South Dakotans, at least many of them, pride themselves for living in a Red State. After what happened in Washington D. C. on January 6, this disaster should take a little glow from that pride.

The majority of South Dakotans voted for Donald Trump 4 years ago and then re-upped their support in 2020. By putting this moron in office and then voting to have him continue in office these South Dakotans must also accept the responsibility for the riots at the Nation’s Capital and for the more than 368,000 deaths from COVID-19.

You can’t have it both ways. You helped to put this pathological liar into office and you must also stand responsible for all of the harm he did to the American people while he was in office. He would not have been in office to do all of this harm if not for your vote.

Not only that but right up to the very end you South Dakotans screamed right along with the other conspiracy theorists that the national elections were rigged, except of course in South Dakota. You and all of your conspirators were just as responsible as Trump for the insurrection that fell on this Nation’s Capital on January 6.

And now the political party you supported, the Republican Party, is a shell of itself. It cannot even call itself a legitimate political party any longer. You supported and allowed a blithering idiot to lead you around by the nose for 4 years and now you sit and wonder what went wrong. What went wrong was your blind allegiance to a would be dictator and just like the devoted followers of Adolf Hitler by supporting this soon-to-be anarchist you proved that you were just doing your duty by following the leader.

As members of a party that has the most members in South Dakota you will continue to support this disgraced maniac no matter what. All of you can now consider yourselves baptized morons.

The Native Americans of this state sat back and watched the debacle that you supported grow and build over the past 4 years and all Natives knew that it would soon come crashing down on your heads. There are nine Indian reservations in this state and not one of those reservations supported Trump.

Our history has taught us about men like him. We saw them come in the guise of government agents and businessmen in the past speaking with honey on their lying tongues and making laws that would soon take away most of our lands and deprive us of the lives we had lived for a thousand years.

The Donald Trumps of the world had left their indelible marks on the lives of Native Americans for a couple of centuries before the real one arrived in the last election. We saw him, we feared him, and we voted against him, but we did not have the votes to overcome him. Now it was up to our fellow South Dakotans to see to that.

The day that Trump declared the coronavirus a hoax even though people were starting to die in increasing numbers, every South Dakotan should have stood up against him, but he was aided and abetted by the Governor of South Dakota Kristi Noem who embraced his lies without question. We haven’t heard a word out of her since her lord and master disgraced himself and the office of the President of the United States by supporting and cheering on the rioters in DC. Because like Trump she has developed a strong case of bunker mentality.

But Trump and Noem are not alone. Every South Dakotan who put an X next to Trump’s name in the past 2 national elections is also responsible for the debacle that has fallen upon America. If Trump had successfully destroyed America, which he was on a strong path to make it happen, every South Dakotan that was so stupid as to vote for him would also have been responsible for the destruction of their own country.

And there are thousands of Native Americans today who can only scratch their heads and wonder how, even in these final days of disgrace, so many South Dakotans and Republicans could still stand by this horrible little man.

Even after the Nation’s Capital was ransacked more than 100 Republicans still tried to deny Joe Biden and Kamala Harris the offices of president and vice-president of the United States even after the Electoral College declared them as the winners.

Perhaps the poison that oozed out of the pores of Donald J. Trump infected the Republican Party and turned it members into moronic zombies who had no choice but to follow their Dracula over the cliffs. It is all over now and the GOP has a mountain to climb if it is ever to restore its dignity and self-respect, 2 qualities they gave up 4 years ago. The South Dakota GOP badly needs another Jim Abnor and Larry Pressler, two Republicans who understood honesty and integrity.

South Dakota Republicans failed to remember the good qualities of their ancestors that lying is not only wrong, but a sin and that blindly following a leader who cares only about himself can endanger their futures and that of the following generations. Perhaps it is not too late to restore your dignity and self-respect. In the meantime members of the GOP, there is a little red on your hands and it will be hard to wash off.

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Tim Giago (Oglala Lakota) is the founder of the Native American Journalists Association and of Indian Country Today. Contact him at najournalist1@gmail.com.

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Note: Content © Tim Giago