Beebe Throws A Governor-Sized Tantrum

Tantrum (noun) – “a fit of bad temper”

The ever popular Gov. Mike Beebe threw a tantrum today at the state capitol when he did not get his way.  It actually makes you sort of scratch your head and wonder how a governor with a 68 percent approval rating can have such a difficult time getting along with his lieutenant governor.  He did not get along with former Lieutenant Governor Bill Halter and today he showed that he can’t get along with Lieutenant Governor Mark Darr either.

It began last week when Beebe was in Washington for a governor’s conference.  Before he left, he announced that he would not sign and instead allow SB 131 which exempted the names of concealed carry permit holders from public records.  The governor offered some snide remarks on offering an exemption to FOIA that his office enjoys to concealed carry permit holders, but his action would have allowed the bill to become law on Monday.

When Beebe left the state, Lieutenant Governor Mark Darr became acting governor.  Darr chose to sign SB 131 last Friday which had the huge legal effect of enacting the law three days earlier.  Darr said that he felt the bill which passed with 84 votes in the House and 24 votes in the Senate deserved to have a signature on it.

Beebe, back in town today, threw his tantrum about the audacity of Darr to do something without his permission. The back-and-forth began this morning on Alice Stewart’s new talk show on KHTE 96.5 The Voice where both Beebe and Darr were scheduled as back-to-back guests.

Beebe was asked about Darr’s signature and he said he felt it was “inappropriate.”  He declined to say more during the interview, but hinted that he might say more later.

“I am sorry if I hurt the governor’s feelings,” responded Darr after Beebe’s appearance, explaining that his action was not about Beebe but about his support for the bill and that he felt it needed to become law with his signature.

Later Tuesday morning, Beebe returned to the subject in front of a gaggle of reporters outside his office. As David Goins of Fox16 described it, the governor “verbally eviscerated the lieutenant governor.”

“I heard he (Darr) said something about, if he embarrassed me, he apologizes,” said Beebe. “He didn’t embarrass me. He embarrassed himself. That’s his problem. We’ll be much more careful with regard to Darr.”

The governor’s spokesman Matt DeCample went even further saying “we haven’t seen anything like this since back in the days of Jerry Jewell.” As a bit of history, Jewell was the former Senate Pro Temp who pardoned two convicts and granted three clemencies while then-Gov. Jim Guy Tucker was in Washington for Bill Clinton’s Presidential inauguration.  There was no Lieutenant Governor at the time, so Jewell was next in line.  I asked DeCample if it was a stretch to compare signing a bill that would have become law anyway to letting criminals out of prison.

“In both cases, the individual serving as acting governor used their temporary position to take actions that the elected governor would not have taken.  Keep in mind that Lt. Gov. Darr also wanted to sign HB1037 until Rep. Mayberry asked him not to,” responded DeCample.

And it was certainly a nice thank you the governor gave Mayberry by vetoing his bill to ban abortions at the point in which unborn children can experience pain – around 20 weeks.  Mayberry’s bill passed the House with 80 votes and the Senate with 25 votes.

“I respect the governor but this name calling and going back-and-forth is part of the Washington-style politics that the governor says he resents,” said Darr later that afternoon on KARN news radio.

The governor showed his displeasure with Darr even though his action had little effort other than causing Beebe a bit of face.  If he opposed the law, Beebe could have simply prevented the whole thing by vetoing the bill before he left town.  He didn’t and now he is just mad.