Don't Embarrass the Governor

October 19, 2021

Don’t blame Governor Parson. He was probably embarrassed. And you know how it is when somebody embarrasses you.

If somebody says, “Boy, your presentation sure tanked, didn’t it?” you might, in the heat of the moment, snap back, “Yeah, well you’re a smug jerk. And your tie is ugly.”

So, when a reporter pointed out that a state website was leaving teachers’ Social Security numbers vulnerable, the governor got embarrassed. (Note: The story was held until the state had had time to fix the flaw, so that unscrupulous people couldn’t yell, “Yippee!” and avail themselves of that treasure trove.)

But the governor didn’t fire back in the heat of the moment. He filed a lawsuit and sent out press releases disparaging the reporter and the newspaper that printed the story. He accused the reporter of hacking. (Hacking implies somebody had to access the information illegally. The numbers were right there.)

That isn’t the heat of the moment.

That’s being a jerk.


And he might want to check his tie, as well.

(I just looked at today’s paper, and in the editorial cartoon, the governor is wearing an ugly tie. But I didn’t get the idea from that, I swear.)