As is so often the case, I found some very interesting news in the recent edition of the Colorado Politics Out West Roundup. A couple of the stories there caught my eye, starting with a report on my old ICBM base, FE Warren AFB up in Cheyenne, Wyoming. I spent my first five years of active duty up there as one of the “finger-on-the-button” guys (in my day it was all male).

During my time in the missile operations world, we were always cognizant of the larger world around us. And though we knew our global adversaries would know the location of all of the missiles and launch-control centers (they are all on public roads, with signs), we did try to deny them any additional sensitive information when we could. We were aware, for example, of when certain things might be flying over and taking pictures, so we made sure, metaphorically, the windows were closed and the shades drawn during such flyovers.

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Imagine my surprise when reading the Roundup and learning President Joe Biden banned a Chinese-backed firm from owning land and operating near FE Warren. Turns out, the Chinese surrogate company (I pretty much assume all Chinese companies have Chinese governmental tendrils inside them) had set up a cryptocurrency minding operation near the base.

Now, I’m only a little bit aware of what mining cryptocurrency is all about, and frankly, the entire operation seems silly to me. There is such a mining company not far from me, and they have thousands of computers working 24/7 in hopes of getting rich.

I am quite sure allowing a high-tech company owned by a significant adversary, quite near an active ICBM base, to operate freely isn’t a good thing, and Biden took action to shut them down. A government agency I admit I had not heard of, the U.S. Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, has the power to check out such foreign operations and then, the president can shut down iffy ones.

So, good job CFIUS, and good job Biden.

And if you read my recent column on South Dakota Governor, and dog and goat assassin, Kristi Noem, you know she didn’t do herself any favors in her recent book, admitting to a variety of sins against decency. Oh, and she claimed to have stared down the dictator of North Korea, and that never happened — but as we’ve learned from a certain former president, truth and facts are fungible.

Anyway, as reported in the Roundup, Gov. Noem recently made even more news at a town hall event, wherein she stated the state’s tribal leaders were profiting off of drug cartels and those same leaders prioritized helping the cartels over taking care of their own children.

And somehow, the tribal leaders of South Dakota were offended. Really offended.

The result is as of now, Noem is banned from setting foot on all tribal lands in South Dakota. Every one of the state’s nine tribes have voted to ban Noem from visiting their reservations. Noem insists though tribal leaders might be against her (you know, the folks she claimed were aiding drug cartels), the average tribal member still likes her. Right…

One can’t help but think former President and current Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump dodged a bullet (unlike Noem’s dog and goat) when Noem, often listed high on possible VP lists, self-destructed by writing her book. Trump will have enough challenges in his campaign without his VP choice turning out to be a lightening rod.

Recall for a moment the problems a certain Alaskan governor created for GOP nominee John McCain back in 2008. As tribal lands make up roughly 12% of South Dakota, Noem isn’t exactly stranded in the state capital. But her, frankly, stupidity in revealing such damaging information about herself and her reckless comments doesn’t bode well for her future national political goals, and for that, we can be grateful.

But am I being too harsh?

Such “own goals” (sorry, soccer term, I’ve been watching “Welcome to Wrexham”) can be catastrophic, or sometimes they don’t seem to hurt a candidate at all (Trump and the “Access Hollywood” tape), and it is difficult to predict how such things will eventually shake out. I’m guessing the MAGA base just loves Noem and applauds her actions and words. I’d be delighted, frankly, if Trump still picked Noem for VP, as anything that makes the very dangerous Trump more likely to lose works for me. But I suspect the Noem ship has sailed.

These two stories and more are proof, dear readers, the Out West Roundup is a very interesting and important section of CoPo and I urge you to read it regularly. You will find stories you won’t find elsewhere, and that is a good thing.

Stay tuned!

Hal Bidlack is a retired professor of political science and a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel who taught more than 17 years at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs.