THEN: Speaker of the House, Speaker Pro Tem, Bollinger County Commissioner (MO)
NOW: Marketing and Sales Director, Schultz and Summers Engineering
Full Biography:link
When I first saw the name of this race I wondered why they called it 1 Insane race, but after running it I totally understand.
First of all, who starts any kind of race in July at 5:00pm? I don’t know what I was thinking when I registered for this 15k or why I thought it would be cool by 5pm, but I was wrong. In July the sun is not even close to going down at 5pm; as a matter of fact it was still quite high in the sky, and I am slightly sunburned from the “late” afternoon race.
I made a wise decision before this race and stopped at a gas station to use the bathroom. Turns out there were no bathrooms at the race, so I avoided the problem with going I had at the July 4th half marathon I ran.
For the record, it was 102 degrees when we started this painful session at 5pm. As soon as I got out of the car to go check in at the registration table I started sweating. I checked in at 4:43, changed into my running shoes and put on my camelback. Unfortunately, I didn’t double tie my shoes and when the race started they came untied, and I had to stop about 50 yards into the race to retie them.
I really didn’t worry about that much because I wasn’t running for time, but I thought how that would have driven me crazy back in my college days. Needless to say I was in last place at that point.
Soon after the start, another aspect that drove many of us insane were the course markings and turns. I have no idea what language they were written in but it was not English. This race took place at Camp Galilee so I assume it was Hebrew, or maybe Greek, but I had no idea what they met. While it seemed like most of us were nice Christian runners, I don’t think we had many Hebrew Bible scholars in the crowd because we all got lost (except for me- Marines are never lost just occasionally disorientated). I knew things were not going as planned when I met the fast runners coming towards me about a mile into the race.
Contributing RP Rod Jetton has launched his own blog to comment on Missouri politics. Here is his first entry:
There was a lot of talk about tax credits in the last legislative session. I would like to recommend one tax credit that would only cost a maximum of 2 million per a year, but will help thousands of Missourians get enough to eat. It’s the Local Food Pantry Tax Credit Program (LFPTCP) that was started in 2008 and is scheduled to expire in 2012.
The Oversight Division of the Joint Committee on Legislative Research issued a report showing that the first three years of the four-year program, only $1.5 million of the $6 million available credits were claimed, but use has grown significantly each year, with nearly $800,000 claimed in 2010. The average donation was $450 with 99 percent of the statewide credits being claimed by individual taxpayers.
While the battle rages in Jefferson City about how to reform our tax credit programs. This program already includes many of the reforms that have been debated. Most tax credit reformers have four main goals, which include:
1. Cap the amount of tax credits one individual can receive
2. Keep tax credits from being sold or transferred
3. Cap the overall amount that can be spent on any one program.
4. Sunset all tax credit program
Most reform advocates believe these changes will make budgeting for future tax credit expenditures more accurate. They also feel it will allow the programs to be better monitored, so that needed changes can be made.
After many self-inflicted wounds, Rod Jetton’s life is healing, he says.
Approaching two years after accusations surfaced of an assault on a Sikeston, Mo., woman during a sexual encounter with her, the former Missouri House speaker wrote a blog about his personal and political free fall at therecoveringpolitician.com. It appeared July 22 and was the first time Jetton had addressed the issue publicly.
Jetton pleaded guilty May 27 to a reduced charge of misdemeanor assault with the admission he struck a woman in the face and choked her during sex at her Sikeston home in November 2009. The victim had previously testified in court that after finishing one glass of wine she started to drift in and out of consciousness.
Attorneys for the victim and for Jetton said they were ready to move on once the guilty plea was reached. That appears to be the case for Jetton, in some respects. While he still carries a tattered reputation, he says his life has become much more content recently.
Jetton, divorced about a month before the assault, has married again. He now works at a growing civil engineering company in Poplar Bluff, Mo., where he helps with sales, marketing and public relations plans.
A tumultuous era began, according to his blog, once he was elected as a state representative. Over time, his political pursuits and self-indulgence ruled, and ruined, his life.
Rod Jetton says he is turning his life around after what he called self-inflicted wounds.
Jetton was a rising Republican star, ascending to speaker of the Missouri House. But in May, he pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of misdemeanor assault, admitting he struck a woman in the face and choked her during sex at her home in Sikeston.
The Southeast Missourian reports that Jetton used a blog at therecoveringpolitician.com to make his first public comments about the issue. He says he has married again and now works at a growing civil engineering firm in Poplar Bluff.
By Jonathan Miller, on Mon Aug 1, 2011 at 12:00 PM ET
Thanks to the magic of Skype, RPTV introduces a new feature today, “The RP’s Great Debates.”
