"I can't figure out what the South Dakota mystery is, but I do like their template. Their template works, and ours sucks. Time to change templates. Time to be like South Dakota. Time to act like citizens once again."
A bit of honesty and disclosure. I love South Dakota. I always have. As a kid, I loved it because it had so many fun things to do, and places to do them. As an adult, I have always loved crossing over the border from Minnesota to South Dakota. Once the border was crossed, there was a sense of wild west freedom one could feel. It was a state back then (and still is) which resonates freedom. And during this COVID - 19 event, that freedom comes through loud and clear.
In the border town of Sioux Falls, there exists one of the largest meat packing facilities (pork) in the country. It is the site of a major outbreak of the virus. With that being said, one would expect South Dakota to have sky high sickness and death numbers. Plus - to add insult to injury - the Republican Governor (Kristie Noem) NEVER SHUT DOWN THE STATE! Wow! Those South Dakota COVID numbers must really be through the roof!
Actually, they are not. As of today, there are 3,663 confirmed cases, with only 39 deaths (Mic drop). What?? How can that be? Minnesota has 12,494 confirmed cases with 614 deaths. Sure, Minnesota has some meat packers also which have had some infection problems, but unlike South Dakota, our DEMOCRAT Governor SHUT US DOWN (and we still are)!
South Dakota's population is only 16% of Minnesota's. So if we factored that 16% into Minnesota's numbers, South Dakota's numbers would be 100 COVID deaths instead of 39. One would think that just by leaving the state open, South Dakota's numbers would be higher. But they are not. And the number of confirmed cases is dropping every week.
Some might say that South Dakota has an advantage because people are so spread out. Okay - what about outside the metro area in MN? Same thing in Northern Minnesota, but our Governor has them shut out state down just like the metro. Plus - of the 3,663 confirmed cases in the entire state of South Dakota, almost 1/3 came from the Smithfield plant in Sioux Falls.
Putting the Smithfield plant aside, one might think South Dakota has done just about everything right during this crisis, and Minnesota has done just about everything wrong. I might be in that camp. While Governor Noem has stood bravely on the bow of her ship, she let her citizens be citizens. Our Governor Walz has cowered in his basement, forcing his citizens to instead act like subjects.
I can't figure out what the South Dakota mystery is, but I do like their template. Their template works, and ours sucks. Time to change templates. Time to be like South Dakota. Time to act like citizens once again.
It's the difference between common sense Republicans in charge as opposed to corrupt Democrats in control. Republican common sense and putting God and family first is the answer to the mystery.
ReplyDeleteThe state shut themselves down in many towns. It really has nothing to do with Dem v Rep. That's what people do to promote their politics.
DeleteNonsense. "unknown", you're spewing nonsense.
DeleteIt has nothing to do with politics. I think people in S.D. are just kinder. They genuinely care about their community members and will do what they can to protect them. So many people self isolated. Many people came out to help others by shopping for those at high risk, at least in our community. People are still going outside and getting fresh air but staying distant from each other. Lots of factors here. I don’t judge any leaders decisions because these are tough times and what works in SD does not necessarily work elsewhere. Unless you have the kindness and compassion of S.D. as a whole who care more about others than just their own entitled rights.
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DeleteI'm originally from South Dakota but I'm stuck in Stalag Los Angeles
ReplyDeleteNothing says you have to stay. Don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out.
DeleteBorn and raised in South Dakota. Stuck in shit hole Kalirado South Dakota will always be my home!
ReplyDeleteYou realize Smithield was bought by China along with other producers, way to go America
ReplyDeleteWe know how to listen to the advice provided by our Governor and do not need to be lead by the hand. We are all in this together. I am thankful every day for our Governor and our President.
ReplyDeleteyep listen to there advice then go die in the corner from Corona
DeleteIt’s not perfect here. Our governor might not have forced mitigation, she passed the buck to local governments and they did. It hasn’t just been a free for all of doing what we want. We are having issues with our tribes now. Also our peak hasn’t come yet, it’s expected in June. So it’s not at perfect as this makes it sound but people of SD do a mostly good job of taking responsibility into their own hands and don’t need to be told what to do.
ReplyDeleteI agree... I am a teacher in Sturgis, if this rally takes place we better damn well be having regular school on time in the fall. I want my classroom and kids back. I have a feeling we might see a spike in cases. I do know of several pick that were VERY sick out here and went to the doctor and were not screened for COVID because they couldn't name someone that they came into contact with that had the virus. We dont really know nothing about this virus and who to believe. I just know that I take precautions because I would feel awful making someone else sick.
DeleteI am a loud and proud South Dakotan! My current address may be Minnesota, but i couldn’t agree more with this article, nor be prouder to be a South Dakota Republican. While I do think there is a huge divide in Dem vs Rep, I think the biggest difference between South Dakota and Minnesota is the way people are treated and treat each other. Kristi Noem put it best on Fox: UNDER GOD THE PEOPLE RULE!
ReplyDeleteThe Governor really has nothing to do with it. South Dakota is deciding county by county and town by town as to what rules we follow. We have just been very lucky that we are a state of people who care about each other.
