Gov. Mike Beebe spoke to members of the Arkansas School Boards Association this morning. It’s always a speech that lauds school board members for their service and touts Beebe’s twin priorities of economic development and education, but this was a little more spirited. He sounded like a man who had just won his last (I think) campaign.

Beebe said he had been interviewed by Bloomberg News that morning about the fact that Arkansas is one of a handful of states not going dead broke, and he compared the state’s situation to its neighbors and to the federal government. “We’ve got problems, but good Lord, compared to the rest of the world, we’ve got a lot for which to be thankful,” he said.

He made a couple of cracks about the campaign and the fact that he had the money to pay for high-priced consultants and campaign staff. And he said that one of the findings of his focus groups was that Arkansans had a problem believing that Education Week had ranked Arkansas 10th in education.

Maybe that’s because Arkansans instinctively know the state still has a long way to go in certain areas, even compared to other states. But it’s true that the state is making progress. And, compared to other states, and especially the federal government, we’re not going broke, at least not now.

I’m in jail right now for the Muscular Dystrophy Association. Well, technically, I’m at Colton’s Steakhouse. But I’m trying to raise “bail money.” Want to donate? It’s tax-deductible.

You can donate here.

If you don’t get this email in the next few hours, I’ll be “out,” but you can still donate.

Thanks for considering this.

Sarah Palin signed copies of her new book at a Little Rock Sam’s Club but didn’t talk to the news media. Jason Tolbert has his usual excellent take here.

Palin’s camp had told reporters that she would not talk to them, and she didn’t. According to Tolbert, they were told not to ask questions or “she will get mad.”

I’ve got no problem with Palin refusing to take questions at this event. I do have a problem with her refusing ever to take questions from anyone other than her co-workers and cheerleaders at Fox News, and then justifying it by claiming that she’s being victimized by the “lamestream media.” But that’s another post.

My question for the local media is, why play ball with her? If she wants you there only for free exposure, don’t give it to her. Acknowledge that she was here. Point out her refusal to take questions. Include the comment by the jittery handler. But don’t put her picture on the front page of the B section. Don’t lead the evening news with her.

Stop being used by this person who is creating a cult following and getting rich by trashing you. That’s really lame.

The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported Saturday there are 827 homeless veterans in Arkansas – that we know of. The VA says there may be 131,000 nationwide. The story cited Estella Morris, director of the Veterans Affairs Drop-in Treatment Center in Little Rock, as saying that 90 percent of the veterans involved in its program have substance-abuse problems.

We should be ashamed that so many veterans live on the street and should make it a national priority to prevent that from happening.  At the same time, it’s difficult to help someone who has combat-related mental health issues along with drug and alcohol addictions.

We should do all we can to help our veterans. But the best way to reduce the number of homeless veterans is to produce less veterans. Let’s fight wars only when they are unavoidable for a change.