed (it's a 2000 total mile SD/ND project) through eminent domain if they cannot convince landowners to sign agreements.
...The disclosures raise questions about Noem’s lack of support for anti-pipeline legislation, according to Ed Fischbach, an Aberdeen-area farmer whose land is near the pipeline route.
“She and the people in her office wouldn’t even come talk to us when we came to the Capitol,” Fischbach said.
There are also a few more ties to Summit than one ethanol plant.
...South Dakota Searchlight independently confirmed the information about Noem’s investment in Granite Falls Energy. Searchlight also found that while Noem was in Congress, she disclosed an investment in another ethanol plant, Glacial Lakes Energy in Watertown, which is also a Summit partner. She disclosed between $603 and $3,000 in income from that plant between her first run for Congress in 2010 until the end of her service as a U.S. representative in early 2019.
During her time as governor, Noem’s financial disclosures have not listed an investment in Glacial Lakes Energy. Noem’s spokesman, Ian Fury, told South Dakota Searchlight she is no longer invested in the Glacial Lakes plant.
But Noem has other connections to Summit Carbon Solutions. The company was one of five platinum sponsors for Noem’s second inauguration in January, along with ethanol company POET. The South Dakota Ethanol Producers Association was a gold-level sponsor.
And Noem’s son-in-law, Kyle Peters, is a registered lobbyist for Gevo Inc., which is building a plant to make jet fuel from corn in Lake Preston and plans to partner with Summit Carbon Solutions. Noem lauded Gevo’s project during her State of the State address to lawmakers in January.
“Gevo’s Net-Zero 1 Site in Lake Preston is the first ever billion-dollar investment in South Dakota,” she said. “They will literally turn corn into jet fuel, as impossible as that sounds.”
YAY! ALL GOOD FOR SOUTH DAKOTA
Not so bad for the governor, either - not so hot if your farm is in their way.
The one farmer who really blew this up and has been the catalyst for the fight is a fellow named Jared Bossly, who was out working his property when pipeline surveyors came a' callin'.
According to Bossly, the surveyors unexpectedly entered his house recently and began calling out for him while he was away in a field, alarming his wife who was at home showering. Bossly said the surveyors then proceeded to enter his workshop, which he said is on a section of land Summit Carbon Solutions is not permitted to enter without permission.
Bossly said his wife then called him, explained the situation, and held the phone up to the surveying contractors.
“The phone call that they allege all this stuff went on was a six-second phone call,” Bossly told South Dakota Searchlight. “And all I said was, ‘If it’s the Summit surveyors, then the sheriff should be involved.’”
Summit Carbon Solutions alleged Bossly told the surveyors he’d shoot the first person he saw.
Last month, Summit Carbon Solutions initiated dozens of eminent domain proceedings in state court – including against Bossly. Eminent domain is a legal process for gaining access to build a project on private land when the landowner won’t grant permission
Summit tried to hold Bossly in contempt but that didn't fly with the judge. Amazingly, SD state law says pipeline companies can tramp across your property at will.
...State law allows pipeline companies that have requested a permit from the Public Utilities Commission to conduct surveys without a landowner’s permission, after providing 30 days’ notice to the landowner. Sommers recently upheld that right after a group of landowners sued to challenge it, and that decision is being appealed to the state Supreme Court; meanwhile, Summit claimed Bossly should be held in contempt for making threats that prevented surveyors from doing their job.
At no point in this ongoing, over two-year-long fight has Noem actively campaigned for the property rights of the impacted SD farmers and landowners. Neither has she addressed the gray area in Public Utility Commission rules, which allow a Green scheme to be declared a "public utility," earning it unfettered eminent domain rights unto itself.
...In South Dakota there is no clear process laid out by which an entity is granted the power of eminent domain. Historically, once a project is approved or permitted by the Public Utilities Commission, it assumes the power of eminent domain. The PUC deflects any involvement with the eminent domain process in their Pipeline Siting Guide as follows:
“The PUC is not involved in the easement acquisition process that occurs between applicants and landowners. Likewise, the PUC does not have a role in the eminent domain process, which is handled in the circuit court system. Landowners with concerns about these issues should seek advice from their personal attorney.”
A company that was a platinum sponsor of Kristi Noem's inauguration is currently suing 80 of her constituents to steal their land and build a carbon capture pipeline.
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) June 20, 2023
They did this on the farm of one of them today without permission or a permit.
She's doing absolutely nothing… https://t.co/N6sGldh9M2 pic.twitter.com/pZb7w6L344
Noem just mouthed the "it's the law" platitudes, even as the partially Chinese-funded Green grift goes forward.
To their shame, overwhelmingly Republican legislators have helped her bury South Dakota landowners' property rights. There's not one word about PUC revisions using eminent domain to seize property in any of the new "protections." They're all about what rights the landowners have after Summit already has your property.
Years of debate about a proposed carbon dioxide pipeline came to a head Wednesday at the South Dakota state Capitol as lawmakers passed three bills intended to strengthen landowner protections while maintaining a regulatory path forward for the project.
...Gov. Kristi Noem issued a statement saying she plans to sign the bills to “provide new protections for landowners and allow for economic growth to move forward through a transparent process.”
The bills are related to an $8 billion pipeline proposed by Summit Carbon Solutions, which is headquartered in Ames. It would collect carbon dioxide from 57 ethanol plants in Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Nebraska and pipe it to a site in North Dakota for underground storage.
South Dakota state Rep. Jon Hansen, R-Dell Rapids, who voted against all three bills, said lawmakers should do more to protect landowners. He pointed to Democratic-dominated Minnesota, where he said carbon sequestration pipelines can’t use eminent domain to access land.
Of course, she's going to sign it.
What a win.
Now, I don't know about you. But I think what these two cutesy cutthroats in small ponds are shamelessly doing out there in corn country is completely irreconcilable with what we need living at the Naval Observatory as second in line to the presidency. Literally, God forbid.
I know that people mature and minds change over the years, as do circumstances.
But this is the here and now with Burgum and Noem. An authoritarian, dystopian Green Grift here and now that, already in the hands of the Biden administration, is helping to crush our economy and American standard of living.
Our freedoms. Our rights.
That Republicans nationally would seriously allow two proponents of NetZero anything, less mind two state executives who have tacitly endorsed and used measures that are supposed to be an anathema to conservatives to enact climate change policies? It's gobsmacking to me.
I thought the idea was to have a team fighting FOR US.
I have met the enemy, and they are those two.
Hard no.
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