God bless America, and how’s everybody? That’s all that’s worth reading from Argus Hamilton these days.

Back when I first came to this area, I found Hamilton’s column in an Oklahoma newspaper that also explained that Argus Hamilton was an Oklahoma boy who was presently located in California, and I thought his humor was interesting because it was different.

It was also interesting to find it on the back page of the first section of the Joplin Globe on the occasions in those days that I bought a copy.

That was then; this is now. I have now been a daily subscriber for quite some time.

Last year I met a new friend from Oklahoma City and I mentioned Argus Hamilton and that he came from the same area. The new friend responded: “I know Argus Hamilton. I think he’s a lousy comedian.”

This year I have come to agree with him. The rude and crude comments made by Hamilton concerning the deaths of Michael Jackson and Patrick Swayze and events that he connected those deaths with started me paying more notice to what was being presented daily from then to the present. The depths that he goes to make current news or situations connect with his remarks about various personages are abysmal. As Globe columnist Mike Pound might say, it gives one a pain in the Limbaugh.

On Nov. 13 it was Friday the 13th, and it was unlucky for Argus Hamilton in the Globe as his column failed to appear, and for this reader it was not a loss. It appeared to be something that the Globe could do without if the space was needed for better use.

Now, I know that some would tell me if I don’t like his writing, don’t read it, but I like my newspaper, and I am an earnest reader. It is my habit to read the entire newspaper, sometimes even the classified ads. I end up with Dear Abby, Dr. Gott and the Family Fun page for “dessert.”

If I need “made-up stuff,” there’s always the columnists on the Opinion page. “Prize-winning” Paul Greenberg can always find a new way to slam the Clintons, his favorite target, and Morton Kondracke’s good for a spaced-out view, like what’s great about former health czar Tommy Thompson’s Medicare Part D prescription drug plan. So, who needs Hamilton?

How about having a vote for or against Hamilton on The Joplin Globe Web page? I promise not to try to vote twice.

Fred Dunn

Grove, Okla.