Last year, former President Donald Trump gave an epic address for the July 4th celebration at Mt. Rushmore. While there were protesters and ginned-up COVID-drama, the event went off spectacularly.
Governor Kristi Noem had hoped for another Independence Day display at Mt. Rushmore this year.
Noem sent a letter to the state’s congressional delegation earlier this week asking for their assistance in advocating for the fireworks as the Biden administration takes power in Washington. There’s been concern that the president’s Secretary of the Interior nominee Deb Haaland would put a stop to the fourth of July festivities.Noem says she hopes the administration will honor agreements that have already been signed to hold this year’s fireworks show.”All of the parameters and permitting processes have been laid out already and the documents signed,” Noem said. “With the change in administration, we just hope they continue through with that and not pull the rug out from underneath us, much like they did with the Keystone pipeline.”
However, the Biden administration could not yank the carpet out from under Noem fast enough . . . using COVID as a cover.
The Biden administration has decided not to allow Fourth of July fireworks at Mount Rushmore — citing the COVID-19 pandemic — in a reversal of former President Donald Trump’s decision to allow them at the national monument.The National Parks Service made the call despite Biden saying in a primetime speech Thursday that COVID-19 likely will wane to the point of life nearing normal by July 4.Parks Service Regional Director Herbert Frost wrote to South Dakota’s tourism office that it it is “only prudent to make plans based on the best available science and public health guidance available today.”“Potential risks to the park itself and to the health and safety of employees and visitors associated with the fireworks demonstration continue to be a concern and are still being evaluated as a result of the 2020 event,” Frost wrote in the letter, which was first reported by The Hill.
Previously, environmental concerns had been used to cancel the show.
Last year, fireworks returned to Mount Rushmore for an Independence Day celebration for the first time since 2009. They had previously been canceled due to wildfire risks.At the time of last year’s event, former President Trump gave a speech, and social distancing and mask wearing were not enforced.In his letter to South Dakota Tourism Secretary Jim Hagen, Frost said that with such a large gathering, complying with social distancing protocols would be “difficult, if not impossible.”
I guess we are suppose to be grateful that we may be allowed to hold small family bar-b-ques this Independence Day. And while I will celebrate our founding fathers, I will be drinking heavily to at least temporarily forget the current leadership that is being foisted upon Americans.
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