Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Optimism opens the door to great things.

Despite his magical powers, I don’t think Trump is thinking this through, to be honest.

Peak wingnut was a lie.

American History and Black History Cannot Be Separated

If you’re pissed about Biden’s speech, he was talking about you.

Their freedom requires your slavery.

A snarling mass of vitriolic jackals

Too often we hand the biggest microphones to the cynics and the critics who delight in declaring failure.

Shallow, uninformed, and lacking identity

Not so fun when the rabbit gets the gun, is it?

Take your GOP plan out of the witness protection program.

When someone says they “love freedom”, rest assured they don’t mean yours.

Meanwhile over at truth Social, the former president is busy confessing to crimes.

No one could have predicted…

It may be funny to you motherfucker, but it’s not funny to me.

Prediction: the GOP will rethink its strategy of boycotting future committees.

Come on, media. you have one job. start doing it.

This fight is for everything.

You cannot shame the shameless.

Why is it so hard for them to condemn hate?

The poor and middle-class pay taxes, the rich pay accountants, the wealthy pay politicians.

JFC, are there no editors left at that goddamn rag?

Let us savor the impending downfall of lawless scoundrels who richly deserve the trouble barreling their way.

Russian mouthpiece, go fuck yourself.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Hey All You City Fucks, It’s a Prairie Man’s World

Hey All You City Fucks, It’s a Prairie Man’s World

by | 48 Comments

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This isn’t a big surprise:

PIERRE — South Dakota Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg will avoid a trial and take a plea deal for misdemeanor traffic charges in a crash last year in which he hit and killed a man who was walking along a rural highway, a prosecutor said Wednesday.

Beadle County State’s Attorney Michael Moore, who is one of two prosecutors on the case, told The Associated Press that “there won’t be a trial and there will be a plea entered,” but he declined to discuss further details of the arrangement. The plea will be entered Thursday, when Ravnsborg’s trial was scheduled to begin, he said.

I wrote about this case a while ago. Ravnsborg hit a man at night on a back road and thought it was a deer. The county sheriff responded and loaned him a vehicle. Neither noticed the dead man until the next day. The legislature launched an impeachment effort which fizzled out, and Governor Kristi Noem called for his resignation, but Ravnsborg stayed in office. Let’s see what he does after Thursday, but I wouldn’t bet on him quitting.

In other South Dakota news, Kristi Noem isn’t quite going full DeathSantis or Abbott. She’s ended the mask mandate in prisons, but she hasn’t supported legislation to forbid mask mandates (and it died in the legislature). For a small rural state, South Dakota has a poor COVID record – 230 deaths per 100,000 people, 10th in the nation, and 14,090 cases per 100,000, third in the nation. They are currently in another COVID flare-up caused by the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally / superspreader event, but that will probably be eclipsed by Texas and Florida. Her incompetence is bad but it isn’t as gross as RegenerRon or Abbott, especially because in raw numbers, she’ll never kill anywhere near as many kids as those two. Her record is bad, but in the kingdom of the blind, she might be the one-eyed queen.

(Bonus points to anyone who knows where this lyric is from without Googling it…)

Reader Interactions

48Comments

  3. 3.

    hueyplong

    To be fair, lots of her Sturgis cases will end up driving FL and TX numbers. So she’s “underrated” in a sense.

  4. 4.

    trollhattan

    I only know the James Brown workup (right after he invented the electric light).

    Pretty ironic, an AG getting away with vehicular murder (my presumption is he was drunk, so instant felony). Good job, SD.

  5. 5.

    Pete Mack

    I dont know about the original, but i first came across it in William Gibson (possibly Difference Engine.)

  6. 6.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    (Bonus points to anyone who knows where this lyric is from without Googling it…)

    The Dead Can Dance

  8. 8.

    trollhattan

    Oopsie. Cats gonna cat.

    A 36-year-old model has been mauled by a leopard during a photoshoot that went wrong at a retirement home for show animals in eastern Germany.

