Governor Kristi Noem of South Dakota has drawn on an inside straight in this right wing conservative poker game of “Bestest MAGAn Ever”.

By Noem’s official decree, no longer will a South Dakota public employee be able to post to, play or access the world’s most popular social media site, TikTok on a state-controlled device.

From The South China Morning Post:

“The Chinese Communist Party uses information that it gathers on TikTok to manipulate the American people, and they gather data off the devices that access the platform,” Noem said in a statement.

And with this ace of spades, I think she has a winner.

Because we all know that TikTok is China’s main vehicle to not only tap into and extract our country’s most closely kept secrets but also to ruin our finest traditions.

The ChiComms will have to find another way to expose and exploit the hidden lost treasure of El Dorado that we all know (because we saw it on TV) is situated behind South Dakota’s Mount Rushmore.

They won’t be able to disrupt SD’s next motorcycle rally in Sturgis, either. We get and develop our best public policy statements at the Sturgis rally, you know.

Verrrry canny. Ron DeSantis is going to have to reach deep into the recesses of his bag o’ tricks to give Noem her come-uppance.

Politics brings out the very worst in all of us. That could be no more true than what we have witnessed from Mattress Mack over the last several months. It started when Mack broke a cardinal rule of business when he openly endorsed Alex Mealer for Harris County Judge.

Lina Hidalgo won re-election in a very close race. In her celebration speech she referred to the forces against her and referenced a “furniture salesman”. Maybe she should have left well enough alone. Maybe she could have mentioned him but in an effort to reach across the aisle to repair broken relationships. She certainly was respectful when she referenced Mealer herself. You are almost always better served when you can be magnanimous.

Mack forgot that lesson. He responded with a full page ad in the Houston Chronicle. This is a failure on so many levels. It is a failure on Mack and those around him. Someone should have gotten to him much sooner and told him not to openly endorse Mealer and do so publicly. He can support whoever he wants and he can certainly contribute to any campaign he wants to, but his reputation deserves more than that. Those that have been in business for any length of time will tell you how foolhardy it is to openly support either side.

Someone should have gotten to him before he sent this letter into the Chronicle. They should have told him to hang back and let the water flow underneath the bridge. The Chronicle itself probably should have either declined to accept it or should have urgently swayed him against wanting it published. It made him look small. It threatens his legacy and he has built quite a legacy in the Houston area.

I was introduced to Mack (not personally but in terms of consciousness) when I was in junior high. That was approximately 35 years ago. He spoke to our junior high. I saw his business grow out of literal tents into a furniture empire with multiple branches. We saw him stand up during hurricanes, tsunamis, and other crises in town and around the world.

He became Houston’s biggest fan. Whether it was the Astros, Texans, Rockets, or University of Houston, he was there cheering the loudest. Did it help his business? Sure. Being a good guy got him a ton of free advertising. Yet, there was also little doubt that it came from a genuine place. He also circulated in Catholic circles as well. All of that pointed to his likely conservatism, but he didn’t broadcast it. He stayed above the fray. That is until this year.

Maybe there is still time for him to fix this. Maybe someone around him will convince to reach out to Judge Hidalgo. Maybe she will reach out to him and extend an olive branch. It would probably be the best move from both involved. I suspect he will realize that he made a big mistake and we hope he does before it is too late.

Occasionally you see something in the news that you have to sit on for a few days. The horrible mass shooting in Colorado Springs is one of those moments. It isn’t the mass shooting itself. There have been deadlier and more tragic mass shootings in recent months. It wasn’t the fact that a specific group was targeted. We’ve seen that before too. It wasn’t the complete inaction following the event. That’s become the norm.

It was the reaction from the father of the shooter. Of course, before I get into that I need to offer some perspective. There are moments when we disappoint our parents. I still do it at times. There are moments when we are disappointed in our children. The worst moments come when we have to either apologize for their actions or when our parents had to apologize for us. I can still remember these moments as many as 40 years later.

In a very generic way I feel a ton of empathy for the parents of mass shooters. This is particularly true for the ones with children that die during those events. They lost a child just like the families of the victims. They have to mourn both their child and those their child took. They have to do it privately because no one is going to feel an ounce of compassion for them. In many cases, they will be blamed for not doing enough to stop it. There is very little they can say that will take any sting off.

Having said all of that, the shooter’s father failed the basic empathy test. He said virtually nothing that could soothe anyone in the wake of this event. All he could muster was the sentiment that at least his son wasn’t gay. He showed no concern for the victims. Somehow, killing five people and injuring two dozen others was somehow preferable to his son being there socially.

A part of me wanted to come on here immediately afterwards and just completely lay into him. Maybe it would have been cathartic. I suppose in a sense it would have made me feel better. However, that would be temporary. All of the snark and all of the vitriol wouldn’t be able to erase the fact that evil like that exists in the world.

It also wouldn’t erase the fact that I have disappointed my parents on occasion. I wouldn’t be able to soothe those feelings. It wouldn’t erase the times where we have been disappointed in our daughter. We are proud of her 99 times out of 100. I’m not sure if the same ratio exists with my parents.

There is a whole subtext in daytime television dedicated to the concept of schadenfreude and self-loathing. Watch enough talk shows and court shows and you will find yourself uttering, “at least I’m more together than that girl/guy” or “at least our family isn’t like them.”

