321. Earth Day, Equal Pay Day, Election Day, and a few other thoughts

Today is Earth Day, something we learned about in elementary school, back in the days when elementary school included doing Nuclear Warning Drills which meant leaving the classroom with their humongous windows, and coursing into the safety on the interior hallways, where we were asked to do some contortions with our bodies so that our heads were between our knees and protected by our folded arms. This was before any of us knew what yoga was, which is exactly what we were doing, and it is also something none of us could probably do today, given that our weight and height ratios (or probably ratii) are much changed from those days gone by. Now that I really know what yoga is, I have no great desire to repeat the Nuclear Warning Drills I learned at Blue Lick Elementary School back when LBJ was deciding whether or not to seek reelection, a decision he did not announce until March 31 of that presidential election year.


. . . . .With America’s sons in the fields far away, with America’s future under challenge right here at home, with our hopes and the world’s hopes for peace in the balance every day, I do not believe that I should devote an hour or a day of my time to any personal partisan causes or to any duties other than the awesome duties of this office–the Presidency of your country.

Accordingly, I shall not seek, and I will not accept, the nomination of my party for another term as your President.” The last two paragraphs of President Johnson's speech on March 31, 1968.



Today is also something called Equal Pay Day, which I learned only yesterday while listening to a speech by former State Representative and Louisville-area Congressional Candidate Eleanor Jordan, at a meeting of the Jefferson County Democratic Women’s Club held at the All Wool and A Yard Wide Democratic Club in Germantown. [For the sake of full disclosure, I was a consultant in the Jordan for Congress campaign in 2000 and I am an officer of the All Wool and A Yard Wide Democratic Club]. She was there to speak on behalf of the Barack Obama campaign, but being the director of the Kentucky Commission on Women, could not help but do her duty and, after extolling the merits of the Senator from Illinois, went on to announce the merits of Equal Pay Day for women, whether they are from Illinois or not. The bottom line here is that on average women make 77% of the pay of men in the same work-roles, something which should change, but thus far hasn’t. There was also something about wearing red today to bring notice to the event. For the record, after Eleanor’s speech, my good friend and very able volunteer coordinator from the Yarmuth campaign Ben Basil, made a presentation in that same meeting for Senator Hillary Clinton. Ben talked about recent polls showing Senator Clinton’s wide lead in Kentucky and offered to supply to anyone a Clinton sign for their yard. [Again, for full disclosure, Ben and I worked very closely together in the Yarmuth for Congress campaign in 2006, and I consider him a very capable campaign strategist. He has also recently loaned me his copy of Hemingway’s For Whom The Bell Tolls, a book which is honestly an unexpectedly difficult read for me. Like me, he too is an officer of the All Wool Club]. But, I digress.

Today is also Primary Day in Pennsylvania, Thanks Be To God. This Primary season, which started on the day after the last Presidential Election Day in 2004, should be evidence enough that our system of selecting a Presidential Nominee is, to be frank, royally fucked. Having a Super Tuesday serves little purposes for the states involved, other than a select few – namely those with this biggest hauls of delegates. Smaller states (like Kentucky and Indiana) are left out. Because our Primary, as well as Indiana’s, is presently later in the season, though not nearly late enough, attention will be paid by both presidential camps to the voters here along the Left Bank of the Ohio River near Milepost 606. It is my opinion the Primaries of the states and territories should be spread out over a much longer period of time, perhaps well into June or July. Kentucky’s Secretary of State Trey Grayson has sponsored a plan which is one of several I think would make much better the way we get to a nominee.

Evidence of smaller states’ roles after Super Tuesday arrives tonight with the closing of the polls in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania coincidental with the arrival of Senator Obama in Indiana, which holds its Primary on the Tuesday after Derby Day. He will be speaking in Evansville, which is downriver from here on the Right Bank of the Ohio River near Milepost 791. Evansville, by the way, is just below one of those places in the river where the state line follows the older course of water which is no longer the main course of the river, and hasn’t been since the series of earthquakes collectively known as the New Madrid Earthquake in late 1811 and early 1812. Quite a few acres of land lay north of the Ohio while still in Kentucky, including the Ellis Park Race Track, which is along US 41 between Evansville and Henderson. But, I digress yet again.

I was writing of the date of Kentucky’s Primary, an issue I wrote about not too long ago praising a bill (SB3) introduced in the recent General Assembly, where very little was accomplished and very little will be anytime soon unless the governor and others involved in the governance of the Commonwealth commit to a general tax increase to fund the basic operations of those governed, which is to say you and me, assuming you, like me, are a resident of the Commonwealth. This year’s Session of the General Assembly was the worst in recent history. Of course, the last one before this one was the worst upon its completion, as was the one before it. Jill Johnson Keeney, in Sunday’s Courier-Journal, spoke of the way the General Assembly ended in general chaos in both the Republican-held Senate and the Democratic-held House. To know how the laws which passed were forced through would make sausage-making a great and pleasant spectator sport by comparison. Leaders at both ends of the Capital should be hauled out to the woodshed for a respectable lashing from their overseers. But, who are their overseers?

That’s an easy question to answer. You and me – the voters of Kentucky. Many people are often critical of the overall legislature but praise their individual legislator. I like my legislator, Tom Riner, although there are issues on which we disagree. I often send emails to Tom telling him of legislation I either support or oppose and I regularly get a response, which I appreciate. Tom and his wife Claudia were early supporters of candidate John Yarmuth and remain supportive of Congressman John Yarmuth, for which I am grateful. But I will tell Tom the next time I see him how disappointed I am in the accomplishments of the General Assembly, as well as the process by which the General Assembly does what little it does do. I suggest you do the same.

On a side note, only tangentially related, my dear friend Jon Hurst has been named the Kentucky Director for the Hillary Clinton campaign. Jon is one of the smartest people I know and he will do a great job for Senator Clinton, and the truth is I absolutely adore him at times. I do not personally know anyone who knows the political intricacies of this state, from Pikeville to Paducah and Alexandria to Albany, as is sometimes said, anymore than does Jon, although there are a number of us wannabes.

Congratulations, Jon.

Two more thoughts. I mentioned above the 1968 Presidential Primary did not start until LBJ announced he wasn’t running on March 31, Can you imagine if today were only the 22nd day of this season’s Primary?

Finally, today is the 72nd birthday of former Alderman and Councilman Cyril Allgeier, who is frankly is very bad health, celebrating his birthday from a hospital bed in the Norton Audubon Hospital. Cyril, along with my Uncle Don Noble and Jim “Pop” Reddington, both of whom are deceased, introduced me to the rough and tumble, as well as the fun and joy, of old fashioned Ward-healer politics in the old City of Louisville, back in 1975 before people like the Senior Senator from Kentucky and the Mayor of Louisville – Jefferson County Metro forced change (and Republican office holders) on us on November 7, 2000. I would ask you keep Cyril and his wife Mary in your prayers.