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.
Opinion
Voices: Lousy comedian
- Opinion
-
-
Other Views: FAA deal up in air five years
The Federal Aviation Administration bill was delayed 23 times, but the agency finally has a law giving it $63 billion and full operating authority for the next four years.
-
Don Ray, columnist: Obama's pipeline excuse an election-year cop-out
On Jan. 18, President Barack Obama announced he was rejecting the Keystone XL pipeline project — a project that had its beginnings some 40 months ago (September 2008).
-
Our View: Meaningless in Missouri
Missourians have an opinion about who should be the Republican candidate to run against Barack Obama in November. Too bad it won’t matter.
-
Carol Stark: Joplin’s future depends on today’s land ethic
Leopold’s small book of essays and philosophical writings about the ethical call to love and respect the land made a big impact on the conservation movement over 60 years ago, and it continues to do so today.
-
James Whitford, guest columnist: Broken people or broken system?
Are the people broken or is the system broken? If you walk into Watered Gardens, our rescue mission, it may seem the people are broken. But it’s a rescue mission. It just feels that way. And sometimes, it just looks that way.
-
Sunday Forum: Digital dilemma
Are hard-bound textbooks going the way of slide rules and typewriters in schools?
Education Secretary Arne Duncan and Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski last week challenged schools and companies to get digital textbooks in students’ hands within five years. -
Our View: Elections and war
Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta has now indicated hopes, maybe even intentions, for ending the combat mission in Afghanistan by mid-2013 in advance of the complete troop withdrawal already announced for the end of 2014.
-
Your View: Changes to Joplin
I grew up in the Blendville area of Joplin on the southwest side of town.
-
Your View: Happy Chinese
I’m sure the Chinese are very happy that the Americans spent billions on Christmas buying thousands of the items made in China. They have billions of dollars pouring in, and what are they doing with a large percent of the money?
-
Our View: Weasel words
In his Missourinet blog this week, Bob Priddy took state legislators to task for rhetoric and tossing about phrases such as revenue enhancement.
- More Opinion Headlines
-






