Shari Johnson/Publisher
If you didn’t see the closing remarks by Governor Jim Justice in his State of the State Address, you missed quite the exiting remarks as he told Bette Middler she could kiss ”Baby Dog’s hiney” for her nasty comments regarding the State of West Virginia. Her remarks were posted on Twitter when she disagreed with Senator Joe Manchin’s vote against the “Build Back Better Act.” She criticized Manchin’s decision by tweeting “What #JoeManchin, who represents a population smaller than Brooklyn, has done to the rest of America, who wants to move forward, not backward, like his state, is horrible,” Midler tweeted. “He sold us out. He wants us all to be just like his state, West Virginia. Poor, illiterate and strung out.” She later apologized for her comment stating that she did it in anger.
Governor Justice took quite the offense to the Tweet as did many others who live in West Virginia. As for Senator Manchin’s vote, he was doing exactly what he was elected to do, represent his people, both Democrat and Republican who had overwhelmingly voiced their opinion that they disagreed with the “Build Back Better Act.”
Middler once again took to Twitter to lash out at the Governor, this time tweeting: ”BTW, here are the state rankings of all the areas and agencies for which the so-called “Governor” of WVA, #JimJustice, is responsible. Judging from these rankings, I’d say his dog’s a— (profanity) would make a better Governor than him!”
Governor Justice’s comments were applauded by some and criticized by others. I won’t say that it was the greatest of decisions for a Governor to do, but I whole heartedly agree that the last thing West Virginia needs to do is to concern ourselves with what the likes of what Hollywood Actresses think about our State. West Virginia certainly has their share of troubles, but Bette Middler hails from the State of New York, whose (ex-)Governor, Andrew Cuomo, was forced to resign for allegations of sexual harassment against multiple women.
With an FBI Investigation going on because of allocations of false data provided by Cuomo’s office, The New York Times posted that ”More than 172,000 residents and employees of nursing homes and long-term care facilities have died of complications from Covid-19 in the United States, according to a Times Analysis, New York leads all states in such deaths, with more than 15,000 so far.
The article continued to say:
At issue was a policy issued in March 2020 that effectively ordered nursing homes to take back residents,who had been discharged from hospitals after being treated for Covid-19. The goal was to keep virus patients from overwhelming hospitals, a step other states also took. Mr. Cuomo’s critics said the order had fueled the spread of the virus in nursing homes. He disputed the accusation.
This is not the only bad news coming from Bette Middler’s beloved home state.
According to United Van Lines’ 45th Annual National Movers Study shows that New York, was among five states with the steepest losses. Jersey led the way with 70% of customers leaving the state compared to 30% moving in; for the Empire State (third worst, behind Illinois in second) , it was 63% out, just 37% in.
The whole Northeast lost ground, as did California.
And nearly a third of exiting New Yorkers cited “family” as a primary factor, far more than those pointing to “cost.”
If you want an argument for the State of West Virginia even the United States Census will give you the ammunition.
The red scribbles are mine, and while I did not include every category, West Virginia certainly held their own with comparison to New York. By population there are many differences that we couldn’t hope to compete. But when it comes to education and poverty, we were higher in high school graduates and lower in people living in poverty than New York.
As for a comparison of Governor’s, ours has in no way embarrassed us or done the damage that their elected official Cuomo did. And when it comes to taking care of our Nursing Homes and the elderly, Governor Justice has prayed and made mention of those lost every day in his addresses to the State. West Virginia is known for families and hospitality.
I have always been proud to proclaim West Virginia as my home. Do I wish we’d do better… ? everyone should hope to do better. And unlike the Bette Middlers of the world, West Virginia takes care of their own and lets everyone else do the same. We are a population smaller than Brooklyn Ms. Middler, but we have far more elbow room! We not only love our State, we love our Country, including New York.
