Does a display of a dog’s tucchus qualify as a palate cleanser? Oddly enough … West Virginia governor Jim Justice finally got to deliver his State of the State speech after recovering from an acute case of COVID-19, and he clearly felt ebullient about it. After extolling the state’s economic accomplishments and declaring the doubters confounded, Justice turned to the state’s most recent and well-known detractor — Bette Midler.

Actually, Justice turned Babydog and invited Midler to “kiss her hiney”:

“They never believed in West Virginia, that we could do it,” he said.

“They told every bad joke in the world about us,” Justice continued. “So following that standpoint, Babydog tells Bette Midler and all those out there, kiss her hiney.” He then held Babydog up in the air, showing the room her behind.

Justice was referring to a Dec. 20 tweet from the actress, Midler, who expressed animosity towards Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va) after he said he was a “no” on President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better legislation.

“He wants us all to be just like his state, West Virginia,” Midler said in the tweet. “Poor, illiterate and strung out.”

In case you missed it last month, Karen Townsend wrote about Midler’s petulant put-down:

What #JoeManchin, who represents a population smaller than Brooklyn, has done to the rest of America, who wants to move forward, not backward, like his state, is horrible. He sold us out. He wants us all to be just like his state, West Virginia. Poor, illiterate and strung out.

— bettemidler (@BetteMidler) December 20, 2021

Her elitism is way over the top here. She didn’t just leave it as criticism of Manchin’s decision, she had to trash the state’s population as just not good enough for her. “He wants us all to be just like his state, West Virginia. Poor, illiterate and strung out.” Wow. The 76-year-old diva may be feeling extra special these days after recently being awarded a Kennedy Center Honor this month. I mean, after a visit to the White House with Joe and Jill, Midler said the Oval Office “is a little small.” Biden is “divine” and Jill is “truly, truly divine” so clearly the actress needs a little help in describing people.

This was less “divine” than “asinine,” and even Midler realized it at the time:

I apologize to the good people of WVA for my last outburst. I’m just seeing red; #JoeManchin and his whole family are a criminal enterprise. Is he really the best WV has to offer its own citizens? Surely there’s someone there who has the state’s interests at heart, not his own!

— bettemidler (@BetteMidler) December 20, 2021

Did West Virginians accept her apology? The uproarious laughter and applause to Justice’s response provides an answer. Not to mention Babydog’s response.

Anyway, it doesn’t appear that West Virginians have lost their sense of humor, even if Midler and other progressives have. As of early afternoon, there hasn’t been a response from Joe Manchin on the Babydog demand, or Midler herself to Justice making her the butt of his joke. (I’m here all week, folks.) Nor should we expect one. Res ipsa loquitur, after all.