Blunt Unable to Cite Single First Year Mistake

Submitted by Jeff Mazur on December 17, 2005 - 8:51pm

A piece posted this afternoon to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch website --while notable mostly for its embarassingly fawning coverage of the Guv by Virginia Young -- does have one interesting bit buried in the very last graf.

Incredibly, though it defies all earthly logic, the story's finale includes the admission by Matt Blunt that he is unable to name one mistake he's made during his first year as Governor.  Young writes:

During the interview, the only question that stumped Blunt was: What mistakes have you made? He couldn't cite any.

"We'll call you if we think of any," he quipped

Yes, it's Matt Blunt, governor of the state of Missouri we're talking about here.  That's the same Matt Blunt who...

  • ...hired Randa Hayes, a woman with a criminal history of grand theft, to a high-level post at the state's Department of Economic Development;
  • ...took illegal campaign contributions from a man who he'd later name to a post on the state's Highway commission, and failed to report those contributions as well;
  • ...proposed a budget which included the elimination of the highly regarded First Steps program for diabled toddlers;
  • ...allowed Spence Jackson to head up his communications shop;
  • ...cut healthcare from a minimum of 90,000 Missourians who were previously insured via the Medicaid program; and
  • ...signed bills into law while simultaneously telling Missourians that the resultant law ought to be ignored.

Yet he can't think of a single, solitary mistake he's made.

So, presumably, Blunt believes hiring Randa "Stickyfingers" Hayes was not a mistake.  And neither was his failure to comply with the campaign finance disclosure laws.

There's a word for folks who believe violating the law is not a mistake. They're called crooks.  Based on Virginia Young's reporting, we're left to conclude that Matt Blunt would rather be lumped in with that group than have to admit publicly ever having made a mistake.

It's reminiscent of another self-assured Republican who couldn't think of any mistakes he'd made even though he'd effectively signed the death warrants of more than 2,000 (and counting) young Americans.

A sad commentary on our governor, and on the minds of the Republicans currently running our country.

Share