Stack’s moment

The lt. governor should seek a mellower job

Lt. Gov. Mike Stack doesn’t appear to have much workrelated stress. A two-person staff looks after the taxpayerfunded home where he and his wife, Tonya, live. He doesn’t have to worry about commuting or parking because his state police security detail takes him wherever he needs to go.

It doesn’t look like there’s a whole lot on his plate at the office, either. His staff last posted a press release a month ago, when he took part in a wreath-laying ceremony honoring a Revolutionary War hero in Philadelphia, and his other weighty responsibilities this year have included touring a Philadelphia school and welcoming new Democratic officeholders to Harrisburg.

Yet there he was at a news conference Wednesday, apologizing to his staff, the state police and the people of Pennsylvania for what he described as the occasional “Stack moment” when he lost his temper on those toiling for him on the taxpayers’ dime. Stress and frustration, he explained, to no one’s satisfaction.

His mea culpa, such as it was, came amid news of an investigation into Mr. Stack’s treatment of his employees and security detail — and word that it was Gov. Tom Wolf who sicced the inspector general’s office on his running mate. If so, kudos to Mr. Wolf for delivering the kick in the pants Mr. Stack richly deserved. Mr. Wolf didn’t choose to work with Mr. Stack; Democratic voters made them partners.

This isn’t Mr. Stack’s first trip to the woodshed. During last year’s budget season, when the governor and legislators were grappling with meaty issues affecting the commonwealth’s future, Mr. Stack tried to have language inserted into budget legislation that would allow VIP security details, such as his own, to use lights and sirens whenever they wanted — to get to wreath-laying ceremonies more quickly, for example. Traditionally, lights and sirens may be used only in emergency situations, and somebody on Mr. Wolf’s staff correctly intervened to keep it that way.

Now, in addition to accusations that Mr. Stack and his wife are rude to the help — yes, she apparently suffers from the occasional “Stack moment,” too — come reports that the lieutenant governor liberalized by fiat what he failed to accomplish by legislation. Did he order his security detail to use lights and sirens for inappropriate reasons? On Wednesday, he said he was sorry if he ever gave troopers the impression that he was telling them how to drive.

Mr. Stack said angry words sometimes slip out when employees are around so much that they start to seem like family. “There are times they see the best of Mike Stack and times they see the worst of Mike Stack,” he said.

It’s already unbearable to hear politicians refer to themselves in the third person. At this point, we’ve simply seen enough of Mike Stack. He shouldn’t even think about running for re-election next year. The job should go to someone willing to obey the speed limit and handle the stress, however much of it there may be.