Japan, Reno humor in Barbour's shop

Every morning, Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour's press secretary sends to Barbour's staff and other allies a list of press clippings, along with a daily compendium of birthdays, historical notes, and jokes -- which have recently included humor on the topics of the disastrous Japan Tsunami, Janet Reno's gender, and the Cambodian genocide.

In Friday's email, for instance, press secretary Dan Turner emailed that on that day in 1968:

Otis Redding posthumously received a gold record for his single, "(Sittin' on) The Dock of the Bay". (Not a big hit in Japan right now.) In 1993: Janet Reno was unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate to become the first female attorney general. (It took longer to confirm her gender than to confirm her law license.)

An earlier email included notes that

1982 - Jamaica issued a Bob Marley commemorative stamp. (Actually, it was a combination stamp and tiny rolling paper.) 1998 - Khmer Rouge leaders apologized for the 1970s genocide in Cambodia that claimed 1 million lives. ("Oops. My bad," hardly seems sincere.)

The off-color jokes, circulated inside and outside of Barbour's government office, underscore questions about whether the governor is ready for the intensity of scrutiny that will come with leaving the relatively forgiving world of Mississippi politics.

Turner, a former reporter and former spokesman for Rep. Jim McCrery of Louisiana, said Barbour doesn't see the email, but receives a printed copy of the clips.

"Look, I'm the one who started the lagniappe section; the comments are mine. If you feel the need to skewer someone over that, I'm the guy with the bullseye on his back. There is one person responsible — me," he emailed.

As for Barbour, "His sense of humor isn't so much in the SNL vein," Turner said.