Letters to the Editor: Mike Pound column

SO, I need to confess that sometimes I read something and it just chaps my hide a bit. Like this morning, for instance. I read a column by Joplin Globe columnist Mike Pound that really got under my skin, and, probably to my detriment, I HAD to respond. Did I respond inappropriately? Perhaps. But definitely not as inappropriately as in my first draft, which included words like 'fool,' 'idiot,' and 'stupid.' The column appeared in today's paper under the headline, "Hopes Dashed By Matt's One-liner." It was also available online. I've copied it here, and the response I submitted is below.

Globe columnist
I’m disappointed with Matt Blunt.

I thought he was different. I thought he was better than all the other politicians who have decided not run for re-election. And he was — at first.

When the story first broke that Matt didn’t want to be governor anymore, I was hopeful that we were seeing history in the making. For the first time, I thought, we had a politician who was not going to run for re-election because he said he had accomplished everything he had set out to accomplish. Later, he said he didn’t want to be governor anymore because he lost his mission.

I liked those reasons for no longer wanting to be governor. I was proud of Matt for saying those things. I was proud of Matt for going out on his own terms. For being his own governor who didn’t want to be governor. In effect, Matt was standing up and saying: “I don’t care what past governors who no longer wanted to be governor said. I don’t want to be governor because I got all my work done.”

Downright inspiring is what it was.

Then my hopes were dashed. Then my faith in Matt was destroyed. My faith was destroyed by one little line in an Associated Press story explaining why else Matt didn’t want to be governor anymore: He also said he wanted to spend more time with his wife, Melanie, and 2-year-old son, Branch.

Darn it, Matt, you were so close. You were so close to being my hero. So close to being someone that I would be proud to see go on to higher public offices. But no, you had to ruin everything. You had to say you were not running so you could spend more time with your family.

See, Matt, everyone who quits says he wants to spend more time with the family. It’s the verbal equivalent of checking into rehab. Not that I’m suggesting that you need to check into rehab. I’m just saying that just about anyone who decides to quit a job because of some sort of scandal quits and then immediately checks into rehab. Not that I’m saying you’re quitting because of some sort of scandal. I’m just saying I wish you hadn’t said you were quitting to spend more time with your family.

I don’t mean to criticize here, but if you really wanted to spend more time with your family, I’m thinking you probably shouldn’t have been governor in the first place. Matt, did you talk to any of the other governors before you decided you wanted to be governor? Did you ask any of the other governors if they got to spend a lot of time with their families?

See, I would have.

The thing is, Matt, I loved your original reasons for not wanting to be governor. I think basically saying “Well, citizens, my work here is done” is something the Lone Ranger would say. The only thing cooler than you saying “Well, citizens, my work here is done” would have been if you had hopped on your fiery white steed and galloped away with a hearty “Hi-ho, Silver.”

But no, you had to ruin it. You had to have the Lone Ranger say, “Well, citizens, I am taking off my mask so I can spend more time with Tonto.” Not that I’m suggesting that you wear a mask. I’m just saying I liked your first reasons for not wanting to be governor.

Matt, I had high hopes for you. When you said you didn’t want to be governor anymore because you had done everything you wanted to do, I was moved almost to tears. Matt, I dared to dream that one day, you would go on to decide you didn’t want to be vice president of the United States.

But you ruined that dream for me, Matt. You ruined it with that one little sentence in that AP story.

Now, if you will excuse me, I need to stop now. I need to go home and spend more time with my family.

My response:

Mike Pound's column disparaging Gov. Blunt's reasons for leaving office was sad. I was surprised and offended that he would so easily criticize a public servant who has done so much in so short a time. Pound sounded arrogant and ignorant all at once. Perhaps that wasn't his intent, but that's the way the article read. It sounded like an attack on family values, and that, more than anything, doesn't belong in print.

You can do better than that Mr. Pound. As a columnist you have a voice most of us don't. To use it so negatively is a betrayal of your talent, an affront to your readers, and a black mark on your own character record. Governor Blunt is ending his term of public service with honor and integrity. Will you?