    The woman, described as an animal lover as well as a photo model, suffered serious head injuries inside an enclosure that is home to two leopards, Troy and Paris.

    Police said she was taken to hospital on Tuesday with serious injuries.

    A mobile alert that the leopard had then run away turned out to be false.

    Burgenland authorities said there was no danger to the wider population and an investigation was taking place into what happened at the animal home in Nebra in the state of Saxony-Anhalt.

    German tabloid Bild named the victim as Jessica Leidolph. It is unclear what she was being filmed for and who had organised the shoot. According to her website, Ms Leidolph has her own horse, cats, pigeons and parrots.

    Jessica with large bird.

  12. 12.

    waspuppet

    RegenerRon

    I saw “Harvard Trump” on LGM; Charlie Pierce has used “Prince Variant.” All good choices.

  13. 13.

    Elizabelle

    Killing a man.  Was up for 3 misdemeanor charges.

    I hope the late Mr. Boever’s family takes Ravnsborg to the cleaners.

    Remember how he just happened to return to the scene of the hit the next day and “find” the body?  Right.

  15. 15.

    Betty Cracker

    I don’t believe for a minute Ravnsborg thought he hit a deer. Can’t remember where I read it, but there was an in-depth piece on the incident in some publication that included clips of the cops questioning the perp and confronting him with the fact that they found the victim’s glasses in his car. He was reading wingnut propaganda on his phone, hit and killed that man and covered it up. Disgusting that he’ll get away with it.

  18. 18.

    Comrade Colette

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Christ on a pogo stick. Ya know, instead of doubling down on this insane bullshit, Abbott could just stop. Not retract or reverse any evil, death-dealing policy, just stop where he is. That he does not do that tells me he’s a true believer.

  19. 19.

    smith

    @Ken: Not to mention polio! We will have to quarantine the entire state of Texas.

    ETA: If I lived there and had young kids, I’d be packing up to move right now.

  20. 20.

    Roger Moore

    @Ken:

    His executive order applies only to COVID-19 vaccinations, not to any other kind.  It makes absolutely no sense, and I have no idea how it could possible stand up in a remotely fair court.  I’m not even sure it will stand up in the Texas Supreme Court.  They already shot down his attempt to prevent mask mandates.  It’s not clear how he has any kind of emergency authority to step in this way.

  22. 22.

    Poptartacus

    Another worthless cock
    I hope the family sues the fuck out of him
    A check is all they’ll get
    Sad

  24. 24.

    Ken

    @smith: I didn’t include polio because of the recent anti-vaxxer who said that it was no big deal, because only a very small percentage of people died from it.

  25. 25.

    Baud

    @dmsilev: I assume the EO only applies to Texas governments.  I’ve never heard of a governor being able to regulate private businesses in this way through executive order.  OTOH, perhaps Texas is relatively authoritarian.

  26. 26.

    Brachiator

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    Abbott’s previous prohibition on vaccine mandates previously applied to COVID-19 vaccinations approved by the FDA for emergency use. In wake of FDA approving Pfizer, Abbott has expanded the order.

    The GOP Death Cult doubles down again. Unfortunately, I have relatives in Texas who have to navigate around this insanity.

  28. 28.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Baud: they’re being aggressively creative, bars and restaurants that attempt mask– and I think vaccination?– requirements have been threatened with losing their liquor licenses

  29. 29.

    What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: They kept saying that Governor of Texas is basically a powerless position back when Mr. Can’t Count To Three held the position. So is that EO really all that binding on anyone?

  30. 30.

    Four Seasons Total Landscaping mistermix

    @gene108:

    Odds Ravnsborg wins re-election or loses in a primary?

    The former AG who tried to run for governor but lost to Noem in the primary has already declared, so I assume Ravsborg loses the primary.

  31. 31.

    Baud

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Without knowing the law there, it seems like an easy win in court, but businesses certainly will be deterred by the litigation expenses.

    Everything that GOP governors are doing to businesses for the plague rats is what they claim liberal Democrats do to businesses.

  34. 34.

