Matt Blunt, Zen Master

Everyone's buzzing about Matt Blunt's decision to step away from the Governor's mansion at the end of his term. Clever insiders are speculating about replacements for the top of the Republican ticket, odd sycophants are continuing to express loyalty, and our next Governor is graciously focusing on the future.

Me? I'm just left wondering about his reason for quitting - he said he had accomplished all he set out to do.

Wow. So Matt Blunt woke up yesterday morning, took a look around the state of Missouri, and said, "Yup, this is it. This is pretty much the ideal political world. Can't get much better than this . . ."?

Really? This is it? This is what he had in mind?

There's something very Zen about this. He denied 100,000 kids health insurance, but he hadn't denied all of them health insurance. He made college out of reach for thousands and thousands of Missourians, but some are still able to afford it. He never even got around to making it impossible for the poor and elderly to vote. And yet, somehow, Matt Blunt has found inner peace.

Inner fulfillment is a rare and precious thing. Our governor has found it, by deciding that Missouri has the proper balance of wealth and stark poverty, of health and desperate illness, of enfranchisement and disenfranchisement. I'm left behind, marveling at his achievement, and wondering how Governor Nixon will rid the Governor's mansion of the scent from incense and patchouli.

I have not yet achieved Matt Blunt's level of Zen awareness. I still want things to get better.