I was saying to Emet earlier that one of the big things I was worried about with this fucking Kristi Noem thing was that she was trying to present this as "a rural thing"
Like "oh you city people just don't understand, this is just how it is in rural places"
And I really didn't want to see this just accepted by the news media, most of whom have never lived anywhere rural, as just "how we are"
Like, no, absolutely not, we don't just fucking shoot dogs bc they aren't good at being hunting dogs. Everybody I've ever personally known who hunts with dogs knows that a dog that is a bad hunting dog may be a great family pet. It's clear that people like that must exist - she's a person, after all - but it's not just How Things Are.
There are enough bad stereotypes about Rural People. We don't need more.
However, I have been relieved to see that a bunch of places covering this have had people on who grew up in rural places & who were pushing back on this hard, saying exactly that: no, this isn't normal.
Ugh.
