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I'm not going to make this too long. I just need to get it out of my system. Kristi Noem was, I believe, the weakest cabinet member by a Secretariat-wide margin in the Trump Administration. I cringed a bit when she got in. Perhaps the moment I knew she was not a serious political figure (much less law enforcement administration official material) was when she got caught out on her book tour. She was doing the typical political stunt of coming up with some book as an excuse to do the media tour and promote "the brand" to raise her profile. It became apparent she did NOT write the book, but also she likely did not even READ the book that carried her name. In interviews, when asked about particulars of the book, she came across as if she were clueless about its contents. This was especially true regarding some story about her putting down a dog with a gun (something I'm not sure why you would put in a brand-boost book targeted to a general audience - Americans tend to like dogs). There were other warning signs that I'll skip.
Anyway, despite this and her doing commercials for things like a dentist's office for creating a picture-perfect smile for impression politics, she went on to make the short list somehow for DHS Secretary. Trump does seem to like people who make a good appearance on TV, and perhaps she made a good impression behind the scenes in some way I'm not aware of. However, I think her shortcomings have become apparent since taking the rather serious cabinet position of DHS Secretary. This position is perhaps even more important under a Trump administration since immigration enforcement was a critical part of his campaign, possibly the biggest part! To have someone so inadequate was a mistake.
Fortunately, Trump has shown the ability to pivot and is not inflexible when it comes to changing things up, and Noem has been canned. I'd like to see a professional, career law enforcement officer or administrator head up the office of DHS rather than an apparent media-hungry "E-Girl Influencer" type looking to pose and score "likes" by reading statements that are frequently slop for engagement. I don't know how closely she follows things while off-stage, but she has certainly dropped the ball in her position, inviting potential scandal and criticism. Certain jobs are to be taken seriously without drama, and she's simply not up to it. Being DHS head is not a "brand-building" clickbait position to launch yourself into the "next level" tier of media buzz. She's not the only US politician who appears to be tilted to social media influence aims, but that doesn't give her immunity from the responsibilities of DHS and carrying out the administration's goals. And more importantly, delivering on what the voters of that administration wanted delivered. We don't need a "Border Barbie," we need a serious administration official.
Maybe there's some cable news outlet that will give her a show. Or maybe she can try starting a streaming online show and sell some products and fronting an image with no actual activism in the competitive internet/platform space. But if that's her focus, then go try that. But leave DHS to someone else. As for me, I'm "UnFollowed" as they say now. But I still won't treat her as curtly as the dog in her book.
Discussion (74)
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I'm not competent to judge the value, totally or individually, on all the matters you have touched here, but I suspect you have included points of positive value. Even the disruptive conflicts we have seen in Los Angeles, Minneapolis,, and Chicago have gone far to expose the ineffective leadership of those cities and their state governments. I support the changes President Trump is making.
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She narrated the audiobook version, so she had to have read it at least once. What is funny is that after people pointed out that she was lying when she wrote that she had met Kim Jong Un, Noem claimed that an editor must have put that in her book without her knowledge. I don't know how some trickster got her to read the false statement when she was recording the audiobook, though.
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Ok, new info to me. So now apparently reading comprehension is a problem for her too. She at least read it for an audio version yet appeared to totally blank on questions.
BTW, I have no big issues with people using ghost writers or working with someone who shares the authorship. But as the person featured I believe you need to provide feedback for edits etc. I understand that writing a full book is not for everyone.
Note: I'm assuming here that the audio recording mentioned happened prior to the questions I saw fielded.
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Yes, there's serious opposition to immigration enforcement. Both from people simply not wanting to comply and from well funded organizations with networks and PR. Some networks appear to indicate involvement with elected officials and government staff of the local areas. This is all the more reason to have a skilled, serious, dedicated DHS head leading.
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The item that really cemented my doubts about Kristi Noem was her visit to a library on the Canadian border. I had heard about this library many years earlier. The towns of Stanstead, Quebec and Derby Line, Vermont both butt up to the US/Canada border. There is a library (presumably built before the border was drawn there) that straddles the line. For a very long time, people from both towns used the library. The U.S. Border Patrol hung around to make sure that no Canadians used it to sneak into the country without going through Customs. This was an old and satisfactory arrangement, until the Trump Administration put a stop to it and said every Canadian must go through the usual border crossing rigmarole every time they wanted to use the library.
Kristi Noem visited the library. Standing on the American side of the line, she said, "USA, number one!" Then she stepped over and said, "Fifty-first state!" Then did it again. And again.
When Kristi Noem was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, I thought well of her. But she has clearly had brain reduction surgery. What could make a grown woman put on such a shameful act of stupidity and belligerence? Was she trying to prove to MAGA that she is presidential material?
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