Sunday, February 12, 2023

Bill Crawford: Gov Slams Respected Former Chancellor

 “I’d bet I hadn’t talked to this dude since well before he was fired by Ole Miss,” tweeted Gov. Tate Reeves.

“This dude!” Really? 

The “dude” referred to was Dr. Dan Jones, the highly respected and much beloved former Chancellor of the University of Mississippi, the University’s former distinguished Vice Chancellor for Health Affairs and dean of the medical school, the accomplished physician and former medical missionary to Korea, and the recently retired director of the Mississippi Center for Obesity Research.

Also, Dan was never fired by Ole Miss. The IHL Board chose not to renew his contract as Chancellor in 2015 when he unwaveringly stood behind his successors at the medical center in the face of strong board intrusion into its operations.     

The Governor issued his caustic tweet after Dan revealed a conversation he had with Reeves during his time as Chancellor.

“A little while after I began explaining the benefits of Medicaid expansion, he (Reeves) put his hand up and said, ‘Chancellor, I recognize it would be good for Mississippians, good for our economy, good for health care if we expanded Medicaid,'” Dan recalled in a recent press conference. “I had a big smile on my face and said, ‘I’m so glad to hear you’re going to support expansion.’ His response, ‘Oh no, I’m not going to support it because it’s not in my personal political interest.'”

Reeves’ tweet called Jones’ comments an “obvious lie,” adding “I never would have said this.”

Unfortunately, the Governor may well have said something like that. He has had similar conversations in private about PERS’ financial woes. 

A self-proclaimed numbers guy, former State Treasurer, former Lt. Governor, and now Governor, Reeves understands more than most the financial plight of hospitals, the true costs and benefits of Medicaid expansion, and the never ending funding dilemmas at PERS.

While Lt. Governor he once said, “The fact our pension funding levels are weak and getting weaker, that’s a real issue. But heretofore, there has not been the political will to do anything about it.” 

An early supporter, I began to doubt Tate’s competence to lead when he as Lt. Governor ducked the PERS issue after Gov. Haley Barbour’s PERS study commission issued its detailed report. He confirmed that doubt when he ignored the plight of hospitals.

The sad truth is that none have lacked the political will to tackle PERS and health care issues more than Tate Reeves. He has feared, as Dan Jones recounted, potential negative impacts on his political ambitions.

Had Dan been more of a political creature like the Governor, enraptured with his own ambitions, he would still be Chancellor at Ole Miss. Kudos to the “dude” for speaking out.  

“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit” – Philippians 2:3.

Crawford is a syndicated columnist from Jackson


48 comments:

Anonymous said...

Tater knows he said it, just like every other Republican office holder he could care less about anything but his political fortunes. Tater will try to bump Comrade Cindy as soon as he is tern limited. The guy is vain enough to believe he could be president one day.

Anonymous said...

Choosing not to renew a contract is getting terminated, i.e., fired.

Anonymous said...

Damn Crawford, little bias showing here?

"Respected" Chancellor?? Evidently the members of the Institutions of Higher Learning didn't have the same opinion of him. They Respected' him and his haughty ass self enough to fire him because he thought he didn't have to respect his bosses - he knew better than them and told them so.

Sounds like he still has a Donald Trump size ego.

Anonymous said...

This is an old story. Reeves amply demonstrated his integrity and leadership by his successful intercession to fix the Jackson water plant with aplomb. Judge him by his deeds, not by a partisan third party twist of his words.

Anonymous said...

Tate realizes that there is no political future for him if all he wants to do is the right thing. It's about doing the smart thing, politically. The largest political faction in this state is very conservative and often very unforgiving, especially of a politician who displays none of the personal persuasiveness to overcome an unpopular decision. So Tate takes no chances. No matter the ultimate benefit to the whole state. Keep saying never, never, never, never! Two term governor.

Anonymous said...

Was Tater in attendance at the Whitehouse this weekend. Did he confront Biden ? Was he a Sick Puppy ?

Anonymous said...

