These are not ‘western’ values

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem (Photo by Getty Images).

As much as I cannot even begin to fathom the worldwide anger that is being channeled toward Pierre, South Dakota, and its now most infamous resident, Gov. Kristi Noem, there’s one person who must be feeling so much better.

Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte must be feeling a weight lifted from his shoulders.

Governor Punchy managed to assault a reporter on the campaign trail and still won a seat in Congress. And re-election after that. And a re-election after that. Those have become the basis of so many embarrassing conversations.

When I am out-of-state, people ask where I’m from.

Montana.

Isn’t that where the one guy punched a …

Reporter, yes. He’s our governor.

Pause.

Still more pause.

Well, has he punched you?

And let me tell you, dear readers, that’s where the conversation can take a lot of different turns, depending on the day and the mood. And let’s just be real here for a moment: If Gov. Gianforte decides to reprise his short-lived media-boxing career, I am a slow-moving, large target, whose nose has already been broken.

But Noem has done something far more horrifying than literally flying off the handle at a reporter. She shot an exuberant, even if poorly trained, hunting dog, then apparently parlayed it into a career where a goat was killed for (checks notes) apparently being a goat. And, if you like horses, you’re not going to enjoy where the rest of her stories go.

Let’s just say my new threat around the house and the office is: Don’t make me take you to the gravel pit.

By the way, how many animals do you have to assassinate at a gravel pit before it becomes a pet cemetery?

I have to hand it to our neighbors to the east, not only have they turned a bunch of carved rock into an amazing tourist attraction, now they may have people who actually want to go see a gravel pit.

For so long, Montanans have had to wear the shame of having a man repeatedly rewarded for assaulting a member of the free press. In so many ways, Gianforte’s actions were a precursor for what was about to happen in the Trump era. Somehow, Gianforte’s tussle with reporter Ben Jacobs hasn’t only diminished because of time, but because of a number shocking events —from the sitting president calling a bunch of white supremacists very fine people, to an insurrection that threatened the peaceful transfer of power, to giving serious consideration to the argument that a president can use Seal Team Six to assassinate a political rival.

But Noem’s political suicide may burnish her brand in some corners of politics these days: People may flock to her for the same reason they allegedly love Donald Trump, the man for whom Noem is auditioning as a potential vice-president candidate. Some love Trump and possibly Noem because they would seem to speak bluntly or “tell it like it is.” But that conflates clarity with cruelty, and half-truths with entire truths.

For example, having to “put down” animals is a hard fact of rural or agricultural life. But that is entirely different than killing an animal because it’s an animal — and it’s insulting to believe that only rural people can understand that.

It’s also curious that both of these governors call the American West their home. It’s almost as if we tolerate or accept these acts of aggression or cruelty because we deceive ourselves that out here in the great fly-over zone we have to be tougher. And we have the belt buckles to prove it.

And the gravel pits.

Remember that while Trump was campaigning in Montana, he referenced Gianforte’s assault, saying the governor was “my guy.”

But frequent use of guns or fists to solve everyday problems makes for thrilling movies and great country songs, but it’s not the real history of states like Montana and South Dakota — communities that were forced to band together for survival, not shoot at each other. I can think of so many stories of rural communities where neighbors helped neighbors, whether at harvest times or tough times.

And where would we be in Montana without our animals, like horses or dogs? Or grizzly bears? Or elk?

Let’s keep in mind that Gianforte, while not rushing to end the life of a rascally hunting dog prematurely, nevertheless decided to off an already-wounded wolf.

Those of us who have lived in the West for darn-near all of our lives understand how harsh and unforgiving the land can be. It’s actually part of the beauty. You live with a certain humility, knowing that there are powerful forces that can still reaffirm your small place in the world, and the sky still seems to stretch on forever in some places without the slightest sign of human habitation.

And that’s why both Noem and Gianforte play into a stereotype, but not the reality. It’s a tough look, but not an honest look at the nuances of living in such wild, still untamed places.

Some of our leaders like making us feel special: That only other fellow Westerners would understand what they’re doing. You know, wink, wink.

Being from those same places means we respect life because of how fragile it is; and, we tolerate and encourage a free press because we’re Americans who happen to be from the West and not the other way around.

You can’t be pro-life and pro-gravel pits (if you’ll excuse the analogy), just like you can’t be pro-First Amendment and belt a reporter.

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