JACKSON – The governor’s office has little to say about the resignation of its press secretary last week after he made an off-color ‘joke’ about the devastating earthquake and tsunami in Japan that killed about 7,000 people.
Fifty-one year old Dan Turner resigned from his two-year post last Monday after sending out an e-mail that many felt was insensitive.
USA Today reported that Turner’s departure came on March 14 just hours after his boss and GOP presidential hopeful, Gov. Haley Barbour, delivered a major speech to business leaders in Chicago – essentially making his case for the White House and criticizing President Obama.
Politico reported that Turner sent an e-mail Friday containing a roundup of news stories that said, on that day in 1968: “Otis Redding posthumously received a gold record for his single, (Sittin’ on) The Dock of the Bay. (Not a big hit in Japan right now.)“
Turner later said that Barbour “never saw” the e-mail, but he receives a printed copy of the news clips.
“Look, I’m the one who started the lagniappe section; the comments are mine. If you feel the need to skewer someone over that, I’m the guy with the bullseye on his back. There is one person responsible – me,” Turner stated in an e-mail.
As for Barbour, “His sense of humor isn’t so much in the SNL vein,” Turner also said.
Neither Barbour nor representatives from his office made any detailed comment about Turner’s sudden departure or the content of his e-mail, other than a one line response issued on the governor’s website: “Gov. Haley Barbour has accepted Dan Turner’s resignation as Press Secretary. Laura Hipp will now serve in that capacity.”
Hipp served as the deputy press secretary under Turner.
In December 2008, however, when he hired Turner as his press secretary, Barbour said: “I am very pleased Dan has accepted this assignment. He is experienced, capable and extremely well-qualified for this position.”
When contacted by The Mississippi Link, the governor’s office, including Hipp, made nor further comments about Turner, but was simply directed to the governor’s website.
Turner, a Philadelphia, Miss., native, came to Barbour’s office after serving as communications director and district representative for U.S. Rep. Jim McCrery of Louisiana.
Turner majored in journalism at the University of Mississippi and covered politics and other topics as a reporter at the Oceans Springs Record, The Meridian Star and The Natchez Democrat.
He was also a political editor, reporter and columnist for The Shreveport (LA) Times for 11 years.
In recent weeks however, Politico has reported that Turner has made several inappropriate comments to others via e-mail, in reference to events that happened “On This Day….”
Some of Turner’s comments include: “In 1993: Janet Reno was unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate to become the first female attorney general. (It took longer to confirm her gender than to confirm her law license.)
1982 – Jamaica issued a Bob Marley commemorative stamp. (Actually, it was a combination stamp and tiny rolling paper.)
1998 – Khmer Rouge leaders apologized for the 1970s genocide in Cambodia that claimed 1 million lives. (“Oops. My bad,” hardly seems sincere.)
Politico further commented that the off-color jokes, circulated inside and outside of Barbour’s government office, underscore questions about whether the governor is ready for the intensity of scrutiny that will come with leaving the relatively forgiving world of Mississippi politics.
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