Our very first installment features a debate between two former Missouri state legislators, from opposite sides of the political spectrum, who somehow found a way to become good friends: contributing RPs Jeff Smith and Rod Jetton. In this interview, Smith and Jetton discuss their relationship, debate the debt ceiling crisis, and — best of all — do pretty accurate and very funny impressions of each other.
If you are new to The Recovering Politician, you probably should read the following pieces by the two men:
Rod Jetton’s 3 part stunningly candid essay on his rise, scandal and renewal: Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3.
By Jonathan Miller, on Tue Jul 26, 2011 at 12:00 PM ET
If you’ve read former Missouri House Speaker Rod Jetton’s stunningly candid pieces on his rise, scandal and renewal, you probably have a lot of questions that his post raised.
So did the RP. Here, he interviews Rod Jetton for the RPTV feature, “Fifteen Minutes of Fame.” Rod elaborates on many of the themes in his column, and talks from the heart about the nature of public services in today’s era. Enjoy:
This concluding post will complete the story of how I finally got my life back on track.
I don’t know if you believe in God or not, but I DO! In December of 2009, God finally had enough of my wayward ways and allowed my choices to get me into a situation that only he could help me through.
After spending the night with a lady I had reconnected with on Facebook, I was charged with felony assault. The press, along with my enemies, had a heyday, and I immediately shut my consulting business down.
Soon after that, I was notified that I was a target of a federal grand jury investigation surrounding my handling of a bill in the 2005 legislative session.
Needless to say I started 2010 broke, with no job, very few friends and lots of time on my hands. As bad as my troubles were at the time, looking back now, I’m thankful for them. Life passes by so quickly, and very few of us get the chance to sit down and contemplate what is important. My troubles gave me a chance to analyze my bad choices and personal weaknesses.
With my pride stripped away, I was able to honestly evaluate my past actions. I saw how foolish I had been to put my family on the back burner. I learned how bitterness toward my enemies had made me a bitter person to everyone around me. The hardest thing for me to admit was that I wasn’t the same friendly and caring guy who had gone to Jefferson City in 2000.
Read the rest of… Rod Jetton: Success, Scandal & Change, Part 3-Downfall and Renewal
In my last post, I talked about some of my successes, and success can be a wonderful thing, but if you’re not careful, success can be your downfall.
It sure took a toll on me. I tried to hide my vanity and pride, but deep down in my mind, I started to believe all the things lobbyists, other members, donors and conservative activists were saying about me. When you are a public official with power over funding and other member’s bills — along with all the laws people live by — folks tend to tell you what you want to hear.
Everyone tells you what a good job you’re doing, how smart you are, how thankful they are that you are in charge, or that nobody else has ever done or could ever do as good as you.
Of course in politics not everyone is singing your praises. In Missouri the Kansas City Star and St. Louis Post Dispatch were not very friendly to a conservative Republican like myself. I received plenty of bad press. Liberals, labor unions, and trail attorneys opposed to my agenda sent me thousands of emails and letters, which were not always flattering.
Another item that made enemies and allowed the press to attack me was my campaign consulting company. By 2004, I was spending more and more time helping friends with their campaigns, so I decided to start my own campaign consulting business. I didn’t work for any House campaigns or HRCC, but I helped some of my friends who wanted to move up to the state Senate or Congress. I also was able to work on Mitt Romney’s presidential race in 2008.
Between my political activities, legislative duties and straightforward ‘tell it-like-it-is attitude’ I started picking up quite a few new enemies, and they never hesitated to start a nasty rumor or provide a negative quote about me when they could. Oddly enough, most of my attacks came from the Republicans.
You are probably asking why I didn’t listen to my critics or at least think about their charges. The simple answer is most politicians develop thick skins, because critics say such terrible things about them, and constantly mis-characterize their motives. For me it was easy to chalk up all the negative comments and criticism to enemy hacks that hated me, because I had either beat them in the legislative chess game or defeated them in a campaign. I told myself that no matter what I did they would complain.
My experience has shown me how easy it is for powerful leaders to listen to the flattery and discount their critics when they are under fire.
Another negative consequence to the flattery and criticism a leader hears is they start putting everyone into two camps. You’re either for them or you’re against them, and if you’re critiquing them or even questioning them, you fall in the latter category. They become a bit paranoid when friends or innocent bystanders try to be honest and tell them the truth. Unfortunately, I feel this sometimes happened to me and it damaged a few of my relationships.
