The Staging Grounds II: Fascist Kristi Noem and Leftist Jason Isbell have something in common

They both decided to get their teeth fixed.

For years, Isbell had crooked teeth. When one commenter said they liked his former teeth, Isbell explained why he had the work done.  “I had bone loss, severe infection and neuralgia, and without the repairs I wasn’t gonna be singing much longer,” he wrote. “Like I don’t know if I mentioned this in any songs or interviews or whatnot, but I’m a recovering alcoholic from Alabama. It should really make sense to everyone.”

Now, the overwhelming majority of adults with teeth problem stem from childhood poverty and the inability to afford braces and other fixes in their youth which would alleviate the need to fix them in adulthood.

But, for some reason because American medical care cleaved dental care away from healthcare coverage we are stuck with this byzantine multi-layered system.

In case you unaware of Jason Isbell, he's "a recovering alcoholic" whose music often touches, sometimes quite deeply and quite personally on addiction issues, as well as relationships and his natural far left Progressive beliefs.  Isbell is famous for zingers on Twitter.  For instance, skewering Oklahoma Faux Tough Guy MarkWayne Mullin.

While, Isbell's dental procedure was done for medical reasons Noem got her teeth done in a pathetic transparent attempt to appeal to Donald Trump.  She wants to be the Vice President, and while schtuping Corey Lewandowski I'm sure discussions on how best to appeal to leering Trumps rapey libido.  

But, even though Noem has always been considered "Hawt" by Republican male gaze standard she's done a lot of surgery to her face (cheeks, nose, lips, now teeth) and pulled several stunts to burnish her rightwing bonafides; like opening up the Sturgis

It's Evolution, Baby!

Motorcycle Rally during the early peaks of Covid prior to vaccinations.  And sending the South Dakota National Guard to the Texas Border (perhaps this is the training for Desensitization and Dehumanization Republicans know they have to inculcate in the Army National Guard to handle liquidating migrants in "The Staging Grounds")

PIERRE, S.D. – Today, Governor Kristi Noem announced that she will deploy South Dakota National Guard troops to the southern border later this spring. This will be the fifth time that the South Dakota National Guard has deployed to the southern border to assist in border security efforts during the Noem Administration. 

 

“The border is a warzone, so we’re sending soldiers,” said Governor Noem. “These soldiers’ primary mission will be construction of a wall to stem the flow of illegal immigrants, drug cartels, and human trafficking into the United States of America.” - February 20, 2024

It's a "war zone" Noem said but, not according to conservatives who've travelled to the border themselves instead of listening to lying press releases from Republican governors...

I would prefer they all hang together but, I will
accept if they all are hanged apart...

"It's not what I expected. But then again, I don't know what I expected. I can tell you it's not as bad as what I thought. So that's kind of eye-opening in itself, too."

Noem is also pretty sure she can get away with petty abuses of power which Trump himself is famous for, such as using her office to get her daughter preferential treatment as she progressed through a real estate appraiser licensing program administered by the state, or doing paid advertisements for her recent orthodontic operations and for a specialty foot store (ed: I just realized Noem is selling foot impressions to MAGA men.)

Of course, Noem won't face any consequences for her abuse of power,  Republicans are never held accountable, and rightwing media has been working to make her a star for many years now because Republicans know when you're a Star they let you do it...