Purcell, Macke, Breitbart

It was no surprise when Jay Purcell, associate Cape Girardeau County commissioner, joined the race for presiding commissioner at the last minute, even though he had told a number of people he wasn't going to.

The large number of candidates (six) in the Republican primary (Charles Brawley, Doyle Parmer, Clint Tracy, Chris Hutson, Stephen Daume and Jay Purcell) sets up the same scenario as his election to the commission six years ago when nine candidates were in the primary and Purcell won by only 29 votes over Dan Niswonger. Purcell's total of 1,390 votes in the Republican primary in 2004 meant that 4,769 people voted for one of the other candidates (Walter White, Clay Waller, Bill Stanfield, Dan Niswonger, Bill Reynolds, Doc Cain, Kathy Swan and Barry Hovis).

One factor, if Purcell were to win in the presiding commissioner race, would be that it would create a vacancy for the commissioner's seat that represents the city of Cape Girardeau, which by law would be filled by appointment by Democrat Gov. Jay Nixon. Purcell is probably not concerned by that possibility, as he has been a Republican in name only -- certainly rarely seen at Republican events.

Oh, well, it's a free world.

---

Weldon Macke, Gordonville, received a much-deserved recognition for his many years of service to his county, state and nation.

State Rep. Billy Pat Wright nominated him for the Missouri Lieutenant Governor's Senior Service Award. Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder presented it to him Monday as one of 10 individuals statewide who received the award this year.

I've known Weldon for years, but a resolution passed by the Missouri House listed some of the following of which I was not aware. From the resolution:

"He has served as Sunday school teacher for over 50 years and has served on every committee on local church levels. He is a United Methodist certified lay speaker, preaching on several occasions in local churches and serving on the Southeast District Committee on Ordained Ministry as well as serving over eight years on the General Conference Council of Finance and Administration. He was elected as Cape Girardeau County auditor for 34 years. He was a founding member of the Missouri Association of Counties and held a board position on the National Association of Counties among several other boards, foundations and committees. He has demonstrated that he possesses the heart of a true servant as he was honored by President Reagan as "Outstanding Republican Officeholder." He has also served on the Cape Girardeau County Society for Crippled Children and Adults, is a member of the Mended Hearts program at Southeast Missouri Hospital, serves on a search committee for battered women's housing and is also a Paul Harris Fellow in Rotary International. The aforementioned are only a small testament to the multitude of activities with which he is involved."

Congratulations, Weldon.

---

There's a new blogger who is rapidly moving up on the visitation list, Andrew Breitbart, who worked with Matt Drudge for 15 years followed by a short stint with Arianna Huffington of the Huffington Post, which is the most visited blog today.

Breitbart.com has also started Breitbart TV, Big Government and Big Journalism. He is obviously as conservative as Huffington is obviously liberal/progressive.

A recent feature in Time magazine encourages you to take a look. He's 41 years old and either has a large staff or a very sophisticated search engine to organize his blogs.

---

General aviation (noncommercial corporate and "smaller" airplanes) is truly engaged in a vast cross-section of American life due to its aerial vantage point. Most people don't know that:

GA supports 1.2 million jobs across the country.

GA transports 166 million people every year.

GA generates $150 billion in yearly economic activity.

GA is the lifeblood of 600,000 pilots and 5,200 public airports.

GA aids with law enforcement.

GA provides swift transport and advanced medical care for patients with life-threatening injuries.

GA enables farmers to monitor the progress of crop fields during growing season to ensure healthy and productive harvests.

Gary Rust is chairman of Rust Communications.