But let’s get back to the flattery. It slowly started affecting me. Not in the beginning; I knew what they were doing and I told myself not to pay attention to them, but flattery has a way of slowly creeping up and changing your attitude. (Or at least it did me)
Have you ever heard the story about the frog that was placed in the pot of boiling water and immediately jumped out and survived?
If you have, then you know that same frog didn’t fare so well when he was placed in a pot of cold water while the heat was slowly turned up until he was boiled to death and never even knew it. It’s very embarrassing to admit that this happened to me. Looking back on my time in the legislature I feel a bit like the frog that was slowly cooked to death and just didn’t feel the heat rising. In fact the warm water feels kind of good after awhile.
But be careful, because the warm water will kill you.
What I needed was balance. Take a moment and think about the word: BALANCE.
It’s a simple word that makes the whole world go round. Balance is required for the sun, moon, and stars to work like they do. It takes balance for us to walk, drive and function as human beings. Most importantly it takes balance in your life to have healthy relationships with your wife, kids, family, friends, co-workers and fellow citizens.
The biggest mistake I made was not having balance in my life. I worked too hard at politics and forgot about my family, friends, community and sometimes, the whole reason I went to Jefferson City in the first place. I remember telling my ex-wife that when the first campaign was over I would be home more. Then session started and I said after session I will be home more. Then I was gone working on redistricting and when that was done the next session had started, and after that I was working night and day to win the majority, and I told her once we won I would be home.
Read the rest of… Rod Jetton: Success, Scandal & Change, Part 2-Flattery, Criticism and Bitterness
As I am new to RP you may be wondering what to expect from my posts. Will they be rightwing rants, or milquetoast musings? Will they be politically correct or in your face opinions? The best way I know how to answer that, is to tell you my story.
I’ll start with me on the flower covered dais in a packed, standing room only Missouri House chamber, my right hand raised, repeating my oath of office. My wife is holding our Bible, and my loving family is sitting in the house well watching their dad, son and brother being sworn in as the second youngest Speaker in Missouri state history.
Many wondered how a country boy from Marble Hill, Missouri could go from the lowest ranking member in the minority party to Speaker of the House in just four years. Some said it was my work ethic; some said it was my political skills; and others said it was my friendly likable style; but no one really seemed to know the real reason.
While I’m sure hard work, skills and smiles helped, being in the right place at the right time and term limits created an opportunity! My House seat opened up only because of term limits, and we had a chance to win the majority only because so many Democrats were term-limited. All of the senior Republicans had left which gave a friendly, hardworking guy who knew how to raise money and help candidates win campaigns, an excellent opportunity to be the Speaker in just two terms.
Life is always throwing opportunities your way, and it’s up to you to take advantage of them. I freely admit the four years it took to win my first House campaign, help spearhead the legislative redistricting process for my party, recruit candidates, win the majority and position myself to be unopposed for Speaker, were four of the busiest years of my life. I have never consistently worked that hard at anything in my life and I thought I understood hard work.
Running track and setting school records required working out twice each day to get in the 100 miles a week it took to win races. When I joined the Marine Corps I learned a new level of hard work. They gave me 90 pounds of gear and ordered me to march through the hills, with no rest or sleep, through all kinds of weather for days on end. Starting a small real estate business and making it profitable, required early mornings and stressful nights day in and day out.
But all those experiences were just preparing me for what it took physically, emotionally and mentally to recruit candidates, win the majority, unify caucus members, advance an agenda, get good press, and stay in touch with donors all while trying to be a good father, loving husband, and solid community leader back home and in the district.
Don’t get me wrong, I am not complaining. The crazy thing is, I LOVED IT! I was having a blast, everything was going my way, everyone loved me, respected me, and wanted to know what I thought about matters great and small. The other positive aspect of all my success was the policy changes I was able to implement. Expending political capital and pushing hard for the policies I believed in was never a question for me. I studied the rules, reached across the aisle to make friends and understood how to use my political clout to get things done.
In the House it takes a united team to change things. Developing an agenda, unifying our caucus behind it and leading them in the public debate was a very worthwhile experience that required using the carrot and the stick. I rewarded both Democrat and Republican friends alike. I helped them with their priorities and gained their support on our agenda. I also sometimes punished my opponents.
Read the rest of… Rod Jetton: Success, Scandal & Change-The Fight to Be King of the Mountain
When I first saw the name of this race I wondered why they called it 1 Insane race, but after running it I totally understand. 
For the record, it was 102 degrees when we started this painful session at 5pm. As soon as I got out of the car to go check in at the registration table I started sweating. I checked in at 4:43, changed into my running shoes and put on my camelback. Unfortunately, I didn’t double tie my shoes and when the race started they came untied, and I had to stop about 50 yards into the race to retie them. 
In my last post
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