Leave it to the Democrats like Crawford. Pigott's contract isn't renewed, it is a firing. Jones is sent packing, it is a contract non-renewal.

Jones brings this up 8+ years later? Sure Dan, whatever you say.

Anonymous said...

Getting the sack from the IHL board is like the Red Badge Of Courage. He must have taken his job seriously.

That'sMisterDeplorableToYou said...

PERS issues fly under the radar of most Mississippians. This will change when the legislature is forced to pass a tax increase when PERS cannot meet its commitments.

Anonymous said...

Well, Billy in his full deity continues to display his omniscience. You have absolutely no way of knowing what was said between those two men. You simply have a preconceived bias toward one of them and for that matter all conservatives.

Anonymous said...

I'm no fan of Tater, but this is the biggest load manure I've read in a long time.

Anonymous said...

Tate Reeves accomplished NOTHING beyond mediocracy before being Governor and has had NO personal accomplishment while Governor.
That he'd dare to trash a man who hasn't needed to bow and scrape to get where he is ,is arrogance...that's having an ego, like Trump,which isn't backed up by personally contributing anything to society or having a recognized talent or skill.
Taking credit for the work of others or getting celebrity by conning people or riding their coattails has no value. Nor does being the world's worst and most unrealiable mean gossipmonger.
Tate is merely threatened by a man of accomplishment who doesn't need to pander to anyone.
And, YAHOOS, the IHL is nothing more than a bunch of old farts trying to promote their alma maters at the expensive of the taxpayers. They hurt more than help!

Anonymous said...

11:48 with the post of the month.

Anonymous said...

I'm going to have to say that Crawford must be really limber. It's a helluva stretch to connect Medicaid expansion to the PERS problem.

Anonymous said...

Don’t know or care what Dan Jones and Tate Reeves talked about or didn’t….

I do know that Dan Jones is an ass who thought he was holier than thought and not be questioned.

Anonymous said...

This is rich... "he unwaveringly stood behind his successors at the medical center in the face of strong board intrusion into its operations"

The IHL board is the governing board over UMMC, right? Is it "intrusion" for a board to actually govern and oversee the entity it is charged with? Is Crawford REALLY suggesting that UMMC, a state entity, should not be subjected to board oversight?!?! And Dr Jones should be applauded for that? Should we also applaud Mayor Lumumba for standing "unwaveringly" against "intrusion" into oversight of a clearly broken system?

I sure wish some governing entity had been more "intrusive" with the city of Jackson water among many other things!

Anonymous said...

I know for a fact that the largest hallway cheers in the history of UMMC occurred when it was announced Jones was leaving UMMC for Oxford.

Anonymous said...

I know for a fact that the largest hallway cheers in the history of UMMC occurred when it was announced Jones was leaving UMMC for Oxford.

Anonymous said...

11:48 your post nails it! Not only 8 years later but while speaking to the Black Caucus.

Anonymous said...

Married to an MD who worked at UMMC, most everybody hated Dan Jones

Anonymous said...

1. Dan Jones - much beloved? I'm sure he was beloved by some folks. But, MUCH? Uh, no. He was not popular, at all. Mostly because of pulling stuff exactly like this.
2. Didn't get fired? I'm not sure what you would call it when someone wants their contract renewed and their boss won't renew it. I call that getting fired.
3. I'm not saying Tate isn't a political animal. He is. But, that's not the way a candid conversation would go with Tate about welfare expansion. That conversation would be direct, short, and decidedly negative about the proposed policy.

Anonymous said...

Tate Reeves is now past the wave of approval from his handling of the Jackson water crisis, and once again revealed his true self: a d*ck.

Anonymous said...

" I'm not saying Tate isn't a political animal. He is. But, that's not the way a candid conversation would go with Tate about welfare expansion. That conversation would be direct, short, and decidedly negative about the proposed policy,
February 12, 2023 at 4:01 PM "

You're very correct 4:01.
Tate is too smart to say that to Dan Jones or anyone of his ilk.

