Twice that day I thought about Gov. Kristi Noem.
The first time was after I’d left a sandwich shop without paying for my tuna melt. The second was a couple of hours later after I had missed three straight shots at a rooster pheasant.
Let’s start with the rooster episode and the miss. Er, misses. It puts the governor in a better light. Me? Not so much.
You might have seen the video with the governor in a pheasant field with a semi-auto shotgun, promoting South Dakota hunting with a call for “Less COVID, more hunting.” She concludes the clip by strolling into a cornfield and, as a rooster flies from right to left above the corn, firing once, twice, and, on the third shot, dropping the bird.
Noem took a lot of praise for the promo from her fans for promoting hunting, freedom, and economic development. And she took a lot of criticism from her critics for being tone-deaf to COVID realities and for not shooting all that well.
“Who needs three shots to kill a pen-raised pheasant?” somebody on social media asked.
Well, apparently I do, then some. Or at least I did the other day when I missed three straight, although it was on a wild bird.
But let’s get back to Noem. She clearly filmed that video on a hunting preserve before the state season opened. So she was probably shooting pen-reared pheasants, which are sub-par versions of the real thing.
But I defended her on her shooting, saying I admired the way she kept her head down on the gun and keep shooting until the bird fell. I’ve always had a problem with that. When I miss, I lift my head and gawk, then I have to get my cheek back down on the stock for the next shot.
Which is exactly what I did when I missed that rooster down at a state game production area by Martin, three straight. And as my springer spaniel trotted back with that confused “Really, no bird?” look on her face, I thought of Noem staying down on the gun and hitting that third shot.
That’s pretty good, with the pressure of the camera on. So give her credit. For that.
In my own defense, it was a wild rooster on public land
To be fair to me, mine was the tougher shot, on a wild bird. It was warm and the cover was thick, and the pheasant had led Rosie and me on a wild rooster chase down a shelterbelt, out across a swale thick with switchgrass and up to the edge of a food plot grown up in weeds.
I was sweating and puffing. And Rosie was frantically untangling the scent trail in the cover 15 yards or so ahead when she turned sharply to the right at the same time a rooster flushed 10 yards or so ahead of her. It caught the 30-mph wind and was off.
I saw the flush peripherally and was slow getting the gun up as I turned and stumbled a little in the cover. I steadied myself and rushed my first shot, lifted my head, rushed my second shot, lifted my head, and shot again, as the rooster neared the edge of shotgun range. Nary a feather fell.
I grinned and said out loud: “So, the governor did better than I did.”
This was a more positive thought than the one I had when I left the sandwich shop because four customers without masks were crowding around me in the order line. One of them, a teenager, essentially elbow to elbow.
Oh, and because neither of the sandwich makers was wearing a mask.
These days when I travel, I try to make my own lunch and bring plenty of snacks and beverages, so I don’t have to stop. But in the rush to head for Martin to hunt, I forgot. So, I stopped at a familiar sandwich shop for a take-out lunch on the way.
I was encouraged to see two customers at the counter wearing masks. I stepped up about six feet behind them, then noticed the employees were mask-less. Then came the unmasked crew of four behind me in line.
Right behind me, I mean. As in elbow to elbow. As if there was no COVID-19. I stepped back away from the line to wait for the sandwich, watching the two sandwich makers lean over their work and chat, without masks.
They were essentially talking down into the sandwiches they were making, during a COVID-19 pandemic that has killed more than 225,000 people in the United States and about 350 here in South Dakota.
A pandemic that is the biggest threat to people with significant health problems. And also, to older people, like me.
Standing there in that sandwich shop, I felt disrespected and undervalued. And vulnerable, too. So, I left. I got in the pickup and drove on to a convenience store where I made a quick trip in and out for a boxed mini-pizza and some popcorn.
As I headed down the road for my hunting spot, I thought of Noem. And I blamed her for my sandwich-shop experience. That might not be fair. But it’s not entirely without merit.
Looking back to a smart, conservative beginning, but then …
At this point in this pandemic, I had to wonder if what went on in that sandwich shop would have been different if our governor had been offering better leadership and better messaging on COVID. And, also, if she had shown more concern and encouraged more concern in others for people in the more vulnerable groups.
People who could get very sick from the virus. People who could die.
Noem’s messaging and leadership on COVID was conservative but pretty smart, at the beginning. She presented the science and the health specialists, seemed to listen to them, promoted CDC guidelines, closed schools, and, near the beginning of the pandemic, successfully discouraged — but didn’t threaten to prevent — a car race with spectators.
And guess what? People listened to her. The race was canceled. Her message and leadership mattered. That’s the kind of impact governors can have.
And it was the kind of leadership I thought she would continue. But she didn’t. She went the other way, farther from science, common sense, and responsible leadership.
