Ignited's blog

Dear Spence,

I’ve been thinkinbout how hard it is going to be for you to write your normal 275 word press releases in the dark.  I don’t know how you are going to write words and sentences and string them coherently (or not) into paragraphs in an office with little illumination.  Assuming your office isn’t in the Senate storage area in the basement, I’d guess you’ve got some natural light coming in from either an outside facing window or one of those antique, high, hallway windows in the Capitol.  Or maybe you got a new ceiling light during the asbestos remodeling.  But anyway, you might have seen some light from above, until now.  Now you are really going to be left in the dark by your boss.

Dear Spence,

You know, I’ve been giving a lot of thought to your future lately.  I’m worried that perhaps the young man you work for might decide you’ve given too much free publicity to “lib blogs” like Fired Up.  He might just up and decide it’s time for a change and, poof, you’re a goner.  You’re young too with a lot of opportunity (well at least some chance) ahead of you.  So you probably need professional advice, and, well, mine’s free, so here goes.

Dear Spence,

I was thinking about how difficult it is going to be for you to reenter the community when you leave the blunt governor’s office.  But then I read your September 21, 2005 press release and learned that a program was already underway for which I’m certain you’ll qualify.

The title of that press release, you’ll recall, was “Governor Blunt Spotlights Missouri Reentry Program.”  Wow!  When I first read that headline, I was thrilled.  I grew up glued to the T.V. every time one of our spaceships, filled with our American astronauts, returned to earth to splash down in the ocean.  What a spectacular return for those heroes.  But alas, the program you spotlighted was one by the Missouri Department of Corrections to return offenders to the community after release from prison.

Dear Spence,

You are probably on a little vacation needed for recovery after a tough week of vicious attacks from Fired Up bloggers.  But you need to return quickly because your boss needs you.  He seems to need more word choices and you, the pro communicator, can easily supply that need, I think.

You see, I needed to catch up on a little Fired Up reading and came across the following quote from your boy in a 9/26/2005 article in the Jeff City News Tribune about the needs of the Department of Conservation.  This article was about whether Conservation needed a new $2 million dollar plane or didn’t need one to fulfill its needs in serving the needs of the public while conserving our needed resources.

Dear Spence,

Please quit frightening Cole and Jefferson Thomas.  I know you sit at the knee of the nation’s 45^th most popular governor, a man not easily alarmed even when faced with hordes of wild eyed wheel chair drivers, nor panicked by the prisoners in his own mansion, but that doesn’t give you the right to frighten these poor bloggers.  Sure, they think you’re nuts and your boss terribly slanted, but they shouldn’t have to live the rest of their lives hiding behind pseudonyms and under their beds.

The manner in which Secretary of State Robin Carnahan’s office conducted the recount of the Jefferson County state senate race shows that Secretary Carnahan is more than “up to the job.”  On May 6, Carnahan’s office announced that Republican Bill Alter received 72 votes more than his Democratic opponent, Rick Johnson.  Carnahan pledged during her campaign that she would keep the Secretary of State’s elections duties nonpartisan.  As chief elections officer, she said she would ensure integrity and fairness in the elections process.  Her first recount kept that pledge. 

Secretary of State Robin Carnahan's office deserves major credit for focusing attention to and encouraging action on Waddell & Reed's alleged improper variable annuities transactions.  An agreement was announced by the National Association of Securities Dealers that calls for W& R to pay fines and restitutions totaling $18 million. 

 NASD had filed a complaint a last year that W&R customers had incurred $10 million in charges due to variable annuity switching.  In March, Carnahan's office suspended Waddell & Reed.  The Blunt administration's Department of Insurance intervened and questioned Carnahan's action.  W&R apparently decided settlement was in their best interest. (Check out who works for the W&R's attorney's.  Yup, the Blunt siblings are connected.)