Dan was never a (highly respected or much beloved) anything ..in Oxford or down in Jackson at the Ole Miss Med School.



Anonymous said...

"Married to an MD who worked at UMMC, most everybody hated Dan Jones"

Dan was very bad at picking his fights. Plus, he always thought he was the smartest person in the room. Immutable in his opinions, for the most part.

Anonymous said...

My only explanation for the content of this article is that Dan must have pictures of Bill.

Anonymous said...

MS State Treasurer Tate Reeves was a speaker for a group of state retirees that I attended around 2009 or 2010 and told us that our PERS retirement was good & solid for the next 64 years! Not sure, but believed he also said his mother was a school teacher and would never do anything to hurt her retirement.

Anonymous said...

A narcissist in the mold of Obama

Anonymous said...

"...the highly respected and much beloved former Chancellor of the University of Mississippi."

What a barnyard full of crap! Name one person at OM who respected and loved this pompous little squirt. His claim to fame was carrying on Khayat's dream of cleansing the university of all things related to Confederate history.

Not a soul at that university or in Jackson liked him then and even fewer like and respect him now.

That was the first lie in the article. The second was the fabricated make-believe conversation he claims to have had with Reeves. Didn't happen. Crawford is a liar.

The only connection I can think of between this preposterous article and PERS is the fat PERS retirement Jones will have when he finally walks the plank at UMMC.

Anonymous said...

In his glorious praise of the IHL Board, Crawford apparently forgets the IHL's inglorious decision to name William Bynum president of Jackson State. And we all know, Bynum shortly afterwards was arrested for his part in a prostitution sting. Then there's the selection of the current unqualified Ole Miss chancellor that subverted the IHL's stated process. Referencing the IHL as a credible source in this case doesn't work.

Anonymous said...

4:01
I’m taking a real for the superbowl to say you truly know TR like I do! I would say your assessment is 100%

Anonymous said...

I know from personal experience that Dan Jones had a narcissistic personality disorder. He was bad news. Wouldn’t trust him

Anonymous said...

History willl Not be kindd to Tater and his lot .

Anonymous said...

Having been at UMC when Dan Jones was there, I can assure you that he was not " universally respected" or whatever BS that Crawford is spreading. I don't recall him being any more than a self righteous ass. Dr Conerly was much more respected.

Anonymous said...

Bill Crawford was on the IHL Board so I'm going with he knows something in which he is saying.

Anonymous said...

"the highly respected and much beloved former Chancellor of the University of Mississippi" - certainly you jest.

Anonymous said...

Tate would never make those comments about PERS. He knows the trustees are doing the best they can.

Anonymous said...

KF, please sack Crawford and bring back Tulp who is a far better writer and thinker than Billy boy.

Anonymous said...

"'I’d bet I hadn’t talked to this dude since well before he was fired by Ole Miss,' tweeted Gov. Tate Reeves."

"...this dude..." tweeted our Governor. Any and everything else aside, "...dude...?" Really, er, "bro?"

With contextual notation and apologies to classics such as The Big Lebowski, and noting that the Dude was a fictional character not purporting to be an actual semi-learned Governor, I'll go out on a limb and speculate those such as Miss Welty and Mr. Faulkner would have have not used the term in such a context. To paraphrase the former, out-of-context but apropos, “Just let this term go to hell & forget about it.” And in a contest to sound more ridiculous using "dude" as an implied milquetoast denigration, Tater even beats out our own Secatarrry Uh Agiculta Andy "Da Bro Widdahat Dude" Gipson. Sheesh and even shee-it, dude...we'un's is done become fithyist...fiddyess...well, not firstiest...in them edumacational innalecyule thangs for uh reason.

Anonymous said...

Dan Jones is a joke. Not a good doctor nor chancellor.

Anonymous said...

2:53 has been finding great literary works in tweets? Do tell!
I am impressed when I can find subject-verb agreement on Twitter or the avoidance of "text speak." R U ready to C wat I mean?

Anonymous said...

A hack job ended with a Bible verse. Just pathetic

Anonymous said...

