Lighten up, Mr. Governor.

Gov. Ronnie Musgrove blasted away at the legislature last weekafter the House passed a bill naming the teddy bear Mississippi’sstate toy.

”When people are out of jobs, there’s a national recession,we’re working on the budget to try to make sure that we properlyfund education, health care, job opportunities, we need to befocusing on those areas,” the governor said.

While we agree all the issues mentioned by the governor are muchmore pressing than teddy bears, it should be noted that Housemembers spent less than five minutes discussing and passing thebill. It now goes to the Senate.

And, designating a state toy won’t cost Mississippi any money,but it could generate good will, said Rep. Steve Holland,D-Plantersville, who authored the teddy bear bill.

We hope he’s right. A little “warm and fuzzy” feeling certainlywouldn’t hurt the governor now.