By Andrew W. Griffin

Red Dirt Report, editor

Posted: April 21, 2008

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Well, the Missouri Department of Revenue is sticking by their guns in the wake of "hyphengate," which occured last weekend following Red Dirt Report's informal investigation into why the new Missouri license plate does not have a hyphen in the gramatically-correct Missouri state slogan "Show-Me State."

After all the calls I've made, I suspect the State of Missouri doesn't like an Okie telling it how to go about its business.

Again, let's understand something. "Show Me State" does not mean the same thing as "Show-Me State."

As someone on The Joplin Globe comment section noted, "The first (Show Me State) is a sentence, a command. Replace 'state' with another noun and you'll see: 'Show me trees' or 'show me birds' are examples. 'Show-Me State' correctly indicates that 'show-me' modifies, or describes, 'state' ... (it) therefore MUST have a hyphen. If the idiots in charge of the plates don't know any better, they ought to be fired. This kind of mistake is an embarrassment, and it must be rectified."

Anyway, Andy Ostmeyer, the metro editor at The Joplin Globe, was very friendly, helpful and interested. He produced a great breaking story on "hyphengate" and a follow-up editorial, both linked here at Red Dirt Report.

Additionally, at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, transportation reporters Ken Leiser and Elisa Crouch took my inquiry seriously and had a great column headlined "Missing hyphen is a sign of the times."

And the Associated Press reporter Marcus Kabel, out of the Springfield, Mo. office, wrote a story and left your humble correspondent out of the article. No matter. I noticed how he quoted MO DoR spokesman David Griffith who said hyphengate is "not an issue." If that's the case, then why are we in the media calling him up and asking him about this? In fact, if you go to the above AP link, via The Kansas City Star website, the Kansas-Missouri border wars are nowhere near over. The Kansas people are making fun of the Missouri people. As "Joe" wrote in the comments section, "We don't never use no correct grammar anyhow." How very sad.

When Red Dirt Report called Mr. Griffith on Monday afternoon, he opened by saying, "I've been reading a lot about you." This, from a guy who then says he reads numerous newspapers every day. You'd think if he did read that much, he'd have a basic grasp of English grammar.

Indeed. A mere act of curiosity on the part of your humble correspondent turned out to be a weighty story in the "Show-Me State." Our neighbors to the northeast are a stubborn lot and getting Griffith to admit the state made a mistake was like pulling teeth.

"I really don't have an opinion one way or another," Griffith said, before launching into some bureaucratspeak about how a license plate is used to identify a vehicle, blah, blah, blah. Thanks, Dave, tell me something I don't know.

When I asked a question about the process of picking the new plate, which was selected from a total of three, he deftly noted that it was a choice of the people. Of course he's noting that over 50 percent of voters in Missouri chose the winning plate with the outline of the state in the center, the bluebird on a hawthorn branch on the bottom and the state motto "Show-Me State" with the missing hyphen.

But that doesn't explain why the hyphen is missing. Griffith alluded to the fact that the motto - required by law to appear on the plates - appeared on the far right side of the plate, sans the hyphen. But, when some samples were printed up, it would bend the metal. So, a decision was made to put it at the top, below "Missouri." For whatever reason the hyphen was still missing.

I asked him about the design of the plate and how it was chosen. Griffith said a committee including representatives from Gov. Matt Blunt's office, the state highway patrol, Department of Public Safety and others were the ones who chose the plate. I asked him who signed off on the plate - quality control and such - and he wouldn't really answer it. Again, no accountability. Now that's a sign of the times. My impression from these folks is "Hey, 'the people' chose this plate and regardless of the grammatical mistake, we're sticking with it, so get lost."

Already, Griffith said, there have been 4.6 million plates printed up at the Jefferson City Correctional Center. This, in advance of the June launch date. The remaining plates have yet to be printed. So, will they be corrected with a hyphen, Mr. Griffith?

"No, not at this time," Griffith said, noting that Gov. Blunt's office has been "fully supportive" of the Department of Revenue and the hyphen-less new plates. I would love to get a comment from the governor's office, but "Holly" never returned my call, as promised.

So, the printing of the new plates goes on and the good folks of the "Show-Me State" won't have their hyphen as they have had for decades.

"(The prisoners) have been working 12 hours a day, five days a week," Griffith said of the license-plate printing process.

So, there you have it. The government, as usual, won't fully admit its mistake and correct it. Sure, it's just a hyphen, but it says a lot about standards and how far they've fallen in recent years.

Copyright 2008 West Marie Media