Tater Tot is a joke. He’s a terrible governor and a bad person. Mississippi gets what it deserves.

Anonymous said...

This is so stupid on multiple levels. One, it's obvious that's not something somebody would actually say. It's a caricature of how somebody thinks "heartless republicans" talk. Even if that's what politicians thought, that's not what they would say.

Second, Tate is doing the opposite of what is claimed with his medicaid stance. The politically easy thing to do would be to expand medicaid. A lot of conservatives in the state that don't like the Medicaid expansion but don't believe we're accomplishing anything by not expanding it. The extra burden on state spending will be real, but so is the burden of losing DSH payments. Plus medicaid expansion would primarily benefit the working poor, not people who are generally not working. THere's just not a lot to be gained by fighting it politically.

Third, I have heard Tate's statement on PERS. He's not being a coward. He is publicly acknowledging that he can't win that battle. If you think he's wrong in that, you can make that case. But I think he's clearly right. It's not even clear what can legally be done. Even if he managed to convince the legislature to pass some sort of compromise where they dumped money into PERS and slowed the growth of benefits, they'd just end up in litigation over whether what they did violates the contracts clause. That's probably the biggest reason he can't win that battle. If it would actually solve the problem, there might be enough legislators that would do the right thing even though it would cost them politically. But there's not going to be enough willing to take the political pain just to have multiyear litigation that would not only keep the pain fresh, but also potentially end up in them not accomplishing anything at all.

PERS won't be fixed until it is impossible to pretend it's not going to fail. Even then, there may need to federal legislation.

Frank Griffin said...

I think we can safely ignore 1:59. Written by his communications team and his lawyers. The truth is that Dan Jones had a knack for the wrong way rub, but that doesn't erase the crass behavior of the Governor.

Commenters on this site have rarely been kind to the Dough Boy, until now. The Governor must have danced with joy when Jones' comments surfaced: "Finally, someone worse than I am!" Now he can ride his horse named Injured Merit into a second term.

Anonymous said...

February 13, 2023 at 8:43 AM questioned whether I (2:53) have found great literary works in tweets. No, I have not. I found and find them right exactly where they were created and reside: in books or the electronic version of them, to be sure, but also in the hearts and minds of those who read, understand, and appreciate them. While I would readily agree that bon-mots can be, and perhaps even should be, of 280 characters or less, the etymology of "literary" from the contextual Latin littera to the contextual French littre to the contextual English word and meaning of the last couple of centuries did not intend to and does not in fact encompass even the wittiest of bon-mots, as a bon-mot alone, as "literary work." Since the vast majority of "social media" offerings are merely flung and smeared like shit on the windows of the monkey house doesn't make the rare exception "literary work." And "social media" allowing the flinging and smearing from both sides of the panes strongly supports that viewpoint.

In any case, Governor Tate Reeves "yo, dude"-ing in a tweet - as the Governor - is neither a bon-mot nor "literary work," it was plain ol' stupid. If Tater Reeves and his buddies want to "yo, dude" each other while chugging Nattys around the fire pit, it's still pretty silly in a "yeah, we still got it" kinda way. But at least it isn't easily-avoidable public sound-bite stupid from the Governor of a state that needs a lot more "literary" and a lot less "dude"-ing.

Anonymous said...

I think we can safely ignore Frank Griffin @ 3:01.

Why?

1) His post insults Dan Jones.
2) His post insults the Governor.
3) His post insults lawyers.
4) His post insults my intelligence.

Anonymous said...

The same folks that are big mad at Tate for doing "nothing" are in fact NOT big mad at Chokwe for doing nothing.

I am so tired of the hypocrisy and double standards. At least Crawford does not hide his blatant bias and spells it out as the "respects" only one side of the politico' coin

Anonymous said...

Its true on both sides. They both create biased articles, facts-be-damnded to cheerlead for red or blue.

And the low IQ voters buy it.

Those of average or above intelligence give it the less than zero weight that it should carry.

Sadly the dumdums out number the sane folk, so this useless slanted "reporting" works.


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