When I wrote about the seemingly over-the-top response Neosho Mayor Howard Birdsong made to constituent Les Bond's brief e-mail, what I wrote was based on The Joplin Globe's coverage of the story.
The full extent of Birdsong's overreaction was not apparent to me until I read his response over the weekend in the Wednesday Neosho Daily News. Talk about talking a nuclear weapon to swat a fly.
All Bond did was promise to work to keep Birdsong from re-elected. Last I heard, that is the way America is supposed to operate. I didn't see any demeaning insults or inflammatory statements in Bond's e-mail.
I would hate to think how Birdsong would deal with the police situation which is faced by the Joplin City Council.
I was surprised by the Neosho Daily News editorial saying that everyone needed to settle down. If the Daily editorial writer was referring simply to the exchange between Birdsong and Bond, it owes an apology to Bond. If it refers to the entire Moark situation, I still don't see the problem. Citizens are organizing and have followed proper procedures so far, as far as I can tell. Perhaps advising everyone to stay calm is a good idea, but I haven't seen anything happening so far except two sides preparing for a battle over an issue. That is the way things have worked in this country for a long time.
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