In his eight years in office, Gov. Kirk Fordice never minced words. He may have used words that would make most polite folks blush at times, but we pretty much always knew where the man stood.

Often, it seemed the two-term Republican governor was speaking with his foot placed squarely in his mouth.

But now Fordice’s ill-will toward those who he felt stood in his way — namely the better part of the entire Legislature — has diminished the amount of respect lawmakers have for the governor’s office.

Wednesday it was announced that the tradition of outgoing governors making a final speech before the Legislature won’t happen this year.

The reason … well, that depends on who you ask.

But it’s easy to surmise that the decision was, at least in some part, influenced by many lawmakers’ personal dislike for Fordice. And while it is everyone’s right to like or dislike anyone, in a civil democracy, we hope the respect for the highest-elected office in our state isn’t lost.

Fordice has certainly showed his backside on more than a few occasions — and yes, he’s shown more than ample lack of respect for the lawmakers – but his behavior is no excuse for lawmakers to disrespect his office.

We hope the lawmakers reconsider the decision and give Fordice, or at the least, the governor’s office, the respect and honor the office deserves. And, we’d hope that Fordice would summon enough class to handle the situation in a dignified manner.

Ultimately, as one lawmaker said of the breaking of tradition, there’s no telling what Fordice would say. &uot;He might ask for forgiveness for some things he’s done, or he might give us a good cussing out.”

Either way, at least we’d know where he stands.