Reprinted from the Monday, Nov. 26 Charleston Gazette editorial section

By Jane Wallace Claymore
For the Gazette

"There are some things I have no control over,” Joe Manchin said of the Fred Armstrong firing at the Division of Culture and History.

Well! What a breathtaking admission from our Guv, not generally known for his humility. To borrow from Mark Twain (although the Brits think Disraeli said it first) there are “lies, damn lies” and dissembling disingenuity. Which is a fancy way of expressing the truth, which is basically a lie in the context used.

I maintain that some of the things our Guv has no control over include whether the sun rises or the river rises or my blood pressure rises — but absolute control over whether Armstrong got fired or not. He palmed the blame off on Kay Goodwin, his secretary of arts, et al — a will-and-pleasure employee and thus the next step down — and on Randall Reid-Smith, who also serves at will and pleasure.

After all, this is the Guv who shoehorned his way onto the board of Public Broadcasting. This style of micromanaging all the details smacks of lessons learned — but at whose knee?

Manchin’s, Goodwin’s and Reid-Smith’s big “oops” was not realizing that a steady, beyond-competent state employee like Armstrong builds up his own constituency. From my perspective, it’s amusing to watch, read and listen to all those scholarly types (and yes, genealogy diggers are scholars, many self-taught with Armstrong’s help) get their noses out of books and records and become militant. They’re actually picketing. After all, it’s a fine historical tradition.

Yes, our Guv got blindsided. Meanwhile, we must consider alternatives to why Armstrong was strong-armed out of the building to which he had devoted his career. I’m wondering what readers think, outside of the plethora who have written in the paper.

Was it (A) Armstrong’s objection to a café and gift shop in the building? (B) Another Manchin relative needs his job? (C) Personal animus on the part of his immediate supervisor, Reid-Smith?

Armstrong thinks choice A is the reason — and others have stated logistical, security-of-documents, and sanitary reasons why a café is not a good idea. West Virginia history is replete with examples why choice B is a possibility. And choice C is also in the running. Why? Because excellence in anybody makes incompetent superiors angry, unless the underling fawns at the feet.

I’m puzzled by opera singer Reid-Smith’s hiring in the first place, since nothing in his resume indicates he has any experience or knowledge in running a place like the Cultural Center. He’s been a public relations nightmare since the git-go. Last post Toledo? Puh-leeze! And what the hell does singing have to do with running a library and museum? So far, all I’ve heard is that he’s a great shopping companion for the First Lady. That’s a heckuva accolade. Such persons are gently called “walkers.”

Of course, it must be admitted that this particular building and department have been a disaster for many years now. The escalator to nowhere, the redesigns that were re-redesigned and are apparently being re-re-redesigned. The cost overruns attendant upon all that redesign — and cost overruns are something at which the Manchins excel. If you think $155,000 will build the café and gift shop, please remember the Guv’s mansion and extraordinary plans for a banquet hall. I have one word: Ugh.

Now the administration is crawfishing, yipping that in the proposed café “no food will be prepared or stored.” Ha, ha, ha. So we wreck the archives in order to achieve a catered spot, which has always been the status of the Great Hall.

But now let’s consider choice D, a paranoiac’s dream but a possibility under the circumstances: Elimination of the documentation of the collective memory of West Virginians. All those greasy fingers, fresh out of the café, leafing through one-of-a-kind documents and maps, inviting silverfish and other infestation. All those sticky fingers that will slip things out. And elimination of the single best memory in the joint who knows what’s there and how to find it. For shame!

The Guv could demonstrate some genuine humility and say, “Hey! I was wrong!” (cue: adopt an aw-shucks pose and rake his hair) “Mr. Armstrong is too valuable a resource and we need to be certain his successor is as well trained.”

Fat chance.

Claymore, a Kanawha County teacher, is a Gazette contributing columnist.