Pierre, SD — As the nation grows increasingly tired of fear-mongering from the media, a few bright stars are shining in the darkness. Many governors are almost gleefully crushing their people’s rights underfoot, but one governor has made a concerted effort NOT to do that.
Governor Kristi Noem of South Dakota has a principled objection to violating the Constitution. She made national headlines in recent weeks for refusing to lock down her state. She outraged leftists when she said that her citizens should exercise personal responsibility in addressing the Chinese Virus
Noem said, “I believe in our freedoms and liberties.”
While she encouraged South Dakotans to follow the CDC guidelines, she would not make it mandatory. If the citizens were worried about the spread of the Corona Virus, they could social distance, close their business, lay off their employees, go to carryout only, etc. But if they were not concerned about the Virus, Noem wasn’t going to take their rights away.
Noem wasn’t just a lazy governor who didn’t care about her citizens’ health. Rather, she balanced care for their health with care for their rights. Check out her statement below:
“I told them I took an oath to uphold the constitution of our state, of South Dakota. I took an oath when I was in Congress, obviously, to uphold the Constitution of the United States. I believe in our freedoms and liberties.
What I’ve seen across the country is so many people give up their liberties for just a little bit of security. And they don’t have to do that. If a leader will take too much power in a time of crisis, that is how we lose our country. So I felt like I’ve had to use every single opportunity to talk about why we slow things down, we make decisions based on science and facts and make sure that we’re not letting emotion grab a hold of the situation.”
A Slap In The Face Of Tyrannical Governors
Governor Noem made it clear that fear-mongering wasn’t part of her thought process. She quoted recent data saying, ” “We’ve got one issue in a pork processing plant in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, but outside of that, two-thirds of our state has no cases, or one case in an entire county. So we’re doing very well as a state.”
She went on to say, “We are addressing the one hotspot that we do have, and aggressively testing in that area…but we should be tracking who’s in the hospital, what the death rate is. And South Dakotans are doing a fantastic job following my recommendations and we’ve been able to keep our businesses open and allow people to take on some personal responsibility.”
The meat processing plant would have been an ‘essential business’ even if she had issued a stay at home order. So while a stay at home order wouldn’t have stopped that multi-billion dollar plant — owned by the Chinese, ironically — it would have been a death knell for thousands of small, family-owned businesses across the state.
This measured approach should be a wake up call to Ohio’s Governor Mike DeWine, Michigian’s Gretchen Whitmer, and Minnesota’s Mike Walz and many more. These governors didn’t bat an eye while shuttering –many permanently– hundreds of thousands of businesses.
Many of these power-grabbers tried to prohibit the sale or transportation of guns. We’re looking at you, New Jersey, California, Pennsylvania and etc!
Noem’s Actions Won’t Be Forgotten
We expect that with her pro-gun, pro-life, pro-America stance, Noem has entered the public eye for good. Gun owners remember that she signed Constitutional Carry into law in South Dakota just weeks after taking office.
Her commitment to freedom was laudable while running. But when our governors were put to the test by the Chinese Virus, Noem stood by her principles at a time when so many others were losing their heads. This elevates her in the minds of freedom-loving Americans of both parties.