There is a reason they say that schadenfreude is “shameful joy.” We are not made better when we witness examples of the dark side of humanity. We are not made better by comparison even if it might feel that way. We are worse in the collective. Our families are worse off. Our communities are worse off. Our nation and world is worse off. It leaves a hole in our collective heart. It creates the second worst feeling in the world. It is the feeling we get when we have to explain to our children why the world is a dangerous place.

I own some damn strong feelings about the First Amendment that puts a hefty strain between me and the rightwing.

For me, free speech was a concept developed by a high school literature teacher exposing me to Henry II and Thomas Beckett. By using the words “Will no one rid me of this troublesome priest?” Henry II let it be known that he needed Beckett dead but used plausible deniability by simply asking a question, not issuing an order. Of course, four of Henry’s knights immediately traveled from Normandy to Canterbury and killed Beckett.

It is my belief that your free speech cannot intentionally hurt a specific group of people. If you yell fire in a crowded theater, people in the theater will prematurely meet their maker. You do not have permission to make up lies about innocent people, call them out by name, and advertise their home addresses.

I recently heard your right to free speech have another simple explanation.  Speech is free; lies you have to pay for.  You do not have the right to slander or libel.

And, once again Twitter becomes the gold standard of misinformation from not very bright people.

… by the government.  Jeremy forgot to say that part.  The government cannot take retribution or censorship.

You and I, however, have the joy of being able to do both retribution and censorship. If my neighbor puts a sign in his yard that says, “My neighbor is a Libtard,” he has that right. I can fully and legally respond with, “But at least I’m not a Nazi with an ass as wide as a bayou.”  That’s retribution. I’m better than average at it.

If I should ever be the lucky random winner of a My Pillow, I will cut off the tags and donate the pillow to a homeless shelter. That’s censorship. The government is not stopping Mike Lindell, you and I are.  By the way, Lindell has announced that he’s running for RNC Chair.

Look, I’m sorry this is so long, but I didn’t have time for a short snappy one.

In the News You Simply Cannot Use department, Kanye West, now known as Ye, had lunch with Donald Trump, now known as TFG. Place cards at the table were a mess.

To add a little fun, Ye brought some uninvited guests, which was a complete surprise being as how Ye is known for his impeccable manners.  Just ask Taylor Swift. Oh hell, just ask anybody.

Ye also brought an almost-famous white nationalist because  … I dunno.  Ye said he was running for President and generously offered TFG the Vice Presidential slot on his ticket.

I know this is hard to believe, but TFG was not honored.  So here he was – eating lunch with a disrespectful Ye and a guy who yearns to be Hitler.  Okay, it sounds like there is no downhill from there.

Oh, yes there is.

Ye, the rapper formerly known as Kanye West, said former President Donald Trump started “screaming” at him during dinner at the Mar-a-Lago resort and told the rapper he would lose if he were to run in 2024.

“When Trump started basically screaming at me at the table telling me I was going to lose, I mean has that ever worked for anyone in history?” the rapper said in a video he tweeted on Thursday evening.

“I’m like whoa hold on, hold on, hold on. You’re talking to Ye,” he said in the video.

Okay, I know this sounds weird, but I would pay cash American money to watch those two try to communicate, much less try to insult each other.  Throw in some screaming and a nazi or two and I’ll buy an orchestra seat.

My family is somewhat blessed to have five little boys.  The oldest is 9 years old and the youngest is almost 4. The oldest had a birthday party last week. Nobody screamed, and nobody said, “You’re talking to Ye.”  And Honey, that wasn’t even a challenging behavior bar to jump.

I hope your day is warm and wonderful and that somebody loves you enough to make you a chocolate pecan pie. I also hope you can mix leftover Aunt Erlene’s potato salad in with the turkey bones so that it doesn’t stand out on your plate that it’s awful. I do not know who taught that woman to make potato salad but they are going to hell.

I’ve got some great updates on the Alex Jones in Texas which I will post  later after the hub bub is over and I just need to sit and grin.

EDITED:

Okay, there was another Alex Jones hearing in Austin last week.  This one was for sanctions and a request for the judge to overrule the Texas Legislature’s cap on punitive damages.  It works like this: In Texas, the jury decides on two damages – one is actual damages and the other is called punitive damages. Punitive damages are meant to punish the bad guy who caused the lawsuit.

The jury in this case awarded about $4.5 million for actual damages on a vote of 10 – 2.  We learned after the trial from the jurors themselves that the two who voted “no” wanted the damages to be much higher. Next the lawyers argued punitive damages to the jurors.  The jury came back with $45 million on that.

However, the Texas Legislature decided that jurors could be trusted in deciding between life and death but they could not be trusted with really important stuff like money.  So, they put a cap of $750,000 for punitive damages. Juries are never told about this.

So, no matter what the jury says, the most that you can punish a civil shame bucket in Texas is $750,000.

There are a few rare exceptions to the cap but they are narrow and difficult to prove.

The judge in this case is Maya Guerra Gamble and I’ll have more to say about her later. After a day long hearing with lawyers Numbers 15 and 16 for Jones, she ruled that this case did not warrant caps and awarded the entire $50 million to Neil and Scarlett.

One other thing: The lawyer who totally messed up the Jones defense was there.  Andino Reynal returned to the scene of his last humiliation. Mark has asked for a sanctions hearing against him for the waste of time and money during this case. The judge has made no secret of the fact that she is “disappointed with” his appearances in court. He spoke not a word during this hearing and let the two new lawyers do all the talking.

He, however, did claim that he will be the attorney to represent Jones in the next two cases. We are pleased to hear that.

More to come.