ReplyDeleteI agree 100%
DeleteRapid City shut down and we had less numbers west river.
ReplyDelete# of confirmed cases not going down every week. From SD state website - Active Cases daily since May 1, 2020: 818 808 811 817 802 773 846 1044 1234 1336 1393 1315 1326 1312
ReplyDeleteIncreased testing =more active cases we know of
ReplyDeleteWe do not have a city that resembles Minneapolis/St. Paul and SD cases are rising with insignificant testing. Trying to make a political issue of this is a false narrative.
ReplyDeleteI’m so sorry that you are under the regime of Newsom. He is on such a ginormous power trip. He will probably have you all shut down until December at this point. Utterly ridiculous and unconstitutional.
ReplyDeleteThe idea is to keep people from shopping around and going to the places that are less restrictive. I live in Montana but I grew up in Minnesota. We live in a different world here. Your government has to make rules based on the numbers and how much hospital space there is. How much testing is available. They also have to follow the guidelines set by the federal government. Just think if South Dakota had done more they would have less cases and fewer deaths. From the start Montanans who thought they might have been exposed stayed home and called for advice when they got sick.
ReplyDeleteNothing happens in a bubble. The people of South Dakota could see & hear what was going on in other states and took things seriously by staying home despite there not being an order -- so Noem can thank, in part, the govs who did take such strides. And for the other reasons people have pointed out in these comments. Plus, SD's peak is still not expected until June or even July, so it's too early to be comparing numbers - as Noem's ads constantly remind us, this is a marathon, not a sprint, and SD's peak is not expected until June or July. It makes me think how back in March/April the downplayers were so quick to say that one couldn't compare Italy & the US, and now our deaths per million are near or at what there's were back then -- when people said it would never get that bad here because of the differences between our countries. 'Funny' how over time that number of deaths has become acceptable. Similar stories will happen between states over time.
ReplyDeleteJust because SD might peak in Ju e or July, doesn't mean it is a bad thing. We can still use common sense follow the suggestions given to stay safe. At least our governor try to abide by the Constitution and not by an iron fist😊
DeleteIt's no mystery. When testing resources are scarce, you don't always test the dead and dying. You save those resources for the living and the walking (who are more likely to be spreading the disease). So you have to take comparative mortality data with a huge grain of salt because testing is extremely spotty. To quote the CDC: Getting high quality cause-of-death information can be challenging, especially during emergencies. Certifiers may be faced with heavy workloads, may not have access to complete information about the death, or may not be well trained in how to prepare quality cause-of-death statements. (https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/covid-19.htm#understanding-death-data-quality)
ReplyDeleteMore interesting is that SD currently has an infection rate that is 174% of Minnesota's, yet you completely ignored that. With a population of 858,469 and 3887 cases as of today, SD has an infection rate of 439 cases per 100,000 people. MN has a population of 5,639,632 with 14,240 cases, which put it at only 252 cases per 100,000 people.
If you put aside the Smithfield incident (which you really shouldn't but for the sake of argument that's 783 cases), SD still has a rate of 363 cases per 100,000 citizens. That's 144% of MN's rate.
Partisan hyperbole and 'Monday Morning Quarterbacking' aside, given how little we know about this virus and how we've seen it completely overwhelm healthcare systems in other states and other countries, how can you blame someone for trying to save lives?
Please, let's keep it our secret!!!
ReplyDelete@inscore I don't think that was the idea. The idea was to not overwhelm the healthcare system, and we can't stop it we can only slow it down. Well the healthcare stem didn't get overwhelmed. We haven't stopped it but the spread is slower than even the most conservative models predicted. I don't know what the narrative is now, and I don't know how leaders in other states have any citizens convinced that any path other than towards normalcy is the right one now. It appears to me as if people believe that the goal was to try to reduce the number of people getting sick, but the reality is that what was advertised was let's slow down you're fast they get sick. Now some politiciand and media members have changed the narrative to. We must stomp on the curve and trash or economy until the vaccine arrives.
ReplyDeleteThanks for putting into words that sense of freedom you feel when you cross the South Dakota state line -- every time I come back home, I feel it too.
ReplyDeleteSD seems an unusually popular topic here!
ReplyDeleteFrom small town S.D. live in Chicago area for 36 yrs. Freedom is cherished but not thriving in Illinois & pretty much dead in (corrupt to the core) Chicago. Adults raised in Chicago stretch long and hard in trying to figure out simple freedom as politics (& life) in Chicago has been overly corrupt for longer then they've been alive. They grew up under a socialist regime and react to it as such, subjects of a non-free world. This is why people can't figure out as Angry Bird pointed out, the 'South Dakota Mystery' which I believe is really about what 'Freedom' should be more about. Not that we actually have total freedom, not even South Dakotans have that. But mankind is being walked down the road of giving up our complete freedom. You might say but what about Covid 19? Look at Sweden if S.D. isn't enough proof etc. This pandemic is about getting the masses to comply with giving up God given freedom and the Evil ones are doing their best to walk us down the road of no return.
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