    Brachiator

    @Baud:

    I assume the EO only applies to Texas governments.  I’ve never heard of a governor being able to regulate private businesses in this way through executive order.

    Many private businesses are following along. There is a mindset that you just have to be tough and love liberty and then Covid will be defeated.

    There has also been the disgusting outbreak of racism from the lieutenant governor, who essentially said that he agreed that there should not be vaccine mandates, but if black people would get  the vaccine, then white people could go about their business and lead nice lives.

  36. 36.

    cmorenc

    @trollhattan:

    Pretty ironic, an AG getting away with vehicular murder (my presumption is he was drunk, so instant felony). Good job, SD.

    Would some black dude have gotten away with hit-and-run with the victim’s glasses found *inside* his car have gotten away with a misdemeanor?

  37. 37.

    Urza

    @dmsilev:@Jim, Foolish Literalist: So, what happens when some national firm with a mandate imposes it on their Texas employees?

    I don’t know specifically what we’ll do in Texas, as my company has offices in many states.  I do know that we’re currently setting a deadline to cancel ALL building access for the numerous contractors that work for us, because we can’t mandate they get vaccinated like the company is mandating for employees, at least until the next contract negotiation.  Its not a huge blow as the contractors have been working from home like the rest of us, but in normal times it would cut probably 10%+ of the people in our offices.  And i’m quite sure the deep pocketed companies have no problem taking this to court.  Especially those headquartered elsewhere that don’t have to face repercussions.

  38. 38.

    TeezySkeezy

    @Roger Moore: They win elections on owning the libs and being assholes in any way they can.  Struck down or not, Abbott was a performative asshole, just as he was elected to be.  His voters are content with that.

  39. 39.

    StringOnAStick

    Apparently a group of SD residents have been busted for underage sex trafficking related to the Sturgis motorcycle rally; I think it was 8 locals, a guy from NY and an airman from the local Air Force base.  Just when you didn’t think the Sturgis superspreader event couldn’t have another worse aspect.

  40. 40.

    Fake Irishman

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    it’s vaccination requirements. There is a law passed (it was tax senate bill 968) against vaccine passports is places open to the public in Texas (eg bars, hotels, retail stores etc), so that’s the leverage he has. But it doesn’t cover employees, only patrons.

  42. 42.

    RSA

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Here’s the text:

    Any public or private entity that is receiving or will receive public funds through any means, including grants, contracts, loans, or other disbursements of taxpayer money, shall not require a consumer to provide, as a condition of receiving any service or entering any place, documentation regarding the consumer’s vaccination status for any COVID-19 vaccine. No consumer may be denied entry to a facility financed in whole or in part by public funds for failure to provide documentation regarding the consumer’s vaccination status for any COVID-19 vaccine.

    I can’t judge what percentage of private businesses this covers. I’m guessing that Abbott can’t put strings on federal money, so maybe the actual percentage of consumer-facing businesses would be fairly low?  Not that this means he’s any less an asshole. Just maybe less effective than he could hope to be.

  45. 45.

    Geminid

    @gene108:

     

    @Four Seasons Total Landscaping mistermix:  As Ms. Cracker points out, Ravnsborg was obviously lying when he said he thought he hit a deer. Plenty of people in South Dakota have hit deer at night, or know someone who has. I’ve done it twice in Virginia. There is no way someone can hit a human head-on and believe it was a deer. Ambitious right wing lawyers like Ravnsborg are a dime a dozen. His political career is over.

  46. 46.

    trollhattan

    @cmorenc:

    Would some black dude have gotten away with hit-and-run with the victim’s glasses found *inside* his car have gotten away with a misdemeanor?

    He had [checks notes] an ironclad alibi for that night (South Dakota joke).

    You’re correct, of course, and the AG would have intervened personally to make sure “that poor dead fellow receives the justice he deserves.”

  48. 48.

    Bokonon

    @Brachiator:  This resistance to masks and vaccine mandates has always been driven by the business community – and then sold from the top down and justified as “liberty.”

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