In Which The State Of The State Address Featured A Dog's Butthole

Whaddya expect? It's West Virginia.

Bette Midler had harsh words for the governor of West Virginia after he showed his dog’s backside at the end of his State of the State speech, in a bizarre rejoinder to the actor, singer and activist.

Responding on Thursday to a tweet in which Midler called West Virginia “poor, illiterate and strung out”, the Republican Jim Justice said she could kiss his dog’s “hiney”.

On Friday, Midler retweeted a picture of the stunt with the caption: “Here we can see a dog’s asshole. Right next to it is the butt of Jim Justice’s dog.”

Midler also tweeted: “Here are the state rankings of all the areas and agencies for which the so-called ‘governor’ of West Virginia, Jim Justice, is responsible. Judging from these rankings, I’d say his dog’s ass would make a better governor than him!”

No one should be surprised that West Virginia ranks at the bottom of most rankings when it comes to almost any category. That things like healthcare, education, and economic metrics consistently rank in the bottom five of states is the norm for a state mired in the doldrums during the best of times.

So, it wasn’t exactly a shock when Bette Midler and Gov. Jim Justice got into a Twitter tete-a-tete over the state of affairs in the Mountain State.

Midler was frustrated with Sen. Joe Manchin’s holding the Senate hostage over the Build Back Better bill and accused Manchin of wanting to move America back, like West Virginia.

She later thought better of her words and apologized to “the good people” of West Virginia.

Justice chose to end an address in which he said too many people “doubted” West Virginians and “told every bad joke in the world about us” by lifting up his pet and flashing its bottom to the cameras and crowd.

“Babydog tells Bette Midler and all those out there: Kiss her hiney,” he said as the crowd applauded. Attendees included lawmakers, state supreme court justices and agency heads. Members of a high school girl’s basketball team Justice coaches were present in the gallery.

Shawn Fluharty, a Democratic state delegate, said: “The governor brought his Babydog and pony show to the State of the State and pulled this stunt as some bold statement.

“It was nothing short of embarrassing and beneath the office. Jim Justice habitually lowers the bar of our state. They don’t laugh with us, but at us.”

The problem is that West Virginia too often is its own worst enemy. With leaders like Jim Justice and with so little emphasis on healthcare, education, and economic development, West Virginia has been a basket case for generations. With an economy based largely on dying extraction industries, almost no agricultural sector, and no backup plan, the state’s economy and its tax base continue to shrink. It has little to offer in the way of an educated or trained workforce, and as coal continues to die, it’s taking West Virginia down with it.

Gov. Justice can give a folksy, pseudo-humorous retort to Bette Midler’s criticism, but the reality is that she’s right. If the Governor can’t recognize that, he needs to resign and hand the job over to someone who does.

West Virginia is the closest thing to a Third World Country you’ll find in America (no mean feat when you consider Kentucky, Alabama, and Mississippi), and many of its problems are self-inflicted. Instead of trying to figure out how to make the most of what the state does have to offer, it’s wallowed in incompetence and corruption for far too long. Until and unless that changes, the people of West Virginia will be living in a state that will continue to be the butt of jokes. Whether that’s fair or not is another story for another time, but it’s the Mountain State’s reality, and the state’s government seems incapable and/or unwilling to do what needs to be done to change that reality.

So a Governor and a dog’s asshole walk into a bar….

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