Mike Luckovich for April 30, 2024

Guns and callous disregard for sentient life — the standard Republican “solution” to imaginary “problems” rooted in a heartless lacking of anything remotely resembling human feeling.

Seriously? Kristi Noem, who apparently in incapable of relating to other sentient life forms, had a dog — a fourteen-month old puppy named “Cricket” she was trying to train to be a hunting dog — that she was absolutely unable to manage (the playful pup just wanted to run and play) so the only solution was to shoot it? Like she also shot a goat just because she found it annoying?

What is even more amazing is that she is so tone-deaf to natural sensibilities that she thought it a good idea to write about it in a book and put it in print like it’s something she’s proud of (she said it shows she’s willing to make the “tough decisions”).

I guess it was such a Trump-like demonstration of callousness that she must have thought it would clinch the spot she covets as his VP pick.

All she would have had to do was place a simple ad in a local paper announcing that she had a dog that she was unable to handle and that needed to be re-homed to a family that needed a family pet rather than the hunting dog she had in mind, and she would have been inundated with requests to take it.

Compare the case of Commander, a German shepherd owned by Joe Biden. When he exhibited aggressive behavior inappropriate for the White House, Joe Biden didn’t shoot him. He found a new home for him where the environment was a better fit.

But no, in a world of Republican callousness and violence, guns and brutal disregard for life are the currency of the realm. It is all they know.

The cruelty is the point.

Kristi Noem probably thinks Old Yeller was a comedy.

Apologies? DONT MESS WITH GARY LARSON! Gary Larson is hard to draw.

Luckovich is really on the far side now (OMG).

She torpedoed her chances at almost any office.

I was grossed out by DeathSatan cuddling a puppy in a reaction to Noem’s killer news. He had a fatuous smile. Ugh.

If she gets the VP job Trump wont last 5 minutes as president.

For today’s rebranded Republicans, cruelty is the point. Obnoxiousness is the point. Insensitivity is the point. Destroying all the progress America has made these past 70 years is the point. Just look at the policies they pursue from the cruel forced-birth and anti women’s health laws being pursued in red states post-Dobbs to tacit, if not explicit, anti-Ukraine defense of their apparently pro-Russian land-grab and pro-Putinist style authoritarianism.

How is this not animal abuse?

She should go to jail even if its a week

What stood out to me in what Noem wrote was that she “hated the dog”. Why? Because her “training” methods failed and the over-excited pup spoiled a hunt? Perhaps your training methods suck…have you ever thought of that, Governor? And if that’s the case why was she apparently taking it out on the pup? Because she could? Yes the pup attacked and killed some chickens—which is instinct for hunting dogs. But why was the dog running around loose? Would it have been such a great big burden for Crazy-Eyed Noem to have found a way to rehome the pup? Found a family who would have given her a forever home, cherished her and given her the LOVING discipline that the poor pup probably needed? Cruelty is, indeed, the point for Republicans.

“Bummer of a birthmark Hal.”

Maybe she was looking to expand her voting base. Like the Michael Vick vote.

Kristi Noem murdered her puppy because she failed as a teacher.

I’m certainly glad that she’s not a schoolteacher in Tennessee.

I hear Kristi Noem blew away her TV with a flat-matted hand cannon while watching “Lassie.”

LOL!!!

South Dakota has a very small population, it’s true, but weren’t there any people worth the tenth part of a dam to be governor?

So kristi noem shot a goat that annoyed her? Has anyone done a headcheck at noem’s house to see how many kids are still alive? Might want to check on the old folks while you’re at it.

This from a woman who claims to be “pro-life”.

She’s a dog murderer. No getting around it. Puppy killer for V.P. Can’t wait to see the campaign ads. “I exercise my 2nd Amendment rights by shooting puppies in the face. Yahoo!”

Don’t suppose that anyone is looking into Kristi Noem right to carry a gun? Offhand she seems a bit eager to put down.. annoyances.

Republican target practice.

but her veneers…..who among us has not wanted to shoot our puppy? and did not. because: civilization.

Not especially germane to the primary point, but a fourteen-month-old dog is not a puppy. It is a full-grown adult dog, equivalent (in maturity) to a human of about 21 years old. The idea of seven dog years equals 1 human year only applies over the course of a life-span. A dog’s first year equals about 21 human years, then the dog “coasts” for 9-10 years, then starts to age. This varies according to breed, care, diet, etc.

remember Larsen’s deer with a target on his chest? & his friend is saying “Bummer of a birthmark, Hal.”

LOL! Funny toon, so far the 3rd Noam toon I’ve seen. But even funnier is how snowflakes are crying over animal control they don’t agree with. Don’t cry over your hamburgers and chicken nuggets.

Bummer of a birthmark, Cricket

That’s hilarious! I wonder if the Prom Queen mounted its head? I wonder if she subscribes to “Eat what you kill”?

That woman is horrifying. AND she exemplifies a party that has become truly hateful.

She claims she can make the tough decisions? Well, the tough decision in this case would’ve been to live with and care for the dog that didn’t behave exactly the way she was expecting it to. The easy way out is to just dispose of it, shrug it off, and move on. I hope none of her kids have Down syndrome.

Let’s say she gets the VP slot… now, Trump is untrained, unrestrainable, and goes after pretty much anything he wants to in the moment, so will she treat him the same way?

Didn’t kill the goat on the first shot because it jumped? Then fetched another shell and came back and killed it. All of her animal killing story is horrific but how did that goat feel given the time to anticipate it’s own murder.

Naw, she’ll continue to lick his boots and kiss his azz.

Great job, Mike. There is no bottom to RethugliKKKans. Cruelty is their goal and means.

I can see why Trump has been considering her as his running mate. He hates dogs.

Guess these liberal loon posters forgot one tiny little detail, Anthony Fauci and his crew torturing and murdering beagle pups. The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, which Fauci directed, allocated money for various studies that exposed beagles to harsh treatment, including sand fly bites, devocalization and euthanasia. “Fauci wasted $1M+ to poison beagle puppies, cut out vocal cords,” read the headline.

Noem says she had to make a tough decision?! Tough for the dog I am sure, for her not so much apparently, unless you include the bad press.