South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem is a staunch defender of the right-to-die from Covid-19. On the surface, this looks bad. But when you take some time to think about it, her policies make perfect sense from her state’s point of view:
South Dakotans don’t need to wear masks. Their houses are 5 miles apart. They’re already practicing social distancing.
The 700,000 bikers congregating in Sturgis are from out of state. They will drop their money in South Dakota restaurants, bars, motels, and souvenir shops before they go home, get sick, and die. That gets rid of some bikers, and their home states will be stuck for their ICU care and hospital bills. From South Dakota’s point of view, that makes a lot of sense.
South Dakota has only 1 seat in the House of Representatives. It can’t lose it, because the Constitution guarantees every state at least 1 seat. Even a severe population decline wouldn’t cost South Dakota any seats in Congress. As long as the state has 4 live Republicans, it will have a GOP governor, a GOP Representative, and 2 GOP Senators. No one’s job is on the line.
Kristi Noem isn’t as stupid as she looks. Only her out-of-state fans are.
Cross-posted from HorsesAss.org