I bet my headline has you wondering what the heck I’m going to be talking about, huh? Well, I can assure you this editorial will not be like one of those late night “Girls Gone Wild” infomercials where people are acting all wild and sex-crazed (at least not in its entirety). Instead, I will explain how some men you’re probably already familiar with have been acting rather badly; be it arrogance, blatant disregard, or maybe even fear.
Let’s start with a local man.
Our good ol’ Gov. Mitch Daniels has recently been criticized for a $205 million tax error. This is right on the heels of a programming mistake detected last December that resulted in the discovery of $320 million the state was unaware it had. Do the math and you’ll realize both instances total $525 million; or in other words, more than half-a-billion dollars!
I get that mistakes happen, but how do mistakes happen in excess of $500 million? Geez!
The good thing is that 91 of Indiana’s 92 counties will receive their portions of the mishandled money plus interest. Marion County alone stands to get $41 million, of which the mayor says will be directed towards future shortfalls.
The unfortunate thing is that this huge gaffe severely tarnishes Daniels reputation as he ends his second term in office. Say what you want to about Daniels, but he has been credited nationwide for being a respected budget expert. After all, Daniels is the same guy who President George W. Bush affectionately called “The Blade” for his fiscal conservativeness and his ability to produce tremendous savings.
So why did Gov. Daniels make Shannon’s “Men behaving badly” list?
His attitude is the culprit.
Rather than make himself available to the media, issue some sort of statement, or even appear remotely interested in an independent audit, Daniels has been a bit cavalier about the mishaps. A half-a-billion dollars is a lot of money and our state’s leader should be more responsive and less haughty regarding the matter.
Next on the “Men behaving badly” list is Bobby Petrino, the Arkansas football coach who was fired this week for lying.
Petrino was involved in a motorcycle accident on April 1 that resulted in four broken ribs and cracked vertebrae. Petrino did not initially tell school officials that he had a passenger on the motorcycle with him. That passenger was 25-year-old Jessica Dorrell, who has been having an affair with the married Petrino. Petrino admitted having an inappropriate relationship with Dorrell four days after the accident even though the school’s athletic director said Petrino “had a lot of opportunities to share” the nature of his relationship with Dorrell.
To add to the controversy, Petrino hired Dorrell as a student-athlete development coordinator and also gave her a $20,000 gift.
Officials at the University of Arkansas said that as head coach, Petrino had a responsibility to the university in general and the players specifically.
Perhaps things would have turned out a bit differently if Petrino was forthcoming about all aspects of the accident and his involvement with Dorrell.
The final man on my “Men behaving badly” list is George Zimmerman, the Florida man who shot and killed 17-year-old Trayvon Martin. He was charged with second-degree murder Wednesday.
As if ending the life of another human being isn’t bad enough, Zimmerman has taken things a few steps further by (1) launching a website that is audacious enough to have “Justice for Zimmerman” with an American flag on the backdrop (he is actually soliciting funds on his site) and (2) by going in hiding to a location that many law enforcement officials are familiar with, leading many to justifiably believe he is a flight risk. Thankfully, after being charged, Zimmerman surrendered to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
There are so many words I can use to describe my feelings about Zimmerman, but because we are a family paper, I will refrain.
Completely unbelievable!
You can email comments to Shannon Williams at shannonw@indyrecorder.com.
