Beau of The Fifth Column

That's not how the meeting works, and in fact, works against its actual goal.

Once, Trump made his intention to make the meeting partisan known.

Oklahoma's governor, Kevin Stitt, who is the chairman of the NGA, basically scrapped the whole thing.

I know, you're probably thinking, Oklahoma has a Democratic governor?

No, he's a Republican.

In fact, he's kind of a super conservative.

He's on the far right on pretty much every culture war issue.

Maybe he just understands that one party rule isn't good for anybody.

In a letter that went out Monday, he told other governors, quote,

NGA staff was informed that the White House intends to limit invitations to the annual business meeting, scheduled for February 20, to Republican governors only.

Because NGA's mission is to represent all 55 governors, the association is no longer serving as the facilitator for that event, and it is no longer included in our official program.

If you're wondering about the 55 governors, the NGA includes U.S.

territorial governors as well.

So, American Samoa, Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U.S.

Virgin Islands.

The NGA CEO said, quote,

We cannot allow one divisive action to achieve its goal of dividing us.

The solution is not to respond in kind, but to rise above and to remain focused on our shared duty to the people we serve.

America's governors have always been models of pragmatic leadership, and that example is most important when Washington grows distracted by politics.

Imagine doing this after calling an Olympic athlete a loser because he doesn't want to represent the entire country.