And the more she was praised by conservative national media and illuminated by the spotlight of Donald Trump love, the farther she got from that original conservative, smart approach.
And I think this state has suffered because of it.
Early this summer, I looked at the reasonable growth in COVID cases and the temporary plateau of statewide hospitalizations at under 100 and deaths increasing slowly and thought: Noem is winning this thing without a shutdown, with limited impacts on the economy.
Now with a continuing surge in cases and with about 350 South Dakotans dead and more than 350 in the hospital, and with South Dakota ranking second in the nation in per-capita cases, I’m reconsidering that “she’s winning” notion. And I’m worried. If she isn’t, she should be.
And she should act accordingly.
I’m not asking Noem to issue a statewide mask mandate, impose a stay home order or shutter any businesses. I’m simply asking her to be responsible in leadership and messaging, to encourage — not order — people to keep a fair distance from others and to wear masks when indoors and when around others in close contact for any length of time outdoors.
And, oh, maybe wear a mask herself once in a while? Even Trump has done that.
When a “dang mask” is simply a good idea
Sioux Falls Mayor Paul TenHaken showed responsible leadership in a recent tweet: “Wear a dang mask when you’re indoors. We’re not asking you to sign up for the draft here.”
In comparison, here’s the Noem approach, clarified in a statement this week: “As I’ve said before if folks want to wear a mask, they should be free to do so. Similarly, those who don’t want to wear a mask shouldn’t be shamed into wearing one. And government should not mandate it. We need to respect each other’s decisions – in South Dakota, we know a little common courtesy can go a long way.”
So, I wonder how the governor feels about the courtesy I was shown in that sandwich shop, where behavior was at best discourteous and could have threatened my health? She might say I didn’t have to go in that shop. And she’s right. I didn’t have to. And I don’t very often.
But can I never stop for a quick sandwich without a needlessly elevated risk to my health? Noem’s message to those of us in higher-risk groups seems to be: “Stay home. Take care of yourself. Let the rest of us get on with it.”
I’d kind of like to get on with it myself and lead some kind of a life outside of isolation. But I can’t do that without risk unless I get some help. In businesses. And in the governor’s office.
Again, I’m not calling for mandates. I’m calling for responsible leadership.
Don’t just say “be courteous,” governor. Show it. Model it. Yourself.
The sandwich shop staffers should be required to wear masks, of course. Most are. It’s insane that those I mentioned weren’t. Noem should make that clear.
And the customers should be strongly encouraged to wear masks, too, especially if there’s someone present who clearly could be in a vulnerable group. Noem should make that clear.
Again, and again and again.
Rather than regurgitating the questionable negative “science” about masks making its way around conservative social media, she should simply listen to her own state epidemiologist, Josh Clayton. He said in a recent comment that masks are part of a layered approach to COVID prevention and intervention.
Masks are part of a layered approach to protection
Clayton said, “staying at home when you’re sick, covering your coughs and sneezes, washing your hands, wearing a mask” are not perfect individually but effective when used together to “slow down COVID-19 transmissions in the state.”
Such a slow-down can reduce infections, lower hospitalizations, and save lives. And it can be done not by mandates but by leadership based on shared humanity, compassion, and scientific consensus rather than party politics and political agendas.
Instead, Noem is questioning whether masks are actually helpful, which is contrary to the overwhelming scientific consensus and simple common sense. And she’s publicizing messages she says she got from a couple of unnamed doctors who apparently disagree with the vast majority of their colleagues.
Noem says science tells us “that the normal hygiene measures that we all learned when we were young are very effective.”
I assume the governor learned, while young, to cover her mouth when she coughed. What is a mask but a mouth covering? This is science. But it’s not rocket science.
Noem worries about people who don’t wear masks being shamed. Does she also worry about people with diabetes or asthma or immune disorders — people of any age — who are simply trying to pick up a bag of groceries? What are they to do when suddenly surrounded by people who have decided not to wear a face-covering in a store with a mask requirement posted on the door?
Or should those more vulnerable people never leave their homes?
Would our governor, who I presume believes in private-property rights, violate a mask mandate set by a private business on private property, as many anti-maskers here in South Dakota do every day? I hope not. If she believes in property rights and common courtesy, she should encourage others to do the same.
I haven’t heard her do that. I imagine it would disappoint her people, including the president.
But as TenHaken noted, wearing a mask indoors around others is not a sign-up-for-the-draft-level of imposition. It’s simply following the preponderance of science. It’s simply common courtesy. It’s simply respecting property rights and the wellbeing of others.
And in particular, it’s a gesture of respect and concern for the more vulnerable among us, including white-haired old men trying to sneak into a sandwich shop for a quick take-out lunch.
You do care about us, don’t you governor?
