Gerth: Divorce battle shows Matt Bevin still can’t figure out when to concede

My guess is that Glenna Bevin is plenty surprised that her marriage to former Gov. Matthew Griswold Bevin is not irretrievably broken.

I mean, she filed for divorce from him in May. And in the filing, she claims she and Bevin have been separated for more than a year.

But what does she know?

Bevin said in his response to her petition this week that the marriage really isn’t irretrievably broken, as she claims in her suit. They’re just on a hiatus, I guess.

It’s as if the former governor is saying, “Who are you going to believe? Me or my soon-to-be-ex-wife’s lying eyes?”

He might want to take a lesson from Lyle Lovett, who once sang, “She’s leaving me, because she really wants to.”

Maybe the marriage is really broken and maybe she is leaving because she really wants to.

Bevin’s not only fighting over whether the marriage is irretrievably broken, he’s also fighting over whether he should pay for her lawyers’ fees, child support and alimony.

Channeling himself from the days that he was trying to ration Medicaid, Bevin says in his response that his wife is “able-bodied” and suggests that she has plenty of money to take care of herself, their two children who are still minors and her lawyers.

All she needs is a little skin in the game.

Now, Bevin’s pugnacious response to the divorce petition should surprise no one – at least no one who had a pulse during Bevin’s one term in office.

He was always the smartest guy in the room. And he always wanted to fight.

Certainly his wife − who by the way, like all women in Bevinworld, isn’t capable of making decisions about things like her own body and health care − can’t be trusted to determine if the marriage is beyond hope.

Just like when he was governor, Bevin could never figure out what to battle over and when to concede.

He fought with Democrats, he fought with Republicans.

Now he’s fighting with his wife.

He fought when it was smart to do so, and he fought when fighting was of no benefit to him.

In the 3 ½ years since he left office, it doesn’t appear he has changed.

He might want to reconsider.

Fighting over whether his wife is entitled to lawyers’ fees, child support and alimony, on the surface doesn’t seem the smartest thing to do. Glenna Bevin hasn’t worked outside the home much during their 27 years of marriage because she was raising their nine children.

If Bevin has provided for her and his children by other means, it seems like the sort of thing that would best be handled when the two sides negotiate how to split their marital holdings.

But given that he's refusing to acknowledge the marriage is irretrievably broken, it doesn’t seem like he’s in much of a mood for negotiations. And that’s too bad for him.

When people fight in divorces, their absolute worst attributes are often put on display – and sometimes they are magnified.

Bevin was not a nice person in his public life. He bullied legislators, reporters and constituents who disagreed with him. He called them names and belittled them.

If he did any of those things in his private life, those things will likely come out during contentious divorce proceedings. And Bevin won’t come out on the winning side.

And as Lyle Lovett sang, Glenna Bevin will be so very happy. She'll dance and sing and even learn to fly. And spend her time with anyone but him.

Joseph Gerth can be reached at 502-582-4702 or by email at jgerth@courierjournal.com.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Ex-Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin won't even concede his marriage is over