Shelby County Republicans, who normally hold their annual Lincoln Day banquet reasonably close to the birthday of their eminent founder, Abraham Lincoln, in February, are running late this year. The celebratory event is scheduled for the night of Sunday, June 23rd, at the Hilton Hotel on Ridge Lake Boulevard.
Perhaps as compensation, they’re doubling up on the number of keynote speakers, offering not only state Senator Brent Taylor of Memphis, the dinner’s official sponsor and financial backer, but also — local dog lovers, take note — Governor Kristi Noem of South Dakota.
Both principals have made more than their share of headlines this year — Taylor as a would-be crimefighter and sponsor of numerous bills to impose greater state authority on Memphis law enforcement, and Noem as the currently most famous (or notorious) adversary of uppity canines.
There is a well-known saying that goes, “If you want a friend in Washington, get a dog.” That piece of advice is not a good fit for Noem, who purportedly aspires to serve in the nation’s capital as vice president for a reelected President Donald J. Trump and, perhaps to enhance her credentials, published a memoir this year, No Going Back: The Truth on What’s Wrong with Politics and How We Move America Forward.
In most estimates, Noem’s strategy misfired badly — mainly due to her candor about having shot to death a dog that she deemed too feisty and not skillful enough as a hunting dog. To make things worse, the execution — for such it was in the eyes of Noem’s critics — was carried out in a gravel pit, under the watchful eyes of some construction workers.
Public reaction to Noem’s disclosure has been almost unanimously negative, but what’s done is done. There is, in the words of her title, no going back. And, to give Noem her due, she persists in trying to move forward, if not America, then her own future prospects.
Local Republicans will have an opportunity to judge for themselves on June 23.
